A Good-for-Nothing

175. Departure for Hang City (1)

 

Translator: Dragon Rider

 

On the training ground.

With a puff, Zhao Yidi uncontrollably spat out a mouthful of blood. The sword-light of the Shadow Sword backfired on her whole body, sending her tottering several steps backward before she regained her balance.

As Zhao Yidi wiped away the residual blood at the corners of her mouth, the blade of the Shadow Sword started trembling violently. She inwardly uttered “Damn it!” and hurriedly cut off the link between the starlight and He Zheng. The next instant, the Shadow Sword dropped to the ground like a piece of scrap iron with a clank, and He Zheng, eyes closed, also limply fell down, as if utterly drained of energy.

With a rapid blur of movement, a figure tore through the door into the training ground and with that He Zheng naturally fell into Li Zong’s embrace.

“Director Zhao?” Eyes on He Zheng’s ashen complexion, Li Zong first checked his Cardiac Meridian. After confirming that he was just in a coma, Li Zong shifted his gaze to Zhao Yidi.

Face deadly pale, holding her chest, Zhao Yidi let out a cough. “The consciousness of the sword spirit in the Shadow Sword is too powerful. I tried to summon it with the help of the Force of Stars. Now it seems that using external force to help him bond with the sword spirit is not doable.” After another bout of coughing, she continued, “I think we’ll have to take baby steps. Haste makes waste.”

The reason why Li Zong had swallowed his pride and requested Director Zhao to help He Zheng build a connection with the sword spirit was because he didn’t have the heart to see He Zheng so distressed about this matter, but unexpectedly, this move made out of goodwill had had the opposite effect.

Li Zong didn’t like owing other people favors. If it weren’t for He Zheng, he would never have asked Zhao Yidi for help.

He took a Purity Pill from his bosom and solemnly handed it to Zhao Yidi. “I’m sorry to have put you through this.”

Eyes closed, Zhao Yidi gasped for a few moments and then her breathing became much more even. Seeing what Li Zong was doing, she snorted, “It was just a momentary disturbance of my Qi circulation. Using a Purity Pill to compensate for it would be way too dramatic.”

Even common Purity Pills were very expensive, and this one offered by Li Zong was definitely of uncommonly high quality. Zhao Yidi had merely done him a small favor and didn’t want to accept this pill which she believed was far more than she deserved.

Li Zong didn’t withdraw his hand. “It was because of me that you went to such trouble, Director Zhao. It’s just a Purity Pill. Actually I feel it’s not enough to return the favor.”

Zhao Yidi squinted her eyes and gazed at Li Zong for quite a while. Li Zong, unafraid, let her. Eventually, Zhao Yidi snatched the little box from his hand. “Now that you know about it, don’t put me through any more trouble in the future.”

She threw a glance at He Zheng who was lying unconscious in Li Zong’s arms. “Modify his memories, so that he won’t recall this unsuccessful attempt and feel embarrassed the next time he sees me.”

Li Zong nodded.

“Normally, men marry women to make their lives easier, but you’ve been acting like a nanny after getting married. Li Zong, you’re such a pathetic guy.”

In the knowledge that her bark is worse than her bite, Li Zong gave a chuckle and scooped up He Zheng without saying any more.

…

He Zheng had quite a long sleep. After waking up, he lapsed into an astonished trance which lasted for a few moments, for he didn’t have a shred of memory about how he’d got home last night, and even his recollection of the training the day before was vague…

But at the sight of the pajamas that he’d changed into, he came to know that it must be Li Zong who’d brought him back, so he dismissed this thought, picked up his cellphone from the nightstand and found that there were a whole bunch of unanswered calls and unread text messages.

They were all from the same person – Qin Huai, who had been vacationing in Saipan ever since that incident concerning his niece had been handled.

What with the intensive training, He Zheng hadn’t talked with Qin Huai for quite a few days, and started reading those text messages one by one.

【Qin Huai: He Zheng! What the hell is going on between you and your old man? You’re finally rid of those people? You divided up family property and went your separate ways?】

【Qin Huai: Fuck you, man! How the fuck could you not have breathed a single word of such thrilling news to me? Are we still brothers?】

【Qin Huai: By the way, it was my brother-in-law who intervened and settled this matter, right? Your partner is pretty badass!】

【Qin Huai: Send me a reply! Why are you not answering your phone?! What the hell have you been doing?!】

Maybe because he hadn’t sent Qin Huai a single reply yet, in the last text message, Qin Huai seemed to be already resigned to the situation.

【Qin Huai: Boss, are you still using this phone, boss? Send me a reply if you see this, my dear boss!】

He Zheng’s eyes felt faintly sore after he read all these messages. He massaged his forehead for a few moments to ease his headache and then directly pressed the icon of the latest unanswered call which bore Qin Huai’s name.

After a couple of ringtones, Qin Huai answered the call in haste. Before He Zheng could say anything, Qin Huai’s bellow came from the other end of the phone. “FUCK YOU, HE ZHENG! YOU’RE FINALLY RETURNING MY CALLS!!! DO YOU KNOW I’M DYING FROM ANXIETY?!!!”

He Zheng impassively moved his smartphone away from his ear. After Qin Huai stopped bawling, he held it to his ear again and observed sneeringly, “I wouldn’t feel sorry if you died from anxiety.”

“You heartless bastard! Have you any humanity left in you? Have you become a devil?”

He Zheng relaxedly leaned against the headboard, playing with the pillow. “I wouldn’t have called you back if I were really heartless.”

“Humph. That’s because you know what’s going to happen if you don’t. What happened between you and your old man?”

Though He Zheng had just woken up and his voice was somewhat hoarse, his tone was rather acrimonious. “What do you mean by my ‘old man’? I don’t have a fucking ‘old man’.”

On the other end of the phone, Qin Huai clapped his hands in delight. “Yeah, yeah, that’s right. I forgot you and your old man have gone your separate ways, but I heard that your husband helped you even the score by teaching him a lesson that he probably would never forget! It’s said that He Changchun was really pissed that day. Oh, incidentally, do you know that that geriatric divorced He Changchun?”

“Oh?” The corners of He Zheng’s mouth curled with amusement. In a low and deep voice, he said, “Tell me what you know. I’ve been training lately and haven’t paid any attention to it. I’ll reward you if your story lightens my mood.”