Crossing the Mountains

Chapter 139 Brothers recognize each other
They left the commotion in the Qin Prince's mansion far behind.

As the moon shone high in the sky, Shen Tu Zhuo led the two to the small courtyard in the city that he had prepared some time ago. After carefully bolting the half-closed wooden door, he told Tan Huai Ke, whose face was covered in soot and who was dressed in a disheveled state, to go to the main house to wash up and change. He then said to the masked guest, "Whether you stay or leave is up to you."

The masked man stood in the courtyard with his arms crossed, keeping an eye on the movements outside, and showed no intention of leaving.

Shen Tu Zhuo found this person to be really strange.

Tan Huaike said he wasn't mute, but the man never said a word to him during their two meetings. What was wrong? Did he look down on him? Did he not want to talk to him?

However, it's clear that this person meant no harm and was completely on their side.

Shen Tu Zhuo was happy to have gained a bodyguard for free. He went to the small hut next door to change his clothes, and after thinking for a moment, he also brought an outer robe for the man outside, as well as some wound medicine he had prepared beforehand. After all, he was the one who had indiscriminately injured the other party, and the man had helped them escape without complaint, so he couldn't be too heartless.

Taking the medicine and outer robe, the masked man nodded to him and, right in front of him, naturally applied the medicine to his wounds and changed out of his dirty outer robe. He still wore the face of the old woodcutter Hou, but no longer pretended to be the hunched old man; his posture was tall and straight, which looked quite out of place with that face.

Looking at his figure, Shen Tu Zhuo suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity.

Before he could figure anything out, there was a knock on the courtyard door, and Pei'er's low voice came: "Madam, Second Young Master, open the door, it's me."

Shen Tu Zhuo opened the door for her and looked behind her: "Did anyone discover you ran out? How is the Prince of Qin's residence?"

Pei'er shook her head: "No one should have noticed. The fire in the palace has been extinguished, and Prince Qin has woken up. The imperial physician said there's nothing seriously wrong. I followed the prince's instructions and left the palace by blending in with the eldest prince's group. I was originally the princess's personal maid brought from the western border, so it was only natural for me to go with them. No one suspected me."

Shen Tu Zhuo let her in: "That's good."

The masked man was still uneasy, so he left the courtyard and waited quietly at the alley entrance for a while before returning, making sure no one was following him.

Pei'er went to the main house to reunite with Tan Huaike, and helped clean the house and pack the bedding. Although they had moved from the pampered royal mansion to such a simple courtyard, the two of them did not feel wronged at all. They only felt that a huge weight had been lifted off their shoulders, and they could finally live a peaceful life from now on.

The hardships and chaos of the journey to the marriage alliance were finally settled on this night.

The next morning, Shen Tu Zhuo was awakened from his sleep by the sound of chopping wood. He went out to see what was happening and saw the masked man continuing to wear Old Hou's face and do Old Hou's work, chopping wood in the yard. The injury on his arm seemed to have no effect on him.

Shentu Zhuo stretched and asked, "Where's my sister-in-law? Where's Pei'er?"

The masked man paused in his axe-wielding motion, then pointed outside the courtyard, indicating that the two men had left.

Shen Tu Zhuo understood: "I almost forgot, they have a lot of things for young ladies to buy, and they also need to go to the clinic in the suburbs to find Fu Feng. They need to take the antidote and medicine to recuperate as soon as possible."

The masked man nodded.

Shen Tu Zhuo crossed his arms and looked at him: "So, why haven't you left yet? What are you doing lingering in his and his sister-in-law's courtyard?"

The masked man straightened up, put down his axe, and crossed his arms to look at him. The two men's postures were strangely similar.

Shentu Zhuo then asked, "Where did you sleep last night?"

The masked man pointed to his little hut.

Shen Tu Zhuo was surprised: "Slept in my room? How come I..." He hadn't noticed at all. Was he too tired and had been careless? Or was this person's movement technique so superb that he could come and go without a trace?
The two faced off for a moment, then the masked man suddenly smiled.

Just as Shen Tu Zhuo was about to ask him what he was laughing at, he suddenly heard the masked man speak. This was the first time the man had spoken in front of him. He said, "Come with me."

These four words struck Shen Tu Zhuo like a thunderbolt, leaving him frozen on the spot like a tree stump.

The reason was simple: he recognized the voice. It was the voice that often appeared in his dreams, urging him to take good care of his mother and widowed sister-in-law, and to let him restore the glory of the Shentu family in his stead.

—My brother's voice.
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The two left the courtyard and came to the stream on the outskirts of the city.

From here, you can see the clinic where Tan Huaike and Pei'er are. In addition to getting medicine and taking it, Fufeng also needs to give Tan Huaike acupuncture to detoxify him and ensure that there are no future problems.

Once they reached a secluded spot, Shentu Zhuo could no longer contain his shock. With a glimmer of hope and even more disbelief, he tentatively asked, "You...you are..."

The masked man crouched down, peeled off the sticky tree sap from his face, and washed away the remaining disguise with the stream water, gradually revealing a face covered in scars. He no longer hid, his eyes calmly gazing at Shen Tu Zhuo.

Even though it was a face ravaged by fire, it didn't stop Shen Tu Zhuo from recognizing him.

That was his elder brother whom he had admired since childhood.

Shen Tu Zhuo's eyes instantly reddened, and an indescribable emotion choked in his throat. His elder brother's face was burned, which showed how fierce the battle had been. The fact that he could appear safely now meant that he had gone through unimaginable hardships.

"I knew it! Those scumbags weren't worthy of taking your life!"

He once foolishly lay in his brother's coffin for three hours, just to stay by his halberd and sense his last breath before death. He had thought countless times whether he could be as steadfast as his brother and shoulder the burden of the Shentu family. He had also been at a loss, wondering how he could avenge his brother, even if it meant risking his own life.

But now, with Shen Tu Heng standing alive before him, a surge of joy and confusion welled up in his chest, causing his voice to tremble uncontrollably: "Ah, brother, since you're alive... why did you keep it from me? Do you know how heartbroken Mother was for you? Do you know how I... never mind, you must have your reasons. Now that we've recognized each other..."

Shen Tu Heng shook his head and said, "Shen Tu Heng is already dead. I can't turn back now. Mother doesn't need to know that I'm still alive. Otherwise, if I go into danger again someday, I'll only cause her to worry."

"But brother, the family needs you, I can't go on alone..."

“You have done very well, even better than me. I didn’t intend to acknowledge you, but you are always wary of me and I can’t fully trust you, which is also a troublesome thing,” Shen Tu Heng said. “Xiao Zhuo, just do as you think. If you are to be granted an official position after the recommendation, I will secretly help you.”

"Brother, you've returned to the Crown Prince's service?"

In his youth, just like the Third Prince, Shen Tu Heng was also classmates with the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince greatly appreciated him. Naturally, the two boys from the Shen Tu family were placed under the Crown Prince's command, and they pledged to become generals and ministers.

He and his elder brother were trained in both literature and martial arts from a young age. His elder brother's moves were bold and expansive, and he had a particular understanding of military strategy, earning him the title of a promising general from the Crown Prince. However, he never studied steadily and methodically, possessing plenty of quick wit but lacking resilience, which led the Crown Prince to call him a one-sided talent. At the time, he was unconvinced and asked the Crown Prince if he felt he was inferior to his brother in every way. The Crown Prince replied that his talent was not suited for the battlefield, but rather for the court.

He was too young at the time to understand the deeper meaning.

It wasn't until later, when his father was repeatedly targeted by the court officials, that he suddenly realized what kind of minister the Crown Prince hoped he would become.

Moreover, during his final days at the Imperial Academy, in addition to being forced to intensify his study of various Hu languages, all the moves his martial arts master taught him were killing techniques that combined stealth and agility.

If his brother is to be a general on the battlefield, then he will be an assassin navigating the chaos.

This was the Crown Prince's expectation of them at the time.

Many years have passed, and things have changed. I never expected that my elder brother would come back from afar and return to the Crown Prince's side.
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Next chapter: Also... don't tell her.