While Wu / Erna was trying to find the difference between Holing and Gongsun Xun, Gongsun Xun had gained some awareness. Even before he opened his eyes, he sensed the fishy, earthy smell and immediately realized something was wrong, slowing down his breathing.
Moving his eyeballs, Gongsun Xun pretended to be unconscious and tried to use his limited understanding of the Northern Front dialect to figure out his situation.
Unfortunately, he only grasped a few key words – "that guy," "thin," and "Holing" – with the pronunciation similar to Da Yan speech. Before he could decipher a few other familiar Northern Front words, he was suddenly lifted by someone.
"Are you so shocked that you can't speak?" Not getting a response from Gongsun Xun, Wu / Erna, who was full of impatience, shook him with one hand. "Why are all you guys surnamed Holing so weak?"
Gongsun Xun finally heard the key phrase with a Northern Front accent, "surnamed Holing," and couldn't help widening his eyes.
Gongsun Xun blinked involuntarily. "You guys..." He blinked again, and caught sight of Holing still in a daze on the side, wisely swallowed his question of "Did you recognize the wrong person" and instead asked, "Who are you?"
Sla Mu interrupted, "We are..."
The rest of his words disappeared when Wu / Erna kicked him in the face.
Halting his own brother's words in time, Wu / Erna let go of Gongsun Xun's collar. Just as Gongsun Xun was about to touch the ground, he grabbed Gongsun Xun's neck. "That's not something you need to worry about." He sneered, then continued, "Before that boy surnamed Holing arrives, let's talk about how much you're worth."
"Let, let go of me." Gongsun Xun kicked his legs in mid-air and subconsciously grabbed the other's wrist.
After struggling in vain, Gongsun Xun realized that his proud "Junzi Liuyi" meant nothing in the face of someone who had seen blood. It was hard for anyone to remain composed in life and death situations. With a gradually pale complexion, Gongsun Xun glanced reflexively at Holing, who was still in a daze, and repeated unconsciously, "The kid surnamed Holing?"
Wu / Erna missed Gongsun Xun's gaze and thought the other party had rolled their eyes in response, appearing ready to die. He quickly lightened his grip and lighted his head. "Come to think of it, that kid should be your brother, right?"
Struggling to breathe, Gongsun Xun hadn't said anything when Sla Mu, still covering his mouth, quickly chimed in, "Nephew."
"I remember hearing that boy surnamed Holing that day, saying..." Tilting his head, Sla Mu subconsciously imitated the other's expression at that time, "My - beloved - uncle - who - is - enviable." Sla Mu spoke calmly in Da Yan with a Northern Front accent, trying to copy the other’s arrogant and jealous manner.
Unfortunately, Sla Mu's imitation wasn't quite successful. While Sla Mu was speaking, Wu / Erna couldn't help but imagine what the kid surnamed Holing looked like and almost burst out laughing.
Completely oblivious to Wu / Erna's cold gaze, Sla Mu nodded to himself. "Yes, that’s the title."
The next moment, Sla Mu was kicked in the face and fell to the ground. "Do you think you're smart?"
With Sla Mu pinned under his foot, Wu / Erna exclaimed, "Ha, not only can I pin you down, but I can also beat you!"
With one punch drawing blood, the stimulated Slarm's eyes gradually turned red, and the bloodied Wu/Erna also became fiery, no longer holding back in the fight.
As you punched, I kicked, and Wu/Erna and Slarm rolled on the ground in a tangle.
On the other side, by chance or accident, when Gusun Xun was thrown by Wu/Erna, he happened to hit the statue of Guanyin.
With a bang, Gusun Xun felt like his waist was broken and couldn't help but curl up in pain. After feeling a little better, he subconsciously tried to climb up the statue of Guanyin that he had hit, but instead of touching the statue, he felt some fabric.
Subconsciously lifting his head, Gusun Xun met the gaze of Ye Xiao who was looking at him with lowered eyes.
Gusun Xun: "......?"
During their eye contact, Ye Xiao slowly revealed a faint smile to Gusun Xun and pulled back the hem of his clothes that the other was holding.
Gusun Xun: "......!"
Before Gusun Xun could say anything, Ye Xiao knocked Gusun Xun out with a swift strike, and also dragged him to a place that would not hinder his future actions.
Later, Ye Xiao walked out directly from behind the statue of Guanyin.
Ye Xiao stood next to Huo Ling, who was lying on the ground, only three steps away from Wu/Erna and Slarm, but the two of them, with bloodshot eyes, didn't notice his presence at all. Slarm and Wu/Erna fought, inadvertently bringing up past grievances, even arguing about who had eaten more cake as children, using it as a reason to attack each other.
The little guy surnamed Huo cooperates with people like this? No wonder Prince Zhao didn't want to use the word "fire" when naming him.
Thinking of the name he had investigated, Ye Xiao crossed his arms and silently watched the two of them fighting fiercely in front of him.
When Huo Ling, with a splitting headache, woke up, he opened his eyes to see the two... "paupers" tangled together, and the inscrutable Ye Xiao standing beside him.
Huo Ling: "......?" What happened?
With a puzzled look, Huo Ling touched the huge lump on the back of his head and instinctively grimaced, but his jaw hurt too. He covered his chin, trying to figure out what had happened, then turned his head to look at Ye Xiao and tentatively asked, "This is... What happened?"
Before he could finish his sentence, Ye Xiao extended his index finger toward Huo Ling and lightly pressed it against his lips.
Huo Ling blinked, although he didn't know what had happened, his survival instinct prompted him to make the best choice. Huo Ling not only closed his mouth, but also unconsciously moved away from Ye Xiao, finding the safest corner to wait in.
In the meantime, he also noticed Gusun Xun lying slumped in the corner. Glancing at the bruise on his neck, Huo Ling instinctively touched his own neck - it seemed like something worth celebrating had just happened.
Seeing Gusun Xun's chest rise and fall, he abandoned the idea of crossing over to see what had happened to Gusun Xun, and instead retracted into a corner, quietly watching Ye Xiao, who had his hand on the hilt of the embroidery spring knife, and the other two, who had finally tired themselves out.
Born three years earlier, Wu/Erna, who had beaten Slarm to the point of being unable to get up, sat on top of him and laughed loudly three times, "You are indeed clever! The cleverest in the whole family! You are exceedingly clever!"
Wu/Erna was still resentful of his initial untimely interruption, but Slarm, who had been beaten, completely failed to detect the irony in his words and expressed his agreement with a weak and feeble voice, "Yes, big brother, you are right. I am indeed the cleverest in the whole family."
"Shut up!"
With his last bit of strength, Wu/Erna punched Slarm to knock him out.
Finally making Slarm stop, he got off him and subconsciously stretched, only to realize something was wrong when his outstretched hand hit something cold.
Unfortunately, the fighting with Slarm had already exhausted his energy. Before his body could keep up with his mind, he was kicked in the leg, and before he could raise his head, his hands were bound behind his back.
The next moment, three Green Feather Guards hidden on the roof also jumped down.
Noiselessly landing.
The leader of the Green Feather Guards exchanged a glance with Ye Xiao, nodding to each other.
They reached a silent agreement, and Ye Xiao tied Wu/Erna and Slarm together, stuffed cloth into their mouths, and threw them behind the statue of Guanyin. The other Green Feather Guards then picked up Huo Ling, who had been hiding in the corner, and although Huo Ling wanted to say something, he silently closed his mouth when he saw Gusun Xun being carried on the shoulder of a Green Feather Guard.
The Green Feather Guards took Huo Ling and Gusun Xun away, while Ye Xiao stayed behind.
As the Green Feather Guards carried Huo Ling onto the roof, Huo Ling, subconsciously closing his eyes, didn't forget to remind Ye Xiao, "Ye Xiao, be careful."
"Your Highness, rest assured."
Ye Xiao looked up, watching as Huo Ling, who knew nothing but seemed to have guessed something, departed.
——His Highness is as sharp as ever.
Thinking about the Emperor, who had always been curious whether Huo Ling was really stupid or just pretended to be stupid, Ye Xiao couldn't help but shake his head. He didn't really know whether Huo Ling was truly stupid or not, but he believed that Da Zhou would become better, after all, His Highness was so great!
So, some "rats" needed to be cleaned up to prevent them from tainting His Highness's reputation.
When someone arrived as agreed to "negotiate a price" for the ruined temple and pushed open the door, what he saw was Ye Xiao standing in front of the statue of Guanyin with his hands clasped behind his back.
Realizing that something was wrong, the visitor's pupils contracted, and instinctively tried to step back.
But before his feet could move, the men on the eaves were already drawing their bows, and soldiers with white bronze knives had also appeared at the corner of the wall. Even the originally lonely Ye Xiao, standing in front of the statue of Guanyin, was also surrounded by the Green Feather Guards holding embroidery spring knives on both sides.
Twenty people, completely surrounded and unable to escape.
With a calm expression, Ye Xiao looked up and directly called out the man's name, "Huo Hong, are you surprised to see me here?"