"Allow me to introduce myself properly this time. I am Huang Fei Hong. It's very nice to meet you both. I heard that you've been taking good care of my sister."
After the intense battle, we returned to the Huang Manor, behind all the defensive formations and killing arrays. Of course, being the owner of the house, Huang Hong Lin was able to walk through them without activating them. The same went for her brother, and as guests, Mu Rong Shu and I followed them without worrying that we would be beset upon by the formations.
Once we were seated inside the reception hall, Huang Fei Hong raised a hand and introduced himself formally. He laughed as he scratched the back of his head.
"This is the first time we've met, I believe."
"Yeah." I nodded, sure that we hadn't met prior to this. "I am Zhao Huan Shi, and this is my wife, Mu Rong Shu."
"Well met. You have a very beautiful wife. I'm envious." Huang Fei Hong chuckled good-naturedly. I cocked an eyebrow at that.
"Don't you have a relationship with your thirteenth aunt?"
"Excuse me?" Huang Fei Hong stared at me, his jaw hanging open. I shook my head and raised my hands.
"Sorry, just a joke."
"He watched too many Jet Li movies," Mu Rong Shu explained. "Once Upon a Time in China, for example."
"That's fictional and exaggerated. Besides the real Huang Fei Hong had four wives, none of whom were his relatives." Huang Fei Hong then crossed his arms. "And I'm not related to him at all, I'm named after him because our parents are fans of 1980s and 1990s Hong Kong martial arts films, but I have nothing to do with him otherwise. I'm not even Cantonese!"
"I am," I said proudly, only for the rest to stare at me.
"We didn't ask," Huang Hong Lin snapped pointedly.
"Now, now." Mu Rong Shu raised her hands to placate everybody. "Let's not care about the trivial details and focus on the present. We've just scored a major victory, didn't we? But the Spirit War is far from over, right?"
"You're right." Huang Hong Lin sighed and leaned back in her seat. "I would love to celebrate, but the war is far from over. The good news, though, is that we have one less strong enemy to worry about. Originally I planned to discuss what we should do against Hu Li Jing and her friends, but we've taken care of her. In fact, we even dealt with another summoner in her group – Bai Xiao Li, and her spirit, Bai Su Zhen."
"Madam White Snake," I muttered. Huang Hong Lin nodded.
"That's right."
"So let's just move on to the next enemy." Huang Fei Hong grinned and sipped some tea from the cup that one of her maids handed to him. Mu Rong Shu regarded him curiously, her fingers tightening on the handle of her cup.
"What's your stake in all this?"
"Huh? My stake?"
"Yeah." Mu Rong Shu put her cup of tea down on the table. "From what I know, the Huang family shouldn't be interested in the Spirit War. Your parents have decided to stay out of it, and they don't intend to help Hong Lin. Neither do your cousins or other relatives. Why did you decide to help?"
"Because I love my sister." Huang Fei Hong laughed before he ducked under a cushion that his sister threw at him. "No, seriously. Do you really think I will sit by and do nothing while my beloved little sister takes part in one of the bloodiest wars known to cultivators?"
"I trust you, but your parents don't seem to believe the same thing that you do."
"Our parents are only interested in results." Huang Fei Hong waved his hand dismissively. "You were born in a major family, you ought to know. If you're useless and fail too many times, they deem you as trash and throw you away."
His eyes rested on me when he said that. Mu Rong Shu caught sight of that and frowned.
"My husband is not trash."
"No, I know. I never said he was. But that's not what the Zhao family thinks." He scoffed. "They are idiots. Just so you know, I agree with you – I have just witnessed Zhao Huan Shi's strength for myself tonight and if he's trash, then I'm nothing. Hell, 90% of the younger generation will be worse than trash. But somehow the Zhao family deluded themselves into thinking that their second son is trash. I don't understand why."
"They slandered me and destroyed my reputation just so I wouldn't usurp my brother from the position of heir," I explained bitterly.
"That's very shortsighted. And looked at where it got them." Huang Fei Hong snorted. He nodded when he caught sight of my look. "Yes, I've heard. Everyone has heard. They all think the Zhao family is a joke right now. Throwing away a precious treasure, banishing a talented genius from their family just to pander to a trash. You couldn't make it up!"
Huang Hong Lin nodded and giggled.
"Yeah…the Zhao family forced out a divine summoner for a wasteful elder son who ended up provoking the imperial family, causing them to cancel the engagement of their daughter with him and crippling his dantian. Even better, he got killed a few days later and cost the Zhao family their treasured divine dragon."
That divine dragon was actually mine, and it hurt me a lot to lose him. But it couldn't be helped. What the heavens took away, they gave back. I now had Lu Bu and Xiao Hei. I had to move on. Life was like that – as much as you wanted to rewind time and return things to the way they were in the past, it was impossible. Time waited for nobody. It continued on relentlessly and unfeelingly, like a river, heedless of all the sediment that it washed away.
"The Zhao family is now the biggest joke in the entirety of Hua Xia," Huang Fei Hong continued. He glanced at me with a wry smile. "I heard they desperately tried to get you back, but you refused."
"Why would I return to them, after all they did to me?"
"No, you wouldn't," Huang Fei Hong agreed. "I don't blame you. If I were in the same position, I would have done the exact same thing."
He stood up and reached over to place a hand on my shoulder, smiling encouragingly.
"You don't have to worry about the Zhao family. I know you already have the support of the Mu Rong family behind you, but I'll offer you the friendship and assistance of the Huang family all the same. If the Zhao family ever come bother you, we'll shelter you."
"Wait, bro!" Huang Hong Lin sounded surprised. "Are you sure you can make that decision? What will dad and mom say?"
"I'll persuade them," her brother replied confidently. Then he winked. "And you already know what they will say. They will be more than happy to offer their aid. They'll probably even offer one of their villas and station a bunch of master-level guards there."
"They will be more than happy to hit the Zhao family where it hurts," Huang Hong Lin agreed, pondering. She glanced at Mu Rong Shu. "But I'm sure the Mu Rong family will already…"
"Yeah, grandfather has taken care of it." Mu Rong Shu nodded. She winced. "Even if my idiotic cousins haven't realized…"
"You guys are getting ahead of yourselves," I muttered, holding my head in exasperation. "You don't have to worry. The Zhao family won't do anything to hurt me. They can't afford to, especially after the debacle with my brother. If anything, they will be doing everything within their power to protect me. They won't intervene for now because they are waiting for me to slip up, get myself beaten up pretty badly, and then go crawling back to them for help and protection. To teach me a lesson, so to speak. But if I'm about to die, I'm sure they'll send a grand master level expert to save me."
I had already detected the presence of a person who was at least the level of a grand master tailing us. He had kept his distance and did absolutely nothing when my wife and I fought against Hu Li Jing, Su Da Ji and the other girls. But I could tell why he was there.
This meant I couldn't afford to lose. I didn't want to owe the Zhao family anything, and I would never return to them. Not for protection, resources or help. I had cut off all ties with them.
"Didn't your grandmother try to assassinate you, though?" Mu Rong Shu asked hesitantly. I sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, she did. But now she can't afford to…because if I die, it would seal the decline of the Zhao family. Well, I suppose we will survive, thanks to my cousins, Zhao Huan Jia and Zhao Huan Zhe, provided they survive the Spirit War, I mean. But given their performances so far, I wouldn't bet against them getting killed in the near future. And if that happens…"
"The Zhao family will end in your generation," Huang Hong Lin finished. "You are their last hope of continuing their line."
"No, I'm not. I've cut off all ties with them. But the point is that…they won't stop trying to beg me to return. They will fail, but that won't stop them from trying. And we don't have to worry about them being the enemy. They simply can't afford to let me die."
"Which brings us to the next question." Mu Rong Shu placed a hand on her chin. "Now that Hu Li Jing and her spirit, Su Da Ji, as well as Bai Xiao Li and Bai Su Zhen, have been defeated, who is our next target? The Qin Emperor?"
"Hold onto your horses for that one." Huang Hong Lin gulped. "I don't think we're ready to face the imperial family just yet. We need to pick our next target carefully. Not someone too strong, or our strategy will end up backfiring. Now that we've defeated a major force such as Hu Li Jing's group and Su Da Ji, all eyes will be on us. We might have to prepare to be on the defensive first, never mind seeking out new targets."
"And when they come, we'll crush them," I declared. Everyone chuckled at that. Mu Rong Shu shook her head.
"Be careful, dear. You shouldn't be overconfident and end up underestimating your opponents. Pride comes before a fall."
"Oh, right. Sorry."
"Speaking of which, what's your stake?" Huang Fei Hong asked Mu Rong Shu. "Are you simply so loyal to your husband that you'll fight alongside him no matter the cost?"
"Yes." Mu Rong Shu nodded, thinking it was a fair question, given that she had asked him a similar thing earlier. "I owe my husband everything. He saved my Mu Rong family from the Du family when he wasn't obligated to. I will never leave him when he's in need. And I know he will do the same for me if the situation is reversed."
"Through sickness and health, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, till death do us apart." I quoted our marriage vow, causing Huang Fei Hong to snicker.
"Fair enough. I've seen many couples, and I think you're among the stronger ones. In terms of intimacy and bond, I mean." Then he grew serious. "I hope it'll be enough to tide us through this Spirit War, though."
"It will," I replied gravely, sounding almost like Ben Affleck in the Snyder's Cut. "It has to."