CH 41

Chapter 41: Tiger-Fighting Brothers



The author of “The Three Tiger-Fighting Brothers” was called Xun Fang Zhenren. It was an on-going series, currently on its third volume. 



The story went as follows: When a kind-hearted and lovely rune cultivator had ventured out of his home for the first time, he met a reserved and black-bellied sword cultivator and an unrestrained and dissolute demon cultivator in the secret realm. The three men shared weal and woe as they fought and defeated the Nine Lives Demon Tiger. From adversaries who couldn’t stand the mere sight of each other, they became good brothers and afterwards, they became heroes travelling around the world.



Xun Fang Zhenren’s writing style was excellent. He filled this simple adventure story with one climax after another. In between he mixed in enchanting beauties and precious and exotic animals. It was brimming with manly romance and each character was portrayed to be true to life. This story about how the three forgot their former enmity and turned to being able to drink and chat merrily together was written with overflowing heroic spirit.



Song Qingshi was nestled under his quilt. He held up the luminous bead, ignoring the vine that had tightened around his ankle several times already, urging him to sleep. He simply couldn’t stop reading.



He finally understood the joy of reading adventure novels. 



In the story, the rune cultivator had been seriously injured by the demon tiger. The sword cultivator, bathed in blood, came to his rescue. He scaled many peaks, faced countless swords, was so oppressed that it broke one’s heart…



Song Qingshi was very keyed up as he read when something cold and moist slid beside his feet. He lifted the quilt and found that the Luminous Dragon had crawled over. It was trying to bite off the irksome Blood King Vine, attempting to reclaim its territory.



Its teeth were extremely sharp and it forcibly pulled open several wounds on the Blood King Vine.



“Don’t make trouble,” Song Qingshi hurriedly separated the snake fangs from the Blood King Vine. It then picked up the Luminous Dragon and scolded it, saying, “This is not a rope. You are not allowed to bite it.”



The Luminous Dragon immediately wrapped around his waist. It coiled around a few times then snuggled against his chest, refusing to leave.



“You’re a lot heavier than before.” Song Qingshi found it both funny and infuriating. “Forget it, I’ll allow you to stay tonight.” Then he shook his foot and ordered, “Wuhuan, don’t wind around so tightly. I’m fine.”



The Blood King Vine slowly loosened. It then continued to gently loop around his ankle.



Song Qingshi didn’t understand why Yue Wuhuan didn’t just settle the Blood King Vine by his bedside and instead, insisted on wrapping around him. However, when he had asked during the light of day, Yue Wuhuan’s expression was embarrassed. He looked like he was hesistant to say, repeatedly opening his mouth to speak then stopping mid-way. Sing Qingshi’s guess was that during the ten years he was in a coma, Yue Wuhuan had gotten used to staying by his side and taking care of him. Now that they were going about separately, he felt uneasy and so he wanted to use the Blood King Vine to act a little like a spoiled child. 



Even if his family’s little angel had a bit of a strange hobby, he must also be doted upon.



What’s a mere tendril of Blood King Vine? It is absolutely no problem even if he wants to twine seven or eight tendrils!



Song Qingshi patted the Luminous Dragon’s head and continued to read the novel. He was very excited. He even got out of bed to grab a notebook and a charcoal pen. He carefully marked the key points and made notes. While taking down notes, he told his impressions to the Luminous Dragon. “The characters in this novel are written so well;  very close to life. I think Yue Wuhuan must be the kind and lovely rune cultivator. An Long is the unrestrained and dissolute demon cultivator and I am the aloof and black-bellied sword cultivator! Everyone started out having conflicting views and are the type to make friends with their fists. Afterwards, they went on adventures and…



Yue Wuhuan who was eavesdropping using the Blood King Vine: “???” 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Cc Obcu ktb kjr fjnfrvgbqqlcu erlcu atf Oewlcber Ggjubc: “???”



Vbcu Hlcurtl delmxis vfafgwlcfv tlr oeaegf mbegrf bo jmalbc. Lf’ii vgju atf akb bo atfw bea ab jc jvnfcaegf jcv jii atf lcafgfralcu atlcur atfs fcmbecafg veglcu atflg pbegcfs klii yf erfv ab vffqfc atflg ygbatfgtbbv. Lf gfwfwyfgfv atja Rjctjl Jlas, cba ojg ogbw atf Zfvlmlcf Blcu’r Njiifs, pera tjqqfcfv ab yf tbivlcu j oibkfg ofralnji. Ciatbeut Rjctjl Jlas kjr rwjii, la kjr affwlcu klat yfjealoei kbwfc jcv ragbcu ildebg, pera gluta obg Cc Obcu’r ajrafr. Ktfgf kfgf boafc qgfmlber ufwr obg rjif ygbeuta lc ys atflg rfj agjvf. Ktlr kjr pera qfgofma obg Tef Qetejc’r tbyys. Cr obg tlw, Qbio’r Djcf oibkfgr kfgf lc oeii yibbw gluta cbk. Lf mbeiv yes rbwf wfvlmlcji wjafgljir jibcu atf kjs.



Even if the plan fails, no one will be unhappy about going to such a good place to have fun, right? Of course, before going, he was going to have the both of them read this novel so that they could experience for themselves what deep brotherhood was like. In this way, they could understand his painstaking efforts.



The next day, Yue Wuhuan agreeably and sensibly accepted his copy of the novel. “Since Master says its good, it must be good.” 



“I’ve read this book a long time ago.” An Long thought about what he had heard yesterday. After thinking about it all night, he was still completely puzzled. Unable to get it out of his mind, he couldn’t help but ask, “You think I’m like the demon cultivator which is understandable. But why is he the rune cultivator and you, the sword cultivator?” Just what about this wretched evildoer was kind-hearted and lovable? And how was his family’s little Qingshi aloof and black-bellied?



Song Qingshi boldly and confidently said, “Because the sword cultivator is the oldest and is responsible for handling matters. He is the eldest brother. The rune cultivator is the youngest and needs to be looked after. He is the youngest brother. Among the three of us, I am the oldest, you’re the second and Wuhuan is the youngest. Isn’t that right?”



His answer was logical and well-founded.



An Long actually couldn’t find anything to refute… 



“How do you know these things?” Song Qingshi noticed a flaw in his words and realized that this guy was asking him about things he had said while he was alone in the middle of the night. He thought for a bit and grabbed the Luminous Dragon. Checking it over, he caught a minute eavesdropping Gu between its scales. He was so angry that the alchemical fire ignited in his hand. He smashed it against the Alaskan Malamute, “You wanted to listen in to me talking in my sleep again!”



He had done this before. Not only did he peek at him sleeping, he also made fun of him for hugging his quilt while he slept! And that he recited medical scriptures in his sleep! He told him that he should hug something warm instead! Like a man’s embrace!



He was not a girl, what would he hold a man for?



This was obviously An Long mocking him for being like a woman! 



Song Qingshi got angrier the more he thought about it. The red lotus in his hand burned fiercer and fiercer. In any case, there were still some days before their departure. He didn’t mind letting the Alaskan Malamute accompany him to recuperate from his injuries!



An Long was burned into covering his head and sneaking away like a rat, with his head in his arms. He turned around and saw Yue Wuhuan standing to the side, acting like an unconcerned party. He immediately ratted him out. “He also eavesdropped! Why are you only burning me?!”



Yue Wuhuan put down the novel in his hands and said with a smile, “I have already reported to Master early on about the Blood King Vine.”



“You’re even thinking of dragging others down with you!” Seeing that he didn’t know to repent, Song Qingshi grew even angrier. He refuted, “It’s difficult for me to get around right now. Wuhuan left the Blood King Vine so that it would be easier to take care of me. What’s your excuse for using Xiao Bai to eavesdrop?” 



An Long felt wronged. “I heard that before you got into that accident, this guy slept with you every night…”



“Not like you haven’t!” Song Qingshi found his grievance to be totally inexplicable. “Before when you were seriously injured and being treated in the Medicine King’s Valley, you could barely move. Didn’t I also stay by your side to take care of you? Because of your bad sleeping posture, when your injury was just starting to get better, you kept tampering and fiddling with your wounds. So, I had to have it changed to two beds.”



Isn’t it simply a matter of course to provide in-room patient care for seriously ill patients?



His rebuttal made An Long choke on his stomach-full of words. He just hated how much black history he had from when he was young and experienced. Now, he couldn’t turn the tables on him. 



Song Qingshi became suspicious once again. “How did you know that I was accompanying Wuhuan to sleep?”



Over the past few years, Yue Wuhuan had completely removed his spies within the Medicine King’s Valley which meant that he no longer received any news from within the valley. However, he must never let Song Qingshi know about this matter. Otherwise, if he were to be questioned too closely, he wouldn’t be able to explain. It was very likely that he’d be blacklisted and expelled from the valley.



The look in Song Qingshi’s eyes turned even more and more suspicious. The alchemical fire began to take on an indistinct shape in his hand.



An Long made a decisive decision and dragged in Yue Wuhuan who had been standing to the side, pretending to be all innocent. “He was the one who said it!” 



Yue Wuhuan glanced at him and smiled.



“After we agreed to forget our previous disagreements, we got so into our conversation and this topic was accidentally brought up.” An Long’s face was sincere but the force behind his fingers was so intense that he almost snapped Yue Wuhuan’s shoulder blades with his grip. It brought with it a heavy threat but his mouth still implored, “I misunderstood you two and thought that you two were doing something interesting behind my back so I sent Xiao Bai to eavesdrop. Isn’t that right, Wuhuan Xiaodi? Didn’t we already discuss this?”



Song Qingshi was a first-class master when it came to performing autopsies. There was hardly ever a case where he hadn’t found the cause of death.



He was an expert at Gu’s and Wuhuan was an expert at poisons. It was difficult for either of them to conceal their killing methods. 



Neither of the two wanted to anger Song Qingshi nor leave any flaws…



Cultivators had long life spans and there was no need to scramble for every minute. Even if they wanted to eat the other party’s flesh, they must choose the right time to act. Otherwise, if they kill the other but leave a black history becasue of it then the murder would have been meaningless. It would only arouse Song Qingshi’s suspicion and if he were to investigate the matter, it was very likely that their secrets would be exposed.



They had much too many secrets in their hearts…



An Long knew that Yue Wuhuan had the same idea. And so Yue Wuhuan took the initiative to show goodwill and tolerated An Long. 



Yue Wuhuan was even more cautious and careful than An Long, never showing even a trace of his poisonous snake’s tail.



“An Xianzun is right.” Yue Wuhuan knew what he was thinking and didn’t even take notice of the severe pain on his shoulder. He even joined up with his narrative and backed-up his lie. “I must have mentioned it when we were chatting. It was very kind of An Xianzun to remember. Now, my condition has become a lot better and I no longer need Master to accompany me and provide in-room care, let alone do any interesting things with Master in bed. I would like to please ask An Xianzun not to do such things anymore.”



Song Qingshi found it completely baffling. “Aside from sleeping and reading, what else can one do in bed?”



Yue Wuhuan said dotingly, “What Master says is true.” 



An Long looked helplessly at his clear eyes. For some unknown reason, the anger in his belly completely disappeared. Even his anger at Yue Wuhuan also dissipated by a lot. He shouldn’t have held out any hope for this idiot who cultivated the Way of the Heartless. If even having a peerless stunner like Yue Wuhuan in bed can’t provoke his desires then it probably truly was hopeless…



If he wanted him to understand these things, he was afraid he had to do it like how he had seen under the illusion of the Fantasy Gu before — compelling, coericing, controlling…Using various means to forcibly instill these things into him, forcing him to experience it for himself and taste the flavor of desire. Only then would the green buds slowly bloom into a beautiful form.



He thought of that scene in the fantasy and almost couldn’t help but want to show his fangs and tear this thoroughly clean person to shreds…



But, he absolutely couldn’t do this. It would hurt him… 



He could not make mistakes…



An Long closed his eyes lightly and restrained the evil thoughts in his heart. He couldn’t destroy anymore everything he’s worked so hard for.



“An Xianzun,” Yue Wuhuan’s gentle voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Are you going to travel with Master to Nanhai City?”



An Long opened his eyes and looked at Song Qingshi’s expectant expression. He smiled and showed the canine teeth at the corners of his mouth. “If you want to go, then naturally, I’m going.” 



Song Qingshi had been cultivating for nearly a thousand years. At least nine hundred years had been spent locked up in his residence and most of the remaining hundred years had been spent gathering medicine in the deep mountains or in the secret realms. The number of times he had gone to accompany him to go outside could be counted on his fingers and Song Qingshi taking the initiative to invite him to journey together now was a first. If he doesn’t go, wouldn’t he be giving up and presenting with both hands this great opportunity to this evildoer?



An Long smiled and draped himself all over Yue Wuhuan’s shoulders. “Wuhuan Xiaodi, what is the relationship between us? Don’t call me ‘Xianzun’, call me ‘Dage‘.”



Yue Wuhuan nodded slightly and said with a smile, “An Dage.”



Song Qingshi was overjoyed. He suddenly felt that the relationship between the two was not as bad as imagined. The future looked promising. He must arrange the itinerary of this trip well. He would have to ask Ye Lin to find out more about the good food, good wine and beautiful sceneries in Nanhai City. The more interesting things they find, the more they could converse and maybe by the end of their journey, they would have each found each other’s good points, completely undoing the knots in their hearts. 



Everyone here is a scholar-tyrant. What need is there to fight over trivial nothings? Isn’t it good to learn and study together?



The author has something to say:



Scholar-Tyrant Song will use his own power to pull this story in the direction of a standard tale of brotherhood.



Danmei? Bah! Isn’t it nice to be brothers instead? 



Song Qingshi: “Come on, let us sing Zhou Huajian’s “Friends” together~”