Chapter 200 General Mu, Long Time No See
A while later.
Mu Cheng suddenly heard someone shouting in the distance: "General, we've caught someone!"
Immediately following, the torchlight flickered, and footsteps sounded fast and chaotic.
Mu Cheng was puzzled.
They caught someone? You haven't been discovered yet, have you? Who did they arrest?
etc……
Aside from running into this mountain range on his own, the only other people who could be there were his family and the mysterious people who rescued him!
Thinking of this, Mu Cheng panicked and crawled slowly through the thick grass toward the direction from which the shouts came.
"General, Mu Cheng's parents and wife have been captured!" A subordinate stood in front of General Liu and reported loudly, "His remaining children, although they were protected by more than a dozen men as they tried to escape, have been surrounded by another group of our soldiers and have no way to get away!"
General Liu laughed and said, "Very good, bring it to me!"
The subordinate waved his hand behind him.
A dozen soldiers then escorted the three men to General Liu.
Mu Cheng, who was hiding in the shadows, saw this scene, but due to the distance and obstructed vision, as well as the flickering torchlight next to the soldiers, he could not make out the appearance of the three people at all.
He was filled with doubts and decided to continue to observe.
"General, what should we do with these three?" the subordinate asked. "Should we send them back to the border first?"
General Liu waved his hand repeatedly, "There's no need to waste time and energy on these three. The life or death of Mu Cheng's family is actually not important. As long as Mu Cheng is alive, even if we bring back the heads of his family, it won't be of any use. We won't be able to explain ourselves."
The subordinate said, "Then... let them go? They're going to die anyway, leaving them in this desolate wilderness."
General Liu angrily retorted, "Bullshit! Mu Cheng almost killed me! How can I swallow this insult? Let's vent our anger on his parents and his woman first! Beat them to death! Beat them to a pulp!"
"Yes, General!"
The subordinate turned and walked over to the dozen or so soldiers, lowering his voice and quickly instructing them, "Make sure you all act convincingly."
"Especially the three of you." The subordinate kicked the three men huddled on the ground, then shouted, "Beat them!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a dozen soldiers began to take action.
They formed a circle and began punching and kicking the three men.
The three of them let out painful cries.
Mu Cheng gripped the weeds tightly with both hands, strained his eyes and ears, and focused all his attention to try to confirm further.
But he simply couldn't see it clearly.
As for the three people's wails, they did indeed sound like one man and two women.
However, because their cries were so pitiful and they didn't say anything, it was still impossible to determine whether they were his parents and wife.
"Why hasn't he shown up yet?" General Liu asked his subordinate in a low voice while keeping an eye on the surroundings. "Your idea is good, but what if Mu Cheng sees through it?"
The subordinate whispered, "General, don't worry. Even if he has doubts, he wouldn't dare to gamble on whether those three people are his parents or his wife. As long as he can't be completely sure, they will definitely come forward. He values his family more than his own life."
Just as General Liu's subordinate said.
At this moment, Mu Cheng felt increasingly tormented.
The piercing screams were like knives, cutting into his heart again and again.
Although both intuition and reason told him that it was probably not his family, and that it was most likely a trick by General Liu.
But the more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. What if... what if it was true?
After all, he had no way of being completely certain that his family had crossed the mountain and reached a safe place.
"Stop right there!" Mu Cheng shouted, standing up from the bushes. "I'm right here!"
"Over there!" General Liu exclaimed with delight, pointing in the direction the voice came from. "Quickly, grab him!"
A group of soldiers pounced on Mu Cheng like wolves, quickly pinned him to the ground, and tied his hands and feet tightly with ropes before finally carrying him to General Liu.
General Liu clapped his hands and laughed, "Hahaha! Mu Cheng, you've walked right into a trap!"
"Release them!" Mu Cheng gritted his teeth. "The emperor wants to kill me. You only need to take my head!"
General Liu laughed so hard he bent over, waving to the side, "Come, come, let our General Mu take a good look at his parents and wife, hahahaha!"
The dozen or so soldiers burst into laughter and helped the three men who had just been beaten up to their feet.
The three staggered up to General Liu, lifted their messy long hair, and revealed their swollen faces from the beating.
Mu Cheng finally realized that all three of them were men.
"You've suffered some physical pain, haven't you!" General Liu patted the three men on the shoulder. "You acted quite convincingly, even imitating the woman's screams perfectly. Very good! Now go and clean yourselves up, put your armor back on, and I will reward you handsomely when we return to the border!"
The three of them grimaced and helped each other away.
"Mu Cheng, you're really stupid, hahaha!" General Liu laughed triumphantly. "Are you regretting taking the bait now?"
A relieved smile appeared on Mu Cheng's exhausted face. "I don't regret it. At least I know that my family was not captured by you."
"Ha, still being stubborn," General Liu stepped on Mu Cheng's face, "Being able to catch you is enough!"
General Liu then removed Mu Cheng's helmet and examined it closely.
Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the helmet was made of a very special material, seemingly a metal even better than refined iron.
Then he drew Mu Cheng's sword and was increasingly shocked as he looked at it.
"Mu Cheng, where did you get this armor and sword? As far as I know, not only in our Great Wilderness, but even in the Yu Kingdom, no one can make such divine weapons."
Mu Cheng merely sneered and did not reply.
General Liu held the knife to Mu Cheng's throat. "Fine, don't talk about it then. This kind of divine weapon is probably one of a kind in the world. It will be mine from now on. You can rest in peace on your journey!"
After saying that, he gripped the hilt with both hands and slowly raised the blade.
The sharp longsword gleamed in the torchlight, and a ray of moonlight shining through the gaps in the branches added an extra touch of sharpness to the blade.
Mu Cheng calmly closed his eyes.
"A fine knife, a truly fine knife. It would be a wonderful experience to cut off your head with such a knife!" General Liu grinned maliciously and swung the knife down toward Mu Cheng's neck.
call out!
A whooshing sound suddenly rang out.
Then, with a crisp clang, the longsword, which was halfway down, was struck by something.
General Liu's hands went numb from the shock, and his long sword slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground.
"Who! Who did this!" he shouted, turning his head.
The soldiers around them looked at each other, wide-eyed and bewildered.
General Liu was furious and about to unleash a torrent of curses when suddenly there was another soft sound.
call out!
General Liu froze, then collapsed to the ground with a short arrow lodged between his eyebrows.
He died without ever seeing where the arrow came from.
More short arrows followed closely behind, flying out from the darkness from all directions like a torrential rain.
The soldiers of the desolate country had no time to react, and countless people were killed or wounded in the blink of an eye.
What horrified them even more was that their helmets and armor were completely useless against these short arrows. Anyone hit by an arrow would either die or be seriously injured, and they didn't even know who was attacking them.
"Run!" someone shouted.
No one dared to fight, and they fled in disarray, abandoning their armor and weapons.
But then, a series of lithe black figures emerged from the forest, relentlessly pursuing them like ghosts.
"General Mu, are you injured?" A man in black armor quickly came to Mu Cheng's side and used a short knife to cut the ropes binding his hands and feet.
Mu Cheng was a little confused, "I'm not injured, who are you...?"
"General Mu, your family has reached a safe area. Please come with me." Without offering any further explanation, the other party pulled Mu Cheng up and ran deeper into the mountains and forests.
Only after the sounds of battle behind them had faded into the distance did the man in black slow down and take out a small, square object to examine.
Seeing that the object's surface glowed and had wavy, circular patterns, Mu Cheng couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"
“This is a signal search device that the fairy provided us,” the black-armored man explained as he observed. “The thing you swallowed, General, was a signal transmitter. We used it to find you, and now we have to return in the same way, or we will get lost.”
"Signal? Search... transmitter?" Mu Cheng was completely bewildered by these unfamiliar words.
The man in black armor continued searching for a way, and Mu Cheng, filled with questions, followed closely behind.
After hiking for about an hour and a half, passing through layers of dense forest, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
Mu Cheng looked closely and saw that it was a camp with many tents set up, and there were many people wearing the same black armor patrolling around. He asked anxiously, "Where are my family members?"
"Please come with me."
The man in black armor led Mu Cheng into a large tent.
A soft oil lamp shone in the tent, and there were several beds he had never seen before. His parents, wife, and several children were fast asleep on the beds.
“General,” the man in black armor whispered, “their injuries and illnesses have been effectively treated, and they have all eaten and drunk their fill before resting, so you can rest assured.”
Mu Cheng tiptoed over and looked at the family, who were breathing steadily and sleeping soundly. He felt a great sense of relief, and his eyes welled up with tears.
"Father...Mother..." He knelt down gently and apologized softly, "Madam...Children, I'm so sorry you've suffered..."
Then he noticed that his family members were all wearing clothes that he had never seen before.
Pure white as snow, with a soft and delicate texture, I don't know what kind of fabric it is.
Even stranger, the sick youngest daughter had some kind of needle stuck in the back of her hand, connected to a thin tube, the other end of which was connected to a strange bottle hanging next to the bed.
The transparent bottle contained an unknown liquid.
"What...what is this?" Mu Cheng asked in shock. "What happened to my daughter?"
The man in black armor said, "General, please rest assured, this is an IV infusion treatment for your daughter, using the medicines and tools that the fairy provided to our military doctors."
Mu Cheng became even more puzzled. "Who exactly is this fairy you speak of? May I meet her?"
"Yes, the fairy said she also wants to meet you."
The man in black armor led Mu Cheng to another tent.
As soon as he entered, a rich and enticing aroma filled Mu Cheng's nostrils.
Before he could even see what was inside, his stomach started growling.
"Fairy Jinli, General Mu has arrived," the man in black armor reported before leaving the tent.
"Oh, you've come at the perfect time. As soon as I heard General Mu was here, I made him a cup of instant noodles," Ning Jinli greeted him with a smile. "General Mu must be very hungry. Come and sit down to eat."
Mu Cheng was stunned for a moment, feeling that this young and beautiful woman was unlike any he had ever seen before.
However, the series of incomprehensible things he had encountered today had left him somewhat confused, and his stomach was growling with hunger. He had no time to think and strode forward, staring intently at the steaming food on the table.
"It smells so good..." Mu Chengkuang swallowed hard.
"Here you go," Ning Jinli handed him a plastic fork. "Use this to eat, to fill your stomach first."
"Thank you, Fairy Jinli!"
Mu Cheng couldn't wait any longer and picked up his fork to eat the instant noodles.
The moment he took his first bite of instant noodles, his face was filled with shock.
For him, everything from the utensil used to hold the noodles to the fork used to eat them, as well as the style of the noodles, was extremely special, but what was even more special was the taste.
Could there really be such delicious food in the world?!
It's definitely not because I was too hungry that it tasted so delicious!
Mu Cheng finished a whole bucket of instant noodles in no time, even drinking the soup.
"What kind of noodles are these? They're so delicious!" He licked his lips, still wanting more. "Excuse me, fairy... do you have any more?"
"Yes, yes, yes, plenty." Ning Jinli immediately continued to make him instant noodles, and also took out a bunch of canned meat, opened them, and gave them to him to eat with the instant noodles.
More than half an hour later.
The table was piled high with instant noodle containers and canned food boxes.
Mu Cheng finally ate his fill, and even had to take off his armor to make sure his stomach wasn't too tight.
He stood up somewhat awkwardly, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Fairy Jinli, I have been rude; I ate so much..."
Ning Jinli smiled and said, "It's alright, it's alright. Being able to eat is a blessing. Besides, you've used up a lot of energy, so there's nothing impolite about it."
“Fairy Jinli,” Mu Cheng asked respectfully, “did you send those people to the Desolate Kingdom to rescue me? Are you the master they spoke of?”
Ning Jinli waved her hand, "It wasn't me, their master is someone else."
"Is that so? Then who is this master? Where is he?"
"Why don't you rest first? You can see him tomorrow."
“No, no,” Mu Cheng said earnestly, “It would be too impolite to wait until tomorrow to see you.”
"Alright, that guy probably isn't asleep yet anyway, come with me."
Ning Jinli led Mu Cheng to another tent.
“Yes, they’re still awake. There’s still light inside.” Ning Jinli pointed to the tent flap. “Just go in yourself.”
"Yes, fairy."
Mu Cheng took a deep breath and slowly lifted the curtain to enter.
A very tall and imposing figure, much taller than the average person, appeared before my eyes.
Just by looking at that back view, you can sense an extraordinary aura.
Mu Cheng clasped his hands in a salute and said, "My name is Mu Cheng. I thank you for saving me. May I ask who you are? Please tell me."
"General Mu, it's been a long time." The other person slowly turned around.
Mu Cheng was taken aback again. Looking at the other person's handsome face with a half-smile, he couldn't recall knowing such a person for a moment. However, the arrogant look that was faintly revealed in those deep eyes seemed... somewhat familiar.
"General, don't you remember me?" A deep voice sounded, gradually revealing a murderous aura. "Indeed, I was too young when I was a hostage in the Desolate Kingdom, and the General didn't see me many times. But the last time we met, the General said to my face, 'This child cannot be kept alive. You wanted to kill me.' I wonder if you still remember?"
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