Chapter 335 - 193: The Distance

Chapter 335: Chapter 193: The Distance

They arrived outside Li City.

Only then did Xie Luohe speak. "I, Xie Luohe, never go back on my word."

Zheng Xiu said, "You mean..."

As they were stabling their horses at the Post Station, Xie Luohe leaped lightly from her saddle.

She skipped ahead of him, her back turned as she said in a light and cheerful tone, "Don’t play dumb, Scholar. You know exactly what I’m talking about."

The somber look on Zheng Xiu’s face was a jarring contrast to Xie Luohe’s current cheerfulness.

Back at the inn.

An elderly Physician, drenched in sweat, was walking out of the inn.

The two of them froze at the sight. The moment they stepped inside, they were met with Xie Yunliu’s full-throated howling.

"Dammit! Is that bastard surnamed Lou dead or not?! If he’s not, I’ll crawl over there right now and give him a couple of good punches!"

It was Xie Yunliu’s voice.

Chu Chengfeng was trying meekly to dissuade him. "Old Xie, don’t move around! The doctor said you shouldn’t be doing anything strenuous! That eunuch from the Secret Factory is dead, dead as a doornail!"

"Don’t you try to fool me, Chu! When that doctor was leaving, he clearly said that in his fifty years of practicing medicine, he’d never seen someone so badly injured who could still yell so loud!"

"You didn’t hear the second part. Before he left, the doctor told me to buy you some nice food. He’s afraid this is just a final burst of energy before you die!"

"A final burst my ass! Bring me wine! I’m as fierce as they come. We’re not going home till we’re drunk tonight!"

Standing at the door, the two exchanged a smile.

「That night.」

Xie Yunliu, completely wrapped in bandages, and Chu Chengfeng drank sixteen jars of yellow wine in the inn. They ended up hugging and weeping, one declaring that a man cannot live a life of mediocrity and must build a legacy for the ages.

The other cried that fame and glory were like floating clouds and filth, not worth pursuing, and that it was better for brothers to just share a drink and question the heavens.

Fueled by the wine, the two even swore a blood oath, becoming sworn brothers.

Feeling that just the two of them wasn’t exciting enough, Xie Yunliu insisted on pulling in Wen Shishan.

In his room, Zheng Xiu listened to the three drunks—two men and one woman—slamming the table and shouting:

"I, Xie Yunliu,"

"I, Chu Chengfeng,"

"HIC! I, Wen Shishan—bah, Wen *Shi-shan*... *sob sob sob*, Brother Chu, stop touching me..."

"Ahem, the three of us!"

"The three of us!"

"The three of us!"

"Become brothers today! We don’t ask to be born on the same day, of the same month, in the same year! But we ask to die on the same day, of the same month, in the same year!"

"Let the heavens be our witness, and the sun and moon our testament!"

"Brother Wen, drink!"

"Fuck, Old Xie, she’s my wife!"

"What’s wrong with her being your wife? She’s our brother too!"

Zheng Xiu was alone in his room.

The light was dim.

With the window open, Zheng Xiu studied the two paintings by the moonlight.

Barring any surprises, these should be the only two remaining pieces of the Four Seasons Map.

Lighting a brazier in the room, Zheng Xiu tossed the world’s last two maps into the flames, calmly watching as the two pieces of the Four Seasons Map were gradually reduced to ash.

Just then, from the silent inn corridor, came the sound of tiptoeing footsteps, soft as a cat’s.

PAT, PAT, PAT.

Someone was walking outside barefoot.

This person first stopped in front of Xiaotao’s door, then paused at Xie Yunliu’s door across the hall. They lingered for a moment at each, and a faint RUSTLE, RUSTLE suggested they were doing something.

Finally, the cat-like footsteps arrived at Zheng Xiu’s door.

A slender shadow fell upon the paper window.

"Come in, the door’s unlocked."

Zheng Xiu pursed his lips. ’Xie Luohe, oh, Xie Luohe,’ he thought, ’with your skills, if you really wanted to sneak around, how could I possibly have heard you?’

Xie Luohe was dressed in a tight-fitting black outfit, her bare feet shifting restlessly on the floor. Her hands were behind her back as if hiding something. Zheng Xiu squinted at her. Xie Luohe coughed lightly. "What sharp hearing you have, young hero."

Hearing this, Zheng Xiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "What are you up to now?"

"What are you burning?"

Xie Luohe didn’t answer. Instead, she stepped closer, her eyes fixed on the ashes in the brazier. Soon, she exclaimed in surprise, "You burned your grandfather’s masterpiece? Doesn’t it pain you?"

"What do you think?" Zheng Xiu rolled his eyes. ’You’re just asking a question you already know the answer to,’ he thought. ’I’m Zheng Xiu, not the real Gongsun Mo. Why would I feel any pain over burning it?’

"Good riddance." Xie Luohe’s eyes crinkled into crescents as she giggled. "The legend of Nie Gong’s Treasure Vault still circulates in the Jianghu. As long as the Four Seasons Map exists, there will always be stubborn people trying to find that illusory treasure. Burning it puts an end to it once and for all, and there will be less conflict in the Jianghu. By the way..."

With a flick of her wrist, Xie Luohe tossed a letter into the brazier.

Zheng Xiu was taken aback. "What did you burn?"

"A letter I was going to leave for you," Xie Luohe said with a blink.

Zheng Xiu watched as Xie Luohe’s letter turned to ash in the brazier. She then brought her other hand out from behind her back, revealing the "thing" she had been hiding when she entered.

It was a pair of large, gleaming scissors.

The sight made the corner of Zheng Xiu’s eye twitch. He sucked in a sharp breath, took two steps back until he was against the windowsill, and quickly glanced at the drop below. "What are you planning to do?" he asked warily.

"SNIP."

Xie Luohe snipped them in the air.

Zheng Xiu clamped his legs together.

The next second, Xie Luohe reached the scissors behind her head, and a lock of her long hair fell away with a snip.

"Here, give me your brush."

"Huh?" Zheng Xiu didn’t react at first.

"The Luohe Brush." Xie Luohe held out her palm to Zheng Xiu. Her fair skin seemed to glow under the moonlight.

Zheng Xiu obediently handed over the half-broken Luohe Brush from the corner.

Xie Luohe sat on the edge of the bed and carefully trimmed the lock of hair she’d cut, then gingerly tied the bundle to the tip of the brush.

Throughout the entire process, Xie Luohe was incredibly careful, as if handling a priceless treasure.

She spent a full hour on this one task.

Zheng Xiu watched Xie Luohe’s profile, feeling as if he were seeing her for the first time.

Finally, Xie Luohe bit her finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the brush tip.

A faint, bloody light flashed on the tip and vanished.

"There."

Xie Luohe handed the "repaired" Luohe Brush back to Zheng Xiu and smiled. "Don’t break it again. If you do, I won’t forgive you."

"You..." Zheng Xiu looked at Xie Luohe, astonished.

"Shh!" Xie Luohe raised a finger to her lips, hushing him and cutting him off. "Don’t wake them, especially Xiaotao. If she wakes up, she’ll cry nonstop, and she’s so noisy."

"You, since you’re a scholar, you should study hard, pass the exams, and become a good official. Don’t be like that Lord Nie from the previous dynasty, who was greedy his whole life only to end up with a terrible reputation. He never even got to enjoy the treasure he worked so hard to hide before someone else dug it all up."

"In the future, if you’re ever bullied, just use my name, Xie Luohe. If that’s not enough, go to Yunhe Village and find my brother. He’ll definitely help you."

Xie Luohe blinked, her eyes glistening slightly as her smile grew wider and happier. "If your dream really does end, if you really are Zheng Xiu, the Richest Person from two hundred years in the future, and I am no longer Xie Luohe, then that’s even better. It’s perfect, just perfect. It’s good that the dream is over."

"It’s good."

With that, Xie Luohe leaped out the window. Her figure blurred and vanished from Zheng Xiu’s sight in the blink of an eye.

"Xie—"

In the darkness, a lone shadow could be faintly seen running toward the city gate.

Zheng Xiu grabbed the brush and ran downstairs without even changing his clothes. The streets were empty. From the direction of the city gate, the distant sound of a horse neighing echoed through the open space. Zheng Xiu froze, then hurried toward the stables near the gate.

"Someone’s stealing a horse!"

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

"Horse thief!"

Throughout the city, torches were lit one by one. The commotion at the stables seemed to have alerted the city guards of Li City, and the sound of gongs rose and fell.

When Zheng Xiu sprinted all the way to the stables, he found a group of horses struggling wildly to break free from their reins. Some of the more timid ones were huddled in a corner, trembling.

And the culprit behind it all, Xie Luohe herself, was fumbling frantically, trying to lead a horse away. Whether it was because she was a "Mystic" or simply lacked the "skill," she had caused a huge ruckus but still hadn’t succeeded.

Zheng Xiu rushed forward, irritably patting the horse’s mane and making a few calming sounds. After soothing the horse a little, he swung himself into the saddle. "You approached the stables brandishing a pair of scissors with murderous intent. As long as this horse isn’t blind, would it really let you get on?"

Xie Luohe froze at his words and quickly tucked the scissors into her belt.

She couldn’t bear to throw them away.

"Hurry! The guards are coming!"

Zheng Xiu extended his hand to Xie Luohe again.

Xie Luohe opened her mouth, about to say something.

"No more nonsense, get on!"

For the first time, the usually gentle little Scholar spoke to Xie Luohe in the tone of a domineering CEO.

"Okay, I’ll listen to you."

Xie Luohe obediently took Zheng Xiu’s hand and mounted the horse behind him.

The horse shot off, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The two of them quickly vanished into the night.