Chapter 83

 Chapter 83: Yin Soldiers [1]

“What Yugui Military Tally? Isn’t this the Imperial Jade Seal?” Zhang Qiu wondered, had they really found the wrong thing? and told him that this thing is particularly evil.

The white-faced man stared at the jade seal in Hua Ting’s hands and hummed softly, “That’s what you humans call it.” After a pause, the ugly-faced cousin was a little more composed, “Lend it to me to have a look.”

This man was confident in everything he said, but he was not obnoxious. 

Hua Ting glanced at his Junior Brother, this thing was not his, he had no right to call the shots. Zhang Qiu nodded. The white-faced man glanced at Zhang Qiu and didn’t say anything. As he was about to take it, Zhang Qiu quickly interrupted. The white-faced man snorted, “I said it so you would be relieved.”

“I want to say that this thing is very evil, forget it, you will know it after you try.” Zhang Qiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

 A bit of embarrassment appeared on the face of the white-faced man, but he quickly hid it. Because Zhang Qiu had warned him in advance, he took the object carefully. Even after expecting it, his face suddenly changed, and he quickly put the thing on the table.

 “This thing seems to have no influence on ordinary people. The supernatural beasts and the like will be absorbed by the power. Their physique is more Yin oriented. However, it is easy to go wrong with Shiquan Dabu pills[1] . Zhang Qiu talked about it the whole way.

 The white-face man stared at the things on the table with a serious expression. “After the unification of Qin Yingzheng[2], Heshibi was used to make the Imperial Jade Seal. It was said that the one who was in possession of it won the world. In fact, this is the military talisman used to summon the numerous Yin soldiers below. Every time the dynasty changes, the fire of war cannot be ignored. The Boss has been looking for it. This thing has caused too much trouble. I didn’t expect that this time it turned out to be such an evil object. I have to take it back and show it to The Boss---” he said as he went to get the box. 

Li Shu coldly stepped forward and stopped him. The white-faced man was furious at first, but he hesitated a little when facing Li Shu.

 “Forget it, but this is the following thing. You mortals are not easy to touch, truth be told. The Boss will get it back.” The white-faced man turned around to leave, returning after two steps.

 Zhang Qiu was dumbfounded. He heard the white-faced man say: “Just give money for help.” He handed over another business card, and Zhang Qiu quickly took it, looked down at the name, and almost laughed, but the sight above his head told him that if he dared to laugh out loud, he would be very unlucky.

 Bai Shengsheng

“Remember to burn the money here. Next time you have business in looking for me. I will show up if you burn it. If the inflation below is too severe, remember to pay more. After all, you are a trans-national business.” Bai Shengsheng said with a cold face.

 Zhang Qiu nodded hurriedly, “It’s okay, it’s okay.” He would give more without having to be reminded. Xiao Lin was still under his hands.

It seems that human society is not only used above, but also used below. 

 After speaking, Bai Shengsheng turned and left. Hua Ting pointed to the place where he disappeared and whispered: “Bai Wuchang[3]?”

 “It should be.” Zhang Qiu handed the business card to Er-Ge. Of course, Er-Ge was in charge of burning paper money. As for the rumoured jade seal, Zhang Qiu had a headache, “What do we do now?”

 “If you don’t mind, I would like to study it.” Hua Ting always felt that the lettering under this thing was slightly familiar.

Everyone naturally believed in Hua Ting, at any rate, they still had to stay in Beijing for another day. For the past two months, they had been spinning like a reel. Now they could rest and also find out who the person behind Christine was. 

Hua Ting thanked them. This time, he didn’t dare put it in the safe within the house when they go out to eat later because the family was stolen from last time, which was a headache. Zhang Qiu smiled, “It’s okay, we have my family’s Xiao Fei with us. Wait until we get back from dinner, we’ll give it back to you.”

 After speaking, they booked at a restaurant to eat roast duck in the evening.

When Xiao Jiang heard ‘roast duck’ he showed two pointed tiger teeth, his eyes widened, very foolish. Zhang Qiu couldn’t help but love him. He hugged his son and gave him a kiss, “Go back to the room first, Dad will give you a bath, then take a nap. We have a big meal in the evening.” 

They hadn’t rested well for several days. Pei Qing didn’t stay, taking Ling Dang back to the shop to freshen up. Qi Xi’s villa was not far away. He was shamelessly pestering Qi Zhirong to rest there, vowing that he would not do anything. Qi Zhirong only returned an indifferent gaze. Zhang Qiu saw through Qi Xi’s big-talk. In the end, Qi Zhirong went, there was no other way. Qi Xi became a cub and nestled on Qi Zhirong’s head, whining. Qi Zhirong’s body was cold, as if he could wring out water. Qi Xi was pressed against his head. From above, Qi Xi wailed: “Go out, go out, go up, go up.” 

Zhang Qiu covered his eyes, not wanting to look at them. His eyes were hot. Thinking of Qi Xi’s true form, it is so strong, now looking at the guy who is shamelessly acting cute---Forget it, it’s not his issue anyway.

 Yue Qincang accepted his fate and pushed Kai Ming to the guest room on the first floor. For a while, the living room was empty. Zhang Qiu carried his son and went back. Li Shu had already set the bath water. Zhang Qiu effortlessly stripped Xiao Jiang naked. Xiao Jiang covered his little bird with a flushed face. He (ZQ) found that ever since he (XJ) touched the jade seal, he seemed more like a human being now that he has a body temperature. Although the temperature is lower, it is better than before. Who knows what it is like to sleep with a lump of ice in winter?

You can’t conceal it, no matter what.

“I will give our son a bath first, you pack up a little.” Zhang Qiu said to Li Shu through the door and placed Xiao Jiang into the bathtub with a thump, splashing water. Xiao Jiang smiled happily. Zhang Qiu touched his son’s head and took out Xiao Fei. His family’s Lao Er had been sleeping in the red mist all day.

As soon as it touched the water, the red mist dispersed and hooked the duck floating on the water. Xiao Fei lay on the duck lazily. Xiao Jiang sat in the water and said to Xiao Fei happily, “Meimei, Gege [4] will help you bathe.”

 Zhang Qiu: ……

 He really couldn’t let Xiao Jiang call Xiao Fei ‘Meimei’ anymore.

 Zhang Qiu stretched out his devil’s claw[5] and pulled the yellow duck over, touching the soft and smooth hair of his little son. Xiao Fei raised his head and looked at him with sparkling, watery eyes. Zhang Qiu just couldn’t point at Xiao Fei’s ‘little bird’ to teach Xiao Jiang to recognise the issue. 

“Xiao Jiang, look to see if you have a little bird.” He couldn’t do it for his son. Zhang Qiu was not soft-hearted towards the chubby Xiao Jiang. Xiao Jiang nodded his head and Zhang Qiu said seriously, “Xiao Fei also has one, so Xiao Fei is a boy, and you will call him Didi from now on..”

 Xiao Jiang’s face was a bolt in the blue[6].

 Li Shu was packing up outside when he suddenly heard crying from the bathroom, clearly it was Xiao Jiang crying. He went over and saw Song Bao hugging and consoling Xiao Jiang. He only heard Xiao Jiang crying and saying: “I don’t want, I don’t want, I want a Meimei, a good Meimei.”

 Zhang Qiu didn’t expect his son to react so badly, crying, continuously shedding tears, and  hugging his face in distress.

 “But that is a Didi.”

 “Wa---------”

Zhang Qiu turned his head and looked at Li Shu, he had a headache, “What are you doing? I’ve just consoled him.”

“Isn’t it ok to just acknowledge that Xiao Fei is a Meimei?” Li Shu raised an eyebrow and asked.

Zhang Qiu: …….

He was a little embarrassed, how did Li Shu know that he almost let go of his principles just now!

Li Shu looked at Xiao Jiang, “Do you want a Meimei?”

Xiao Jiang’s eyelashes were still wet with tears, wetly falling down when he blinked, and he nodded foolishly. Li Shu’s lips hooked up in a smile, “That is easy, help your dads look after your Didi.” He stepped forward, put his arms around Zhang Qiu and took him out of the bathroom.

“Wait, what are you doing? I haven’t taken a shower yet!”

Li Shu smiled, looking at Zhang Qiu, giving him goosebumps. In the bathtub, Xiao Jiang also shivered, Big Dad was scary.

So, Xiao Jiang, who had not been jumping in the bathtub long, was now wearing furry clothes, he was in a daze with his face facing the sink outside the bathroom. In the sink, Xiao Fei was still very happily sitting on the little yellow duck, squinting and squealing softly.

Xiao Jiang guarded the sink and talked to Xiao Fei in a low voice, “You are a Meimei right?” After speaking, his eyes shyly moved to Xiao Fei’s ‘little bird’, puffing his cheeks, he finally sighed and said, “Forget it, Didi is a Didi, in any case, you’re pretty.”

Xiao Fei floated on the duck with a smile the whole time. Before long, Xiao Jiang rolled up his sleeves and happily played with his brother outside the bathroom. Conveniently turning his ears, listening for the voices of the two dads in the bathroom, but couldn’t hear anything. He propped his chin and whispered, “Big Dad said he will give us a Meimei, shhh.” 

After tossing into the evening, they drove to the gate of Quanjude Roast Duck[7]. Because of Qi Xi’s face, they directly booked a private room. Pei Qing and Ling Dang had already arrived, and Ling Dang’s face was flushed. Zhang Qiu saw him, “The heater is not very hot, why is your face so red?”

After he finished speaking, he saw that Ling Dang was ashamed, showing a bashful expression, he knew that Pei Qing must have done something in the room before the rest of them had arrived.

Li Shu admired the environment of the circular room. Zhang Qiu felt his back ache when he thought about the Meimei situation in the bathroom that afternoon, and fiercely attacked Li Shu.

“Don’t think about it!”

“Song Bao knows what I am thinking?” Li Shu curled his lips, “It looks as if we really need to keep trying to succeed.”

“Try what? Take me with you!” Qi Xi entered through the door with a tight cover. He was almost fully equipped, with a mask, sunglasses, and hat. Zhang Qiu glanced and asked: “Has no one noticed the whole way?”

Qi Xi, quickly waved his hands, “I can’t help being too popular, there are too many fans.”

“It's strange that people don’t look at you when you dress like that!” Zhang Qiu pinched his fingers and let it slide, “It seems that you have been with us for two months, and they all say that the entertainment industry will forget the old when seeing the new. Be careful, you might be past your prime.”

Qi Xi raised his hair, pointed to his face, and said with a smile, “This face alone can’t be past its prime.” 

It really wasn’t. When the waitress came in to take their order, she went to Qi Xi with excitement. Zhang Qiu found that Qi Zhirong was about to freeze to death while sitting there, Qi Xi winked at her with a smile, “Shhh, don’t say anything.”

The waitress’ cheeks flushed, and she whispered excitedly: “I like you so much. Can I have your autograph?”

“I’ve never refused beauties.” Qi Xi swished his pen and said with a smile, “Can you hurry up our roast duck please!” 

Zhang Qiu secretly looked at Qi Zhirong, and silently lit candles for Qi Xi. That man’s nerves were so thick that he couldn’t see it!

He didn’t know if it was because of Qi Xi, but their roast duck came very quickly. Zhang Qiu rolled a duck roll for Xiao Jiang and he sat on a chair eating happily. Afterwards, he pointed to the TV in the room and said, “Pretty-Gege!”

Several people watched. There was a Xianxia[8] drama being shown. On the TV, Qi Xi’s make up looked particularly evil. Originally seductive and bewitching, the makeup artist drew the tails of his eyes long, but from head to toe, he was majestic and imposing. Zhang Qiu had never seen Qi Xi with this kind of vice-virtue[9].

“I didn’t expect it to be broadcast so soon.” Qi Xi ate and said: “I’m a guest in ‘Demonic Hierarch[10]’. Isn’t it cool? The whole righteous path wants to chase me down and kill me, hahahaha, they can't kill me. I like this kind of look on Laozi, it's not pleasing to the eye, but playing it won't kill me, and I still want to play with it.” 

Zhang Qiu: …… 

“Wow, Pretty-Gege is awesome!” Xiao Jiang was very supportive and watched very fascinated. 

Zhang Qiu turned his head to look at his son, becoming increasingly concerned about his son’s aesthetic interest.

“Good Xiao Jiang, you are my confidant!” Qi Xi pinched Xiao Jiang’s face and said, “Some day, Gege will take you on set to play. Xiao Jiang is so good looking, although not as good as me, he can be considered a little Qi Xi.” 

“Don’t take advantage of my son so casually.” Zhang Qiu gritted his teeth, “I want little Qi Xi to be born by himself [11].”

Qi Xi suddenly forgot about Xiao Jiang and glanced at Qi Zhirong, Qi Zhirong smiled coldly, “What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing.” Qi Xi was alarmed as to why his family’s Xiao Rongrong seemed unhappy, “Is the roast duck not delicious? I think it’s pretty good----”

“Shut up.”

The whole world was peaceful, not long after, Qi Xi wiped his hands and made his way to Xiao Jiang, enthusiastically telling Xiao Jiang about the drama. Xiao Jiang was impressed when he heard that Pretty-Gege wears pretty clothes that many people like, which earns him lots of money to buy roast duck.

Zhang Yushui next to him was a bit jealous, looking over at Pixian Hui Wang, “Now that being a God Stick[12] is not popular, Xiao Jiang has quickly changed.”

“I think it’s fine.” Pixian Hui Wang said considerately.

Zhang Yushui got excited all of a sudden, he leaned over and said something in a low voice. Zhang Qiu thought about how all the ears present are good, so why bother whispering, wasn’t it just about giving birth to a phoenix egg so he could train it to become a little God Stick as his successor? 

After dinner, everyone was busy. Kai Ming knew very little about the world, and he liked to look around. This made Yue Qincang miserable, and he pushed the man away, pitifully resigning to his fate. He didn’t talk the whole time, he was like a babysitter.

Zhang Qiu saw that it was late and yawned. His waist was still sore. He had to ask Li Shu to massage him when they returned, so their family of four, and Senior Brother’s family of three went back first.

Er-Ge took Er-Sao and left before they had finished eating. Zhang Qiu thought they must have gone to lay phoenix eggs.

When they returned to the villa, he gave the Imperial Jade Seal to Senior Brother, and went back to the room. Zhang Qiu lay on the bed and commanded Li Shu to massage him like an Uncle. Not to mention the strength of Li Shu’s hands was quite comfortable, Zhang Qiu hummed comfortably.

“Song Bao.” Li Shu’s voice was low.

Zhang Qiu was comfortable and hummed dazedly, listening to what Li Shu said, but he couldn’t hear clearly, only making an offhand hum, “Comfortable.” The hand on his waist moved down in the next second, and Zhang Qiu gave a startled cry. It was too late. Who could tell him when Li Shu had taken off his pants!!!

It was another night of tossing. Ever since Xiao Jiang wanted a Meimei, Li Shu had used this excuse to toss him. Zhang Qiu was so pissed that he wanted to turn over and do Li Shu.

Late in the morning, Zhang Qiu went downstairs to eat and saw his Er-Ge filled with joy, “Er-Ge, were you secretly swapped with Qi Xi?”

“What nonsense.” Zhang Yushui happily gave an egg to Pixian Hui Wang, “Eat more, you now need more nourishment.”

Pixian Hui Wang looked unpleasant, gritted his teeth and said lowly: “That’s enough, pay attention.”

“Okay, okay, okay, don’t be angry, it’s easy to injure your body.” Zhang Yushui coaxed happily.

Zhang Qiu: ……

Is this still his Er-Ge?

“Phoenix egg.” Li Shu said lightly beside him.

Zhang Qiu’s eyes widened, then he smiled, and congratulated the two of them. Zhang Yushui smiled and said: “It’s been more than a month. I didn’t know until yesterday, so we will be going directly home by plane today, just contact us if there are any issues.”

“Lousy king-----wu[13], Kai Ming also has to return, we will leave at noon.” Yue Qincang said 

In the wheelchair, Kai Ming’s face was indifferent, but his eyes were fierce, “Let me know if there is any information.”

Zhang Qiu knew he was talking about the Golden Bone, and quickly nodded. 

It wasn’t good to bother Senior Brother too much, so Zhang Qiu decided to return to Xi’an in the afternoon. He had skipped classes for two months. Now that he thought about it, he got a headache. He didn’t know how to explain it, but it felt like he would have to repeat the year.

Hua Ting handed the Imperial Jade Seal to Zhang Qiu, pointed at it and said, “I made a rubbing of it, I always felt that it’s familiar.”

When they arrived in Xi’an, it was already night. The apartment he rented must have a layer of dust. Zhang Qiu had a headache thinking about it. He was too lazy to clean at night and simply stayed at a hotel. At night, when Zhang Qiu and Li Shu were kissing, a weak voice came from the corner. 

“Zhang Qiu, it seems like I came at a bad time…..” 

Li Shu looked at the source like a knife. Zhang Qiu quickly sat up. Fortunately, they hadn’t taken off their clothes, they were just kissing. In the corner, Xiao Lin stood there dumbfounded, so the big man was like a weak chicken, shaking all over.

Zhang Qiu patted Li Shu’s arm and cleared his throat, pretending that nothing had just happened.

“How can I help you?”

“Lao Bai asked me to come over and ask what conditions are needed to hand the weapon over to us.” Xiao Lin said weakly.

 Zhang Qiu looked at Li Shu, he was very upset at being interrupted, directly refusing, “No. Who wants him to come and find it?”

 “Oh.” After Xiao Lin finished speaking, like smearing his feet in oil, he hastily slipped away.

Seeing Li Shu’s cold face, Zhang Qiu suddenly rolled his eyes, and said with a smile: “Have you lost interest? Otherwise, let’s switch. You have been working hard throughout this year. This time, I will serve you.”

“Are you good?” Li Shu’s lips curled up in a smile.

“Ahem, I’ve always been good.” Zhang Qiu leaned against Li Shu’s shoulders, the good brother[14] said, “I mean, you have worked hard on the top all day, how about me tonight?”

 Li Shu turned his head and looked over, thought for a moment, “Riding? Okay!”

“Riding you big headed ghost! Go to sleep!” Zhang Qiu snorted and pulled the quilt up to sleep. 

Li Shu stared at the bulging quilt, his eyes flowing crimson. You want to sleep after stirring it up? No way!

In the morning, Zhang Qiu had a terrible headache, and finally went back to school tenaciously. Of course, he must be scolded and slammed. Because of Xiao Jiang, he was famous at school. Originally, he had asked for a week off, but was absent for two months. The teachers were furious and phoned home. 

Zhang Liuduan laughed and said it was okay. The boy wanted to venture out into the world, so his studies would be delayed for a year, next year.

The teacher was so angry that he threw the phone down and was unable to teach.

Now all the fire was directed at Zhang Qiu.

“Why are you like Old Fang, the teacher is gone, the student is gone…”

Zhang Qiu was taken aback, “The professor still hasn’t come back? It’s been two months since the investigation began----"

______________________________________________________

[1] Shiquan Dabu Pill, the name of a proprietary Chinese medicine. It is a double tonic for qi and blood, with the effect of warming and replenishing qi and blood. It is used for deficiency of qi and blood, pale complexion, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, dizziness and spontaneous sweating, body fatigue, cold limbs, heavy menstrual flow.

[2] Qin Yingzheng, or Zhao Zheng,  is the personal name of the First Emperor, Emperor of Qin.

[3] One of a pair of two deities in Chinese folklore, who is in charge of escorting souls to the afterlife. Go here for more information if you'd like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heibai_Wuchang

[4] XJ uses the same pronunciation that XF uses because XF is just a baby and cannot speak properly yet

[5] A metaphor for harmful forces, ideas, intentions etc. It is implying that ZQ has ‘harmful’ or ‘bad’ intentions

[6] An idiom about being surprised, shocked etc.

[7] A famous duck restaurant in Beijing

[8] Xianxia is a genre of Chinese fantasy influenced by Chinese mythology, Taoism, Buddhism, Chinese martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese folk religion and other traditional Chinese elements. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xianxia_novel

[9] Virtue refers to positive behaviour, but putting ‘vice’ in front of it makes it negative. So I think ZQ is implying that he had never seen QX acting in this sort of way, dark, evil and bewitching. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[10] I used Hierarch because I don’t think English has a singular word for the ‘founder of a religion’ so I just used that term. I’m pretty sure it is a reference to Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. If I am wrong, oops, my bad. If I am not, then, yay?

[11] It could also be translated as: 'I want Xiao Qi Xi to give birth by himself.' but I felt that the one I kept sounds better.

[12] Refers to someone who dispels ghosts, spirits etc. in the name of the gods. They are mostly considered tricksters and fakes who use tricks and other 'evil' methods. Based on his previous 'achievements', I believe ZYS is not a fake, but that is just my opinion.

[13] Sound of mumbling; murmuring. 

[14] Refers to bromance. Two men who are very close to each other. I think ZQ is referred to as this because he is close to LS. Again, please correct me if I am wrong.

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