The General Who Only Knows How to Spoil His Beloved and Write Stories 41

Chapter 41: The Coming Storm

When Qi Xiao and Fu Yunzhi found the injured man on the sand, his face was covered in blood, and he was in a terrible state, so they could only vaguely tell that he was handsome. Now that his wounds had been treated and he was cleaned up, Fu Yunzhi found that he was indeed quite good-looking. He was fair-skinned, his dark hair falling softly on his shoulders, and his thick eyelashes were like fans. He would probably be very charming when he smiled, like a gentle breeze over a pond.

The man had been leaning against the headboard with a dazed expression, but when he saw Mu Linglong and Fu Yunzhi, he instantly went into a frenzy, gesturing wildly, his expression panicked, and letting out strange “ah ah” sounds.

Worried that he would tear open his wounds, Mu Linglong went forward and restrained him.

The man immediately grabbed his hand, making urgent, incoherent noises, his eyes urgent, as if he were begging for something.

Mu Linglong realized something was wrong. “You can’t speak?”

The man nodded.

Fu Yunzhi watched his gestures for a while and asked, “Are you looking for your jade pendant?”

The man nodded like a pecking chicken.

“Jade pendant?”

“He had a milky-white Hetian jade from Junce on him,” Fu Yunzhi explained. “The character ‘Zhuo’ was carved on it.”

Mu Linglong thought for a moment and clapped his hands. “I remember now. I did find a piece of jade when I was changing his clothes earlier. His original clothes were in tatters, so I threw them away, but I kept the jade.”

“Wait a moment. Don’t be nervous, don’t move.”

He rummaged through the wardrobe for a while, found the jade, and returned it to the man.

The man took the jade and lovingly caressed it, wiping it clean. He held it in his hand, unwilling to let it go.

Fu Yunzhi had someone bring a brush and paper and handed it to him.

“Tell us your name first.”

The man wrote three characters on the paper with his uninjured hand: Xiao Zijun.

“Xiao Zijun…” Fu Yunzhi continued, “Are you from Junce? If so, why are you here, and how were you injured by a living dead?”

Since entering the room, he had been observing this sickly, beautiful Xiao Zijun. Seeing his gentle demeanor and the even hint of timidity in his eyes, he guessed that he was not an irredeemable villain. Therefore, his tone was gentle, reminding him that they had saved his life.

Xiao Zijun was silent for a long time, seeming to consider how to say it, or whether he should say it at all.

“If there’s something, just tell us,” Mu Linglong said softly. “We won’t harm you.”

Xiao Zijun wrote on the paper, “Are you from Langxuan?”

“I am a student of the Prime Minister of Langxuan,” Fu Yunzhi said. “And he is a highly respected figure in the Jianghu.”

“Fu Yunzhi? I’ve heard of you. The great scholar.”

Xiao Zijun began to write down his experiences intermittently on the paper. Because he was thinking as he wrote, and his mind was not very sharp after his illness, the writing was disjointed and stumbled, but it was still understandable.

His older brother was a close minister to the King of Junce. It was no secret that the king had long coveted the world and was particularly hostile towards Langxuan. But in recent years, he had begun to secretly carry out some plans. The executors of these plans were the Miao people whom the king had snatched from Langxuan’s hands. They had excavated many graves and used the corpses for inhumane purposes. As for what those purposes were, even Xiao Zijun’s brother did not know. The king attached great importance to this matter, kept it very secret, and had nearly emptied the national treasury to complete this plan.

The king valued these Miao people more and more, building them a sacred altar and even killing all the high-ranking ministers in the court who opposed them, replacing them with Miao elders. Xiao Zijun’s brother knew that the king had been bewitched by the Miao people, so he could only swallow his anger and submit to them.

The days passed in this undercurrent of turmoil and crisis. One day, his brother went out for an audience with the king and came back a different person… or rather, not a person at all.

“He became a living dead?” Fu Yunzhi asked.

Xiao Zijun nodded and wrote, “He used what little reason he had left to drive me out of the house. Later, the King of Junce sent him to Shahan to test the strength of his forces and the effect of the Rebirth Gu. I followed him all the way here. But he didn’t recognize me at all…”

A look of desolation filled his eyes. Mu Linglong shook his head. Not only did he not recognize him, but he was also injured like this.

Fu Yunzhi thought of something else. “Test the strength of his forces and the effect of the Rebirth Gu? How?”

“I don’t know either. My brother seemed to have brought a small team with him and sprinkled the Rebirth Gu in the graveyards and the Sacred Forest.”

Fu Yunzhi frowned. The Sacred Forest, wasn’t that where the King of Shahan and the Emperor had gone? He remembered the signal flares Mu Linglong had mentioned earlier. He hoped they hadn’t encountered these terrifying Gu parasites.

Xiao Zijun continued to write slowly on the paper.

“The reason Junce is creating these living dead is to deal with Langxuan and seize the world, but their method is wrong. I hope Langxuan can save the people of Junce. Those Miao people are not only using corpses to refine Gu, but now they’re not even sparing the living. It’s because the living dead made from living people are better than those from dead ones. They have the agility and wisdom of humans, as well as the immortality of the dead.”

Fu Yunzhi took the paper with his writing. “We will handle this matter with caution. As for you, you should rest and recuperate. We may need your help later.”

After leaving Xiao Zijun’s room, Mu Linglong asked, “Does Master Fu believe his words?”

“Half true, half false. Although a person from Junce turning to Langxuan is indeed suspicious, perhaps he is doing it for his brother? The suppressed pain in his expression doesn’t seem fake. Perhaps he really does have a relative or someone he cares about who was harmed by this Rebirth Gu. Didn’t you see how he treasures that jade pendant?”

“Master Fu and General Qi saw the living dead with their own eyes,” Mu Linglong said. “The fact that the King of Junce is creating them is basically a certainty. It seems the court needs to make preparations.”

“If it really comes to war,” Fu Yunzhi smiled, “I hope Alliance Chief Shen will lend his full support. With the cooperation of the Jianghu and the court, we can achieve twice the result with half the effort.”

“Naturally. You’ve seen the friendship between Linye and General Qi. I don’t even know when they hit it off.”

The two of them smiled. Just as Mu Linglong was about to remind Fu Yunzhi to go back to his room to rest, Qi Xiao’s lieutenant rushed over. “Cult Leader Mu! The Emperor and the King of Shahan were attacked by a giant snake possessed by the Rebirth Gu in the Sacred Forest! Our men were also injured while ambushing the snake. Please go to the main hall to help immediately!”

After informing him, the lieutenant hurried away to find other physicians. Hearing his words, Fu Yunzhi ignored his own injuries and rushed to the main hall.

In the main hall, servants had spread animal skin blankets for Wulanbaer and Rong Feijun to lie on. Both of them were unconscious. The others, including Qi Xiao, Shen Linye, and Mo Yan, were standing, but all of them were injured.

Mu Linglong was startled to see the blood on Shen Linye’s arm. Shen Linye smiled and shook his head to show that he was fine, telling him to go and check on Rong Feijun and Wulanbaer first.

He knelt beside the two of them to assess their injuries, and the other physicians also rushed over. The experienced old physicians assisted him, while the younger ones bandaged the others in the hall.

Fu Yunzhi walked over to Qi Xiao. While raising his arm for a physician to bandage, Qi Xiao said, “Yunzhi, your wounds haven’t healed yet. Why did you come out?”

“I was worried about you and the Emperor.”

Fu Yunzhi looked around. A large group of physicians was surrounding Rong Feijun. It was better not to go over and cause more trouble.

“What on earth did you encounter?”

Qi Xiao briefly described the giant snake to him, and Fu Yunzhi also exchanged the intelligence he had gotten from Xiao Zijun. The two of them whispered to each other, and the young physician bandaging Qi Xiao, embarrassed, lowered his head and pretended not to see.

“After the Emperor’s injuries have healed,” Qi Xiao said, “we will move the army back to the capital to prepare.”

Before his voice had even faded, Mo Yan walked over to them. “General, Master Fu, there is an urgent dispatch from the capital.”

“Go and get it.”

Before long, Mo Yan returned with a message tube.

Qi Xiao opened it and, after reading for a moment, his brow furrowed, and his eyes filled with anger.

“What’s wrong?”

“Lianzhou has been captured by Junce.”

Lianzhou was a military fortress of Langxuan, and a part of Qi Xiao’s Southern Conquest Army was stationed there.

“Junce has started to make its move,” Fu Yunzhi sneered.

The wild wolf had been hiding its claws for so many years, and now it couldn’t help but show them. However, while the wolf was painstakingly sharpening its claws, the lion had not stopped expanding its territory. If they really fought, it was hard to say who would be afraid of whom.