Huaien

Outside, wind and snow raged without pause, while Guan Yu's divine might loomed impressively within the temple.

"Xia, do you suspect me?"

Zhao Huaien rose to his feet, looking utterly incredulous.

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

"Fine. I'll tell you."

"The Dragon Scale Association had countless experts. My adoptive father knew that returning would mean certain death. He lashed my horse..."

"That was how I escaped!"

Zhao Huaien slowly removed his outer robe. A blade wound stretched from his left shoulder to his right abdomen, with newly grown granulation tissue bulging and twisting outward. It looked horrifying.

The wound had been dangerously close. If it had been just three inches higher, it would have damaged his heart meridians, and even an immortal physician could not have saved him.

If it had been just three inches deeper, his abdomen would have split open and his intestines spilled out. Given the Wild Wolf Gang's current life of hiding and fleeing, he would still have been doomed.

Endless grief filled Zhao Huaien's eyes. "Xia, do you really think I would betray my adoptive father and join the Dragon Scale Association? In your heart, am I, Zhao Huaien, truly such an ungrateful wretch?"

"Don't forget—you bear the surname Zhao, and so do I!"

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

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

Zhao Xia rose and walked over to Zhao Huaien, personally draping his robe over him.

Standing together, the woman was still half a head taller.

Zhao Xia clearly had foreign blood in her veins. She had a high nose, deep-set eyes, fair skin, and a full figure that did not match her actual age. On closer inspection, she possessed an extraordinarily captivating blend of innocence and allure.

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

"Now that he's gone, we're each other's only family."

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

Zhao Huaien took the woman's hand. His eyes burned as though two flames were reflected in them.

Crackle! A few sparks burst from the fire.

"Brother Huaien, as long as we siblings work together, we can certainly destroy the Dragon Scale Association, avenge Father, and rebuild the Wild Wolf Gang."

Zhao Xia calmly withdrew her hand and sat back down before the fire.

"You're right. The way you speak is becoming more and more like our adoptive father. Xia, you'll definitely lead the Wild Wolf Gang to prosperity and glory."

Zhao Huaien's hand remained suspended in the air. He looked at the tall, voluptuous woman with a smile in his eyes, as though he were gratified.

The side room to the left of the altar held twenty loads of salt, weighing roughly two thousand pounds.

They had hidden in this temple for more than thirty days. The food they had brought at first had long since run out. Later, they sent gang members down the mountain to exchange salt for small amounts of food, allowing these remnants of the Wild Wolf Gang to survive until today.

Heavy snow had fallen for several days. The roads down the mountain were difficult, and the nearby villages had no surplus food. Although salt was a necessity, the impoverished villagers had limited purchasing power, causing their food reserves to dwindle even further.

Their meals had been reduced from three a day to two, and both consisted of thin gruel.

Eating twice a day would have been bearable under normal circumstances, but with the bitter cold and no meat to replenish them, it was extremely difficult to endure.

Zhao Huaien brought out half a sack of white rice from the side room and poured it into a clay pot. He added ice and snow, then covered it with a wooden lid. The firewood beneath burned fiercely.

Everyone watched, swallowing hard, wishing they could simply grab and eat the raw rice.

With food in short supply, only those in charge could distribute it.

Half an hour later, the fragrance of rice porridge spread through the temple.

Zhao Huaien opened the wooden lid, added half a pound of salt and some unpalatable wild vegetables, then cooked it for another ten minutes before lifting the lid and serving it. He first took out an intact porcelain bowl and filled it with wild-vegetable porridge.

The other gang members used chipped porcelain and broken tiles they had found in the temple as bowls. They eagerly ladled out the porridge and gulped it down without even caring that it was hot.

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

"Let the brothers eat first."

After seeing the brothers start drinking, Zhao Xia finally picked up her bowl and took two sips.

Today's porridge is a little thicker. I wonder if we still have enough food.

Crash!

Half of a broken bowl fell to the ground and shattered completely.

"There's something in the porridge..."

The gang member pointed at the large clay pot of porridge, wanting to say something but unable to get the words out. His entire body went limp like a puddle of mud, and he collapsed to the floor. Apart from seeing with his eyes and hearing with his ears, he could not move even a single finger.

"Someone poisoned the porridge..."

"Did those bastards from the Dragon Scale Association attack?"

"Let's fight them! Fight them to the death..."

Before the gang members could even draw their swords, they collapsed one after another, all displaying the same symptoms.

Zhao Xia was about to stand when she suddenly felt dizzy. She leaned against the altar and slowly sat down, circulating her energy to regulate her breathing, only to discover that her meridians were weak and she could not summon her Internal Energy at all.

She looked at the eleven people sprawled across the temple, a trace of mockery appearing in her eyes.

"Get up. Stop pretending."

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

The man climbed to his feet and brushed the dust from his robe. Looking down at Zhao Xia, he revealed a smug smile.

His first thought was actually that he no longer had to look up at her and wait for her favor. An immense exhilaration immediately surged through him.

Zhao Xia's eyes blazed with fury. "You betrayed the Wild Wolf Gang, Zhao Huaien!"

Zhao Huaien chuckled softly. "Xia, didn't you suspect me long ago?"

"I never thought it would really be you! Why?"

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

Zhao Xia reached for the Xuanhua Axe, only to find that she could not channel her Internal Energy. It was as though seventy or eighty percent of her strength had been drained away.

The Xuanhua Axe did not budge.

A trace of obsession appeared in Zhao Huaien's eyes. "Why? You're asking why? Do you really not know?"

Zhao Xia spat out two words. "Traitor!"

As though he had not heard her, Zhao Huaien gently stroked the woman's cheek. "Because of you, Xia. I like you too much. I want you too badly."

"You filthy dog. You make me sick."

Zhao Huaien drew closer and closer to Zhao Xia, his gaze burning.

"I'm a dog?"

"I gave you all a chance!"

"I went to beg Zhao Laodao. I knew he would never pass the gang leader's position to me, and I never demanded it. As long as I could be with you, Xia, I was even willing to marry into the Zhao family. But..."

Zhao Huaien's face twisted viciously as he lowered his voice.

"But none of you gave me a chance."

"I had no choice. I could only seek out the Dragon Scale Association."

"Actually, that night, my adoptive father and the five leaders were all drugged with Five Fragrance Muscle Softening Powder in their wine. The Dragon Scale Association stormed in. My adoptive father didn't even manage to draw his blade before Lin Kun shattered his heart meridians with one palm strike, then cut off his head."

Zhao Xia's eyes nearly split with rage. "You beast! I'll kill you!"

Looking at the woman's helpless state, Zhao Huaien felt immeasurably pleased. He laughed loudly. "I might as well tell you—did you really think Liu Dachui could return?"

Zhao Xia's face paled. "Was it... was it a trap set by the Dragon Scale Association?"

"Experts from the Dragon Scale Association have already ambushed them in Black Pine Forest. They're just waiting for them to walk into their deaths."

Zhao Huaien placed his hands before his chest and slowly undid his gray leather robe, revealing the white undergarment beneath. Two peaks trembled unsteadily, almost breaking free of the cloth and bursting out.

He lowered his head and inhaled deeply, intoxicated.

"You beast... you..."

The effects of the Five Fragrance Muscle Softening Powder took hold. Zhao Xia could barely speak, and she could not even bite her tongue to kill herself. She could only glare with blood-red eyes, wishing she could carve strips of flesh from Zhao Huaien's body.

"Xia, your elder brother has wronged you."

"I had everything planned. After we consummated our marriage today, I would marry you and grow old with you."

"But who could have known... Lin Kun took a liking to you too."

"He said that with such a voluptuous figure, you would surely bear sons for the Lin Family."

"I had no choice. I'm already a member of the Dragon Scale Association."

"But I'll have my way with you first, then send you to Lin Kun."

"Rather than let Lin Kun have you, you might as well be with me once."

The undergarment was slowly lifted, revealing snow-white hills.

Just as Zhao Huaien was preparing to feast, a voice suddenly rang out behind him.

"Well, well. I came at a bad time!"