Chapter 57 Same as before

The rain gradually subsided and Zhou Huaiyan got off the boat.

The clean and exquisite brocade boots stepped into the blood, splashing dirty water.

In the freezing cold wind and rain of the North, the young man's long hair was entangled with a bandage, intertwined with snow and ink, and fluttering freely.

He raised his eyes slightly, his gaze fixed on the familiar halberd.

——That is my uncle’s Sky-breaking Halberd.

It is a magical weapon passed down from generation to generation by the Jiang family to protect their country.

The cold blade was washed by the heavy rain, washing out a cold light like thunder. The continuously falling rain covered the man's fingers holding the halberd, and then seeped out blood.

——This is the answer Zhou Huaiyan wanted.

Ah Fei did not bring her uncle's severed arm, but came with the Sky-breaking Halberd.

So at this moment, Zhou Huaiyan leaned over slightly and held his hand.

Although it was cold and rainy, the man's hands were very hot, and even the iron weapon in his hand exuded a bloody heat.

"Get up."

Wow——

The young and majestic general stood up suddenly, his back as straight as a tree.

But the moment the other party stood still, Zhou Huaiyan was slightly stunned.

After a moment, he raised his eyes slightly and looked at the foreign man in front of him, and suddenly there was a hint of trance in his eyes.

Three years were enough time for the skinny and small little slave, who was only as tall as his chest, to completely change his appearance.

Even now, when Zhou Huaiyan looked at the other person, he still needed to raise his eyes slightly.

"......"

【It turns out that now, 】

——A Fei is already taller than him.

However, this moment of absent-mindedness only lasted for a moment. Zhou Huaiyan withdrew his hand, but as he was always clean, he did not wipe the blood off his fingertips.

The Ninth Prince nodded slightly, then turned to look towards the city engulfed in flames in the distance.

"Lead the way."

"yes."

Yanzhou had just been recaptured, and the Great Zhou soldiers who had poured into the city were still in the process of clearing out the remaining foreign soldiers and putting out fires at the same time.

Those barbaric tribes have always been like this. Wherever they pass, no matter what, they will destroy and kill it all.

Even if the army was defeated and the city was abandoned, a big fire had to be set in the end. Fortunately, it was raining when the fire was set, so the fire did not get out of control.

On the way into the city, Zhou Huaiyan asked Ye Lingyun to follow him.

The eldest daughter of the Shangshu Ling was not as smooth and sophisticated as her father, and she did not follow the principle of keeping a low profile.

Ye Lingyun looks like a woman who comes from a military family.

Very much like...his mother,

—— Jiang Xun.

When Zhou Huaiyan walked into the city, the rain had stopped, but there were still pools of blood on the ground, corpses and limbs everywhere, and wailing coming from nowhere.

Next to him, the military chief of staff, Zhang Hengyu, followed behind the Ninth Prince. He had worked in Yanzhou as a grain and fodder manager.

"Your Highness, Yanzhou City originally had 80,000 soldiers guarding the border and more than 100,000 civilians. Later, the foreigners poisoned the water and attacked our camp. Yanzhou fell, and many of the 80,000 soldiers were decimated and killed before they could even pick up their weapons. The rest also died in the bloody resistance."

His face was filled with grief and resentment, his eyes were bloodshot, and his teeth seemed to be bleeding as he spoke.

"And the remaining 100,000 old, weak, women and children finally evacuated at the risk of their lives. Eight thousand young people escaped, and in the city, in the end... there were only less than 10,000 young and fertile women left."

He didn't say what happened next.

In fact, Zhou Huaiyan knew all of this, but he did not stop him from finishing.

Zhou Huaiyan could see Ah Fei following behind him out of the corner of his eye. He could feel that these three years had changed a lot for her.

Whether it is appearance or mood.

Zhou Huaiyan even clearly remembered the scene in Chonghua Palace when the seriously injured Ah Fei cried at his feet, but now——

The young general was tall and majestic, with a stern face. He was like a ghost blade honed in a sea of ​​blood and corpses, but now resting quietly in its ancient and heavy scabbard.

Even after three years of separation, the other person was much calmer than he had imagined.

[…That’s good.]

Better than Zhou Huaiyan expected.

The Ninth Prince, who was entering the battlefield for the first time, had a calm expression and even a strange sense of numbness.

However, compared to Zhou Huaiyan, who was living a life of luxury and adapted well to the situation, Ye Lingyun, who also came from the capital, turned pale and his breathing trembled when he witnessed this purgatory-like scene.

She had prepared herself mentally many times and imagined the battlefield would be filled with corpses and blood. But even if there were a large number of corpses and they were destroyed beyond recognition,

——But it was just a corpse.

The scene that appeared before her was far beyond her imagination. The corpse was not scary, but the survivors were scary.

This rich daughter who grew up in the capital city found a girl who looked about fifteen or sixteen years old in a haystack soaked in rain and blood.

——She is in labor.

At the same time, Zhou Huaiyan was still listening to Zhang Hengyu's report. He clearly realized that the war he was now stepping into would be a brutal massacre.

The foreign race had been lying in wait for decades, and on the surface had only assembled an army of 200,000. However, Zhou Huaiyan inferred from the battle reports of the past three years that these 200,000 were most likely just the vanguard.

Once Duke Wei dies, they will no longer have any scruples, and the ensuing war will only become more brutal and bloody.

If you are not mentally prepared to face the mountains of corpses and the sea of ​​blood, there is no hope of victory. No matter how cruel the scene is, he must not waver.

Absolutely not.

until--

Zhou Huaiyan followed Ye Lingyun's gaze and saw warm blood flowing out of a haystack not far away, as well as a struggling, bruised calf. From inside came a woman's miserable scream, followed by a baby's cry.

Wow——

The young and tall general blocked the Ninth Prince's sight, and then soldiers immediately ran hurriedly towards the haystack.

Ye Lingyun didn't know how they would deal with this situation, whether to kill the evil offspring of the foreign race, or to protect them as the bloodline of the Zhou people.

But at that moment, she still ran over according to her heart and shouted:

"stop!!!"

In any case, there was a girl who was giving birth, naked, and next to her was a soldier in iron armor with a sword.

Ye Lingyun didn't care about her reputation as a woman. She hurriedly took off her clothes, panicking and trying to cover the other person's bloody naked legs.

"It's okay, it's okay, we..."

But the next second, the struggling girl suddenly snatched the knife from Ye Lingyun's waist.

Puff——

The cold weapon pierced the skin, and the weak baby's crying stopped abruptly.

“.......”

Ye Lingyun stood there in a daze, his fair face splattered with boiling blood.

Her beloved sword, the blade she had intended to use to kill the enemy and protect her country, was sharpened not for a jackal-like foreign invader, but for a newborn baby who had not yet opened his eyes.

And then, she used her sword to cut the throat of another girl.

——That was what she originally wanted to protect.

Ye Lingyun started studying history at the age of four, but she had read all of her grandfather's books and historical records, and none of them mentioned the current situation.

Ye Lingyun was full of ambition when she resolutely embarked on the Northern Expedition. However, when the cruel reality shed blood on her face, she finally felt what a bloody scene it was when those short words in history books fell on specific people.

Zhou Huaiyan was blocked by Ah Fei and couldn't see what happened, but he knew everything from the sound. He looked up at the man in front of him, seeing his obvious foreign appearance.

At this moment, Zhou Huaiyan suddenly thought of A Fei's mother, the eldest daughter of the Yun family.

He wondered what kind of woman was so mentally strong and extremely powerful that even after being raped, she was still able to give birth to a child alone, and even after discovering the abnormality in the child's body, she still did not abandon him.

"......"

Several thoughts flashed through his mind, and Zhou Huaiyan only paused for a moment before walking away. When he arrived in the northern border, his pace was much faster than in the capital.

Ah Fei has arranged the remaining finishing work, which will take half a month. After half a month, Yanzhou City will be basically safe.

Because the foreign races will not completely withdraw after abandoning the city, they will leave many death squads, hiding in various corners of the state capital, waiting for opportunities to assassinate some important military officers, or steal important intelligence.

Zhou Huaiyan heard from his uncle that one year they had recaptured a border town, but they did not clear out the foreign warriors inside, so a particularly brave general was poisoned to death, and even a large amount of food and grass were burned to ashes.

Zhang Hengyu had been reporting to him about the current situation in the northern border and the situation in Yanzhou City all the way. Zhou Huaiyan remembered it all, but now, he was unable to analyze and think calmly as before.

He should hold back, he should stay calm.

His steps became more and more rapid, but the next second, the slippery stone slabs caused Zhou Huaiyan to stagger suddenly and fall forward.

Bang.

A strong hand supported him. The other person grabbed his wrist bone, which was a familiar yet strange touch. The originally distant distance was suddenly shortened, and Zhou Huaiyan could even clearly smell the blood on the other person's body.

"Your Highness, be careful."

The man's unfamiliar, deep voice woke Zhou Huaiyan up. However, he did not raise his head, but spoke slowly and hoarsely,

"Take me to him..."

The handsome young man looked up. He was dressed in pure white, except for the very light pink at the corners of his eyes. He looked like a gorgeous cold plum blossom covered with cold snow.

"......A Fei."

It’s neither Yun Fei nor Helu Bei.

He is calling, Ah Fei.

"......"

The young general stared at him for a few seconds, his respectful gaze gradually becoming scorching.

The man's Adam's apple moved slightly, and then he uttered a word with a trembling voice,

"good."

Although this was different from the original plan, he had no choice but to accept it.

Ah Fei could never refuse Zhou Huaiyan.

Three hours later——

Zhou Huaiyan followed Ah Fei into the dark underground cave. This was once the place where the alien king cultivated human-snakes, and the deepest part was the poison pool where Ah Fei had been immersed, and it was also the place that devoured the flesh and blood and lives of countless children.

But now, it has become the hot spring that sustains Duke Wei's life.

Two years ago, Zhou Huaiyan had expected that he could not go to the northern border because of the poison. Even if there was no poison, the emperor would not let him go.

He couldn't stop his uncle from going to war, nor could he stop the emperor from defending the country, and the foreign king from killing him. So he simply took advantage of the situation.

Since the alien races even have insects that can control other people's minds, why can't they have insect poison that can make people fake their death?

But the Duke of Wei would not agree to this plan.

Zhou Huaiyan knew his uncle too well. The uncle would rather die at the hands of the rebels or go to a deadly situation alone than fake his own death and retreat.

Even though Zhou Huaiyan tried his best to calculate every detail, the situation on the battlefield changed rapidly and he was far away in the capital. So he eventually missed the opportunity.

Zhou Huaiyan did not expect that Qi Shoubang would actually deliberately lose Guibroken Cliff, nor did he expect that his uncle would rush thousands of miles to stop him even though he was seriously injured.

Even had one arm cut off.

In this era of scarce medical care, such serious injuries are almost a death sentence.

But fortunately...

Fortunately, the last sentence on the battle report said that General Yun Fei led his troops to rescue.

It was this sentence that had carried Zhou Huaiyan to where he is now. Otherwise, he would not have made such a circuitous plan, but would have used a more tragic method.

Zhou Huaiyan stared at him in a daze, looking at the man's old and familiar face, looking at his mutilated left arm, looking at his scarred body.

His arm was broken and his body was seriously wounded in nine places.

The pale words in the war reports were so shocking when applied to specific people.

Pop.

Ah Fei grabbed the boy's wrist and whispered a warning,

"Don't get too close."

"......"

Zhou Huaiyan was breathing with difficulty, his voice was terribly hoarse.

"He... my uncle, how long can he live?"

With such serious injuries, he should have died on the spot as written in the battle report. It was a blessing that he was still alive.

Zhou Huaiyan still managed to retain some rationality, so he naturally couldn't be naive enough to think that his uncle could still recover.

"At most...half a year."

"......"

The young man's breath choked and he suddenly fell to his knees.

"Half a year...half a year..."

The snow-white headband behind her also slid down, a few crystal drops flashed in the air, and a few dark spots were smudged on the ground.

Ah Fei didn't help him, but remained silent.

After a long period of dead silence, Zhou Huaiyan suddenly chuckled and murmured,

"That's enough...that's enough."

He staggered to his feet and took a deep look at his only remaining relative in this world.

"Uncle, the road to death is cold and gloomy. Please be patient and wait."

The boy's gentle voice turned cold, and every word seemed to be soaked in deep hatred and murderous intent.

"Qi Shoubang, Qu Pingye, Zhou Hongjin... and the so-called foreign races... hundreds of thousands of warriors."

"Wait for Huaiyan to take their bones and flesh..."

"—pave the way for you."

......

At three o'clock in the morning, Ah Fei brought the addicted Zhou Huaiyan back to the warship at the Wuhe Port Pier.

The city of Yanzhou has not been cleaned up yet, so it is safest to live in a warship now.

Ah Fei helped him wipe off his sweaty body, changed him into clean clothes, and then carried him to the bed.

He knew that the boy liked cleanliness, so he quickly took a cold shower again, washed himself clean, and then served him by the bed.

After not seeing each other for three years, Ah Fei now looked at him almost greedily.

If other people heard what Zhou Huaiyan said just now, they would probably laugh at him for being so ridiculous.

Those three names, one is a general with a large army, one is the current king of a foreign race, and the last one, Zhou Hongjin, is the emperor of the Great Zhou.

Everyone in the world could laugh at Zhou Huaiyan for overestimating his own abilities, but Ah Fei firmly believed in him.

No matter what, as long as it is what his master wants to do, it will be accomplished in the end.

——Definitely.

He lowered his eyes and looked at the young man shaking in pain on the bed.

In other words, the 22-year-old Zhou Huaiyan can no longer be referred to as a teenager. But three years later, Ah Fei herself is completely different from before, while Zhou Huaiyan is still the same as before.

In other words, his beloved Son of God was more beautiful than ever.

Even the bitten lips in pain, the trembling eyelashes, and even the uncontrollable broken sounds that spilled out made him fascinated.

Ah Fei knelt beside the bed and tentatively touched the boy's wrist.

——Not rejected.

So he leaned forward, but before he could make any move, Zhou Huaiyan bit his neck hard.

In the past, he used the forbidden dagger to cut a hole, but now he bites directly.

Feeling the pain in her neck, Ah Fei lowered her eyes and did not struggle. Instead, she reached out and hugged him.

"......"

In fact, this morning, when Ah Fei first saw the young man standing on the warship, she was not as calm as she appeared.

The longing and joy in his heart were like a raging fire that burned a city, burning his entire body.

God knows how much self-control Ah Fei used to prevent herself from hugging and kissing him when Zhou Huaiyan reached out to help him up.

Later on, he could only temporarily transfer someone to report the situation in the north to the young man, because he was afraid that once he opened his mouth, he would not be able to help but pour out all his thoughts and love.

Ah Fei suddenly understood why the young master of the foreign noble family was determined to keep the beautiful bird in the cage even if its wings were broken.

——Stay by my side.

Of course, Ah Fei was reluctant to break his wings. Even after dawn, he would continue to be the sharpest knife in his master's hand.

But half a year later, once Zhou Huaiyan's wish is fulfilled, the beautiful bird will fly away.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted here.

As the pain in his neck suddenly eased, the boy relaxed and pushed him away weakly.

“I’ve quit.”

The tone sounds depressed.

"......?"

Ah Fei was stunned for a moment, and reached out to touch the side of her neck. Her fingertips only felt a little sticky moisture and a circle of familiar teeth marks, but there was no blood.

It turns out that after biting for a long time, the skin was not broken.

Ah Fei didn't know whether she was too thick-skinned or her master was too weak.

Or maybe the boy just couldn't bear the pain so he bit it to satisfy his oral craving.

But Ah Fei thought about it and said,

"Well, you can exchange it for something else besides blood."

"...Your Highness has said that he has given up."

"I found the antidote."

In fact, the most important reason why the snake poison changed from once every five days to once every half a month was not Zhou Huaiyan’s strong willpower, but that the antidote made by Ah Fei began to work.

Zhou Huaiyan was slightly stunned while enduring the severe pain, but soon figured out what was going on. He slightly widened his eyes, but before he could say anything, the man in front of him came over and blocked him at the foot of the bed.

Ah Fei was now 1.88 meters tall, like a grown tiger. He only moved closer, and his shadow almost completely enveloped Zhou Huaiyan, like a majestic mountain about to fall.

Buzz——

The cold blade of the forbidden dagger was placed across the man's throat, and the thin blade quickly left a faint red mark on his skin.

But Ah Fei didn't care. He just used his most vulnerable throat to block the dagger, lowered his head, and kissed Zhou Huaiyan's cool but soft lips.

Bright red blood slowly flowed down the man's neck, wetting a part of his shirt. The thin fabric stuck to his chest, outlining his overly full chest muscles. Zhou Huaiyan's eyes were clear, and he slightly retracted the dagger and let the other party kiss him. He only asked in the gaps between breaths.

"Have you completed everything I asked you to do?"

Ah Fei left a red mark behind the boy's ear and responded without hesitation.

"Seven days later, you will see Qi Shoubang's head."

The man's voice was deep, with a little impatient panting, and there was an inexplicable eroticism in his magnetism, which made people's ears soften. After getting a positive answer, Zhou Huaiyan finally put down the dagger.

He asked,

"Have you washed it?"

The man pressed his hands tightly against his chest and answered,

"Same as before, Master."

The whole body, inside and out, is clean.

The author has something to say:

In a few more chapters, Ah Fei will be crowned king~