Chapter 6: CH 6

Sang Chi Yu was unable to sleep all night, as he tried to merge the heart core with himself. Meanwhile, Su Ru Hui tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. In order to preserve his chastity, Su Ru Hui had fought with Han Ye. If he had killed Han Ye, it would be fine. In the Black Street, strength was everything, and whoever had the ability was the boss. Killing the boss would not result in retaliation, but it would make people respectfully acknowledge you as the new boss. However, now that Han Ye was still alive, Su Ru Hui was not only likely to be suspected by the Paradise Pavilion as not being A Qi, but Han Ye’s vengeful character would not let it go easily.

Oh well, if he died, he died. He had died before, and he had gotten used to it. It was just that his helpless and weak husband made him very worried.

What mistake had Sang Chi Yu made to become so pitiful?

What had happened to his former acquaintances?

He fell asleep in a daze, his consciousness becoming a faint thread, pulling him back to a clear springtime in the past. This was his past that he could only return to in his dreams at midnight. In this dream, he was ten years old and still a disciple under Ming Ruo Wu. He was living in Zhuo Luo Mountain with its beautiful mountains and rivers. At that time, he and Sang Chi Yu were not enemies, and he was still a good boy from a prestigious family.

His master’s medical skills were superb, and he was also very strict. If someone had a hidden illness that couldn’t be treated by others, they would come to the temple for treatment. When Su Ru Hui was ten years old, Dan Tai Jing came to ask his master to treat someone.

“Shh…”

Su Ru Hui stuck his head out of the grass, followed closely by two other heads behind him. The round-faced, almond-eyed one was his junior sister, Zhou Xiao Su, and the other one was the twelfth Miss of the Jiang family, Jiang Xue Ya. Jiang Xue Ya was studying martial arts while treating patients in the Zhuo Luo Mountain, making her his half senior sister.

“Is the beautiful little brother really here?” Jiang Xue Ya asked. “Why didn’t I see anything?”

“Yeah, senior brother, are you just playing with us again?” Zhou Xiao Su said.

“Who’s playing with you? I opened the door and I saw him with my own eyes.” He put his finger to his lips again. “Shh… Let me see if my uncle is here.”

He looked around, smiled and said, “It’s a ‘maze formation’ used to hide people. No wonder we couldn’t see him. I learned this formation just a few days ago. Wait here, I’ll go find someone.”

Without waiting for both of them to agree, he turned his head and entered the maze. From Zhou Xiao Su and Jiang Xue Ya’s perspective, his figure twisted for a moment and disappeared instantly. Su Ru Hui leaned down and walked under the tree, looking back. Several old trees around him were buried with spirit stones, interlaced with complex star lines, and they formed this “maze”. He tiptoed around the strange and grotesque rocks and entered a cold cave. At the end of his vision, there was a small stone bed, and a child wearing a white cloak was sitting against the wall, holding his knees, looking lonely and alone, like a solitary mushroom.

Su Ru Hui entered the cave, and the child heard footsteps and turned to look at him. The small face under the furry hood was small, just like Su Ru Hui. In an instant, their eyes met.

Curiously, Su Ru Hui approached him and asked, “I am Su Ru Hui, who are you? Why did my uncle hide you?”

The child didn’t say a word and just looked at him.

“What did you eat to grow up so beautiful?” Su Ru Hui boldly poked his cold face and said, “When Jiang Xue Ya sees you later, she will be so jealous. She always says she is the most beautiful in the world.”

After talking for a while, the child still didn’t respond to him. Su Ru Hui scratched his head and said, “Why don’t you speak? Are you afraid of me? Don’t be afraid, I am not a bad guy. I am a good person who specializes in beating bad guys. The person who brought you here, named Dan Tai Jing, is the Grandmaster of the Kun Lun Secret Sect. He is my uncle, and his younger sister is my mother. You are his disciple, and we are relatives.”

He deliberately didn’t say who his father was. The difference in status between a nobleman and a commoner was distinct, and he was afraid that the little boy would stop playing with him if he knew his father’s identity. His father was a commoner, a relatively unknown teacher who was forcibly brought into the imperial palace because of his good looks and his mother’s favor.

A fruit that is forced to ripen is not sweet. Su Ru Hui learned from rumors in the alley that his parents were estranged lovers. Even more unfortunate was that his mother died shortly after giving birth to him during a civil unrest. His father was destitute and taught people how to read under a big tree while carrying him, still a small baby. He even sold grass shoes on the side of the road. Dan Tai Jing couldn’t bear to see it and took him in, entrusting him to the scholar, Ming Ruo Wu. His father would visit him from time to time and bring some strange wooden dogs with three heads to make him happy. The dogs even had a mechanism inside, and when the string behind their butts was pulled, they would run and make a funny noise.

To be honest, dogs with three heads were a bit scary, and dogs that made a “hehe” noise instead of a “woof woof” noise were even more terrifying. But he was a sensible child, so he pretended to like them and accepted them every time.

He picked up a stick and wrote his own name on the ground. “Here, this is my name, Su Ru Hui. What’s your name? Write it down for me to see.”

Su Ru Hui handed the stick to him, but the little boy didn’t take it and still hugged his knees.

Su Ru Hui thought the little boy didn’t want to talk to him and felt a little disappointed. He was about to take back his hand when he heard a small voice.

“Yu’er,” the little boy said softly. “My name is Yu’er.”

Su Ru Hui’s eyes lit up. “Yu’er! That’s a really nice name. Wait for me, I’ll go get Zhou Xiao Su and Jiang Xue Ya to come over.”

He ran far away with a single shout, and Yu’er stood there in a daze for a while. The noise from outside the cave grew louder, and Su Ru Hui led two little girls inside. The two girls saw Yu’er and surrounded him like butterflies, staring at him. Su Ru Hui was very proud and said, “I didn’t lie to you. I said he’s very handsome.”

“What’s wrong with him? Does he have to stay here every day and not go out?” Zhou Xiao Su said tearfully, “He’s so pitiful.”

“Yeah,” Su Ru Hui asked Yu’er, “why did my uncle lock you up?”

Yu’er’s voice was soft, “He said it’s because I harm people.”

“Harm people?” Su Ru Hui was confused.

“I know!” Jiang Xue Ya clenched her fists. “It’s because Yu’er is too beautiful. The Secret Sect is worried he’ll bewitch people. They’re just talking nonsense. You won’t harm anyone, Yu’er. It’s those stinky men who harm others. They like to push the blame onto us beautiful women.”

“He’s a man,” Su Ru Hui interjected.

“That’s right, that’s right,” Zhou Xiao Su chimed in. “We’ll take you out to play in the future. We’ll have Su Ge dig up the spirit stones, so you can leave this place. We’ll send you back in the evening and put the stones back. I guarantee that Master and Uncle won’t find out. If they do…”

Jiang Xue Ya continued, “You can say that Su Ru Hui kidnapped you and took you out to play.”

They chattered away, not noticing that Yu’er wasn’t listening. He was staring at the words on the ground with his long, curled eyelashes hanging down.

Su Ru Hui protested, “You guys are always pushing everything onto me. Last time we stole some money together, and in the end, I was the only one who knelt in front of our ancestor.”

No one paid attention to him. Zhou Xiao Su clapped her hands and said, “Let’s let Yu’er join our gang!”

She took out a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and spread it out on the stone bed. On the right side was written “Dragon Gods Gang,” and on the left were the names of the members. Su Ru Hui was the gang leader. Zhou Xiao Su was the leader of the Azure Dragon Hall, and the leader of the Crimson Dragon Hall was Jiang Xue Ya. Each name was signed with a bright red handprint. Others like “Gang Leader’s Wife”, “Gang Member”, “Servant” were all blank.

Su Ru Hui said to Yu’er, “This is the gang I founded, the Dragon Gods Gang. When we grow stronger, you’ll be an elder of the Dragon Gods Gang, like Zhou Xiao Su and Jiang Xue Ya.”

“I like red, so I’m the leader of the Crimson Dragon Hall, and Xiao Su likes blue, so she’s the leader of the Azure Dragon Hall. What color do you like? I’ll add it for you,” said Jiang Xue Ya.

Yu’er shook his head.

“What does shaking your head mean? You don’t have a favorite color?” Zhou Xiao Su lowered her head and saw Yu’er’s snow-white feet, “Oh, you don’t have shoes. How can you go out and play without shoes? There are many small stones outside.”

“Your hair is not tied up,” Su Ru Hui said. He took the black ebony hairpin from his own hair bun and tied Yu’er’s hair into a small bun.

Jiang Xue Ya made a decision. “Then you can be the gang leader’s wife. In the future, Su Ru Hui will carry you on his back. He will also be responsible for your new clothes, hair accessories, and powder. If you want to buy something, just ask Su Ru Hui. This hairpin is too plain. You should ask him to buy one made of gold in the future.”

Su Ru Hui rolled his eyes.

Zhou Xiao Su hesitated. “But he’s a boy.”

“What does that matter?” Jiang Xue Ya didn’t care. “My dad has three male concubines.”

“What are male concubines?” Yu’er lightly frowned, his delicate eyebrows clouded, looking puzzled. This look was so beautiful that Zhou Xiao Su and Jiang Xue Ya were both mesmerized and couldn’t get enough of it.

Su Ru Hui exclaimed, “Jiang Xue Ya, don’t come up with random ideas. I don’t want a gang leader’s wife. I want a little brother.”

“Okay, then be a little brother. Su Ru Hui will still carry you.” Jiang Xue Ya made a decision, wrote Yu’er’s name on the paper, took out a box of ink, and pressed Yu’er’s handprint on the paper.

Yu’er hadn’t reacted yet to what had happened, but everything was already arranged. Meanwhile, Su Ru Hui had long been used to it, as Jiang Xue Ya and Zhou Xiao Su dug pits for him every day. There was no way around it – someone had to take care of little Yu’er, and they couldn’t rely on Jiang Xue Ya or Zhou Xiao Su. Su Ru Hui squatted in front of Yu’er, who hesitated for a moment before climbing onto Su Ru Hui’s back.

Su Ru Hui stood up and ran out like a gust of wind, with Yu’er bouncing on his back. The spring breeze blew off Yu’er’s hood and brushed up his dark hair. Later, Su Ru Hui learned that at the time, Sang Chi Yu didn’t know how to read. The first three characters he learned were Su, Ru, and Hui.

It was dawn when Su Ru Hui woke up. He got dressed and pushed open the window. He saw Sang Chi Yu sitting outside the window, leaning on a wooden crutch. Sang Chi Yu heard the noise and turned his head to look silently. His black hair and eyes were still as beautiful as when he was a child. Su Ru Hui couldn’t help but wonder, what did he eat to grow up like this?

“Do you want to see Jiang Xue Ya?” Sang Chi Yu asked.

“Huh?” Su Ru Hui was puzzled. “Why do you ask?”

“You were calling her name in your dream,” Sang Chi Yu said.

Su Ru Hui’s bed was by the window, and he didn’t know how long Sang Chi Yu had been sitting here, but he had apparently heard Su Ru Hui’s sleep talk.

“… ” Su Ru Hui coughed nervously, wondering if this guy had heard anything else.

There was a hint of melancholy in Sang Chi Yu’s eyes. Sang Chi Yu avoided his gaze and said, “Today, we’ll return to the Jiang family.”

“Return to the Jiang family?” Su Ru Hui frowned and thought for a moment. According to custom, he should return to the bride’s family within three days of the wedding, and it had already been four or five days since they had married. The Jiang family hadn’t sent anyone to ask, so they probably didn’t care about this useless youngest son. But returning to the Jiang family was indeed a good choice, as the Jiang family was heavily guarded, and the people from the Black Street wouldn’t dare to cause trouble there.

Su Ru Hui nodded. “Okay, let’s go back.”

Maybe he could also inquire about his junior sister’s news. Since she got married, he had been stuck in Kun Lun, so he hadn’t seen Zhou Xiao Su in a long time.

Sang Chi Yu lowered his eyelashes and no longer responded.

Sure enough, he understood that Su Ru Hui had been thinking about Jiang Xue Ya all along.

Suddenly, Su Ru Hui heard a “beep” in his ear.

Beep –

Temporary mission release: Find Jiang Xue Ya.

Temporary mission description: Reconnect with an old friend who you haven’t seen in a long time and see how she’s doing now.

Temporary mission deadline: One day.

Temporary mission reward: The system’s worship and praise X1

Su Ru Hui: ????

What the f*** kind of reward is this?