My Husband and I Sleep in a Coffin Vol. 1, page 16
The expressionless man stiffly curved his lips in an attempt at a smile. Zhen Hao clenched his fists tight at this, his eyes narrowing as he said, “Make all your preparations. We’ll head out as soon as possible!”
The man nodded in satisfaction. “By the way, bring both of your brothers. They won’t turn traitor on us at the last minute though, will they…?”
There were no family bonds when treasure was involved, let alone brotherly love! Zhen Hao snorted a laugh, saying, “Don’t worry. They’re practically my dogs—obedient to the last.”
The man collected the silk as he glanced indifferently at him. “That’s good, then…”
Chapter 27:
Defending the Grave Mound
BACK UNDERGROUND, Wang Xiaomie stood with rolled-up sleeves at the entrance of a certain side hall, gazing at piles of gold and jewels stacked so high they were spilling out of the room. The sight failed to send him wild with joy. In fact, he let out a sigh instead. Then he began to dig, like a dog, through the riches in resignation. Any gems or ornaments, he piled to one side. What he wanted was to find some sort of weapon in there!
“Xiao-Wenzi, come help out!”
Wen Fengjin walked over from somewhere else, watching his sweet little zongzi energetically digging a hole with his butt up in the air, and said with a slight smile, “Xiaomie, don’t raise your butt so high.”
Wang Xiaomie turned to glare at him with a dark look on his face. “Are you perving on me?! Hurry up and give me a hand already! Hmph—do you see the big bosses in the movies going around without weapons? There’s only a couple days before they come to dig up our grave mound, and here you are, acting like you don’t have a care in the world.”
“It’s not like either of us can go outside. Waiting for them in the mausoleum is a perfectly normal thing to do.” Still, Wen Fengjin did in fact roll up his sleeves, joining the search.
“Even so, we’ve gotta be prepared. Otherwise, what’ll we do if you can’t beat them?”
“I’ll still have Shixiong then, won’t I?” Wen Fengjin replied with a smile.
“And what do you expect me to do? Call the police or an ambulance for you?” Wang Xiaomie didn’t even look up from what he was doing. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He pulled out the thing in his hand to see…
A tiny vest made with golden thread?!
“What’s this supposed to be?! I can’t believe you even collected vests, that’s way too deranged!” Even if it was made of gold, that didn’t mean he should be ripping people’s clothes off, after all.
Wen Fengjin was silent for a moment before saying, “Xiaomie…that’s a gold-weave armor vest.”
Wang Xiaomie was struck silent. G-gold weave armor vest? Like that super cool, weapon-proof thing? He lifted up the little vest and silently stuffed it into his pocket. Cough, ahem, he was keeping this.
A somewhat abashed Wang Xiaomie continued digging for treasure, changing the subject as he did so. “Aiya, there’s so many good weapons and things around here. You should’ve gotten a separate hall to keep them in. Just look at what a pain it is for us to have to dig them out of all these average jewels and riches.”
Wen Fengjin paused, then pinched his brow with a sigh. “Xiaomie…”
“Huh?” Wang Xiaomie looked at him with wide and watery puppy eyes.
“Have you forgotten that you took apart the sword rack to use as a drying rack, and turned the armory into a laundry room?” Wen Fengjin looked down at him, saying, “And it was you who had Mu Yi toss all those weapons in here…”
Wang Xiaomie was filled with grief and regret at the memory of his bratty behavior! Then he looked up at Wen Fengjin with a grin. “Yeah, I did it! What’re you gonna do about it? Are you gonna scold me for it?! Bark bark bark!”
The wild arrogance of his manner and the savageness in his features expressed such a mule-headed refusal to repent that it made Wen Fengjin’s hair bristle. What am I supposed to do about my little zongzi constantly barking like a dog? It’s so cute. Can I fuck him? If I fuck him, will that fix it?
Faced with such a wildly frenzied (and adorably fuckable) Wang Xiaomie, Boss Wen chose to bow his head, quietly continuing to accompany him in his rummaging.
The clinking sound of metal on metal went on without pause. After a long time, a certain someone asked: “That Liaoyue Sword of mine…”
“Stop being so petty! I’ll have it dug out for you in a minute! Hmph!”
It took a day of rummaging, during which they called Mu Yi to help out as well, before they finally got most of the valuable burial swords, other weapons, and defensive equipment all sorted into the main hall.
Wang Xiaomie, sitting on a stone-tiled floor so clean he could see his reflection in it, was so exhausted at this point that he lay right there. Wen Fengjin leaned against a pillar with half-closed eyes, clearly having expended a lot of energy himself.
As for poor Mu Yi, he couldn’t even keep a grip on the wall anymore. The lizard fell to the floor with a plop and panted like a dog with his tongue out. If it weren’t for the fact he was still breathing, Wang Xiaomie might have thought the guy had dropped dead.
After a short rest, Wang Xiaomie sat up and looked listlessly over at Wen Fengjin. “We’ve pretty much dug up everything, haven’t we…”
Wen Fengjin nodded: “This is it, more or less. A few items may possibly be on the lowest level, but what we have here is enough. Xiaomie, I told you before that you don’t need to worry about the mausoleum. I’ll find a way to deal with those grave robbers myself.”
“I know, I know.” Wang Xiaomie placed a hand on Mu Yi’s somewhat scary-looking head, petting it the way one might pet a puppy, while Mu Yi made a mumbly attempt at a purr in an ugly-cute sort of way. “I’m just doing it for some peace of mind. It was fine before Zhen Bei gave us a date, but after learning the day they were coming, I feel like there’s a timer ticking away my life… Besides, I just have this feeling of foreboding, somehow.” And this feeling of foreboding had been growing stronger the closer they got to the arrival day.
Wen Fengjin looked at him with a fixed gaze. “Xiaomie…”
Wang Xiaomie interrupted him with a laugh as he said, “I know, I don’t think you’re going to do anything shady or fail to take care of this whole situation. I’m just kinda worried about that guy Zhen Bei mentioned. He wants to take your heart, after all—and if he can say a thing like that, then I’m sure he’s got something backing him up.”
He’d even had a nightmare the night before, in which Wen Fengjin was caught and had his heart ripped out. The bloody scene had scared Wang Xiaomie straight back to wakefulness. His hands were shaking for a good while afterward, only calming down again at the sensation of the other man’s familiar embrace.
Wen Fengjin walked over to half squat by his side, reaching out to press a hand against his cheek, his thumb gently rubbing at the corner of one eye. “You don’t need to worry about me. I am undying and unaging. No matter what happens, I’ll be able to survive it.”
Wang Xiaomie lowered his head, saying, “Even if you’re undying and unaging, you probably still have weaknesses somewhere. If you got your heart ripped out, would you be able to grow it back?”
Wen Fengjin’s lips slowly curved into a smile. Those black irises, which dominated the greater portion of his eyes, reflected the figure of his most beloved as he said, “I’m a little happy.”
Wang Xiaomie looked up again to shoot him a glare. “Happy about what? Happy about getting your heart ripped out?!”
Wen Fengjin laughed in that deep voice of his, saying, “I’m happy that you worry about me, and care about me.” You’ve once again given me that warmth—that warmth I didn’t dare ask of you after the things I did in the past. “I’m even more determined now not to let them get their way.”
Wen Fengjin pulled Wang Xiaomie into his arms. At the sensation of his own full embrace, and Wang Xiaomie’s trusting reciprocation of it, he breathed out a silent sigh of deep satisfaction. His eyes narrowed, smile deepening.
Finally…the day I wished for has finally come… It is impossible that anyone could stop me and Shixiong from being together. If anyone tries to stop me, I’ll make him suffer a life worse than death!
Back at the Zhen household, a number of extraordinary men and women sat within the drawing room of the old and stately manor. Though they all seemed friendly on the surface, none were paying any attention to each other.
In the hosts’ seats were the old master of the Zhen family and his wife, with Zhen Hao and the stiff-faced man sitting down to their left, and Zhen Mu and Zhen Bei down to the right.
“All of you are well-known experts in your field. It is the Zhen family’s great honor to welcome you to our home today. Your assistance here will not be forgotten. Yan-xiansheng, my eldest son Zhen Hao mentions you quite often.”
Old Master Zhen smiled at the man next to Zhen Hao, who merely nodded slightly in response, his stiff face devoid of any real expression. Old Master Zhen had been told the man was left unable to move his face due to an injury he’d sustained underground, and so thought nothing of this, instead moving on with the pleasantries.
The grave robbers below, quite respectful of their financial backer, were at least paying attention to what he said. A bold-looking woman in the group below, who had a thin, small young man in his twenties with her, looked over at Zhen Mu with a smile.
Zhen Mu, sensing this burning gaze, turned his head slightly to evade it. The woman laughed quietly, then started toying with her fingernails out of boredom. The skinny young man behind her, meanwhile, looked at his shifu with a helpless sigh.
When the rest of the speech was almost over, Madam Zhen—who hadn’t spoken a word this entire time—suddenly said with a worried look, “Zhen Mu, Zhen Bei.”
Zhen Mu and Zhen Bei turned to look at her.
Madam Zhen said, “I can’t stop your dage—though I don’t know why he’d suddenly want to go rob that grave. It’s such a dangerous place… Zhen Mu, you’re good at this, so make sure to watch over your dage once you get there, do you hear me?”
Zhen Mu lowered his gaze. Despite his fierce features, he had a sedate and gentle heart and, when faced with his mother’s clear directions, nodded his head by habit.
Madam Zhen gave a small smile of satisfaction at that nod. She had some faith in her second son’s skills, after all.
“And you, Zhen Bei.” At Zhen Bei’s foolishly smiling face, Madam Zhen frowned deeply. She began to chide him. “Just look at how scatterbrained you are! Still constantly relying on your dage for advice at your age! Don’t go causing trouble for your dage while you’re down in that tomb, do you understand me?!”
Zhen Bei shrank back at that. Zhen Mu—with a somewhat unpleasant look on his face—unexpectedly spoke back to their mother for once. “Ma, Zhen Bei isn’t a fool, he’s just been an honest person since he was a kid. You shouldn’t keep scolding him all the time.”
“You!”
“All right, that’s enough!” Old Master Zhen interrupted his angry wife, saying, “We have business to discuss, and you’re pulling us further and further off topic! Are you trying to make a laughingstock of us in front of our guests?!”
Madam Zhen looked away in a huff. It wasn’t until this point that a smiling Zhen Hao quietly consoled his mother, saying in a gentle voice, “Ma, I know you’re saying all this for our sake, but Ba is right. I’ll go to your room later to sit with you a while.”
Madam Zhen smiled a bit at that. Old Master Zhen’s expression also grew cheerier to hear his beloved eldest son speak up. He brightly gave a few last words of advice to the group before standing up and leaving the room with his wife.
The man with facial paralysis—Yan-xiansheng—stood and motioned at the others, gathering everyone so that he and Zhen Hao could tell them the planned harvesting procedure, distribute some tasks, and answer any questions about equipment and the departure time.
Whether consciously or not, when the group gathered, they left Zhen Bei and Zhen Mu cut off on the outside.
Zhen Bei’s mouth twitched, and he quietly whispered to Zhen Mu, “Erge, do you think Zhen Hao’s an idiot or what? The people here might all be experts, but not a single one of them works for our family. Now Zhen Hao’s even purposely alienating the two of us. If that corpse-faced Yan guy betrays us later, all three of us are doomed!”
Zhen Mu looked thoughtfully at the smiling Zhen Hao, standing amidst the group. Zhen Hao, catching his gaze, smirked proudly then gave them both a disdainful look.
Zhen Mu lowered his gaze and patted Zhen Bei’s head with his large, heavily scarred hand. “Don’t worry, Erge will protect you. You’ll always be the first one I protect.”
Zhen Bei’s smile was a dazzling one, and he nodded energetically. “Right!”
He looked over at Zhen Hao, who silently mouthed at him, “You’re a fool.”
Zhen Bei kept smiling, scratching his head as if he hadn’t understood his brother’s words. Zhen Hao laughed disdainfully at this sight, mentally asking himself why he was bothering to communicate with an idiot.
Their departure time was quickly confirmed. The equipment and necessary supplies would be arriving soon.
Meanwhile, in the depths of the mausoleum, Wen Fengjin smiled as he leaned against the pining tree with folded arms, watching Wang Xiaomie wave around a short yet plucky dagger.
“Xiaomie, I suggest you use the previous dagger rather than this one,” Wen Fengjin said.
Wang Xiaomie looked at the glittering dagger in his hand, then at the jet-black rusty dagger on the floor. He raised an eyebrow as he replied, “No matter how you look at it, this one looks like it’s better!”
“A weapon’s grade doesn’t depend on how clean or shiny it is. Only new blades or ones meant as accessories are going to be notably shiny—they call it a thief’s light. In reality, a genuine sword is heavy and durable, with a fine cutting edge, which will only reveal the precious light of daily use after it is wielded for a long period of time. Soft swords are a unique exception, of course.”
“Ah? I didn’t know that.” The ignorant Wang Xiaomie looked at the dagger he was holding, which was even encrusted with jewels. It had “gaudy” written all over it.
He silently picked up the jet-black dagger on the ground, then continued gesticulating at the air with an expression much like that of a puppy baring its fangs, as if he was ready, at any moment, to risk his life fighting that bunch of mean thugs who were coming to dig up his grave!
Wen Fengjin slowly and silently covered his mouth with a hand. Look at Shixiong, acting threatening in such an infantile way… Tch.
Chapter 28:
Enlightenment
ON THE MORNING of the fifth day, the foggy, wild mountains were incredibly quiet. A group of people deftly put up a few green tents in a weed-ridden grove, and brought into them a great many boxes.
A frail young man slowly scattered insecticide powder in a circle around the area, then turned to see his shifu calmly using a sword cloth to slowly wipe a straight-edge hunting knife as long as her forearm and three fingers wide.
“Shifu, it’s so hot today. Why don’t you go in the tent?”
“The tent’s too green,” the woman absentmindedly said as she looked over her knife.
The skinny young man was momentarily rendered speechless by this. He sighed. “Shifu, if you don’t want to stay with them, then just say so. These are tents, not hats. It doesn’t matter if they’re a little green or not, you’ll still have to go inside to sleep once night falls.”
The woman squinted at him, saying, “So you’ve got the guts to talk back to your shifu now, huh? Is it because I haven’t been beating you? Hats and tents both go over your head the same, and they’re green as a softshell turtle! Also, remember what I said, you damn brat: aside from that serious-minded Zhen Mu, you can’t trust a single one of these ghoulish, man-eating bastards!”
The skinny young man was called Xiao-Luo. He was still quite well-behaved in this respect, so he happily nodded as he replied, “I know. I haven’t acknowledged anyone here besides Zhen Mu, Zhen Bei, and Shifu.”
“Not Zhen Mu and Zhen Bei, just Zhen Mu.”
“Huh? Why’s that?” Xiao-Luo was dumbfounded.
The woman narrowed her eyes: “That Zhen Bei… I get the feeling there’s something really evil about him.”
Xiao-Luo scratched his head as he thought, Ai, this is probably Shifu’s feminine sixth sense acting up again. But he took her advice to heart regardless. He’d been taught by his shifu for many years, after all, and valued her words over anyone else’s. With this in mind, he picked up the plastic-packaged insecticide and returned to the tent, deciding to do another check of their equipment.
Meanwhile, the woman’s face lit up at the sight of Zhen Mu coming out of the tent with his bronze sword in hand. She hurriedly waved a hand at him, saying, “Zhen Mu! The Zhen family’s erge! Over here! We haven’t seen each other in ages and you won’t even say a hello? Get over here and let me have a look at Changfeng!”
Zhen Mu looked like he wanted to evade the woman, but upon hearing her mention his weapon, he schooled his expression and walked over, saying in a quiet voice, “Lei-jie.”
Lei-jie smiled happily, saying a single “aye” in response before putting down her own weapon and taking the ancient brass sword from Zhen Mu’s hands. She then carefully unsheathed the sword, and brushed a hand over the Changfeng characters seemingly imprinted into its blade.
Lei-jie came from a long line of swordsmiths. Craftsmen treated such valuable works with a sort of unbridled frenzy, some going so far as to sacrifice themselves for the sake of forging their life’s greatest work. It was exactly because of Lei-jie’s obsession with antique swords that she’d entered this line of work.
“After all this time, you’re still as beautiful as ever…” Lei-jie said softly to the brass sword. The love and care of successive owners had kept the sword from oxidizing or weakening. In fact, it was just as sharp as the day it was forged. Lei-jie had even given it a full-service maintenance twice. If it weren’t for the fact that Zhen Mu was unwilling to part with his treasured possession, and had previously saved the life of her disciple Xiao-Luo, Lei-jie would have given anything at all to get the sword into her possession!
