“It’s certainly not. They wouldn’t put all the eggs in one basket. We’re on the way back to the imperial city and this will be their last chance. If they don’t grasp it… they won’t achieve anything. They can only wait for us to eliminate them one by one in the imperial city,” Long said.
Shi continued to have wonton soup.
Long also ate several mouthfuls.
Liu wanted to eat that, too. Most importantly, he was really hungry…
Long looked up. “Let’s talk about it later. The poisonous creatures haven’t been found anyway. Go to have breakfast first.”
Liu nodded and left without saying a word.
Seeing that Liu was so anxious to leave, Long laughed. “Qingzhou, he wants to eat it. Haha!”
Shi glanced at Long and continued to eat.
Long took two wontons out of his bowl and gave them to Shi.
Shi said, “I have a lot here.”
Long shook his head. “No. You should eat more.”
Shi couldn’t refuse and ate them all.
Long felt very happy.
After breakfast, it was their turn to enter the city. Long and Shi sat in the carriage and didn’t get off.
“Qingzhou, I suddenly thought of the time when we first arrived here… Guards were very strict and the city gate surprised me.”
“Mhmm,” Shi responded calmly, “There was also the philanderer.”
“Uh…” Long touched his nose. “Forget about that guy. I don’t think it’s a good memory. Just forget it.”
Shi pursed his lips and didn’t speak because some things couldn’t be forgotten so easily.
How could he forget the days when Long disappeared without a trace?
Shi thought that just because he failed to protect Long, Long had to jump into the river from the cliff. Every time he thought about that, he was torn with grief. How could he forget about those things?
“Qingzhou.” Long seemed to have noticed Shi was upset, so he held Shi’s hand and kissed Shi’s lips. “Qingzhou, your lips smell of wonton soup.”
Hearing Long’s words, Shi laughed and no longer felt so sad.
Long kissed the tip of Shi’s nose. “Qingzhou, I’m already back and I’m totally fine. Besides, I want to tell you something. That day, Liu Suifeng wanted to die with Zhou Heng and let me jump into the river alone, but I stopped him. I’m not stupid. If he died, what would I do? You know that I’m not that powerful. So I pulled Liu Suifeng down with me. Without doubt, he was very useful. In the river, he helped me block the attack of the whirlpool. In the end, he was hurt, but I was fine. I’m very smart, right? Don’t you think he’s a great helper?”
Looking at the smile on Long’s face, Shi said gently, “Do you mean to tell me… he’s saved you twice, so we shouldn’t blame him? We should be grateful, right?”
“Of course.” Long looked at Shi with a smile. “Qingzhou, do you still blame him?”
Shi didn’t speak.
“Qingzhou.” Long held Shi’s hand and said softly, “We should be tolerant and then we will live a happy life. Although sometimes I think this is a bit hypocritical, being tolerant makes me feel better because our position allows us to decide the life and death of others at will.”
Shi still didn’t speak.
“I know that you’ll be influenced by me, because I’m a good man!”
“You’re a good man?” Shi rolled his eyes and curled his lips. “I don’t think so.”
“Qingzhou, you made me sad.”
Shi said, “All right. Let’s go.”
Long looked outside. They had already entered the city and they could get out of the carriage.
So, Long held Shi’s hand and got off…
On the other side, at the city wall.
Two young men were whispering to each other at the place a little far away from where Liu and the others dug earlier.
“Fortunately, we’ve dug it out. If we had been too late, we would have been found out by Shi Qingzhou.”
“I didn’t expect Shi Qingzhou to come here.”
“Mhmm. Liu Suifeng and Ouyang Chuan aren’t here. Why did he come? He doesn’t know how to remove poisons or cure diseases.”
“Yes, it’s so strange. It seems to me that he came straight here. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. We must tell Mr. Chen about this. He’s extremely intelligent. I believe he must know why.”
“That’s right. Let’s go and find Mr. Chen.”
“By the way, did you hear about the matter last time?”
“What’s that?”
“Mr. Chen… He’s indeed powerful, but he seems different from us!”
“Oh? You… you mean that… that thing? You also know that.”
“Of course I know. Many people have seen it with their own eyes. How can I not know?”
“Hush, don’t talk about it. That’s right. Mr. Chen eats human flesh, but… he’s very powerful. That’s enough.”
“It’s just… sometimes I’m very afraid… Do you think Mr. Chen will eat us?”
“How could it be?”
“Why not? It seems that… Mr. Chen isn’t picky. The man he ate last time was one of his subordinates…”
“We never made any mistakes. That man was eaten because he made mistakes before. So we must be careful. Listen, don’t say anything about it when we go back later.”
“Brother, I just told you about this. Who else would I talk to? Besides, the imperial court plans to eliminate all of us this time, so it’s normal for Mr. Chen to be angry. But I believe that those people won’t be able to defeat him!”
“Mhmm, I also think so. Come on, let’s go back. We can’t be exposed.”
“Yes. Let’s go…”
Long and Shi naturally didn’t know what happened here.
But Long also thought of a problem.
“Qingzhou, why did you go to the city wall earlier?”
Shi took a look at Long. “Hmm?”
Long said, “Nobody noticed that, but why did you go there?”
“Because of it.” While speaking, Shi took out a small box from his pocket.
Long was stunned. “What’s this?”
Shi smiled. “The poisonous insect.”
It surprised Long. “The poisonous insect? Where did you get it?”
Shi said, “Tianji Sect gave it to me as a gift of apology.”
“Tianji Sect?” Long was stunned again.
“Well, I plan to put it in your body.”
“What?” Long was shocked. “You’ll put a bug in my body? No way!”
“This bug can cure all kinds of diseases and make you invincible,” Shi said slowly.
Long became speechless. Even so, he still didn’t want it!
When Long was about to say that, Shi said firmly, “You have to!”
Long didn’t know what to say.
Shi said slowly, “When we get to the inn, I’ll ask Liu Suifeng to put the poisonous insect into your body.”
Long still didn’t say anything.
“It’s really beneficial. With it in your body, I won’t have to worry about you. Isn’t that good?”
“But…”
“There are no buts. It’s a good thing and you’ll be its first owner. That’s enough.”
“But…” That was still a bug!
Who would want a bug in his body!
“There are no buts! You can’t refuse!”
Seeing that Shi was so determined, Long had to sigh helplessly. “Well, I see… I’ll agree…”