Chapter 44 Part 2

Gu Jinyu had always been overly proud of his physical body, or perhaps indifferent. Not only was he reckless with his life most of the time, but he even had a twisted penchant for enjoying the painful thrill before death. But the feeling of this severe injury and coma was different.

He had an extremely vivid dream.

He saw Gu Xiaodeng sitting by his bedside, radiant and beautiful, like a deity fallen into the mortal world. Shaking his head, he treated him with a mix of pity and playful reproach.

“Tree Branch, open your mouth. I’ll give you some medicine pills.”

The moment he heard Gu Xiaodeng’s voice, even knowing he was dreaming, Gu Jinyu broke down so completely he lost all sense of direction.

“Wow, really? Our Senqing is crying.” Gu Xiaodeng smiled before the bed, his warm hand patting Gu Jinyu’s forehead. “There, there. It won’t hurt once you take the medicine. Don’t worry, my medicine is very effective. I guarantee you’ll be cured as soon as you take it.”

Gu Jinyu wanted to embrace him, but his body was as heavy as if cast in lead.

“But I can only heal your body. I can’t cure your inner sickness. Actually, even for your body, I can’t save you many more times. I gave you too little medicine back then. Sigh. So, Senqing…”

“You have to take care of yourself alone.”

Gu Jinyu had a million words he wanted to scream, but he could only watch helplessly as Gu Xiaodeng bounced and skipped away.

That grief crashed down like a mountain. Gu Jinyu didn’t know how many years he was pinned beneath that high mountain before he struggled out of the bitter dream. As soon as he opened his eyes, he heard the cheers of those around him. Only he himself was torn between life and death.

Zhu Mi was also in the tent. Unlike the other rejoicing generals, Zhu Mi’s expression remained unchanged as if a mountain were collapsing before him. He understood Gu Jinyu better than the others. Seeing Gu Jinyu’s deathlike state, he knew best how to jolt him awake.

“Fourth Gongzi, congratulations on escaping the gates of hell. The entire line of military doctors was helpless against your poison. Thank goodness you brought spiritual medicine from Changluo.” As he spoke, Zhu Mi presented a delicate cloth pouch to him. “In our desperation, we used seventy percent of the medicine inside. The effect was excellent. It finally saved your life.”

Zhu Mi knew this cloth pouch of medicine was a gift from Gu Xiaodeng. Sure enough, upon hearing this, Gu Jinyu, seemingly roused from a dying illness, sat bolt upright in shock, snatched the cloth pouch, and hugged it, looking both dazed and furious. Though he seemed somewhat mad, at least he had a bit of life in him again.

After resting for just a few days, Gu Jinyu returned to the main camp to busy himself. The Northern Expedition had only been in open warfare for three months at this point, but frontline losses were already significant. Though soldiers were rarely killed, many were wounded. Military supplies were being consumed twice as fast as projected.

Gu Jinyu devised countermeasures, but because his seniority and age were both the lowest, and he was still recovering from severe injuries, he was ignored by the other four chief generals. His opinions were not accepted. The other generals, having suppressed decades of hatred for the Northern Rong tribe, unanimously decided to avoid days with unfavorable wind direction and wait for days when the wind was light and calm. On those days, all three armies would sally forth to trample the Northern Rong flat.

Gu Jinyu disagreed. He incongruously pushed for a moderate defensive war of attrition amidst the chorus of decisions favoring aggressive battle. The other generals optimistically predicted a fierce campaign lasting one season, expecting that by midsummer they could resolve the insolent Northern Rong. Gu Jinyu, however, went the opposite way. He conservatively prepared to contain and besiege the Northern Rong for a year, even proposing no more troop offensives and reduced use of Army-Breaking Cannons, focusing solely on extending the defensive line of the garrison to blockade the trade routes between the Northern Rong and the Central Plains border.

The Northern Rong, after all, originated from a frozen and barren land. Dragging this out for a year was enough to cut off their grain supplies for three to five years. If they could hold out until the dry winter season, the Northern Rong, well aware of the dangers of a northern winter, would either yield and surrender or stubbornly starve their entire clan to death.

The old-school generals, led by Gu Yan, only wanted to beat the Northern Rong into fear. Gu Jinyu wanted to make them starve and sicken into fear. Victory or defeat in battle could breed an unyielding martial spirit passed down through generations. Only hunger and disease passed down nothing but terror.

Gu Jinyu knew he couldn’t convince them. He issued his warning once. Before the other generals could report to Changluo, he straightforwardly wrote a plea for reinforcements and sent it to the Empress’s desk in Changluo. Exaggerating the frontline casualties and difficulties, he urgently pressed the Empress for more troops and supplies. He vehemently argued that aside from leaving the essential forces in the other three borders, the full might of the nation should be used to send reinforcements and supplies.

Gu Jinyu sent exaggerated military reports for twelve days straight, causing his Gyrfalcon, Blossom Ashes, to lose weight until it was skinny. The Central Government was intimidated. During his few years serving the Empress in the Eastern Palace, he had almost always established himself with miraculous victories against overwhelming odds. That years-long accumulation of trust was precisely meant to be cashed in one day. Even someone as astute as the Empress was fooled.

While waiting for reinforcements from the other three borders to arrive, Gu Jinyu stalled and blockaded the other generals’ sources of information, stubbornly holding out for another month. By the time the main army came as reinforcements, the other generals could only stare at each other in confusion. Gu Jinyu maneuvered among them with ease. Everything was proceeding within the framework he had envisioned. He had even anticipated that Gu Pinghan would be among the reinforcements.

But he truly hadn’t expected that an old acquaintance, someone he hadn’t seen for years, would also come.

That night, Gu Jinyu had just finished a heated verbal battle with the generals. Exhausted yet elated, he emerged victoriously from the main command tent and saw Gu Pinghan standing not far away. Tall, coldly stern, and wearing at his waist the wooden sword that the Gu Family specifically used for whipping people.

He came a thousand li to provide support and even brought this thing.

Gu Jinyu had long since stopped fearing him. It was just that behind Gu Pinghan stood a youth in plain cloth, just as tall. That youth wore neither military attire nor carried any weapon, yet the oppressive feeling he gave Gu Jinyu surpassed everyone in the world, including the Empress. It was no exaggeration to say, in this world without Gu Xiaodeng, what he feared most was that youth.

Even after five years, Gu Jinyu recognized who that youth was at first glance.

Gu Xiaodeng’s sworn brother, Zhang Dengqing.

Zhang Dengqing, just past his Coming of Age at twenty, had regular, upright features. Having fought in the Jianghu for six years, his temperament was completely different from his youth, yet his essence remained the same. Gu Pinghan beside him was cold and stern like a large mechanical puppet; even his smile was like ice. Zhang Dengqing was different; even when his face was stern, a trace of warm emotion seeped through.

Gu Jinyu feared that the most. The guilt could devour his soul entirely.

Zhang Dengqing shot him a meaningful glance. Only then did Gu Jinyu snap back to his senses and woodenly lead them into his personal tent. The moment they entered, Gu Pinghan dismissed the other soldiers and stood guard at the entrance, looking as if he expected Gu Jinyu to run away.

Gu Jinyu hadn’t even considered the option of running — he couldn’t think of anything at all.

He stood stiffly before Zhang Dengqing. As impressive as he had been in the main tent, he was now just as terrified.

Twenty-year-old Zhang Dengqing suppressed his fury and interrogated him: “Gu Jinyu! I came from Changluo twenty days ago. I went to the Gu Family. Why couldn’t I find my brother?!”

Gu Jinyu’s ears rang. It was as if a thunderbolt had struck his body. Spiderweb-like veins of blood spread in his eyes. Just as he bitterly tried to open his mouth, he first coughed up scarlet-hot blood.

Zhang Dengqing dodged backward and furrowed his brow, watching Gu Jinyu go into a violent coughing fit. A hundred curses came to an abrupt halt. He could only wait for him to finish vomiting blood and get his breath back.

But after watching for a long while, as Gu Jinyu convulsed and couldn’t speak, Zhang Dengqing also saw the clue.

“You wretched bastard…”

For these six years, Zhang Dengqing had been captured and taken back to the Divine Physician Valley. He was forced to follow in his father’s footsteps and learn the medical arts of the Divine Physician Valley. Not only that, but he had nearly been refined into a full Medicine Person like Gu Xiaodeng. Now, he had developed a pair of piercing eyes. Just half a day of looking at a person was enough to diagnose their illness. And over these six years, what he saw most often and most accurately were the states of patients and beneficiaries related to Medicine Persons.

On his way to the Northern Border, he had heard that one of the commanders-in-chief, Gu Jinyu, had nearly died from severe poisoning and injury. After arriving today, he’d also inquired about the general situation and knew that Gu Jinyu had been laid out like a corpse for a full half-month earlier. His subordinate generals had even started dabbing their eyes and tearing white cloth, preparing to wail in mourning. But later, somehow, the military doctors managed to pull him back overnight.

Zhang Dengqing hadn’t thought much of it initially, just assuming the Gu Family produced iron-cast scum. But now, staring intently at Gu Jinyu for a long time, he could see that not only was he indeed seriously ill and wounded, but he also saw that fiercely hot medicinal blood energy, propped up by top-grade spiritual medicine.

Spiritual medicine so fiercely potent it could revive the dead. Zhang Dengqing could only think of one possibility.

He ground his molars and squeezed out a low roar: “Gu Jinyu, did you fucking drink Xiaodeng’s Medicine Blood?!”