Volume One, Chapter 15: My Husband, It’s Too Late. Let’s Go Tomorrow.

Since Liu Feng’s sudden transformation, countless events had unfolded.

The two sisters once thought it was merely a matter of Liu Feng’s conscience awakening, never truly pondering it deeply.

But when they saw Liu Feng single-handedly dispatch over ten assailants with ease, realization struck them abruptly.

The man before them was genuinely terrifying.

“Husband, were you once very formidable? Have you come to live in seclusion in Sewa Village because you grew weary of endless bloodshed?” Mu Wanqing asked, shaking her head.

“Yes, husband, were you the leader of some assassin organization? Just like in the stories, disdaining violence and the martial world, thus retreating from the world?” Mu Wanqing also inquired.

Liu Feng forced a wry smile.

Those two girls must have read too many children’s comics.

He wiped the blood off his face with a handkerchief that Mu Wanqing handed him, then tossed it back to her with a smile. “No questions allowed,” he said mysteriously.

Mu Wanqing sniffed the handkerchief, catching the sharp stench of blood, her eyes nervously darting as she watched Liu Feng’s back.

Mu Wanqing, on the other hand, was far calmer.

Before entering the Liu household, they already knew Liu Feng was uneducated and orphaned early.

They never expected that what they initially thought would be a hellish marriage would grow sweeter by the day.

Liu Feng had been concealing his true self all along.

He was truly a master in hiding from the world.

No doubt, her husband must have thought himself pitiable, which is why he refrained from revealing his strength.

To give her and her sister a better life, he had finally unveiled his original prowess.

Otherwise, Mu Wanqing could not explain Liu Feng’s drastic change.

Liu Feng had no time to entertain the girls’ fanciful thoughts; the bodies before him still needed handling.

He temporarily piled the corpses in a secluded spot, deciding to deal with them later at night.

Next, he cleaned the bloodstains and repaired the damage caused by the fight in the courtyard.

Afterward, Liu Feng called on Tian Laoba for help, tidied up the house, and neatly arranged the wood Tian Laoba and his men had carried in.

He also used the opportunity to gather information from Tian Laoba.

Though Liu Feng was originally from the village, his prior ignorance and the villagers’ avoidance meant he was unaware of many things.

For example, whether there were young, trustworthy men in the village.

Or if there were capable yet chaste women.

Tian Laoba, thinking Liu Feng needed help with house repairs, eagerly volunteered and recommended others as well.

Liu Feng memorized all the names carefully.

After Tian Laoba left, Liu Feng busied himself with other chores, building a cattle shed.

He worked until nightfall.

After dinner, just as the sisters thought it was time to sleep, Liu Feng emerged holding a strange contraption.

Its shape was peculiar, resembling a bow but with an unusually sized stock at the back.

A groove on it perfectly held a single arrow.

Mu Wanqing looked puzzled; she had never seen anything like it.

It was something Liu Feng had custom-ordered at the blacksmith’s shop upon arriving in the county town and had only recently retrieved when visiting his parents’ home.

He had assumed it was a metal part for the ox cart, so he never asked.

But now, at this late hour, why was her husband bringing it out?

Could it be for repairing the ox cart?

That didn’t make sense; it wasn’t needed now.

Mu Wanqing couldn’t help but ask, “Husband, what is that? It looks so strange.”

Liu Feng leisurely produced dried deer sinew.

The deer sinew was bought in the county town at the cost of one or two taels of silver.

He then strung the bowstring and began calibrating it under the dim light.

“You wouldn’t understand. This is a weapon of the battlefield,” he said.

“This thing is called a crossbow. Its lethality is immense.”

When Liu Feng commissioned the blacksmith, he insisted on maximum lethality, so the shop forged a heavy crossbow that couldn’t be drawn by arm strength alone.

It required the power of both legs, making it quite large.

When the blacksmith first saw Liu Feng’s design, he had the same reaction as Mu Wanqing—they didn’t even know what it was called.

But Liu Feng was no fool; he had the three parts made separately by different smiths to avoid leaking his technique.

He then assembled it himself.

From crafting this weapon, Liu Feng surmised that either the Dali Kingdom was unaware of such powerful crossbows, or the court strictly controlled them, banning their civilian circulation.

If the Dali Kingdom truly lacked this weapon, it was a tremendous business opportunity.

The production cost was low, but it could fetch a high price.

Of course, Liu Feng’s hand-crafted crossbow was not meant to attract attention.

Its main purpose was hunting; with such power, wild boars or lions in the mountains would be easy prey.

More importantly, it was a potent means of self-defense.

Liu Feng was not selfish, either; he had crafted smaller crossbows suited for the two delicate wives but had no time to show them tonight.

That would have to wait until after dinner.

Liu Feng realized how busy he had been lately.

Since his fierce encounter at his father-in-law’s house, he hadn’t been intimate with his wives for quite some time.

What a sin.

After tidying the crossbow, Liu Feng took out his own quiver and prepared to leave.

“You two go to bed early and lock the doors. I’m going out.”

Though the Mu sisters had grown braver after seeing the corpses, being alone at such a late hour still frightened them.

They had grown accustomed to Liu Feng’s shocks, and more so to his sturdy embrace.

“Husband, it’s so late. Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

“Husband, are you really going to the Red Lantern House?”

“Husband, haven’t I and my sister satisfied you?”

“Husband, please don’t go. Qing’er will go find them tomorrow to apprentice and learn their skills.”

“Once she masters those techniques, husband, please don’t go to the Red Lantern House, okay?”

Mu Wanqing clung to Liu Feng’s arm, pressing herself against him.

Her pitiful expression was truly endearing.

Mu Wanqing said nothing, but her tear-filled eyes looked at him in a way that made one want to protect her.

Liu Feng smiled wryly.

These two women were truly a disaster.

If his resolve weren’t so firm, he would have already succumbed.

“What are you two thinking about?” he asked.

“Husband is going out on important business.”

Liu Feng placed the crossbow on the ox cart and then turned to explain.

“It’s late at night. If I go out unarmed, what do you think will happen?”

“Besides, after killing so many thugs today, do you think their allies will let it go?”

“Also, since none of them have returned this late, the gambling and tavern owners must already know they met foul play.”

“If I don’t eliminate this hidden danger, how can we ever live in peace?”

He kissed the cheeks of the two women and smiled warmly.

“Be good and wait for me. I’ll be back by dawn.”

Only then did Mu Wanqing and her sister nod.

They saw Liu Feng off as he climbed onto the ox cart.