Villainous Undercover (14)
After that, the four of them began to travel together.
After overcoming the initial awkward period, Gong Huan gradually adapted and started to become as talkative and lively as before. Thinking that Song Xuyi might be her future sister-in-law, Gong Huan treated Song Xuyi with even more warmth. Song Xuyi was originally easy to get along with, so the two of them got along extremely well as they interacted.
As for Fu Xiyu, being the big boss among the younger generation in the Taiji Sect, most of the juniors had been ground under her hand. Let alone chatting with Fu Xiyu, Gong Huan became somewhat timid upon seeing Fu Xiyu and instinctively hid in the position farthest from her.
In Song Xu’s view, this appeared to be Brother Gong’s fondness for his own sister, while not taking much to Fu Xiyu.
Song Xu felt that he should be happy for his sister, after all, the progress between his sister and Brother Gong was excellent. But somehow, Song Xu always felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart, inexplicably not wanting to see his sister and Brother Gong chatting happily.
Perhaps it’s because he was reluctant to part with his sister…
Song Xu engaged in difficult self-analysis. After all, only he and his sister were left in the Song family, relying on each other. Even though his sister had reached the age of marriage, he was still somewhat reluctant to let her marry.
However, Senior Sister Fu also seemed to have taken a liking to Brother Gong. As a good brother, he couldn’t let his sister and Fu Xiyu fall out because of Brother Gong. Although Song Xu was also somewhat afraid of Fu Xiyu, who often pinned him down and beat him, he still bravely pulled Fu Xiyu aside—
“Senior Sister Fu, what do you think of Brother Gong?” Song Xu carefully observed Fu Xiyu’s expression and spoke softly.
Fu Xiyu looked at Gong Huan, who was chatting happily with Song Xuyi, recalled Gong Huan’s performance in the sect and everyone’s evaluation of Gong Huan, trying hard to ignore the strange feeling in her heart, and objectively said: “Not bad!”
The smile on Song Xu’s face immediately became a bit hard to maintain.
He had previously lived with his master not far from the Taiji Sect and often encountered disciples from the Taiji Sect, naturally hearing rumors about Fu Xiyu. Except for being extremely close to Xuyi, Fu Xiyu had always been strict, and the words “not bad” were already considered high praise from her.
Most likely… Senior Sister Fu had truly taken a liking to Brother Gong!
But for the sake of his sister’s happiness, even Senior Sister Fu couldn’t be allowed to give in. Song Xu mustered up his courage and decided to fight for his sister—
“Senior Sister Fu, to be honest, I also think Brother Gong is quite good,” Song Xu took a deep breath, steeled himself to move closer to Fu Xiyu, and spoke in a lowered voice: “I’ve spent some time with Brother Gong lately, and I feel I know him quite well. Xuyi has now reached the age for marriage discussions, so I’ve been thinking that perhaps Brother Gong could become my brother-in-law. This time, inviting him to travel with us was also to let him and my sister meet. Now that the two of them are chatting so happily, I’m extremely pleased…”
Song Xu believed he had expressed himself very clearly and had explained his arrangements to Senior Sister Fu, letting her understand that Brother Gong was the husband he had in mind for his sister. Senior Sister Fu had cherished Xuyi for so long, she would surely understand his good intentions.
Sure enough, Senior Sister Fu turned her head and glanced at him.
“Hmm!”
Senior Sister Fu responded perfunctorily with a light sound, then continued to look in the direction of Xuyi and Brother Gong.
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This made Song Xu even more doubtful in his heart. What exactly did Senior Sister Fu mean by that “Hmm”? Moreover, the more Song Xu thought about it, the more he felt something was amiss: the way Senior Sister Fu had just looked at him—it seemed, like a look one would give to an idiot?
Since they had come to Song County, it was natural to experience the local scenery and customs. After nightfall, the three of them stayed in the main city of Song City.
The first floor of the inn was a restaurant. When the four of them went downstairs for dinner, a storyteller was speaking with great animation, recounting the latest news from the jianghu.
“The Demon Sect has wiped out three more sects recently, and has even started to target innocent civilians. It’s said that in a certain place in our Song County, there was a tragic case of an entire family being massacred. The minions of the Demon Sect are rampaging everywhere, causing widespread panic. To make matters worse, it seems that Sect Leader Lu of the Taiji Sect has been severely injured again…”
Upon hearing news related to Lu Dun, Song Xuyi’s chopsticks paused as she was picking up food, and she couldn’t help but look towards the storyteller.
Obviously, everyone was extremely interested in such matters. Someone tossed copper coins in front of the storyteller, who beamed with joy and continued his tale—
“It’s said that Sect Leader Lu, upon learning of the Demon Sect’s atrocities, became so enraged that he wanted to speed up his training progress, which led to a temporary qi deviation. But it’s not too serious, and he should recover after secluding himself for a while. With so many righteous heroes like Sect Leader Lu in our jianghu, the Demon Sect won’t be allowed to continue running rampant. It’s believed that before long, the righteous path of the jianghu will break through the Demon Sect, and then our days will become much more peaceful…”
The people below all chimed in agreement. The storyteller began to tell other stories, but Song Xuyi couldn’t help but purse her lips—
Upon hearing that Lu Dun was ill, Song Xuyi almost instinctively thought of the evil technique Lu Dun was practicing, after all, Fu Xiyu, who had been receiving Lu Dun’s chaotic true qi, had been brought out by herself…
But Song Xuyi knew there was another method to resolve chaotic true qi.
Thinking of the other method, Song Xuyi couldn’t help but shudder: After years of interaction, Song Xuyi also knew that although Lu Dun seemed easygoing, he was actually an extremely picky person inside. If he were to choose the other method, the person he picked would likely be of good character and appearance…
But Song Xuyi had no ability to consider those things. At present, all she could do was stabilize Fu Xiyu’s emotions and prevent Fu Xiyu from sacrificing herself for Lu Dun again.
Song Xuyi turned her head to look at Fu Xiyu, but unexpectedly found Fu Xiyu already looking at her, with a somewhat strange expression in her eyes. Song Xuyi’s heart sank, remembering that Fu Xiyu had seemed distracted all day. Fearing that Fu Xiyu might develop some undesirable thoughts, she quickly picked up a large chicken leg and placed it in Fu Xiyu’s bowl, smiling as she spoke: “Senior Sister, we still have a long journey ahead of us, and I’ve planned many places for us to visit…”
Fu Xiyu seemed to awaken from a dream, lowered her head to look at the chicken leg Song Xuyi had placed in her bowl, softly murmured an “Mm,” and slowly began to nibble on the chicken leg.
Upon hearing the news about Lu Dun, Fu Xiyu’s body had instinctively tensed up, but soon, looking at Song Xuyi so close by, Fu Xiyu adjusted her mindset. She couldn’t help but feel worried once again—
She had previously thought Song Xu was a reliable person who could take good care of Xuyi, but she never imagined Song Xu would be so muddled as to not distinguish between men and women, and even want to entrust Xuyi to Gong Huan…
How could she feel at ease about this?
Fu Xiyu took a deep breath and made up her mind: she would try to delay her plan of perishing together with Lu Dun and the Demon Sect, to live a bit longer—at least until she found someone trustworthy for Xuyi to spend her life with…
Song County has long valued culture, with all kinds of scholars and literati. Even the jianghu people there are not as rough as in other places, carrying a touch of scholarly elegance, fond of music, calligraphy, and painting. There are various jianghu gatherings locally, and they’ve even compiled a ranking of handsome men in Song County’s jianghu, collected into an album.
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Gong Huan was extremely interested in such jianghu gossip, and when passing by someone selling it on the street, she bought a copy.
Song Xu listened to Gong Huan and Song Xuyi commenting on the men in the album. Somehow, that strange, sour feeling in his heart grew stronger. Unexpectedly, Song Xu suddenly heard a familiar name.
During his two years of traveling the jianghu, Song Xu had once helped treat a man who was on the brink of death after being ambushed. That man had a face as handsome as jade, carried himself with courtesy, and introduced himself as Guo Li, the young master of the Guo Family Village in Song County. Song Xu hadn’t expected Guo Li to appear in this album as well.
Back then, Guo Li had enthusiastically invited Song Xu to visit the Guo Family Village, which Song Xu had casually agreed to but then forgotten. Only now did he suddenly remember this person.
Song Xu’s gaze involuntarily fell on Fu Xiyu beside him: After sounding out Fu Xiyu’s thoughts, Song Xu firmly believed that Fu Xiyu indeed had different feelings for Brother Gong, and he felt somewhat apologetic towards Fu Xiyu. He secretly resolved to introduce a man of both good character and appearance to Fu Xiyu as well. Now, seeing Guo Li, Song Xu had an idea in mind—
Guo Li’s martial arts were ordinary, but his face was as handsome as jade, while Senior Sister Fu, although plain in appearance, had extremely powerful martial arts. If the two of them were to form a union, it would be a case of female talent and male beauty, which could make for a good story.
But the prerequisite for forming a union was to let the two meet first…
Thinking this way, Song Xu mentioned that he had once saved Guo Li’s life and suggested visiting the Guo Family Village the next day.
The Guo Family Village happened to be on the route Song Xuyi had planned, and the master of the Guo Family was known for his generosity and had an excellent reputation in the jianghu. Naturally, Song Xuyi had no objections.
Early the next morning, the four of them bought some gifts in the street and then rode horses towards the Guo Family Village. By evening, they finally arrived near the Guo Family Village…
However, when they were about a hundred meters away from the Guo Family Village, Fu Xiyu suddenly stopped her horse and prevented the three behind her from going forward.
Song Xuyi and Song Xu exchanged glances, both noticing something strange—it was already evening, but there was no smoke from cooking, no lights, and not even the sound of dogs barking in the Guo Family Village…
This situation—
The three of them instinctively gripped their weapons.
Fu Xiyu at the front narrowed her eyes fiercely, looking in a certain direction. Her toes lightly touched the ground as she flew forward, thrusting out her sword—
Suddenly, a person in black darted out from a corner!
The black-clad person didn’t linger to fight, immediately turning to flee. Fu Xiyu chased closely behind. In their wake, a great fire suddenly erupted in the quiet Guo Family Village…
Song Xuyi, Song Xu, and Gong Huan couldn’t spare the time to chase after Fu Xiyu, and hurriedly ran into the Guo Family Village. As everyone had feared in the worst-case scenario, there were no survivors left in the Guo Family Village.
Meanwhile, Fu Xiyu followed the black-clad person, running through layers of woods until they reached the depths of the forest. A faint fragrance wafted through the forest. In a clearing, a small curtained pavilion had been set up…
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The black-clad person stood still in front of the pavilion, head bowed respectfully, no longer moving forward.
Fu Xiyu’s eyes darkened. Smelling the familiar fragrance, she too pressed her lips together and lowered her head.
The curtain of the pavilion lifted, revealing Lu Dun leisurely adjusting his disheveled clothes, and beside him on the ground, the corpse of Guo Li, blood flowing from his seven orifices, already breathless…
“You’re still the most useful, worthy of being my daughter,” Lu Dun spoke slowly with sunken eyes, kicking away Guo Li’s corpse with disgust. “Unlike them, who die at the slightest touch—”
“Xiyu, you know I naturally dote on you, but you also know your father’s situation. I can give you two years at most. After two years, you must return to the Taiji Sect for me!”
The author has something to say:
Paying tribute to Brother Song, who personally put a green hat on himself.
LP: Re-translated on October 18, 2024