Chapter 71#

The Cross-dressing Wife#

Although under Gu Xingzhai’s death stare, Xiao Liu didn’t ultimately dare to address him as “Master-Father.”

However, a new world had been opened for him by Lin Xiaodong. Sitting by the campfire gnawing on a bird that evening, he was somewhat dazed, his gaze unconsciously darting back and forth between Gu Xingzhai and Lin Xiaodong as they sat side by side.

“So, you ran away in a fit of pique after quarreling with several of your senior brothers?” After hearing Xiao Liu’s experience, Lin Xiaodong couldn’t help but laugh. “As a result, you left so hurriedly that you forgot to bring travel expenses, and were so hungry you could only hunt birds in the wild?”

Xiao Liu didn’t speak, but his earlobes quietly turned red.

He stole a glance at Lin Xiaodong, thinking that although the youth was a demon, he was truly good-looking.

No wonder when Master used to take them to brothels to catch demons, he wouldn’t even look sideways, saying they were all common powders and vulgar fats, not even one ten-thousandth of a certain demon he had once seen. At the time, Xiao Liu felt Master’s standards were too high, but looking at it now, it was indeed not false at all.

Lin Xiaodong wanted to ask more, but Gu Xingzhai had already handed a roasted wing to him.

“Eat it while it’s hot,” the man said flatly.

There was still a trace of ferocity in his brows, likely because he hadn’t quite recovered from the sudden news of Master’s death. Lin Xiaodong took the bamboo skewer from his hand and asked: “So, are we still going to the outskirts of the capital next?”

“Yes,” under Xiao Liu’s apprehensive gaze, Gu Xingzhai said hoarsely, “Before leaving, Master entrusted all my junior brothers to my care. Now that he has passed away, as the Eldest Senior Brother, I must take up this responsibility.”

“And you,” he turned his head to look at Xiao Liu sitting opposite him, his expression stern, “running out without permission and coming so far alone—your senior brothers must be searching like crazy. Remember to apologize properly to them when the time comes, do you hear me?”

Xiao Liu lowered his head, dispiritedly saying: “Yes, Senior Brother Gu.”

In truth, Lin Xiaodong quite liked Xiao Liu’s cleverness, but because he had been injured earlier, not long after finishing dinner, Gu Xingzhai ordered him back to the carriage to rest.

The youth puffed his cheeks, gave a somewhat unhappy hum, and bent down to crawl into the carriage cabin.

Watching this scene, Xiao Liu couldn’t help but ask in a low voice: “Senior Brother Gu, how did you two meet?”

Gu Xingzhai’s movement of sharpening his dagger paused.

He thought for a moment, the corners of his lips unconsciously curving up: “We met in my hometown. Three years ago, he was being pursued and fled to the town; it was my father who took him in.”

“Three years ago?” Xiao Liu was very sensitive to this point in time. “Wasn’t that exactly when that dog eunuch summoned all demon hunters to the capital? Any demon hunter with a name came to the capital; who would have the spare time to pursue a small demon?”

Lin Xiaodong’s magic power wasn’t strong; Xiao Liu had sensed it at first glance.

Succubi weren’t known for being fierce monsters in the first place. If it weren’t for the youth’s handsome face that didn’t seem mortal, he wouldn’t have been able to tell for a while whether the other was human or demon.

Hearing him say this, a trace of doubt also flashed in Gu Xingzhai’s mind: “True. But there are other possibilities, like the person pursuing Xiaodong being a rogue Taoist with no master, or…”

“Or, that person was simply a running dog kept by the imperial court!” Xiao Liu said with hatred.

In the past, demon hunters took pride in working for the government; but in today’s world, especially when those three years of turmoil had only recently subsided, if any demon hunter dared to call themselves such, they would be attacked by everyone.

“Senior Brother Gu, you must be careful,” Xiao Liu reminded him. “If that person really works for the imperial court, he will definitely report what happened in Qingxie Town to the Emperor. At that time, it wouldn’t be surprising if those dog officials did anything in their quest for immortality.”

Gu Xingzhai gripped the dagger in his hand: “…I know.”

He had never asked Lin Xiaodong about what happened before he came to Qingxie Town; now it seemed it was very necessary to find out.

Waking up the next day, Lin Xiaodong yawned as he heard the man’s words, and couldn’t help but be stunned: “Hmm? The person who pursued me three years ago?”

How would he know who the pursuer was? It wasn’t written in the information, so he could only vaguely manage: “It should have been government people, but it was too dark then, and I was injured and busy escaping, so I didn’t see their faces clearly.”

Hearing this, Gu Xingzhai’s expression became even more solemn.

“From now on, whenever you go out, remember to wear the bamboo hat,” he instructed worriedly, and even personally helped Lin Xiaodong tuck away the white veil on the hat meant for concealment. “Once we reach the outskirts of the capital, don’t move around alone. If you have anything, call me or other junior brothers to go with you; I will have a word with them.”

The system, however, held an opposite view: “If this continues, your remaining two ‘Good Person Cards’ will have no place. There’s been no movement on Gu Xingzhai’s side for a long time, and you can’t meet the other plot-key figure whose identity is still unknown. If you stay in one world for too long, it will affect the tasks in the next world.”

Lin Xiaodong didn’t care about the points, but he was curious about what kind of influence it would cause.

“For example?”

“There have been cases where the host fell in love with a key plot figure, so they intentionally delayed task progress, resulting in a settlement that couldn’t be completed for a long time,” the system said. “Although it consumed a large amount of energy, the key point was that he didn’t violate any regulations, so the headquarters had no way to punish him according to the rules.”

“What happened then?” Lin Xiaodong thought to himself that it was foolish; even if one could delay for a few years, people would die eventually anyway.

“Then?” The system’s voice paused for a moment. “Then, for some reason, he suddenly committed suicide one day. His soul was automatically received by the headquarters, but the task was judged incomplete, so the headquarters punished him accordingly. This incident caused quite a stir back then, so the headquarters later modified the regulations: if a task is not completed after a certain number of years, the host’s memories related to this world will be cleared before entering the next world, ensuring the same situation doesn’t occur again.”

Lin Xiaodong thought of the series of flat system prompts after leaving each world and finally understood what the purpose of that memory-clearing function—which never seemed to have been truly activated—was for.

“But I think,” he said slowly, “this task shouldn’t take much longer to finish.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know others well, and I know very little about this era,” Lin Xiaodong looked at Gu Xingzhai sitting in front driving the carriage, his gaze lingering for a few seconds on the man’s cold and stern profile. “But I know him. With treacherous people in power and Master’s wrongful death, do you think—whether it’s the Gu Xi from the last or second-to-last world, or the Gu Xingzhai of this world—are they the type of people who can swallow this anger?”

“But if he doesn’t swallow it,” the system raised its voice slightly, “could it be he plans to follow Jing Ke’s example and assassinate the King of Qin?”

“It’s hard to say,” Lin Xiaodong said. “The key depends on how much this incident has provoked him.”

Clearly, the news of Master’s death had already ignited a raging fire in the man’s heart, like a powder keg ready to go; it only needed a pretext, a small spark, to completely overturn the calm he maintained on the surface.

They traveled for two days and finally arrived at the outskirts of the capital on the evening of the second day.

Lin Xiaodong’s buttocks were almost jolted into eight pieces from the carriage ride, and he had a whole new understanding of the extent of Xiao Liu’s “naughty kid” nature—even in this era, a fourteen-year-old boy leaving home in a fit of rage and traveling to a place thousands of miles away was a major event enough to make people’s eyes pop out.

The most coincidental thing was that with the world so big, and there being four or five roads north from Qingxie Town alone, he actually happened to bump into his Eldest Senior Brother in the middle of nowhere… One had to say, this luck was truly admirable.

While queuing to enter the city, Lin Xiaodong’s sharp eyes noticed that his portrait was actually pasted on the city wall.

On it was not only his appearance in women’s clothing but also his appearance that night wearing the cloud-blue long gown. Although both were drawn in a way that made one feel… unspeakable, at least the name was written correctly.

Beside the portrait, a vertical row of flowing calligraphy was written: “Reward of Fifty Gold Pieces”.

“Fifty gold!” “Fifty gold?”

Lin Xiaodong and Xiao Liu gasped simultaneously, though for different reasons.

Lin Xiaodong was tempted by so much money and felt a bit moved, while Xiao Liu thought of his previous worries and exchanged a solemn look with Gu Xingzhai, then prepared to jump off the carriage to ask what the situation was.

“No,” Gu Xingzhai grabbed him. “Now is a critical period. Do you see that man in blue standing by the city gate? His stance and gaze indicate he’s a martial artist, and the guards around him treat him with great respect; he’s likely someone specifically sent by the court to check the pass. If you go ask now, it will instead attract their attention.”

Watching the queue get closer and closer, Xiao Liu said urgently: “Then what should we do? It’ll be our turn soon!”

Seeing Gu Xingzhai and Lin Xiaodong’s unmoving appearance, he was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead.

“Don’t panic,” Lin Xiaodong comforted him. “Wait for me for a minute.”

He ducked into the carriage cabin and changed his outfit and appearance using [One-Click Change]. Xiao Liu outside didn’t know what he was tinkering with, and finally thought in despair: Forget it, Senior Brother Gu is here anyway; he can take Lin Xiaodong and escape. If a fight really breaks out, I’ll cover the rear for them.

“Don’t think nonsense,” Gu Xingzhai tapped his head and chided lightly. “Your sister-in-law isn’t some delicate flower that can’t withstand wind and rain; don’t think of him so simply.”

It’s not just physical strength that makes one truly powerful, the man thought silently; back then, even he almost fell for Lin Xiaodong’s tricks.

But Xiao Liu was indeed the one with the most eccentric brain among the junior brothers; his focus was actually: “Senior Brother, why ‘sister-in-law’? What exactly is your relationship?”

Hearing Senior Brother say this, Xiao Liu also felt relieved and began to tease him with a light tone.

Seeing the mischievous smile on the brat’s face, Gu Xingzhai pulled the corner of his mouth expressionlessly and kicked him off the carriage—

“Ouch! Master-Father save me!”

Xiao Liu cried out, and by now the carriage had reached the city gate. The guard glared at him impatiently: “What are you shouting about! Brat, is this a place for you to fool around?”

He climbed onto the carriage dejectedly. At this moment, the tall and large Gu Xingzhai also caught the attention of the blue-clad man nearby. He walked over and questioned: “You over there, who is in the carriage?”

“It’s…” Xiao Liu hadn’t seen much of the world and stuttered from sudden nervousness, making the blue-clad man’s gaze increasingly sharp.

“Move aside!”

He rudely pushed Xiao Liu away. Gu Xingzhai’s eyes turned sharp, and he grabbed the blue-clad man’s wrist. The blue-clad man exerted sudden force, only to discover with horror that the man’s fingers didn’t move an inch—the surrounding guards, seeing things were wrong, one by one gripped their swords and slowly surrounded them.

The atmosphere was tense to the point of a hair-trigger.

But at this moment, a faint fragrant breeze drifted out from the carriage cabin, making everyone around freeze.

A slender, delicate hand, under everyone’s unblinking gaze, slowly lifted the curtain, revealing a face that seemed both frowning and not, pale and sorrowful. Though appearing sickly, it still couldn’t hide the natural beauty of the girl; her icy skin and jade bones seemed almost transparent under the sunlight, making even the previously fierce blue-clad man’s eyes straighten.

“Husband, what’s happened?” Lin Xiaodong said, even intentionally covering his lips and coughing a few times. That look of a weak willow swaying in the breeze left Xiao Liu by the side completely dumbfounded.

Hearing this “husband,” although Gu Xingzhai clearly knew Lin Xiaodong was only disguising his identity, he still felt a touch of something like a feather brushing across his heart. He steadied himself and, under the envious and jealous eyes of the guards, grabbed Lin Xiaodong’s hand and consoled: “Don’t worry, it’s just a routine check by the officers; it’ll be over soon.”

“I see,” Lin Xiaodong realized, turned to those people with a slight smile, and nodded. “Then I’ll have to ask the officers for their convenience.”

“Easily done, easily done.” This smile almost mesmerized the group of big men; they immediately agreed repeatedly.

With Lin Xiaodong’s help, the group of three entered the capital very smoothly. But until they had walked the distance of two streets, Xiao Liu still hadn’t reacted, still unconsciously turning back frequently, wanting to take another look at that exquisite “Lin Daiyu” appearance.

Gu Xingzhai slapped him on the back of the head and said coldly: “Remember to watch the road when driving, don’t get distracted!”

Xiao Liu clutched his head, saying pitifully: “Clearly you were looking too, Senior Brother… You’re too jealous; be careful that ‘Sister-in-law’ won’t be able to stand you later.”

“Qi Xiao Liu!”

Lin Xiaodong couldn’t help but laugh as he stopped Gu Xingzhai, not even minding the “Sister-in-law” address: “Alright, why get angry at a child.” Besides, he wasn’t wrong.

Of course, given that Gu Xingzhai, this old vinegar jar, not only had a fragrance that drifted ten miles but also cared about his face, he still didn’t say that last sentence in front of Xiao Liu.

“But,” Xiao Liu said curiously, and very sensibly changed the address, “Young Master Lin, how exactly did you do it? It’s the first time I’ve seen a succubus able to change their appearance at will.”

“Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.” Lin Xiaodong gave a dry cough, changed the subject and asked, “By the way, isn’t your sect in the outskirts of the capital? Why come specifically into the city?”

“The city is convenient for gathering information, and although Master is gone, he still has some familiar friends remaining in the capital.” Gu Xingzhai said in a deep voice, “I want to ask them what exactly happened during the time I was away.”

They stayed at an inn and sold the carriage to a merchant. Gu Xingzhai also wrote letters to several other junior brothers, explaining their current situation and telling them not to worry about Xiao Liu’s safety; if they had time, it would be best to meet together in the capital to discuss where the sect should go from here.

Fortunately, after a few days, the junior brothers from the outskirts of the capital replied to him.

The letter said to please take care of Xiao Liu first, and they would arrive shortly.

“Young Master Lin,” after Xiao Liu learned about this, he secretly ran to Lin Xiaodong’s side and reminded him, “Because of what happened to Master, several of my senior brothers have a strong prejudice against demons. Although Senior Brother Gu is protecting you, you’d better be careful.”

Looking at him shaking from fear, Lin Xiaodong couldn’t help but say: “I think the person who should be careful is you, right? Could those senior brothers of yours be even fiercer than Gu Xingzhai?”

“More than just fierce!” Xiao Liu, having his heart poked, said with a mournful face, “They are simply devils! Back when Master was still around, if I were even slightly less than serious in my training, they would take a stick and hit my buttocks until they were blue and purple! They even said Senior Brother Gu was even harsher when he hit them, but Senior Brother Gu clearly never hit me!”

“I see…” Lin Xiaodong said thoughtfully.

That night, lying on the bed in the inn, Gu Xingzhai was closing his eyes preparing to sleep when he suddenly heard the person beside his pillow say softly: “I heard your junior brothers were all raised by your hitting since they were young?”

Gu Xingzhai’s eyelids flickered, and he opened his eyes helplessly: “Did Xiao Liu complain to you?”

Lin Xiaodong gave a hum.

The youth lay beside him on his side, saying meaningfully: “It seems you truly have a hobby of hitting people’s buttocks.”

“What?” Gu Xingzhai never felt so wronged. “When did I ever hit your buttocks?”

“I dreamed it,” Lin Xiaodong said matter-of-factly. “Two lifetimes ago you hit me; you even held me across your lap and it hurt so much.”

Gu Xingzhai: “…………”

He never thought that one day he would be accused of a non-existent crime because of a nightmare.

“That must have been because you didn’t listen to me,” late at night was a good time for intimate topics, and Gu Xingzhai simply abandoned himself to follow Lin Xiaodong’s lead. “Otherwise, how could I bear to hit you? Besides, there’s a lot of flesh there; hitting it a couple of times is no big deal…” The man’s voice became lower and lower.

“What did you say!?”

Lin Xiaodong’s eyes widened, and he sat up in anger: “Gu, say that again?”

Gu Xingzhai lay there calmly, saying brazenly: “Call me ‘Husband’ again, and I’ll say it.”

“Have you no shame!”

“None.”

That one “Husband” Lin Xiaodong shouted at the city gate that day—Gu Xingzhai thought he would remember it for a lifetime.

Half an hour later, Xiao Liu, who was snoring loudly in his room, was awakened by the noise coming from next door. He sat up with a start, listened for a while, and found the sound was like a palm hitting something, interspersed with the youth’s low sobs—things like “Stop hitting,” “Go easy,” and so on.

Xiao Liu thought in alarm: Could it be that Senior Brother Gu’s usual pampering of Young Master Lin was just a surface disguise, and he’s actually just lusting after the demon’s appearance while strictly disciplining him in private?

Hearing the youth crying so miserably, even giving one a feeling of being out of breath, Xiao Liu couldn’t help but feel some sympathy.

He remembered what Master had taught them about judging a gentleman by his deeds rather than his heart. He decided that even if he made Senior Brother Gu angry, he had to stand up bravely and say a word for Lin Xiaodong.

He tiptoed out of bed, walked to the closed door of the room next door, felt his heart pounding inside, and clenched his fist hard—

Go for it, Xiao Liu, you can do it!

Saving Young Master Lin from fire and water depends on you!