Chapter 14: The Power of a Saber

Chapter 14: The Power of a Saber

Luo Qi and Zhao Changhe were both filled with worry and could not sleep well. On the second day, the two of them immediately sprang out of bed at the same time when a laborer knocked on the door to deliver their cornbread. After they both composed themselves, they looked at each other. Zhao Changhe smiled and said, “Good morning.”

Luo Qi ignored him and looked down. Seeing himself wrapped tightly in his blanket, he heaved a sigh of relief.

Zhao Changhe could not be bothered concerning himself with Luo Qi and went to open the door, returning with the cornbread. He saw Luo Qi sitting on the bed, fixing up his hair.

That posture... If I wasn’t careful, I would’ve been smitten.

Zhao Changhe felt his heart skip a beat. He tilted his head and changed the topic of conversation. “Fucking hell. Another day without being able to brush my teeth. I’m really not used to any of this.”

Luo Qi replied lazily, “You were born in the countryside, yet you talk as if you’re from a wealthy family. You even know about brushing your teeth with willow branches!?”

Zhao Changhe chewed on his cornbread and cast Luo Qi a sidelong glance. “You know about it too? And about the willow branches? Weren’t you just a servant or whatever... Oh, sorry.”

“What’s there to apologize for? You think you can offend me with your words? I call you a country bumpkin, you call me a servant. That makes us even.” Luo Qi looked at Zhao Changhe disapprovingly. “Let’s go. You have your training to do, I have to struggle to make sure we have meat to eat.”

“Eh, about what you said yesterday...”

Luo Qi glanced back with a smile as he walked to the door. “You are too na?ve. I’m afraid it won’t be so easy to achieve what you want. However... I think you should focus on other things. Go with the flow and see where that takes you.”

That smile was spiteful, but Zhao Changhe was unaffected and nodded. “There will be a way.”

Thick-headed guys were like this. It made Luo Qi even more careful not to reveal anything feminine about himself. He took his cornbread and went to complete his tasks.

Regardless of what Luo Qi did with his femininity, Zhao Changhe did not intend to concern himself with it.

Who cares if he’s a guy or a girl. Thinking too much will only affect how fast I can cultivate.

Once Luo Qi left, Zhao Changhe made his way to the training grounds without telling anyone. He was supposed to cultivate the Vicious Blood Art in the morning and train with the saber in the afternoon. However, he was channeling the Vicious Blood Art as he practiced with the saber. This allowed him to make quick progress in the Vicious Blood Art. He did not know if any problems would arise because of this, so he decided it would be best to consult Instructor Sun.

“You think you’re improving too fast? Where are you in your cultivation right now? Channel the Vicious Blood Art and try to punch me,” said Instructor Sun, not the least bit concerned.

Zhao Changhe replied carefully, “With all my strength?”

“Of course with all your strength.” Instructor Sun rolled his eyes. “You think you can rattle me with your punches?”

Zhao Changhe agreed and entered into his horse stance with his fists by his waist.

Qi and blood from the Vicious Blood Art surged throughout his body. Zhao Changhe could feel his muscles fill with abundant energy both fiendish and ferocious.

With a shout, Zhao Changhe punched with all his might.

He did not know if he was seeing things, but the moment he threw his punch, he could only see red.

Instructor Sun raised a hand indifferently to block the attack. Zhao Changhe felt like an enormous, immeasurable force had rushed toward him and was sent flying backwards a few steps before he was able to stabilize himself. That powerful force disappeared and seemed to have beaten out the blood-red image in Zhao Changhe’s vision.

It was the same for the Vicious Blood Art. Zhao Changhe found real enjoyment in the process of gaining more and more strength, and he secretly enjoyed the reverence he received from the people around him.

At the training grounds, Zhao Changhe’s voice grew louder and grander. Soon, it melded together with the voices of the others present.

That scholarly air he had before had faded away without him knowing it; it was replaced with the temperament of a bandit.

After a mere few days...

Zhao Changhe showed off more and more of the reasons he had been labeled a natural-born bandit.

Plap!

Dusk had arrived. Zhao Changhe, who had been training for the entire day, put away his saber and gave one of the bandits behind him a heavy pat on the shoulder. “Someday, when we can leave the stronghold, I’ll treat all of you to a drink!”

The bandit laughed apologetically. “Nah, boss, I think we are the ones who gotta give you a drink. Even just the fact that you killed that pig Luo Zhenwu is enough to deserve a toast.”

“Huh? You were there that day?”

“Of course we weren’t there, but we heard about it from the other disciples who participated in the raid. Boss Zhao, you’re already pretty famous in the jianghu.”

“What? How can that be? It was just some dog from the Luo family. Who in the jianghu would possibly care?”

The bandit had a strange look on his face as he said, “They say that, ten years ago, the emperor went on an inspection tour throughout the country. One of his destinations was the Luo family. The Luo Village Lord, being the bootlicker that he was, wanted to kiss the emperor’s ass, and he sent his wife to tend to the emperor...”

Zhao Changhe was dumbstruck. He ruminated on the bandit’s words for a moment. “You don’t mean to say...”

The bandit clapped his hands together. “Yes. It’s possible that Luo Zhenwu is the emperor’s offspring! That’s why the Imperial Clan took special care of them! The Luo family had a lot of hidden masters affiliated with the imperial court. If it wasn’t for Venerable Vermillion Bird, how could we have succeeded... Just think about it, boss, can any old family hide masters affiliated with the imperial court?”

Zhao Changhe tried to restrain himself, and only said one word, “Fuck!”

Strange. The way the Luo Village Lord spoke to his son was not anything like how someone would treat a prince. Wasn’t it exactly like how a father would speak to his child? Did the bandit get it wrong... Or did those two just get used to that dynamic?

The bandit said, “In the past, when people spread rumors about the relationship between the Luo family and the Imperial Clan, no one spoke in detail about what this relationship exactly was... It’s not that they didn’t know. They didn’t dare to! Now, we’re all a part of the same holy faith. What we oppose is this rotten imperial court. Why should we cover up the identity of this dog of a prince you killed?”

Zhao Changhe sighed. He thought that the whole thing was confidential and he could only ask about it after joining the cult as a formal disciple. He did not expect to hear about all this right now.

In a way, it made sense. Before Luo Zhenwu died, the whole thing had been kept under wraps. But now that he was dead, it was only right that the Blood God Cult wanted to spread what they did.

So what I did...it appears to be quite impressive...

“All I did was kill the emperor’s bastard. How long can my reputation really spread for? No one will be speaking about it in a few days.” Zhao Changhe shrugged and turned away, thinking of ending the conversation right there.

However, the bandit’s eyes widened. “Only a bastard? No, boss, you really don’t get it. The actual crown prince is dead and the emperor has no other sons.”

Zhao Changhe froze in his tracks.