Yu Ling sighed inwardly at the system, and when Lin Jiu rushed in front of her, she lightly dodged and was able to find nearby Wu Tu soldiers to use as human shields in the shortest time. Every sidestep made Lin Jiu's grabbing move miss.
One of them had astonishingly fast hands when clearing obstacles (the Black Soldiers), and the other was just as fast on the feet. In the blink of an eye, they had already run more than ten meters away. Lin Jiu's gaze remained fixed on Yu Ling's face, and the two of them chased each other without Qi Ruo and Wu Mo noticing...
Yu Ling: What bad luck! I should have known better than to join in this fun!
Meanwhile, Qi Ruo was the chief general appointed by the Phoenix Kingdom. Not only was he a skilled commander, but he was also exceptionally skilled in combat, and his martial prowess was naturally formidable.
Even in a world without internal energy, while at a disadvantage, it wouldn't be difficult to say that he could completely ignore Wu Tubing, but it wouldn't be difficult for him to hold out against Wu Mo for a while longer.
The fierce battles were all similar, and lasted for quite some time. Finally, Qi Ruo unleashed her power, inflicting heavy losses on herself as well as damage on the enemy. It was unclear what her intentions were.
Although Wu Mo was a powerful warrior who had experienced many battles, he was still made of flesh and blood. When faced with Qi Ruo's reckless fighting style, he would instinctively try to dodge. Qi Ruo seized the opportunity and thrust out her sword, piercing through his left arm.
Qi Ruo didn't fare any better. She was slashed in the lower back by Wu Mo's curved blade, then hooked by the shoulder and thrown far away, crashing into the tips of the Wu Tu soldiers' blades. Both of them were injured at the same time.
Logically speaking, by this point, Qi Ruo, the warrior left all alone, should have surrendered. But... if she gave up so easily, she wouldn't have become a general.
Despite her serious injuries, Qi Ruo did not admit defeat. Instead, she used her last strength to charge at Wu Mo. Wu Mo covered her left arm and cursed under his breath, "Idiot!" He then ordered the Wu Tu soldiers around him to surround and subdue her, while he turned to Yu Ling to show off his victory.
"Hiss—" Only after disengaging from the battle did Wu Mo realize something was wrong with his arm. He looked at the blackened wound, turned his head and spat, "A general of your stature resorts to poison? No wonder you only brought this small force to rescue people. Too bad, the people of Wu Tu are known for their strong resistance to poison!"
After giving his victory speech, Wu Mo realized that the old prisoner was nowhere to be found. He looked around again but couldn't even find the hem of Yu Ling's or Lin Jiu's clothes.
"...Where is Young Master Wei?"
The soldiers looked at each other and shook their heads in unison. They were so busy watching over their commander that they hadn't had time to observe anything.
"You guys, tie up General Qi Ruo and lock him up. I'll go find... Huh???" Before he could finish speaking, Wu Mo, who was about to look for someone, saw Yu Ling, who was being chased and hacked by Lin Jiu, rushing towards him.
Although Yu Ling ran fast and maintained her beauty, Wu Mo, who had always thought Yu Ling was weak and frail, was shocked. Seeing that the battle on this side had ended, Yu Ling decisively gave up the idea of taking a break to fight and quickly tried to hide behind Wu Mo.
As luck would have it, Wu Mo used his injured arm to protect him, and Lin Jiu slowly stopped, regaining some of his composure.
"Young Master Wei Yichen? What are you doing here?" Qi Ruo, who witnessed the two coming into contact, was no longer calm. This poison could be inflicted upon contact; it didn't necessarily require a cut to the skin! They might accidentally injure friendly forces!
As if on cue, Yu Ling, naturally not caring about Qi Ruo's condition, noticed Wu Mo's injured arm and casually tore off a piece of his sleeve to bandage it.
A short while later.
"...System, I think I've been infected with a virus..."
Yu Ling had just escaped Lin Jiu's intimidation and hadn't noticed that Wu Mo's wound was poisonous. By the time she realized it, it was too late. She had just finished complaining to the system when she fainted.
【？？？】
The system is terrible; it didn't even react in time and is now kicking itself.
[Host! Don't scare me, Host?! Ahhh, I should have just let that bastard Lin Jiu kill me back then, Host!!! Your life is more important than hers!!!]
While Yu Ling collapsed from poisoning and fell into a coma, her body was broken, but her soul remained conscious, coldly observing from the sidelines.
The system knew nothing about the soul.
Yu Ling fainted suddenly, and Wu Mo only had time to pull her into her arms. Now, she was even more shocked. Seeing that she couldn't wake her no matter how she called out, her face darkened, and she immediately shouted at Qi Ruo, who was being held down by Wu Tu soldiers behind her, and questioned her:
"General Qi Ruo, could it be... that you were behind this too? Quick, tell me! What poison did you use? Where is the antidote?"
"I've forgotten the name of the poison... As for the antidote, it's not that I don't want to give it to you..."
Qi Ruo was already startled by Yu Ling's appearance, and now she was even more frightened by his poisoning and unconsciousness. Looking at the pale, bloodless, pitiful beauty, she said with a complex expression,
"Actually, the antidote is still in the border town military camp; I didn't bring it with me."
Upon hearing this, Wu Mo felt uneasy. She had heard about Qi Ruo's character and knew that she was unlikely to lie. If Qi Ruo said she hadn't brought it, then the antidote was indeed in the territory of the Phoenix Kingdom.
"He is a citizen of my Phoenix Kingdom, so it is only right that we save him. If you let this general and Vice General Lin take him back, I will definitely offer him the food this time." Qi Ruo added. At the beginning, she had planned to use the antidote to save her sisters' lives if she failed, but she didn't expect to use the wrong person.
but......
Why is Wu Mo more anxious about Yu Ling's poisoning than he was when he was poisoned?
Qi Ruo wondered if she was just like those women in the capital, lusting after this man's good looks.
...Whether she should say it or not, she told the truth.
Without any benefit or reward, Wu Mo was naturally unwilling to release the man. Capturing a general was much more difficult than capturing Lin Jiu, the deputy general. If he released him and the man returned, wouldn't he have wasted his efforts?
But Yu Ling was truly her beloved. Now that her life was at stake, how could she let him suffer through the poisoning on his own, just like the Wu Tu people?
"Go back alone and bring back the antidote. Once the person is rescued, I'll discuss the deal with you using other people as leverage." This was Wu Mo's bottom line.
Compared to the lives of her sisters in the army, Qi Ruo didn't care much about supplies. At worst, the Empress would deduct her salary for a few years. Just as she was about to nod in agreement, Lin Jiu, who had been standing aside as a background figure and had no presence at all, finally spoke up.
"How can we wait for a round trip to get poisoned?"
She deliberately spoke before Qi Ruo could reply.
"How about this, Wu Mo? Let me take Young Master Wei back to detoxify first. Once he's recovered, I'll send him and the supplies back to you... What do you think?"
When Qi Ruo heard Lin Jiu say this, she thought that the other party was worried that her knife wound would make it difficult for her to ride a horse, and her heart warmed.
She had no idea that the other party intended to leave first, so she didn't explain to Wu Mo that the poison wasn't actually so deadly that it would kill in three days.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
