Chapter 72: Not Back Yet

Finally, finding that the other man had run out of words and was preparing to start his rambling all over again, Yun Huizhou applied a slight pressure with his hand, pinching Lian Li’s ticklish spot.

“Ow!” Lian Li’s waist twisted as he dodged Yun Huizhou’s hand, yet he still showed no intention of getting off him. On the contrary, upon realizing Yun Huizhou wanted to pry him off, he hugged him even tighter.

Left with no choice and seeing that it was getting late, Yun Huizhou finally spoke. “No, I didn’t intend to go and murder a whole family. I just want to go out and gather some information.”

Lian Li looked at him suspiciously and asked, “Really? Don’t lie to me. Don’t go out and suddenly whoosh into someone’s house, then slash-slash kill them, only for me to wake up and find myself on the Wanted List with you.”

“Seriously, if you do that, I’ll definitely sell out my teammate at the first opportunity.”

Yun Huizhou: “…Rest assured, I will definitely drag you down with me. I won’t let you successfully sell me out and make it safely to shore.”

He lightly pinched Lian Li’s waist again. This time, Lian Li didn’t persist in hanging onto him and hurriedly jumped down to escape.

“If you’re going to gather information, then go quickly. By the way, what are you looking for? Why didn’t I hear you mention wanting to gather information here before?” Lian Li asked in confusion.

Yun Huizhou shook his head and said, “I’m not sure yet. Regardless, I’ll go ask around first.”

His words lacked a certain logic. Lian Li didn’t know what Yun Huizhou felt was off this time that required investigation, so he could only say, “Fine, then go and come back quickly. If you find anything, come back and tell me. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, see if there’s anything interesting to tell me when you return.”

“Alright.” Yun Huizhou stepped out the door and said, “Keep a good eye on our things in the room. If our stuff gets lost, we’ll both be penniless again.”

Lian Li didn’t reply, simply closing the door and shutting Yun Huizhou outside.

After Yun Huizhou left, Lian Li sat down by the bed, thinking about what to do next.

Yun Huizhou said he wanted to take him for bandit suppression, but although there were many bandits, they weren’t something they could find just by walking a few steps.

If they couldn’t find any bandits to suppress, were they really going to just keep wandering aimlessly like this?

Actually, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He had never been to far-off places before, so being able to travel around now was quite nice.

Thinking this, his thoughts gradually drifted. After listening to the bed curtains and looking for a good while, he suddenly slapped his own head.

Since they were traveling anyway, why not take this opportunity to have Yun Huizhou go to the grasslands with him to catch horses?

He remembered Yun Huizhou saying before that after he caught Ice Treader, he had raised him on the grasslands until he was a little over two years old before bringing him back.

If they went to the grasslands to catch horses, and if they were successful, they would have to stay there for at least two years or so.

In the original book, he didn’t exist. Since Yun Huizhou already had Ice Treader, he likely wouldn’t go to the grasslands to catch horses again until Ice Treader was too old to ride.

In other words, if he kidnapped Yun Huizhou to the grasslands now, he might be able to avoid a lot of the plot.

Although he guessed that the incident where Yun Huizhou was ambushed might have been the one at the Su Mansion—which might have already been avoided—who knew what kind of accident a “plot kill” might throw at him? After all, he wasn’t the protagonist of that book. As long as he remained more powerful than the protagonist for even one day, he couldn’t relax for a single moment.

What if this plot point didn’t succeed, but the next one compensated for it and was even worse?

One must never underestimate the power of a plot kill.

Especially if he stayed with the protagonist frequently, he might be passively dragged into some plotline.

It was fine for Yun Huizhou since his martial arts were high, but he himself was a total weakling. One mistake and he would become a bit of cannon fodder, losing his little life.

Therefore, it was best to go far away for the next few years to avoid it. It would be best to wait until Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan finished their plotlines before returning.

Having figured it out, Lian Li gave his own wit a thumbs-up, preparing to discuss this matter with Yun Huizhou as soon as he returned.

He waited and waited, until it was late at night.

Seeing that Yun Huizhou still hadn’t reported to his room to say he was back, Lian Li began to wonder if the man was lost.

However, it was also possible that Yun Huizhou had returned late and, fearing Lian Li was already asleep, hadn’t come to find him and went straight to his own room.

Thinking this, Lian Li walked out of his room and went to the door of Yun Huizhou’s room.

The door was still closed. He knocked; with Yun Huizhou’s alertness, he would definitely hear the movement.

After waiting for a while, he found that no one came to open the door, nor did he hear any sound. The man really hadn’t returned yet.

Lian Li felt a bit panicked, worried that Yun Huizhou really had run off to kill people. His mind began to race with how to handle the aftermath.

He stood before Yun Huizhou’s door for a long time, wanting to go out and find him but not knowing where to look. He didn’t even know where that family of three lived.

It was late at night now; it wouldn’t be easy to gather information either.

Moreover, all their money was on him. If something happened to him and he lost the money, they would have to find a way to get travel expenses first.

He stared at the door, thinking of many random things, and finally decided to go back to his room and wait until dawn.

As a result, just as he turned around, he was startled into a jump and nearly cried out.

A person was standing behind him, about half a head taller than him. Looking closer, it was actually Yun Huizhou.

After seeing clearly it was him, Lian Li punched him in the chest and said fiercely in a hushed voice, “What are you doing? Standing behind me without making a sound, you nearly scared the piss out of me.”

Yun Huizhou paused, then his gaze slid downward while he let out a confused, “Scared the piss out of you?”

Realizing where Yun Huizhou was looking, Lian Li retreated two steps uncomfortably. Seeing that Yun Huizhou was still looking, he grew somewhat annoyed.

He raised his hand and pushed Yun Huizhou’s chest twice, this time using some strength. “Stop looking! Are you a rogue or what!”

Yun Huizhou withdrew his gaze and let out a long “Oh~,” saying, “You were the one who said you were scared to that point. Naturally, I had to see clearly whether you actually did it or not.”

Lian Li felt his whole body go numb from that “Oh.”

Unable to take it anymore, he raised his foot and kicked Yun Huizhou’s shin, changing the subject. “Stop talking about that nonsense. Hurry up and tell me what on earth you were doing, coming back at this hour.”

“Let’s go inside and talk.” Yun Huizhou moved past Lian Li, intending to enter his own room, but then remembered that their things were all in Lian Li’s room, so he headed toward Lian Li’s room instead.

His expression was very calm; Lian Li couldn’t tell what his mood was.

He also couldn’t guess what Yun Huizhou wanted to say, or what he had gone to investigate.