Huan Huan is afraid.
Translation Checker: jellypeaches
Editor: jellypeaches, Dobhsh
Tension filled the atmosphere. In the minds of young lords who had never been rejected, those who were ungrateful, more or less, had to be taught a lesson. Cui Lang, the grand secretary’s grandson, had a respectable status, and his subordinates would be even more domineering.
Echul was like a dog with its collar loose, rushing up and barking to protect his master.
Meng Huan took a step back, a little afraid of the crazy one. Just as he was about to have his two guards come forward to fight the man, Cui Lang unexpectedly dragged Echul back by the shoulder.
“How dare you!” Cui Lang showed a furious look, then cupped his fists towards Meng Huan. “Young master, please do not blame him. He is merely a barbarian with no etiquette. He speaks loudly and has a wild temperament. Even I often get startled by him.”
Then he gave the man a kick. “Don’t use those tricks of yours to scare people. How many times have I said it? Apologize to the young master.”
He kicked Echul so his waist was bent, and his expression was not as feral as before. His sharp eyes locked on Meng Huan, comparable to a carnivorous predatory hawk, then he lowered his head.
“Young master, my apologies.” Although his words were not sincere, the etiquette was there. “This one was offensive and rude.”
You Jin was unwilling to accept the apology. “Keep that dog of yours on a tight leash. If he actually touched even a hair on my Young Master, even the Heavenly King would demand his head!”
Cui Lang could not hold back his chuckle and cupped his fists once more. “Sorry for the offense.”
Meng Huan also breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that that man had at least escaped from death’s door. As he turned to leave, a figure entered through the door.
It was an old plum seller. With his old age, he came in with a stooped back and asked, “Young lords, it is so hot today; could I get some water to drink?”
Cui Lang quickly answered, “Somebody pour a glass of water for the old man!”
When a dried gourd ladle with water was passed to him, he handed it to the old man. With a smile, he asked, “Grandpa, how much did you earn today?”
“What money is there to make in this weather? All the plums have rotted from heat.”
This old man belonged to the lowest class of commoners in society as a whole. He had a head full of lice, his body stank of sweat, and his face carried a distressed expression.
Cui Lang shook his head and said under his breath, “It is not an easy life.”
He just stood there and started talking to the old man.
This scene was similar to honest officials meeting with commoners in TV dramas, so Meng Huan could not resist taking a second look.
Having experienced matters regarding Lin Bozhou, Meng Huan found that much of what he read in the original book was more than what meets the eye. Was it good or bad, then, that Cui Lang and Lin Bozhou were rivals?
And was it good or bad that the original host fled to Jianzhou?
He racked his brain over these questions the entire way to the Lu residence. Upon arriving at his destination, he notified the gatekeeper. After some waiting, the gatekeeper came back and informed them, “Young Master, our Young Lord is not home right now. During this period of time, he went to Mingtai Temple in the south of the city to escape the heat and prepare for an upcoming exam.”
“…”
After walking so long only to hear that the person he was looking for was not here, Meng Huan was numb all over.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Halfway down the road, the weather turned very hot and stuffy as large clouds began to gather and cover the edge of the sky. During the hottest days of summer, torrential rain would often appear without warning. You Jin hurriedly raised an umbrella and said, “Young Master, let’s walk a little faster.”
Meng Huan turned his head as the people in the street rushed to return home, running in disarray. As puddles began to form on the ground, deep enough to wet one’s shoes, Meng Huan clicked his tongue. After he jumped over a large puddle, he looked up and saw a crowd of people in front of him.
In the vicinity of an inn, commoners had gathered around, crowding and squeezing their umbrellas into deformed shapes. People were saying, “What’s happening? What’s going on? Let me have a look.”
Meng Huan thought something exciting was happening, so he unconsciously walked forward.
The crowd of onlookers piled on top of each other, enough that when he walked around the group, he found nowhere he could squeeze in. When he lowered his head, he saw a thread of pale red blood flowing through the rainwater, twisting and turning underneath his shoes and then winding further away, gradually dispersing.
“Blood?”
At the next moment, he raised his head, and a gap appeared between two onlookers, allowing him to finally see what was happening in the center of the crowd. A large and heavy man was flopped face down on the ground, arms spread and legs apart. The bloody water was coming from underneath him.
Meng Huan had a nagging feeling that there was something strange about the way the person was lying.
All sorts of voices rang in his ears.
“My god, someone was murdered!”
“This is the owner of the restaurant, Wang Laosi. I have been eating in his restaurant for a decade, and now he was murdered…”
“I heard that a group of foreigners caused a commotion after drinking alcohol and harassed a young lady next to them. The owner stepped out to intervene in the dispute and tried to calm things down, but instead, his head was pressed down and cut off with one stroke!”
“…”
As the noises blurred, Meng Huan checked the center of the pool of blood and saw the bloody hole in between the man’s shoulders, a fleshy mass with something white poking out from within. Because of the pouring rain, he did not see clearly what it was at first, but now it was crystal clear.
—It was a decapitated corpse.
The chills that ran across his back suddenly spread up throughout his body, as if a pair of hands were tightly squeezed around his neck. Meng Huan took a step back and bumped the umbrella out of You Jin’s hand. As he was drenched by the cold water, the blood-red color expanded across his vision.
Meng Huan averted his gaze, but it was like his soul had escaped from his body, leaving him unable to move from his original position.
In his ears, he heard You Jin pick up the umbrella and ask, “Young Master, Young Master?”
The image of the headless corpse constantly played on repeat in his mind, despite him removing his gaze. With shocked eyes, Meng Huan found himself unable to move. When he saw the icons of horror films while choosing a movie to watch, he would swipe away with the screen covered, and even a chicken being killed could make him feel sick. This was the first time he had witnessed a corpse with its head removed.
…This was a person whose head was cut off.
Pale on the lips, he turned his face. As the rain and thunder rumbled in unison, You Jin shrieked, “Young Master has been struck; what a nightmare!”
For a perfectly fine person to suddenly see a bloody corpse, first of all, it was bad luck, and second of all, it would be easy for the dead person to haunt them. You Jin quickly grabbed Meng Huan’s wrist to prevent the youth’s soul from being hooked away.
Meng Huan was completely frightened by the passing of life right in front of him. As he was about to turn around, he saw a dark brown figure on the side of the street in the rain, carrying some kind of bundle in his hand, from which blood was dripping down.
This middle-aged man was dressed in a similar style as Echul, obviously a foreigner of the same clan. The man was looking at where the corpse was placed with a calm look, as if observing something.
Meng Huan’s brain went blank for a moment, and out of some unknown premonition, he broke his wrist free from You Jin’s hand and dashed towards the man, while simultaneously yelling, “Catch him! Catch that man!”
Despite their confusion, the guards ran after him.
The man seemed somewhat surprised. He glanced at Meng Huan with indistinguishable emotions in his eyes before charging into the alley behind him.
Meng Huan ran into the alley and saw water droplets sliding down the walls, leaving only a footprint from a heavy stomp. The man stood high on the wall and glared at him. As the lightning struck, his facial features were illuminated by the flash of white light.
A heavy object tumbled to the ground, smashing heavily into the ground with a loud bang.
Meng Huan lowered his head and found that it was the head of the innkeeper, with pale lips and missing teeth from the impact.
–
When Meng Huan returned to the compound, the servants brought in hot water. He was soaked to the skin because of the rain, and his skin felt a bit numb when immersed in the hot water. After a moment, he felt the heat seeping into his bones.
On the other side of the door, You Jin bowed while speaking, “Your Royal Highness, this servant is also at a loss. After seeing the corpse on the ground, the master suddenly ran into the alley, and what happened afterward was that he saw the head of the deceased. This is bad; some evil spirit must be haunting him.”
Eyes covered by white gauze, Lin Bozhou picked up his teacup before putting it back on the table. “Evil spirit?”
“Correct! Haunted by evil spirits! Your Royal Highness, please request Taoist Master Li to drive away the evil spirits for the master, or else he will get sick!”
After putting the lid on the teacup, Lin Bozhou got the whole picture and dismissed You Jin, “You may leave.”
The voices sounded distant, and Meng Huan, who was soaking in the water, picked up a handful of hot water and splashed his face with force. He stared at the swirling flow of water, his mind still slow and heavy, stuck on the face of the man illuminated by the lightning.
The face of the murderer.
It was the first time he had seen a dead person so directly since he transmigrated into this world. He rubbed his face again, trying to wash away the discomfort caused by the rain.
Beside him, Lin Bozhou seemed to be coming his way. Meng Huan also got out of the water, not having had time to dry himself. “Your eyes—”
Lin Bozhou put out a hand. “Your hand.”
Meng Huan gripped the large hand tightly, and Lin Bozhou asked, “What happened?”
Meng Huan exhaled.
“Were you frightened?”
His voice was very soft, carrying heat with it.
Meng Huan licked his lips, and, while he didn’t know what to say, his shoulders were captured in the man’s arms. Lin Bozhou sighed and patted the youth’s back gently. “You were. To frighten our Huan Huan, that murderer deserves to die a thousand times.”
The endurance and understanding in his tone instantly put Meng Huan at ease.
Somehow, there was still a bit of grievance.
Meng Huan could feel the warm scent of the man’s chest, and then his chin was gently pinched by one of Lin Bozhou’s hands. With how close they were, he felt a warm breath hitting the tip of his nose. “Alright, alright, everything will be fine. Be careful the next time you venture out. Stay away from crowded places, and get more guards to accompany you.”
Previously, it only took the man speaking at a louder volume to frighten Meng Huan into pressing his ears close to his back, so one could imagine how spooked he would be from encountering a murder.
Meng Huan forgot to nod as his mind was plagued with thoughts.
He rubbed his face vigorously into Lin Bozhou’s chest, making all kinds of noises in an attempt to clear his mind.
At that time, he saw a man who was wearing clothes similar to those of Echul, and obviously someone not from here. He subconsciously went for a chase, not realizing that the man was the killer.
Although Meng Huan had forgotten almost everything about the original storyline, he remembered certain key plot points. If he could remember even a small piece, it would be something important.
In particular… when the original host and Echul fled to Jianzhou to raise an army.
At that time, the original host finally made his escape and went to the northern territory with a humble identity.
But Echul was a hostage prince of a foreign race. He was originally a young prince of his tribe, so they were able to recruit soldiers and buy horses, build up their strength, and later denounce Lin Bozhou and lead Echul’s Jurchen to attack the Zong Dynasty from the northeast to the south.
That was a war!
A real political intrigue novel!
—In the book, thousands upon thousands of lives.
Would stay dead once killed.
Readers read it solely for the buzz.
But now that he had transmigrated into this book, these were all living human beings they were talking about. Was he really going to stand by and watch the outbreak of war and the invasion of foreign forces?
Moreover, once the war was upon them, Lin Bozhou would act as the commander in chief and personally lead forces against the invading army. The battlefield was ever-changing, with danger always lurking. Lin Bozhou had repeatedly put his life in danger and suffered serious injuries, being forced to jump off the back of his horse by sword and lance, as well as shot in the arm with a bow and arrow.
“Damn it…”
Meng Huan attempted to remember, rubbing his head.
When Lin Bozhou personally fought back the invaders, the Qingliu faction hid peacefully in the capital city. The man clearly protected them, yet they took advantage of Lin Bozhou’s absence from court and denounced him wantonly. They took covert actions, such as cutting off his supplies and funds and not dispatching reinforcements after receiving letters seeking assistance, all in the name of making Lin Bozhou suffer a crushing defeat.
How vicious a human heart could be!
…Meng Huan used to read for fun.
Now, feeling the real warmth coming from the body in front of him as well as Lin Bozhou’s warm breath, Meng Huan suddenly felt a chill running down his back. He was beyond terrified.
Meng Huan said firmly inside.
Unacceptable.
I must protect him, QWQ.
The author has something to say:
Huan Huan: I’m super awesome!
Lin Bozhou (smiling): Indeed.
Huan Huan finally felt that his hubby was a living person.
Thank you for the chapter!! 💖
My heart is so anxious for them!!! 😣
Wow, after all this time content to stay out of it, Meng Huan is shocked into contemplating an active role! I love the explanation of why he can remember so many details when he usually struggles with that.
Go get em HuanHuan, protect your hubby 😭
Thank you for the chapter 😍
Poor bubu, must be frightened (｡•́︿•̀｡) But that shake him and made him realise the realness of this new world
Thank You for the new chapter (๑♡ v ♡๑)
😥
Great thinking, babe
Thank you for your translation 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜