Ch64 - Southeast

The jet-black arrow glinted with a cold and terrible light in the sun. At the critical moment, Jing Shao suddenly turned his head and the arrow grazed his cheek, leaving behind a burning pain. Of the two arrows below it, the right one brushed over his silver armor with a clang while the left one struck him in his left arm! 

“En…” Jing Shao hmphed, raised his hand and pulled out the arrow in his arm. He then easily grabbed the bow slung over the back of his horse and fired three arrows in return.

The three arrows flew in the shape of the 品 word, the left one glinting as it aimed for the heart, the right one to pierce a lung, and the last one to decorate the throat! The general hadn’t expected Jing Shao to not dodge, nor to even have strength to spare and return fire. He quickly raised his bow and shot an arrow to block the three incoming ones. Two arrow tips collided. The general’s arrow had greater force, and it pierced and split the arrow into three parts, while the other two arrows both fell to the ground.

Everyone had never seen such precise archery skills before. For a moment, they were all stunned. By the time they snapped back to their senses, the godly marksman had turned his horse around and had run away. The southeast army that had come to ambush them quickly retreated.

Zhao Meng was about to take the cavalry with him in pursuit, but Jing Shao put down his bow. “Don’t give chase.” 

There were less than 100 soldiers left in the southeast army. It might be dangerous if they pursued them on this narrow mountain road, and the gains wouldn’t be worth the loss.

“Wang Ye, you’re injured.” Hao Dadao put away his blade and joined the group. Seeing Jing Shao cover his left arm, he came over to inquire into the situation.

Only now did Jing Shao feel the pain, and he couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath of air.

“Don’t ride anymore. Let the military advisor help you apply some medicine,” the left protectorate general said expressionly.

Hearing this, Jing Shao immediately jumped off his horse and signaled for the army to continue pressing forward before he burrowed into the carriage.

Mu Hanzhang looked quietly at the man in front of him. He helped him take off his armor without saying a word, ripped open his sleeve which was soaked crimson, and used a cloth dampened with some tea water to wipe off the blood around the wound. The wound was small but deep, and it was still bleeding. Fortunately, it was only a flesh wound, and didn’t reach the bone. Mu Hanzhang picked up the powder that helped stop bleeding and sprinkled it over the wound without pause.

“Ah, hurts, hurts!” Jing Shao grimaced and yelled.

Mu Hanzhang ignored him. After stopping the blood, he took out a small green jade bottle and applied a layer of the medicine. He took off his cloth belt and used it to wrap the wound carefully. He tied a neat knot and then let go of Jing Shao’s arm. 

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Lifting his eyes to see that his Wang Fei was still expressionless, he couldn’t help but feel a little aggrieved; he had gotten injured, but Jun Qing didn’t say anything to console him. He suddenly wanted to inch closer to eat some tofu, but unexpectedly, in the next moment, his body was held in a warm embrace.

Mu Hanzhang tightly hugged the man in his arms, and only then let out the breath he had been holding this entire time. The warm touch allowed him to confirm that this person was still alive, safe and sound in his arms. It was just that the scene had been too frightening. Seeing the three arrows fly at Jing Shao, who couldn’t dodge any of them, the sky and earth had seemed to suddenly turn gray and Mu Hanzhang even forgot to breathe.

A light fragrance filled Jing Shao’s nose, and he was caressed warmly and softly. Jing Shao was still and stared blankly for a moment before he suddenly realized that he was in Jun Qing’s arms! His smile gradually widened and he reached out to hug his Wang Fei around the waist as he relaxed and nestled into his arms. In two lives, no one had ever held and consoled him like this when he got injured, and his heart couldn’t help swelling with more emotion than he had ever felt before. If he had married a woman, they would probably just be sniveling right now; how would they be able to hold him like this and let him rely on them? 

The carriage continued to move forward slowly and neither of them spoke; there was only the clatter of wooden wheels on stone.

“Jun Qing…” Jing Shao happily rubbed against that warm chest.

Mu Hanzhang patted the head in his arms and sighed lightly before he snapped out of it. He looked down at the man in his arms and said in a warm voice, “You’re probably tired; I’ll hold you, so sleep for a while.” Jing Shao had just fought a fierce battle. After all the tension, he had to be tired.

Naturally, Jing Shao was very willing to do so, but he was afraid that he would be too heavy and Jun Qing would get tired after holding him for a long time. He stretched out one hand and grabbed a pillow to put on his princess’s thigh. Holding comfortably onto that narrow waist and smelling that light fragrance, he closed his eyes with peace of mind. 

While Liangyi Mountain was large, it didn’t take long to cross it. Once they got to level ground, there would be no danger they would have to guard against, not until they reached the southeast border. Thus, in the next few days, the wounded Wang Ye had no qualms about nesting inside the military advisor’s carriage.

Xiao Huang was very dissatisfied with the position which Jing Shao occupied. Because of how large it had grown, two people sleeping in the carriage felt crowded. Jing Shao thus often threw Xiao Huang onto the footrest to sleep.

And Jing Shao was also very fond of this tiger footrest, often taking off his socks and rubbing the soles of his feet on the yellow fur. Xiao Huang usually wouldn’t care at the beginning. If it continued for a long while, however, it would turn around to gnaw Jing Shao’s feet. Mu Hanzhang would stop this kind of behavior at first. Later, he found it interesting. He even learned from Jing Shao and tempted Xiao Huang with dried meat so that it would flip onto its back and reveal its belly for Jing Shao to rub his feet on!

They arrived at the southeast border in the next few days. Before them lay hills and some rocky mountains. Layer upon layer, fold upon fold, the rolling hills were endless. Looking into the distance, it looked like an endless landscape. That was why the local people called this area Repetition Mountain Range. 

The southeast wasn’t as desolate as the southwest. It had a large population and abundant resources. Although the Southeast King was violent and licentious, he was very good at fighting, and capable generals emerged under him one after another. In this land of hills, it could be said that there was no danger to guard against, but it could also be said that there was natural danger to guard against everywhere!

Jing Shao took the army with him, and after fighting for nearly a month, they hadn’t even been able to advance a hundred li; the war had fallen into a stalemate.

Jing Shao looked at the map in front of him; the undulating hills occupied nearly half the southeast fief. He sighed; it was going to be winter soon. Even if he could attack the main city immediately, he was afraid that they still wouldn’t be able to return to the capital for the new year.

“War isn’t child’s play. How can it be that easy?” Mu Hanzhang pushed a cup of tea toward him. 

“Yes…” Jing Shao sighed. The battle for the southwest had gone too smoothly, which had made him a little rash.

“Why are you so anxious to return to the capital? Is there some important matter?” Mu Hanzhang sat down beside him and looked all around. He wondered where the little tiger had gone off to.

“Nothing big,” Jing Shao said with a mischievous smile. “It’ll be the same if I get someone else to do it.” Anyway, before he left the capital, he had already handed the matter over to Ren Feng. If he couldn’t return by then, someone else would do it.

Mu Hanzhang raised his eyebrows. Seeing Jing Shao’s appearance, it shouldn’t be anything serious. He shook his head helplessly, then got up and went out to look for the little tiger cub. 

Outside the camp, Xiao Huang was standing on a rock and staring attentively at the fish in the river. The water gurgled and the big silver fish swayed in the water. They looked very delicious!

“Splash!” When Mu Hanzhang came to look for it, he saw the big ball of black and yellow fluff jump into the river. It wasn’t able to catch the big fish, and instead got itself wet all over.

The little tiger climbed onto the bank and shook off the water. The fluff on its face had flattened because of the water. It was quite funny. It looked up and saw its master, and immediately pounced with joy.

Mu Hanzhang quickly dodged to one side, having seen that those big paws were coated with mud. He had just bathed it yesterday, which seemed all in vain. 

“Wawu!” After failing to catch fish to eat, the cub lay on its back at its master’s feet as it acted cute and begged for dried meat.

“Woo…” Not far away came the sound of a bugle, which was a crucial moment at the start of a fight between the two armies.

“Jun Qing!” Jing Shao, who had come out to find his Wang Fei so that they could go back for lunch, saw that the sound of the bugle had drawn his attention, so he pulled Jun Qing up onto a small dirt mound in front of them. In the distance, they saw a black mass as the two sides rushed forward to kill. Dust rolled and the sounds of fighting shook the sky.

“If we continue fighting like this, I’m afraid that a lot of troops will be sacrificed.” Mu Hanzhang frowned at the battlefield in the distance. “Has there been any word from Ge Ruoyi lately?” 

Jing Shao hugged him from behind. “No; her situation definitely isn’t easy, and I didn’t have her send news since the beginning.” Ge Ruoyi was a secret weapon that had been ensconced next to the Southeast King. Naturally, this couldn’t be revealed to anyone. If a mistake was made in the course of doing something as trivial as delivering news, the gains wouldn’t be worth the loss.

“Eh?” The man in his arms suddenly let out an exclamation. When Jing Shao followed his line of sight, he saw the southeast army, which had a faint advantage, suddenly withdraw and turn around. Looking at the sky, it had just turned noon. There had to be something wrong within the southeast army for the troops to withdraw at this time.

“Let’s go back,” Mu Hanzhang turned and said.

Jing Shao nodded and pulled his family’s military advisor back to the center tent. After a while, the small soldier who reported new information ran in. 

“Reporting-” The small soldier rushed into the center tent and knelt down. “Reporting to the commander: The southeast army suddenly retreated, and General Hao is asking whether to pursue them or not.”

Jing Shao muttered to himself for a moment. While a cornered enemy shouldn’t be chased, what he saw on the mound didn’t seem like a trick to lure in the enemy. “Chase!” Just one simple word, but it resonated powerfully. The messenger immediately received the order and galloped away on a fast horse.

Hao Dadao was ordered to chase them, and he found the southeast army in sudden chaos. Regardless of the consequences, he rushed in to kill, and when night fell, he returned to the camp with his armor drenched in blood. He didn’t have time to clean up and just went back to the center tent to give his report.

“This general thinks that based on the southeast army’s situation, something big must have happened.” Hao Dadao wiped at the blood and dust on his face. “Commander, this general thinks that no matter what happened, this is a good time to wipe out the southeast army while the army’s heart is in turmoil.” 

Hearing Hao Dadao’s report, Jing Shao’s heart couldn’t help but speed up and he grew excited. This situation was very similar to when he received word of the death of the Southeast King in his previous life.

Mu Hanzhang frowned slightly. He held Jing Shao’s hand and motioned for him not to be impulsive. He said to Hao Dadao, “General, it has been hard on you. Go and get some rest first, we shall make a decision tomorrow.”

It was useless to give chase at night. Hao Dadao suppressed the excitement in his heart, saluted with cupped fists and turned away.