What's wrong with me holding hands with my brother?
"I was thinking, since I'm already dressed up, I might as well make it as convincing as possible!" Lu Juezhen said, his face flushing from their laughter. Seeing that they were still trying not to laugh, Lu Juezhen suddenly turned around and rushed into the house to wash his face.
When they came out again, Tang Qi and the others were obviously much more serious. Lu Juezhen was pretty and still quite young, with a childish look on his face. He was also chubby and had gained a few pounds. When he dressed up as a woman, he actually had a rather charming temperament.
Tang Qi smiled and said to the innkeeper, "Take him away."
As Lu Juezhen lay stiffly on the cart waiting to be taken away, he couldn't help but grab Cheng Junshi's hand beside him: "Master, you will come, right?"
"Don't worry, we'll follow behind. Just do as we agreed."
Lu Juezhen nodded nervously and swallowed again. Tang Qi chuckled and continued Cheng Junshi's words: "Be smarter, don't get caught when you leave traces."
After saying that, he touched his face, smoothed his forehead to close his eyes, and laughed, saying, "Alright, let's get going."
After exchanging a glance with Tang Qi, the innkeeper dragged Lu Juezhen toward the secret passage. They had only gone down a little when they heard Tang Qi's voice: "You know what to say. Don't have any wicked thoughts. Your crimes are much less serious than those people's. If you can completely eliminate them this time, your merits and demerits can be offset. Keeping your life won't be a problem."
The innkeeper hurriedly thanked him and dragged Lu Juezhen deeper into the secret passage. Only after the two figures had completely disappeared did Hu Xingche ask Tang Qi, "Boss, are you really that sure he didn't kill anyone? What if he's lying? Wouldn't Lu Juezhen be in danger?"
Tang Qi chuckled and replied to Hu Xingche, "He wasn't lying; this person has indeed never committed murder." Hu Xingche frowned, still not understanding, so Tang Qi added, "His eyes."
“The eyes of those who have committed murder are different,” he said coldly, continuing calmly, “How can those who have committed murder be clean? Sin will never disappear.”
“Murder can be divided into self-defense and intent. The sin you’re talking about belongs to the latter. Don’t confuse the two,” Cheng Junshi said, glancing at him.
Tang Qi smiled: "Alright, let future generations judge."
Lu Juezhen lay timidly on the cart, not daring to move. Time seemed to pass incredibly slowly at that moment. Finally, after an unknown amount of time, light gradually appeared before his eyes. The end of the secret passage seemed to be an uphill slope. When the owner pushed the cart from behind, he suddenly exerted force and almost made Lu Juezhen fall off.
He hurriedly grabbed the sides of the cart, and then suddenly heard several rough male voices: "You hunchback, why are you so slow!"
Lu Juezhen quickly let go and pretended to lie motionless like a corpse. The innkeeper dragged the person out of the secret passage and explained to the group with a smile, "The people inside are a bit troublesome, which has delayed us a bit."
"Trouble? What trouble could there be? Are you slacking off again?" The leader cursed and shoved the innkeeper to the ground, kicking him a few times without any politeness. He continued, "If you're any slower, I'll chop you to death."
"Brother Ou, the goods delivered today are of decent quality," Lu Juezhen heard another person chuckle.
"Nice face, but that chest of hers," the man clicked his tongue, "it looks like a man's." His tone was full of regret.
Although Lu Juezhen had his eyes closed, he really wanted to roll his eyes and get up to beat them all up, but he had to stay put and continue to pretend to be dead because of the plan.
"Is there only one today?" someone else asked.
"Yes, it's getting harder and harder now. The news of the death at the inn has already spread, and not many people dare to stay here anymore," the innkeeper explained.
"Not many?" Zuo Ou spat again and cursed, "Then go rob us! Stop making excuses. If you dare to skimp on my profits, don't blame me for my knife." After saying that, he glanced at the dark secret passage and asked, "Is there anyone else in there?"
Tang Qi and the other two were clinging to the inner wall like geckos, barely daring to breathe after hearing Zuo Ou's words. Cheng Junshi, in particular, was extremely agitated by the darkness, almost biting his lip until it bled. Noticing his condition, Tang Qi grabbed his hand. The warm touch in the darkness startled Cheng Junshi. The person in front of him didn't turn around, but simply reached out and took his hand.
"Of course not, why don't you go and see for yourself?" The innkeeper stepped aside to make way for the entrance to the secret passage. Zuo Ou's eyes swept over the secret passage and the innkeeper a few times before he spoke slowly: "Fine, I suppose you wouldn't dare to have any disloyal thoughts. Don't forget, your wife and children are still in our hands." As soon as he said this, the innkeeper's eyes showed even more resentment, but he kept his head down so that no one could see it.
Lu Juezhen was taken away by those men along with the cart. After they had gone some distance, Tang Qi and the others came out of the secret passage one after another with a sigh of relief.
"Damn it! Cheng Wang, don't die here!" Tang Qi turned around and suddenly saw Cheng Junshi's bright red face, and was so frightened that he cried out. His approach made Cheng Junshi, who had just recovered, stiffen up again. After a few seconds, he couldn't stand it anymore and pushed Tang Qi away, his face flushed, and said, "You...you stay away from me!" After saying that, he walked away again.
Tang Qi looked at Cheng Junshi, who had walked over and was sulking alone, and asked in confusion, "What did I do to upset you this time? Cheng Wang, why do you always get angry for no reason?"
He was still fuming when Hu Xingche, who had been watching everything from the sidelines, slowly stepped forward and said, "Boss, why does Shaoqing not seem angry to me?" Tang Qi stared at him, and Hu Xingche hesitated for a moment before continuing, "More like... shy?"
Are you shy?!
These three words left Tang Qi speechless. Cheng Junshi was shy? What was he shy about? And with whom was he shy?
It took Tang Qi a long time to recover from the shock. He looked down at his hands, where the warmth of Cheng Junshi still lingered on his fingertips. Tang Qi's mind went blank for a moment—could it be?
Can two men really be shy holding hands?
Hu Xingche suddenly came over and touched Tang Qi's hand, but Tang Qi jerked away in disgust: "What are you doing?"
"Boss, why won't you hold my hand?" Tang Qi looked at Hu Xingche with a puzzled expression after being asked this question, and said, "Am I crazy? Why would I hold your hand?"
Hu Xingche continued to stare at him and asked in a low voice, "Then how come you were able to hold Shaoqing's hand so smoothly?" Tang Qi suddenly felt a surge of righteousness and straightened his back, saying, "Because he's scared."
"I'm scared too, boss, can you take me with you next time?" Hu Xingche said in a cheeky tone. Tang Qi rolled his eyes, grabbed his arm, and kicked him, saying, "Get lost."
As soon as he finished speaking, Hu Xingche suddenly laughed, and Tang Qi looked over, puzzled.
"Boss, you treat Shaoqing very differently~" Tang Qi subconsciously retorted, "How could I not treat him differently..."
He suddenly choked up, hissing. It seemed that his feelings for Cheng Wang were a little... different?
*
Lu Juezhen was taken to a dark, dungeon-like place. He was practically dragged in by Zuo Ou by the arm, and Zuo Ou's rough handling left his arm covered in red marks.
As soon as Lu Juezhen fell inside, he looked up and saw several pairs of timid eyes staring at him—there were so many girls tied up here!
"Stay put! Don't even think about running away. If I find out you're up to something, I'll chop you to death!" Zuo Ou cursed, then shouted at the top of her lungs, "Jiao Niang! The new girl is here!"
Lu Juezhen stared intently at the figure slowly approaching outside. The one called Jiaoniang was a girl, about twenty years old. Her soft, sweet name and the large wooden stick she was holding strongly stimulated Lu Juezhen's eyes.
"So you're the new guy?" Jiao Niang asked Lu Juezhen in a hoarse voice.
Lu Juezhen swallowed and nodded.
I thought she was going to say something more, but Jiao Niang just sat down on a bench outside the cell, tapped a wooden stick and said to Zuo Ou, "I'll keep an eye on him. Go and get the food."
Lu Juezhen was surprised to find that Zuo Ou actually left obediently, which he had expected to curse loudly.
Lu Juezhen crept quietly to the corner like the other girls, deliberately speaking in a low, timid voice to ask someone next to him, "Sister, who is this beautiful woman?"
The girl seemed dazed, as if her soul had left her body. When she heard Lu Juezhen ask this, she just laughed desperately and said, "It was a nightmare."
Lu Juezhen felt his heart skip two beats.
Soon Zuo Ou brought over the food, which was actually just several large bowls of white steamed buns, so hard that they could leave a dent if you hit someone on the head with them.
As soon as the steamed buns arrived, Jiao Niang banged her wooden stick on the table. As if receiving some kind of instruction, the girls around Lu Juezhen suddenly rushed over and knelt down to pick up the steamed buns and eat them.
Lu Juezhen was stunned. The scene made him feel that what he was seeing in front of him was not a group of living girls, but more like a group of domesticated dogs.
The steamed buns were quickly snatched up, and Lu Juezhen didn't even see a trace of them; when he moved over, there were only crumbs left.
Next to Lu Juezhen was a thin girl with a piece of white steamed bun left in her hand, but the surface was already moldy. She swallowed hard, but in the end, she couldn't bring herself to eat it.
She arrived only one day earlier than Lu Juezhen, and because she was thin, she couldn't compete with the others and could only pick up the leftovers each time.
Jiao Niang was outside the cell, squatting on the ground eating a steamed bun just like them. The girl timidly moved closer and asked, "Jiao Niang, can I change to another one?"
The young woman paused in her eating of the steamed bun: "Why?" Her gaze slowly fell on the moldy bun, then she snatched it away, saying, "You should be grateful to have something to eat. Do you think this is a place where you can be picky?"
She took a bite of the moldy steamed bun in front of the girl and continued, "If you want to live, stop being so pretentious." Jiao Niang threw her half-eaten steamed bun through the gap in the cell and then looked at the girl, saying, "Next time you're picky, just wait to starve to death."
The girl took the half-eaten steamed bun and thanked him gratefully. Jiao Niang continued to gnaw on the moldy bun she had received in exchange, then her eyes met Lu Juezhen's, who was staring in their direction. "What are you looking at? You want to eat this?"
Lu Juezhen quickly shook his head, while Jiaoniang rolled her eyes at him while munching on her steamed bun, saying, "Pretentious. Then you can just wait to starve to death."
Lu Juezhen timidly squatted down to the side again. The girl who had just exchanged steamed buns with Jiao Niang was also there, so he turned his head and asked, "Are you very familiar with Jiao Niang? What kind of person is Jiao Niang?"
The girl, munching on a steamed bun, innocently replied, "He's a good person."
Lu Juezhen choked up. Nightmare and good person at the same time? Are there two beautiful women in this world?
He took a bite of the steamed bun in his hand.
Suddenly, there was a click.
Is this the domineering nature of the steamed bun, or the lack of retention of the alveolar bone?
Lu Juezhen: "..."
Master, Brother Zhengye, where are you? If you don't come soon, I'm going to die right here.
Two lines of clear tears silently streamed down Lu Juezhen's face.
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