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

His fingers slid restlessly down her spine, stopping at the buckle of her belt.

"What exactly do you want?" Cheng Ying closed her eyes, a tear welling up from the corner of her eye.

"You'll soon find out what I'm planning to do." Yang Guo released his grip, sat up straight, and his lazy smile returned. "Go, fetch a few stones from the water. I need to season the chicken."

Cheng Ying was stunned for a moment.

Several thoughts raced through her mind, but only one remained: one moment this man had his hand on her belt, and the next he was making her move stones by the stream. He wasn't teasing her. He was taming her.

"What? Don't want to move?" Yang Guo picked up a dry branch from the fire and poked at the embers. "Miss Cheng, if you're ashamed, I'll call Wushuang over and we'll talk about what happened last night in person. See if she believes me or you?"

Cheng Ying stared at Yang Guo for a long time.

Yang Guo didn't shy away; he even grinned at her, and his flippant manner made her teeth ache.

She got up and left.

Lu Wushuang was squatting by the stream, her trousers rolled up, wading in the shallow water to collect snails. Seeing Cheng Ying approach and bend down to pick up stones, she tilted her head.

"Cousin, what brings you here?"

"Your husband asked me to pick up a few clean stones," Cheng Ying said in a flat voice, "saying they'd be good for marinating the chicken."

"How do you infuse flavor into stones?" Lu Wushuang asked, looking completely bewildered.

Cheng Ying did not answer.

She squatted by the stream and picked out a few pebbles that had been polished smooth by the water.

The water was cool, and soaking my hands in it gave me an indescribable feeling of refreshment.

She lingered by the stream a little longer, letting the coolness suppress the restlessness surging within her.

When she returned to the fire with the stone in her hands, Yang Guo had already torn off the roasted chicken leg and placed it glistening on a broad leaf.

Lu Wushuang ran faster than her and had already squatted down next to Yang Guo and started munching on him.

"Husband, are you the person who tastes the best roast chicken in the whole world?" Lu Wushuang mumbled, his mouth full of meat.

"Of course. What can't your husband's hands do?"

Yang Guo took the stone, warmed it by the fire, and used it as a cutting board.

He casually pushed the remaining half of the pheasant in front of Cheng Ying.

"Miss Cheng, you're so skillful, could you help me remove the meat? I'm a picky eater, and too many bone fragments will hurt my teeth."

Lu Wushuang put down the chicken leg and wiped her mouth: "Husband, my cousin..."

"It's alright." Cheng Ying took the half chicken. Her fingers touched the still oily surface of the chicken skin, burned slightly, but she didn't make a sound.

She took out a small knife from her waist and carefully removed the chicken meat from the bone, piece by piece.

The knife skills were excellent; the disciples on Peach Blossom Island, regardless of gender, were all quite skilled with their hands.

She neatly arranged the deboned chicken on a clean broad leaf and brought it to Yang Guo's side.

Yang Guo picked up a piece, put it in his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and tilted his head to look at her.

"Indeed. Miss Cheng is more likable when she's working than when she's talking."

He said this in a very casual tone, as if praising a maid for being quick and efficient.

Lu Wushuang laughed and chimed in, "My cousin is capable of doing this anyway."

Cheng Ying didn't reply. She sat back down on the bluestone, wrapped a small piece of chicken breast in a leaf, and slowly tore it apart to eat.

She didn't have much of an appetite, but she couldn't make it through the rest of the journey without eating.

The piece of meat didn't taste very good, and she swallowed it after only two bites.

Yang Guo ate with ease, teasing Lu Wushuang as he ate.

He asked her if she had caught any fish in the stream, whether her scalpel had been treated, and what size inn she wanted to stay in that night.

Lu Wushuang answered each question one by one, and when she was happy, her voice was so loud that it could startle the birds in the trees.

Cheng Ying sat beside her and listened.

Yang Guo's attitude towards Lu Wushuang was completely different from his attitude towards her.

He had a rough, unreasonable doting on Lu Wushuang, like raising a little beast, hitting and scolding it a couple of times, then turning around and handing it the best meat.

And with her? Every word is a hook, every action is carefully timed, and the line is drawn in slowly and deliberately.

She swallowed the thought and went down with the chicken.

After cleaning up lunch, the three of them mounted their horses.

After traveling less than ten miles south, the people on the road changed.

First came a few scattered old men carrying loads on their shoulders, wearing patched-up coarse cloth shirts, hurrying along with their heads down.

Further along the road, groups of people with their families began to appear. Women carried bundles on their backs, while men pushed wheelbarrows piled high with pots, pans, and bedding.

The children ran after them, some wearing shoes, some barefoot, their soles worn black.

Yang Guo, riding on his horse, saw all of this.

He had seen too many of these scenes in his past life.

In the news, in documentaries, in history textbooks. The difference is that those images are seen through a screen, while these people are walking right next to his horse's hooves.

A five- or six-year-old boy lay on the roadside embankment, his face covered in mud, his belly swollen, and his eyes dull and lifeless.

A woman was squatting next to him, holding half a dry, cracked piece of bran cake in her hand, breaking it apart and stuffing it into the boy's mouth.

The boy's lips moved, but he couldn't chew; bits of bran leaked from the corners of his mouth.

Lu Wushuang reined in his horse.

"Husband," her voice trailed off, her eyes fixed on the boy for a long while, "we have some dry rations on us, shall we give them some?"

Yang Guo sat on his horse for a few breaths without saying a word.

He had seen many such scenes on his way down from Zhongnan Mountain.

The Guanzhong Plain has been without harvest since last autumn. Although the Mongol cavalry has temporarily retreated, the fields burned by the war cannot grow grain, and the imperial court's relief supplies cannot be delivered.

The common people could only flee south, going wherever they could find refuge.

"I can't help." Yang Guo tugged on the reins, urging the horse to continue. "With three people and three horses, even if we distribute all our provisions, the refugees on this road won't get even a tenth of what they need. You might save this one, but there are still a hundred more to come. The affairs of the government are not something that people from the martial world can concern themselves with."

He paused, then added, "Going to Xiangyang to find Huang Rong and Guo Jing is the real business. Those two hold the military lifeline of half of the Southern Song Dynasty in their hands; their word carries more weight than a hundred cakes you hand out on the street."

Lu Wushuang lowered her head sullenly and stopped speaking. She knew Yang Guo was telling the truth, but sometimes the truth is more painful than a lie.

Cheng Ying also looked at the child.

She thought of Lu Family Village when she was five years old, when Lu Wushuang was hiding in a water vat and she was taken to Peach Blossom Island by her master.

They were all children caught up in the misfortunes of adults, but their luck was different.

She shifted her gaze from the child to the horse's mane. Some things are better left unthought of.

The three of them walked along the old post road for most of the day.

Yang Guo was extremely good at remembering routes.

He had memorized all the smuggling routes the innkeeper had talked about while he was drunk last night, including which mountain passes had tax evasion points and which ferry crossings had private boats.

This old post road had indeed been abandoned for several years. The road surface was overgrown with weeds, the wheel tracks were half buried in the soil, and the branches of the trees on both sides were intertwined and blocked the way, so the horses walked very slowly.

The advantage is that there are no patrolling soldiers or checkpoints set up by the Prince's mansion.

As evening approached, the outline of a town came into view.

The town is small, with a narrow street running north to south, and half of the shops on both sides of the street have their doors closed.

The few houses that were open were dimly lit and deserted.

There are two guesthouses at the end of the street, both converted from old houses with gray walls and black tiles, and the lanterns at the entrances are dirty and swaying.

Yang Guo chose the one on the east side. The storefront was a bit tidier, the steps were swept, and there were no cobwebs under the eaves.

He dismounted, tossed the reins to the waiter who came out to greet him, and walked straight into the counter.

"Two superior rooms. Make sure there's plenty of hot water. Also, tell the kitchen to prepare some hearty dishes, and if there's any wine, bring a couple of jugs."

He took out a silver ingot from his pocket and tapped it on the counter.

The silver was of excellent quality, a two-tael official ingot, with the characters "Chunyou" on it.

The shopkeeper picked it up and weighed it in his hand. His face immediately wrinkled up, and he bent over so hard that his spine cracked.

"Yes, yes, yes, please come upstairs, sir. The two best rooms on the second floor have windows facing the backyard, and it's very quiet. The hot water will be ready soon."

The three went upstairs. At the end of the corridor, there was a room on each side, with doors facing each other and a three-step-wide passageway in between.

Yang Guo stopped in front of the door of the room on the right and turned around.

"Peerless".

Lu Wushuang was untying the ribbons of her veil when she heard the sound and looked up.

"Go take a shower first. You've been running around all day, you're covered in dust, so take a nice soak to relax. I have a few things to say to your cousin."

Lu Wushuang responded, took off her veil, hung it on her left hand, and pushed open the door to the room opposite. She left briskly without asking a single question.

There were only two people left in the corridor.

Cheng Ying stood still, two steps away from Yang Guo.

She placed her right hand on her left wrist, a common defensive posture among the disciples of Peach Blossom Island.

Her internal energy had stabilized, but the remnant of Yang Guo's energy in her dantian remained, like a thorn that hadn't been completely removed. It was enveloped by her true energy, neither able to be expelled nor dissolved.

"Come in." Yang Guo pushed open the door on the right and stepped aside to make way.

Cheng Ying did not move.

She observed his expression.

The man wore that familiar smile, not frivolous, but something hidden within it was more alarming than mere frivolity.

"What do you want to discuss?"

Yang Guo tilted his head, his smile fading slightly, leaving only a very direct expression.

"Let's discuss how to let your Senior Sister Huang know that you are now the private possession of the Quanzhen Sect Leader."

Yang Guo reached out and grabbed Cheng Ying, pulling her into the house and closing the door behind him.

With a click, the latch came down.