Buying Wine for You

"They say the old emperor had a legitimate son back then, and the Empress's Lineage wasn't to be trifled with, either, so he never brought this bastard son home. He just looked after him in secret." The bandit kept rambling. "But once the Crown Prince died, Luo Zhenwu's status suddenly became a whole different matter... Before that, who gave a damn which onion in the patch Luo Zhenwu was?"

Zhao Changhe had gone numb.

Was this why the Four Symbols Cult and the Blood God Cult had wiped out the Luo Family? Cut off the emperor's bloodline, and the whole realm would truly fall into chaos.

But here was the problem: when the Crown Prince died, wouldn't the old emperor have rushed to the Luo Family in a blazing panic to fetch his son? Why had he still left Luo Zhenwu there... Besides, judging by the Luo Family's behavior, they themselves hadn't even known about something as momentous as the Crown Prince's death, had they? Otherwise, how could Luo Zhenwu still have been in the mood to toy with village girls?

Or perhaps it was all just wild speculation, and the Luo Family had suffered a calamity out of nowhere.

He asked cautiously, "When did the Crown Prince die? Before Luo Zhenwu, or after?"

The bandit clapped his hands. "Now, isn't that a coincidence? It was the very afternoon you cut down Luo Zhenwu, boss, just a few hours earlier! Luo Zhenwu had just become the last little seedling left, so that blade of yours, Boss Zhao, really... You could say it hacked open the beginning of a chaotic age. How could you not become famous?"

Zhao Changhe drew a deep breath.

Judging by when the Blood God Cult had headed south, they had planned to kill Luo Zhenwu before the Crown Prince died... Had that been a coincidence, or had the Crown Prince's death been part of their scheme all along, with both sides acting at once?

First Seat Tang's words from that day surfaced in his mind: "The gravity of this matter is beyond your understanding... You will regret it."

He hadn't come because he had received Master Luo's plea for help, nor had he simply failed to wait for the main force. There had never been any main force at all. Most likely, Master Luo's plea really hadn't reached the capital yet... Instead, once the Crown Prince died that afternoon, he had rushed over to retrieve the other son in secret and happened to run into them.

Seen that way, the Luo Family's disaster hadn't come out of nowhere. There really was something to the story.

This matter was indeed grave-so grave that Zhao Changhe stood stunned for a long while before suddenly throwing back his head and laughing. "The Position Card, the Imperial Palace, the Dragon Throne. So that's how they're connected, hahaha! What fucking use is that connection? You stinking blind bastard, fuck your whole damn family!"

The bandit: "?"

Smiling, Zhao Changhe patted his shoulder. "I've got the picture now. Thanks, brother."

One stroke of his blade had hacked open a chaotic age.

How could a chaotic age be hacked into existence by his blade alone? With Luo Zhenwu being such a dickhead, letting him take the throne would have been the real disaster for the common people.

So he had cut him down. Hadn't he simply rid the world of a great villain?

At that thought, the nervous drumming in Zhao Changhe's heart vanished at once... In fact, his mood improved. It was the exhilaration of finally solving the riddle of the cards that had always stuck like a bone in his throat.

There were still a few puzzling things about it, though. The way the Luo father and son had spoken to each other didn't fit, and if killing Luo Zhenwu had been the sole aim, sending an assassin would have done. Why make such a grand spectacle of exterminating the whole family...

Who cares? Whether it's true or not, does it change my situation at all?

It didn't. Either way, he was wanted, and either way, he couldn't go anywhere.

Better to collect some food and take it back to Luo Qi. Life still had to go on.

Today's conversation had taken a long time, so he returned even later than yesterday. The sun had completely set, and he could no longer see the road. Yet when he reached the wooden hut, Luo Qi still wasn't back. Zhao Changhe frowned, losing even the desire to put in extra training. He paced back and forth, looking toward the road from the stockade entrance.

He had already worried yesterday that Luo Qi might run into danger. Nothing had happened, but that didn't mean the danger wasn't there. It could strike on any day.

Could today be the day?

At last, Zhao Changhe could wait no longer. He picked up his long saber and headed out. He had barely gone a few steps when he saw Luo Qi strolling back with his hands behind his back. Luo Qi seemed a little startled to see him rushing out in such a panic, then immediately realized why. His eyes curved slightly. "I'm back, I'm back."

Zhao Changhe let out a breath, too, then frowned. "Why are you so late today... Huh, wait..."

He sniffed. "You don't smell right. Before, I could smell that sour stink on you even upwind. How come it's gone?"

Luo Qi's eyes curved further. "I just went to the mountain stream out back and had a bath. I couldn't stand stinking like that anymore. It felt like lice were about to start crawling all over me."

"Winter swimming? Badass." Zhao Changhe felt tempted, but also a little scared. He had never tried swimming in winter. He felt he couldn't stand even taking his clothes off, let alone getting into the water. Sure enough, someone at the first level of the Profound Pass could do whatever he pleased...

"You should go, too. You stink to high heaven. Who'd sleep with you?" Luo Qi had found himself an excellent excuse. "I wasn't being fussy before. You really did stink that badly."

Zhao Changhe's face turned woeful. "It's so cold. You can take it at the first level of the Profound Pass, but I'm just a newbie."

"You're a grown man. Even people who've never practiced martial arts dare to get in the water in winter. You've trained for a few days, at least. Don't chicken out." Smiling, Luo Qi brought his hands out from behind his back, revealing a wine gourd. "I brought you some warm wine. It should help a little."

Zhao Changhe was pleasantly surprised. "Where'd you get warm wine?"

"I went into town today and bought a few things." Like a conjurer, Luo Qi produced an oilpaper parcel as well. "There's some roast meat, too. A reward for all your hard work training."

Zhao Changhe asked in surprise, "You aren't paying out of your own pocket and handing these things in to meet your quota, are you? However much money you brought when you left home, it won't last."

"I sent them hunting today... There aren't many wild animals in winter, but there are still some. We got a few pheasants and rabbits to hand in and barely scraped by. That also meant we finished fairly early, so I found time to go into town." Luo Qi put on a stern face. "Just tell me whether you want it. You've got so much damn nonsense to say."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Zhao Changhe snatched up both the wine gourd and the oilpaper parcel and ran outside. "I'll eat by the water, then jump in while I'm still warm."

Luo Qi strolled into the hut, spotted the food on the table, and smiled faintly.

Disaster had struck him without warning, and he really hadn't had much money on him. Buying those few things today had used it all up. He hadn't eaten anything himself, because he knew there would be food waiting when he returned.

You saved food for me; I bought wine for you.

As it should be.

Faintly, a commotion reached him from the stockade entrance. Someone shouted, "No leaving the stockade at night!"

Zhao Changhe's voice rang out. "How come I've never heard of any curfew? Don't go waving a chicken feather around like it's an imperial command. Fuck, I'm just going out for a bath. What's with all this bullshit?"

"Uh... B-Boss Zhao..."

"Oh, it's you guys. You've got gate duty, too? All right, all right, we're all friends here. Move aside."

"If we'd known it was you, Boss Zhao, we'd never have stopped you. Not with how close we are."

The voices faded into the distance.

He's already the boss, huh... At this rate, he's looking more and more like a mountain bandit. Luo Qi ate at a leisurely pace, then suddenly chuckled despite himself.

A simple, honest youth?

Bandit or not, he was plainly a born man of the martial world. He had adapted to this den of demons even faster than Luo Qi had, and in just a few days, he was already thriving. Heaven knew why the fellow had initially given the impression of being so innocent and guileless. It really was remarkable.

Luo Qi suddenly thought that he and Zhao Changhe weren't actually all that close. How many words had they exchanged before disaster struck? Zhao Changhe treated him well mainly because he felt lonely and uneasy in this demon's den far from home. Luo Qi was at least a familiar face, so he naturally felt close to him.

If this continued and Zhao Changhe took to the place like a fish to water, getting thoroughly acquainted with everyone, Luo Qi would no longer be anything special. Perhaps Zhao Changhe would become closer to others than he was to him.

That was fine, too. Everyone had their own road.

Luo Qi leisurely cleared away the bowl and chopsticks, then sat on the bed, closed his eyes, and practiced.

He actually worked very hard, too... It was just that Zhao Changhe was a little too freakish. Luo Qi had never seen a freak who pushed himself that hard in training.

After he circulated his energy through dozens of cycles, footsteps sounded. Zhao Changhe had returned.

Luo Qi opened his eyes in surprise. "Why are you back so soon?"

"When I got there, I thought, how could I drink wine alone? Of course I had to come back and drink with you." Fresh and invigorated after his bath, Zhao Changhe fetched bowls and poured the wine, smiling. "It wasn't as cold as I imagined, either. I'm still damn tough! Let's go bathe together next time."

Who's going to bathe with you!

Luo Qi pursed his lips. Watching the wisps of steam gradually rise from the wine, which still held a little warmth, he inexplicably felt much better. Searching for something to say, he remarked, "Speaking of which, I saw your wanted notice at the town gate. The court seems to be taking this seriously. With that face of yours, it looks like you'll have a hard time traveling outside from now on."

"Of course! Let me tell you, I heard why they wiped out the Luo Family today. That dickhead Luo Zhenwu was actually an imperial prince!" Zhao Changhe handed him a bowl of wine and grinned. "You were at the manor for so long. Could you tell that bastard had that sort of dragon aura?"

The hand Luo Qi extended to take the bowl trembled slightly. The wine swayed, sending ripples across its surface.

But he quickly smiled as though nothing had happened. "That really is a shocking reason. It scared me so much my hand shook... You really will have to be careful when you go out from now on."