Chapter 42: Jealousy
“What the hell is this!” Zhao Linxu was also startled by the two who had suddenly disappeared into the ground.
In the middle of the night, it was terrifying.
“Behind you!” Li Jianyu suddenly shouted.
Zhao Linxu also sensed a strong wind behind him and reacted extremely quickly, turning around to block the attack.
Now Zhao Linxu and Li Jianyu could see clearly. After a few times, they understood. This was not a ghost, but the Goblin race!
Li Jianyu’s brows furrowed tightly.
Alright then. Xu Zheng had said that Feng Juheng was a beast. Now it seemed that Feng Juheng had indeed found many non-human creatures to help him. Who on earth was he, to be able to ally with so many races with special abilities or ferocious beasts?
Zhao Linxu fought two against one. As long as the opponents were not at the level of Wan Yunliu, the future Wulin Alliance leader, or the North-South Asura, Zhao Zhanqi, it was not a problem. But the two before him were cunning goblins, who floated up and down on the ground, their attacks catching people off guard. Therefore, Zhao Linxu was entangled with them for a while.
Clang!
After a moment, Zhao Linxu finally succeeded in restraining both of them at the same time.
Li Jianyu was overjoyed. Although Zhao Linxu was being attacked from both sides, he had still managed to gain the upper hand.
Zhao Linxu used the handle of his whip to block the attack of the man in front of him with one hand, and with the other, he caught the dagger of the woman behind him with his bare hand, gripping her wrist and using his internal energy to immobilize her.
“Little Carp! Now!”
Li Jianyu immediately came out from the pile of grass, closed his eyes to gather his strength, and a ball of flickering flame appeared in his palm.
Splash—
The fireball shot towards the limbs of the two, making them scream in pain, unable to fight back anymore.
Zhao Linxu knocked them unconscious and dragged them onto his horse. The Taotie from before was too heavy, and Yuefeng couldn’t carry it.
In any case, two were enough to get information from. Zhao Linxu untied his belt, gathered some nearby vines to tie up the Taotie, and then left him lying in the oasis, to have someone come and get him later. If the man had already woken up and escaped from his bonds by then, there was nothing he could do.
“It seems we’ve had a fruitful night. Let’s go back.” Before they left, Zhao Linxu didn’t forget to pinch Li Jianyu’s cheek and smile. “My Little Carp knows secret arts now.”
Although this wasn’t a secret art, the effect after using it was no different from that of a high-level sorcerer. Zhao Linxu was very happy in his heart and also felt a lot more relieved.
At least Li Jianyu could protect himself. Although Li Jianyu would naturally not go to the battlefield during a war, things like tonight would inevitably happen.
“Although I know secret arts, you still have to teach me martial arts.”
“Alright, alright.”
The two of them walked back under the moonlight.
Before they reached the camp, they saw Zhao Zhanqi and a few of his personal guards come out to meet them. It seemed they had been out for too long.
“What’s wrong?” Seeing the two people piled on the horse’s back, Zhao Zhanqi raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“Goblins from the Great Xi’s army camp,” Zhao Linxu said. “We’ll talk about it slowly later.”
Zhao Linxu saw that Zhao Zhanqi and the other personal guards were avoiding looking at Li Jianyu, and he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I’ll take Little Carp to put on… change his clothes first.”
Only then did Li Jianyu realize that he was only wearing a cloak, and it was Zhao Linxu’s. He immediately wished he could dig a hole and crawl into it.
Seeing the words “Oh my god, so exciting” and “His Majesty and the City Lord’s relationship is so good” written in the eyes of the personal guards, Li Jianyu felt that life was meaningless.
Honestly!
XXXXXX
The main tent had been burned down, and the servants were re-setting up a new one. For now, Zhao Linxu was making do, taking Li Jianyu to a more spacious and comfortable tent by the training ground to rest and discuss important matters.
Li Jianyu had borrowed a set of clothes from Xue Ni and was now sitting around a wooden table with everyone.
The man they had brought back was tied up and imprisoned, guarded day and night, while the woman was brought into the tent and tied to a chair.
“If you don’t want to suffer, be honest and tell us what you know.” Xu Zheng held a dagger and waved it in front of the woman.
The woman looked at Xu Zheng’s ghost mask, her face pale. She paused and said, “It was General Rong Qing who wanted us to assassinate… assassinate the Emperor of the Great Gong. There’s a bounty for completing the mission…”
“You are a goblin. Why would you work for Rong Qing?”
“It was our king who told us to listen to General Rong.” The woman was also a shrewd and clever person. She immediately betrayed her master and also knew what Zhao Linxu and the others wanted to hear. She said on her own initiative, “Feng Juhua and our king have an agreement. We work for Feng Juheng, and Feng Juheng will reward us.”
“What about the Taotie with you? He looks different from an ordinary Taotie.”
“He’s not a Taotie,” the woman said. “He’s an ordinary person from the Great Xi, just fed the gu-poison of the Red Snake sorcerer, so he became half-demon, half-human.”
Hearing the name “Red Snake,” Xu Zheng’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if a storm were suddenly brewing. The dagger on the woman’s neck was unconsciously pressed harder, and a shallow cut was made on her neck.
Feng Ju Qianli caught the key point in this and frowned. “All the Great Xi’s soldiers under Feng Juhua and Feng Juheng have been fed the gu-poison?”
“Yes.”
“That’s tricky,” Zhao Linxu said, shaking his head.
Feng Ju Qianli continued to ask, “Besides having the strength and speed of a Taotie, are there any other effects of taking this gu-poison?”
“I don’t know, but the consciousness of those who take the gu-poison becomes more and more blurred day by day, as if they are gradually losing their humanity and only know how to hunt and kill.”
Feng Ju Qianli’s hands clenched into fists.
That bastard, Feng Juheng!
Chong Xi held Feng Ju Qianli’s hand and said in a low voice, “We will defeat Feng Juheng and solve these messes.”
“To defeat Feng Juheng, we have to personally slaughter our own people. They have been fed the gu-poison now and only know how to fight. How can we persuade them to surrender?” Feng Ju Qianli sighed heavily.
Zhao Linxu knew that the Great Xi’s army was camped in the desert, but he didn’t know their location. The North-South army was now constantly sending people out from the border and the main camp to explore and search, trying to find the specific location of the enemy’s camp. However, the desert on the border was different from the outskirts of Huanyue City. It was as vast as the sea, with frequent sandstorms and thick fog. If you really wanted to hide something, you wouldn’t be able to find it in a short time.
So, Zhao Linxu went forward and asked the woman to draw a map of the camp’s location.
“No need to draw. I have a map,” the woman said. “There’s a pendant hanging around my neck. If you open it, you can see the map hidden inside.”
Zhao Linxu reached out and opened the pendant on the woman’s chest.
Swoosh—
“Be careful!”
Li Jianyu’s eyes widened. He saw that there was no map in the pendant at all. Instead, a poisoned needle flew out and shot towards Zhao Linxu’s forehead.
“Zhao Linxu!”
Zhao Linxu felt a blur before his eyes, but it was Chong Xi, who was standing beside him, who suddenly leaned forward and shielded him. Zhao Linxu was surprised, but he had immediately drawn his whip as soon as Li Jianyu had shouted. At this moment, he barely managed to swat away the poisoned needle, and both of them were fine.
“Chong Xi!” Feng Ju Qianli rushed forward and grabbed Chong Xi, saying in a low voice, “What are you doing! Do you know how dangerous that was just now? If you had been hit by that poisoned needle, you would have died on the spot!”
Chong Xi was also scared. He nodded with a pale face.
Zhao Linxu looked at Chong Xi in confusion.
Why…
Li Jianyu was startled at first, then relieved that no one was hurt. Now that he had calmed down, he felt that something was wrong.
Were Chong Xi and Zhao Linxu that close?
He remembered now. The first time Zhao Linxu had seen Chong Xi, he had been very excited and had rarely lost his composure.
Li Jianyu’s thoughts began to wander, imagining all sorts of possibilities.
…What on earth was going on!
And at the side, Zhao Linxu temporarily paid no attention to Li Jianyu’s mood. He was trying hard to suppress his doubts and guesses and thanked Chong Xi.
“It’s nothing. I didn’t help much.” Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Chong Xi gave a dry laugh. “I was just… thinking that this battle is crucial, and the Emperor of the Great Gong can’t have an accident. My body just reacted.”
The bound woman had originally wanted to use the antidote to threaten Zhao Linxu and the others to let her go. Now, seeing that her plan had been exposed, she simply started crying and wailing, begging for mercy.
“Wuwu… I really don’t know! I don’t know where the camp is. Every time the Great Xi sends someone out, they change their camping location, constantly wandering in the desert. Then they send the sorcerer’s crow to pick us up and take us back…” The woman sniffled. “So I really don’t know. I’ll tell you everything. Spare me…”
“Take her down first,” Zhao Zhanqi said, shaking his head.
“Spare me! Let me go—”
The woman’s voice gradually faded away. Zhao Zhanqi looked at Zhao Linxu. “Now that the Great Xi not only has the help of the Taotie but has also pulled in the Great Fan. What do you intend to do?”
The Great Fan was the only country ruled by a non-human. The king of the Great Fan was the Goblin King. Now that the Goblin King had reached an agreement with Feng Juheng, it went without saying for the Great Fan.
“I’ll write a letter to the Empress of the Great Chai later and see what she says.” Zhao Linxu was an old acquaintance of the Empress of the Great Chai. They had met a few times before and had a good impression of each other.
“Thank you for your trouble, Your Majesty,” Feng Ju Qianli said, cupping his fists to Zhao Linxu.
After discussing a few more matters about continuing their journey the next day to the North-South army’s main camp on the border, the others dispersed.
Zhao Linxu pulled Li Jianyu, wanting to go to sleep and rest. The beauty before him was a little different from usual. Li Jianyu usually wore flamboyant red, but now he was wearing Xue Ni’s crescent-white robe. The light, introverted color had a certain elegance, and paired with his features, it had a unique flavor.
Zhao Linxu felt his heart race.
“Don’t touch me.”
Li Jianyu pulled his hand away and didn’t look at Zhao Linxu.
“Ah?” Zhao Linxu blinked.
Li Jianyu turned his back on Zhao Linxu and went back to his room on his own.
Zhao Linxu was completely baffled.
What was wrong now?
