After Marrying the 'Long Aotian' in Drag to Counter Bad Luck - Chapter 8

Song Xiuyuan, of course, would not be foolish enough to wait around for Ye Xingchen to wake up and kill him. Though they shared over a decade of sect-brotherly affection, keeping his own life was more important.

Even if he did not die, he would definitely lose a layer of skin!

The night wind blew, making the hem of his robe rustle loudly. If anyone had been present to witness this unconscious person under the dark, windy moon, they would surely have wondered if some great battle had just taken place here.

After pondering for a long time, Song Xiuyuan stroked his chin. Deciding to go all the way, he grabbed Ye Xingchen by both legs and began dragging him toward Yuxu Palace.

In his daze, Ye Xingchen felt his back scraping against the ground with a burning pain. He struggled to open his eyes, but because he was far too exhausted, he could only manage a hoarse, wheezing cry for help. He muttered under his breath, “Song Xiuyuan, you just wait…”

Song Xiuyuan froze slightly as a chill crept from his heels right up to his shoulders. Startled into a shiver, he hurriedly picked up the pace, dragging the body with even greater force. He only hated himself for not owning a magical treasure like a flying vessel.

A rustling sound came from the bushes. Rong Nianfeng, who had just finished adjusting his chest to make both sides the same size, was startled. He instantly went into a state of high alert and asked coldly, “Who’s there?”

Could he have been targeted by someone when he left the Medicine Sect Hall just now?

Groping the Qiankun bag at his waist, he drew out his familiar large black saber, hunched his back, and cautiously moved forward to investigate.

The bushes swished.

Suddenly, a shoe flew rapidly out of the bushes.

Rong Nianfeng quickly dodged to the side, narrowly missing the shoe.

To think someone dared to use a concealed weapon! Fortunately, back when he was at the Shuiyun Sect, he had already been trained to be incredibly adept by Ma Lao Liu. Let alone a shoe, even a needle could not escape his sharp eyes.

However, he felt like something was amiss. Following a sudden intuition, he lowered his head to look at his chest again.

Well, great. It was crooked!

A chilly aura instantly radiated from his body. With a dark face, he squinted at the bushes and spoke through gritted teeth, “My—chest!”

What kind of vile person dared to sabotage his artificial modeling?!

This was completely intolerable. No longer hesitating, he held the large saber and thrust it into the bushes. Who would have thought that the bushes seemed to possess a spiritual awareness of their own? When he thrust to the left, the bushes dodged to the right; when he thrust to the right, they dodged to the left.

Rong Nianfeng took a deep breath, so angry he was on the verge of a helpless fury.

He narrowed his eyes and pulled out dozens of swords from his Qiankun bag, producing a crisp clatter and clank sound. Holding swords in both hands, poised and ready to strike, he was just about to stab into the bushes when the person inside hurriedly cried out pitifully, “Mi-Miss, spare my life!”

A panicked young man’s voice rang out in the quiet night. Countless terrible thoughts flashed through his mind, causing Rong Nianfeng to freeze entirely.

This could not be a spy sent by Ye Xingchen, could it?

“Come out!” he barked.

The young man covered his eyes and curled his body, poking his head out from the bushes. He said in a frantic rush, “Miss, I didn’t see anything!” As if realizing the credibility of his words was too low, he added stutteringly, “R-Really.”

Rong Nianfeng asked, “…Then why are you covering your eyes?”

He used his large saber to nudge the young man’s hands away from his eyes.

The young man groaned as his fair skin turned red from his collarbone to the tips of his ears, his entire body trembling, “I truly didn’t know what Miss was doing, I swear I won’t tell anyone else.”

Perhaps their commotion was a bit too loud, as it disturbed the disciples patrolling the night. Firelight faintly approached their direction, and judging by the footsteps, there were quite a few people. The leading disciple barked harshly, “Who goes there?!”

Rong Nianfeng originally had no reason to be afraid, but he looked down at his chest, which had been knocked askew by the shoe, and then at the cowering young man. Without time to think further, he grabbed the young man with one hand, pulled him along, and bolted forward.

The young man had not even figured out what was happening. By the time he snapped out of it, he cried out in a panicked flurry, “Miss, my shoe!”

It would have been fine if he had not mentioned it, but bringing it up only made Rong Nianfeng’s chest ache. He shot the young man a profoundly resentful look.

The young man shut his mouth sheepishly. However, in the next second, he felt as though something had bumped against his own chest. With a bewildered expression, he lowered his head, his eyes instantly widening as he stared at Rong Nianfeng’s crooked chest.

Seeing that no one was pursuing them from behind, Rong Nianfeng lamented that it was a stroke of luck Ma Lao Liu used to chase him down so often; otherwise, he would not have developed such a talent for fleeing.

Noticing the gaze landing on his chest, he stopped in his tracks. Right in front of the young man, he reached out and, with a loud smack, slapped his chest flat.

Leaving only one side made it look even uglier. After a brief thought, he slapped the other side flat as well. He raised his eyes to look at the young man and said calmly, “Sorry.”

The young man was speechless. This was not something that could be resolved with a simple apology!

In the next second, he shrieked at the top of his lungs, “Ghost!!!”

Then, he fainted away.

Looking at the young man who had naturally slumped into his arms, Rong Nianfeng fell into a rare silence.

Could it be that he had not realized I was a man just now?

Inside the small woods of Lingyun Peak.

Rong Nianfeng expended an immense amount of effort to hang the young man upside down from a tree. Once he was certain the young man was tied up securely, he walked in circles around him to size him up.

He actually looked quite handsome, with delicate and clean features and a pair of peach blossom eyes, which inexplicably made him feel a bit annoyed.

Right, he wondered why he found it so familiarly irritating; Song Xiuyuan also had peach blossom eyes!

Whether it was Rong Nianfeng’s imagination or not, a faint red mark could be seen on the young man’s forehead, presumably a birthmark.

He was also dressed entirely in black, so it was no wonder he had not noticed it earlier.

But who told him to dare launch a sneak attack? Rong Nianfeng snorted coldly and poured water from his canteen right onto the young man’s face.

The young man coughed repeatedly. The sensation of suffocating caused the unconscious young man to snap awake violently, gasping heavily for fresh air.

The heavy pull of gravity made him rather uncomfortable. Seeing the cold-faced Rong Nianfeng, he instantly realized his predicament and hurriedly spoke, “I will absolutely keep my mouth sealed tight regarding today’s matters. I hope Fellow Daoist will show mercy!”

Folding his arms, Rong Nianfeng leaned against the tree and clicked his tongue, “I don’t believe you.”

The young man wanted to cry but had no tears, “You have to believe me!”

Rong Nianfeng did not respond, casually prodding him with a sword, “What’s your name?”

“Xie Jingzhi,” the young man replied in a hoarse, dejected voice.

“Who sent you?” After learning his name, Rong Nianfeng did not fully believe him. He stared at him and questioned further.

“No one sent me. I am merely a rogue cultivator who came to the Xuantian Sword Sect to seek the immortal path,” Xie Jingzhi said with utmost sincerity. “I truly did not know that Fellow Daoist…”

He paused, his face flushing as he added, “Has a hobby of cross-dressing as a woman!”

Rong Nianfeng feebly defended himself, “Do you even understand what it means to have no choice?”

After a moment’s thought, he asked again, “Then why would you appear at Lingyun Peak? Even riding a sword from the Xuantian Hall would take half an hour to get here.”

“I got lo—”

Rong Nianfeng interrupted, “Don’t use getting lost as an excuse.”

“I have a rel—”

Rong Nianfeng cut him off again, “Don’t say you have a relative here.”

“Listen to me first!” Having been interrupted twice in a row, Xie Jingzhi knew the person before him was not easily fooled, so he called out urgently.

Rong Nianfeng lost his patience first. After driving his saber into the dirt, he stretched his muscles and sneered at him, “You’d better just shut up.”

Saying that, he grabbed Xie Jingzhi and spun him around several times until the rope suspending him was twisted into a tight spiral before suddenly letting go. Xie Jingzhi instantly began spinning like a top. “Think carefully before you speak. This young master doesn’t have much patience.”

The young man screamed in terror.

Following this inhumane torment, Xie Jingzhi almost failed to catch his breath. With great difficulty, he finally ground to a halt. Managing to open his eyes, he stopped Rong Nianfeng’s next move, “Fellow Daoist, I’ll speak, I’ll speak!”

Rong Nianfeng raised an eyebrow, “Fine, speak then.”

“I came to look for my brother.”

“Your brother?” Rong Nianfeng asked with a frown.

Xie Jingzhi nodded heavily and pointed at the rope binding him, “Could you perhaps let me down first?”

Seeing that Rong Nianfeng did not budge, he formed a hand seal in near-collapse, “I swear I won’t run. If I break this oath, may I never reach the Golden Core realm in this lifetime!”

With such a heavy oath made, Rong Nianfeng no longer harbored suspicions and let him down.

After tossing the rope back into his Qiankun bag, he gestured for Xie Jingzhi to continue.

Xie Jingzhi said, “I haven’t seen my brother for over a thousand years. A few days ago, I observed the astrology at night and discovered traces of him at Lingyun Peak. That’s why I came under the pretext of seeking the immortal path.”

Looking at his expression, it did not seem fake. Although Rong Nianfeng still had some doubts, he tentatively believed him.

According to Xie Jingzhi, he belonged to the Nine Nether Merfolk clan.

“Since you are a Merfolk, why are you so weak?” Rong Nianfeng asked suspiciously. There was no other reason; the book had mentioned the Merfolk, stating that their clan possessed pure spiritual roots, could bewitch others with their voices, cultivated at an extremely rapid pace, and possessed formidable strength.

Yet the person before him had absolutely no internal energy, making him a useless person just like himself.

Xie Jingzhi glanced at him, then lowered his head, slamming his other hand hard against the ground as he said pitifully, “Fellow Daoist, you hurt my feelings.”

Rong Nianfeng was silent. He thought to himself that this person sure was dramatic.

“Sorry,” Rong Nianfeng asked again, “So, why is that?”

Xie Jingzhi spoke with a mix of truth and falsehood, “I was born to a Merfolk and a human…”

Rong Nianfeng hurriedly waved his hand, “Forget it, forget it, I don’t want to know.”

He lifted his head to look up; the night was as dark as it could possibly get. He suddenly remembered that he had not put on his grand performance for the day yet. Turning his head to look at Xie Jingzhi, he said, “How about we make a deal?”

Xie Jingzhi was dazed and asked, “Can I refuse?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

Rong Nianfeng lowered his head to continue modeling his chest, scaring Xie Jingzhi into quickly covering his eyes. Rong Nianfeng said, “I have compelling reasons to hide my identity. Killing you and disposing of the corpse…”

Xie Jingzhi trembled.

“…Well, it’s a bit troublesome. So, you help me hide my identity, and I’ll help you find your brother. How about it?”

Xie Jingzhi was no longer afraid, his face lighting up with excitement, “Deal!”

After the two reached an agreement, Rong Nianfeng explained his situation to Xie Jingzhi before letting him sneak down the mountain. Another fifteen minutes passed before he emerged from the small woods, sporting his beautiful feminine appearance.

Clearing his throat twice, he pinched his vocal cords and shouted “Brother Xingchen” all along the way.

Hearing his voice in the front hall, the Eldest Senior Brother shuddered. He downed a cup of warm wine and spoke to the Second Senior Brother, “Now I feel comfortable.”

The Second Senior Brother rolled his eyes at him, “I think you’re sick.”

The Third Senior Brother chimed in, “Speaking of which, I seem to have seen the Tenth Senior Brother dragging the Eleventh Junior Brother toward Yuxu Palace a few hours ago.”

The Eldest Senior Brother nodded with relief, “Junior Sister Nianxue and the Eleventh Junior Brother have finally found love and become a couple.”

The chirping of cicadas grew clearer in the summer night. Song Xiuyuan, who had been hiding in the corner all along, breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw Rong Nianfeng heading this way. He thought to himself, Chenchen, I’m sorry.

Support After Marrying the ‘Long Aotian’ in Drag to Counter Bad Luck