Chapter 39 He only went out for a short while after returning home, how did the two of them get intimate? ...

Lu Nong smiled slightly. She looked around at the menacing enemies, feeling no fear whatsoever. They had all done their best. Man proposes, God disposes. What use was fear then?

Her gaze swept over the figure blocking her way, and she was moved. She whispered, "Brother Zhu, thank you for saving me. I... I'm so happy."

The last sentence, like a fluttering willow catkin, light and airy, yet it sent a shiver down Zhu Yi's spine. He couldn't help but turn to look at Lu Nong, whose smile was like the clear dew on a peach blossom, dazzling and radiant. Suddenly, his courage surged, and he whirled around, shouting, "Who's first?"

“I’ll do it! He’s just relying on his brother-in-law’s reputation, what skills could he possibly have!” A short man rushed forward.

Zhu Yi steadied himself in a horse stance, extending his forearm to block the stick. He then swept the stick horizontally, striking the shorter man in the abdomen. As the man clutched his stomach, Zhu Yi brought the stick down from above, knocking him to the ground, whereupon the shorter man instantly lost consciousness. The second man was also taken down in a few moves.

At this moment, the clamor of the onlookers suddenly subsided, and no one was willing to step forward easily. Liu Er shouted, "I told you it wasn't that my skills were lacking, but that this kid's staff technique was truly superb, and you still didn't believe me!"

As they spoke, four or five more attacked simultaneously, and Zhu Yi stepped forward to meet them. He dodged their initial attack by diving down, and with a front kick, he knocked one of them down. One after another, the other people rushed up and surrounded him from three sides. He gripped the stick, slashing and parrying the continuous attacks. With one hand tightly gripping the stick, he used one leg as a pivot, spun around, and swept away a group of attackers.

Seeing that Zhu Yi had some skill, Wai Lian drew a short knife and a short stick from his waist, attaching the stick to the hilt of the knife to create a long-handled sword. He shouted, "Hey kid, let me test your skills!"

The moment the two exchanged blows, they knew they had met their match. Although Zhu Yi's staff technique had been instructed by a renowned master, with each move concealing clever techniques, he was outmatched due to a lack of experience. In the past, when he was a chivalrous man, people would often give way to him out of consideration for his brother-in-law's reputation, and would never engage in a truly fierce fight. On the other hand, Wai Lian was skilled at using offense as defense and suppressing his opponents, but he was hampered by Zhu Yi's skillful use of staff techniques that countered force, and even Zhu Yi used Zhu Yi's own force against him, forcing him to switch from offense to defense.

Those people were stunned by their back-and-forth exchange, none of them moving. They glared at each other, annoyed and cursing, "You bunch of cowards, are you just going to stand by and watch? Aren't you going to lend me a hand?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a blade slashed straight at Zhu Yi's abdomen. Zhu Yi braced the blade against the tip of his staff, swung the staff around, forcing the crooked-faced man back two steps. In the blink of an eye, two more men pounced on him. Zhu Yi deflected them one by one, but he was secretly alarmed. The crooked-faced man was already difficult to deal with, and they outnumbered him. His staff could only temporarily restrain the enemy, not kill them. He didn't suffer many casualties, but his shoulder was getting more and more painful. If they continued to attack like this, how long could he hold out?

As the two sides were locked in a tense standoff, Zhu Yi suddenly heard Lu Nong scream behind him. It turned out someone had launched a sneak attack, but Lu Nong was holding dust in her hand. She threw it into the attacker's eyes, causing him to scream and stagger backward. This reminded Wai Lian, who ordered, "Take care of that woman first!" The two men beside him agreed and were about to leap over Zhu Yi to attack Lu Nong.

Zhu Yi turned around and stood in front of Lu Nong, protecting her behind him. This limited the range of his baton swing and restricted his own movements, making even defense difficult.

Wailing at him as he raised his stick to block, Zhu Yi let out a whoosh, raised his knife and slashed vertically, snapping the stick in his hand. The blade then sliced ​​through the fabric in front of Zhu Yi, leaving a bloody gash. He shouted, "Now you know how powerful your grandfather is? Why don't you kneel down and beg for mercy?"

Suddenly, a chorus of footsteps sounded around him. Wai Lian was startled and turned to look back when Zhu Yi used his left hand to press down the long knife with the broken stick, while his right hand struck Wai Lian's neck. Wai Lian was caught off guard and fell to the ground with a muffled groan.

"Don't move! We are here on the orders of County Lieutenant He to arrest them! Surrender immediately, or you will make a mistake!"

With their leader down, the group scattered like monkeys falling from a tree. They had no intention of resisting and only wanted to escape as quickly as possible, but the constables blocked their way with fire and water sticks, preventing them from escaping.

He Jin rushed over and, seeing the wounds on Zhu Yi's body, scolded, "You still have no sense of propriety. If anything happens to you, how can I explain it to my father-in-law and mother-in-law? How can I face your sister?"

Zhu Yi chuckled, scratched the back of his head, and didn't dare to reply. He Jin, seeing that he had completely covered Lu Nong, asked, "How is this young lady?"

Lu Nong stepped out from behind Zhu Yi and knelt down to bow: "Thank you, County Commandant He, thank you, Brother Zhu. If it weren't for you two, I..." Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly felt stars in her eyes, her knees buckled, and she was about to fall.

Zhu Yi hurriedly helped her up: "Lu Nong!"

Lu Nong tugged at his clothes, struggling to get up, but ultimately succumbed to the overwhelming exhaustion, and her fingers loosened, causing her to faint in his arms.

*

Lu Nong was both lucid and confused. Dream after dream began and ended in her mind. She tried to wake up many times, but she couldn't. The next dream would begin and pull her into an endless drowsiness...

"It's first taken internally, then applied externally!"

"No, no, you're mistaken. It's applied topically first, then taken internally!"

"You're the one who's mistaken! Is your brain any better, or mine?"

"Tang Qingduo, is your head itchy again?"

Then came the sound of running, "Heave-ho, can't hit, can't hit, can't hit!"

"You! Ouch—you'll wait until my shoulder recovers!"

"So noisy..." Lu Nong had just entered a new dream, and the plot hadn't even started yet. She hummed a few times in dissatisfaction, and the noise stopped immediately, as if a swarm of bees had rushed to her side, buzzing incessantly.

"She's awake?"

"Wake up! Sister Lu Nong! Sister Lu Nong!"

"Dew is heavy, dew is heavy!"

It seemed that if she didn't respond, they wouldn't stop. Lu Nong had no choice but to exit the dream and open her eyes with all her might. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw two familiar figures, their faces filled with joy.

Lu Nong stared blankly at the two of them, feeling a sense of déjà vu about the scene before her. Ah, that's right! The image of Qing Duo and Zhu Yi fainting one after another after smelling the bewitching incense flashed through her mind, and she hurriedly warned, "Quickly put out the incense!"

"Smells good?" Qingduo and Zhu Yi exchanged a glance, sniffed their fingers, and asked in confusion, "It smells like medicine, not good at all!"

Lu Nong was stunned. She looked around and realized that she was lying at home. The memory of Zhu Yi saving her that night resurfaced. She was back safely.

She didn't shed a single tear while being beaten and tied up, but when she looked at the familiar face in front of her, Lu Nong's tears flowed uncontrollably.

This made Qingduo want to cry too. She called out in a tearful voice, "Sister Lu Nong!" and bent down to hug her tightly. The movement was too big and pressed on Lu Nong's wound, causing her to cry out in pain.

Qingduo was startled and let go, retreating. Zhu Yi, who was behind her, was anxiously bending down because of Lu Nong's tears. Unexpectedly, Qingduo suddenly stepped back, and he couldn't dodge in time. Qingduo's head hit his nose, and he saw stars and his nose started bleeding profusely.

Zhu Yi tilted his head back and pressed his nose, then took the "handkerchief" that Qing Duo handed him with his other hand, and said helplessly, "You and I are definitely incompatible!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a burst of laughter was heard. Zhu Yi glared angrily at Qing Duo, only to see her looking away in surprise. He followed her gaze and saw that the one who had laughed was Lu Nong. All his anger turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared with a "whoosh".

Lu Nong looked up and met his stunned gaze, her face flushing red as she lowered her head slightly. Qing Duo looked at him, then at her, suppressing the laughter that was about to escape her lips. She turned around and, like a praying mantis, raised her hands, bent over, and tiptoed out.

Zhu Yi was still in a daze when Lu Nong asked, "Brother Zhu, how's your shoulder? Does it hurt a lot?"

"It's nothing serious, I'm fine now," Zhu Yi said, covering his nose with his left hand while pretending to be relaxed and shaking his shoulders in circles. "Look—ouch!" After moving a few times, he felt a sharp pain, his face contorted in pain, and he had to put down his left hand and press on his shoulder.

"Hey! Don't force yourself!" Lu Nong said anxiously as she sat up.

Zhu Yi rubbed his shoulder sheepishly and said, "It's not fully healed," but he quickly added, "but it's much better than the day before yesterday!"

Lu Nong knew he didn't want her to worry, so she sighed and, seeing that his nosebleed hadn't stopped, said, "Brother Zhu, please come here, let me wipe it for you."

"No need for you," he said subconsciously, but his legs betrayed him as he walked over and sat on the bed, facing Lu Nong. Seeing Lu Nong pull out her handkerchief to wipe his nosebleed, he quickly declined, "No need, no need, this is fine!" He raised the handkerchief in his hand to wipe, but upon closer inspection, he noticed it smelled of dust. Looking closely, he realized that what Qing Duo had handed him was a rag she had grabbed from somewhere.

But he wasn't angry at all. Lu Nong gently held his chin with her left hand, and with her right hand, she carefully wiped his face with a handkerchief. Through the silk handkerchief, he could feel the warmth of her fingertips. Her face was so close to his that he could count her eyelashes. Zhu Yi unconsciously held his breath, afraid that he might accidentally hurt her with a gust of wind.

He hated dew. When he practiced martial arts in the morning, he would sometimes drag his clothes off and throw them on the grass. When he picked them up, the clothes were wet and cold, and he couldn't put them on.

But now he felt warm, hot, and burning all over his body.

When he first heard her name, he was puzzled. The dew he had ever seen was transparent and light, so how could dewdrops be "thick"?

At that moment, seeing her gentle smile, her cheeks as red as lotus blossoms, and her tears falling like dewdrops, each one landing on his heart, blooming into a kaleidoscope of colors—the tenderness of her daily care, the flowing talent of her writing, the composure in the face of danger… The colors, both bright and dark, layered upon layered, so intense they seemed impossible to dissipate or dissolve. For a moment, he was completely mesmerized.

Lu Nong inadvertently caught his gaze, and blushed so much that she loosened her grip, causing the handkerchief to flutter down. Both of them reached out to grab it, but the handkerchief was struck by the force of their palms and fell faster. As they hurriedly tried to grab it, their fingers inadvertently intertwined, and what they were holding was each other's hands.

Their breaths faltered for a moment, their eyes met, and both felt their faces turn red. For a moment, they forgot to let go, their hearts pounding, unsure whether it was on one side or the other.

"The medicine is ready! Sister Lu Nong, listen to me, you must first..." Qing Duo entered the room and looked up. She glanced at the two people's hands that were "connected" and quickly let go. Zhu Yi was even more like sitting on a stove, jumping up immediately.

Seriously? She had intended to give them some space to have a heart-to-heart talk, but she didn't expect that in the short time she was gone, they would start hitting each other?

A sly glint flashed in her eyes: "What have you two been doing behind my back?"

"No, it's nothing," Zhu Yi stammered. "Miss Lu Nong, she, she just helped me wipe the blood off."

"Oh—" Qingduo exclaimed as if suddenly realizing something, "So your nose is on your hand!"

She feigned admiration, saying, "Brother Zhu is truly a remarkable man of our time!"

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Author's note: Qingduo: Teasing Zhu Yi is one of the greatest joys in my life.

Zeng Zhengqing: Teasing my wife is one of the greatest joys in my life.

Zhu Yi: Teasing Zeng Zhengqing is one of the greatest joys of my life.

Zeng Zhengqing: ? We don't seem to know each other well.

Zhu Yi scratched his head: I just think it should form a cycle.