General’s Gown

Chapter 17 Thousand mile Jiaolu Part 2 

Helian Rongchuan sat on the side of the ship dangling his long legs. He explained to himself: “This region is unregulated. The water bandits here are like dragons and fear nothing in heaven or earth. I kept thinking and was worried that your twenty boats would become a fat sheep in the eyes of the water bandit, so I came back here to protect you.” 

Seeing Yan Changqing coldly not looking at him, Helian Rongchuan did not get angry. He stretched out his hand to pick a slender reed across the ship’s side at random, and continued: “After all, my name in Dongyun Helian isn’t for show. Even when the Heavenly emperor sees it, he would have to kowtow three times. Compared to your little merchant pseudonym, isn’t it a lot more firm?” 

Helian Rongchuan said triumphantly after a while. When he looked up, he saw that Yan Changqing was standing back at the stern again, with a cold back. It was almost as if he had the words “rejection” on his back. 

This man… really had a bad temper.

Under the moonlight, the man stood erect in a black martial arts suit. His waist was narrow, sleeves tucked, there was not a hair out of place. His neck and profile was as white as snow. Helian Rongchuan had bad thoughts again and walked over holding the reed. He lightly poked him in the neck. 

Yan Changqing frowned slightly, looked straight ahead, and said: “Is there something else your Highness?” 

Helian Rongchuan smiled without answering. He continued to poke his neck slightly. 

Yan Changqing curled his fingers slightly, but his face was as usual. He stepped aside two steps, and didn’t intend to pay attention to him. 

Hey, this person is not ticklish? 

Helian Rongchuan raised his eyebrows. He quietly leaned into Yan Changqing’s ear, and breathed a breath of warm air at him. 

Yan Changqing’s eyebrows trembled. He finally retracted his gaze. He turned to look at Helian Rongchuan, and said, “What does Your Highness want?” 

Helian Rongchuan smiled and patted his abdomen: “Ben Wang hurried all day and night to chase you. For two days, I was hungry without water and rice.” 

Yan Changqing: … 

The little guards had no choice but to start cooking on the stove on the other side of the boat again. They placed vegetables in the pot and rice. The food slid into the oil pan, and the aroma of vegetables and rice drifted far along the river breeze. With a reed in his mouth, Helian Rongchuan raised his legs and waited happily for the rice to be cooked and served on the table. 

After a while, Ah Jing came over with a tray. Helian Rongchuan looked into the tray expectantly, and the reed in his mouth fell off the deck with a click. 

“That’s it?” Helian Rongchuan pointed to the food on the plate incredulously: 

“Where is the wine?” 

Ah Jing shook his head. 

“What about the meat?” 

Ah Jing curled his lips and continued to shake his head. 

“It’s so green! Are you a brood of rabbits!? Huh?” 

Ah Jing placed out a dish of blackish green spinach, a dish of emerald green celery, and a dish of light green and yellowed cabbage in the tray with a bitter expression. “Time is running out and there is no time to purchase anything else. Yan Daren only asked us to bring some simple, easy-to-storage food. We ask His Royal Highness to put up with it.” 

Although he was starved for two days, seeing the food that seemed to have been dug out from a rabbit’s nest, Helian Rongchuan had no appetite for the food in front of him. 

Yan Changqing crossed his arms in front of his chest. He glanced lightly at the green area in the tray, and said: 

“If your Royal Highness doesn’t want to eat the greens, let Ah Jing cook some carrots for you.” 

“…” 

Helian Rongchuan slightly raised his forehead. He stood up and clapped his hands, walked to the side of the boat, touched his chin, looked down, then pondered for a moment. Suddenly, he began to take off his clothes. He quickly and easily took off his outer shirt, then he stretched out his hand to pull off his belt! 

Yan Changqing had a stern face, glanced at him somewhat weirdly, and said, “Your Royal Highness, what does this mean?” 

Does he want to slip away just because the food was unpalatable?

Within the time he spoke, Helian Rongchuan had already taken off his pants and boots. He didn’t answer, only drew the dagger around his waist, smiled slightly, turned over and jumped down into the river. 

Ah Jing ran to the river with a look of horror: “Yan Daren, he, he…?” 

Yan Changqing glanced into the river, and said blankly, “Do your own business, don’t worry about him. ” 

“Oh.” Ah Jing had to retreat with an unclear expression. He could not help but glance back after going around the cabin, only to see that Yan Changqing still maintained his previous posture, standing motionless by the side of the boat. 

… 

Fifty-seven. 

Fifty-eight. 

Fifty-nine. 

Sixty. 

In the moonlight, Yan Changqing kept his eyes intent, quietly observing the smooth surface of the river in front of him. As time went by, a trace of anxiety gradually filled his heart.

From the time when Helian Rongchuan entered the water to the present, wasn’t the river too calm? 

No matter how calm and good the water was, it is impossible to stay in the water for such a long time without coming up for air. 

But the river surface had not even a trace of splashes or waves. Could it be… 

Something happened? 

The river water in April was still very cold. Moreover, it wasn’t like Yan Changqing hadn’t heard of the strange legend about the river monster eating people. 

Yan Changqing’s fingers got closer and closer to the side of the ship, and his joints gradually appeared white. It seems that he could hear his heartbeat getting stronger and stronger. 

Finally, he stopped hesitating. He turned over and jumped into the river cleanly. 

In the dark night, only the moonlight faintly penetrated the river. The light was not good. Yan Changqing took a deep breath and dived into the deep water, trying to search for a person. 

Huala-Huala-Huala 

The bottom of the river was extremely quiet. He could only hear the sound of his own movements. It became darker as he went down, and Yan Changqing could only see things that were less than six feet away. He squinted and searched, but he could only see the fish swimming leisurely in front of him. He could not see any figures. 

Yan Changqing couldn’t help being a little impatient, he became even more worried about Helian Rongchuan. He turned away and searched further. 

Suddenly, something soft caught his leg. Was it a water plant? 

Yan Changqing turned around and his eyes widened in surprise.

The silver moonlight pierced the river water, spreading softly on the handsome and unruly face of the man. Helian Rongchuan gave off a crafty smile as if he had succeeded in his trick. He gently seized Yan Changqing’s waist in the water, lowered his head, and gently swept by the corners of Yan Changqing’s lips with his lips seemingly sultry.

! ! ! 

He was tricked! 

Yan Changqing was very annoyed and pushed his elbow up. However, the resistance in the water greatly weakened his speed, and Helian Rongchuan grabbed his wrist first and forced him to get close to him. The other hand arbitrarily pulled Yan Changqing’s beautifully lined chin, and kissed him without hesitation. 

Yan Changqing’s eyes widened in surprise, it took several seconds to realize what had happened. The warm, soft touch made all the hairs on his body rise. He began to struggle fiercely!     

However, Helian Rongchuan seemed to be more water-based and stronger than him. After several struggles, he could not get rid of his hands on his. Yan Changqing was so angry that his face turned red.     

“You- uh!”     

This was a strong, unbreakable kiss. The lips and teeth were forced open, and a warm and slippery thing swept across his teeth, gently sweeping his upper palate.     

Yan Changqing’s eyebrows trembled, his heart flared, and he bit down without hesitation.     

Hiss——

His tongue was bitten. Helian Rongchuan groaned, opened his eyes, and gave Yan Changqing a smile. Before he could break free, he squeezed the back of Yan Changqing’s neck and kissed him again. 

The kiss was very light, cautious, and seemed to have an eagerness to confide, but could not express their emotion. Helian Rongchuan lightly covered Yan Changqing’s eyes. A soft bite, then a very familiar, sweet smell permeated his mouth. Yan Changqing was forced to swallow it. 

Dark. Blood.

Familiar scenes emerged very clearly in Yan Changqing’s mind. 

Yan Changqing opened his eyes wide in the darkness, shaking slightly uncontrollably. 

Finally. 

Clamor! 

Nearly suffocating, the two finally resurfaced on the river. 

Cough cough cough! Yan Changqing coughed violently and climbed onto the ship’s side exhaustedly. His whole body was soaked and his face was flushed. It was an embarrassment that he had never experienced before. 

Helian Rongchuan was quite triumphant. He pulled himself back to the deck dripping. He shook his trouser legs. He only heard two plops, and unexpectedly three or four small fishes that were nearly a foot long fell out of his trousers. 

… 

It turns out that he jumped into the river to catch fish! 

Helian Rongchuan casually packed a few fishes in a bucket, turned around and carried an iron stove over, and placed it next to Yan Changqing. 

The eyes of the two crossed, and Yan Changqing quickly turned away, but the tips of his ears were like blood. 

It turns out that the awkward dream he had before was real. Helian Rongchuan helped him deal with the poison that Da Yan gave him. 

It was Helen Rongchuan who bit his tongue and fed him bit by bit with his own blood. 

How much blood did he feed? Yan Changqing didn’t dare to think about it. He just remember that in the Stone Stair Tunnel, the sweet dream was very long, as if it had no end. 

So the kiss at the bottom of the river just now was Helen Rongchuan deliberately trying to tell him the truth? 

Helian Rongchuan looked at Yan Changqing’s constantly changing face, and he was secretly sure that Yan Changqing must have guessed his intentions. 

Otherwise, based on his character, why didn’t he erupt after being kissed by him forcibly? If it wasn’t for him feeling guilty, he would have slashed him with a sword long ago. 

Thinking about it this way, his stinky temper to save face and to suffer seems a bit beneficial. 

Helian Rongchuan took off his damp clothes to dry by the fire. He shivered: “It’s freezing. It’s still so cold on an April night–Huh, Yan Daren, why don’t you take off your clothes and warm up at the fire?” 

Yan Changqing didn’t even look at him, sitting like a Buddha: “Baring one’s chest and back, it is unsightly, very inelegant.”

Tch, inflexible, with so many rules. 

Obviously he was freezing to death, yet this man still had to be so stubborn. His back was straight, even the old monks in the temple were not as upright as he was sitting. 

However, it also showed a kind of beauty that Helian Rongchuan had never seen before. A few strands of black hair stuck to his forehead, drop by drop, landing on Yan Changqing’s drooping eyelashes. It made his face whiter and his hair darker. The whole body was drenched, and the thin black shirt was wet and pressed against his body, faintly revealing the beautiful but not abrupt muscle curves. 

Helian Rongchuan couldn’t help but take a few more glances. He sighed lightly, and brought two iron stoves from another boat, and put them in front of Yan Changqing with a “boom”. 

A few sparks from the stove bounced out, and they were about to hit the tip of Yan Changqing’s nose, but he didn’t open his eyes and said indifferently, “Thank you.” 

Helian Rongchuan raised an eyebrow and said, “This prince has some suspicions that require Yan Daren’s guidance.”

Yan Changqing continued to close his eyes and calm down, and said lightly: “What suspicions?” 

Helian Rongchuan leaned into Yan Changqing’s ear, and said unhurriedly: 

“Why is it that since Yan Daren has gotten back on the ship just now, have you not dared to look at me?”