Chapter 16: Confirmation

Chapter 16: Confirmation

This reaction was perfectly normal; no reaction at all would have been abnormal. Zhao Changhe didn’t overthink it, clinking bowls with a chuckle: “Big bowls for wine, big chunks for meat. When I was a kid reading *Water Margin*… well, anyway, I had that dream back then—felt so heroic and bold. And now here I am in an actual bandit den, scraping meat to eat, buying my own wine, sharing a single gourd of it stingily. What a letdown.”

Luo Qi laughed: “What you’re describing is a mountain king, or at least a top chieftain. But I feel like you could totally pull it off.”

“A bit tough—to be a top chieftain, you’d at least need to be a formal disciple, right? Still no sign of getting into the sect; they said I’d have to have faith before joining, but no one’s even preached to us. Instructor Sun doesn’t seem in charge of that, and the leader won’t show his face—hiding somewhere, who knows.”

Luo Qi sipped his wine, studying Zhao Changhe’s expression: “Judging by your attitude, you don’t really care?”

“I care a bit—I want the Blood Divine Art, not the Blood Fiend Art. Of course, joining the Four Symbols Sect would be even better… But someone who trained in the Blood Divine Art still got beaten by a lower-level challenger.”

Luo Qi laughed out loud.

It seemed Zhao Changhe never said it outright, but the battle between Yue Hongling and Xue Canghai had completely shattered his expectations of the Blood Divine Sect.

Zhao Changhe took a sip and said, “Anyway, there’s no rush now. It’s just the beginning—who knows, maybe this leader will be removed tomorrow? If Instructor Sun takes over, things’ll be much easier for me; he’s been pretty good to me.”

“Dream on. You think Leader Fang is just hiding for fun? He’s probably out preaching in the city… Though I didn’t see any signs of cult preaching when I entered town today—guess it’s tough starting out, hasn’t begun yet.”

“Not necessarily.” Zhao Changhe lowered his voice: “Don’t you think this branch is pretty strange?”

Luo Qi’s heart tensed. He didn’t want to discuss this—he’d rather you just pester me about whether I’m male or female! But since Zhao Changhe brought it up, he had to play dumb: “What do you mean?”

“This branch is new, but that underground altar definitely wasn’t just dug out—that’s a massive project. Clearly, it was an old secret site someone else left behind, and the Blood Divine Sect discovered it.”

Luo Qi quickly said, “That’s normal too—use an existing place if it’s available. Then set up a stronghold nearby and establish a branch. Nothing strange about it.”

“But is there any reason they *had* to establish a branch in the dead of winter?” Zhao Changhe was exasperated. “A big sect like this—if they wanted a branch, they’d have prepared earlier. Now, in the snow and ice, they suddenly start, lacking clothes and food—why bother? Did Sect Leader Xue get his brain scrambled by that lower-level challenger? Oh, right, he hadn’t been beaten by Yue Hongling yet.”

Luo Qi was momentarily speechless.

Come on, can you stop bringing up that lower-level challenger thing?

“Yue Hongling overheard them planning to attack the Luo family around here. She said Sect Leader Xue was here too. That means there’s some important secret hidden nearby—the Blood Divine Sect’s main force moved in to pioneer it, with the sect leader personally leading. Later, the mission to kill Luo Zhenwu interrupted things; the task probably wasn’t finished, or only half done. The sect leader couldn’t stay long, so they left people here in the dead of winter to set up a new branch and keep searching.”

Luo Qi: “…”

Zhao Changhe drained his bowl and slammed it heavily on the table: “I suspect this isn’t even about the Blood Divine Sect—it’s about the Four Symbols Sect. Whether I can join the Four Symbols Sect or learn the Blood Divine Art, there’s merit to be had here. Keeping an eye out is definitely the right move.”

Luo Qi stared at the wine bowl with dark eyes, then suddenly looked up with a smile: “You—just drink when you drink. All this chatter isn’t straightforward at all, and you keep calling yourself a manly man.”

“Damn it, come on—three bowls in a row!”

“This gourd can’t pour that many bowls of wine.”

“Whatever we have, we’ll take it. Hot wine in winter is really satisfying!”

Hot wine was indeed satisfying, warming Luo Qi’s cheeks to a rosy flush, but his eyes grew more misty, unreadable.

Only after finishing did he lower his head to look at the empty bowl and suddenly say, “Changhe, in this world, you shouldn’t trust people too easily. Keep those analyses to yourself—why say them out loud?”

Zhao Changhe was taken aback: “What’s there to hide from you? I wouldn’t blab to anyone else.”

“Don’t trust anyone easily—including me.” Luo Qi paused, then added, “And including that Instructor Sun, who you think treats you well.”

“Uh…” Zhao Changhe ventured, “Are you drunk?”

Luo Qi smiled, standing up as if tipsy, stretching lazily: “Yeah, I can’t hold my liquor… I’ll hit the bed first.”

Zhao Changhe also stood, a bit lightheaded, and slung an arm around Luo Qi’s shoulder: “Big bro, you’re kind of weak—that was just a few cups…”

Luo Qi didn’t react in time, failing to dodge, and was caught solidly, freezing on the spot.

“Tsk, skinny.” Zhao Changhe squeezed his shoulder with a big hand: “You can only train your inner breath. In a world without inner energy, I could take ten of you. Go sleep, go sleep—I’ll practice a bit more. Hot wine seems to stir the blood; training might be more effective…”

His hand left the shoulder, and Zhao Changhe was already outside, squatting in a horse stance.

Luo Qi stood there dumbfounded, turning stiffly to look at the door.

Had he just been hugged like that?

To Zhao Changhe, wasn’t this normal? Just arm-in-arm with a buddy—what man hadn’t done that?

But Luo Qi was numb, still dazed, his mind blank, as if electric currents were still running through him.

Zhao Changhe had slipped to the door and squatted into a horse stance, inwardly regretting it bitterly.

Of course, he’d done it on purpose!

A little drunk, seeing Luo Qi’s rosy, pretty face, his mind wandered—he was a hot-blooded man after all… And he also wanted to confirm it.

A man’s shoulder and a woman’s shoulder—their softness was naturally different.

Now he’d confirmed it: she was a woman.

He’d even had a bit of a mischievous streak, wanting to see this cross-dressing “big bro” get groped and have to swallow her complaints… “Don’t trust anyone, including me”—pfft.

But soon he wanted to slap himself. Stirring up trouble for nothing—what practical meaning did a little groping have? He couldn’t actually do anything, and it only left him with an erection that wouldn’t go down, forcing him to hide it with a horse stance.

Why bother?

And how were they supposed to get along now? He’d said it himself—being male was more convenient—yet he had to go and mess things up. Confirm, my ass.

Zhao Changhe really wanted to slap himself to death.

So one stood there woodenly watching him, the other practiced stiffly with a rigid neck, both lost in thought. The atmosphere was awkwardly frozen for a while, until Luo Qi suddenly smiled faintly.

Zhao Changhe caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye and went numb, squatting seriously in his horse stance, staring at the sky.

But then Luo Qi strode over, actively reaching out to sling an arm around Zhao Changhe’s shoulder: “Hey.”

Zhao Changhe stiffened all over: “Huh? Something up?”

“Your horse stance today isn’t standard—you’ll mess yourself up practicing like that.” Luo Qi whispered in his ear: “Could it be that a little wine has you thinking of warm beds and… that? That’s no good—want your buddy to take you to a brothel in town?”

“Uh… well.” Zhao Changhe twitched the corner of his mouth, speaking with difficulty: “Aren’t you the type who doesn’t even touch people? Why the arm-in-arm now?”

Luo Qi acted nonchalant: “We weren’t close before, but now we’re brothers, right? Isn’t that how it is? You can put your arm on me, but I can’t put mine on you?”

So that was it.

She still wanted to play pretend? Forcing it with this method? After standing there in a daze for so long, this was her answer?

Zhao Changhe didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, at a loss for how to judge this freebie, but he felt much lighter inside.

It wasn’t so bad, really… But the way she leaned on him, arm around his shoulder, breathing softly in his ear… Zhao Changhe shamefully found that even his horse stance could barely hide it.