Chapter 46 Attendant Picking Up Fourteen
Upon hearing the name, Shinjuku, unaware of anything amiss, nodded and gave his own name.
The King of Zhen's gaze sharpened, and he asked her, "Where are your family members?"
Xi Luo immediately pressed the blade deeper, drawing blood from Yin Niangzi's neck. Clearly, he didn't want Yin Niangzi to hear, so he didn't answer directly.
The King of Zhen understood and said, "Tie them all up."
The village had no shortage of ropes for binding people. Yin Niangzi was waiting for them to beg her to reveal where the ropes were, but Zhen Su acted as if he were at home and quickly brought out thick hemp ropes. Then, Zhen Wang skillfully tied everyone up, and Zhen Su was responsible for throwing them into the side room, finally blocking the door with heavy objects.
"They can't get out now." Shinju brushed the dust off his hands. He then bent down to pick up Feng Shuo, who had been moved out, but was stopped by the Poison King.
Shinju looked up at the King of Zhen, whose gaze sharpened slightly as he looked at him and said in a deep voice, "I am here."
Xi Luo, standing to the side, widened her eyes and looked at the King of Zhen. Usually so composed, she seemed utterly shocked today.
Instead of competing with the Poison King, Zhen Su suddenly thought of something and used his divine sense to scan Feng Shuo. He found that there were indeed ink spots on Feng Shuo's body. He guessed that the other party might have been drugged with a kind of sleeping potion and had fainted. So he touched Feng Shuo's forehead and absorbed the poison.
The King of Poison's gaze deepened.
Xi Luo didn't know what Zhen Su was doing, and subconsciously wanted to stop him but held back. Unexpectedly, the next moment, Feng Shuo slowly woke up.
"Feng Shuo!" Xi Luo shouted.
"...Luo'er? Luo'er, are you alright!" Feng Shuo, who was sitting on the ground, almost stood up, but Zhen Su helped him up. Only then did he notice that besides Xi Luo, there were two other people beside him. Judging from the imposing aura surrounding these two, they were not ordinary people, nor were they martial arts practitioners; rather, they seemed more like officials. However, for some reason, one of them had a slightly unfriendly look in his eyes.
"Did you two save me and Luo'er?" Feng Shuo pressed his temples to stop the dizziness and asked.
Before Shinju and the King of Poison could say anything, Xiluo nodded first.
Feng Shuo immediately bowed and said, "Thank you both! I have no way to repay your life-saving grace, I..."
"Never mind that for now, you have family waiting for you. Lead the way," Shinju interrupted.
“…Okay, okay.” Feng Shuo never expected that they would have such a turning point, and he was so excited that his hands trembled slightly.
.
In the makeshift tent in the middle of the night, the army doctor went in and out. Feng Shuo, Xi Luo's elder sister, and mother lay together on the soft mat. Although they were still weak, their faces had regained some color.
The soldiers brought charcoal braziers from the village and lit them, finally making the tents a little warmer.
The group exchanged bewildered glances, until Xiluo's elder sister finally spoke up, asking, "The 'Your Majesty' they're calling, could it really be that 'God of War'? Has he come here from the capital?!"
“Jing’er still loves the story of the God of War so much,” her mother said with a smile. She had seen the King of Poison before, but he was only a teenager at the time, so she didn’t recognize him at first.
"That's no ordinary story!" Xi Luo's elder sister exclaimed excitedly. Without the War God, there would be no Ten Frontier Cities as we know them today. She had heard tales of how the War God reclaimed the Ten Frontier Cities since she was a child. "How could the people of the Ten Frontier Cities not like... His Majesty!"
"Shh, don't gossip behind my back..." Feng Shuo gently reminded him.
Just then, the tent flap was lifted, and Zhenwang, Zhensu, and Xiluo walked in one after another, making the tent quite crowded.
Xi Luo was usually very arrogant and never liked following behind others, but now he was following behind Zhen Su like a little tail. So Feng Shuo couldn't help but take a few more glances at Zhen Su, and then he noticed that the other party was wearing a hair crown, and with that set of intricately patterned clothes, he finally realized the other party's identity.
He was actually the father-in-law? Feng Shuo was extremely surprised.
However, before he could think any further, the Poison King had already approached.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." The three people on the mat tried to rise and bow, but were stopped by the King of Zhen.
"No need for formalities. I have already heard the details from Xiluo."
The words of the Poison King instantly reminded them of their distant relatives, and a look of worry appeared on their faces.
Even Shinjuku's expression turned serious.
He and the King of Zhen had just listened outside as Xi Luo recounted how his family of ten was kidnapped and how they escaped from the thieves.
As members of the Xi family, they did not sit idly by and wait for their doom. General Xi's mother, who was nearly seventy years old and in very poor health, decided to stay behind as bait. Although her husband, Master Xi, was still very agile and capable in battle, he could not bear to leave his wife and voluntarily stayed behind with her.
"Don't worry about us, go. The Xi family shouldn't be his weakness."
"Go on, children."
"Grandpa! Grandma!—"
The iron gate slammed shut, separating life and death. The two old men used their bodies to block the gate, buying precious time for Xi Luo and his younger relatives, allowing them to fight their way out of the prison. However, the area they passed through was incredibly fortified and treacherous, riddled with traps and heavily guarded. They narrowly escaped capture several times, sustaining numerous injuries. Had it not been for their determination not to let their grandparents' sacrifice be in vain, they might not have survived. After finally breaking free of the heavily guarded prison, they split into two groups and fled in different directions. Besides Xi Luo and his group of four, there were also Xi Luo's second uncle's family and Xi Luo's older brother, Xi Shun, also four people, who escaped in the other direction and whose whereabouts remain unknown.
“Grandpa and Grandma…Grandpa just celebrated his birthday last month and said they would live to see me become a general…but—” Xi Luo’s eyes were already dry as she recounted the events. She simply gripped her twin swords tightly and said calmly, “I must kill those Feng people.”
Then she straightened her back and knelt before the King of Poison.
At that moment, Feng Shuo and the others heard the King of Zhen say, "I have arranged an elite squad that can be at Xi Luo's command. You can rest here while Xi Luo goes to bring back General Xi's remaining family members."
When Shinjuku didn't hear his name called, he couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, what about me?"
The King of Zhen glanced at him sideways and said, "I will stay here." The implication was that he could only stay here as well.
Although protecting the King of Poison was of utmost importance, he had a premonition that if he could not rescue General Rhinoceros's other family members, it might have terrifying consequences that would affect the small world.
I dare not speak of anything else, but Shinjuku has absolute faith in his intuition. After all, he has saved himself countless times over the years by relying on his intuition. Before his final battle with the demon before his fall, he had already sensed something was amiss before keeping his appointment. However, due to an important promise, even knowing there were tigers in the mountains, he still had no choice but to venture into the tiger's den.
He possessed divine sense, making him more suited to searching than others. Therefore, Shinju did not yield, his golden eyes showing a rare tenacity as he stared intently at the King of Poison.
The King of Zhen stared at him for a moment, then sighed silently. Just as he was about to compromise, he heard Zhen Su say to him, "Your Majesty, can you protect yourself? Otherwise, I really can't leave without worry."
The King of Zhen thought to himself that he had been truly underestimated, but his face showed no anger at being provoked. Instead, it was filled with a smile that overflowed from his eyebrows and the corners of his lips. He couldn't help but wonder, how could this kid always manage to surprise him and say such hurtful things to him with such a serious expression?
"Hahahaha." King Zhen had never laughed so unrestrainedly before. Apart from mocking those fools who didn't know their own mortality, this was the first time he had laughed so genuinely.
This was the first time Shinjuku had ever seen the King of Venom laugh so heartily. In his memory, the King of Venom always had a cold, stern face, was always self-disciplined and courteous, rarely showing his true feelings; even when angry, it was mostly an act. At this moment, Shinjuku was also infected by his laughter, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly.
Everyone looked on in utter bewilderment. Although they were unfamiliar with King Zhen, they knew he was the "God of War," the emperor, and the ruler of the Nian Kingdom. Yet, to be so "offended" by his subjects, he not only didn't get angry but instead laughed with delight—this reaction was truly unbelievable.
The King of Poison took the Miao sword from his waist, approached Zhenju, wrapped his hands around Zhenju's slender waist, and tied a sash and scabbard ring around him. His breath brushed against Zhenju's ear, which was adorned with earrings, and said, "If you don't know how to use it, use it to hit people."
Shinju touched the Miao sword, which was so long it almost touched the ground, and said with delight, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"I don't need you to worry, but you shouldn't make me worry either," the Prince of Zhen said seriously, his brows furrowing.
Masakatsu nodded vigorously, his golden eyes shining. "I understand."
Suddenly, a wind arose in the night, rippling the grassland like waves. Twenty horses were led out, one of which was particularly tall and imposing, clearly the Akhal-Teke horse of the King of Zhen. At that moment, Zhen Su and Xi Luo stood beside this Akhal-Teke horse.
Normally, Xiluo would want to step on someone's hands or back to climb up, but she couldn't make such a request to Masakatsu, nor did she want anyone to carry her up.
Just as she hesitated, she suddenly felt a tightness around her neck and a lightness over her body. She had been lifted onto the horse by the collar with one hand by Shinju. Xilu quickly flipped her legs and sat steadily on the horse.
Shinjuku knew she would understand, so he nodded in satisfaction and explained, "Since there are no ponies, you'll have to ride with me."
“I don’t mind, let’s go.” Xi Luo pursed her lips and said.
So Shinju stepped onto the footstool, climbed up, and sat behind Sairo.
The King of Poison stood aside watching them, his expression seemingly indifferent and emotionless, but in reality, he seemed to be imagining something and plotting something.
Shinjuku was unaware of all this. He kicked his horse's flank, glanced back at the King of Poison, his eyes seeming to say a lot, yet also saying nothing, before riding off with the other soldiers.
.
Langcheng, watchtower.
As dawn broke, the gloom in the corner of the watchtower was gradually dispelled, but it could not dispel the gloom in the soldier's heart.
The soldiers who had finished counting the provisions ran up and reported to General Xi, who always stayed at the top of the tower: "General, there are only thirteen days' worth of provisions left."
"The thirteenth?" the strategist asked eagerly, "Didn't we still have the amount for the sixteenth yesterday?"
"Two grain depots were raided by civilians, and the grain merchants who promised to supply the army also reneged, saying they had counted the grain and there wasn't enough. In the end, half of the grain was delivered." The soldier became more and more powerless as he spoke.
"We thought we could last a month, but who would have thought that only six days have passed and our remaining food is less than fifteen days' worth." The strategist paced back and forth anxiously. "What should we do? The reinforcements are slow to arrive, and there is no news from the capital or the surrounding cities."
But none of this news elicited the slightest reaction from General Xi. He held his steel helmet with a red tassel, leaned back in his chair with his head tilted to the side, his gray hair hanging down in disarray, and stared unfocusedly at a line of ants crawling across the ground.
If his family were here, they probably wouldn't recognize him at all. His hair had turned white overnight, and he looked so old that he seemed to be on his deathbed; there was not a trace of the former glory of General Xi.
The strategist knew that being anxious was useless, but seeing General Xi so dejected and unable to cheer up, how could he not be anxious? If even the backbone was like this, how could the people below have any hope?
But anyone who has experienced such a thing... those twenty hours of torture, like being slowly sliced to death, would rather die than face it. The strategist could only sigh deeply, and then earnestly advised again, "Perhaps they are still alive. The treacherous dogs of Feng Kingdom only sent the two elders' remains... As for the other headless corpses, didn't you suspect before that they weren't them?"
The strategist spoke to the air for a long time but still received no response, so he gave up and went down the tower to get back to work.
General Xi remained seated, so no one heard him silently and persistently chanting a name—
"...Feng Shun..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
