Huaien

The wind and snow raged outside, while inside the temple, the statue of Guan Gong stood with divine might.

"Xia, do you doubt me?"

Zhao Huaien stood up, looking incredulous.

Zhao Xia looked up. "How could I doubt you? I just want to know, what else happened when Father died?"

"Alright, I'll tell you."

"The Dragon Scale Association has many experts. Adoptive Father actually knew that returning would mean a grim fate. He whipped my horse..."

"That's how I escaped!"

Zhao Huaien slowly took off his outer robe, revealing a scar that stretched from his left shoulder to his right abdomen. The newly grown flesh bulged outwards, twisted and grotesque.

This blow was incredibly dangerous. Had it been even slightly higher, it would have struck his heart, making him beyond saving.

Had it been slightly deeper, his abdomen would have split open, spilling his entrails. In their current fugitive state, hiding from the Wild Wolf Gang, survival would have been impossible.

Zhao Huaien's eyes were filled with endless sorrow. "Xia, do you... do you think I would betray Adoptive Father and defect to the Dragon Scale Association? In your heart, am I, Zhao Huaien, such a heartless and ungrateful wretch?"

"Don't forget, your surname is Zhao, and so is mine!"

The ten ordinary gang members in the temple looked over, their eyes filled with confusion.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

Zhao Xia stood up and walked to Zhao Huaien's side, personally draping his robe back on him.

The two stood together, the woman being half a head taller.

Zhao Xia had distinct foreign features: a high nose, deep-set eyes, fair skin, and a voluptuous figure that belied her actual age. Upon closer inspection, she possessed a captivating blend of purity and allure.

Zhao Huaien looked up at the woman he had known for twelve years, a hint of tenderness in his eyes. "When I was eight, I was wandering the streets and met Adoptive Father. From then on, the Wild Wolf Gang became my home, and Adoptive Father became my own father."

"Now that Adoptive Father is gone, we are each other's only family."

"Xia, will you let me take care of you from now on?"

Zhao Huaien took the woman's hand, his eyes burning with a passion that seemed to reflect two flames.

Crackle! A few sparks flew from the campfire.

"Brother Huaien, as long as we siblings work together, we will definitely be able to destroy the Dragon Scale Association, avenge Father, and rebuild the Wild Wolf Gang."

Zhao Xia subtly withdrew her hand and sat back down by the fire.

"You're right. You're really starting to sound more and more like Adoptive Father, Xia. You will definitely be able to lead the Wild Wolf Gang to greatness and glory."

Zhao Huaien's hand remained outstretched in mid-air. He looked at the tall, voluptuous woman, a smile of apparent relief on his face.

In the side room to the left of the altar, twenty loads of salt were piled up, weighing over two thousand catties.

They had been hiding in this temple for over thirty days. The provisions they initially brought had long since been consumed. Later, by sending gang members down the mountain, they had managed to exchange the salt for small amounts of food, allowing this remnant of the Wild Wolf Gang to survive until today.

The heavy snowfall in the past few days had made the mountain paths difficult to travel. The surrounding villages had no surplus grain. Although salt was a necessity, the impoverished villagers had limited purchasing power, leading to increasingly scarce food reserves.

Their meals had been reduced from three a day to two, and both were thin porridge.

Eating two meals a day was manageable usually, but with the severe cold and lack of meat to supplement their diet, it was becoming unbearable.

Zhao Huaien took half a bag of white rice from the side room, poured it into a clay pot, added ice and snow, and finally covered it with a wooden lid. The firewood below burned fiercely.

Everyone watched, their mouths watering, wishing they could just grab the raw rice and eat it.

With the shortage of food, only those in positions of authority could distribute meals.

Half an hour later, the aroma of rice porridge filled the air.

Zhao Huaien opened the wooden lid, added half a pound of salt and some unpalatable wild vegetables, cooked for another ten minutes, then uncovered it to eat. He first took a complete porcelain bowl and filled it with a generous portion of wild vegetable porridge.

The other gang members, using broken porcelain shards and cracked pottery found in the temple as bowls, eagerly scooped up the porridge and drank it, not caring about the heat as they shoveled it into their mouths.

"Xia, drink this bowl of porridge. You haven't eaten in two days."

"Let the brothers eat first."

Seeing that all the brothers had received porridge, Zhao Xia finally picked up her bowl and took two sips.

She thought: Today's porridge is a bit thick. I wonder if we have enough food left.

Crash!

A broken bowl fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

"The porridge, the porridge..."

The gang member pointed at the large pot where the porridge was cooked, trying to speak but unable to. His body had gone limp like mud, and he collapsed to the ground. Aside from his eyes and ears, he couldn't move a single finger.

"Someone poisoned the porridge..."

"Have the Dragon Scale Association's mongrels attacked?"

"Fight! Let's fight them..."

Before the gang members could even draw their swords, they all fell to the ground, exhibiting the same symptoms.

Just as Zhao Xia was about to stand up, she suddenly felt dizzy. She leaned against the altar and slowly sat down, trying to circulate her internal energy, only to find her meridians weak and her internal energy completely unresponsive.

She looked at the eleven people lying on the temple floor, a hint of mockery in her eyes.

"Get up, stop pretending."

"You didn't drink any of the porridge at all!"

The man got up from the ground, brushed the dust off his robe, and looked down at Zhao Xia, a smug smile on his lips.

His first thought was that he finally didn't have to look up to her anymore, waiting for her gaze, and his heart instantly felt incredibly relieved.

Zhao Xia's eyes blazed with anger: "You sold out the Wild Wolf Gang, Zhao Huaien!"

Zhao Huaien chuckled: "Xia, haven't you suspected me for a long time?"

"I didn't expect it was really you! Why?"

Zhao Huaien walked to the altar and squatted down, reaching out to place his hand on the woman's face.

Zhao Xia reached for the Xuanhua Axe, only to find she couldn't channel her Internal Energy. It felt like seven or eight tenths of her strength had been drained.

The Xuanhua Axe remained motionless.

A trace of obsession flickered in Zhao Huaien's eyes: "Why? You ask why? Don't you really know?"

Zhao Xia spat out two words: "Traitor!"

Zhao Huaien seemed not to hear her, gently stroking her cheek: "Because of you, Xia. I like you too much, I want to have you too much."

"You dog, you're disgusting."

Zhao Huaien moved closer and closer to Zhao Xia, his eyes burning with intensity.

"I'm a dog?"

"I gave you all a chance!"

"I begged Zhao Laodao. I knew he wouldn't pass the position of gang leader to me, and I never dared to hope for it. As long as I could be with you, Xia, I would have been willing to marry into the Zhao family as a live-in son-in-law. But..."

Zhao Huaien's face contorted, and he lowered his voice:

"But none of you gave me a chance."

"There was no other way, so I had to find the Dragon Scale Association."

Actually, that night, Adoptive Father and the five elders were all drugged with 'Five Fragrance Muscle Softening Powder' in their wine. The Dragon Scale Association broke in, and Adoptive Father couldn't even draw his saber before Lin Kun shattered his heart meridian with a palm strike and then chopped off his head.

Zhao Xia's eyes widened in fury: "Beast, I'll kill you."

Zhao Huaien looked at the woman's powerless state, feeling immense satisfaction. He laughed heartily: "Might as well tell you, you still thought Liu Dachui would come back?"

Zhao Xia's face turned pale: "It... it was a trap by the Dragon Scale Association?"

"The Black Pine Forest is already ambushed with Dragon Scale Association experts, just waiting for them to walk into their deaths."

Zhao Huaien placed his hand on his chest and slowly unbuttoned his grey leather robe, revealing the white undergarment beneath. Her two peaks trembled, almost breaking free from the fabric's restraint, erupting outward.

He lowered his head and sniffed it with obsession.

"Beast... beast..."

The effects of the Five Fragrance Muscle Softening Powder took hold, making it difficult for Zhao Xia to even speak. She couldn't even bite her tongue to commit suicide. All she could do was stare with her blood-red eyes, wishing she could tear Zhao Huaien to pieces.

"Xia, I'm sorry to you, my sworn brother."

"Originally, I had planned for us to consummate our marriage today and then hold the wedding ceremony, growing old together."

"Who knew... Lin Kun also took a fancy to you."

"He said you were so voluptuous, you'd definitely give the Lin family sons."

"There's no other way, I'm already with the Dragon Scale Association."

"However, I'll have you first, then I'll give you to Lin Kun."

The layer of undergarment was slowly lifted, revealing the snow-covered mountains.

Just as Zhao Huaien was about to feast, he suddenly heard a voice from behind him.

"Well, well, I guess I've come at an inconvenient time!"