After Lian Guang left, Shi Zairong gently opened the folding fan he carried with him year-round. He gazed at the orchid growing alongside the stone on the fan, as if seeing the face of the person he longed for. He couldn't help but mutter to himself with a hint of jealousy, "I was wondering why you didn't come to see me off when I left. Was it because of that man named Mo Yu? Even though he died in battle, would you still help his friends?"
...In the town where the South Vietnamese army was stationed, the patrols in the northwest corner had been withdrawn since Shi Zairong arrived. The very day the patrols ceased, two mysterious individuals quietly moved in. They arrived with several large boxes, the contents of which were unknown. Shi Zairong had said that as long as they didn't cause any trouble, he would give them whatever they asked for, as long as it wasn't excessive. He wouldn't care about anything else.
Even though the sun was shining brightly, it was still pitch black. In the house, which was as cold as an ice cellar, there was a small tripod in the center. Inside the tripod, a fat worm was twisting its somewhat clumsy body, biting a circle of silk thread that faintly emitted a faint green light in the darkness.
The door opened slightly and then quickly closed again. I had thought that no one lived in such a dark room, but from the darkness came a real human voice: "Shi Zairong has already started, right? Are those little things still working?"
The person who had just entered the room, using his eyes' excellent ability to adapt to the darkness, walked up to the person who had spoken and whispered, "It's still a little unstable. Few can meet the requirements. Overall, it's not a success."
Huangfu Zhong said, "In that case, we'll ask our Imperial Master to help us capture a few more refugees. Ideally, they'll be those suffering from serious illnesses and destined to die young. They're useless alive anyway, so I might as well use them for my experiments."
"What should we do? What if they find out?..." Huangfu Xiong was worried. If they were discovered, not only had they left the Huangfu household without permission, but they had also violated ancient teachings by using humans for experiments, the consequences would be dire. Not only would their families be implicated, but their hard-earned cultivation skills would be wasted, and they would have to endure torture a hundred times more painful than those used for experiments. Thinking of this, he regretted listening to Huangfu Zhong and stealing his father's Gu worm.
Huangfu Zhong nonchalantly stated that although they all had the surname Huangfu, how many people actually cared about them? "Don't worry, they can't find us. At most, they can only find the puppet threads. Shi Zairong is the future son-in-law of the Huangfu family and the husband of the next head of the family. The most they can do is to take back the remaining puppet threads."
Everyone said Huangfu Huijue was a rare talent, but she only had that honor because she was the only child of a legitimate bloodline. Everyone said Huangfu Zhong was no match for them, so he wanted to show everyone that the Huangfu family, even without training, was the true and strongest family that could make South Vietnam and even the entire world tremble.
Huangfu Xiong said that this was true, but when he happened to pass by just now, he heard some bad news: "But I heard that Miss Huijue is now also in the territory of Liang State."
Huangfu Zhong said with some disdain, "She's just fighting for some inexplicable childhood promise. I heard that person died at the hands of Nan Yue. She might already be on her way home. A woman who doesn't know how to practice properly, but loves to show up in public, and even when she shows up, she doesn't dare let people know her real name. It's really ridiculous. Even if she's here, we don't have to be afraid."
Huangfu Xiong still looked at the fat poisonous insect in the cauldron with worry and said, "What we are doing is against the family rules. If she finds out, we will be in trouble."
"Just don't let her know. Don't worry, no one will know what we are doing." Huangfu Zhong's tone was obviously impatient. Huangfu Xiong was timid by nature. No matter where he was, he would do whatever others said and would not dare to disobey them. He never made decisions on his own.
As soon as the two finished speaking, a sudden noise came from the house, which should have been quiet, and a ray of light suddenly appeared through the airtight door. The extremely light-sensitive Gu insects in the cauldron instantly became agitated after sensing the light. Huangfu Zhong saw this and thought to himself that this was not good. He hurriedly ran out with Huangfu Xiong: "Hurry and chase them! We can't leave any of them alive! If anyone finds out, we will all be dead!"
Huangfu Xiong and Huangfu Zhong searched every corner of the area but still couldn't find any trace of the person who had eavesdropped. If it weren't for the obvious footprints at the door that didn't belong to them, they would have thought they were just being overly suspicious.
When they returned to the cabin, Huangfu Zhong was clearly still in a state of panic. "How's it going? Did you find it?"
Huangfu Xiong trembled and hugged Huangfu Zhong's arm, saying in a trembling voice: "No, no. Brother, are we dead this time? I don't want to die yet. Seeing the appearance of those refugees, I am really scared, brother, what should I do? What should I do!"
Huangfu Xiong became more and more excited as he spoke. Huangfu Zhong was already very annoyed. Not only could Huangfu Xiong not help at all, but he also kept nagging and no amount of persuasion would stop him.
Huangfu Zhong slapped him hard in the face with a "slap" sound and said, "Why are you panicking? I'll take care of anything that comes up. What are you afraid of?"
Huangfu Xiong almost collapsed on the ground and said, "Big brother, let's go back before we are discovered. Let's go back and apologize. The master of the family is not an unreasonable person. He will definitely spare our lives!"
Huangfu Zhong would not listen to his unconvincing excuses. "I'm telling you, if you want to go back, go back on your own. I don't want to live under the yoke of others anymore. Here, those people from South Vietnam treat us like honored guests. As for the Huangfu family, we'll have nothing if we go back. We'll be ordered around by a bunch of people who are just reincarnated with more power. I've had enough of that kind of life!"
"But!"
Huangfu Zhong squatted down, stared at Huangfu Xiong fiercely and warned him, "Stop talking. I won't keep you if you want to leave, but you'd better remember what you did when you stole your father's poisonous insect. Even if the head of the family lets you go, do you think your father will let you, his illegitimate son, go?"
Huangfu Xiong was more afraid of his father, who looked fierce but was actually weak, than the head of the family, or the possibility of torture upon his return. The shadow left by his father in his heart since childhood was more devastating than any physical pain, capable of instantly breaking him down.
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