CH 137

February 6, 2023Merchie

During this period of time, Pei Zheng’s wounds had almost completely healed.

It was a first for him, having so much leisure time. He could ignore the rest of the foul, cruel, blood-soaked world. Every day, he was surrounded by picturesque landscapes, lush mountains and a steam-covered stream. The most plain and ordinary days he spent here were also the happiest.

Especially because the person that he wanted to see the most was always right in front of him.

Today, after they ate their fill, two lords, Pei Zheng and Shen Shijiu, sat on the stone bench in front of the bamboo hut, basking in the sun.

Shen Huan took care of all the chores without complaining, clearing the table and washing the dishes. She felt that she must have been a maid in her previous life.

But the pair outside were sitting in the sun with their eyes squinted. Even the way they were leaning against the bench was exactly the same.

Shen Shijiu copied Pei Zheng. He lifted his chin a bit, as though he were experiencing some refreshing sensation. Unfortunately, the only thing he experienced was the sunlight stinging his eyes until he closed them.

When Pei Zheng saw his scrunched eyes, his lips curled upward, and he reached out to block the sunlight with his hand.

Shen Shijiu clasped that hand, “Pei-gege.”

“Shifu said your wounds are already better, so you have to go back.”

Shen Shijiu slowly lowered his head, “But… but…”

Pei Zheng pulled his hand back, and turned the small man to face him.

“But what? Hm?”

Shen Shijiu said aggrievedly, “But I don’t want you to leave.”

Pei Zheng squeezed his hand, “Then come with me, okay?”

Shen Shijiu looked up at Pei Zheng, “Then what about Shifu?”

Pei Zheng was silent.

Shen Shijiu said, “Shifu only has me, I can’t leave Shifu. I can’t leave her behind.”

Pei Zheng knew what he was worried about. Because Pei Zheng didn’t even need to ask to know that Shen Huan wouldn’t allow Shen Shijiu to leave with him.

And the current situation within the court was still uncertain; Pei Zheng was unwilling to allow the small man to face risks alongside him.

He had to go back to the Imperial Court first and get everything back under control. Then, he had to clench it in the palm of his hand. He couldn’t bring the small man back until he was certain that it was safe to do so.

If Shen Huan still tried to resist at that point, he would just drag her along as well.

“We won’t.” Pei Zheng stroked Shen Shijiu’s hair, and his tone was full of reassurance, “I won’t make you leave your shifu behind, nor will I make things hard for you. Leave the difficulties to me. All you need to do is be happy, eat well, and sleep well every day.”

Pei Zheng looked into Shen Shijiu’s eyes, and spoke slowly, one word at a time, “After that, you must wait for me. No matter where you are, I’ll find you and take you back. Got it?”

Shen Shijiu pouted, before he nodded.

“Then you have to be quick, Pei-gege, I don’t think I can wait for very long.”

Pei Zheng pressed his index finger over the other’s lips, “Don’t talk nonsense.”

Shen Shijiu pulled his finger away, “I meant to say, that if I wait for too long, I’ll get anxious, and I’ll cry.”

Pei Zheng didn’t expect him to say something like this. He smiled and opened his arms, gathering the small man into his embrace.

“Then I’ll be quick. I won’t let you cry, okay?”

“Mm.” Shen Shijiu nodded against his chest.

At this moment, not far away, loud splashes sounded from beside the riverbank, as though something was in the water.

Pei Zheng’s gaze chilled, and he patted the small man’s head, “Go back inside and close the door. Don’t open it until I tell you to.”

“Okay.”

Shen Shijiu agreed obediently, before he followed Pei Zheng’s instructions and ran back inside, closing the door behind him with a “peng”.

Shen Huan was standing by the doorway, fiddling with something, and was startled by the sound of the door suddenly slamming shut.

“Little disciple? What’s going on? It’s daytime and there’s no one here, what are you closing the door for?”

Shen Shijiu leaned against the door and whispered, “Shifu, Pei-gege told me to go inside and close the door. Just now, we heard something coming from near the warm river.”

Shen Huan’s brow furrowed, “Could it be that outsiders have trespassed into Ghost Valley? Besides you two, how could anyone else enter?”

As she spoke, she walked to the window. She glanced out of it, before she suddenly jerked her head back and slammed the window shut.

Shen Shijiu still didn’t know what had happened, and asked curiously, “Shifu, what’s wrong? Did you see something? I want to see too-”

Before he could even touch the window, Shen Huan batted his hand away.

“D-don’t look at that.” Shen Huan’s voice shook a bit, “Little disciple, quick, come with me!”

Shen Huan pulled Shen Shijiu back into her room. Then, she rummaged through boxes and cabinets, and found a few precious medicinal ingredients. She took them all with her, along with a few banknotes she had stuffed beneath a box.

“Shifu, what’s going on?”

Shen Huan was busy packing things up, “This place isn’t safe anymore, we have to hurry up and leave!”

Earlier, through the window, Shen Huan had glimpsed a scene of flesh and blood flying through the air. Although she had treated wounds that were far more severe than those she had just seen, it was her first time seeing how those injuries had been caused.

It was as though Pei Zheng’s sword had eyes; in a flash of cold light, a black-clad figure’s head was chopped off. However, Pei Zheng’s body was now covered in another layer of fresh gashes.

Numerous assassins had found their way inside, but Pei Zheng managed to stall them at the riverbank.

After Shen Huan finished packing up, she clutched the parcels and leaned against the door alongside Shen Shijiu. The master and apprentice each grabbed a heavy medicine jar, lifting their arms high into the air; if anyone forced their way inside, they would smash the jars on the intruder’s head.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

The two of them instantly stiffened.

“Open. The. Door.”

It was Pei Zheng’s voice.

Shen Shijiu hurriedly put down the jar in his hand opened the door.

Unexpectedly, the moment he opened the door, Pei Zheng, who was standing in front of him, swayed and collapsed toward Shen Shijiu.

Shen Shijiu reached out and caught him. Once again, he smelled an overwhelming stench of blood.

Even Shen Huan’s brows were tightly knitted.

The man wasn’t a wall made of copper and iron; he was a mortal with flesh and blood. How could he continue to withstand this continuous onslaught of new wounds? The flesh that had just regrown had probably been sliced open again.

How could ever recover like this?

“Pei-gege,”

Shen Shijiu held him tightly as sobs creeped into his voice.

Pei Zheng forced himself to stand upright.

“I’m fine.”

When he saw the parcels that Shen Huan had already packed up, Pei Zheng said, “We’re going back to the city.”

Shen Huan nodded, “While the other assassins haven’t caught up, we need to leave quickly!”

The three took another path out of the Ghost Valley. Then, they hurried toward the Imperial City.

As Pei Zheng walked, blood constantly dripped from his cuffs. Shen Shijiu saw this, and his tears streamed down as well.

Surprisingly, Shen Huan didn’t speak much on their way to the city. She thought back and forth; the only way the Ghost Valley’s location could have been exposed was during that time they had gone to ask Jiang Yubai for herbs.

But that time, Shen Huan was the one who wanted to go. So, without her knowledge, they were targeted; the people who had trespassed into the Ghost Valley had to be the assassins that had been pursuing Pei Zheng this whole time. She had never expected that they would still be searching for Pei Zheng.

Fortunately, the security at the city gates had eased up, so the three walked right into the city.

But the moment they entered the city, due to the severity of his wounds, Pei Zheng gradually lost consciousness.

Shen Huan rented a carriage, which took the three of them to Jiang Yubai’s clinic once again. Cheng Feng was there as well.

When they saw Pei Zheng’s serious injuries, Jiang Yubai and Cheng Feng didn’t look surprised at all. It seemed as though they had already predicted such

“I didn’t expect that they’d be so quick.” Jiang Yubai bandaged Pei Zheng’s wounds.

“Who? ‘They’?” Shen Huan asked in confusion.

“He probably couldn’t keep them all at bay. But it’s better this way. Now that they’ve all been caught in one fell swoop, it should spare Master from further troubles.”

“Who? Caught who in one fell swoop?” Shen Huan was still confused.

“You’re right about that. But just look at him, does he want his health or not? What’s going to happen once he’s bedridden and paralyzed from his injuries? Will there someone at his bedside serving him? That would be hard on our Xiao Shi.”

Jiang Yubai glanced at Shen Shijiu.

“Who? Who’s serving who?” Shen Huan questioned again, her confusion growing.

Cheng Feng also glanced at Shen Shijiu, and nodded meaningfully.

Shen Huan watched as the pair beside her conversed as though she wasn’t even there. She simply shut her mouth and cursed the two of them in her mind.

This pair of deaf people.

“Since we’ve already brought him back here, the two of us will be leaving now.” Shen Huan said.

The Ghost Valley had already been discovered by outsiders; who knew if rumors would begin to spread, but Shen Huan wasn’t going to think about it anymore.

In truth, she already had other plans. But she hadn’t had time to tell anyone before the Ghost Valley was invaded.

Jiang Yubai turned to look at Shen Huan, “Master Shen, Lord Pei is still unconscious, but I think he’ll wake up before dark. Where are you guys going?”

Shen Huan paused, “We’re returning to the foreign tribe.”

Jiang Yubai was a bit shocked, “Returning to the foreign tribe? The foreign tribe borders both the Celestial Dynasty and the barbarian tribe’s territories. Forget about the fact that there’s a war raging in the borderlands right now; the journey will take a while. If there aren’t any pressing matters to attend to there, why do you have to go back all of a sudden?”

Shen Huan said nothing. She merely took out a letter and showed it to Jiang Yubai.

“A plague? In the borderlands?”

Shen Huan nodded.

“That’s right. This letter was sent to me by the tribe leader, my uncle. This time, the epidemic is more serious than it was before. Many people within the tribe have already been infected, and currently, there’s no cure. If I don’t go back, I’m afraid that the epidemic will continue to spread, and soon, even the Celestial Dynasty won’t be safe from it.”

In truth, the first time Shen Huan had received this letter, the epidemic wasn’t too serious. She had been hesitating on whether she should go back or not. In the ender, when she received a second letter, the situation had worsened by quite a bit. This time, it looked like she really did have to go back there.

Jiang Yubai thought for a moment, “You’re leaving, so does he have to go with you?”

Shen Huan glanced at her little disciple, “My family… is his family as well.”

Jiang Yubai nodded in understanding.

Shen Huan said to Shen Shijiu, “Little disciple, it’s time to go.”

Shen Shijiu was still slumped over the bed, staring at Pei Zheng, staring at his closed eyes and pale face.

Just now, he had heard everything that Shen Huan said. He knew that he had to go back with his shifu. Not only did he have to help his shifu, but it was also because he had the blood of the foreign tribe in his veins.

Shen Huan sighed, “Little disciple, I’ll wait for you outside.”

Then, Shen Huan pulled Jiang Yubai and Cheng Feng out of the room, to give Shen Shijiu and Pei Zheng a moment of privacy.

After the door closed, Shen Shijiu clasped Pei Zheng’s hand,

“Pei-gege, why aren’t you waking up? If you don’t wake up soon, I’ll be gone.”