C01: Killer of Nine Gods

"Ah!"

Lu Ziqu opened his eyes abruptly, covered in cold sweat and the bedding was wet, his chest seemed to be pressed by a large stone and he couldn't move.

"Haaa... Haaa"

Dreamed again. He didn't know if the day of his death was approaching. These nights were always entangled with nightmares, forcing him to wake up soaked all the time. Not to mention the cold, I was even more worried about changing the bedding so many times, I was afraid that there would be no more bedding afterwards, plus it was difficult to dry the fabric on these cold days.

After a while, his stiff limbs were finally able to move. He wondered if he should open the doors and windows so the wind could dry the bedding. She heard deliberately light running footsteps and a gust of wind entered the room with the movement, causing her hair to fly and her eyes to squint.

The silk swayed in front of his eyes, leaving an afterimage in his sight, making it difficult to distinguish true from false.

"Brother!" Lu Qing shouted entering and pushing the door.

His entire body exuded waves of heat, his forehead and cheeks were beaded with sweat and his voice was hoarse and soft, the characteristic of the young man. Lu Ziqu remembered that he always complained that his voice was like the sound of a duck, and he couldn't help but smile in his heart, because it was already a very familiar sound and not at all unpleasant to hear.

“Up so early? Have you finished your morning exercise?” Lu Ziqu wiped her sweat with his sleeves. Needless to say, the heat transmitted through the fabric had given him the answer.

"Big brother's instructions must not be neglected. Yin Shi got up immediately"

“Very good” Lu Ziqu closed his collar for him, he was so drenched in sweat that he could squeeze out the water. "How about today? Can you break the dry leaves three times now?"

Three days ago, Lu Qing had finally completed what Lu Ziqu had asked of him. He used a stone to break a leaf that was falling from some distance. He told him to keep up the good work and that his goal was to break three sheets.

“Regarding this matter, Brother…” a look of displeasure flashed under Lu Qing’s eyes. His first thought was that the lightning was weak, but he didn't notice that Lu Qing smiled and put his hand behind his back and quickly reached forward!

One Two Three…

There were four torn sheets and each one had a nail-shaped hole with a surprisingly clean edge, which was by no means the result of deliberate digging.

"I did it... and I got four broken blades!" Lu Qing was extremely happy, always doing his best to carry out his elder brother's commands.

The fact that he had not only achieved it, but also done better than he had asked for, naturally made him very excited.

"Master would be pleased to know this." Lu Ziqu smiled and took the four torn leaves, saying that they should be preserved until the anniversary of the Master's death, when they would be consecrated in front of his tomb.

"Don't let these leaves die." Lu Qing laughed and snatched the blades from him, “You said that my father was able to break nine blades during his lifetime, and he was called the Nine God Slayer. I also want to reach that title. Big brother, continue teaching me martial arts and how to increase my internal energy.” Hearing him like this, Lu Ziqu couldn't help but feel his heart sink.

"Qingqing, if it weren't for my poor health and limited talent for secret techniques, you wouldn't be in this state at this age..."

The worst thing Lu Ziqu must have suffered was letting Lu Qing grow up in pain since he was a child, and then there was the incident where Zhu Rong burned down half of the family compounds, leaving most of the remaining ones as useless fragments. No matter how delicate and flexible Lu Ziqu's mind was, it was difficult for him to fully recover, not to mention his teaching side.

"Brother!" Lu Qing was unwilling to hear him say that, he raised his voice a little: “You have taught me too much and I have learned quite well right? You said I couldn't learn martial arts to win, but to stay stable, to protect myself and others. I think I have done very well. In that sense, I will show my brother how powerful I am with my nine broken blades.”

Lu Qing's words of comfort were somewhat bad. But he understood that Lu Qing's physical talent was a natural martial arts talent, and said that his future was admirable.

Perhaps that is why he had the power he now possessed, otherwise would the heavens dare to eliminate a prodigy?

"How many years would that take?" Lu Ziqu laughed at the fact that it took Master almost 40 years to earn the title of "Nine God Slayer". I didn't know how much work it took to do this feat, but what was certain is that the newborn was not afraid of tigers.

"Don't look down on me. I'm sure I'll learn!" Lu Qing was very confident in himself. I thought I was going to be able to do this. But he forgot that learning martial arts was not the same as doing an ordinary job. It was easy to start, but hard to be good at, and the higher you go, the harder it gets.

“One day, when you have practiced more, you will be able to make any wish you want.”

"Oh really?" Lu Qing asked with a curious look.

"Have I ever lied to you?"

Lu Qing just laughed. They had lived together for more than ten years and there were many things they could understand without words.

“Keep laughing, you silly Qingqing!” Lu Ziqu tapped him on the forehead and scolded him, saying that his palm was covered in sweat.

"Go and take a shower! Take off your wet clothes and be careful of catching a cold." Lu Qing walked out in response, but at this moment Lu Ziqu remembered something and called out to the person who was about to leave, with half of his wet clothes half removed.

"What would you like for breakfast? Should the radish we pickled a while ago be served with porridge?"

"Brother's cooking is... good."

The word, good, stuck in his throat as he looked back and saw his brother, who had taken off his clothes to reveal his white shoulders, looking at him, his hair slightly damp on his cheeks. His eyes were gently downcast. The morning sunlight had the power to color everything in a unique way, and now Lu Qing's eyes were seeing his brother's hidden skin under his clothes, it seemed mysterious to him and made him want to kiss her...

"Good?" Lu Ziqu didn't know how beautiful he looked in the other party's sight. After all, they had lived together for so long, there were many times that they took a bath together, not to mention that just changing clothes was a very natural thing.

"Everything's fine." Lu Qing swallowed. It was extremely difficult to say those words and then he was quickly gone.

Lu Ziqu thought he was still a child! He laughed bitterly and put his clothes back on, not realizing that something invisible and indistinct had already taken shape.

-.-.-.-

The brothers' breakfast is a definite affair! Lu Ziqu cooked the food, and then Lu Qing cleaned up. Finishing, he wiped his hands on his clothes and left the kitchen to see Lu Ziqu waiting for him in a cotton coat.

"Come on, we have a lot of shopping to do today."

Lu Ziqu talked about some things that were necessary for the new year and put on a padded jacket to go out. This year's solar terms were like a rebellion. It was clearly New Year's time, but not as cold as before. He didn't want to take risks on such a trivial matter.

"It's been a long time since I went out with my brother."

The two brothers went out to the market, which was full of people buying products for the Chinese New Year. It had been a long time since Lu Qing had been in a crowded place and he was so excited that he went to look at the pumpkin sweets that he hadn't had in years and the person who made them. They weren't detailed, but they were novel enough. .

"Little brother, have one. Give it to a girl you like, she will surely love you."

Lu Qing was amused by his words and smiled happily as he took a closer look at the candy dog's eyes, which were very different from those on the sales table.

"Boss, your dog is so exquisite! It's coming to life!"

Delighted with this compliment, he smiled and motioned for Lu Qing to bow.

"This salesman is like you, you find him as delicate as the girl you like, he looks good in every way."

As expected of a businessman on a long street. He was very eloquent. At that same moment many girls stopped to contemplate the novelty of the candy floss making machine. Lu Qing looked at the candy dog ​​and paid two copper coins to the seller, then ran towards Lu Ziqu happily.

"What did you buy? Tie the bag full of coins tightly and put it in your pocket! New Year's Eve is approaching and thieves are always looking for money."

“Look” Lu Qing opened his mouth to bite the dog's head, revealing the sweet and juicy red bean filling inside.

“So it was stuffed!” Lu Qing shouted, he was saying that two coins were too cheap and he wanted to go back for another two, but it was Lu Ziqu who stopped him.

"Two copper coins?" asked.

"Yeah, I thought they weren't stuffed, so two coins was reasonable! Who knew...? It would be like this," he said with a smile. "It's worth the price."

The peddler's mind was unknown to Lu Ziqu, and he did not want to delve into it.

“But…” Lu Qing felt like he was taking advantage of others!

He was so restless that he heard the shout of a narrator who had climbed onto the platform and was calling the people to assemble.

"Come, come, come! I will tell you about the famous warrior Xia Duan of the Duan family"

Lu Qing felt interested and pulled his older brother's sleeve to get closer. Lu Ziqu wanted to continue shopping, but he never resisted a request from his little brother.

The narrator saw that people had gathered around him and continued exclaiming:

“I tell you that when I was young, the heroine Duan, oh! What nonsense I say! Warrior Duan is still full of grace even now!” The narrator hurriedly slapped his own mouth, with a loud slap “back then, I had traveled all over the world and seen many things; accumulating travel anecdotes for seven days and seven nights. Wow, would you be willing to stay with me seven days and seven nights to listen to them? It's New Year's Eve, so they're waiting for you at home! Hot house, sweet soup and the wife's hug, eh?”

The crowd laughed, until the narrator continued speaking. Lu Ziqu couldn't help but laugh, he thought of the time when Lu Qing was small and snuggled in his arms. Every New Year's Eve, the two would greet the New Year with this gesture, looking for a good sign that they could trust each other.

"Back then, three men and one woman accompanied the warrior Duan to the mountains and rivers, currently they enjoy a good reputation. The woman named Ding Xuanding, now the head of Jiangnan Duan Zuofang, must have been around forty years old and still looked young, says that those who saw her swore she was only in her twenties." There was an outcry from the crowd because they couldn't imagine it was real. Forty and still looking twenty? Impossible. “As for the men, one of them was Xu Qingbiao, the richest man in Fengcheng currently and Xu Dashan. We all remember the Yellow River disaster a few years ago, when Xu Dashan not only donated money, but also went to the disaster area to distribute food. A great kind person almost like a Buddha in the world, very kind, very kind” The narrator spoke seriously.

"Someone is missing, right? A good wine sinks to the bottom of the urn, so the last one must be someone extraordinary..."

The narrator smiled and said no more. The few people who had heard it several times understood what he meant. No one pressed the answer, waiting patiently for him to reveal it.

"Come on! That last man, you must have heard more or less, not his real name, of course, but his nickname: the Killer of Nine Gods! A good man!" His face was said to be unusually handsome, read poetry and had strong skills in martial arts, a man of integrity, and the girls who admired him circled the city several times..."

Those who knew the nickname Nine Gods Killer were surprised, while those who didn't were confused and busy asking others. Li Ziqu looked disinterested and tugged on Lu Qing's sleeve.

“Let's go” Li Ziqu felt strange. Lu Qing seemed immersed in what the narrator had said, wanting to hear more.

"I'll listen to what you have to say about my father." He said, shaking his head in disgust.

“How true can what a narrator says be? He only says what suits him to gain followers, don't listen to him,” Lu Ziqu whispered.

"Alright"

Then he asked her to accompany him, since he was going to see if he could find a good supply of sausages to buy. His concern for the cured meat made Lu Qing see the red stain left in his mouth, the red bean filling he was eating. He didn't want to erase that mark with his fingers, but... Lu Ziqu suddenly felt puzzled by the touch and turned his head, seeing Lu Qing looking at him sweetly.

“Qingqing is so careful,” he said in praise, then opened his mouth and took the red bean filling into his mouth to chew it. This action was not a problem, but it was like a hammer blow to Lu Qing!

He remembered the scene in the room early in the morning, which was somewhat tolerable. But now he knew this: licking his lips, the heat and moisture he felt through his skin was so intense that Lu Qing's cheeks flushed red and he felt warm in the winter.

Lu Ziqu looked at him sideways and seemed a little sick. He reached out and touched his forehead, but he didn't find anything wrong, so he asked himself:

"Are you okay Qingqing?"

"Yes I'm fine!"

How could Lu Qing say that Lu Ziqu made her heart pound and her body move passionately in his pants?

Saying these thoughts out loud, like treating the brother like he was an easy girl, would surely be changed by bitter and forced smiles, which was more uncomfortable than rejection...

“Pickled meat…” He jumped up and down to hide his emotions, and by virtue of his height, he was able to see the situation in front of him, which skillfully hid his frustration at his lack of self-control.

He was looking for a meat stall, but couldn't find one, but at one point he saw a strange thing.

"Brother".

"Dime". 

"If a woman pulled a man on the street? What situation would that be?" Lu Qing asked with a calm face.

"How old is the man? And the woman? How are they dressed? What do they look like?" Lu Ziqu narrowed his eyes and gradually made a plan.

“The man... is about forty years old, dressed in simple clothes, the fabric looks rough, he has dirt on his chest and cuffs, he looks fierce; The woman does not seem to be more than fourteen years old, dressed simply, her clothes do not look expensive, but not vulgar either, and the woman's face seems to be terrified... Her hair is messy. His wrists and face are red and swollen…”

Lu Qing rolled up his sleeves and handed him what they had bought earlier. Lu Ziqu took the rice bag in his hand, it was a little heavy, which contrasted with the smile on his face, which was energetic.

"Go ahead! Let's see how much your martial arts have improved."

Lu Qing was ready to go! He was waiting for his brother's words. "Come on!"

He raised his foot to the ground, and like a flash of lightning, he shot out!

👈     INDEX     👉