TBIP: Chapter 13

On the vast ancient road, a second-grade blue flame horned horse with a single horn on its head, limbs flashing with blue flames, was pulling a bronze carriage with a simple texture and running forward at lightning speed.

The speed of the wild beast was so fast that the afterimage could be clearly seen. However, the carriage behind it didn’t shake at all. Even the tassels hanging outside the carriage only shook slightly.

In the carriage, two people, one tall and one short, were sitting opposite each other. The tall one was holding a book in his hand, leaning against the carriage and flipping through it leisurely. The short one was holding a teacup and sipping it carefully while observing the person sitting opposite him and reading a book.

It wasn’t difficult to find out by looking carefully that the two people, one tall and one short, were Zhou Hanshan and Lou Xingyao, who had been kicked out of the Zhou family not long again.

After drinking the teacup in his hand again, Lou Xingyao finally couldn’t help saying, “You actually wanted to leave the Zhou family a long time ago, right?”

“Huh? Why do you say that, Madam?” Zhou Hanshan’s actions of flipping through the book didn’t stop.

If Lou Xingyao had previously still been a bit uncertain about his guess, now this little uncertainty had become very certain.

Seven days had passed since the wedding. The seven days of getting along had given Lou Xingyao a preliminary understanding of Zhou Hanshan.

His temper wasn’t as bad as rumored by the outside world, but it was still 70-80% of it. He was very dishonest.

Moreover, since the first meeting that day, Zhou Hanshan had never called him ‘Madam’ again. Now that the old things were brought up once more, it was obvious that he was in the mood to tease again!

Lou Xingyao glanced at Zhou Hanshan angrily. “Your mood has improved a lot since you left Canglan City.”

Not to mention Lou Xingyao, who had been with him for seven days—even strangers who had never been with Zhou Hanshan could see some clues from his upturned lips and smiling eyes.

“No one knows a husband better than his wife.” Zhou Hanshan didn’t deny it, and the curve of his lips widened.

“So, all these ridiculous things you did were done to make the Zhou family unable to tolerate you and kick you out?” Even though he felt that this guess was a bit outrageous, Zhou Hanshan’s current performance made Lou Xingyao doubtful.

“Madam really understands your husband.” Zhou Hanshan finally took his eyes off the miscellaneous notes in his hand and gave Lou Xingyao a reassuring look.

Now Lou Xingyao was completely speechless. What did the Zhou family do to Zhou Hanshan? Why did he not hesitate to turn the entire Zhou Mansion and Canglan City upside down just to get away?

“It’s nothing. I’m just a useless person with a ruined future while still occupying the position of the eldest son. This is a bit of an eyesore,” Zhou Hanshan said lightly. The tone was exactly the same as when Lou Xingyao said a few days ago that his life at home wasn’t satisfactory.

What else did Lou Xingyao not understand?

Lou Xiaowu, who posed no threat to the inheritance rights of the Lou family, struggled in the Lou Mansion because he couldn’t cultivate. Zhou Hanshan had the title of the eldest son. How could he be treated well in the Zhou family?

He could live better than Lou Xiaowu, but he still had some self-protection ability due to his cultivation of the eighth level of qi condensation. The Zhou family also thought about the inheritance of high-quality genes and didn’t dare to kill him.

As one grew stronger and the other weaker, it formed the situation of Zhou Hanshan’s comprehensive suppression as seen by outsiders.

Lou Xingyao hurriedly comforted him. “It is good to leave. A good man should aspire to travel far and make one’s mark. What type of ability is it to rely on the shadow of your ancestors?”

Unexpectedly, a sentence seemed to have hit Zhou Hanshan’s funny point. Zhou Hanshan laughed.

Just as Lou Xingyao was feeling confused, Zhou Hanshan’s laughter gradually stopped. “That’s right. However, now we can’t rely on our ancestors to protect us.”

……

Lou Xingyao couldn’t respond to this at all.

He knew that Zhou Hanshan wasn’t talking about the two of them being kicked out of the Zhou family, but the small episode that happened when they left the Zhou family seven days ago.

At that time, Zhou Hanshan took Lou Xingyao away. However, before they left the courtyard, they were stopped by several young men in gorgeous clothes.

Lou Xingyao didn’t know who was blocking the way, but from the way they addressed each other and the maids and servants following behind them, he could guess that they should be the young masters and young ladies of the Zhou family. In other words, they were Zhou Hanshan’s brothers and sisters.

But the so-called brothers and sisters didn’t show any respect for Zhou Hanshan in their words. They only said, “Since the eldest son has been expelled from the family, he should no longer occupy the family resources.”

Their words and deeds all expressed their intention to let Zhou Hanshan leave the house with nothing. Even more, they wanted to search Zhou Hanshan’s storage bag directly.

This idea was finally taken back due to Zhou Hanshan’s terrifying gaze, but those people still let their maids and servants enter the courtyard where Zhou Hanshan lived in order to check it. It was only after making sure that the valuables in the courtyard were there that they let the two of them leave.

In other words, Zhou Hanshan and Lou Xingyao only took their own personal belongings when they left the Zhou family.

Lou Xingyao didn’t know how many things were in Zhou Hanshan’s storage bag, but the way the people who came to provoke him just raised it high and put it down gently was more humiliating than the inspection itself. He was afraid that the situation wasn’t optimistic.

With such empty-handed appearances, how could there be talk of benefiting from the blessings of one’s ancestors?

“It isn’t bad to start from scratch.” Lou Xingyao comforted him again.

“Yes.” Zhou Hanshan didn’t care about it. He continued to look at the miscellaneous notes in his hand, but in the gap between turning the pages, he seemed to think of something and looked at Lou Xingyao again. “Are you still determined to go with me now?”

Lou Xingyao suddenly fell into deep thought.

Zhou Hanshan had actually asked him this once after leaving the Zhou family seven days ago.

However, at that time, he still felt guilty about Zhou Hanshan being expelled from the Zhou family. He naturally couldn’t open his mouth to talk about leaving.

Zhou Hanshan didn’t say anything at that time, but he obviously saw what Lou Xingyao was thinking. Therefore, he brought up the old matter again after saying that being expelled from the Zhou family was what he wanted.

Lou Xingyao no longer felt guilty about Zhou Hanshan’s expulsion from the clan. At the same time, he started to think about this question more seriously.

If he left, where could he go?

The moment this thought came to Lou Xingyao’s mind, the answer was blank.

Tianming Continent wasn’t a world that Lou Xingyao was familiar with. Even with the memory of Lou Xiaowu and the blessing of the plot of the novel, ‘The Dao and Heaven are Equal’, Lou Xingyao’s understanding of this world was still very shallow.

Not to mention that ever since he transmigrated to this world, he was forced to accept the matter of the marriage substitution and was always led by Mrs. He.

All his nerves had been tense for his own safety, but he had no chance to think about the way forward.

Now that he had time and opportunity, Lou Xingyao found that his plan for the future was just blank.

Even if he had the portable space and the Myriad Celestial Stars Method, Lou Xingyao had read the original novel and knew that cultivation wasn’t an easy thing. Out of the ‘wealth, companions, cultivation method and land’ required for cultivation, he barely possessed the ‘cultivation method.’

Among the remaining three, apart from ‘wealth’, which could be slowly accumulated by relying on the space, ‘companions’ and ‘land’ were completely unknown to him.

In addition, Lou Xingyao also faced another problem.

It was that his current body couldn’t enter the Dao immediately. Even if He Wanqing gave him the meridians reconnection pill that was suitable for his condition, he still needed to condition his body so that it could bear the effect of the medicine.

During this period before entering the Dao, he could only be a mortal who couldn’t even match the power of a chicken. The transition period was particularly critical. He needed a relatively safe place.

But according to his current understanding of the Tianming Continent, it wasn’t easy to find such a place. Even if he found one with great difficulty, it would take a lot of time.

The matter of cultivation should be done as soon as possible. Thinking of this, Lou Xingyao started to think of another possibility. What if he traveled with Zhou Hanshan?

From these seven days of getting along, Lou Xingyao had a general understanding of Zhou Hanshan.

This man had a somewhat naughty personality, but he just liked to make some harmless jokes such as calling him ‘Madam’ a few times. He had never done anything beyond the rules except with words.

During this period, Lou Xingyao also tried to make some jokes like Zhou Hanshan but Zhou Hanshan didn’t take it to heart. This showed that Zhou Hanshan had a certain tolerance for others.

In addition, Zhou Hanshan was very mature, steady, and well-planned when dealing with things.

For example, after leaving the Zhou house, he bought the current carriage as quickly as possible, planned the route to leave without hesitation, and put it into action as quickly as possible.

Lou Xingyao didn’t know their destination, but he knew from Zhou Hanshan’s confident look that he should have a plan.

The only thing that wasn’t very convenient was the portable space on his body.

If they were companions, he would have to be careful when using it in the future. However, this problem could be solved after he introduced qi into his body. At that time, he could completely control the items in the space using his mind. This could greatly reduce the risk of exposure.

After analyzing it, Lou Xingyao found that it was much cheaper to act with Zhou Hanshan now than to act alone.

Lou Xingyao didn’t hesitate after he finished making the decision and looked up at Zhou Hanshan. “It depends on whether Young Master Zhou is willing to accept me.”

“Are you sure?” Zhou Hanshan raised an eyebrow slightly as if he was a bit surprised by Lou Xingyao’s answer.

“It is confirmed.” Lou Xingyao nodded, his eyes firm.

“Then let it be.” Zhou Hanshan only pondered on it for a moment before nodding in agreement.

“Thank you, Young Master Zhou.” Lou Xingyao also sighed with relief in his heart. He had just come up with a lot of benefits to traveling with Zhou Hanshan in his mind, but the person had to agree before he could put it into practice.

The next moment, he saw Zhou Hanshan take out a scroll from the storage bag. “Since you and I are traveling together, these words must be made clear now. I am a suspicious person by nature. If I can’t guarantee it with a contract, I’m afraid it won’t last long.”

This was the first time that Lou Xingyao had seen such a serious look on Zhou Hanshan’s face in the past seven days.

As he spoke, Zhou Hanshan had already placed the scroll on the tea table between the two of them.

Right now, he saw the true face of the scroll. It was a contract scroll similar to the marriage certificate seven days ago!

On this contract scroll, the contract content had been written. It was: the two parties who sign the contract can’t hurt each other in any form at any time or any place before the contract was officially terminated. If they violated it, their souls would be destroyed and they would never enter reincarnation.

Just as Lou Xingyao was reading, Zhou Hanshan added at the right time, “If you have anything you want to agree on, you can also add terms to this contract.”

Before Zhou Hanshan could finish speaking, Lou Xingyao had already cut his finger and pressed blood on the contract scroll.

“You don’t need to think about it?” Even Zhou Hanshan was shocked by Lou Xingyao’s decisive action.

“No need. After all, I am not the only one who is bound, right?” Lou Xingyao shook his head without thinking.

Unlike the marriage contract seven days ago that was full of loopholes, this contract was very rigorous. It also specially added a clause that direct or indirect harm wasn’t allowed. Lou Xingyao couldn’t find a reason not to sign it.

He possessed such a treasure as his portable space, and his martial arts value was far lower than Zhou Hanshan. It should be his advantage to have this contract as a guarantee.

Zhou Hanshan looked at the bloody fingerprint belonging to Lou Xingyao on the contract for a while. Then a smile gradually appeared on his face. He also made a wound on his fingertip and pressed it on Lou Xingyao’s fingerprint.

After Zhou Hanshan’s actions, Lou Xingyao once again witnessed the process of a contract taking effect.

The contract and handwriting on it immediately glowed with a golden light before gradually melting away. Finally, it turned into two golden lights that sank into his and Zhou Hanshan’s bodies, respectively.

Unlike the vague connection with the marriage certificate, Lou Xingyao clearly felt a restraining force at this moment. It clearly engraved the iron-clad rule that he and Zhou Hanshan shouldn’t hurt each other.

At the same time, it could be known from this restraining force that if he wanted to cancel it, both parties needed to be present at the same time. In addition, both parties needed to read out their intention to cancel the contract at the same time, and re-sign the contract with the contract scroll as a medium before it could be canceled.

In other words, both Lou Xingyao and Zhou Hanshan couldn’t cancel this contract without the other person’s knowledge.

This last loophole was also blocked by the Heavenly Dao.

Zhou Hanshan naturally felt the same as Lou Xingyao, and his expression softened a lot.

Lou Xingyao suddenly realized that before this, Zhou Hanshan had never truly opened up to him before. Even the joke of ‘Madam’ was covered by a mask of almost imperceptible detachment.

It was only after seeing Zhou Hanshan’s expression at this moment that he could understand the subtle difference.

At this time, Lou Xingyao knew that Zhou Hanshan’s words about being suspicious by nature weren’t an exaggeration.

Lou Xingyao had no doubt that if he hesitated a bit when signing the contract, Zhou Hanshan would’ve directly left him and walked away.

“Since we are in the same business, we will inevitably spend a long time together in the future. Our marriage was originally a coincidence and shouldn’t be taken seriously. How about we call each other brothers in the future?” Zhou Hanshan suggested at the right time.

This hit the mark with Lou Xingyao. He nodded without thinking. “Then I will call you Brother Zhou In the future?”

Unexpectedly, Zhou Hanshan retorted directly. “Wen.”

“What?” Lou Xingyao couldn’t respond for a while.

Zhou Hanshan explained at the right time. “I have been expelled from the Zhou family and can no longer be considered a member of the Zhou family in the future. From now on, I want to take my mother’s surname and change my name to Wen Hanshan.”