Qingshan Wild Man Valley

Chapter 59

“I have nothing to say,” he said.

"Can I interpret this as, because you care about me, you're only willing to hide everything from me and not let me see anything bad?"

He smiled and nodded slowly.

"Do you know what I've been pursuing all my life?" I asked.

The savage shook his head.

I gave a wry smile, first lifting my chin to kiss his lips. He didn't react, so I pulled back. "I hope that one day you can become more frank, say whatever you don't like, and yell at me if you're annoyed by me, instead of keeping everything bottled up inside—and ideally, you could wake up one day and become a sex maniac. Right now, you're like someone who's frigid, impotent, and doesn't like women..."

The savage chuckled and then waded into the water wearing only his trousers.

"I'm sorry..." As he wrapped his arms around me, still wet with pool water, I sincerely apologized, "I didn't mean to say you were impotent, I didn't mean that..."

“Then don’t mention those three words again,” the savage said. “What man likes those three words?” He then leaned down and kissed me. His lips were cool and soft. I fell backward, and he supported my head with one hand.

"...Is there more to this story?" I asked after we'd kissed for a while.

“Not here,” he replied.

"Why?"

"You're not comfortable in the water."

"How do you know? We haven't tried it in the water."

"And what do you say?" the savage asked back, gently sucking on my ear.

"Tch—!" I pushed him away. "You just want to say that I've tried it with other people?"

“I didn’t say anything.” He looked helpless. “You’re the one who told me to be honest.”

"I asked you to be honest, not to bring up past grievances!" I said angrily.

"You're the strange one." The savage turned me around and hugged me from behind. "If I said there was more to come, shall we begin now?"

"Start my foot!" I snapped, furious. "You know the water's not clean!"

"You're really hard to please..." the savage remarked with a laugh. "You've been so restless lately, is it... because of me..."

"Don't talk nonsense!" I interrupted him. "You're the same way. You've been acting strangely lately, happy one minute and unhappy the next... Wild man..." I turned to him and said, "Don't you think we're both being too repressed? Even though I'm not forcing a smile, I'm really... feeling suffocated..."

"It's my fault..." he murmured, burying his head in my neck, "...I'm the one who's wrong..."

Chapter 78

I laid my cards on the table without considering whether the savages would be frightened. In my excitement, I ignored all the problems.

He deliberately avoided the question, as if he hadn't made up his mind.

I thought I was just one spark away from igniting the fire, so I fanned the flames frantically.

While riding in the carriage, I said, "There used to be a TV series called 'Princess Pearl.' In it, a woman had a fight with a man, and she came up with a plan to ride a horse. The man chased after her in a frenzy and was thus captured by her."

"Why?" the savage asked, puzzled.

"I haven't finished yet!" I glared at him. "If you ever dare to make me angry again, I'll take a riding whip, ride a horse, and whip it as hard as I can. The horse won't be able to take it and will throw me to the ground, then stomp down with its hoof, stomping my guts out. And then you..."

"I'll die for you," the savage interjected, surprisingly not immediately angry with me.

“Savage…” I pestered him, “After Hengshan, let’s go to Bianliang. I’ve never been to that legendary capital. Besides, the alien village chief is there too.”

"When will the treasure hunt that the alliance leader promised to undertake take place?" the savage asked.

"What's the rush!" I persisted. "If you don't agree, I won't take the carriage; I'm going horseback riding!"

The savage laughed, "Why do we always repeat the same topic? Have we run out of things to say?"

"..."

"If we've already run out of things to say to each other, it's better to part ways sooner rather than later—"

"I'll beat you to death!!" I yelled, rolling around in the air. "Keep dreaming!"

...

Hengshan is not far away. Just before entering the small town at the foot of the mountain, the carriage stopped at a roadside teahouse and gave me a drink of water.

Under the tea stall, my younger brother Qingyou and I sat facing each other, drinking tea. Qingyou turned his head and saw that not far away, under the shade of a tree, Yeren, Song Guan, and Sister Hongbao were standing together talking about something, their expressions quite serious.

"I heard things are in a terrible mess on the mountain," Qingyou said, taking a sip of tea as if talking to himself. "The sect leader is in seclusion, and the eldest disciple, Rao Zhenmu, is temporarily acting as sect leader. The second and third disciples are dissatisfied, and with their failure in the alliance leader competition, I'm afraid the internal strife within the Zhuling Sect will only intensify..."

"Hmm..." I nodded, as if listening to a martial arts novel, "How did you know?"

"Guess what those three people under the tree are saying right now?" Qingyou's younger brother asked instead of answering.

“I guess the savages said the more chaotic the better, just wipe them all out—wait?” I paused again, then asked Shao Qingyou, “What’s it to you?”

Qingyou smiled, "I suspect that among the Hengshan disciples, there are quite a few people planted by Shao Yanhe. The internal strife is timely, and with the arrival of the martial arts alliance leader, he can naturally step forward to uphold justice..."

"So that's how it is..." I muttered to myself, then looked at the savage standing not far away. He was dressed in a long blue robe, and his profile was slightly squinted in the light. "Is he ruthless?" I asked Shao Qingyou. Actually, I didn't know much about the savage's past, because in front of me, no matter how outrageous he was, he would still be within a certain framework and wouldn't show me his dark side.

“The Zhuling Sect is doomed this time,” Qingyou’s younger brother said naturally. “Do you think he came here unprepared?”

"That makes sense." I seconded. After thinking about it carefully, I realized that there was internal strife and division on Mount Heng. If the savages bribed one faction, they would definitely use the name of the alliance leader to purge the other faction. If they succeeded in one strike, not only would they be able to take revenge, but they could even wipe out the other faction's entire clan without any qualms.

The only variable now is the sect leader, who is currently in seclusion. I heard he'll be gone for several years. If an insider can cut off his intelligence network and keep him in seclusion without knowing anything, the savages won't even need to confront him directly.

But—"Ah!" I exclaimed, looked around, leaned close to my younger brother Qingyou, shook his sleeve, and whispered, "Is it... I think I've made a mistake?"

"What's wrong?" Qingyou's younger brother asked back.

“Those coachmen…” As I spoke, my eyes were fixed on the coachmen and guards at the next table. Each of them was dressed in gray-black civilian clothes, yet each of them acted so extraordinary. Even the way they held their cups and drank tea without paying attention to each other was so different and awe-inspiring. “Are they not coachmen?” I asked Shao Qingyou, my voice trembling with tears. “Are they all martial arts masters? The kind who can kill someone with a single palm strike?”

Qingyou's younger brother was amused and said, "If you can kill someone with one palm, you can't be considered a martial arts master."

"It's all over, it's all over..." I was overcome with grief. "Yesterday I was telling them that I was driving such a shaky cart, I shouldn't drive it anymore, I should just let the savages sell it to slave traders and see if I could still be a good coachman, what a bunch of idiots! -- I'm finished!"

"Sister-in-law, you certainly have the air of an alliance leader," Shao Qingyou teased me with a smile.

"What's so funny?!"

"What's there to be afraid of?" he said. "Look at Shao Yanhe, who is ruthless and disowns his own family, yet he still bows down to you, Alliance Leader Sun, and obeys your every word."

"What are you talking about?!" I exclaimed, annoyed. "It's like I'm bullying him!"

“He used to hate the color blue the most,” Qingyou’s younger brother said. “From childhood to adulthood, I have never seen him wear blue.”

"What?!" I was stunned.

"Was it your sister-in-law who forced you?" Shao Qingyou inferred naturally.

"How could that be?!" I protested. "I brought that shirt with me when I packed it—it was in his closet—I just grabbed it and asked if it looked good on me—why would he leave it in his closet if he didn't like it—besides, he's always dressed casually, he doesn't have any taboos—wait a minute!" My mind sank, and I frowned as I asked, "You said the savage hates blue the most? Blue...blue comes from blue, it's cyan—the savage hates cyan the most?!"

Qingyou's younger brother sighed helplessly, "Don't overthink it. It's because Aunt Shao used to like blue the most, and Shao Yanhe would turn around as soon as he saw someone in blue from afar—guess what his favorite color is now?"

I pouted, "I thought he liked cyan the most, but I was wrong. He doesn't like either of us (Qingyou and Qingshan)."

"He likes yellow," Qingyou's younger brother said with a smile.

"Huh?!" I exclaimed in disbelief. "I didn't realize the savage liked yellow?"

Qingyou's younger brother didn't understand either, and continued, "When Mother died, he couldn't get over it for a while. Father said he was silent for a long time, until one day he started crying and making a fuss, demanding to find the sister in the yellow dress. After a while, he slowly calmed down..."

"The older sister in the yellow dress...?" I'm speechless. How old was that savage back then? Shao Qingyou was still sucking on a pacifier and didn't know anything, and he was already asking his older sister for early romance?

"I heard..." Shao Qingyou added, "Shi Shenghuan is fond of yellow clothes, and coincidentally, Shao Yanhe has also fallen in love with her at first sight."

"What are you trying to say?" I realized that Shao Qingyou's roundabout way of doing this was to remind me of something, to remind me of his brother's quirks, and then to let me cater to his tastes.

“His life…” Shao Qingyou sighed, “Alas…”

Chapter 79

The trees along Hengshan Mountain are lush and green, the kind of green that is abundant in summer. Clouds and mist pile up on the mountain peaks, making the mountains appear dark blue-green.

"Sigh..." I sighed. I watched the sunset from Huixian Bridge, wondering how many more times I would be able to see it.

Turning to look at the wild man, I saw the red sun in the sky reflected in his eyes, the twilight on the mountain peak, vast and deep.

“Let me tell you,” I said, “I used to love traveling around, always thinking about having fun, wanting to go everywhere, not wanting to work, just wanting to spend money. So I studied like crazy, booking plane tickets whenever I had a spare moment, my mind filled with thoughts of where to go on vacation and eat, never thinking about what to do afterward… But now I realize that whether it’s Zhuling Cave or Mount Everest, it all looks the same at sunset. Back then, I was so happy traveling with my best friend, but later, when I went to stay in a super luxurious hotel on the edge of a cliff, I didn’t feel anything at all… It’s about people, not scenery. If you were to bend down and kiss me right now, I might never want to travel the world again… I just want to follow you to the foot of the mountain to plant vegetables, really…”

The savage laughed, took my hand, and without looking at me, kissed the back of my hand.

"You...?" I hesitated.

“Perhaps,” he began, “no matter what I do, it’s wrong for you… You know why I’ve postponed the treasure hunt again and again—it’s not your sharp tongue that swayed me, but because from the very beginning… I couldn’t bear to let go…”

"So that's why you're so upset?" I replied. "It's the eternal contradiction between reason and emotion."

He shook his head, the gentle twilight falling on his eyelashes. "It's not that I'm making trouble for myself..." He turned to me, "You'll know later—or," the savage smiled in the infinitely beautiful sunset, "you don't even have to wait until later..."

...

It's not wrong for a savage who has experienced hardship to have a greater sense of crisis than indulgence, but the problem is that even he himself can't say where he will make a mistake and then suffer a complete defeat.

As I and the wild man strolled up to Zhurong Peak, the highest peak in Hengshan, the expansive Zhuling Palace came into view. With its gray roof and red walls, it stood solemnly under the sky, and a row of Taoist priests, young and old, were waiting for us at the palace gate.

I walked up to the gray stone sculpture of their ancestor, whose feet were taller than me.

The two disciples of Fang Ning Dao Ren who came out to greet them proved that the internal strife had come to an end. The eldest disciple, Rao Zhenmu, had been accidentally ousted from his position as acting sect leader, and even the honor of meeting the leader of the martial arts alliance was taken away from him.

Qingyou and Hongbao were already waiting at the door, a step ahead of us.

Two Taoist priests, one tall and one short, respectfully led the way for me. Just as I was about to step into the temple, a younger Taoist priest suddenly rushed out, crying and demanding justice for their senior brother, Gaobai.

"Life and death are determined by fate on the arena." Despite being shoved, the savage's voice remained unfazed as he asked the young Taoist, "How is Brother Li?"

"You despicable scoundrel!" The other man spat in the savage's face. "So what if you're highly skilled in martial arts?! You clearly won the match, why did you have to resort to underhanded tactics and poison him afterwards—and now you've even brought this worthless alliance leader to bully us—tell me, was it you who orchestrated the ambush of our senior brother last night—you—"

"Enough!!" Before the young Taoist priest could finish speaking, he was stopped by the shorter second senior brother beside him. "Making a scene in front of the Alliance Leader, what kind of behavior is this?! Drag him away!"

The young Taoist priest was quickly dragged away by his fellow disciples. The short Taoist priest looked ashamed and said, "Our sect has failed in managing its disciples. Please forgive us, Alliance Leader."

After saying that, he went to see the wild man, and nodded meaningfully.

Therefore, accompanying the leader to social events was merely a formality. I was led to a room in the back of the main hall early on, while the savages went to their side hall, saying they had something to discuss.

I was bored, so I sorted out my thoughts. It seems that the savage sponsored the two Taoist priests, one tall and one short, to seize power. Rao Zhenmu was betrayed by his fellow disciples and has now finally fallen into the hands of the savage.

Fang Ning Daoist is truly pitiful. I chuckled to myself, thinking that once he emerges from seclusion and discovers the turmoil within his sect, he'll be furious—but unfortunately, he won't discover the wicked intentions of his unworthy disciple, since the savage will help clean up the mess.

After bathing and changing, I went to bed and closed my eyes to recite the lines the savage had taught me. Tomorrow, I need to establish the authority of my second senior brother in front of Zhu Ling's disciples. As the leader of the alliance who is not respected by others, I cannot afford to be disrespectful in front of others.

I fell asleep while being carried on someone's back. In every room of the Zhuling Palace, there was a lightly scented incense. I turned over, and the peaceful fragrance made my heart feel soft.

When I was half asleep, the savage came back once, came to my bedside and pulled me, saying, "Get up, take the antidote first."