Chapter 23

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Don’t lie to me.

“Young Hero, spare my life, spare my life!” Jia Yanxi cried for forgiveness.

This governor was in quite the sorry state; the wound on his shoulder had yet to heal, his brocade robes was stained with blood, and his two legs were broken. Locked up in the woodshed for a day now, he nearly blacked out from the pain. Unable to escape, he could only put his hands together and start praying for someone to save him.

He had not expected Huo Linfeng would come at dusk with a rope in hand, planning to take him away.

Huo Linfeng tied Jia Yanxi up and dragged him up the stairs like a sack. Tonight, this guy is going to get interrogated. Up the four hundred step journey, Jia Yanxi eventually stopped sobbing. He wiped his face: “Young Hero, I’m the current Grand Councilor’s nephew! Chen Ruoyin’s nephew!”

Huo Linfeng hummed. Hey, he himself was the younger brother of the Great General. “Young Hero, Young Hero, listen to me.” Jia Yanxi tugged at Huo Linfeng’s robes, “If you just let me go, wealth needn’t be questioned, I can even make you an official!”

Huo Linfeng asked: “Which official position would you give me, hm?”

Jia Yanxi replied, “Young Hero is powerful. Becoming a general would be fitting.” With the opportunity to live dangling right before his eyes, he grasped hold of it, refusing to let go, “As a Buddhist, I don’t dare lie. Seeing how strong Young Hero is, it’s quite a waste of talent for you to wander around aimlessly like this. I’ll recommend you to the Grand Councilor. Who would that surnamed Huo be when the time comes?”

“Surnamed Huo?” Huo Linfeng raised his eyebrows.

Jia Yanxi said: “The Marquis of Dingbei, of course. The collapse of the Huo Clan will happen sooner or later. Only if you side with the Grand Councilor are you truly safe.”

Huo Linfeng’s expression darkened immediately. The collapse of the Huo Clan, is it being sped up by the power hungry Grand Councilor or by the paranoid emperor? Huo Linfeng gazed into the distance as he climbed. The sun lowered beneath the western mountains, leaving a rosy red tint in its wake. The sunset eventually faded into the black night. The splendid only took a single moment to become the darkness.

He coiled the rope, hauling this dog official up the mountain.

In the praying hall, a dim light came from the small lantern dangling on a tree. At the desk inside, Rong Luoyun was currently absorbed in the Buddhist scriptures. Hearing some noise outside, he poured a bowl of water and continued reading.

Soon, Huo Linfeng arrived with a tied-up Jia Yanxi. He came into the house to get some water. “Palace Lord, I left that guy in the yard.” A bowl sat readily available on the table. He knocked back his head and drank it all, “This guy is so heavy. I didn’t feel tired carrying you, yet carrying him was so exhausting.”

Rong Luoyun stayed silent. As he flipped the page, he secretly looked up and saw the other person was covered in sweat.

Huo Linfeng suddenly asked: “Palace Lord, how do you plan to interrogate him?”

Rong Luoyun didn’t answer. It was hard not to associate the word “torture” with interrogation. It’s just that they were currently at a monastery, so it might alarm the disciples at the foot of the mountain. Seeing his hesitation, Huo Linfeng pulled away the scriptures Rong Luoyun was reading and blew out the candle.

The room dipped into darkness. Before Rong Luoyun could inquire, his left arm was taken, gently, as if the other party feared he would hurt his wound. He was carefully pulled up and led behind the doorway.

Huo Linfeng shut the door tightly. The room was now completely dark with not a trace of light, whereas the courtyard was still partially illuminated. He raised his arm and hugged Rong Luoyun’s back, pulling the person in front of himself. Half embracing Rong Luoyun, he said in a low voice: “Palace Lord, look outside.”

The entire courtyard could be seen through a hole in the broken-down wall. The lantern swayed in the breeze, a few birds were perched on the branches, and then, there was that eyesore Jia Yanxi sitting on the ground, currently looking in their direction with shifty eyes.

The sky was inky, completely dark. Familiar footsteps quietly approached.

The wild dogs have made their grand entrance home, with a few panting loudly and others carrying wild hare and pheasants.

They flocked to the praying hall. Catching sight of a live person sitting there, they immediately began barking thunderously. More than ten black dogs leaped wildly into the courtyard, some even jumping as tall as a person, with their claws and teeth ready.

Jia Yanxi’s eyes widened. He threw his hands over his head and started shaking like a leaf. Even Rong Luoyun who was watching from a wall away shivered coldly.

Huo Linfeng detected this shiver and tightened his arms. His remark was sarcastic, but he was actually trying to coax: “I heard from the rumors that Palace Lord knows how to train bobcats, so how are you so afraid of dogs?”

Rong Luoyun answered: “Maybe it’s because I’m wounded. I’m not usually afraid of them.”

Huo Linfeng comforted: “Don’t worry, I’m here.”

The sentence “I’m here” was like a pebble dropped into water, sending out ripples, stirring up the calmness in Rong Luoyun’s heart. He ran through the events from the past two days. Huo Linfeng had saved his life and harmed his own vital energy to treat his wound. After his heroic deeds, Huo Linfeng washed, dressed, and cooked for him, even doing all the small, trivial matters.

Of all the Great Disciples in the Extraordinary Palace, whether they were new or old, dead or alive, they couldn’t compare to this person. After letting his thoughts wander far away, he turned to ask: “Du Zhong, why are you —” He felt something warm on his face. A large hand lowered to cover his eyes.

The sound of ripping and shredding echoed through the courtyard. The group of dogs surrounded Jia Yanxi, wanting to swallow this grand feast whole.

Huo Linfeng felt himself to be a little ridiculous. Rong Luoyun had killed people like flies, so what was the use of covering his eyes? He dropped his hand. The light streaming through the hole illuminated those eyes. Those eyes gazed at him, hiding a hint of sorrow.

Rong Luoyun had a faint idea: “Do you think I’m a bad person?”

Huo Linfeng asked back: “Does Palace Lord think he is?”

He had murdered and committed evil, so he definitely cannot be considered a good person. But, Rong Luoyun wasn’t looking to be a good person anyway. Except, at this moment, he pursed his lips not knowing what to say. He wanted to pretend to be good, wanted to lie to this person and lie to himself. “I think…….” He said softly with his teeth clenched, “I think I’m an okay person.”

The other party didn’t catch his response. Huo Linfeng had just found the perfect opportunity to barge out into the courtyard to shoo the dogs away and hauled that dog official in. Rong Luoyun felt the cold wind blowing through the opened doors and sobered up. He swallowed his ramblings, as they were no longer appropriate for the situation.

The candle was lit again as Jia Yanxi waited to be interrogated.

The wild dogs ran around randomly outside, causing the sobbing Jia Yanxi to tremble all over. Huo Linfeng said: “It’s getting late so don’t waste our time. If you don’t explain clearly, I’ll throw you outside and let the dog bros have a midnight snack.”

Jia Yanxi nodded his head like he was pounding garlic. In fear of being eaten alive, he didn’t dare play any more tricks.

First, when the famine hit Han Prefecture, he did nothing to help. He took advantage of the worsening situation to make easy money by keeping the disaster relief provisions for himself. Rong Luoyun dipped his brush into ink, writing a book full of Jia Yanxi’s crimes. He seemed to be experienced with this. He did not inquire for the amount of money Jia Yanxi made, but directly asked: “Where did you hide the ledger?”

Jia Yanxi stared blankly. He couldn’t deceive, so he could only answer vaguely. Rong Luoyun didn’t have the patience. He picked a bowl up and threw it, accurately smashing into Jia Yanxi’s wound. Hiccuping and sobbing, with tears and mucus flying everywhere, this guy was even more aggrieved than a filial son at his parent’s funeral.

Next to the table, Huo Linfeng said in a small voice: “That’s the bowl I use to drink water……”

His voice hid a trace of blame. Rong Luoyun nudged a cup over and whispered coaxingly: “Use mine for now.”

They were clearly supposed to be interrogating people, yet over a coarse clay bowl, they started pulling and tugging at one another. Their interactions even caused the candle flame to flicker in protest. It was so weird that the prisoner sat there, examining the two in confusion. Even the dogs outside felt bothered and ran away in a hurry.

Jia Yanxi eventually stopped crying and resigned: “There’s a secret compartment in the water under the pavilion at the center of the lake. The ledger is there.” In addition to this, all the evil deeds he committed in his two years as an official were revealed.

Yet, he did not mention Chen Ruoyin at all in fear of implicating his family clan. He wasn’t that courageous.

Rong Luoyun did not miss a single word and finished writing the book despite the utter quantity of crimes. After investigating thoroughly, Huo Linfeng made Jia Yanxi look it through and sign it, then threw him into the kitchen to be locked up.

Interrogating wrongdoings was a task for officials. If Rong Luoyun was here solely to get revenge, what was he doing all this for? Huo Linfeng pondered on this as he headed back to the room. Standing next to the bed, Rong Luoyun was attempting to make the bed with only his right hand.

He came over to lend a hand and found that the mattress was no longer placed vertically, but horizontally. He questioned: “Why is the bed like this?”

Rong Luoyun answered: “This way, there’s enough room for two people.” He arranged the pillows and kicked the praying mat aside, “Since there’s enough space and you saved my life, I will permit you to sleep on the bed.”

Huo Linfeng’s already bright eyes brightened even more. This type of hard-to-satisfy person allowing him to sleep on the same bed meant his hard work finally paid off. He did not shy away. It has been a long time since he had laid down comfortably on a bed, so he immediately took off his outer robes and hopped on. Letting out a satisfied sigh, he even did a little roll.

After he settled down, Rong Luoyun was still standing there, towering over.

Huo Linfeng patted the bed: “Palace Lord, come.”

Rong Luoyun removed his shoes and got on the bed. He stepped over this person and laid down properly on the inside. He inched away from the other party, moving as far away as possible until he nearly touched the wall. The musty scent coming from the wall made him feel queasy.

Huo Linfeng, who loved to annoy people: “Palace Lord, are you facing the wall [1]?”

Rong Luoyun immediately flipped over, but turned too quickly. With his wounds starting to hurt again, he couldn’t help but curl into a ball. Huo Linfeing immediately moved to help him and placed a hand on his chest to relieve the pain. With his ears buzzing, Rong Luoyun remembered that time when Huo Linfeng was checking his heart meridian and suddenly started fuming. He let out a rare curse: “Stop fucking touching me!”

Huo Linfeng propped his body up: “I’m just getting rid of the pain. When I touched your back yesterday, how come you didn’t say anything then?”

A disciple talking back to a palace lord, is he trying to rebel? Rong Luoyun was in a feeble state and could only use his eyes to express his anger: “Did this lord ask you to heal me? Did I ask?” His peach blossom eyes shot needles, “If I remember correctly, it seems like I didn’t?”

Huo Linfeng retorted: “So what if you didn’t? Right now, you have my qi circling around your body. Are you going to pretend it isn’t there?” His young master’s attitude and general’s authority seeped out, “Did you not ask for help to dress? To wash your hair? Even me sleeping on this bed with you was your idea.” He snorted coldly, “It seems like Palace Lord not only enjoys killing after defiling, he even likes to burn bridges after crossing the river.”

Rong Luoyun was so enraged he grabbed a pillow wanting to beat him up but lacked the strength to do so. He could only wave it weaky a few times. Yet, Huo Linfeng fiercely grabbed his wrist, his anger turning into surprise: “This hand can move?!”

He stared blankly. The left hand he just used was unexpectedly starting to regain feeling. Huo Linfeng held Rong Luoyun’s waist and kneaded his fingers one by one. When Huo Linfeng arrived at his pinky, he hooked onto it and asked Rong Luoyun if he could curl his finger.

It hurt a little, but he bore with it and did it.

With their pinkies hooked together, it felt as if they were two children making a pinky promise. Huo Linfeng tugged it lightly and said gently: “Make a pinky promise……” He made eye contact with Rong Luoyun, as if they weren’t bickering just a moment ago, “Palace Lord must not do dangerous things alone again.”

Their fingers were hooked together, but it felt as if their hearts were instead. Rong Luoyun asked: “If I do it again, would you still save me?”

Huo Linfeng replied: “I got resentment in return after saving. I’m not that miserable of a person.”

Rong Luoyun said: “Those were said in a fit of anger, and also…… I don’t know why I got angry.” He turned to stare at the old gray walls. The moldy smell cleared his head, “I’m really grateful for everything you did.”

Hot then cold, vicious then gentle. Like a beautiful madman.

Their hooked fingers swayed as Huo Linfeng finished the little pinky promise rhyme. Make a pinky promise, unbroken for a hundred years to come.

He tucked Rong Luoyun in and laid down some distance away with his back turned. He shut his eyes, feeling tired. Rong Luoyun was still staring into the darkness. He promised to never do anything dangerous alone, but what about the other party?

“Du Zhong?” He called out, “What do you promise?”

Everything felt fake. The other party carrying him up four hundred steps, wiping that drop of oil from his chin, covering his eyes, bickering with him, and making a pinky promise with him. It really did not feel true.

He hoped it was true, so he said seriously: “Don’t lie to me, okay?”

Huo Linfeng’s eyes snapped open.

His name, his past, his family, his end goal. They were all lies from the beginning.

He stayed silent, feigning sleep. Because this time, he did not want to lie to Rong Luoyun.

The author has something to say:

Xiao-Rong’s Diary Part II:

Spring, a breezy day.

Because of my wound, I sucked Du Zhong’s energy dry in order to heal. When we go back, I should let him rest for half a month. Ate roasted rabbit today. It smelled really good, but……it’s just a little too oily. Oh, and those Buddhist scriptures were not interesting at all, I was just putting on an act. Buddha, don’t blame me, I was wrong, I was wrong.

If you enjoy reading Riling Up the Jianghu and would like to support the author (please do if you can!!), please consider purchasing the raws here (guide on JJWXC here). Thanks for reading!

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Notes

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