If one wants to win the match, they certainly can’t scamper around like a headless fly. The hunt is decided not by number but by quality, which is significantly more valuable, with bonus points awarded for tougher prey.
Hence Wen Mingyu mentally prepared what he should hunt in order to be more efficient in the limited time he had. Deer, wild boars, wolves, racoons, and rabbits were all taken into consideration, as well as the lynx mentioned by Huo Hongyu when he came over and declared he wanted to compete with him.
The lynx looks like a cat, but it is considerably bigger and faster, more nimble, and faster at sprinting. They are skilled at using bushes, trees, and boulders as shelters, and they are even more diligent at hunting. It may remain motionless for days at a time, and when it pounces, its target is killed before it can respond.
Therefore, it’s not simple to track down a lynx.
Yesterday, despite the fact that the one he chased was primarily his own, Mu Zhan prevented the lynx’s escape path and provided possibilities for him; otherwise, he would not have achieved such rapid success.
The lynx points were not low, so Wen Mingyu reconsidered and set a time to hunt. If he couldn’t succeed, he would just move on to another target.
He was fortunate, though, that it didn’t take long to come across a lynx sighting.
With Mu Zhan’s teachings in mind, he planned to walk over silently, creep up, and ambush it.
The lynx stalks the sparrow, unaware of the jade cub behind.
He deliberated about the ideal time to strike—out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Mu Zhan approaching, soundless and unfazed, bent on dealing with the lynx.
Wen Mingyu realized right away that he was about to deal with the lynx as he was.
Wen Mingyu swung his hand hastily to urge him not to help.
Mu Zhan, however, chuckled slightly and opened his lips to reply wordlessly—who said I was providing a helping hand.
That is to imply that he has come to nab the prey?!
This is taking things too far!
Wen Mingyu’s eyes blazed with two torches of fire, and he exploded with exasperation. But, of course, he couldn’t curse at this crucial moment, for it would spook the prey away.
Thus, he pouted his lips and blinked mistily at Mu Zhan, then he clapped his hands together and performed the “begging you” hand gesture. Having plastered such an expression on a beautiful face was really hard to resist, except that it was not the first or second time that the dog Mu Zhan exasperated Wen Mingyu, who exploded so often too.
On this occasion, it was a rarity for Mu Zhan to be a human being.
Mu Zhan signaled into the thicket with his eyes. Wen Mingyu instantly received the message and pulled his bow and launched an arrow. One arrow was insufficient, so he quickly added another to finish out the lynx.
Wen Mingyu was pleasantly shocked that he leaped straight up. He turned his head to gaze at Mu Zhan with an expression that begged for praise.
Mu Zhan was not stingy with words either. He nodded and remarked, “Not bad.”
All the way down, Mu Zhan steadily trotted behind Wen Mingyu. He didn’t get involved and merely observed, occasionally hunting a few prey that arrived at his door, which, naturally, was tallied on his own account.
While Wen Mingyu’s side was sailing smoothly, Huo Hongyu’s side was not so wonderful. There were just very few animals in sight, and the majority of them were little ones.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t excellent at hunting; it was just that this was his unlucky day. When he was ready to hunt a lynx, he accidentally offended a dog badger and was harassed all the way with bitter vengeance; from then on, his hunt was hampered one after the other.
He had actually considered silencing the dog badger. However, because it was so violent, he couldn’t handle it alone. He didn’t want anyone’s assistance, so the mess lasted for a long time.
By the time he was chasing after the lynx, he ran directly into Wen Mingyu. When he saw the spoils of war in him, he looked back at his own and almost cried out “woof.”
He may well be losing!
He’s in a rush!
He doesn’t want to be a dog at all!
Wen Mingyu inadvertently locked eyes with him. He tried to convey that he didn’t want to bully a junior high school student, and the bet could be nullified.
Huo Hongyu, on the other hand, was obstinate and serious. As soon as he became anxious, he became upset with himself. He was nearly mad silly when the prey unexpectedly scurried about and concealed itself so skillfully. He kept missing shots, so he dismounted, pulled his legs, and dashed towards the prey.
The way he crouched down and reached for it while rushing ahead—the way he tried everything he could while you watched the view of his back, he was so astonished by his wretched effort to roll and crawl—too desperate!
Wen Mingyu stood there, frozen. His tongue failed him as he couldn’t say anything for a long time.
Huo Hongyu eventually caught on and climbed up from the thicket—but the former appearance of a little lord of the clan had vanished, replaced by a boy whose clothing was caked in muck, his face filthy in various places, and his hair tangled. He even had a couple of long stalks of grass poking out of his vertex, and last but not least, he was clutching a…a pheasant.
It’s almost as if he’s been converted overnight into the foolish son of a landlord.
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.
Huo Hongyu was chasing after the lynx. When he spotted a shadow, he didn’t even consider anything as he reached out and snatched it. He was ecstatic in his head to have captured it, but when he stood up and looked—it was a damned chicken!
Leb Lbcuse ibbxfv ja la jr lo la kfgf wjvf bo rabcf.
“Gluck cluck cluck cluck——!!!”
Ktf qtfjrjca lc tlr ugjrq oieaafgfv lar klcur jcv jrrewfv j qbrf bo ibculcu obg ogffvbw. Par tlut-qlamt rdejkxr kfgf ecqjgjiififv.
Leb Lbcuse kjr rb vewyobecvfv atja tlr mbecafcjcmf yfujc ab vlrlcafugjaf.
Llr tjcv ofia ilxf la kjr rmjivfv. Lf abrrfv atf kgluuilcu qtfjrjca jrlvf ilxf j tba qbajab.
The bird was a skilled seizer of opportunities and took advantage of the situation by flapping its wings and flying onward. It ran with great effort and, in between, somehow looked back at Huo Hongyu.
Wen Mingyu suspected that something might be wrong with his eyes. He actually saw disdain in the pheasant’s eyes—are you human beings psychopaths? You scared the living daylights out of a chicken!
After a round of tossing and crawling, Huo Honyu remained immobile for a few minutes, clearly still reeling from his enormous shame and sorrow, before slowly facing his back and mounting his horse in an unusually dispirited manner.
Given that some adolescent children had high pride, Wen Mingyu turned around with his horse in silence early on, expressing that he had seen nothing.
The moment of truth ultimately arrived for the two of them to sort and count their prey in order to finish the bet.
Wen Mingyu wanted to act like there was no such bet going on and simply ignore it. Huo Hongyu, however, pounded his chest hard to show that he was a man of honor and that a word was a vow. Once a word is spoken, it is difficult for a horse to catch up.
Wen Mingyu found it tough to hold back his laughter when he saw his face and remembered how he was clutching a pheasant. He nearly choked his internal organs and stopped his breathing.
After determining they chose to continue the bet, the two people stood noiselessly, the awkwardness permeating the air.
After all, one of them was their first time being a dog.
The other was someone who had never tried to treat a human as a dog, though he had been exposed to real dogs before.
As a result, neither of them knew how they were going to finish the bet.
Wen Mingyu hesitated for a beat before saying, “How about we just…be normal and be friends.”
“I don’t want a friend! I want to be a dog!” Huo Hongyu seemed to have been humiliated to the point of rage. He was so upset that he couldn’t choose his words. He reacted a split second later, and his face turned bright crimson. “No… it’s that, the bet! The bet, understand?!”
Wen Mingyu chewed his lips and fought to stifle a laugh from coming out. His hand, disguised in his sleeves, clamped the tiger’s mouth before he said, struggling, “Understood. But this always has a deadline, right? It can’t be that, you are going to be, for life, my…”
Only then did Huo Hongyu understand there was a flaw in the bet he had made carelessly. He couldn’t help but grimace, and after a brief period of thought, he said, “How about during the hunt?”
Wen Mingyu agreed and was about to say something when a lofty, towering figure appeared alongside him, obstructing the light and enveloping him in shade.
“Have you said enough?” Mu Zhan said grimly, looking impatient.
Huo Hongyu’s eyes widened in astonishment before saluting. “Paying respects to Your Majesty.”
He bowed his head and waited for Mu Zhan to let him stand, before finally recognizing Wen Mingyu’s identity.
“You’re the son of the Marquis of Guangyang?!”
Wen Mingyu was amazed. “You just found out?”
Huo Hongyu’s gaze shifted slightly. He could already picture the ugly looks his parents would give him if they found out. They would follow him down and beat him up, and maybe even compel him to kneel in the ancestral hall.
But what else could be done? He’d given his word, so he had to follow through on it. Furthermore, the terrible tyrant was gazing directly at him and knew everything.
“Have I given you permission to stand?”
A cold, piercing voice came from above, stinging Huo Hongyu, who had just lifted his head in shock to Wen Mingyu, who instantly lowered it again, wishing he could hide his head in his chest and be an ostrich.
“Stand.”
Huo Hongyu: “…”
Was the tyrant deliberately pulling his leg?
Shortly after, Mu Zhan grabbed something from the eunuch’s hand and unhurriedly said, “You’re at a loss for what to do? I can teach you.”
Teach what?
Huo Hongyu’s alarm bells flew into overdrive, and he couldn’t help but get defensive.
Then he noticed Mu Zhan shaking his hand twice. “See this ball? This one will toss it out, and you will go fetch it and present it to your master.”
After saying so, Mu Zhan truly tossed the ball out with a flip of his wrist. The strength was not tiny, and the range was naturally fairly far.
Huo Hongyu: “…”
He didn’t move a muscle as he watched in silence as the ball vanished from their view.
He felt that the gossip about the tyrant was plainly incomplete—that the horror was genuinely real, that his character was extremely vile, and that he was even kind enough to bully little children.
Naturally, Mu Zhan could see the indignation and grievance in his eyes, but as a tyrant, would he care? On the contrary, Mu Zhan believed that he was being overly lenient and generous. He promised to let Wen Mingyu play and never stopped him. He merely stood on the sidelines and observed. And when this child from the Huo family blathered on, he too contained his displeasure and did not demand a beating board; what he did was light enough that he downgraded the title of tyrant.
Wen Mingyu was taken aback by Mu Zhan’s maneuver, which he had not anticipated. He always felt like he was tormenting little children, so he couldn’t help but extend his hand and tug at Mu Zhan’s sleeve as he murmured, “Your Majesty…”
It wasn’t said explicitly, but it was apparent in his eyes.
This time, Mu Zhan refused to yield to Wen Mingyu, instead asking, “Did you force him to lay this stake? How old are you this year?”
The latter question was asked by looking at Huo Hongyu.
How could Huo Hongyu, a defiant youngster, acknowledge he was young; instead of stating this year, he only said, “It will be fifteen soon.”
Mu Zhan bent his head to look at Wen Mingyu. The implication in his eyes was clear—see, he’s not young anymore; it’s only right that he does what he says.
Wen Mingyu paused for a second before recalling that the so-called tyrant in front of him was a young emperor, just 18 years old—except that the way he normally accomplished everything with ease, the way nothing could be an obstacle in his path, caused people to unconsciously magnify his age.
When you think about it in earnest, Mu Zhan isn’t that much older than Huo Hongyu.
Still, it’s not much of an honor for high schoolers to bully a junior high schooler, is it?
Wen Mingyu pursed his lips, tempted to laugh.
He discovered that Mu Zhan was actually… a bit childish.
But this childish trait placed on a tyrant does not make people feel disgusted. Instead, it makes them less scary.
Mu Zhan raised his chin and looked at Huo Hongyu as he cast a superior glance, “Still not going?”
Huo Hongyu was feeling blue and reluctant, but he could not overpower the emperor. He could only nod and heed what the elder ordered before turning around and racing to pick up the ball.
As soon as Mu Zhan inclined his head, he found Wen Mingyu staring at him. His eyes were warm and bright, like a cute and sweet kitten.
“Well?”
Wen Mingyu shook his head, averted his gaze, and involuntarily kicked the gravel with his foot. “…is nothing.”
The tone was light, like a villain in his heart skipping around in circles.
When Huo Hongyu returned after picking up the ball, his parents, as expected, had found out about him standing and talking close to His Majesty.
His mother’s eye rims were reddish, and she was so upset that she wanted to smack him. “How many times have I warned you to be cautious? Why won’t you listen!”
Huo Hongyu felt bad. After all, it was his own lack of focus that resulted in the current situation. And because of his pride, he didn’t want to tell his parents about the bet, hence he talked rubbish.
“What? Are you still going there? Not afraid of death!”
Huo Hongyu shook his head. “No, mother; that Wen Mingyu person is actually not half bad. His Majesty’s character… is really terrible, yet he does not appear to be a merciless tyrant who will slaughter people at random.”
The Lady and the Duke of Anning wanted to clog his mouth—is this something that can be said nonsensically?!
When Huo Hongyu had to return to His Majesty’s side again, it seemed as if the Duke of Anning and his wife were witnessing their son gullibly falling into the fiery pit of his own volition. Unable to hold back her sobs, the lady collapsed into the Duke’s arms, mumbling, “What can be done? My son must be so muddled that he’s speaking for His Majesty; he must be scared silly. Is there any salvation?”
The Duke of Anning, with a grave expression, clearly felt that things were not so simple. In his head, he considered numerous strategies to save his son—while Huo Hongyu had no clue that he had caused such a huge misunderstanding and frightened his parents.
Since the hunt was at its end, Mu Zhan swept Wen Mingyu away to recline and rest.
Huo Hongyu took up the ball and began following the palace servant. Upon arrival, he discovered not just Wen Mingyu and Mu Zhan but also an attractive and cultured man seated nearby. Behind him stood a mountain-like man clutching a few walnuts in his fist, which snapped and shattered as his fingers pressed them.
The hefty man then selected the nut and placed it all on a side plate in the hand of the svelte man.
Huo Hongyu was perplexed. Given the fact that he didn’t make friends with the children of court officials due to family obligations, he knew one or two renowned individuals. Such as this one, who was reportedly the famed and ever-victorious General Wei Yingwu, who was cracking walnuts in front of him.
The man who is capable of making the great general serve him…?
Huo Hongyu was in his adolescence. A time where he most revered those of immense power. The general could be said to be his idol. How could his idol serve someone else?
He was unhappy but intrigued—could it be that this supposedly feeble man was, in reality, a man beyond the mundane world—a worldly expert who displayed his mountain without dew?
As he passed the ball to Wen Mingyu, he peeked out with the lingering light that shone through.
Wen Changlan pointed to the side plate and turned to Wei Yingwu, saying, “There are still husks here and there.”
Wei Yingwu is towering and intimidating, and when he’s smiling like a ha-ha face, it’s still passable—but when he’s not smiling, he has a stinking face that would make a newborn weep.
Wen Changlan was obviously not terrified. In fact, he gave a phony nod to the side plate and gestured with a smile.
Wei Yingwu had to reluctantly chip away the husk and keep stripping the walnuts. Except that he was glaring at the back of Wen Changlan with a venomous face, convinced that what he was crushing in his finger was not a walnut but a certain person’s skull.
“You succeeded without any honor!” Wei Yingwu was furious and unsatisfied.
Wen Changlan took a long sip from his cup of tea. “Did I violate any rules? If you lose, you lose. It was just a ploy that I merely employed from a book. If you refuse to accept the conclusion, continue reading and you will be able to do the same to me later.”
Wei Yingwu reddened with shame and pressed the walnuts until they snapped together.
At this moment, Huo Hongyu learned and understood that the two cousins had also competed. General Wei had also been beaten before he was compelled to be the servant of his cousin in accordance with the bet.
With this connection, Huo Hongyu realized that his bet wasn’t so difficult to accept. Overall, his magnificent bull-roaring idol had also lost, just like him. In some ways, he had coincidentally accomplished the same thing as his idol, which made him a little glad.
He was even grateful that he hadn’t said that he would offer himself as a servant to Wen Mingyu. Otherwise, his mother would go off in a faint once she found out.
With this in mind, his body outpaced his brain, and he turned to face Wen Mingyu and opened his mouth.
“Woof.”
“…”
Wen Mingyu was gleefully munching. When he heard this cry, his entire body was shaken. The nearly finished pastry he had been eating fell onto the table with a thud and tumbled to the floor.
He stared blankly at Huo Hongyu in astonishment. He could never have imagined him being this serious.
Mu Zhan, on the other hand, was psychologically incredibly receptive, or rather, he didn’t care about it at all. His expression stayed unchanged as he snorted a chuckle.
After woofing, Huo Hongyu was ashamed of himself. But, as a big man, he should do what he promised, go ahead, and risk everything. And, after the first woof, it will be a lot easier for the following woofs.
Looking around at everyone’s very bland and normal countenance, Wen Mingyu couldn’t help but begin to question himself—was it himself who was acting out of sorts?
Wen Mingyu took a quick look around. Not wanting to appear out of place, he also kept his countenance neutral and gave the impression that it was no major concern, while in his heart, he worried about how to treat a dog like a dog without stepping on anyone.
He thought about it for a while, then glanced up at Huo Hongyu and patted his head.
This is the same as petting the dog, right? And since Huo Hongyu is younger than he is, it actually felt great to treat him like a little brother and pet his head.
Only a second after he touched it, his wrist was snatched and yanked back. When he turned his head, he saw Mu Zhan’s dark, dismal countenance.
Huo Hongyu had not expected to be unexpectedly touched. The hand softly caressed the top of his head, reminding him of his mother stroking his head when he was a child. Later on, she didn’t do it again after he got a little older. Surprisingly, he did not recoil. He thought that if he had an elder brother, this would be how he would have felt.
“There’s no need to touch a dog with this treatment. It’s enough for him to fetch the ball.”
Mu Zhan’s icy voice rang out, making Huo Hongyu gnash his teeth and for his fist to itch a bit. But, what can be done? This is the emperor. Huo Hongyu could only suppress his emotions. He reasoned to himself that the emperor was probably more suited to becoming a dog than he was. A large, vicious dog who everyone feared and hated.
Once Wen Mingyu heard Mu Zhan, his complex expression became quite mixed. It’s also a fortunate thing that Mu Zhan is the emperor; else, his bamboo shoot snatching mouth would be pummeled with gunny sacks every day.
Even though the bet was a bit unusual, Wen Mingyu found a friend of a similar age as a result of it. During the hunt, they spent so much time together that Mu Zhan drove the dog away with a black face, whilst the Huo couple fretted that their silly son would one day be condemned by His Majesty.
ChiFu: The release schedule for TEFICO will be moved to Sunday. You will see the changes starting next week! Thank you to everyone who is still here and always leaving nice comments!
Thank you supporter for the kofi~
UwU I will read about sweet couple on (in? I’m confused) Sunday!
Thank you for your translation 🤍🤍🤍🤍
On👍
Thank you 💝!
👍
This chapter was so funny 🤭 Woof woof
Thank You for the new chapter (๑°꒵°๑)･*♡
Thanks for the chapter
Thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
Aaaahhhh~
Now have to wait for 10 days for next chapter
Thanks for the chapter
🤗
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
Thanks for the chapter
Poor bunny dropped his dessert. Woof! Hahahahaha! Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣
Thanks for the chapter🐶😆
I thought maybe Wei Yingwu would have to teach Him Hongyu how to be a dog lol. It’s funny that both of the younger boys are thinking dark thoughts about the Emperor interfering 😄. I hope they find a way to play together without offending His Majesty.
WOOF! Hehe. Thanks for update!!
thank yo7 for the chaprer!!
Thank you for the hard work~