Water Margin: Hu Sanniang and I swapped clothes

What is this thing?

Sun Xin was in so much pain that tears came to his eyes. He covered his groin with both hands and jumped up three feet high with each leap!

Having barely managed to pull through, Sun Xin curled up on the ground, pale-faced and on the verge of death.

Wait!

Something seems off!

Having regained consciousness, Sun Xin finally realized:

How did I break my calf?

I am now Hu Sanniang, isn't that nonsense?

After carefully kneading it a few times, Sun Xin suddenly opened his eyes wide:

Did I somehow end up wearing those clothes again?

Instinctively, he covered his chest with both hands, and what he could touch was his hard pectoral muscles!

After loosening his belt and checking several times, Sun Xin burst into tears of joy:

The jade has been returned to its grandson intact—a cause for celebration!

Overwhelmed with emotion, Sun Xin got up, clasped his hands together, and prayed to the heavens:

Our ancestors have blessed us; our Sun family heirloom has finally returned!

"Clang! Clang!"

The waiter was urging us from outside again:

"Sir, if the innkeeper may ask, would you like to extend your stay?"

Sir/Madam?

Shopkeeper?

Extend your stay?

Sun Xin blinked, looking completely bewildered.

What kind of customer?

Isn't the shopkeeper my female tiger?

No, I'm sleeping in my own hotel, why would I need to extend my stay?

Slow!

Only then did Sun Xin realize that the room's decor was not in a style he was familiar with.

Isn't this the Shili Pai Hotel?

Sun Xin hurriedly opened the door and found that the waiter waiting outside was neither Xiao San'er nor Xiao Si'er.

Surprised and uncertain, Sun Xin inquired with the waiter and learned that this was a village inn fifty li west of Dengzhou.

"Fifty li?"

Sun Xin was bewildered: What am I doing here?

...San Niang's route...

"Ah—woo—"

As dawn broke, Hu Sanniang stretched and yawned in a daze.

After playing the role of a man for three days, Hu Sanniang unknowingly became more unrestrained, stretching lazily and losing all semblance of a beautiful woman.

"Bang!"

He accidentally punched someone next to him in the face, and the person cried out in pain.

"Oh my god!"

Hu Sanniang suddenly realized: Wait a minute! Didn't I sleep alone?

Instinctively, Hu Sanniang reached out to touch the tiger-eye bamboo-jointed steel whip beside her pillow, but instead touched the hilt of a knife.

Clang—

Hu Sanniang didn't think much of it, after all, the Sun and Moon Twin Blades were the original pair, and she drew them out in one swift motion!

At the same time, with a "columnar twist," Hu Sanniang flipped over, wielding twin swords, and let out a sharp cry:

"Who goes there!"

"My son, don't use the knife!"

A familiar, aged voice trembled as it spoke:

"I'm your father!"

Who?

Hu Sanniang could hardly believe her ears, and upon closer inspection, she could hardly believe her eyes:

On the large communal bed, an old man with one hand covering his eyes was none other than her father, Hu Taigong.

"Father?"

Hu Sanniang stared wide-eyed in disbelief:

"Am I dreaming...?"

"What dream?"

Hu Cheng scrambled to his feet, removed Hu Taigong's hand, and gasped in shock:

"Sister, how could you lay a hand on Father?"

It turned out that Hu Taigong had been punched in the eye by Hu Sanniang, leaving one eye swollen and black and unable to open...

"No! I didn't!"

Hu Sanniang panicked and immediately denied it, but Hu Taigong quickly covered Hu Cheng's mouth:

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

"I... I bumped my head on the wall when I got up in the middle of the night!"

"Really?"

Hu Cheng looked suspiciously at Hu Sanniang and then at Hu Taigong:

Fists have grown on the wall?

"What do you mean, steamed or boiled!"

Old Master Hu got up and pulled Hu Cheng outside:

"I'm hungry, go downstairs and see if there's anything to eat!"

The old man pulled his son outside and considerately closed the door from the outside.

So, am I dreaming or not?

Hu Sanniang blinked her big, watery eyes, looking completely bewildered, feeling a painful bloating in her lower abdomen.

She subconsciously put down the twin swords, walked to the toilet, lifted the lid, pulled down her pants, and grabbed the handle...

I tried to help but missed!

No, how could you miss this?

Hu Sanniang was both angry and amused, but her attempts to grab the moon's reflection were all in vain, like a monkey trying to catch the moon's reflection.

"hiss--"

After realizing what was happening, Hu Sanniang couldn't help but gasp:

Could this be—

A dream within a dream?

I thought I was awake, but I was actually still dreaming?

Hu Sanniang's gaze fell on her left hand, which was now thickly bandaged.

It really was a dream. When have I ever been injured?

Disappointed, Hu Sanniang unwrapped the bandage and saw a healed wound on her fair, jade-like palm.

The wound had been treated with a layer of wound medicine and appeared to have healed. Hu Sanniang pressed on the wound:

pain!

It hurts so much!

Tears welled in Hu Sanniang's beautiful eyes, yet her face betrayed her joy:

This pain is so intense, is it not a dream within a dream?

I'm really back?

So here's the question: where is this?

Why am I sleeping in the same bed as my father and brother?

Hu Sanniang felt the room was a bit stuffy, mainly because Hu Taigong smelled too strongly of an old man.

So Hu Sanniang walked to the window, pushed it open, and a gust of damp, cold wind rushed in!

"hiss--"

Hu Sanniang couldn't help but gasp in shock:

What I saw outside the window was a vast, misty lake!

Where have they sent me this time? Is this still the Song Dynasty?

"Clang! Clang!"

There was a knock on the door. Hu Sanniang answered, and Hu Cheng pushed the door open and came in.

"Sister, the boat has arrived!"

"What kind of ship?"

Hu Sanniang was taken aback. Hu Cheng thought she was still half asleep, so he didn't think much of it and told her:

"Li Jun, the naval leader of Liangshan Marsh, nicknamed 'River Dragon,' personally led five large ships to pick us up!"

"There's no time for dinner, let's get on the boat first. King Chao is waiting for us at Golden Beach to welcome us!"

Liangshanbo?

River Dragon?

Chao Tianwang?

Hu Sanniang was completely distraught:

"Brother, do you mean this is Liangshan Marsh?"

What do you think?

Hu Cheng, with a strange expression, went forward and closed the window.

"Little sister, how dare you come out into the wind after it just snowed?"

"You almost caught a cold yesterday, but luckily your father got up in the middle of the night to borrow a hot water bottle for you to warm up..."

"again?"

Hu Sanniang astutely captured the key words:

"Did I catch a chill yesterday too?"

"Are you still asleep?"

Hu Cheng certainly wouldn't think of it as a case of swapping bodies; he simply assumed that Hu Sanniang was still half asleep.

He had also been half-asleep, his mind truly a jumble of mush, so he rambled on and on to Hu Sanniang, explaining:

"Yesterday you were standing by the window in the wind, and your father was worried that you would catch a cold, so he put a white fox fur cloak on you."

"You even spoke to your father back then, which moved him to tears..."

"ha?"

Hu Sanniang opened her eyes wide: "What did I say to my father?"

"You forgot that too?"

Hu Cheng said with a smile, "Father told you not to stand for too long, or you'll catch a cold."

"You said thank you, Father, and I understand."

"You didn't see it, Father was crying in my arms..."

"Oh, this..."

Hu Sanniang felt a chill run through her heart upon hearing this:

But I was clearly still traveling in Dengzhou yesterday!

Who was the person who moved my father to tears?