The Emperor Reads Storybooks Hidden in His Official Reports 49

Chapter 49: Strange

“I am the sorcerer who summoned your soul here, Qing Luo.”

Li Jianyu felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet, and goosebumps covered his entire body.

This person… what was going on with this person?!

And then, all of Li Jianyu’s senses were replaced by pain.

This pain was not of the body and flesh, but emanated from within, as if his entire soul were being torn and pulled. His head was ringing, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.

“I am the one who brought you here, so your soul naturally belongs to me. I can control your soul. If I can summon you here, I can naturally send you back.” The man in black stood at the side, his gaze eerie.

“Ah…!”

Li Jianyu couldn’t help but hug his head, squat down, and scream. He had never experienced such a pain that he could not control or compromise with. Li Jianyu had originally wanted to transform into a phoenix to escape, but let alone a secret art, he didn’t even have the ability to think.

“Awooo—”

In a daze, he saw the big wolf pounce at the man in black.

Li Jianyu closed his eyes and curled up by the bed.

His ears were filled with the sounds of collisions and fighting. After a moment, Li Jianyu felt himself fall into a warm embrace.

“Little Carp, Little Carp…”

Li Jianyu slowly opened his eyes. The first thing that met his gaze was Zhao Linxu’s firm chest, and then, looking up slightly, he saw Zhao Linxu’s pained and concerned expression.

Looking around, the candles had all been re-lit, and the man in black was gone. But the bloodstains around the big wolf’s mouth and on the ground proved that everything that had just happened was not a dream.

Only after coming back to his senses did Li Jianyu realize that his whole body was trembling.

“It’s alright, don’t be afraid.” Zhao Linxu lowered his head and kissed the pale, bloodless face, which was covered with the phoenix tattoo. He held Li Jianyu tightly with one hand and gently stroked the top of his head with the other.

As soon as the guards had sensed something was wrong, they had immediately reported it. However, the main tent seemed to have been set with a barrier, and Zhao Linxu and the North-South army couldn’t get in at all.

“Zhao… Zhao Linxu…”

For some reason, Li Jianyu’s mind was filled with fear. It wasn’t that he was afraid of the pain, but he was just afraid.

“It’s alright, really. I’m here.” Zhao Linxu gently patted Li Jianyu’s back.

Li Jianyu buried his head in Zhao Linxu’s chest. It was very warm. His hands subconsciously grabbed Zhao Linxu’s back. “I don’t want to go back, I don’t want to go back…”

“Alright, we won’t go back. We won’t go back.” Although Zhao Linxu didn’t understand what Li Jianyu was saying, he still went along with him and coaxed him.

The turmoil of that night had left a lingering fear in Zhao Linxu’s heart. He had made up his mind that from now on, he would stay by Li Jianyu’s side and would definitely not let this happen again.

After coaxing Li Jianyu and watching him fall asleep, Zhao Linxu turned to the big wolf, squatted down, and stroked its head with a smile. “Thank you, Brother Wolf.”

The big wolf turned its head away in disdain and continued to rest.

What a foolish human.

And the next day, after Li Jianyu’s emotions had stabilized, Zhao Linxu immediately and gently asked about what had happened last night.

“It was nothing.”

The morning sun streamed into the tent. After waking up, Li Jianyu leaned against the head of the bed and talked to Zhao Linxu.

“A man in black suddenly appeared out of thin air in the tent and used a secret art to try and control my consciousness.”

Li Jianyu recounted what had happened last night to Zhao Linxu in detail, but he omitted the part about being a transmigrator.

He didn’t want Zhao Linxu to know that he didn’t belong here, and thus treat him as an alien or a ghost possessing a body.

Li Jianyu did not have the confidence that Zhao Linxu would accept him unconditionally.

“Zhao Zhanqi and the others are searching and on alert, but they probably won’t find him. Those sorcerers are really strange, coming and going without a trace.”

Seeing Li Jianyu’s dazed expression, Zhao Linxu smiled. “Little Carp, let me comb your hair.”

“Ah?”

Zhao Linxu took a wooden comb from the side and sat down behind Li Jianyu.

“It’s a trend in the common folk. They say that if a husband combs his wife’s hair, they can be together for a lifetime.”

Li Jianyu was slightly stunned, then nodded.

Zhao Linxu’s palms were broad, with thick calluses from years of practicing martial arts, and they felt very rough.

Li Jianyu closed his eyes slightly.

At this moment, these hands that had killed decisively and supported a country and countless armies were holding his long hair, and the wooden teeth of the comb were slowly combing through the soft strands.

Zhao Linxu was naturally not skilled, but he was worried about hurting Li Jianyu, so his movements were very light.

He combed from the top to the bottom.

“Little Carp.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m serious,” Zhao Linxu said. “About you, it’s not a game.”

Li Jianyu felt a strange emotion flowing in his heart.

“Mm.”

The atmosphere in the tent was warm. Just as the two were talking, a deputy general came to report.

“Your Majesty… there’s been an accident. The General asks Your Majesty to go to the east gate to find him.”

Zhao Linxu’s eyebrow twitched. He rubbed his temples. “What accident?”

“This… it’s hard to say.”

Zhao Linxu shook his head, not dwelling on it. He pulled Li Jianyu to wash up, and then they went to find Zhao Zhanqi.

After seeing Zhao Zhanqi, he pointed to a small tent by the east gate. “This morning, the guards found a seriously injured man collapsed not far from our camp. We thought he was the one who attacked the City Lord last night, so we tied him up and imprisoned him. But he told us his identity, which is very strange…”

Zhao Linxu said with suspicion, “How is it strange?”

“You’ll know when you go in and see.”

The few of them stepped into the tent used for imprisoning criminals. Li Jianyu saw a slender man leaning against a pillar, his feet shackled to prevent escape.

The man’s expression was a little dazed. His features were gentle and refined, his white clothes stained red with blood, and his whole body was in a bad state, looking a little pitiful.

Regardless of whether he was the one who had attacked Li Jianyu or not, they couldn’t just let him die, so a doctor was treating him. Xue Ni was at the side, his expression subtle.

Zhao Linxu stepped forward and asked, “You are?”

“Feng Ju… Feng Juhua…” The man slowly tilted his head up, hugged his shoulders, and said in a small voice, “I’ve come to find the Ghost-Faced General… Is… is he here…”

?!

Li Jianyu’s eyes widened.

Feng Juhua?

“The Emperor of the Great Xi, Feng Juhua?”

Feng Juhua shrank back in fear and nodded slightly.

No way?!

Li Jianyu and Zhao Linxu looked at each other.

What was going on?

At the same time, the tent flap was lifted, and Feng Ju Qianli also arrived with Chong Xi and Xu Zheng. It seemed Zhao Zhanqi had also informed them.

And as soon as Xu Zheng stepped into the tent, his whole body stiffened, and he stared blankly at the man huddled on the ground.

“Hua… Hua’er?”

Xu Zheng’s eyes were full of disbelief. He thought he was dreaming.

How could he see Hua’er here…

Feng Juhua, as if testing the waters, timidly looked up, reached out his hand, and called out, “Brother Xu.”

Xu Zheng could no longer hold it in. All his reason was shattered by this one “Brother Xu.” He rushed forward like a madman and held the person tightly in his arms, unable to think about why this person was here anymore.

“Hua’er, Hua’er! Hua’er!”

Xu Zheng’s whole body was trembling, and so was Feng Juhua. He hugged Xu Zheng and cried his heart out.

Li Jianyu frowned at the two of them, especially the sobbing Feng Juhua. He felt that something was wrong.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on what was wrong, but there was just a sense of…

“It seems a little discordant…” Chong Xi stood at the side, stroking his chin and muttering.

That’s right!

It’s a sense of discord! Li Jianyu thought.

But the lovers had finally reunited, so the others couldn’t say anything.

Xu Zheng held Feng Juhua tightly and was unwilling to let go, afraid that the dream would end if he did. The two of them held each other as if no one else were there.

Zhao Linxu left the private space to the two of them and invited the others to go out.

“I think that person is really the Emperor,” Chong Xi said with a frown. “What should we do now? This is too strange.”

“Let them be intimate for a moment, but we have to watch them to prevent any tricks. After Xu Zheng has calmed down, we’ll ask him what’s going on.” Zhao Zhanqi had someone set up a temporary small tent outside the tent. “I’ll watch them myself.”

Last night, the sorcerer had just broken into the tent and attacked Li Jianyu, coming and going as he pleased in the North-South army. And today, Feng Juhua had suddenly appeared. It was so strange that they couldn’t be careless.

Xu Zheng would probably understand.

Li Jianyu glanced at the tent, then at Feng Ju Qianli and Chong Xi, and asked, “How did Feng Juheng control Xu Zheng and Feng Juhua in the first place? Why did Feng Juhua fall into his hands?”

“Back then, the Great Xi was in chaos, and all the kings rebelled. It was Qianli who suppressed them together with Feng Juhua. At that time, Feng Juheng was always by Feng Juhua’s side, leading troops and devising strategies for him. At that time, everyone got along quite well, and Qianli and Feng Juhua also appreciated each other.”

Chong Xi shook his head. “Later, at the last moment, just as Qianli was about to ascend the throne, Feng Juhua suddenly turned against him. Qianli almost lost his life, and we, along with the Ghost-Faced Army, were driven out of the country.”

Li Jianyu said, “And later you found out that it wasn’t Feng Juhua who had turned against him, but Feng Juheng, who had controlled the army and him, right?”

“Yes. According to Xu Zheng, in the beginning, the reason Feng Juhua fell into his own brother’s hands was because he was too trusting and had no defenses, which gave Feng Juheng a chance to strike. Feng Juheng gave Xu Zheng and Feng Juhua a lover’s gu. If the two were in love, Feng Juheng could control them, making their hearts ache as if they were being twisted, and they would be unable to move. To break this gu, the only way was for their love to change and for them to no longer love each other.”

“But fortunately, later, Xu Zheng met an old man he had saved on the battlefield before. That old man was the famous Divine Doctor Shen He, who removed the gu-worm for Xu Zheng.”

Li Jianyu frowned. “Then why is Feng Juhua still imprisoned in the palace?”

“It was too late. At first, he was constrained. After Xu Zheng’s gu was removed, Feng Juhua had long been locked up by Feng Juheng in the deepest part of the palace. His body was full of secret arts, gu-poison, and medicine given to him by Feng Juheng. Feng Juhua didn’t even have the strength to walk out of his own room.”

After hearing what Chong Xi said, the few of them fell silent.

Logically speaking, how could that Feng Juhua have escaped, and how could Feng Juheng have let him go?

But then, how to explain the person who had just reunited with Xu Zheng in the tent?

“Let’s not talk about Feng Juhua for now. City Lord Hua will arrive today. We must defeat the enemy in one fell swoop before they move their camp!” Zhao Linxu smiled and pointed to an ancient city that Zhao Zhanqi had marked.

The Thousand-Li Wolf had not yet guided them, so the enemy’s location was just a guess by Zhao Zhanqi based on the clues Feng Juhua had given before, but it was eighty percent likely.

“That’s right.”

The few of them were full of fighting spirit, but the question about Feng Juhua remained unsolved.

At night, Feng Juhua disappeared, and something also happened to Li Jianyu.