Chapter 8

Sparring and crossing blows weren’t uncommon in the military camp. Whenever he and I sparred, we always drew a crowd because he was highly competitive, and I refused to lose. Initially, I would feel sad that he showed me absolutely no mercy, but that feeling would quickly be eclipsed by his smug showboating. In our subsequent bouts, my mind would solely be focused on defeating him.

After recovering from his initial shock, he began putting serious effort into fighting me. After a dozen exchanges, we had locked each other in holds, unable to separate for a moment.

“Let go.” I looked into his eyes, then instantly averted my gaze.

It was too close. We were inches apart; a little closer, and our noses would touch.

“Will you admit defeat then?” The light of competitiveness danced in his eyes.

“Heh.”

I broke his hold, separated us, and smoothed out my messy sleeves.

Fighting back and forth, winning and losing like this, Ji Wenmu would have to be out of his mind to ever fall for me.

I let out a breath and patted his shoulder. “Wanna go drink?”

This must have triggered some unpleasant memories for him. He tightened his collar, his eyes darting away. “Just a lone man and a lone woman, it’s not very appropriate, is it?”

“I treat you like a younger brother, what’s inappropriate about it?” I thought of something, leaned into his ear, and lowered my voice. “How do you know it’s just the two of us? Have you counted the ones you can’t see?”

Ji Wenmu was a year younger than me. When I first entered the manor, he was a little terror. Having practiced some martial arts, ordinary people couldn’t handle him at all.

But a kid is still a kid. He was terrified of ghosts—scared to death of them. He had even been frightened to tears late at night.

Thinking of these old stories, I couldn’t hold back a laugh. He remembered those dusty old memories too, his face turning as dark as the night.

He let out a fierce “Tch!” and dragged me outward. “Drink! We’ll drink down however many show up. If one comes, I’ll drink down one. If two come, I’ll drink down a pair!”

Spending so much time in the military, my alcohol tolerance was naturally not bad. This time, I was mindful of my limit and didn’t drink too much. But by the time the tavern closed, Ji Wenmu was so drunk his mind was clouded, sprawled on the table muttering nonsense.

I shoved him a bit. “Can you still walk?”

He jerked upright, raised his wine cup to me, and slurred, “We are good brothers!”

After saying that, he faceplanted back onto the table.

He really was traumatized by my confession to still be emphasizing this now.

“Are you that terrified of me liking you?”

He mumbled, “We’re brothers, brothers…”

I looked at his drunken state. Half his face was flushed red, and his half-tied hair was plastered messily across his face, tickling him uncomfortably. He swatted at it a few times but couldn’t clear it away.

I reached out and brushed the strands of hair sticking to his face aside one by one, staring at his profile in a daze.

He had completely shed his childish features; his jawline was sharp and smooth. He would no longer follow behind me, begging me to walk the night roads with him, nor would he thump his chest and say, “This young master will cover you.”

He felt completely at ease with me—so at ease that he let me complete missions and face danger alone.

I sighed. Sometimes having martial prowess that was too high was also a curse. He had too much confidence in me.

“Ji Wenmu, if I were in danger, would you save me immediately?”

He had completely passed out and naturally couldn’t give me any reaction. I laughed at myself in self-mockery.

Being so indecisive and dragging things out—where was the decisiveness I had on the battlefield?

I took him back to the Ji Manor and stayed there for the night as well. It just so happened that an imperial edict arrived from the palace; Huang Yue ordered Uncle Ji to arrange the security for next month’s autumn hunt.

Ji Wenmu was assigned to patrol near the main camp, while I was put in charge of the officials’ families. We would only bump into each other during our off-duty downtime. This made me feel much more comfortable, avoiding the need to see each other every day.

The autumn hunt happened every year, and every year a large number of soldiers were assigned to guard it. Though accidents had occurred, they were mostly false alarms. Before enlisting, I had never attended an autumn hunt, and after enlisting, I spent eight years quelling external threats. This was my very first time at this hunting ground, so everything felt quite novel.

When I wasn’t on duty, I would wander around. After shooting two rabbits, I was carrying them back when a palace maid happened to approach me and said respectfully, “General Liu, His Majesty invites you to go over.”