[Quick Transmigration] Black Lotus Upgrade System - Chapter 11

Under Mu Heng’s careful tending, Yu Xingliang’s injuries healed quickly.

By day, Yu Xingliang began following Mu Heng out to catch fish in the sea. Though he had yet to catch a single one and frequently frightened away the fish that Mu Heng was just about to secure, Mu Heng possessed both a gentle temperament and superb fishing skills.

Amidst laughter and playful banter, the two of them had fish to eat every day.

By night, Yu Xingliang and Mu Heng nestled together on the same bed, Yu Xingliang eagerly pouring out everything he had seen and heard during his childhood. Mu Heng always listened quietly, responding to every single word.

Yu Xingliang even tied up the loose strands of hair framing Mu Heng’s forehead, offering the reasoning that such a breathtaking face should not be selfishly concealed from the world.

Mu Heng yielded to Yu Xingliang in all things, leaving both of them enveloped in an overwhelming sense of sweetness.

Until one day, while Yu Xingliang was hunting for crabs by the seashore, the crabs scurried and hid in every direction, yet they were still successfully captured by Yu Xingliang, whose crab-catching skills had been rigorously honed.

Just as Yu Xingliang was about to share his very first caught crab with Mu Heng, who was hanging out the laundry, Mu Heng suddenly turned vigilant and told Yu Xingliang to go inside the house.

Before Yu Xingliang could ask what was wrong, he saw a car speeding toward them from a distance.

“Lele, go inside.” Mu Heng furrowed his brow, his tone stern.

Not daring to delay, Yu Xingliang discarded the crab he had just caught and hurried indoors.

“Lock the doors and windows,” Mu Heng urged anxiously.

Obeying Mu Heng, Yu Xingliang locked the door, but left a single window unlatched. Peering through the gap in the window, he saw that the person getting out of the car was none other than the village chief of Langya Village.

The village chief was no longer dressed in tattered rags; at a glance, his attire resembled that of a high-ranking military officer.

The distance was too great for Yu Xingliang to hear what the village chief was saying to Mu Heng, but he could tell that the chief was somewhat agitated, suddenly pointing toward Yu Xingliang’s direction as if questioning Mu Heng about something.

An ominous premonition stirred once more in Yu Xingliang’s heart.

After a while, the village chief seemed to calm down.

Yu Xingliang watched as the village chief got back into the car, though the vehicle did not immediately drive away.

“Lele.” Mu Heng walked up to the front of the house.

Yu Xingliang reached to open the door, but Mu Heng stopped him. “Do not open the door, just listen.”

Worried, Yu Xingliang asked, “Mu Heng, what is wrong? What has happened?”

Mu Heng’s voice remained calm. “Nothing is wrong, except that I need to leave for a short while.”

“Ah? Why?”

“Lele, while I am away, you must take good care of yourself. If you truly cannot catch any fish, gather some wild fruits. Above all, do not let yourself go hungry.” Mu Heng paused. “I will… return as soon as possible.”

“Where are you going, Mu Heng?” Yu Xingliang asked anxiously. “What is going on with the village chief? I saw him dressed like a military commander. Why did he come to look for you? And why must you go with him?”

Seeing that Mu Heng offered no reply, Yu Xingliang fell back on his usual habit: whenever Mu Heng was unwilling to answer a question, he simply stopped asking.

This time was no exception.

Yu Xingliang forced a smile. “Well, go if you must. Actually, you do not need to worry about me. I did not get a chance to tell you earlier today, right before the village chief arrived, I caught a crab! A huge, plump crab, too. What a pity I let it go, otherwise you could have made steamed crab for dinner tonight.”

There was no response from outside the door.

Yu Xingliang testily called out, “Mu Heng? Why are you not saying anything?”

Instead, the sound of a car engine starting drifted in from outside.

A flash crossed Yu Xingliang’s eyes, and he instantly threw open the door.

He chased out into the open, but failed to catch even a trace of the vehicle’s exhaust fumes.

“Mu Heng!” Yu Xingliang shouted at the top of his lungs.

It was not that he wanted to hold Mu Heng back; he simply wanted to tell him:

He would take good care of himself, he would catch fish and pick fruit, and he would not let himself starve.

…As if!

By the third day since Mu Heng’s departure, Yu Xingliang was lying under a fruit tree, seeing stars from sheer hunger.

He could not tell whether it was because he had stripped all the lower branches of fruit over the past two days, or simply because the tree preferred bearing fruit high out of reach.

Armed with a long stick, Yu Xingliang could not knock down a single fruit, and not a single fish could be caught either.

“I cannot survive like this!” Channeling his remaining strength, Yu Xingliang wailed toward the heavens. “Mu Heng!”

The roar born of sheer starvation echoed through the jungle, startling the birds resting in the tree canopy into scattering in all directions.

In a hazy blur, Yu Xingliang noticed a pair of leather riding boots approaching him. Lifting his head listlessly, he saw a youth with fine eyebrows and clear eyes, carrying an innate scholarly aura.

Yet upon seeing the newcomer clearly, Yu Xingliang felt his scalp tingle with sudden terror as he scrambled backward.

Assuming that his riding crop was what had frightened the person before him, Chu Muxuan put the crop behind his back, leaned forward, and asked, “Are you the person Mu Heng hyung cares about?”

His voice was youthful, and upon closer inspection, this boy whose features bore a striking resemblance to Fan Zixi was only around fifteen or sixteen years old.

Gathering his courage, Yu Xingliang asked, “Who are you?”

Lifting the corners of his mouth with a proud expression, Chu Muxuan announced, “I am the only son of the newly appointed regional general, General Chu, Chu Muxuan.”

“Chu Muxuan?” Frowning, Yu Xingliang bypassed the core information and asked instead, “Are you Chu Muyao and Mu Heng’s younger brother?”

Seeing Chu Muxuan nod, Yu Xingliang let out a sigh of relief.

“Did Mu Heng send you to find me?” Yu Xingliang forced himself to stand, discovering that he stood half a head taller than Chu Muxuan.

This instantly confirmed for him that Chu Muxuan was not Fan Zixi.

“Of course not.” Unable to stomach the feeling of looking up at Yu Xingliang, Chu Muxuan immediately took two steps back, leveling his gaze with Yu Xingliang’s as he replied, “It was my sister who asked me to invite you to her wedding.”

Perplexed, Yu Xingliang asked, “Your sister’s wedding, and she invited me?”

“Mm.” Chu Muxuan nodded. “My sister told me to come personally and bring you over.”

“Then is your Mu Heng hyung attending?” Yu Xingliang asked the question he cared about most.

At that, Chu Muxuan looked as though he had just heard a ridiculous joke. “Duh, of course Mu Heng hyung is attending.”

After pondering this for a moment, Yu Xingliang reasoned: Presumably, Mu Heng had returned home to attend his sister’s wedding and was temporarily too busy to come fetch him personally, hence instructing Chu Muyao to arrange for someone to pick him up.

“Let us go.” Chu Muxuan gave a sharp whistle, and two brown steeds immediately bounded across the bushes toward them.

“Wait!” With a grave expression, Yu Xingliang called out to Chu Muxuan, who was about to mount his horse.

Thinking Yu Xingliang was having second thoughts, Chu Muxuan glared at him. “You do not want to go anymore?”

“No, no, no.” Walking over at a leisurely pace, Yu Xingliang pressed a hand onto Chu Muxuan’s shoulder. “Little brother Muxuan, did you bring any food?”

Chu Muxuan’s mouth twitched. “What did you say?”

“I am about to starve to death. If you do not give me some food right now, I am afraid you will only be able to bring a corpse to attend your sister’s wedding.”

Chu Muxuan: “…”

Chu Muxuan, accustomed to being pampered since childhood, would never have engaged in such a humiliating tree-climbing endeavor if not for his deep affection for his beloved elder sister and brother-in-law.

Possessing an inherently prideful nature, he now found himself climbing trees in utter wretchedness.

“Higher up, a bit to the left.” Spitting out a fruit pit, Yu Xingliang tilted his head back to direct Chu Muxuan up in the branches.

“So annoying! Stop talking.” Though he snapped in anger, Chu Muxuan’s body still maneuvered precisely to the spot Yu Xingliang indicated.

A satisfied smile bloomed on Yu Xingliang’s face down below.

After an hour of backbreaking labor that left his legs weak and his arms aching, Chu Muxuan finally managed to feed Yu Xingliang to his heart’s content.

Giving a contented burp, Yu Xingliang remarked regretfully, “If only there was meat, this fruit can only be considered…”

“Say another word!” Dust-covered and disheveled, Chu Muxuan brandished his riding crop, making a motion as though to whip Yu Xingliang.

Chuckling, Yu Xingliang conceded a bit of face to Chu Muxuan and finally clamped his mouth shut.

“Since you are full, we must set off immediately,” Chu Muxuan said resentfully. “I have no desire to haul a ‘dead man’ back with me.”

Brushing away a stray leaf from Chu Muxuan’s hair, Yu Xingliang handed over a handkerchief bearing the name Zheng Lele. “Wipe up, and thank you for today.”

Chu Muxuan froze, seemingly unaccustomed to receiving such gestures of gratitude from Yu Xingliang.

“Take it.” Yu Xingliang extended the handkerchief slightly closer.

Glancing sideways at him, Chu Muxuan refused the offer. “Since you are no longer at risk of starvation, get moving.”

With that, he vaulted effortlessly onto his steed.

Unfazed, Yu Xingliang withdrew his handkerchief with unhurried grace and walked over to the second horse.

“Heh.” Chu Muxuan sneered derisively. “You do not even know how to ride a horse, do you?”

Pausing just as he prepared to mount, Yu Xingliang pointed at himself. “Are you talking about me?”

Hooking the corner of his lip in disdain, Chu Muxuan retorted, “There are only two of us here, naturally I am talking about you.”

Calmly, Yu Xingliang replied, “Little brother, when your older brother here was galloping across the grasslands on horseback, you had not even laid eyes on a horse yet.”

With that, he vaulted upward with effortless agility, landing squarely in the saddle.

Chu Muxuan let out a huff. “Knowing how to mount a horse is no big deal! Let us see if you can keep up with me.”

Unintimidated, Yu Xingliang accepted the challenge. “A race it is.”

With a firm squeeze of his thighs, Yu Xingliang’s steed bolted forward in the lead.

Seeing this, Chu Muxuan brought his riding crop down sharply across his horse’s flank, and the animal surged forward to close the gap.

The two of them rode neck and neck, locked in a fierce, evenly matched chase.

Before long, Yu Xingliang and Chu Muxuan arrived at the gates of the general’s residence.

Initially expecting that a city might house two distinct general estates, upon actually arriving at the entrance, Yu Xingliang froze in astonishment:

“Is this not Fan Shenggang’s general’s residence?”

With a smug curl of his lips, Chu Muxuan declared proudly, “This general’s residence now bears the surname Chu.”

Dismounting, Yu Xingliang asked casually, “Oh, management change, I see.”

Dismounting as well, Chu Muxuan signaled a servant to lead the horses away, pausing to reflect before answering. “Not quite, to be precise, it is a hostile takeover.”

Puzzled, Yu Xingliang asked, “What is that supposed to mean?”

However, Chu Muxuan did not offer an immediate explanation, instead marching straight through the entrance on his own.

“Hurry up, the wedding ceremony is about to begin.”

Noticing Yu Xingliang standing rooted to the spot, Chu Muxuan hurried back to nudge him forward.

A crimson carpet stretched all the way from the outer gates into the main hall. Along the pathway, vibrant flowers bloomed densely, while pink balloons symbolizing romance drifted prettily against the backdrop of the blue sky.

The colorful ribbons scattered across the red carpet resembled seashells washed ashore, banishing any monotony from the solitary path.

Had Yu Xingliang chosen to halt his steps right then and there, he would have retained his fine mood for the day.

Instead, he continued forward, following Chu Muxuan directly into the main hall.

At that moment, a bride in a Western-style white wedding dress and a groom in a crisp white formal suit were raising their glasses to thank the assembled guests for attending.

Yet the instant he laid eyes on Yu Xingliang, the groom clad in pure white froze mid-motion…