knife

Chapter 79 What can you do if you can't pay me back?

Xiao Changche stood there with his hands behind his back, watching Li Dachui holding an iron shovel, digging a hole in the cliff face. The yellow clay was usually difficult to dig, but in front of Li Dachui's martial arts skills, it was no different from tofu. In no time, he had dug out a cave about three steps deep and five steps wide.

In Xiao Changche's view, this was completely unnecessary.

Both of them were extremely skilled in martial arts. Although they could not ignore the cold and heat before reaching the Innate Realm, the extreme cold could not pose a significant threat to them.

Besides, we didn't come out for leisure; we came to intercept murderers. Naturally, we should focus on our mission. What's the point of focusing on digging a tunnel after arriving at our destination?

However, it was clear that Li Dachui would not agree with his suggestion. Just by looking at the strange tools he carried on horseback, it was obvious that this guy had already thought everything through.

"Can you help me out?" Li Dachui poked half his head out of the cave, looked at Xiao Changche, and pointed to the excavated soil: "Can we build a windbreak wall?"

Xiao Changche was stunned for a long time before finally bending down and picking up a shovel from the ground.

Inside the cave, Li Dachui had already dug out another long platform. Xiao Changche was building a wall while looking inside, and it took him a while to realize that it was a bed.

Then, Li Dachui dug another large hole under the platform, and used a bamboo tube to connect it from the inside to the outside. Finally, he covered the earthen platform with the previously cut wooden planks.

The wooden planks were cut extremely neatly and smoothly.

This guy's knife skills are pretty good.

Finally, Li Dachui started a fire in the large hole under the bed.

He built a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove)!
Xiao Changche suddenly realized what was going on.

His technique seemed quite good, because the smoke from the fire was continuously drawn out through the chimney, leaving the cave surprisingly clean and free of much smoke.

Watching the man repeatedly pounding the ground inside with a large rock in each hand until it was flat and solid, Xiao Changche couldn't help but say, "Is it really worth it just to temporarily avoid the wind and snow?"

"Why wouldn't it be worth it?" Li Dachui said earnestly, "This is the joy of life, and we can't be careless about it. This is the difference between us humans and beasts. Xiao Changche, your life is too dull and boring! You need to learn to find fun for yourself and fill your mundane life with passion. Look at my wilderness survival skills, you have to give me a thumbs up, right?"

As he spoke, he unfolded a blanket and spread it on the ground, then sat cross-legged on the blanket, reached into the edge of the stove and took out a copper kettle, then a small teapot and a small teacup.

Xiao Changche recognized all of these things.

As the boiling water was poured in, the small cave was instantly filled with the aroma of jasmine. A cup of tea was handed to Xiao Changche. "Try it. This is jasmine tea that I made myself! It should suit your taste perfectly!"

Xiao Changche, who had already brought the cup to his lips, put it down again: "How would you know what my taste is? Did you plant a spy in my house?"

Li Dachui chuckled and said, "This question again. Why do you always accuse me of planting spies in your house? It's as if I enjoy spying on you. Okay, I'll answer you seriously again. I didn't plant spies in your house. As for knowing that you like this kind of taste, it's because I noticed it in the tea that your concubine Luo Hua brewed for me when I visited your house last time."

"How can you tell?"

"It's simple. Your concubine should only serve you normally, so when guests come, she will unconsciously cater to your tastes when she's doing these things. That's how I figured it out."

Xiao Changche then picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "So that's how it is."

"What do you think?" Li Dachui rolled his eyes. "Do you think it's so easy to plant a spy in the General of Chariots and Cavalry's house? Your family members are all missing limbs and strange characters, where would you find a spy like that to put in your house?"

“They are all my family. If you really bribe one of them, I will be very sad!” Xiao Changche said seriously. “So Li Dachui, don’t do such a thing. I don’t want to kill my relatives with my own hands. I don’t have many relatives left in this world.”

Li Dachui blinked and looked at the other person for a long time, then surprisingly nodded seriously: "Alright, I won't do that, although I've thought about it before and even designed several plans. But since you've asked me for help, let's drop the matter!"

"Who asked you for help?" Xiao Changche roared in anger.

Li Dachui laughed loudly: "Look, you're angry again. People say that the higher the official rank, the more one must keep their emotions hidden and have a deep enough shrewdness to be unfathomable and unpredictable. You've already reached the rank of Third-Rank General of Chariots and Cavalry, yet you're still like a firecracker, ready to explode at the slightest provocation!"

Xiao Changche took a deep breath, placed his hand on his chest, pursed his lips, raised his eyebrows, and closed his almond-shaped eyes slightly, leaving Li Dachui opposite him somewhat stunned.

"Xiao Changche, where is the mask I gave you?"

"What?"

"You should still wear it!" Li Dachui said, "The way you look is unbearable to look at. It always makes me think all sorts of weird things, but when I think about the fact that you're a man, I feel a deep sense of guilt!"

With a thud, Xiao Changche slammed his fist on the ground. As soon as he punched, all the pots, cups and saucers on the blanket flew up and exploded into pieces in the air with a crack. Then they attacked Li Dachui without any direction. Li Dachui let out a strange cry and darted out of the hole in a flash.

There was no movement from inside the cave for a long time. Li Dachui poked half his head out from behind the windbreak wall and saw that the earthen wall behind him was covered with honeycomb-like holes. The fragments and other debris were nowhere to be seen.

Xiao Changche turned his head and glared at him.

"Okay, okay, I was wrong, I apologize!" Li Dachui raised his hands in surrender. "It's not your fault you're good-looking, I shouldn't have joked about it!"

Seeing that Xiao Changche did not react, Li Dachui continued, "But we are allies now, after all. If I hadn't dodged faster, I would have been killed by you!"

“That can be considered as eliminating a scourge for the area beyond the Great Wall!” Xiao Changche said coldly from inside the cave.

Upon hearing Xiao Changche speak, Li Dachui knew that the other party had recovered, so he walked back with a grin and sat down opposite Xiao Changche again: "We still need to join forces to kill the Tiele, but you killed your own allies first. How can you deal with the Tiele by yourself?"

"I can kill the Tiele all by myself!"

"Tsk tsk, quite the boast. We don't know much about Tiele's level, but it's certainly not low. However, his men, Luhe and Gro, are both at least eighth-rank. He's a prince with real power, so it's not surprising that he has such experts by his side. Do you really think you can handle him alone? If you don't join forces with me, you won't be able to kill Tiele; you'll probably be hunted down by him instead. If you fall into Tiele's hands, tsk tsk!" Li Dachui couldn't change his ways, but seeing the other man's eyebrows gradually rising again, he immediately shut up.

With a snap, Xiao Changche crushed the last teacup in his hand.

Li Dachui's eyebrows twitched. "This set of cups is a unique piece, made with great difficulty in Tai'an City after the rain. It's worth two thousand taels of silver, and you smashed it to pieces in one breath. I'll add it to your debt."

"no problem!"

Seeing Xiao Changche agree so readily, Li Dachui couldn't help but become curious: "Aren't you angry?"

"What's there to be angry about? How much money do I owe you again?"

"Including interest, it's almost two million taels!" Li Dachui counted on his fingers and said.

"You mentioned that kind of 'donkey rolling interest' last time, right?"

“That’s right, you and your men can’t figure it out, but now that Zhang Ruo is with you, he’ll definitely be able to settle it for you!” Li Dachui said. “You wrote the IOU yourself, there’s no mistake! Don’t even think about going back on your word!”

"I'm not trying to cheat you, but I can't pay you back. What can you do to me? I already owe two million, what's another two thousand taels?"

Li Dachui shouted, "You call this not cheating?"

"I admit it!" Xiao Changche sneered, "But if I can't pay it back, you can keep rolling around like a donkey! Rolling around like a horse, it doesn't matter!"

This time, Li Dachui glared at Xiao Changche, who was beaming with pride!
Li Dachui, covered in fumes, crawled out of the hole and suddenly burst into laughter, laughing wildly and happily.

"What's so funny?" Xiao Changche asked, puzzled. He followed them out of the cave, and then his expression turned extremely ugly.

Not far from them, two incredibly fine horses, one white and one black, were rubbing their hindquarters together and licking each other affectionately.

Throughout the journey, Xiao Hei had been constantly trying to please Zhao Yu Lion. Both were divine steeds, and Zhao Yu Lion finally gave in to Xiao Hei's persistent pestering. Today, it has lowered its guard, and it seems that Xiao Hei is about to get its wish.

"Xiao Changche, how much dowry do you want? I might be a grandfather and you a maternal grandfather by this time next year, hahaha, hahaha!"

Li Dachui laughed so hard he almost fell over.

Xiao Changche glared at the two fine horses: "Little White!"

The Jade Lion glanced back at Xiao Changche, then suddenly spurred its horse and galloped toward the distant woods, with Little Black immediately chasing after it, biting its tail.

"So you call Zhaoyu Lion Little White!" Li Dachui laughed loudly. "Little White and Little Black, a match made in heaven! Xiao Changche, they're in love, it's a mutual agreement, so let's not break them up. After this is over, I'll send you a dowry, I promise you won't lose out. But it's a deal, we have to split the pony 50/50, you can't keep it all to yourself!"

Xiao Changche angrily turned around and went back to the cave.

Li Dachui was left watching the grove of trees in the distance, smiling smugly.

Back in the cave, they saw Xiao Changche lying spread out on the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove) with his long cloth bag in his arms. By this time, the kang was already very warm.

"What do you mean? This heated kang is for the two of us to lie on. What are you trying to do by taking it all by yourself? Are you making me sleep on the floor?" Li Dachui questioned.

Xiao Changche did not answer, but simply patted the cloth bag on his chest.

(End of this chapter)