4.6

The blistering summer had finally passed. With arrival of the crisp and refreshing autumn, it was perfect season for hunting.  Although the current emperor didn't like hunting or even horse riding, the autumn hunt had been carried out since the Taizu* Emperor's reign. Naturally, the aristocratic families weren't willing to let go of this opportunity for fun. At this time, they would write to the emperor and request him to hold the autumn hunt.

When everything was ready, the people set out on a grand manner towards Wushan County under the protection of soldiers. There was a temporary imperial residence at the foot of the Wushan Mountains. People were able to hunt and play during the day and then retire to the palace to rest.

The Xiao family and Prince Yong An competed against each other in all aspects of the life. The hunt was naturally what everyone wanted to compete in the most. Even though the majority of Prince Yong An's faction were scholars, that did not mean that he didn't have any generals' backing either. General Yang Sheng had always been at odds with the Xiao family and was long brought to Prince Yong An's side.

Qiao Chen wasn't very interested in hunting, but he enjoyed riding horseback. It was invigorating to feel the wind as the horse galloped throughout the mountainside and forest.

Qiao Chen was riding on the horse alone. He unhurriedly rode at the front. Prince Yong An and his party were also on horseback and came up from behind. As they passed him, Prince Yong An stopped and said, "Jingyun, you should follow us. There are too many wild animals in the mountains. It's too dangerous to go alone."

Qiao Chen hadn't gone to his banquets twice now, but Prince Yong An stilled called out to him so affectionately that Qiao Chen had to push down the disgust that bubble up in his heart. Qiao Chen smiled and said, "I'm not going deep into the forest. I'm just walking around this area. There are soldiers everywhere, so there's no danger. I probably won't go hunting either. I'm afraid that I'll trouble the Prince if I follow after."

"You don't have to do anything, you can just follow ben wang. It's hard to come out here. I'd be such a pity if you didn't get to even see any part of the hunt."

"Prince, my oldest brother is very weak. I'm afraid that he can't even ride a horse for too long. Please don't make things difficult for him." Cheng Jingrui said and looked at Qiao Chen sarcastically.

"In that case, you can wait here. When we come back, ben wang will share some game with you."

"It is already good that the Prince can capture the prey. How can You have any extra to give away?" Xiao Qinan and his party stopped on the other side of Qiao Chen.

"The Prince is the master of the pen and the sword. His hunting is no worse than some warrior who just uses his brute strength." Cheng Jingrui spoke out for Prince Yong An.

"Who are you? Are you qualified to even speak to me?" Xiao Qinan aggressively glared at Cheng Jingrui.

"Why is elder bother so angry over such a nobody? It's only some illegitimate bastard, who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth. He thinks his words matter because was raised out of that mud pen of his. Such a nobody probably doesn't even understand that he doesn't even have the qualifications to be here. Even our big ol' Blackie is more qualified to be here than that thing over there. Huh, Blackie?" Xiao Qibei, Xiao Qinan's younger brother, mocked Cheng Jingrui to pieces. The big black dog sitting beside them responded with two barks.

"You…" Cheng Jingrui was originally squashed by Xiao Qinan's momentum and glared at until he shivered. Xiao Qibei's words also caused him to feel like his face was swollen and red. He was unable to say another word.

"Rather than standing around talking big, let's see who catches more prey." Prince Yong An was unhappy because Cheng Jingrui was mocked. After all, you have to ask the boss before you can punish his men. What's more, Xiao Qibei mocking his people meant that Xiao Qibei was indirectly mocking him too.

"Isn't it more appropriate for us to say that?" Xiao Qibei put on a confused face and asked.

"Hn." Prince Yong An coldly sneered and steered his horse to quickly run to the forest.

"Let's go." Xiao Qinan said to Qiao Chen after he watched the other side disappear into the distance.

"Where are you going?" Qiao Chen asked knowingly.

Xiao Qinan looked at him and didn't speak.

"I'm not interested in hunting. I just want to wander around in the woods." Qiao Chen also looked at him and said.

"You go first." Xiao Qinan said to the other people in his group.

Although Xiao Qibei didn't know what was going on with his eldest brother and Qiao Chen, he couldn't restrain the impatient desire to hunt prey. He immediately took everyone to the forest after his brother's command.

"Hyah." Qiao Chen also sped up and entered the woods. Xiao Qinan was following him closely behind.

Along the way, they saw lots of animals such as foxes, rabbits, deer, etc. Qiao Chen thought that it was all very interesting. Even though Qiao Chen's apathetic nature had lessened considerably, he wasn't a kind and soft-hearted individual who couldn't bear to kill a living creature. He truly wasn't interested in hunting those animals. If he was truly interested in trying his hand at hunting, then he wouldn't have a soft heart.

After wandering the forest for a long time, Xiao Qinan occasionally shot his arrow and hunted some prey. His archery was very good. Not only did he shoot with one hundred percent accuracy, but each prey was killed with one shot. His insignia was on all the arrows, so there would be someone to collect the prey after they left.

The two slowly walked deep into the forest. Qiao Chen saw a stream in front of him. He dismounted and went to wash his hands. Xiao Qinan followed suit and dismounted the horse as well.

Qiao Chen was washing his hands and felt that the water was clean and cool. He decided to wash his face too. Suddenly, the two horses behind him neighed loudly.

Qiao Chen got up and looked back to see that his horse was already running away.

"Ai! What are you running away for?" Qiao Chen ran forward two steps, but was pulled back by Xiao Qinan. It was only then that he noticed two big tigers looking at them from behind the trees in front of them.

Xiao Qinan's horse was also uneasy. It whinnied nervously as it stomped it's front hoof. It was a war horse that followed Xiao Qinan into the battlefield, so it didn't run away even though it sensed danger nearby. Qiao Chen thought of his horse's look as it ran away just now and wanted to cry and laugh at the same time.

"What do we do? Can you deal with two tigers at the same time?" Qiao Chen turned to Xiao Qinan and asked. He suddenly remembered a joke and told it to Xiao Qinan, "Why don't you call the tiger 'dad'. Don't they say that even though a tiger is cruel, it still won't eat its own cubs? I can't say for sure, but you should just call it 'dad' and maybe it'll let us go immediately? Then you don't have to fight it."

Xiao Qinan looked at Qiao Chen like he was crazy. Qiao Chen felt that his intelligence was being looked down on. Really, he just wanted to tell a joke to ease the atmosphere, but it seemed as though he didn't have the talent for telling jokes…

Xiao Qinan took out his bow and arrows from the horse. Two arrows were shot out simultaneously and hit the two tigers' heads. The tigers collapsed to the floor, but weren't dead yet. Xiao Qinan shot out two more arrows at them. Then, he pulled out his sword and thrust into the tigers' throats. Even though the tigers hadn't died yet, they were unable to stand back up.

Although Qiao Chen knew that Xiao Qinan was very powerful, he was still very surprised to see that he solved their tiger problem with four arrows and two blows from a sword. After all, this was two tigers! People were easy prey. They were just like little chicks compared to tigers. He thought that even though Xiao Qinan was a special person, Xiao Qinan still had to fight to subdue the tiger. He was ready to watch the fight between the tigers and Xiao Qinan. It was going to be like a live version of Wu Song the tiger warrior. Qiao Chen never expected the situation to be solved so easily.

After Xiao Qinan mounted his horse, he looked down at Qiao Chen. Qiao Chen looked up at him and said, "What are you looking at? Is killing tigers so amazing? How can I go back without a horse?"

"Call me dad and I'll take you back." Xiao Qinan took the opportunity to ask.

"You..." Qiao Chen was angry. This person has never changed his idea of becoming his father for several lifetimes now. Qiao Chen blamed himself for mention something bad too. But Qiao Chen thought, I'll say it. Who's afraid of whom, huh? He decided that he'd just do what Xiao Qinan wants for once, so that he doesn't always dwell on it. Qiao Chen held onto Xiao Qinan's leg and said, "Dad, take me with you."

Qiao Chen saw Xiao Qinan's body tremble slightly. He was obviously shocked. Then, the system started up the soul download program. Qiao Chen was inwardly stunned. The man was so simple. All he had to do was call him dad and Xiao Qinan would fall in love with him? Was this a cheat code or something?

Xiao Qinan lifted Qiao Chen up and had him sit in the front. Then he rode the horse in a certain direction.

Qiao Chen came back from his stupor and exclaimed, "Lucky for me, you didn't call those two tigers dad. If you did, then they would have become my grandparents, wouldn't they?"

Xiao Qinan didn't respond. Qiao Chen couldn't see his face or expression because he was facing the other way, but hand on his waist tightened its grip.

"Where are we going?" Qiao Chen realized that this wasn't the way back. He was confused and didn't know where Xiao Qinan was taking him.

Xiao Qinan had the horse stop outside a cave. After he dismounted, he put a resisting Qiao Chen on his shoulder and walked into the cave. Qiao Chen swatted Xiao Qinan's back and asked, "What are you doing? Let me down! I can walk by myself."

Xiao Qinan walked to the deepest part of the cave, put Qiao Chen down on a smooth slate, and then took off his clothes.

Qiao Chen resisted with his hands and legs, "What do you want to do in a place like this, asshole? Are you going crazy?"

"Why do you keep seducing me only to reject my advances? This time, no matter how you refuse, I won't stop." Xiao Qinan used Qiao Chen's belts to tie his hands and took off Qiao Chen's pants.

Qiao Chen was really bitter. He refused to let Xiao Qinan take the final step because he was afraid that the toxins in Xiao Qinan's body weren't accumulated where they were supposed to be yet. If Xiao Qinan transferred parts of the poison instead of all of it, then it would spread again. Although almost all the toxins in his body were gathered in the right place, and it wasn't impossible to transfer the poison out now, but they were in a cave! Anyone could come in at anytime, and Qiao Chen wasn't the type to like an audience watching.

Qiao Chen clenched his legs and begged for mercy, "I promise I won't refuse you anymore. Let's go back and then we can do it. We can't do it here. Someone will come in."

Xiao Qinan didn't want to wait. He just wanted to have Qiao Chen right there and right away. He immediately opened Qiao Chen's legs and pressed up against him.

"Ahn!" Qiao Chen's chest was sucked by Xiao Qinan. After he cried out, he tried to persuade, "We really can't do it here, please. Let's do everything you want to do when we go back, okay?"

Xiao Qinan didn't listen at all, but right at the moment that he was going to enter Qiao Chen, he stopped. Xiao Qinan heard the sounds of horses approaching outside, furthermore, it was horses.

Qiao Chen also heard them and urged, "You're still not hurrying up and letting me go? Do you really want to wait for them to come in and watch?"

Xiao Qinan took a deep breath, forced his desire down, and released Qiao Chen's tied up hands. Finally, he helped Qiao Chen redress.

"Eldest brother, are you in there?" Xiao Xibei saw his brother's horse outside, but he didn't see anyone. Then he called out to the cave.

"Yes. Don't come in. I'm coming right now." Xiao Qinan replied.

Although Qiao Chen was fully dressed, his clothes were still messy. If he went out, then everyone would definitely see what was going on. He said to Xiao Qinan, "Carry me out. If they ask, then say I was hurt in an accident. We went in the cave to take a break."

Xiao Qinan crouched down, Qiao Chen climbed on his back, and they headed out together.

"What were you guys doing in that cave, eldest brother?" Xiao Qibei looked suspiciously as he saw Xiao Qinan carrying Qiao Chen on his back.

"Nothing. He was hurt, so we took a break in the cave." Xiao Qinan put Qiao Chen on his horse and immediately sat behind him.

"Oh." Xiao Qibei nodded. Although he was still a bit confused as to why his brother would run over to a cave to rest, he didn't dare to ask any more questions that his imposing brother didn't want to answer..

"We found the two together that you shot, eldest brother." Xiao Qibei said excitedly, "Even before I saw the insignia on the arrows, I knew that it should have been eldest brother who shot the arrows. No one except you has such a powerful archery."

Xiao Qibei spoke throughout the entire journey. He talked about all the animals they tried to hunt and explained that it was a pity that all those animals ran away in the middle.

When they exited the woods, they happened to meet Prince Yong An and his group. Xiao Qibei asked proudly, "I wonder how many tigers the Prince has killed today."

"We didn't encounter any tigers today, but we don't have any less prey than you." Prince Yong An said confidently.

"Really? My eldest brother has shot down two tigers with his bow and arrow. However, if you absolutely insist to use some hares to compare against us in a contest of quantity, then we'll lose." How could Xiao Qibei not know that Prince Yong An had General Yang Sheng's soldiers help him hunt.

"Two tigers?" Prince Yong An didn't believe him for a second. It was such a vast area here, and it was difficult for anyone to encounter any tigers. Furthermore, if they encountered one, how could they be slain with arrows alone?

"Well, bring them forth and let the Prince widen his horizons." Xiao Qibei commanded the soldiers behind him.

The soldiers, behind the crowd, worked together to lift the two tigers up. Prince Yong An and his group saw the tigers and gasped in surprise. There were really two tigers.

When Prince Yong An saw that the soldiers had lifted real tigers up, his face turned ugly. Upon closer inspection, he found that there were two arrows on the tigers' heads and a wound on its throat. There were no other wounds. Now he knew that the tigers were subdued by the arrow shots before their throats were slit by a sword. Prince Yong An couldn't help be feel shocked by Xiao Qinan's strength and lethality. It was no wonder that the Turkic people would tremble from the mere mention of his name.

Prince Yong An was somewhat embarrassed. Just a moment ago, he saw that Qiao Chen's clothes and hair were messy. Furthermore, Qiao Chen was situated on Xiao Qinan's saddle right in front of him. However, Xiao Qibei had asked him a question first, so he didn't get to ask what happened to Qiao Chen. Now, it was the perfect time to change topics. "Jingyun, what happened to you?"

"I had just encountered the tigers and my horse spooked and ran. Fortunately, General Xiao came and save me." How could Qiao Chen not know that Prince Yong An wanted to change topics by asking about his well-being? So he deliberately shifted the topic back onto the tigers again. With his hand hidden in his sleeve, he pinched Xiao Qinan's waist, turned around, and said, "Thank you so much for saving me."

"Ben wang also thanks General Xiao on Jingyun's behalf." Prince Yong An copied Qiao Chen's manner.

"There's no need for that. Why are you thanking me on his behalf?" Xiao Qinan was very unhappy. After he said his piece, he quickly rode away with Qiao Chen. Then, he saw that Prince Yong An looked at Qiao Chen as if he was one of his people and got angry.

Xiao Qibei and the others also followed suit. They left Prince Yong An and his people. They stewed in anger and were infuriated by Xiao Qinan's attitude.