Chapter 139

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At this point, Zhang Xiaohu frowned, stared at Zhang Xiaohua, and asked, “Xiaohua, why did you suddenly leave Huanxi Villa and end up in this remote village? This place is far from Pingyang City. Did you come here alone or with someone? Did you make some mistake at the villa and flee here on your own? If that’s the case, don’t be afraid, just tell your second brother everything clearly. No matter what it is, don’t worry. Even if the sky falls, your big brother will hold it up for you. But you must tell me the truth.”

Zhang Xiaohua, hearing so many questions and feeling that they were getting more and more outrageous, quickly waved his hand and said: “No, Second Brother, even if the sky fell, there’d be someone taller than you to hold it up. You don’t need to worry about me. You’re asking so many questions, how am I supposed to answer all at once? How about you get me some water first? I’m thirsty. Once I’ve had a drink, I’ll explain everything to you in detail.”

Zhang Xiaohu, helpless, turned around to fetch him some water. After watching Zhang Xiaohua gulp it down, he asked again: “Now will you tell me?”

Actually, Zhang Xiaohua didn’t mind telling his brother about traveling south with Ou Yan and the others, but He Tianshu’s instructions before their departure, along with the night ambush, made him hesitate. He wasn’t sure if he should tell Zhang Xiaohu everything. Moreover, he had been injured by the men in black and nearly lost his life. Though he was fine now, telling his brother would surely worry him, so what should he do? Besides, Mistress Jingxuan also seemed keen on keeping her whereabouts a secret, even hiding her true identity from Zhang Xiaohua. Naturally, Zhang Xiaohua had to consider this as well.

But then Zhang Xiaohua thought again, Xiaohu was his own flesh and blood, his second brother. If he couldn’t trust him, who in this world could he trust? After much thought, Zhang Xiaohua finally spoke: “Second Brother, there are some things I must keep secret, so you have to promise not to tell anyone. What I’m about to tell you today must stay between us. Even if your Head Escort Luo asks, you mustn’t say anything.”

Seeing Zhang Xiaohua’s hesitation, Zhang Xiaohu thought he might have done something wrong. Hearing him say this, Zhang Xiaohu’s expression turned serious, and he nodded: “Alright, Xiaohua, I promise you. Whatever you say will stay between us. I won’t tell a single soul.”

Thus, Zhang Xiaohua recounted how he had followed the Huanxi Villa convoy from Pingyang City, leading up to the ambush on the rainy night. However, he didn’t mention his fight with the old man in black. He only said that he managed to escape in the darkness, accidentally fell into a river, and drifted downstream on a wooden plank he found.

Zhang Xiaohu and Zhang Xiaohua had grown up together, so Zhang Xiaohu knew very well about Xiaohua’s swimming abilities. While Zhang Xiaohua could manage as a little frog in the small river in front of Guo Village, surviving like a loach in a mighty river was far beyond his capabilities. So, although Zhang Xiaohu had no doubts about Xiaohua grabbing a plank and drifting in the turbulent river for a while, when he heard Xiaohua say he was rescued after drifting for a long time in a calmer stream, Zhang Xiaohu turned pale with fear.

Seeing his brother’s frightened expression, Zhang Xiaohua was puzzled and asked: “What’s the matter, Second Brother? I’m perfectly fine, so what’s there to be afraid of?”

Zhang Xiaohu forced a stiff smile and said: “As the saying goes, ‘Ignorance is bliss’. Xiaohua, do you know that this place is very close to the sea? The rivers around here all flow into the Luo River, which is just ahead. The river you were drifting on must also be one of them. If you hadn’t been rescued, you would’ve soon been swept into the Luo River. That river is wide and much harder to swim ashore from. Furthermore, this area is close to the river’s mouth, where it empties into the sea. If you couldn’t land before reaching the Luo River, you’d have no chance. You would’ve been carried out to the endless sea, and with just a plank, your chances of survival would have been bleak. Do you understand now why I was so scared?”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaohua broke into a cold sweat down his back. He silently thanked Little Meng’s fishing rod, realizing that without it, he might very well be lost in the boundless ocean by now!

Zhang Xiaohua continued, explaining that after drifting for a long time, he finally made it ashore, only to fall ill. It wasn’t until yesterday that the person who rescued him brought him out and left him in this unfamiliar small town.

Zhang Xiaohu, already overwhelmed with grief and worry for his brother’s close brush with death, couldn’t bring himself to question the story further. He simply held Zhang Xiaohua’s small hand tightly, wishing he could take all the suffering his poor younger brother had endured upon himself.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaohua felt more confident that he had made the right decision. If Zhang Xiaohu knew he had almost been killed, wouldn’t he burst into tears right then and there?

After a long while, Zhang Xiaohu spoke up: “Since you drifted here on your own, and you don’t know the fate of Villa Owner Ou, it’s best not to mention this to anyone. Just say that you were sent here by Huanxi Villa’s steward to handle some task.”

However, he then chuckled and added: “But that’s still a bit tricky, who would send someone as young as you so far away? Maybe it’s better to say you came here with others and got separated along the way. Now, by coincidence, you’ve run into us, and you can travel back with our escort team. Once we get back to Pingyang City, everything will be sorted out.”

Zhang Xiaohua blinked and smiled: “Let’s go with what Second Brother suggests. Fortunately, Brother Yuan brought me back yesterday and saw how exhausted I was, so he didn’t question me much. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t have known what to say.”

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaohu seemed to remember something and grinned: “I heard that someone was quite impressive yesterday, taking down many opponents and gaining a lot of spoils.”

Zhang Xiaohua’s face instantly turned red, and he mumbled; “I just didn’t want to let them go without teaching them a lesson.”

He then shook Zhang Xiaohu’s arm, pleading: “Second Brother, I promise I won’t do it again, okay?”

But Zhang Xiaohu put on a stern face and scolded: “Why not? In the future, you should make them bleed even more! These local thugs deserve nothing less. I’d love to go and deal with them myself! Why would I blame you?”

Zhang Xiaohua looked at his brother in surprise, stopping swinging his arm, and asked in disbelief: “You really agree with what I did yesterday?”

Zhang Xiaohu smiled warmly and said: “Yes, Second Brother raises both his hands and feet in support.”

Zhang Xiaohua grinned widely upon hearing this: “Now that’s my good Second Brother By the way, I still haven’t checked out yesterday’s spoils. Let’s take a look now.”

He reached into his robes and pulled out several money pouches, of varying sizes and designs.

He casually grabbed a bulging one and began to inspect its contents, while Zhang Xiaohu also picked up another pouch and opened it.

Zhang Xiaohua’s pouch contained some scattered silver coins and a few copper coins. While he was counting them, he suddenly heard Zhang Xiaohu exclaim: “Oh! This pouch has quite a bit inside! There’s even a pearl hairpin in here, hmm, and a small stone?”

Zhang Xiaohua looked up and saw his brother examining the pouch he had found on the mountain earlier with interest. Zhang Xiaohua quickly snatched it back and said: “That’s not from yesterday’s spoils. I found this on the mountain a few days ago.”

Zhang Xiaohu was momentarily startled but didn’t think much of it. He laughed: “Xiaohua, looks like your luck is turning! You’re even finding money pouches lying around, and there’s quite a bit of silver in here too.”

Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t be bothered to explain further. He grabbed another pouch from the table and tossed it to his brother, saying: “Let’s keep looking instead.”

Zhang Xiaohu caught the pouch and said: “It takes too long to check them one by one. Why not just dump everything out on the table?”

Zhang Xiaohua smiled and said: “Good idea, Second Brother.”

The two brothers began to empty the contents of each pouch onto the table.

Although there were seven or eight pouches, the contents were sparse. Apart from one pouch, which likely belonged to that “Brother Fan”, and contained a bit more silver, most of the other pouches were filled with copper coins. Zhang Xiaohua thought to himself: “No wonder they came after me, they had such empty pouches.”

Still, as the ancients said, “Small grains of sand accumulate to form a tower”. Even though each pouch didn’t hold much, with seven or eight pouches combined, they ended up with quite a bit. After counting everything carefully, Zhang Xiaohu found that aside from dozens of copper coins, they had collected over five taels of silver in total, which made him very pleased.

After they finished sorting through everything, Zhang Xiaohu pushed the silver and copper coins over to Zhang Xiaohua and said: “These are your spoils. Keep them safe.”

Zhang Xiaohua smiled and kept the copper coins while pushing the silver toward his brother, saying: “Second Brother, I’ll keep the copper for small expenses, but you should hold onto this silver for me. When you have the chance, bring it back home to our parents.”

After hearing this, Zhang Xiaohu was not polite. He found a good-looking, empty money pouch among the others, filled it with silver, and tucked it into his chest. He grinned: “Alright, I won’t refuse. Now, I finally have my own money pouch too. Haha, it’s not worse than the one you picked up from the mountain.”

Zhang Xiaohua said nothing in response and instead pulled out a jade token from his pocket, offering it to Zhang Xiaohu. “Here, take this too. Yesterday, that man said it was a fake. When you have the time, maybe you can pawn it for a bit of silver.”

Zhang Xiaohu took the jade token, examined it closely, and then handed it back. “No need, we’ve got plenty of silver now. Since it’s a fake, it’s not worth much. You might as well keep it as a keepsake.”

Zhang Xiaohua nodded and put the jade token back into his pocket.

Then, he pulled out the small sword and handed it to Zhang Xiaohu.

Seeing Zhang Xiaohua continually pull items from his pockets, Zhang Xiaohu couldn’t help but laugh: “Is your pocket some kind of treasure bag? You keep pulling out good stuff.”

Zhang Xiaohua chuckled and began recounting the story of how he and He Tianshu had visited a weapons shop in the small town. Zhang Xiaohu listened and smiled to himself. Before he had started traveling on escort missions, he had assumed that weapon prices were the same everywhere. However, through his few experiences, he had come to realize that prices varied greatly from place to place. Seven taels of silver might seem like a small amount to He Tianshu, but to the blacksmith, it was likely a large sum. It was no wonder the blacksmith had thrown in a bonus gift.

Zhang Xiaohu saw that his brother liked this little sword very much, so he took it and examined it. Though he looked at it from every angle, he couldn’t notice anything special except its weight, nor did he feel any sort of blood connection like Zhang Xiaohua had mentioned. Smiling, he said: “It seems this small sword has chosen you. I can’t sense anything unusual about it, but since it came as a bonus with those seven taels of silver, it must be of decent quality.”

Though Zhang Xiaohu said this, he didn’t think much of the sword. In his heart, he believed it was just another trinket his younger brother had taken a liking to, as Zhang Xiaohua hadn’t had many toys growing up.

Noticing his brother’s lack of enthusiasm, Zhang Xiaohua’s own interest waned a bit. He couldn’t tell Zhang Xiaohu about the sword’s dark past and its involvement in taking a life, so he simply tucked it back into his pocket.

At this time, the sky was already bright. Zhang Xiaohu said: “Let’s go, Xiaohua. First, let’s have some breakfast. Later, I’ll be busy, so you can just play around in this courtyard. Our return time is basically set, so you can come back with us. Don’t worry about anything else, just have a good time.”

Zhang Xiaohua pouted and thought to himself: “Still treating me like a child!”

Zhang Xiaohu led Zhang Xiaohua outside and they ran into Head Escort Luo. Head Escort Luo looked sleepy and seemed to be suffering from a hangover. He didn’t seem embarrassed when he saw Zhang Xiaohu, instead, he yawned and asked: “Zhang Xiaohu, how did the discussion yesterday go?”

Zhang Xiaohu answered respectfully: “Reporting to Head Escort, everything has been settled. After breakfast, I’ll report to you in detail, and you can make the final decision.”

Head Escort Luo nodded and said: “Good job. Go have your breakfast first, and then come find me. By the way, is this little brother really your own sibling?”

Zhang Xiaohu smiled and said: “Yes, he is my younger brother Zhang Xiaohua. It’s quite a coincidence that we met here. I’ll explain the details to you later.”

Head Escort Luo waved his hand, allowing the two brothers to go eat, while he covered his mouth with a yawn and went off to another place.

Zhang Xiaohua cautiously tugged at Zhang Xiaohu and asked: “Second brother, I don’t think this Head Escort Luo looks like a big shot. Are all the Head Escorts of the Lotus Escort Agency like this?”

Zhang Xiaohu looked around and said cautiously: “Xiaohua, you shouldn’t speak like that. Be careful not to speak ill of others, trouble often comes from careless words. Other Head Escorts are not like this. Head Escort Luo probably has been away from home for a long time and is feeling homesick.”

Later, Zhang Xiaohua and Zhang Xiaohu had a light breakfast in the courtyard’s kitchen. There were many escort guards and porters in the kitchen, and many of them already knew that Boss Zhang had coincidentally met his younger brother here. Additionally, Zhang Xiaohua’s performance on the street yesterday had already been widely talked about by Yuan Changqing. Thus, everyone’s impression of the seemingly unremarkable young man improved greatly. After all, he was a fellow from Pingyang City who managed to beat up the local snakes so badly that they were left looking for their teeth. Just thinking about it was quite satisfying, as if they had done it themselves.

Zhang Xiaohua hadn’t seen his family for many days, so seeing so many people from Pingyang City made him feel very close. He spoke politely to everyone, and before the meal was finished, everyone found Zhang Xiaohua increasingly likable, as if he were their own little brother.

Zhang Xiaohu had many duties within the team and didn’t have much spare time to take care of Zhang Xiaohua. Initially worried that he might not adapt well here, Zhang Xiaohu was relieved to see that everyone liked Zhang Xiaohua. After hastily finishing his meal and giving Zhang Xiaohua some instructions, he quickly went to Head Escort Luo’s room.

Head Escort Luo’s room was noticeably larger than Zhang Xiaohu’s. It had two rooms with a main hall in the middle. At this time, Head Escort Luo was sitting in the main hall, with a bowl of thin porridge in front of him. He was rubbing his temples, evidently affected by a hangover which made his head ache and diminished his appetite.

Seeing Zhang Xiaohu enter the room, Head Escort Luo indicated a stool beside him and said: “Sit.”

Then, he picked up his rice bowl, took a couple of bites, and signaled for someone to take it away.

Head Escort Luo drank a few sips of tea before turning to Zhang Xiaohu and asking: “Deputy Escort Zhang, tell me about what happened yesterday.”

Zhang Xiaohu quickly stood up and said: “Head Escort Luo, there’s no need to be so formal. Although I’m honored that Fourth Master Wen appointed me as your deputy, I’m still just a porter. You don’t need to address me so formally, just call me Zhang Xiaohu.”

Head Escort Luo smiled and said: “Although Deputy Escort Zhang is currently serving as a porter, you are already studying advanced martial arts in the Martial Arts Hall. Becoming an escort in the future is just a matter of time, isn’t it? Addressing you this way is just a formality.”

Zhang Xiaohu continued to excuse himself: “As long as I’m not yet an escort leader, I shouldn’t be called that. Don’t you think?”

Head Escort Luo smiled and didn’t press the issue.

Zhang Xiaohu noticed that Head Escort Luo remained silent and knew that he was a bit envious of his opportunity to study in the martial arts hall, and also recognized that this deputy position was something Fourth Master Wen had fought for him, possibly causing some dissatisfaction from Head Escort Luo. Thus, he chose not to argue further and said amiably: “Here’s what we discussed with the merchants yesterday.”

Zhang Xiaohu then detailed the agreements made with the merchants from the previous day. Head Escort Luo listened, nodding, and once Zhang Xiaohu had finished reporting, he said: “You did well, Deputy Escort Zhang. Everything will proceed as you’ve agreed. Go give them the confirmation later and that’s settled.”

Zhang Xiaohu nodded and said: “In that case, Head Escort Luo, I’ll go out now and let the brothers know to start preparing for departure in a few days.”

Head Escort Luo nodded: “Alright. It’s time to inform them. They’ve been here for quite a while, and the New Year has passed.”

After Zhang Xiaohu bowed and turned to leave.

At that moment, Head Escort Luo spoke up again: “Deputy Escort Zhang, wait a moment.”

Zhang Xiaohu stopped, turned back, and asked: “Head Escort Luo, is there anything else?”

Head Escort Luo smiled and said, “Well, Deputy Escort Zhang, as leaders, we should set a good example and lead by example in everything, don’t you think?”

Zhang Xiaohu was taken aback and said: “Head Escort Luo, if there’s anything I’m doing wrong, please let me know. I’m still new to the escort agency and have much to learn from experienced escorts like you.”

Head Escort Luo, hearing this, was quite satisfied and smiled: “Actually, it’s not a big issue. As escorts, we have to manage costs. Every day’s food and expenses are standardized, as you know, and the finances are recorded accordingly. If there are discrepancies, I would have difficulty explaining it to the escort agency. With your brother suddenly joining our team, the extra costs for food and accommodation are difficult to account for.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaohu’s expression changed drastically.