Chapter 54 – Never Marry A Man With Two Tintins

Chu Yunxuan’s sly-looking eyes narrowed happily as he was giving out his orders with a smile. When he had finished speaking, the bigger people in the bandit group immediately rushed over to tie up the bridal party using ropes made of special materials that even a cultivator couldn’t break. Several guards tried to resist but they were all cut down.

Cheng Nuo was also yanked off his magical beast mount by two people who grabbed onto his legs. His head was buzzing. He would die if he struggled but if he didn’t struggle, wouldn’t he die if he fell into Chang Chun’s hands?

One of the people who had grabbed him leaned over and whispered in Cheng Nuo’s ear, “Brother Cheng, don’t be afraid! I’m Cao Tuo and the one beside me is Jin Yu.”

In a daze, Cheng Nuo looked at the boy in front of him whose eyes had a familiar look of timidity and shyness. He could see that this person was a little bit like Cao Tuo but, on the other hand, the grown-up Jin Yu was completely unrecognizable.
　　
Cheng Nuo and Liu Guang had left the slums four years ago and hadn’t had a chance to go back for a visit. To think that Cheng Nuo would meet his old comrades from the slums in this type of desperate situation! Cao Tuo had said that they would go to Liao Ji City to look for Cheng Nuo and Liu Guang but now they had turned to banditry? It’s just like what they had talked about when Cheng Nuo was teaching them…

“Don’t worry, we’ll find a way to get you out of here,” Cao Tuo said in a low voice as he secretly used a slipknot to bind Cheng Nuo.

This made Cheng Nuo feel a little guilty. After he had left the slum, he had rarely thought of those kids but Cao Tuo and Jin Yu obviously cared about their old friendship a lot. He calmed down a little.

The captives’ weapons and storage bags were removed. Cao Tuo pretended to put Cheng Nuo’s knife away in his storage bag while furtively tucking it into Cheng Nuo’s boot. Then the captives were compelled to take a drug that sealed off their abilities. There was no avoiding it so Cheng Nuo gritted his teeth and drank it. Cao Tuo whispered, “Brother Cheng, I’m sorry.”

Only allowed on Creativenovels.com

Cheng Nuo forced out a small smile. In any case, it was extremely fortunate that he met Cao Tuo today.
　　

The dozen or so crying and trembling young females, on the other hand, were thrown onto the back of magical beast mounts by the bandit leaders. The terrified little bride who was shivering in fear was carried away by the bandit boss and slung over his mount’s saddle.

The Lan Yue Camp’s leader was called Liu Wu who had a square face and was quite tall and muscular. He pinched the noble bride’s face and carefully inspected it for a while before smiling and saying, “A female from a noble family really has such smooth skin. Now I’ll be able to taste the difference between commoners and nobles… hahaha. This time I want to reward Chang Chun’s efforts. Good work! He can have one of these females. One of the ten chief’s positions is unfilled so I’ll give it to Chang Chun.”
　　
Chang Chun quickly bowed and said, “Thank you, boss!” Even though he was in high spirits due to the promotion, he didn’t forget to keep an eye on Cheng Nuo. He inwardly sneered when he saw that, surprisingly, Cao Tuo and Jin Yu still had a fondness for their old friend Cheng Nuo. However, Cao Tuo and the others all knew what Chang Chun had done in the past. It wouldn’t do to act rashly right now.

In the beginning, when they joined the Lan Yue Camp, he, Cao Tuo, and Jin Yu were all roughly equal in ability. They were all given minor leadership positions at first but two years ago Chang Chun was sent to Lingyun Pavillion to gather information. He has been diligently training and now his skills should be better than theirs! Chang Chun secretly intended to kill them all.

The bandits quickly pushed the dowry cart up the hill. The unconscious people on the ground were tied up and thrown into the cart while those who were seriously injured were finished off.

Cheng Nuo followed behind the other captives. When he saw Chang Chun leaving his mount towards him, Cheng Nuo went on the alert. Cao Tuo walked beside Cheng Nuo, eyeing Chang Chun warily.

Chang Chun slowed down his mount and sneered down at Cheng Nuo condescendingly, “Ha, you never thought it would be me, did you?”

Cheng Nuo was so disgusted by him that he simply continued to walk forward without looking at him.

Cao Tuo frowned and said, “Chang Chun, according to the camp’s rules, if elder brother Cheng chooses to join us, you’re not allowed to touch even a hair on his head.”

Chang Chun said coldly, “I’m one of the ten chiefs now. Don’t you know the rules?”

Cao Tuo bit his lower lip to hold back his temper and said, “Yes, boss.”

Chang Chun turned towards Cheng Nuo. Raising his chin slightly, he said, “I always knew you were no good! Hmph! Look at what Liu Guang turned into because he was with you. Now he’s nothing but a shameless toady to the nobles!”
　　
Even though he loudly complained about this, the truth was that Chang Chun was really envious of them. If there hadn’t been a Cheng Nuo, then Chang Chun would have definitely been the one to find out a little slice of heaven with Liu Guang. I would have been the most useful and important person to Liu Guang!

The moment he spotted Cheng Nuo during his training at Qinghua Sect he had thrown his poisonous needles at him but when he saw that familiar red hair, he had quickly changed the needle’s trajectory. His palms had turned sweaty when he saw the grown-up Liu Guang but, despite the fact that they had grown up together, Liu Guang didn’t recognize him. Chang Chun thought that if Liu Guang had recognized his childhood friend, he would surely have killed Chang Chun. Thus, Chang Chun didn’t complain…

This was okay since Chang Chun would still have an opportunity to assist Liu Guang conquer the world in the future… Whenever Chang Chun thought about this, his heart would beat faster.

He mocked them a bit more then walked away with a smug look on his face. Once they had returned to the camp, he would find a way to get rid of Cao Tuo, Jin Yu, and Cheng Nuo at the same time!

Cao Tuo turned his head to the side and spat in contempt. Chang Chun had been away for two years. Right now, he was only nominally one of the ten leaders. He’s had no interaction with the other leaders for quite some time and he didn’t have even one underling. How could he be compared with Cao Tuo and Jin Yu. Cao Tuo was one of the boss’ followers while Jin Yu was working under the boss’ second-in-command. They got along well together.

Jin Yu also gave the departing Chang Chun a look of disdain and said in a soft voice, “Brother Cheng, don’t be angry. We’ve missed brother Guang a lot. Is he still in Liao Ji City?”

Cheng Nuo nodded and said a few words about Liu Guang. Their eyes were so bright when he spoke about Liu Guang that he could see that these two still worshipped Liu Guang the same way that they used to when they were young. Cheng Nuo thought that was a bit strange. Was Liu Guang really that charismatic?

Cao Tuo whispered: “Actually, it’s good to be a bandit here. Our boss and fellow bandits believe in the spirit of brotherhood… if it wasn’t for Chang Chung it would be good for Brother Cheng to stay here.” He knew that Chang Chun would never let Cheng Nuo go.

Cheng Nuo smiled bitterly, and in his opinion, of course, it was better to be a law-abiding citizen — although in this world the strong preyed on the weak and the city’s nobles weren’t that different from bandits. He wondered if Liu Guang would have become a bandit like Cao Tuo if he hadn’t shown up.

They arrived in the bandit’s camp that evening. Cheng Nuo and the other captives were temporarily imprisoned but as he left, Cao Tuo whispered to him, “Brother Cheng, don’t panic. Medical staff are treated very well here. I’ll ask them to let you join the medics’ group. When I get a chance, I’ll bring you down the mountain. These guards are my brothers and I will tell them to take care of you.”

Cheng Nuo nodded to him. He was grateful but the thought of Chang Chun made him feel uneasy.

The prison cell was dark and dirty. The small room was packed with a large number of prisoners. Cheng Nuo bowed his head and sat in a corner, as he secretly fingered the slipknot on the rope that bound his hands and looked down at the slight bulge in his boots. These things made him feel a little less uneasy. He secretly swallowed a few pills that could restore power. For the time being, he didn’t have the antidote but recovering a bit of power was no problem.

 

In the middle of the night, Cheng Nuo was surprised to hear sounds from the room behind the prison door. Chang Chun slowly walked inside, followed by two other people.

Cheng Nuo’s heart leapt and he subconsciously shrank away from them. The guards were Cao Tuo’s trusted subordinates so when Chang Cun gave them the order, two of them followed him inside while the third went to report it to Cao Tuo.

Chang Chun looked around, holding aloft a torch, until he found Cheng Nuo. Then he sneeringly said, “Open the prison door and take that black-haired one out.”

One of the guards smiled at him ingratiatingly, “Chief, the boss hasn’t assigned these people to anyone yet. Until then, I can’t move them elsewhere…”

Chang Chun felt that these guards weren’t paying him the proper respect but, on the other hand, he was a little worried that the boss would disapprove. Now the boss and other bandit chiefs were all drunk during the celebration party. He hates Cheng Nuo so much that he couldn’t help but want to torture him to death. In truth, he had already killed countless people on the way to see the bride off. He had only refrained from doing anything to Cheng Nuo because he was afraid of causing a disturbance during the celebration. Now he couldn’t bear to wait anymore!

He stopped talking nonsense with the two guards and took out a stick of Soul Calming incense. When he blew it towards the guards, they fell into a trance. Those two would lose half an hour’s worth of memories, including their memory of Chang Chun being here.

In addition, he knew that one of the guards had left to call for help, which was exactly what Chang Chun wanted. Let him bring Cao Tuo and Jin Yu here! Then he could get rid of them once and for all. Later on, all he had to do was to say that they had been envious of his promotion and had schemed to kill him when everyone else was drunk. Chang Chun had just been credited with great achievements and, as far as the other leaders knew, there was no reason for him to take action against these subordinates, so the leaders wouldn’t doubt his explanation. As for this person surnamed Cheng, he was just an insignificant captive that no one would care about…

As Chang Chun thought about all of this, his smile grew wider and wider until Cheng Nuo thought he looked like a demon.

Chang Chun opened the prison door and sneered at Cheng Nuo, “What’s the matter? You want to stay inside and not come out?”

Cheng Nuo took a deep breath and walked out with his head held high. He said, sneeringly, “Of course, the air outside is better.”

Chang Chun snorted. It wouldn’t be good to do anything here where there were many people. He pushed Cheng Nuo outside then lit a stick of Soul Calming incense at the door of the cell.

Two of Chang Chun’s new subordinates were waiting outside. When they saw him come out they quickly greeted him. Chang Chun said coldly, “Do you remember what I told you?”
　　
The two men quickly nodded and grabbed Cheng Nuo, one on each side, shoving him forward.

Chang Chun followed behind them as they strode briskly to their destination. He would take his time torturing this person. He had made sure that for this Cheng person escape was impossible and death imminent!

Cheng Nuo took a deep breath. Looking at the bandits who were on night duty carrying torches, he knew that this moment was crucial. He had to make a move now or he wouldn’t be able to escape!

They quickly arrived at Chang Chun’s new residence. Chang Chun was in a rush and didn’t bother to search Cheng Nuo. He just ordered his two men to guard the entrance then pushed Cheng Nuo into a woodshed, planning to hang him by his hands from the roof beams.

Cheng Nuo pulled on the slipknot as Chang Chun approached. Pulling out his knife from the storage bag hidden in his sleeve, Cheng Nuo slashed out at Chang Chun.

Chang Chun was surprised but managed to dodge the knife. He shot out several poisonous needles. Although Cheng Nuo was able to avoid most of them, one of the needles hit his shoulder, making his arm numb and unable to move. He gritted his teeth and rushed forward. The antidote he had been given earlier was helping him fight off the effects of the poison but that wouldn’t last forever. He has to defeat Chang Chun quickly!

Although he couldn’t use his elemental energy skills and his physical condition was not good, Bai Rui had personally taught him hand-to-hand combat.

Chang Chun also drew his weapon but when the two weapons collided, Chang Chun’s knife was cut in half. Cheng Nuo was overjoyed. This knife was so powerful! As Cheng Nuo slashed out with the knife again, Chang Chun barely managed to dodge but his chest and lapel were cut.

Chang Chun started sweating. He sent out iron thorns to stab Cheng Nuo who leapt to the side, his feet on the wall, to avoid the thorns. Cheng Nuo wanted to take advantage of his position to slash at Chang Chun but he was hit with another poison while his body was still in the air. Cheng Nuo’s body fell limply to the floor.

Only allowed on Creativenovels.com

Chang Chun sneered, “Cao Tuo and Jin Yu really did a good job! I was careless… but you’d better save your energy now.”

He re-tied Cheng Nuo’s arms and feet, removed the storage bag from his sleeve, then stuffed an antidote into Cheng Nuo’s mouth. Chang Chun didn’t want him to die too soon.

Cheng Nuo’s face was pale and somewhat bluish. The poison burned like fire, making him sweat and pant from the pain.

Just then there was a commotion outside. Chang Chun kicked Cheng Nuo and said with a sneer, “Ha, those two really care about you!”

Chang Chun lit a candle and placed it on a windowsill. Smiling, he turned around.
　　

The door was quickly kicked open and Jin Yu rushed in first.

With some difficulty, Cheng Nuo spat out a few words, “Poison… go… outside…!”

Cao Tuo was shocked and quickly covered his nose and mouth as he pulled Jin Yu back. Jin Yu felt a little dizzy and his footing was already becoming unstable.

Chang Chun glared at Cheng Nuo then said to the two newcomers in a cold voice, “Let’s not even talk about how I’m your superior right now. Let’s talk about friendship instead. We grew up together in the slums but you drove me out because of this outsider! Now we are brothers-in-arms. What about this Cheng person?! He’s just a dog of the nobility! Are you really going to fall out with me because of him?!”

Jin Yu swayed on his feet and said angrily, “You just tried to drug us! Do you truly think of us as your brothers? When we were children, you were the one who tried to frame big brother Cheng so big brother Guang drove you out…”

Cao Tuo tugged on Jin Yu’s sleeve and said, with a frown on his face, “It’s useless to reason with him. Chang Chun, as long as you let elder brother Cheng go, we’ll let bygones be bygones, or else the boss won’t forgive you for interfering with the captives!”

Reika’s Notes:

This chapter is by Reika of Creativenovels and BCNovels.com“Cao Tuo pretended to put Cheng Nuo’s knife away…” – Uh, I was wrong earlier. I thought 刀 meant a sword but here it’s clear it’s something small. It seems weird that Cheng Nuo was armed with only a knife that’s small enough to be tucked into his boots but that’s what the text says.“Liu Wu who had a square face” – I debated using “square jaw” instead. P.S. The oval-shaped face is considered the most beautiful by traditional Chinese beauty standards.“If Cheng chooses to join us” – Whoa, did you know that there is a specific word for “running away to become a bandit” in Chinese? It’s 落草 meaning “take to the greenwood; take to the heather; become an outlaw.”“I’m one of the ten chiefs now” – I suppose that some translators would just write this out as Shi Dangjia since it seems to be a title but I prefer to make the meaning clearer to casual readers. Basically, one of the ten chiefs or bosses of the bandit gang.“…a shameless toady to the nobles!” – He actually used the word 狗 (dog) here but “toady” gets the meaning across better in English.“…spat in contempt.” – 呸 It’s either literally spitting or just going “tch!” or “bah!”“Slipknot” – 活扣 a knot that can be undone by a pull.Thanks for reading!