Chapter 217: Setting Off

Lian Li rolled over and lay prone on the daybed, grabbing a throw pillow to hug. He kicked one foot up and gave it a idle waggle, then suddenly remembered why he had asked about their departure time earlier.

He sat up abruptly, his back to Yun Huizhou. Under Yun Huizhou’s puzzled gaze, he lowered his head and undid his waistband.

He pulled his robe down, exposing one shoulder. As Yun Huizhou watched in shock, Lian Li slowly turned his head, casting a bedroom gaze toward him. He twisted his body into a pose that he felt was incredibly strenuous, but which appeared quite enticing to an observer.

“Senior Brother, how about some cross-dressing play?”

Although he didn’t know what “play” meant, Yun Huizhou understood the “cross-dressing” part. Seeing Lian Li strike such a pose, he had a general idea of what his Junior Brother was getting at.

However, seeing Lian Li like this instantly reminded him of a year ago, when Lian Li had first started wearing women’s clothing and took great pleasure in harassing him.

He fell silent for a moment, then pinched Lian Li’s face and said, “Bring it on. We aren’t leaving tomorrow anyway, and there’s nothing else to do. You had so many tricks last year, and so many clothes. We’ll go through them one by one, piece by piece.”

This reaction was exactly what Lian Li had expected. He feigned a bashful look. “Then which trick should we start with?”

Yun Huizhou replied, “Let’s start with a bath. Didn’t you love suddenly popping up from underwater while I was bathing last year?”

Lian Li: “Then… then let’s go.”

The consequence of Lian Li’s proactive flirting was that he slept even more deeply this time than the last.

When he woke up, he felt as if he had been hit by a carriage; a slight shake felt like he would fall apart.

He lay on the bed, feeling as though moving even a finger required a monumental effort.

Yun Huizhou felt him squirming beside him and opened his eyes. He saw Lian Li looking like his essence had been sucked dry by a goblin, staring blankly at the bed curtains.

Propping his head up on one hand, Yun Huizhou’s eyes filled with a smile. “What’s this? Weren’t you quite the handful last night?”

He didn’t even need to look to know that his back was almost certainly covered in scratches, as if a cat had gone at him.

Except those scratches were from Lian Li, not a cat.

Though the force behind them was about the same.

As he spoke, he reached out to poke the squirming Lian Li.

Lian Li looked at him, rolled his eyes, and turned his back to him. He wanted to speak, but even his throat hurt and his voice was hoarse; it was better to say nothing at all.

Yun Huizhou knew he was likely uncomfortable all over, so he stopped teasing him. Instead, he placed his hand over Lian Li’s dantian, circulating his internal energy to help alleviate the discomfort.

Instantly, Lian Li felt much better. He lifted the quilt slightly to peek inside, then closed his eyes, feeling Yun Huizhou’s internal energy circulate through his body over and over.

Once the soreness had faded, he opened his eyes. “It’s a good thing I stabilized all the internal energy I gained from our last dual cultivation session. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared to use the dual cultivation technique this time. But we’ll have to wait a while longer for the next time; I need to digest this energy first.”

Seeing that he was much improved, Yun Huizhou withdrew his energy. Hearing this, he replied, “If we don’t do dual cultivation next time, we won’t need to wait as long.”

Lian Li rolled his eyes at him again. “We’re leaving tomorrow. Who knows when the next time will even be?”

Yun Huizhou was entirely shameless. “Whenever the mood strikes, it’s usually possible.”

Lian Li remained stubborn. “Hmph, the mood won’t be striking.”

“Mhm, if you say it won’t, then it won’t.” Yun Huizhou didn’t argue, simply going along with him.

Lian Li felt it was pointless to continue the banter and pushed him. “Go to the kitchen and get some food. I’m starving.”

Now that Lian Li mentioned it, Yun Huizhou felt a bit hungry as well. Thus, he didn’t linger in bed, rolling out and dressing before heading toward the kitchen.

That entire day, Yun Huizhou didn’t pressure Lian Li to practice martial arts. The two of them spent a leisurely day in the pavilion.

They didn’t have things to say to each other every single moment, but even in silence, there was no awkwardness. Instead, it felt profoundly comfortable.

The next day, the two arrived early outside the South Island Lord’s residence to wait.

Before long, the South Island Lord emerged. He was still clad in black robes, his face completely obscured, wearing a bamboo hat.

Yun Huizhou and Lian Li also had bamboo hats, but they kept them on their saddles most of the time, only wearing them when necessary.

The South Island Lord nodded to the two of them. With a light tap of his toes, he soared into the air, gliding toward the direction of Jianggao City.

He made a dashing departure, but Lian Li and Yun Huizhou couldn’t simply use qinggong to leave like him.

They had to bring their horses, so they could only leave the island by boat.

By the time they reached Jianggao City, the South Island Lord had already been waiting at Yun Huizhou’s residence for quite a while.

Once the three met, the South Island Lord still didn’t say a word, simply turning and walking toward the Martial Arts Alliance.

Lian Li and Yun Huizhou hurried to follow.

Upon learning of their intent, the manager of the Martial Arts Alliance very readily gave them a booklet. It contained records of all the villains who had been active over the past two years and had not yet been dealt with.

Lian Li took the booklet and looked through it carefully. He found that it contained basic information on the villains and the crimes they had committed.

Some of these incidents were recorded in great detail, while others were quite brief.

The three stayed at the Martial Arts Alliance for the entire day. Lian Li asked the manager for a great deal of information, and by the time they left, it was already late at night.

As they departed, Lian Li’s expression was frighteningly solemn. Before seeing this booklet, he had never imagined there were so many villains in the martial world.

Some had no reason at all; they were simply born to do evil, natural-born villains.

Others had turned to crime after experiencing some personal tragedy.

In truth, the martial world was not so rigid; a person wouldn’t necessarily be blacklisted and wanted just because they killed someone.

After all, fighting and killing were all too common in the Jianghu. You seek revenge on me, I seek revenge on you—no one knows which day they might die at another’s hand.

Sometimes, two people might have a brief argument in a tavern, draw their blades, and fight until one was killed; even this was considered normal.

To live in the Jianghu was to live a life licking blood off a blade’s edge.

To those in the martial world, seeking vengeance after a tragedy was seen as normal.

But to be recorded in this booklet meant it went beyond mere revenge. It meant that after their revenge was complete, they had gone on to commit even more atrocities.

Commonly known as taking it out on society, they targeted many innocent people.

Those who were inexplicably harmed might have had no connection whatsoever to the person in the booklet; they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, randomly chosen to be victimized.