Chapter 4#

If You See SnowCh4 - The Husband is Destined to Wear Green#

Regarding the title: Destined to Wear Green

After parting ways with Li Baocai, Su Ruhui fell deep in thought. Han Ye had once been his number one subordinate, constantly trailing behind him and calling him big bro. Later, Su Ruhui realized that this guy felt constantly overshadowed by him and had long thought about dragging him down to seize his position. Even calling him “A-Hui ge” was fake, and he considered it a disgrace.

Su Ruhui was confused. When had Han Ye fallen in love with him and went crazy searching for a substitute? Thinking of it was unbelievable, sending goosebumps all over Su Ruhui’s body.

Reborn into a new life, Su Ruhui met none of his old friends. Only enemies stood in his path. Su Ruhui lamented, returning to the store he passed by earlier and bought a large bag of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. He hurried back to the old Sang residence carrying a bunch of bags.

The rain fell heavily. By the time Su Ruhui returned, his back was soaked through. Su Ruhui set the items down in the kitchen and turned to look for Sang Chiyu. The side room’s door remained tightly shut, unchanging from when he left. Su Ruhui changed into dry clothes and went inside to tidy up the bowl and chopsticks Sang Chiyu had used for breakfast’s congee. When he walked to the bedside table, he saw that the bowl of lean meat congee was untouched, still sitting there.

Sang Chiyu sat cross legged on the bed. Perhaps due to the cold, rainy weather, his cheeks appeared even paler than yesterday. Su Ruhui tilted his head to look at him. As the Secret Sect’s most formidable blade and known for his fearsome reputation, few noticed that he was actually quite a handsome man.

“Why did you not eat anything?” Su Ruhui asked Sang Chiyu.

Sang Chiyu remained motionless, saying only: “You should leave now.”

This stubborn brat. Su Ruhui was so angry his teeth itched. He asked, “What are you going to do about it if I don’t leave?”

Sang Chiyu remained silent, his lowered lashes casting shadows across his cold and pale face.

Su Ruhui glanced at the congee on the bedside table, “Are you going on a hunger strike?”

Sang Chiyu still didn’t respond, which translated to agreement.

Su Ruhui asked again: “I want to take you away. Will you leave with me?”

Sang Chiyu glanced at him and said: “No.”

“Someone wants to kill me, but you still won’t go with me?”

Sang Chiyu’s reply was the same as always: “No.”

This kid was like a stinky rock in a latrine pit. Unfortunately, he was also sick so he couldn’t beat him nor could he scold him. Su Ruhui shook his head and sighed, turning his head to watch the rain outside the window. The sky hung low, as if you could reach out and touch it. Raindrops pattered on the roof tiles, scattering silver sparks across the ground.

Han Ye was coming that evening. Su Ruhui had intended to run away with Sang Chiyu, but the rain was pouring down too heavily. They wouldn’t even last half a mile before collapsing with Sang Chiyu’s half dead and refusing to eat state.

Su Ruhui also couldn’t rest easy not taking him along. Han Ye was a madman. Letting him meet Sang Chiyu was like sending a little white rabbit into the jaws of a wolf. Compared to Sang Chiyu, who seems like he’d topple over at the slightest breeze, it was better for Su Ruhui to fight him.

Looks like he’ll have to have a 1v1 with Han Ye.

“Do you know that I know physiognomy?” Su Ruhui suddenly asked.

Sang Chiyu’s eyelashes trembled slightly as he slowly raised his eyes, gazing at him quietly.

“Leave, Young Master Jiang.” Sang Chiyu said.

Su Ruhui suddenly reached out and mischievously pinched his cheek, chuckling: “Judging from your facial features, you’re destined to be cuckholded.”

Sang Chiyu: “…”

“I’ll have a guest over tonight. Just be good and stay in bed. Don’t come out unless you need to.” Su Ruhui said as he cleaned up the dishes.

“A guest?” Sang Chiyu furrowed his brows slightly.

This was the first time Su Ruhui heard him ask a question, as if he too had found something of interest.

Su Ruhui grinned wickedly, “That’s right, a guest who’ll make your head glow green.”

Sang Chiyu felt a little unsettled, his right hand unconsciously gripping the fabric on his knee and crumpling it into small folds.

After a while, Sang Chiyu closed his eyes, saying: “Do as you wish.”

He didn’t say another word, showing no reaction no matter how much Su Ruhui teased him. Su Ruhui tried to ask again about his expulsion from the Kunlun Secret Sect, but he remained silent.

Su Ruhui had no choice but to clear up the dishes and leave. He did not deliver lunch or dinner after that. As the daylight faded and raindrops scattered, the flowers in the courtyard were battered to tilting. The room gradually darkened. Sang Chiyu sat alone in the shadows, watching the dazzling light slip from his fingertips inch by inch.

Has he finally given up? That’s good. Sang Chiyu thought.

In actuality, Su Ruhui had no time to cook. He was busy preparing black gunpowder and flintlock muskets for tonight’s fierce battle. Due to the limited materials, he could only set up some makeshift cannons using saltpeter, buried at the four corners of the house. He scattered saltpeter powder over specific areas on the ground and connected it to the cannons in the corners. He carefully concealed its traces with books and puppets to avoid them from being discovered. Lastly were the flintlock muskets. They were crudely made with bamboo tubes as the barrel, but had enough range for up to 150 paces. The chamber was packed with iron shards that would spray out in all directions upon detonation. These guns were able to inflict massive damage even without precise aim. Even if all this couldn’t kill Han Ye, it would at least turn him into a hedgehog.

The sky darkened to black, and he leaned against the wall, waiting. The candle burned silently, wax dripping down to accumulate in a white porcelain dish. Su Ruhui, getting bored, started dismantling the mechanical parts on the ground and assembled a little mechanical spider. His puppets were classified into four grades: fourth-grade wooden puppets, third-grade iron puppets, second-grade leather puppets, and first-grade flesh puppets. The degree of authenticity increases from fourth grade to first grade, with first-grade flesh puppets being nearly indistinguishable from living creatures.

He once created a batch of beast puppets consisting of tigers and lions, occasionally mixing in cats, dogs, and the like. This beast puppet army once captured Xizhou Province’s Baidi City for the Underworld. Su Ruhui then transformed the city into a mechanical fortress, with the entire city operated by intricate and complex mechanisms. These mechanisms made soldiers unnecessary for defense. The machinery alone was enough to ward off an army of a million. That was the peak of the Underworld’s power. Unfortunately, after Su Ruhui was captured by the Secret Sect, the beast puppets were subsequently handed over to them. Baidi City was also recaptured by the Secret Sect.

Su Ruhui implanted a wind-stealing array into the spider puppet’s brain. This array was easy to learn but not really useful. It could be used to hear the sounds in the wind, and Su Ruhui usually used it to listen to gossip and whatnot in the Underworld.

After making four or five wind-stealing spiders, it was already midnight, but no one had arrived yet. Su Ruhui’s stomach was grumbling. He stood up and lazily stretched, then headed to the kitchen to steam a basket of large white buns. Sang Chiyu hadn’t eaten all day. This was bound to give him stomach issues if it continued. Su Ruhui thought about how to get him to eat something tomorrow. Carrying the steamed buns back to his room, he pushed open the door and immediately sensed danger. A person sat in the darkness, half his face shrouded in shadows. Only a clean pale chin and thin lips were visible beneath the light.

The man scrutinized Su Ruhui. Su Ruhui could still feel his gloomy gaze even through the layer of darkness thick as iron.

【Information Unlocked: Han Ye, current head of the Paradise Pavilion. Notorious for his chaotic private life and utter disregard for male virtue. Host, I support you in spanking his butt and cutting off his thing.】

He spoke, his voice low and hoarse. “Little thing, you really do look like him.”

Su Ruhui was speechless. Little? Sorry, but he’s quite big.

Su Ruhui swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth and moved silently toward the square table, where his flintlock musket was hidden beneath the tabletop. Judging by what Han Ye said, he probably hasn’t met the original owner. That meant he could freely improvise. Su Ruhui said, “House head, I’m terribly sorry to have troubled you to make the trip here. I was young and inexperienced, rashly offering to serve you. To be honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. After seriously thinking it over, I think it’s best for me to concentrate on being a spy. How about I cook you a meal as an apology, and you can leave after?”

Han Ye chuckled softly, “Did your homework? You even speak like him. Those useless things sent so many people over to please me, but you’re the only one I find acceptable.” He crossed his legs and tapped his fingers on the table. “Come here. Let me get a good look at you.”

Su Ruhui remained motionless. “House head, you should find someone else. It is late at night and the dew is heavy. Please be safe on your way out.”

Han Ye thought he was playing hard to get and said: “What do you want? Gold? How much? I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll grant it.”

“I just want you to move along and not come find me in the future,” Su Ruhui replied.

Han Ye silently stared at him for a moment before standing up. Light and shadow shifted across his figure as candlelight illuminated his cold pale cheeks. Five years of aging had settled on his brows, making him more mature than in the past. His features were deep set, eyes dark and mysterious. He was no longer the little brother who used to suck up to Su Ruhui, but rather a dangerous criminal who held life and death in his hands.

“Who did you learn that tone from? What’s your name?” Han Ye asked.

It’s cooked, Su Ruhui didn’t even know what the original owner’s actual name was. He urgently called for the system in his head.

Fortunately, Su Ruhui didn’t have to answer. Han Ye provided the explanation himself: “I remember now. Your name is A-Qi. They said you’re a local street thug who entered the Paradise Pavilion at 11. You’ve committed murder and arson. No wonder you’re like him. That guy’s also a street thug.”

Woah, no need to slander him. Su Ruhui felt depressed, as he considered himself a handsome and charming gentleman.

Han Ye continued: “Those things before you were either crybabies or suck ups wearing his face and doing things he would never do. What disappointments. Jiang Quexie indeed was more like him, but unfortunately, those reckless people at the Paradise Pavilion overfed him with drugs in order to cater to me.”

Following this logic, the more he resembled Su Ruhui, the more likely it was that he would be ok. This made things easier. Su Ruhui breathed a sigh of relief. He would absolutely not go to bed with Han Ye.

“But you need to have some propriety and don’t take it too far. After all, I used to hate that guy,” Han Ye reached out his hand toward him.

“A-Qi, come here.”

Su Ruhui was baffled. “So do you like him or hate him?”

Han Ye replied, “You…”

Su Ruhui didn’t wait for him to finish. He drew the flintlock musket with his left hand and lit the fuse with his right. A sudden flash of flame erupted, and brilliant sparks exploded from the bamboo tube. Su Ruhui’s favorite thing was to catch people off guard in the middle of their sentences to gain the upper hand. In a flash, gunfire boomed like rolling thunder. After the smoke cleared, Su Ruhui retreated to the doorway, but Han Ye remained unharmed and standing perfectly. The flintlock musket missed. Its accuracy was too bad, the bullet veered off course the moment it left the barrel.

Apart from a scratch on his cheek, the scattered iron shrapnel failed to injure Han Ye. His black robe seemed to be custom made, its surface aglow with a faint shimmer. Su Ruhui could tell that it was an effect of the Secret Sect’s talismans. Secret arts users could partially imbue talismans with their arts via their blood. Han Ye’s robe had talismans with a “shield” effect, similar to armor.

“A musket?” Han Ye murmured, “He’s always liked to tinker with these things. Who taught you?”

Su Ruhui shrugged. “Guess.”

Han Ye suddenly looked up, “Too bad your aim isn’t good enough.”

“But it is.” Su Ruhui murmured faintly, then abruptly turned and fled from the room.

Behind him, sparks from the flintlock musket ignited the saltpeter powder on the ground. Flames shot up with a hiss, and within moments, the makeshift cannons at the four corners ignited as well. A thunderous blast erupted and flames shot in every direction, shattering the fragile wooden window frames. Stone bricks crumbled to dust under the immense impact, and the room collapsed into rubble with a thunderous crash.

Four rounds of explosions, plus a capsized house. He’s gotta be dead after all that. Su Ruhui stood in the courtyard, brushing the dust off his clothes.

“Goodbye, you little bastard. I’ll burn a hundred burly paper men to keep you company in the underworld.” Su Ruhui laughed out loud with hands on his hips.

As the dust settled, Su Ruhui’s laughter abruptly ceased.

A shadow stood amidst the ruins, a ball of pitch-black flame in the palm of his hand. Han Ye was unscathed apart from a faint scar on his face.

He lowered his gaze to the flames in his palm and said, “My secret arts have long reached the Dongxuan level. Besides unleashing flames, I also command all things with fire. You were too careless.”

Secret arts of the Dongxuan level!? All the secret arts of the world are divided into ten celestial realms. The tenth realm is further divided into the five great levels. From lowest to highest, they are: Dongxuan, Tongyou, Guanhuo, Chaosheng, and Tianren. Those who have just awoken their secret arts don’t even reach the first celestial realm. Prodigies may take a decade or so to reach Dongxuan level, while most people take 40 or 50 years. You could count the number of Chaosheng level cultivators in the Great Jing on your fingers, and Dantai Jing was one of them. He was the Grandmaster of the Kunlun Secret Sect, and just turned a hundred this year. As for grandmasters of the Tianren level, no one had ever gone that far in history.

Han Ye was not even over 25 and had already reached Dongxuan level. Su Ruhui understood that this man had controlled the flames attacking him and transformed them into a barrier that shielded him from the bombardment.

This is just too unfair. Su Ruhui felt utterly drained. Why didn’t he have such powerful arts?

At this moment, a slender, icy hand pressed down on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw Sang Chiyu’s calm profile. Leaning on his crutch, Sang Chiyu walked step by step to his side. His back remained straight. Even though he cut a sorry figure, he still possessed an unyielding spirit.

“Who are you?” Sang Chiyu stared at the man in front of him.

Han Ye looked at Sang Chiyu with hostility, then suddenly smiled. “I know. It’s you who taught everything about Su Ruhui to Jiang Quexie. Sang Chiyu, Su Ruhui was put to death by you all. What’s the use leaving fake goods by your side? Aren’t you sworn enemies? Could it be that you still cherish that childhood friendship with Su Ruhui? You self righteous hypocrite, how disgusting.”

While Han Ye yapped away over there, Su Ruhui pondered here silently. Han Ye was strong. He couldn’t fight him head on. The Paradise Pavilion wanted to get information on the Kunlun Secret Sect out of Sang Chiyu, but all they got were maps and defense plans. Sang Chiyu was the grandmaster’s last and final disciple, no one knew this better than him. The Paradise Pavilion won’t kill Sang Chiyu, nor will they expose A-Qi’s undercover identity for the time being.

Once he understood these key points, Su Ruhui knew what to do.

He spun around and threw himself into Sang Chiyu’s arms, crying in a coquettish voice, “Husband, it’s him! That Han Ye guy! He said I looked like Su Ruhui and tried to force himself on me. How can one man serve two husbands? Husband, this wife can’t go on living.”

Sang Chiyu: “…”

Han Ye: “…”

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Next Chapter Preview:

Han Ye: “You’re already a useless piece of trash. I’m going to sleep with your wife. What are you going to do about it?”

TL corner:  ygxGmd

Su Ruhui: Reincarnates and busts his back to become an Oscar level actor