Chapter 1027

Yan Boguang, relying on his numbers, grew bolder and snorted coldly: "Li Tianheng's assassination must be connected to you; if you provoke me, I'll have you all arrested."

Hu Xiaotian furrowed his brows and said, "Yan Boguang, if you've got the guts, just go inform on them—then we'll see who they come to arrest." Yan Boguang is a bandit from Tianlang Mountain; including his father Yan Kui, they are all wanted criminals in Xichuan, so going to the authorities would be walking into a trap.

Yan Nujiao finally managed to pull Yan Boguang away, and Yang Lingqi watched the departing bandits, shaking his head with a sigh, and said quietly, "Prefect, this is no place to linger; this gang of bandits is a mixed bag, and it's hard to say what they'll do."

Hu Xiaotian smiled and said, "No problem, we're leaving tomorrow!"

Hearing they could leave Xizhou the next day, everyone was overjoyed—after all, Xizhou's troubles kept coming one after another, and their situation grew increasingly unfavorable. Hu Xiaotian had not revealed to anyone that he was rescuing Prince Zhou; even Yan Nujiao didn't know whom he had saved. This was no trivial matter and must not be leaked; if Long Xuan'en learned that it was he who had rescued Prince Zhou, ruining his grand scheme, he would likely spare no expense to take revenge on the Hu family.

Hu Xiaotian told the group, "In war, envoys are not harmed; Li Tianheng won't pursue our matter and will let us return to Dakang smoothly."

Xiong Tianba exclaimed in astonishment, "Would he really be that kind-hearted?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "There's no trick in this."

Xiong Tianba happily said, "That's great—I can just go back to the relay station and pick up whatever I left there."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Of course, you can go back and pack up now." Actually, staying here or returning to the relay station is the same; after meeting Li Tianheng, Hu Xiaotian realized he posed no threat to Li Tianheng at all.

Yang Lingqi had already sensed something; after Xiong Tianba left, he whispered to Hu Xiaotian, "Miss Weisa has awakened."

Hu Xiaotian nodded. He glanced at Weisa's room; the room was lit, and the light cast her beautiful silhouette onto the lattice window.

Yang Lingqi said, "Prefect, go see her!"

Hu Xiaotian nodded.

Weisa sat quietly at the table, her icy-blue eyes blankly staring at the flickering candle flame, her spirit seeming still detached from her body. Only upon hearing the knock did she blink as if waking from a dream, rise, and open the door. Seeing Hu Xiaotian outside, tears instantly welled in her eyes, and she trembled, "Master!"

Hu Xiaotian heard her address him thus, knowing her sanity had indeed returned, and smiled, "You finally remember me!"

Compared to when they parted at Azure Cloud, Weisa had become much slimmer, but if one had to say her biggest change was in language—she previously couldn't utter a word of Chinese—now she could express herself fluently, though her accent still carried an exotic flair, her voice itself was superb, as pleasant as an oriole's song.

Weisa and Hu Xiaotian, reunited after a long separation, naturally felt close. She told him what had befallen her since they parted at Azure Cloud: Hu Xiaotian had said he'd be back in ten-odd days when he left Azure Cloud, but after departing he never returned, and later Xichuan fell into turmoil. Murong Feiyan also left, giving her some travel money before she went to seek relatives. Weisa had no kin there, and besides her golden hair and blue eyes setting her apart from the Central Plains folk, she had originally planned to go to Yulan Kingdom and from there return home. But before she could leave, she was seized—because Shajia State Preceptor Moshali, resentful after seeing Prince Zhou give Weisa to Hu Xiaotian, had sent men to lurk in Azure Cloud. While Murong Feiyan was present they dared not act, but once she left they felt free to seize the opportunity and abduct Weisa.

Thus Weisa was brought back to Shajia. Originally, Prince Huoge of Shajia had taken a liking to her, but while returning he brought Li Tianheng's daughter Li Mochou along and dared not act on his feelings. Li Mochou, seeing Weisa's beauty, wanted to make her a maid. Weisa had thought she could then serve the princess consort and spend her remaining days, but when the princess became pregnant, Huoge could no longer bear his loneliness and made advances on Weisa; the princess discovered this, grew angry with Weisa, and forced Huoge to bring Weisa to her brother as a gift. Huoge, having no choice, brought Weisa to Xizhou—though he did not go against Li Mochou's wishes, he also did not fully obey her, giving Weisa to Prince Yan Xue Shengjing. Anyway, the wife only wanted to send Weisa away; once back, she only needed to tell him that Prince Yan insisted on taking her, and he could not refuse, so he could bluff his way through.

Weisa refused to accept such fate, attempting suicide several times along the way; Huoge had the Soul Capturer control her mind, leaving her dazed throughout, but fortunately meeting Hu Xiaotian allowed her to escape disaster.

After hearing her story, Hu Xiaotian also felt deeply moved; Weisa's fate had indeed been tumultuous, and he comforted her, "Don't worry—from now on you'll stay by my side, and I'll never let you suffer the slightest injustice."

Weisa replied through tears, "Master, I will go nowhere else; I will remain at your side to serve you."

Hu Xiaotian, still uneasy about that Soul Capturer, reflected that with his own willpower he had nearly been controlled that day, and whispered, "What sort of person is that Soul Capturer? How many such experts does Huoge have around him?"

Weisa pondered and said, "There's only that one Soul Capturer, but Shajia has many like him." Hu Xiaotian silently sighed, hoping never to encounter such people again, for given his current condition he still lacked an effective way to deal with Soul Capturers.

At that moment a commotion came from outside; Hu Xiaotian told Weisa to rest early, then went out to see—it was Tang Tiexin returning. As Hu Xiaotian had instructed, Tang Tiexin had already prepared the wagon and supplies, ready to depart at any time.

While Hu Xiaotian was actively preparing to leave, Hu Jinniu poked his head over to check the situation. As soon as he showed himself, Xiong Tianba spotted him, grabbed his collar and hauled him over, shouting, "Traitor—believe it or not, I'll beat you flat!" Xiong Tianba had just clashed with Yan Boguang, his anger still unspent, and he was looking for someone to thrash soundly.

Hu Jinniu hurriedly said, "It's one of us, one of us!"

"Who's one of you?"

Hu Jinniu pointed to Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian laughed, "We're from the same clan—you can't write two Hu characters in one stroke."

Only then did Xiong Tianba release Hu Jinniu, who approached Hu Xiaotian with a beaming smile, glanced around, and said in a low voice, "Junior brother, let's find a quiet place to talk."

Hu Xiaotian summoned him to his room; Hu Jinniu closed the door and said mysteriously, "Junior brother, are you all leaving?"

Hu Xiaotian nodded, "We'll set out at dawn tomorrow, so as not to cause you trouble."

Hu Jinniu asked, "Are you heading back to Kangdu?"

Hu Xiaotian gave him a wary glance: "What? Why are you asking in such detail?"

Hu Jinniu hurriedly added with a smile, "Junior brother, don't take it to heart—we're paternal cousins, same clan; I could never harm anyone, let alone you—I was just making casual conversation."

Hu Xiaotian said, "You really intend to be a bandit in Tianlang Mountain for life?"

Hu Jinniu replied, "I have no choice—I need to support my family."

Hu Xiaotian untied a money pouch from his waist and threw it to him; it was filled to the brim with gold leaves.

Hu Jinniu took a look, and the gleaming gold leaves dazzled his eyes; he hastily put the pouch back on the table, saying, "No way, no way—I don't need this money, and if others saw it they'd think I'd been embezzling the stronghold's property."

Hu Xiaotian said, "This money is for your family; banditry isn't a lifelong career. If you're determined to stay in Tianlang Mountain, I won't stop you—but if you find you can't get by, you can always come to Kangdu to see me."

Hu Jinniu nodded repeatedly; after all, they were clan brothers, and he really wasn't bad to him.

Hu Xiaotian said, "After I leave, you'd better get out of here; although this place is very hidden, it's ultimately not a place to stay long—leaving Xizhou early is the only way to guarantee safety. Also, could you promise me one thing?"

Hu Jinniu said: "Brother, just speak."

Hu Xiaotian picked up the money bag and handed it again to Hu Jinniu; this time Hu Jinniu did not refuse.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Keep an eye on Yan Nujiao!"

"What?" Hu Jinniu stared at Hu Xiaotian, utterly puzzled.

Hu Xiaotian said: "If anything happens to her, you must let me know immediately."

Hu Jinniu exclaimed in surprise: "What could possibly happen to her?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "For example, getting married, or having a child, things like that. I owe her a huge favor, I must repay it." Hu Xiaotian worried that Hu Jinniu would speculate wildly, so he said that, but he was not lying; he truly owed Yan Nujiao a great favor, although Yan Nujiao did not want to mention it again and did not require him to take responsibility, yet Hu Xiaotian always felt uneasy, even considering that if, the last time, they had been intimate twice and secretly conceived a child, then he would have to bear that responsibility, but now that he is leaving, he does not know when he will be able to return to Xichuan, and he also does not know whether he will ever have a chance to see Yan Nujiao again, so he could only hope that Hu Jinniu would give him a heads‑up.

Hu Jinniu nodded heavily and said: "Brother, rest assured, I will keep this in mind." He also did not dare to stay longer with Hu Xiaotian, fearing that Yan Boguang's side might become suspicious; after saying a few words, he left in a hurry.

The next morning, after Hu Xiaotian woke up, he heard the news that Yan Boguang and the others had left completely clean overnight; they had departed via a secret passage, presumably not wanting to implicate them. After all, those bandits knew nothing of the inside story, thinking that Hu Xiaotian and Li Tianheng's assassination was related, and feared that government troops would eventually come knocking.

Hu Xiaotian felt somewhat disappointed upon hearing this news; his subordinates had already begun packing their belongings, and Liang Yinghao came in to ask for instructions: "Sir, are we leaving today?"

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said: "Go! Leave now!"

Second update posted! (To be continued~^~)