The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#699 - I can't tell you're still an artistic young man

As dusk approached, Huoxing Sun and the fake Zhao Zong indeed returned from the county town together, bringing back packages and bundles, enough to fill three ox carts.

Upon seeing Lu Jing, the fake Zhao Zong greeted him warmly, "Have you eaten yet?"

"Uh... not yet."

"Then let's eat together tonight." The fake Zhao Zong said with a smile, "I just bought a new pot, and I'll make Taixue steamed buns tonight."

With that, he pulled an ox cart and hurried towards the kitchen.

Lu Jing asked Ge Ping, "Is fake... Mr. Song always like this?"

Ge Ping nodded, "Mr. Song is a very good person, always friendly, and his cooking skills are excellent. Everyone in the village likes him."

As the two were talking, Huoxing Sun on the other side also walked over and said to Lu Jing, "You've come at the right time. There's something I want to discuss with you..."

"You want to open a blacksmith shop here?" Lu Jing raised his eyebrows.

"It's not about that," Huoxing Sun shook his head, "Of course, I also plan to discuss that with you, but let's talk about the other thing first."

"What is it?"

Huoxing Sun seemed hesitant, stopping himself several times, then glanced at Ge Ping.

The latter understood and found an excuse to walk away.

Huoxing Sun then said, "Mr. Ji has started an uprising."

"I received the news," Lu Jing said, "What, do you want to go back and help him?"

"No," Huoxing Sun shook his head, "I'm living quite well here now and don't want to fight and kill anymore."

"Is it Mr. Song who wants to go back and asked you to tell me?"

"It's not that either. Lao Song may still be harboring his emperor dream, but he's been missing for so long. Mr. Ji must have found someone new to replace him. Even if he wants to go back and continue being a puppet, there's no place for him. They can't take turns being the puppet, can they?"

"Then what are you...?"

"The war has begun, and the world will soon become even more chaotic. I want to bring my sister here," Huoxing Sun said.

"You have a sister?" Lu Jing asked curiously.

But then he saw Huoxing Sun, a grown man, actually squirming shyly.

"Actually, she's not really my biological sister. My family all died a long time ago. I was an apprentice in a blacksmith shop, and because I was weak and short, I was always bullied.

"Later, I met Mr. Ji. I hardened my heart and refined myself into a strange object, and finally, no one bullied me anymore, but I lost a soul, and my temper became very irritable. I couldn't help but want to burn something.

"Sometimes, I even felt so irritable that I wanted to set the whole world on fire. Before I met Granny Candy, reading her letters was the only thing that could calm my mind."

"And then you recognized her as your sister?"

Lu Jing rolled his eyes, not bothering to expose Huoxing Sun's little thoughts.

Huoxing Sun became anxious, "I... I really treat her like a sister. Besides, I haven't even met her yet, so there's no way I could have other thoughts."

"You haven't met her, so how did you two get to know each other?" Lu Jing was shocked.

"It's... we got to know each other by writing letters," Huoxing Sun said, blushing and stammering.

"Pen pals?!"

Lu Jing looked Huoxing Sun up and down several times. He couldn't tell that this short, monkey-faced guy was quite literary, becoming a drifting bottle enthusiast so early.

Then Lu Jing thought of something and reminded him, "Hey, you haven't even met her in person, and you're already rushing to recognize her as your sister. Be careful of being scammed. Maybe the person on the other side is a burly man with smelly feet."

"That's impossible. My sister's handwriting is very delicate, and it's clear that she comes from a scholarly family."

"........"

Huoxing Sun's explanation only made Lu Jing feel that he was more like Mr. Wang in the anti-fraud cases broadcasted at the entrance of the community.

But Huoxing Sun was obviously already obsessed, and Lu Jing knew that it was useless to persuade him now, so he said, "Alright, then if you want to pick her up, go ahead and bring her back."

"That's not it. I discussed this with her in a letter before. The county town where she lives is not very safe now, and thefts and murders happen frequently. She does want to change places. Coincidentally, your place is not far from her. After listening to me describe the life here, she was very moved."

"Then what are you hesitating about?" Lu Jing patted Huoxing Sun on the shoulder, "The other side is already interested, aren't you going to sound the charge? Or is it that she doesn't have enough travel expenses and wants you to sponsor some first?"

"Travel expenses... she should still have some, right?" Huoxing Sun was stunned, then smiled bitterly, "Although I hope she can come every day, deep down I'm also very afraid of her coming, mainly because of my own appearance..."

"What's wrong with your appearance?" Lu Jing originally wanted to give Huoxing Sun some encouragement, but looking at his face for a long time, he couldn't come up with any positive adjectives.

In the end, he could only shout, "A true man... be confident. If she only judges people by their appearance, then you don't need such a woman."

Huoxing Sun waved his hand, "It's not her fault. It's just that in my previous letters, I wrote myself as seven feet tall with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes..."

"Ah, this..."

Lu Jing didn't know what to say.

It seems that online dating is unreliable in any era.

Huoxing Sun said sheepishly, "I didn't intentionally deceive her. It's just that I drank too much that day, and thinking that we would never meet anyway, I couldn't help but brag a little. And once you start lying, you can only lie more and more."

"Then you should write a letter and explain this to her," Lu Jing suggested. After all, it's not easy to meet someone in person these days. It takes a lot of time and money just to travel, and now it's a time of war and chaos. Going back and forth like this, you might even lose people.

Huoxing Sun hesitated upon hearing this, "I'm actually not worried that she'll turn against me after seeing my true appearance. I'm afraid that she'll see you and be saddened to leave... and continue to live in that county town. That place is a strategic location, and you never know when it will be surrounded. Or if she goes to rely on relatives in other places, she could easily be deceived."

"Then we can't engage in illegal detention," Lu Jing advised from the side.

Seeing this, Huoxing Sun finally revealed his true purpose.

"Great Hero Lu, can you go to the place where she lives with me?"

"Hmm?"

"Because your appearance is quite similar to my description in the letter, I want you to pretend to be me and meet her first, persuade her to settle down here. Once she settles down here and discovers how good this place is, I'll slowly explain the truth to her."