"Going Home"

Learn from the strengths of the barbarians to defeat the barbarians.

Even in the throes of unbearable agony, Liu Chengqi could not help widening his eyes in shock at this Divine Move by Chu Huai Xu.

This was clearly the first form of the Eight Trigrams Palm of Boundless Heaven and Earth he had taught him!

Senior Brother Liu lay on the ground, gravely injured and completely unable to fight back.

He could not help coughing, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth as a stabbing pain shot through his chest.

But the way he looked at Chu Huai Xu gradually changed, as though he were looking at a dead man.

"Don't look at me like that. I can guess that you probably have some background." Chu Huai Xu crouched down, his expression unchanged.

He raised his right hand and gently patted Liu Chengqi's right cheek, saying as he did so:

"You can even connect teaching martial arts with ingratitude."

"Didn't I pay you? Hmm?"

"Answer me!"

With every sentence Chu Huai Xu spoke, he lightly slapped Liu Chengqi's face once.

Liu Chengqi had never suffered such humiliation. His eyes nearly spat fire.

He struggled to raise his right hand. Even with his severe injuries, he still had plenty of viciousness left in him.

But Chu Huai Xu, crouching on the ground, was faster. With a sharp crack, he crippled that arm as well.

"That was the hand that got fresh just now, right?" His tone remained calm.

Senior Brother Liu's fractured arm produced nothing but waves of agonized screams.

Han Shuangjiang watched from the side, her ten fingers unconsciously curling into fists.

This was her first time seeing this side of Chu Huai Xu.

Cold, ruthless, decisive!

Since the other party had struck first, he would show no mercy.

Those four words surfaced in her mind once more—the heart of a fierce beast, the appearance of a crane!

Since Liu Chengqi had just tried to use his lecherous hand on her, Han Shuangjiang felt no sympathy for him whatsoever.

Of the four protagonists in Borrowed Sword, she had been given the script of the Great Female Lead. Naturally, she was not some nauseating hypocritical saint.

Chu Huai Xu had stood up for her, so she would make her position clear.

After her brief astonishment, the thought that arose in this pauper's mind was actually still: One hour is one lesson, and we've only studied for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense. That's ten taels of silver—ten taels!

The next moment, she saw Chu Huai Xu extend his right hand and lightly pat Liu Chengqi's cheek again. Staring at him, he said, "Cancel the lessons. Got it?"

When Liu Chengqi did not respond, he simply stared fixedly at him, his gaze growing colder and more indifferent. His right hand, patting Liu Chengqi's cheek, also unconsciously grew stronger each time.

Before long, Chu Huai Xu walked out of the small courtyard with Han Shuangjiang, thoroughly satisfied as he put the ten taels of silver back into his Storage Token.

He had his own principles. He had not taken even one extra tael.

After this little incident, the two of them returned to the market.

It was already noon. Chu Huai Xu spotted a small food stall and was about to sit down for a bite, but Han Shuangjiang pulled him away.

He lowered his head and glanced at the slender jade hand tugging at his sleeve. Han Shuangjiang immediately let go.

"Let's... let's buy vegetables instead." She still insisted on this point.

Studying a mortal martial art had nearly cost twenty taels of silver. It was only ten taels because the other party had harbored lecherous intentions.

This made Han Shuangjiang feel more and more that the family's "surplus grain" was actually not very abundant and that their financial situation was extremely unhealthy.

Chu Huai Xu had never imagined that Han Shuangjiang, the Great Female Lead beloved by countless female players in Borrowed Sword, would be so miserly to the bone.

Since all the money being spent was his, she no longer sounded icy when expressing her opinions. Instead, she spoke in a tone of discussion.

"Fine." Chu Huai Xu agreed, and this veteran companion-for-hire added, "As you wish."

Those simple words filled the pauper with delight, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

While purchasing ingredients, this cold mountain also became much more long-winded than usual, insisting on comparing prices between three different shops.

Normally, she was as sparing with words as gold. Before paying, she would wear a cold expression and haggle as much as she could.

She really knows how to live within her means. Chu Huai Xu thought.

Along the way, the two of them passed a tavern.

Someone was hawking wine outside: "Erlang Wine! Fine Erlang Wine!"

Han Shuangjiang watched helplessly as Chu Huai Xu stopped walking.

A horrifying thought flashed through her mind.

—We're going to spend big!

"Erlang Wine? Isn't that famous wine from the Moon Kingdom?" Chu Huai Xu asked, stopping in his tracks.

"Exactly. I didn't expect you to know your stuff, little brother. The earliest brewing technique for this wine came from Erlang County in the Moon Kingdom," the peddler said.

Chu Huai Xu nodded slightly, reminded of the famous Lang Wine from Earth.

Lang Wine was called Lang Wine because it came from Erlang Town in Sichuan Province.

With the great calamity approaching, the Mirror Kingdom and the Moon Kingdom—whose friction had once been constant—had eased their relations somewhat in recent years.

Even when the two countries had been at daggers drawn, trade between them had been unavoidable. Now, it seemed they had entered a honeymoon period, and trade had become even more frequent.

Even the taxes had been reduced somewhat.

Therefore, it was not strange to see fine wine from the Moon Kingdom being sold here.

He even suspected that this tavern was an official Dao Sect enterprise.

After pondering for a moment, Chu Huai Xu deliberately did not ask the price and simply said, "Give me one jar."

The iceberg behind him was so startled that she hurried forward and began haggling.

There was nothing she could do. The silver belonged to him. At most, she had the right to offer suggestions, not make decisions.

Seeing Han Shuangjiang like this, the more Chu Huai Xu looked at her, the more amusing he found it.

After teasing this World Protagonist, Chu Huai Xu accepted the jar of Erlang Wine handed over by the peddler.

"Let's go. We're going home," he said.

When she heard the words "we're going home," Han Shuangjiang froze for a moment.

The two of them returned home laden with goods. Halfway there, Chu Huai Xu suddenly stopped and looked east.

"If I remember correctly, Steward Niu's courtyard is in that direction, right?" He calculated the time and asked.

"Mm." The iceberg had lost her earlier liveliness and gave a simple nod in response.

"Take this jar of wine to Steward Niu," Chu Huai Xu instructed.

"Me?" She frowned in confusion.

Han Shuangjiang was not resisting being ordered around. She simply did not understand. The money had clearly been spent by him, so why did he want her to deliver it alone?

Chu Huai Xu did not answer. He merely looked at her beautiful eyes, wanting to see whether this World Protagonist could figure it out.

A few seconds later, she spoke. "You're afraid..."

She hesitated, unable to finish.

Back in that courtyard, Chu Huai Xu had said to Liu Chengqi: I can guess that you have some background.

From the various signs, Han Shuangjiang could also realize this.

At that moment, Chu Huai Xu nodded at her, indicating that she had guessed correctly.

In an instant, Han Shuangjiang's pretty face darkened, and that unbearable feeling surged through her once more.

This had all happened because of her.

No matter how the world disguised it, in the end, it was still survival of the fittest. Being beautiful yet weak was itself an original sin!

That was also one of the reasons she had always longed to cultivate and grow stronger.

Unexpectedly, Chu Huai Xu snorted at that moment. "Oh, who are you making that face for? I'm so tall and handsome. Do you think I've had fewer troubles because of that? You'll get used to it!"

Hearing this, Han Shuangjiang could only think: Why is this Fox Face such a pain?

She accepted the jar of Erlang Wine from Chu Huai Xu and followed his instructions, heading east.

After walking only a few steps, she suddenly stopped and called softly, "Chu Huai Xu."

"Hmm?" Chu Huai Xu turned back to look at her.

"Why aren't you coming with me?" she asked.

Since he had already guessed there might be hidden danger, why were they splitting up?

Chu Huai Xu looked at her as if she were an idiot. "Who spends every day guarding against thieves?"

"If—just if. If Liu Chengqi wants revenge and definitely has some background, and he sees us visiting Steward Niu's home today, will they make their move today?"

"But there's always tomorrow. Do you understand?"

"You can't be certain he'll just swallow this grievance, either."

Hearing this, Han Shuangjiang felt that he had a point. She could not entrust her entire safety to the enemy's rationality.

Chu Huai Xu had always believed that the world was one enormous makeshift stage. There was no such thing as someone acting irrationally simply because they had been given a "lowered-intelligence halo."

How many people in this world remained rational their entire lives?

In fact, many people had only been born because their fathers had acted impulsively while charging into the cave.

People were ultimately ruled by their emotions.

Chu Huai Xu knew trouble was bound to come, so he had instead chosen to humiliate Liu Chengqi thoroughly.

That way, he could enjoy himself while also making the other party come knocking sooner. Everyone could settle things quickly instead of dragging out the plot and having to stay on guard all the time.

At that moment, Han Shuangjiang looked at the young man standing not far away and spoke again. "So you chose to go home first, letting them come looking for you of their own accord and luring yourself into danger, while sending me to get reinforcements?"

"Yep!" Chu Huai Xu replied.

"You're certain Steward Niu will intervene?" Han Shuangjiang asked.

"Absolutely," Chu Huai Xu answered. He felt that Old Niu might even be more anxious than she was.

"Fine." The Cold-faced girl replied.

Then she hurried forward, handed the wine jar to Chu Huai Xu, and said with utmost seriousness and resolve:

"I'll go home. You deliver the wine."