Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

The scholar's lips twitched slightly, but he quickly withdrew them.

"Then I'll have to trouble you."

The three of them sat down at the threshing ground at the entrance of the village.

Wang Laosan's wife cooked a pot of mixed grain porridge, served three bowls, and also chopped a plate of pickled radishes. The meal was simple, but hot.

Yang Guo wasn't picky about food. He picked up the bowl and slurped down half a bowl of porridge, chewing on pickled radishes while talking to Lu Wushuang.

"Little Sister Lu, please add a bowl of porridge for Brother Chen."

Lu Wushuang bit her chopsticks without moving. "Can't you add some yourself?"

"My hand is injured." Yang Guo raised his right hand and shook it.

My right index finger was a little sore from flicking the Yi Yang Finger several times, but it was definitely not so sore that I couldn't eat any more porridge.

Lu Wushuang glared at him fiercely, then got up to serve the porridge.

She bent slightly as she placed the bowl of porridge in front of the scholar. The hem of her skirt slid down to just above her knees.

The scholar took the bowl and glanced down at it.

I was still looking at her left leg.

Lu Wushuang didn't notice, but Yang Guo did.

The scholar thanked him, his hand holding the bowl steady, three fingers supporting the bottom of the bowl, his little finger slightly raised.

Yang Guo noticed this detail.

When a man holds a bowl, his little finger usually rests on the side of the bowl or is naturally bent.

Raising the little finger is a habit developed in the inner chambers of a young woman's home, and it's difficult to change even if you try, especially when you're relaxed.

Yang Guo ate his porridge, his gaze sweeping over the scholar's face.

Upon closer inspection, this face is even less able to withstand scrutiny than it appears from a distance.

Her skin was so smooth, and her bone structure so elegant.

A layer of ash was applied to her cheekbones, obscuring the texture of her face, but the curve of her jawline couldn't lie.

That's not a man's bone structure.

In his previous life, when he was working on a film crew, Yang Guo spent two months with a makeup artist doing cross-dressing roles.

The makeup artist once said: There are three things that are hardest to hide when a woman is dressed as a man: the way she walks, the shape of her mouth when she eats, and when she laughs.

Walking is relatively easy for this person; they take long strides without swaying. Eating is slow; they chew slowly and never open their mouth wide, which is also acceptable.

I just don't know what he looks like when he smiles.

Yang Guo put down his bowl and said in a serious tone, "Brother Chen, I have something to tell you."

The scholar glanced at him.

"You know there's a martial art called Bone Shrinking Skill, right? When practiced to its extreme, a big man can shrink himself into the size of a child."

"Know."

"Have you ever heard of a martial art that's the opposite of the bone-shrinking technique? It's called the expansion technique."

Lu Wushuang stopped chewing the pickled radish.

She recognized the rhythm; Yang Guo was about to start spouting nonsense.

The scholar shook his head. "Never heard of it."

"This skill is incredibly powerful." Yang Guo's tone was so serious it didn't sound like he was making up a story. "Once you master it, certain parts of your body can freely change size. Just imagine, during a fight, your fist suddenly doubles in size—who could withstand that punch?"

The scholar frowned slightly, his expression suggesting he was pondering the feasibility of this technique.

Lu Wushuang's face flushed.

She knew all too well what Yang Guo meant by "certain parts".

This person said something similar when drinking with Sister Long and Sister Rong at the Quanzhen Sect.

"However, this skill has a flaw," Yang Guo sighed. "Only men can practice it, because the Expansion Technique relies on pure yang energy, which a woman's yin body cannot withstand. Brother Chen, don't you think this is unfair of Heaven?"

As he said this, his eyes were constantly glancing at the scholar's ear.

The scholar, holding the bowl, didn't respond. His fingers tightened slightly, causing the porridge in the bowl to sway gently.

There was no laughter.

But her ears turned red.

The bowl of porridge covered half of her face, leaving only her eyes visible.

When a man hears such words, he might either laugh out loud, curse "Nonsense," or follow up with even more vulgar remarks. But this man's reaction was silence and blushing.

Yang Guo finished the last mouthful of porridge, placed the bowl on the table, and showed no extra expression on his face.

He mentally put a period to the matter.

Lu Wushuang kicked Yang Guo under the table.

The force was considerable; it struck his shinbone.

Yang Guo didn't dodge, so he deserved to be hit.

He was prepared to be beaten when he deliberately used the alias Lu Wushuang "Little Sister Lu".

By the time we finished eating, the sun had already dipped low over the western mountains.

The threshing ground became lively.

The fat man did indeed send someone.

Several oxcarts were carrying sacks of grain, which were unloaded one by one onto the open ground beside the threshing floor.

The driver's face was grim, and he was angry as he unloaded the goods, slamming the grain sacks on the ground and kicking up dust.

Yang Guo sat on a rock by the field and watched, without going over.

He asked Wang Laosan to lead a few older villagers to count the items themselves.

"Ninety shi, not a single bag missing." Old Wang counted twice, his voice becoming much louder.

There was also a bundle of silver wrapped in red cloth. Yang Guo weighed it in his hand, opened it, and counted the coins.

One hundred and twenty taels.

This is the price calculated based on the value of the brocades and gold bracelets owned by the Li family.

Whether it's reasonable or not is hard to say, but the fact that he was able to vomit it out already exceeded Yang Guo's expectations.

The fat man was so frightened that he forgot to even try to bargain.

Yang Guo distributed the silver to each household, giving each household one tael.

The extra money was kept by Wang Laosan for village public use.

When the silver was being distributed, the scholar stood by the threshing ground and watched.

Yang Guo noticed a detail.

During the distribution of the silver, a young woman came to collect it with her child in her arms, the child crying loudly.

The scholar's gaze lingered on the child for a long while.

That look wasn't curiosity; it was something deep, hard to describe, but probably heartache.

A scholar on his journey wouldn't feel so sorry for a stranger's child.

Unless she herself has experienced that kind of life.

By the time I finished all that, it was completely dark.

The croaking of frogs could be heard intermittently from the ridges of the fields surrounding the village.

The chirping of insects began to fade as summer drew to a close, and a cool night breeze blew in from the Qinling Mountains.

The scholar slung his book box over his shoulder and bowed slightly. "Brother Yang, I'll take my leave now."

"Traveling so late?" Yang Guo didn't give way.

"The next ten miles are all barren mountains, with no villages or towns. I walked this mountain road when I came here. There are two landslides that haven't been repaired yet. It's difficult to walk during the day, and walking at night is like courting death."

"I'm used to traveling."

"Whether you're used to it or not is another matter. Your wrist is still swollen from that blow, and you can't use your right hand much. What if you run into a pack of wild dogs or a lone stragglers on the road? How are you going to catch them?"

The scholar's gaze swept over Yang Guo's face.

The way this person spoke made her uncomfortable.

He was so certain, as if everything was within his calculations.

Yang Guo pointed into the village. "Wang Laosan said he has an empty room at his house. You can squeeze in for the night and set off early tomorrow morning. It won't delay your journey."

The scholar did not respond.

Lu Wushuang walked over, carrying a bowl of hot water that Wang Laosan's wife had just boiled.

"Don't be so polite, Young Master Chen. It's getting dark and the mountain path is difficult to walk. Staying overnight won't hurt your health."

She said this in a casual tone.

But her gaze lingered a little longer on the scholar's face.

She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was a smell about this person that made her feel uneasy.

It wasn't hostility, nor was it aversion. It was something indescribable stirring within me.

It's like walking down the street and suddenly smelling the fragrance of osmanthus. You can't remember where you smelled it before, but a very vague image pops into your mind.

Lu Wushuang's childhood memories are mostly fragmented; she doesn't remember most of what happened before she was five years old, only a few pieces remain.

But this feeling is related to memory.

The scholar was also looking at her.

The thing that was swirling in his eyes was the same as what Lu Wushuang was looking at.

That gaze lingered for two breaths longer than a normal greeting between people.

"...Okay. Thank you."

The scholar's voice was softer than before, and the deliberately suppressed hoarseness in his throat had lessened.

Wang Laosan's empty house is at the far east end of the village, right next to a bamboo grove.

There were two wooden plank beds in the room. The bed legs were made of raw wood, which had not been planed and felt rough and prickly to the touch.

A layer of dry straw was laid on the bed board, and an old cotton quilt was placed on it.

Yang Guo and Lu Wushuang shared a room, while the scholar lived next door.

The two rooms were separated by an earthen wall. The wall was not thick, and voices could be heard through it.

After entering the house, Yang Guo first checked the doors and windows.

The window faces east, and when you open it, you can see a bamboo grove.

He closed the window and used a stool to barricade the door.

"What are you doing?" Lu Wushuang asked.

"It's a habit. Before going out and sleeping, I always check my escape route. The window faces east, and behind the bamboo grove is a path that leads to the main road outside the village. In case of emergency, I can climb out the window and run away."

Lu Wushuang didn't ask any more questions.

Having spent a long time with Yang Guo in the Quanzhen Sect, she knew that he was calculating in everything he did.

Some calculations are understandable, some are not, but the results are usually not bad.

Late at night.

The wind rustled through the bamboo forest in gusts, carrying the sound of bamboo leaves rubbing against each other.

Lu Wushuang rolled over on the bed, facing the wall, and lowered her voice.

"Owner."

"Um?"

"Is that Chen Ping'an a woman?"

Yang Guo didn't open his eyes. "How did you know?"

"She held the bowl with her little finger sticking out. My mother used to hold the bowl like that."

Yang Guo chuckled.

This girl's observation skills have improved a lot. Before, she couldn't even notice that Yin Zhiping was playing tricks behind her back, but now she can tell the gender from the fingers of the person holding the bowl.

A slight noise came from the next room; it was the scholar turning over in bed.

The wooden bed was old and creaked every time you turned over.

After a moment of silence, Lu Wushuang spoke again, her voice even lower, her lips almost touching the pillow.

"She kept looking at my legs."

Yang Guo opened his eyes this time.

Lu Wushuang's face was not visible in the darkness, but her breathing rhythm had changed, becoming faster than before.

"What happened to your leg?"

"I don't know," Lu Wushuang said in a muffled voice.

"It's a very strange feeling. When she looks at me, I feel uneasy, but I don't dislike her."

Yang Guo remained silent.

He put one arm behind his head and stared at the dark ceiling.

Lu Wushuang had a disability in her left leg.

She was only five years old when the Lu family was massacred. Her leg was broken when she escaped, and the bone was not properly set, leaving her lame for more than ten years.

It wasn't until Yang Guo taught her the Yi Jin Duan Gu Manual and used his innate vital energy to unblock her meridians that she fully recovered.

Although I can walk normally now, my center of gravity still unconsciously shifts to the right after standing for a long time.

It will take at least another year or two to completely change this habit.

Most people wouldn't be able to tell.

Not only did "Chen Ping'an" see it, but he also looked at it repeatedly.

Lu Wushuang turned over to face Yang Guo, glaring at him in the darkness.

"If she were a man, she'd definitely be a scoundrel."