Still Secretly In Love With My Enemy Today - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: 

 

“Strange.” The City Lord studied Xie Huaishuang for a moment before speaking. “You don’t look much like him—luckily.”

 

“Come in.”

 

The man was leaning against the bed, still maintaining that upright, almost excessively formal posture.

 

The City Lord’s voice had been soft while speaking to Xie Huaishuang, but the moment she stepped inside, the volume tripled. “Ouyang Zhen, what are you posing for? You loved acting like this in front of us back then, and you’re still doing it at your age. Who are you trying to impress with this ‘otherworldly sage’ act? Where have you been playing ghost all these years?”

 

The man—Ouyang Zhen, apparently—gave a faint wave of his hand, signaling for her to be quiet.

 

Fortunately, the City Lord didn’t need our help to handle him. She picked up a plate from the bedside table and shoved a chopstick-full of sautéed crown daisy greens straight into his mouth.

 

“Who’s telling who to be quiet?”

 

Seeing the man’s expression instantly contort, the City Lord smiled with immense satisfaction. “Keep posing. Let’s see if you can keep the act up now.”

 

I caught a glimpse of Xie Huaishuang standing beside me, frowning in genuine sympathy for his master.

 

—Actually, the two of them did look a bit alike.

 

“It always felt like something was missing because I didn’t kill you back then. It’s not bad that you’re alive; I’ll just wait for the day I finally get to kill you.” The City Lord tossed the chopsticks aside and sat on a nearby chair, her expression turning serious. “Tell us, what exactly is going on? We never found a trace of you. What have you been doing all these years, and why did you send a message to the Temple?”

 

Away from the greens, Ouyang Zhen returned to being a faint, ethereal sage. He looked at me faintly, then at Xie Huaishuang faintly, and finally spoke faintly.

 

“It is a long story.”

 

I immediately pulled Xie Huaishuang down to sit with me. This man looked like the type who could turn a single sentence into three.

 

Ouyang Zhen suddenly stopped and stared at me, eyes wide. I asked, “Senior, why did you stop?”

 

“The two of you…” He turned to stare at the City Lord. “What is the meaning of this?”

 

“What’s what?” The City Lord glanced over and gave an ‘oh’. “Once he finishes paying back the money he owes me, I’ll let you have half a cup of wedding wine.”

 

“What wedding wine!”

 

Ouyang Zhen couldn’t stay ‘faint’ anymore; his voice jumped an octave. “Huaishuang, you tell me. What is happening? What is going on?”

 

Xie Huaishuang could say anything when it was just the two of us, but in front of others, he was different. He avoided his master’s gaze.

 

“Master, no one forced me… I wanted this myself.”

 

“No, he fought you for so many years… No, putting that aside, you’re both men, how can you… you can’t…”

 

He was silenced again by another mouthful of greens from the City Lord. As he thrashed against the pillows and blankets, she smiled at us.

 

“Good child, don’t listen to his nonsense.”

 

Ouyang Zhen glared at Xie Huaishuang with a face that was turning green. A moment later, I realized he was actually choking.

 

After half a cup of water, he finally recovered. As I set the cup back down, he glanced at me. Before he could speak, Xie Huaishuang whispered, “Master, he is a good person—really, really good. I wasn’t forced, and I’m not confused. I’ve thought it through. Master, he…”

 

Ouyang Zhen said hollowly, “Did I say anything about him?”

 

“…”

 

“Stop interfering in the children’s business,” the City Lord barked, tapping the table. “Just make sure you have the gift money ready when the time comes—you better be able to afford it. Now, stop the nonsense and talk business. Back when the Temple was choosing a High Priest, how did they pick someone as long-winded as you?”

 

High Priest?

 

I had only heard stories of the one before Xie Huaishuang. It was said he and the City Lord fought incessantly, but he had supposedly “met the Western God” (died) early on. The position had been vacant for years before Xie Huaishuang took over.

 

How could it be this man who looked like he might faint from anger at any moment?

 

“Wasn’t the previous one already…” Xie Huaishuang shook his head in confusion. “Master, didn’t you say… you were just a friend of the Great Shaman? How could you be…”

 

“There are things about the past I never told you,” Ouyang Zhen began slowly. “The Temple wants you to be obedient, so they don’t want you knowing about the history of us killing one another. You had twelve in your group; we had twelve in ours back then.”

 

Old stories piled up over ten years, yet when finally uncovered, they only took a few sentences to tell. Internal strife was common in the Temple; just as people wanted to kill Xie Huaishuang, people had wanted to destroy Ouyang Zhen.

 

“Fortunately, even after I became a ‘useless’ person, I didn’t let them off. I used a small trick.” Ouyang Zhen lifted his chin proudly.

 

A thought struck me. “The ‘Treason of Sovereigns and Subjects’ (Cuo Jun Chen) poison?”

 

He was shocked. “How do you know of that?”

 

Xie Huaishuang secretly hooked my finger and shook his head, signaling me not to tell him. I stayed silent. Ouyang Zhen’s gaze swept over us, his face twisting as if he’d tasted crown daisies again. The City Lord glared him into silence.

 

“If you knew I was from Iron Cloud City,” I asked, “why did you tell me about Linlang Pavilion?”

 

“Because he knew you would definitely go,” the City Lord sneered. “I shouldn’t have paid for his medicine back then. He calculates everything perfectly—he didn’t have the strength to go himself, so he sent our man. Weren’t you afraid I’d make your disciple pay back your debt?”

 

Between the City Lord’s sharp tongue and Ouyang Zhen’s formal speech, I pieced together the story. After Ouyang Zhen took his revenge, he was picked up by Ye Jingwei’s master. When the City Lord went to settle her accounts, she saw her old rival lying there and promptly scolded him awake.

 

She paid for his treatment while she cursed him. The backlash from the poison he used was hard to handle, and Ye Jingwei’s master was stingy with medicine. Since the man was so annoying, the City Lord feared the doctor would just throw him out.

 

“You vanished as soon as your wounds healed without paying me back. It turns out you went back to the Temple. Why…”

 

“I was waiting for today,” he repeated. “I was waiting for today. My generation was no longer useful, and the Temple was desperate to train new blood. I went back and staged a play, changed my identity, and stayed.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I said it was for revenge. My true enemies are still well-entrenched in the Temple.” Ouyang Zhen paused. “My foundation was damaged back then; I couldn’t do anything myself. But I had to be inside the Temple to leave behind someone who could eventually be used by you.”

 

Xie Huaishuang, who had been silent, finally spoke. “Me?”

 

“Yes,” Ouyang Zhen’s eyes wavered. “The first time I saw you, I knew it would be you.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Of all the candidates the Temple selected, you were the only one who had so many ‘problems’.” Ouyang Zhen said softly, “Don’t you remember? The first time you met me, you asked so many questions. You asked why the moon was as bright as a sword, why ships flew in the sky, why the patterns on clothes had six petals…”

 

“…Master.” Xie Huaishuang interrupted him, his eyelashes fluttering in embarrassment. Why was he so embarrassed? I actually really wanted to hear more. I wished Ouyang Zhen would tell me everything about Xie Huaishuang’s childhood. I never got to see him before he was fifteen—it felt so unfair.

 

“Fine, if you don’t want me to talk, I won’t,” Ouyang Zhen nodded faintly. “Back then, the Great Shaman began to suspect me. I had taught you everything I could, so I faked my death to escape. I just didn’t expect…” He paused, his voice dropping. “I didn’t expect to let you suffer so much.”

 

“It was nothing,” Xie Huaishuang shook his head. “Compared to being a mindless puppet in the Temple for a lifetime, this was nothing.”

 

Ouyang Zhen fell silent. The City Lord sneered from the side. “Faked your death? You’ve been stalking these two children like a ghost for so long, and now you finally pop up… You’re showing yourself now because you think the war between the Temple and Iron Cloud City is about to begin?”

 

“Yes.” Ouyang Zhen admitted it directly. “Decades have wasted away. I am old, but I still remember things. It’s time to squeeze out the last bit of use from this old life.” He smiled faintly. “Once the Temple falls, if you want to kill me, I won’t complain.”

 

“Kill you?” The City Lord slammed the table and stood up. “If I kill you, who’s going to pay back the money you owe me?”

 

…

 

That night, Xie Huaishuang studied a map for a long time. It was a large map of the Western Ling Kingdom, with rivers and mountains winding under the lamplight. He stared at it, his finger tracing a path from one point to another.

 

He was now used to me wrapping my arms around his waist at any moment, only sparing me a quick glance.

 

“I fixed it.” I showed him his sword. When drawn, it flashed with cold light; not a single nick remained. It looked brand new—better than new, actually. As we had discussed, I had modified it so it could be separated into twin short blades. After sparring with him and watching him fight others, I felt a single long blade sometimes lacked the flexibility he needed.

 

“It’s only been a few days?” He was surprised, taking it and looking at it closely. “When did you fix this?”

 

“It wasn’t hard. Just something I did in my spare time.”

 

I didn’t tell him that I’d crawl out of bed after he fell asleep to work on it until midnight, then sneak back in. That would make me sound a bit obsessive.

 

The sword returned to its scabbard with a sharp clink. Xie Huaishuang looked up. “I’d be a fool to believe that.”

 

“You’d be right to believe it. What are you looking at?” I steered the conversation back and sat beside him.

 

“If it’s as the City Lord and Master say,” his finger landed on the top right corner—the location of Xuzhou. “The Temple doesn’t suspect me yet. They likely won’t change their defensive layouts just to guard against me; the cost would be too high.”

 

He kept his eyes on the map but reached out a hand. I dipped a brush in ink and placed it in his palm.

 

“You remember all of it?”

 

“Most of it. The rest I can infer.”

 

It was a staggering amount of detail. We never could have deduced such a precise layout on our own. Having “one and a half” former Temple members was a huge advantage—Ouyang Zhen only counted as half right now because he was currently turning green from the City Lord’s three-meals-a-day crown daisy treatment.

 

I watched Xie Huaishuang mark the map with quick, light strokes.

 

“Take this to the City Lord tomorrow. This is Xuzhou’s layout; it should be useful. The Temple will likely start from Xuzhou. It won’t be long now.”

 

“Okay.”

 

He worked for half an hour before putting the brush down. He looked at me. “What are you thinking about now?”

 

“I’m thinking… how I’ll defend my three provinces when the time comes.”

 

He narrowed his eyes. “Only that?”

 

Fine. “No,” I admitted.

 

“Then what?”

 

“I’ll definitely have to go to Hengzhou,” I said, burying my face in the crook of his neck. “The City Lord… will likely have you stay by her side to plan the strategies.”

 

“I think so too.” He stroked the back of my neck. “But why are you… even more clingy than before?”

 

He acted so aloof. As if he wasn’t the one who, despite having a perfectly spacious bed, insisted on pressing against me every night until we were practically glued together. I had to be incredibly careful just to sneak out of bed at night.

 

But I didn’t expose him. I had a more important question.

 

“Where are you going?” I asked as he pushed me away slightly to stand up.

 

“To bathe and sleep—where else would I go?”

 

Before he could finish, I yanked his sleeve and pulled him back. “I want to bathe with you.”

 

Xie Huaishuang’s eyes flickered. “Why together?”

 

“I want to see what you use to wash.”

 

I had long felt a faint, lingering scent on him. You couldn’t smell it from a distance, but when you got close, it teased the senses. His body wasn’t soft—it was all firm, conditioned muscle—but this scent was different; it combined with his body heat to create something warm and soft.

 

I could smell it right now.

 

When I told him this, Xie Huaishuang blinked in confusion. He pulled his collar open slightly and sniffed himself. I tried to lean in, but he pushed me away with a fingertip.

 

“Is there a scent?”

 

He frowned and sniffed himself for a moment, then nodded reluctantly. “But I don’t use anything special…”

 

“I don’t believe you,” I interrupted. “I’ll find out once I see for myself.”

 

He looked at me for a long time before letting out a laugh.

 

“We can’t wake up too late tomorrow—but a little late won’t hurt.”