Black Belly Wife

Chu Changge stared dumbfounded at the scene in front of him. His mind was in a state of confusion.

Why did a flock of vultures suddenly fly in for no reason at all? There were nine dead bodies here, enough for them to eat. But why did they peck at people, regardless of whether they were dead or alive? They even look like hungry wolves coming down from the mountain and eating people with a vengeance.......

"Leader, don't vultures only eat dead people? Why do they even eat me?!" North Guardian shouted as he chased away the vultures pecking at him. [T/N]

"They even try to eat me. Isn't it normal for the vultures to eat you too?" Chu Changge answered in a bad mood with his hands and feet in confusion.

"There's no logic to that! Why do they have to eat me just because they eat you? Am I more of a dead man than you?"

The corners of Chu Changge's mouth twitched a few times fiercely at North Guardian's words as he countered back with a black face, "You're the one who looks like a dead man!"

These vultures made Chu Changge very mad. He hated it when people put their hands on him, let alone these dirty birds. The thought of these vultures pecking at him with beaks that had nipped at dead people made him have gooseflesh. But he couldn't beat them to death now, as he needed them to trap the corpse souls.

It was so frustrating that he had to resort to begging from a bird!

Feeling annoyed, Chu Changge used his inner strength to shake away the vultures around him and turn his body towards the Guanyin Man.

The Guanyin Man had by now let go of South, East and West. He was busily trying to chase away the vultures desperately from his body.

Chu Changge looked at him coldly and said, "Do you know why there are so many vultures on you?"

The Guanyin Man stopped his hands and looked at Chu Changge, with his palms put on standby and ready to strike. "Why?" He asked in a deep voice.

Chu Changge: "Because they know that you are going to die soon."

The Guanyin Man snorted at Chu Changge's mockery. "Hmph! The one who has suffered defeat at my hands still dares to speak so shamefully!"

The corners of Chu Changge's mouth curled up into a cold smile as he said, "It's not too late for you to check on your corpse souls first before you get arrogant."

When the Guanyin Man heard his words, he turned around to look, only to see the nine bodies of the corpse souls lying on the ground. Vultures densely perched on their bodies, eaten beyond recognition, as they became a mixed-up of flesh and blood. One of the corpse souls had his neck pecked out, and three vultures fought over his head. Seeing this situation, the Guanyin Man instantly lost his strength to resist and staggered two steps backwards as his body began to wobble. Since the vultures had destroyed the corpse souls, his situation now was beyond salvation. He no longer has any leverage to fight against Chu Changge......

"No... no..." Guanyin Man shook his head as he stepped back and muttered, "I'm not willing…… I'm not willing...…."

Suddenly, he accidentally kicked the table and knocked over the oil lamp on it. The oil lamp fell to the ground and instantly ignited the cabin.

"This is bad. There's a fire. Leader, run!" East Guardian no longer cared about the vulture on his body and shouted at Chu Changge.

At that time, the flames had completely engulfed the Guanyin Man. Chu Changge looked at him for a moment in hesitation before finally unmasking him with a wave of his hand.

Sure enough, it was him――Fang Hongfei.

There had been no movement on the ship, and the vultures did not fly out again. This situation made Murong Yunshu turn from elation to worry and could not help but stand on tiptoe for a lookout.

King Sheng Wang couldn't hold back. He stepped towards the sea and said, "I'll go back and have a look."

"No." Murong Yunshu stopped him from going.

King Sheng countered, "I cannot stand by and watch them die for me in vain. Don't stop me. I must do something."

Murong Yunshu responded, "I can't control what you want to do, but you can't go and cause them any trouble."

King Sheng frowned as he unhappily stated, "I'm just going to help them. I'm not going to cause them any trouble."

"As soon as you get on the ship, they'll have one more trouble." Murong Yunshu declared expressionlessly and calmly. [+]

After a moment of silence, King Sheng said, "It is true that my martial arts skills are not that high, and I would only be a burden to them if I went there. But as a king, I cannot just see my people die without even trying to save them."

It was as if Murong Yunshu did not hear him since her eyes were always resting on that ship. Thinking that her silence was her tacit approval, King Sheng intended to save the people on board when she suddenly asked, "Do you want to be the Emperor?"

"What?" King Sheng looked back with a face full of shock.

Murong Yunshu lightly said, "You heard what I said."

King Sheng did not retort. Yes, he heard her but couldn't understand why she would ask that kind of question at a time like this. Did he want to be emperor? Of course, he wanted to. He had been hibernating for twenty years in order to one day reclaim the throne that was rightfully his, to inspire and rule, and to save the people of the world from living in extreme misery.

"A wise monarch knows what is most important." Murong Yunshu looked sideways at him as she spoke seriously.

A wise monarch knows what is most important.....King Sheng continuously repeated this phrase in his mind, and his feet could not take another step forward. She was right. If he wanted to become a wise ruler, he must first manage his own life. If his life were gone, everything would be in vain.

"Miss, look, it seems to be smoke coming from the ship!" Lu-er exclaimed while pointing to a wisp of grey smoke over the big ship.

Murong Yunshu heard her voice and looked in the direction she pointed. Instead of seeing smoke, she saw the moment when the boat was ablaze, as the raging fire rose to the sky.

"Chu Changge!" Murong Yunshu could no longer think. She ran desperately towards the sea, which had already submerged her knees.

Lu-er hurriedly chased after her. "Miss, you are pregnant. You can't just......" Halfway through the sentence, she suddenly shouted, "Miss, it's Guye! Guye is back...…."

Although Murong Yunshu had been looking ahead, her eyes were unfocused, and everything was blurry in front of her. At this moment, when she heard Lu-er's shout, she suddenly regained her senses and took a good look. Right then did she see Chu Changge traded through the waves, with his whole body covered in dust and was shabbily dressed but still looking as graceful as ever.

As soon as Chu Changge reached the land, Murong Yunshu flew over, wrapped her arms around his waist and listened to his heartbeat.

Chu Changge felt her fear. He wanted to hold her tightly but was afraid of hurting the child in her belly. His hand moved helplessly until he finally rested one hand gently on her back. At the same time, the other slowly stroked her hair as he softly comforted, "It's all right."

Murong Yunshu did not make a sound. She just closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, waiting for her wildly beating heart to calm down before asking, "Is he dead?"

"M-hm. He was cremated. Not going to ask who he was?"

Murong Yunshu shook her head sullenly. As early as the Guanyin Man had first used the Cosmic Absorbing Power Technique, she had already guessed his identity. After all, there was only one person in this world who knew the Cosmic Absorbing Power Technique and was pursuing them relentlessly.

"Let's make an empty tomb for him, okay?" Murong Yunshu said.

When a man died, his death would settle all his grudges and grievances. No matter how much damage he had done to them, he had paid it off with his life.

*

That night, the moon was bright, and stars were sparse.

Chu Changge stood in front of the window as he was lost in a myriad of thoughts. By killing Fang Hongfei, he had avenged Chen Ting's revenge. The next step was to help King Sheng seize the throne. But in what capacity would he be able to help him?

After twenty-three years of having the surname Chu, he was suddenly told that he should have the surname Hua. Somehow, his big brother also appeared. To be honest, he was a bit caught off guard.

After guessing his identity, he had envisioned countless scenarios of what to say and do when he met with King Sheng. But when they eventually met, he didn't know where to begin.

If they threw away that little blood relationship, they were basically strangers. There was also the possibility of becoming enemies if they were not careful.

Chu Changge was lost in thought when Murong Yunshu's gentle voice suddenly came from behind him, "He should be waiting for you too."

"Why haven't you slept?" Chu Changge turned and sat down on the bed, tucking the quilt for her. [+]

Murong Yunshu was wrapped up tightly with only her head exposed. She smiled and said, "How can I sleep if you haven't left yet?"

"......" Chu Changge petted her head dotingly and said, "Sleep well. No need to wait for me."

"M-hm."

After Murong Yunshu saw Chu Changge walked out of the room, she burrowed back under the covers and closed her eyes to sleep.

*

The following day, Wei Zhentian's ship stopped at the Island of the Missing Moon.

"It is this General who is guilty of a crime which deserves ten thousand deaths. He has been late in coming to the rescue." Wei Zhentian knelt on one knee.

King Sheng said, "Get up. It's not your fault."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Wei Zhentian got up, looked around and asked in confusion, "Where is Wei Qian?"

"Yeah, where's Wei Qian? I heard you say he was on the island too. How come I haven't seen him?" King Sheng looked around strangely when he finally rested his sight on Murong Yunshu's face and came to a realisation.

Murong Yunshu's eyes flickered, and she looked at Lu-er. Seeing that Lu-er also had an innocent expression waiting for her explanation, Murong Yunshu didn't know how to tell, so she looked at Chu Changge. You say it.

"Killed by Fang Hongfei."

"What?!" Even Wei Zhentian, who had experienced many battles, was full of shock when he heard that his brother had been killed. He was almost unable to stand still.

Lu-er, however, was not so calm as tears streamed down her face. She immediately covered her and ran away.

Murong Yunshu let out a soft sigh and looked towards the North Guardian. "Please."

It dawned on North Guardian that Madam had long known that Lu-er was fond of Wei Qian. She also knew that Wei Qian, whose news had not been heard ever since his disappearance, must have died at the hands of Fang Hongfei. That was why Madam started matching them together to divert Lu-er's attention. "I will bring her back." After making that promise, North Guardian chased after Lu-er.

King Sheng looked sad and also puzzled. "How did Fang Hongfei appear here? And he even killed Wei Qian. What the hell is going on here?"

Chu Changge said, "Fang Hongfei is the Guanyin Man."

King Sheng was surprised. "Wasn't he the Great Leader of the Central Plains Martial Arts? How could…...how could…..."

"Even this would surprise you. So how can you still think of making a deal with me, the Sect Leader of the Mojiao Sect?" Chu Changge thought that since King Sheng had seen the hypocritical face of the so-called noble and famous decent sects, he wouldn't dare to be associated with him.

King Sheng looked at him curiously and stated, "I only wanted to have a deal with her. Only after I arrived in Central Plains did I learn that you were his fiancé. How can I get rid of you people when I somehow got myself connected with the Mojiao Sect? Even if I wanted to, I was only afraid others wouldn't allow it." This was not a lie. Ever since he lent his troops to Murong Yunshu to relieve her from being besieged in the Jianghu Inn, life had become much more 'exciting' than before. There would be 'masters' coming and going to his residence twice every three days. Eating poisoned meals was normal, and being woken up in the middle of the night with a cold sword pointed at him was a common occurrence. If he hadn't been in a good frame of mind, he would have been driven mad by these endless assassinations. [T/N]

"I'm also connected with the Mojiao Sect. Why can she become the fox that exploits the tiger's might, but I am the one who suffers the continuous assassination?" King Sheng had thought about this question for a long time but could never figure it out.

Chu Changge raised his sword eyebrows, and his smiling eyes fell on Murong Yunshu, "You ask her."

After receiving the task, Murong Yunshu's eyelids moved slightly before replying very cooperatively, "Because I am his woman."

Is he truly dead?