UCTOOT CH91

These two both had the appearance of people from Jing, so they hadn’t aroused suspicion when previously tailed.

The cart driver, Old Wu, said, “I’m not drinking!”

“Don’t be like that. I’ve just found a few women. It’s perfect timing to send them to the master for his enjoyment.”

Old Wu cursed, “What enjoyment? Forget dancers, we shouldn’t even see each other anymore.”

This sentence seemed to surprise the person opposite him, who remained composed and asked, “What? Did something happen?”

Old Wu leaned back against the horse, “What else could it be but that Commander-in-Chief? He’s pressing hard for the grain and supplies, threatening with military orders, and coming on strong. Those dozens of shiploads of grain at the wharf can’t be sent out for now. The camp defenses will be inspected soon. Let’s just stop here.”

The man said, “What’s the matter, Old Wu? Why so anxious?”

“You don’t know, this Commander-in-Chief is no pushover. He’ll find out sooner or later.”

“What, you’re afraid of him?”

As they spoke casually, Shi Shu felt an inexplicable chill; his calves cramped, and a sense of absurd horror rose up his back.

It was true. They had sold off the 500,000 dan of grain.

—Five hundred thousand dan of military grain could feed an army of 100,000 for two months! An army of 100,000! For two months! That was the life-saving grain for the city’s defense, and it had been sold off by this group of powerful elites…

Xie Wuchi definitely knew.

…As Shi Shu pondered with his head down, a more terrifying thought struck him like a bolt of lightning—

Shi Shu recognized Yuan Guan; Yuan Guan was just a scholar in the vast sea of people, and the other man looked slightly familiar, but he couldn’t identify him either. In everyone’s eyes, they might be merchants from Da Jing, or perhaps officials, but Yuan Guan was actually—a man from Bei Min!

If Yuan Guan was a Min man, then who was the one speaking? The sale of this military grain was undoubtedly connected to Bei Min.

Bei Min, the enemy army that was, at this very moment, besieging Yinzhou, slaughtering people like flies!

Shi Shu wanted to leave; he had to tell Xie Wuchi this news. Shi Shu backed away but then stopped, wanting to hear more. As this thought occurred, he had a bad premonition.

Seeing that a critical piece of information had been mentioned, Old Wu and the others looked around warily. Shi Shu crouched in the bushes as Old Wu averted his gaze, “It’s not good to talk! The Commander-in-Chief is checking the wharves one by one, investigating where the grain went. If he finds his way to Mule’s Shoal, I’m afraid we’ll lose both our lives and our money!”

“What are you afraid of?” the man said, grabbing his arm.

“The camp defense at the wharf has been bribed; they’re our people. As long as the books are balanced, there won’t be a problem. If it really comes down to it, we’ll set fire to the grain depot. Without evidence, what can he say?”

“Hey! You don’t understand the Commander-in-Chief’s methods! He’s a living Yama King.”

“So what if he’s a living Yama King? Even a Yama King can’t touch a true dragon.”

The man comforted him, “Old Wu, tell the master to relax. We have money. Who doesn’t want shining silver? Besides, who would dare to touch someone of the master’s status? To touch him would be to slap the faces of the Emperor and Empress…”

Old Wu sighed, “Aigh!”

“How about this: in three days, we’ll ship the goods from Mule’s Shoal wharf as usual. Get your boats here quickly, and I’ll raise the price for you by another twenty percent.”

At the mention of money.

Old Wu pondered for a long while, “I’ll go back and talk to my master.”

“Fine, shouldn’t you have just said so from the start? Don’t be so tense, let’s go relax and have a drink. I’ve had some people write a few new tunes and just taught the girls to sing them. Your master is sure to like them. He might even reward you if he’s happy.”

“Aigh…”

Old Wu started walking up the forest path. Watching him go, Shi Shu’s heart skipped a beat. This was bad. The path was high with a wide view. Once he was up there and looked down, Shi Shu would be as obvious as a sheep on a green pasture.

Just as Shi Shu was nervously thinking about how to retreat, the man put his fingers to his mouth and blew a loud whistle. Instantly, birds took flight in the forest, and the sound of hooves clattered as several tall horses appeared on the hillside—

“…”

The eyes of a hawk are sharp.

—Shi Shu was caught completely off guard, discovered in an instant!

After the whistle, the man said, “Oh, there’s a little tail? Old Wu, look at the mess you’ve made. Aren’t you going to deal with it?”

Damn it, I’m speechless.

Cold sweat broke out on Shi Shu’s forehead. He stood up and bolted. Behind him were cavalrymen on warhorses, galloping toward him. Taking advantage of his position on the moderately high slope, Shi Shu ran for his life, disappearing in a flash.

A person can’t outrun a horse, and the distance was closed in moments. Shi Shu’s heart was pounding, adrenaline surging to its peak. Every muscle in his body tensed, pushing his running ability to the absolute limit!

The sound of hooves was like a demonic enchantment, growing closer and more deafening. If this group hadn’t suddenly appeared, Shi Shu could have escaped normally. But this was no time for self-pity. Shi Shu ran wildly, knowing the distance without needing to look back. The surrounding area was a fork off the main road; no one would come by. The woods were deep, so no one would come to his rescue either.

Shi Shu’s heart tightened, his blood flowing rapidly, his body’s potential pushed to its limit. There were ditches on both sides of the road for drainage, and seeing they were almost two or three meters deep, Shi Shu jumped in without a second thought. His back scraped against the mossy, weed-covered stone wall and mud pit, leaving a burning trail. His vision filled with spiderwebs, and a sharp pain shot through his leg upon landing, but he had no time to care and kept running forward.

Horses couldn’t pass through the ditch, but someone had jumped down behind him. Yet, there was the sound of other hooves above, suggesting a pincer attack involving two or three people. Someone shouted, “Go to the front and block him!” The sound of the horses grew distant, but Shi Shu knew his path was blocked ahead.

He couldn’t keep running forward; he would be trapped between them.

Shi Shu stopped, heart pounding, breathing heavily. He picked up a rock from the ditch, broke off a thorny vine, and turned to face his pursuer. He couldn’t see the face clearly, but he saw the blade in the man’s hand, its edge sharp.

Shi Shu threw the rock with all his might! The man instinctively dodged, and when he opened his hand again, the blade was being snatched away. Shi Shu tried to take the ring-pommel saber, but it was tied to the man’s arm with a rope. In the blink of an eye, the immense force from the man’s arm tore him away; it was the strength of a seasoned military man.

Shi Shu lunged for the man’s eyes, but instead, he tore off the man’s mask.

—The face of a middle-aged Bei Min man was revealed: high-bridged nose, straight features, and a heroic appearance. Unlike typical Min men who wore thick beards, his was shaved, leaving a bluish jaw.

“Yuan He!” Shi Shu’s eyes widened.

The man twisted Shi Shu’s wrist behind his back, with enough force to instantly crush the bone, but he paused a second before applying full force upon seeing Shi Shu’s face.

The ditch was filled with the acrid smell of vegetation. Shi Shu met his gaze. Yuan He held the large, bloodstained ring-pommel saber in one hand, a testament to its many victims. Yuan He stopped his hand. His angry eyes stared at Shi Shu. Behind him, Shi Shu heard movement in the grassy ridge; another Bei Min man was approaching from the other side to block him.

—Shi Shu didn’t know what would happen. He had only met the Yuan family once; this was not a reunion of old friends. Shi Shu thought for only a second, then shoved him hard and ran behind him.

Then, a hand grabbed his collar and yanked him back savagely. Shi Shu felt a coldness on his back, like ants crawling over it, but by the time he came to his senses, the pain of tearing skin had consumed his body!

—A large amount of blood gushed from his back. Shi Shu was violently pushed to the ground. The other person’s footsteps grew closer. Shi Shu heard Yuan He’s voice: “Stay down.”

It felt as if Shi Shu’s heart had been thrown to the ground as well. He was completely drained of strength, burying his head in the grass. As the other footsteps approached, he was roughly grabbed. A hand pulled his hair, and a sharp blade clanged violently against the ground beside him several times, sending blood spurting.

Darkness flooded Shi Shu’s vision.

Someone asked, “Lord He, is he dead?”

“Killed him.”

“Cut off his head for Prince Yinkun to see.”

“There are still many women, don’t frighten them. It’s just a nobody. Not worth the trouble.”

Blood dripped from the blade. Shi Shu was thrown into the bushes. That person left, and Yuan He said, “See if he has any valuables on him, I’ll check.”

“Yes, my lord.”

This person’s pronunciation was not standard, twisted with a Min accent. Shi Shu lay motionless as his pockets were searched. He heard a very soft voice: “Benefactor, Xiao Shu is married.”

“She is doing well, thank you.”

The darkness before Shi Shu’s eyes seemed to be torn open, revealing a sliver of light. He lay prone, unmoving, his face pale, his eyelids heavy. Silver was found on him, and Yuan He said with dissatisfaction, “Let’s go, poor dog, not a drop of oil to squeeze out.”

After speaking, he gave him a seemingly heavy kick. Shi Shu closed his eyes, not making a sound, doing his best to pretend to be a corpse.

The sounds grew more distant as the men climbed out of the ditch, mounted their horses, and rode away. Shi Shu’s ears felt muffled, as if his head had been punched. His body temperature was dropping. He struggled to get up from the ground and saw a large splash of blood on the grass, his vision turning black in waves.

Lucky, so lucky.

He wasn’t dead.

With trembling hands, Shi Shu took off his clothes and crudely bandaged his wounds. Every movement tore at his nerves, but instinct for survival allowed him to endure the pain. The taste of blood was in his throat. After just a few steps, Shi Shu collapsed back into the weeds. He was exhausted, in pain, and weak… he wanted to sleep, just to sleep it all away.

So tired…

Shi Shu lay face down in the grass, his consciousness fading.

When Shi Shu opened his eyes again, the ditch was pitch black, shrouded by grass and trees, with only the faint silver light of the moon overhead. He had regained some strength, though his body was still in pain. He walked forward, reached the end of the ditch, and finally climbed out.

His bones felt rusted, and his legs had lost their normal function; each step felt like a mermaid walking on knives.

With every step, Shi Shu wondered where the end was, wanting to stop and rest, thinking of his parents. It would be nice to stop and rest, but the remnants of his rationality reminded him that if he stopped, he might not wake up again. Wild beasts roamed the mountains and would likely be attracted by the smell of human blood.

Just get to the main road.

Shi Shu dragged his feet, his legs as heavy as lead, his whole body wracked with pain. Shi Shu had always been quite resilient to pain and rarely overthought it, but at this moment, the pain was indescribable.

“It hurts so much…”

“It’s killing me…”

“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so much…”

He wanted to stop, to fall to the ground and sleep, to fall into a deep slumber. If he could just sleep and wake up again, perhaps he would have more strength? But Shi Shu didn’t want to stop. The military grain was sold to Bei Min, the city was still waiting for supplies, many soldiers had nothing to eat and were even considering cannibalism; their situation was too tragic… He had to get the news to Xie Wuchi as soon as possible.

He felt like dying.

But he would die after telling Xie Wuchi the news.

The soles of his shoes scraped against the turf; every step was met with huge resistance. When he could walk no further, he would stop to rest. He had lost too much blood and was completely drained, his eyelids drooping heavily, his head feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds. Sometimes Shi Shu was practically walking with his eyes closed, and he would suddenly open them and even crawl a few steps forward.

How miserable… so miserable… so unlucky…

In the faint moonlight of the forest, another memory surfaced. These three years had washed away his modern memories, leaving only those with Xie Wuchi.

It was also a summer night, with the chirping of cicadas and frogs after the rice harvest. When Xie Wuchi found him, Shi Shu was chasing insects in the dead of night. Xie Wuchi led a horse, fireflies dancing around him as he walked toward him in the faint moonlight.

After finding him, Shi Shu, exhausted from harvesting rice, lay on the horse’s back and let Xie Wuchi lead him back to the mansion, even carrying him into his room. He only remembered falling asleep when he was tired and waking up to find everything arranged perfectly.

Shi Shu didn’t know why, but he always thought of Xie Wuchi.

Xie Wuchi was investigating the military grain in Yinzhou, the lives of a hundred thousand soldiers! If the Yinzhou army was defeated, millions of civilians would be displaced… The Min army could even devise a plan to secretly buy the enemy’s grain, yet the high-ranking officials of Da Jing did nothing, allowing the enemy to slaughter their own people…

Did those soldiers know that while they were fighting and bleeding on the front lines, someone was selling off their rations?

Some might think that lives have different values, but Shi Shu did not.

Find Xie Wuchi… tell him about the military grain…

Xie Wuchi had also been busy with the grain supply. If he told him, it would also help his work…

Shi Shu lifted his fair chin, his legs trembling, his face etched with pain and sorrow. Blood dripped onto the ground, leaving a trail as he continued forward.

On the other side, outside the herbal medicine shed, Lin Yangchun was resting and enjoying the cool air. Seeing the visitor, he stood up, “My lord, what a pleasant mood.”

Xie Wuchi, with guards behind him, walked into the temporary medical station, gestured for him to dispense with formalities, and his gaze swept around, “Is the work for today finished?”

“It’s not busy anymore. The shift has changed, and I can finally rest.”

“You have all done a great service in preventing the epidemic. Life here looks too spartan. I will have more food sent over later, and your wages will be increased,” Xie Wuchi said.

“Thank you for your grace, my lord.”

Xie Wuchi said no more to him and wandered for a while in the temporary wooden shed. Lin Baihe, observing his expression, said, “My lord, are you waiting for Brother Xiao Shu? Shall I take you to his quarters?”

Xie Wuchi’s gaze was indifferent, “Where did he go?”

“You know him, my lord. Brother Xiao Shu can’t sit still. After he’s done with his work, he doesn’t like to stay here. He’s always running around, looking at this and that, touching this and that. He’s probably off somewhere looking at flowers, birds, insects, and fish again.”

“Usually, I go with him, but today I was doing laundry, so he went off to play by himself.”

Upon entering, the space was open and damp, partitioned by a bamboo screen, with a bamboo plank bed. A few clothes were placed there. Lin Baihe said, “Here, my lord, please have a seat.”

Xie Wuchi stood in this space; they were indeed Shi Shu’s clothes. This was just Shi Shu’s personality, unable to sit still, always finding something to do even when there was nothing. Beside the bamboo bed hung clean clothes, even the undergarments were washed clean with soap beans, emitting a faint, fresh scent.

Outside the door, several people were discussing, “Could the Commander-in-Chief be planning to stay here for the night?”

“How can his lordship sleep in such a messy place.”

Xie Wuchi sat there waiting. His attendants and guards brought tea. He lit a lamp and read. When his eyes grew tired and he looked up, another half-hour had passed, and Shi Shu still hadn’t returned.

Lin Baihe hurried back to report, “This… the young brother loves to run around. We don’t know where he goes.”

Xie Wuchi asked, “Where does he usually go?”

Lin Baihe replied, “There’s no fixed place, he just wanders around.”

Shi Shu was the type of person who had to run around every day, taking pictures of the sky, even if it wasn’t particularly beautiful or if no one was with him.

Xie Wuchi stood up and walked out the door. In summer, even during wartime, the clouds in the sky were sometimes magnificently beautiful. The air carried a faint summer heat. Xie Wuchi walked into the mountain forest for a stroll, with several guards behind him.

Lin Baihe chased after him again, “My lord, lately Brother Xiao Shu has been looking towards that fork in the road a lot. I wonder if he went that way!”

“Is that so?” Xie Wuchi changed direction.

Before him was the dense forest of East Tu Mountain. At night, a light mist rose in the woods, and the cry of the old owl sounded like a wretched scream, creating a ghostly and terrifying atmosphere. When he used to travel with Shi Shu, the two of them would often wander through the villages in the wilderness together in the cool of the evening.

Xie Wuchi walked into the forest. Unknowingly, picking up Shi Shu to go home had become a habit. But with Shi Shu’s mischievous personality, he was adorable when he was being cute, but truly hard to find when you needed to look for him.

Rounding a slope, a guard reminded him, “My lord, it’s cool at night, and the wild animals are out hunting. It might be dangerous to go further. The second young master wouldn’t have gone that far, perhaps he’s not on this path.”

Xie Wuchi considered, then said, “Keep going forward.”

Searching for someone at night, Xie Wuchi didn’t hold much hope. When he reached a slope, he thought perhaps he should turn back. Unexpectedly, a figure appeared in his line of sight!

Moving slowly in the dim moonlight, with stumbling steps, the figure was slender and elegant, his face a bloodless pale. Xie Wuchi’s vision focused, and he strode down the slope.

When Shi Shu looked up and saw the person, he thought it was Prince Yinkun’s pursuers and was scared out of his wits, immediately trying to hide. But on a closer look, a smile bloomed on his handsome face.

Xie Wuchi forcefully grabbed Shi Shu’s hand, and Shi Shu dazedly fell against him, “Xie Wuchi, why is it you!?”

In an instant, he was on Xie Wuchi’s back. The feeling of faintness and dizziness instantly found support. Shi Shu couldn’t tell if he was happy or something else, his eyes grew moist, “Why do you always come to get me? And you can always find me?…”

Xie Wuchi: “Because you’re so naughty, always running around.”

Shi Shu loved to run around, so Xie Wuchi had developed the habit of waiting for him where he was if he hadn’t gone far, and going to find him if he had.

Shi Shu felt a sense of peace, understanding the unspoken meaning in Xie Wuchi’s words. Lying on his back, he spoke with great difficulty, word by word, “I want to tell you… the person who delivers the beauties every day… is selling military grain… you must quickly send someone to retrieve it.”

Xie Wuchi: “You got these injuries from overhearing this?”

Shi Shu hummed in agreement, speaking with difficulty, “And there were people from Bei Min… sold to Bei Min… Yinkun…”

Shi Shu used his remaining strength to relay all the detailed information, his voice trembling and intermittent. When he finally finished, he swallowed, feeling an unprecedented sense of completion.

Carrying him on his back, Xie Wuchi’s heart ached so much he didn’t know what to say, his brows furrowed and his face ashen. Upon hearing the words, a murderous intent filled his gloomy eyes.

“If it’s as you say, then everything makes sense. How could Bei Min, after a long-distance raid, have the ability to sustain a long siege? And the scouts behind enemy lines could never find their specific grain routes, always making excuses. I thought they were just selling military grain, but this person is truly blinded by money, so utterly insane as to sell military grain to the Bei Min army…”

The person on Xie Wuchi’s back was soft and weak, smelling of moonlight and grass. The blood on Shi Shu’s back had already crusted over, but it would occasionally split open again from the movement. His jaw was fair and clean. At this moment, he rested by Xie Wuchi’s ear, breathing faintly like a kitten.

And what had happened to Shi Shu? The messy wounds all over his body, how did he end up like this? What did he encounter? What did he go through? And how long did he walk to get back?

Xie Wuchi called out softly again, “Xiao Shu.”

“Mmm…”

Shi Shu lay on his back, his fair profile quiet, sleeping peacefully.

Within Lanxian City, horse after horse galloped across the yellow mud ground, shuttling back and forth, urgently communicating military intelligence to the various generals.

A carriage entered the city, maintaining a steady pace.

At this moment, inside the private residence, sounds of string and bamboo instruments, singing, and dancing filled the air. Jia Wu was happily humming a tune. However, a clever advisor quietly cautioned, “Master, that Commander-in-Chief has returned. Shouldn’t we dismiss these singers and dancers first? To avoid getting on his bad side?”

Jia Wu, sprawled on a long chair, shook his head, “He’s busy with his military affairs, and I’m busy with mine. He walks his wide road, and I cross my narrow bridge. We don’t interfere with each other. Why should I, after a whole day of work, have to watch someone’s mood just to listen to a little music at night?!”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“Then get out!”

Jia Wu stood up defiantly, “Play the music! Louder! It would be best if he heard it!”

“Damn it, who is the real master with golden branches and jade leaves, and who is the slave from the wilderness! Can’t you even tell the difference? Who is the one sitting on the dragon throne?!”

“You’re all this scared of a military officer who used to be a monk? Is he human or a ghost?!”

Someone at the side shook his head and said, “Yes, yes, yes! Sing louder!”

The great bell is destroyed and discarded, while the clay pots thunder.

The carriage outside moved smoothly, clearly instructed not to jolt. The carriage passed by the residence. Xie Wuchi sat in the carriage with his eyes closed, holding someone in his arms. Hearing the sound of music coming from within the walls, the tip of his dark eyebrow lifted slightly, but his face showed no emotion.

He carefully held the sleeping person in his arms, adjusting him to avoid bumping his wounds, his calloused fingertips gently stroking the youth’s fair earlobe.

A moment later, the carriage arrived at the government office. Xie Wuchi gently set down the person in his arms and said, “Take him to my residence, take good care of him, and report to me the moment he wakes up.”

With that, he flicked his large sleeve and turned to enter the Commander-in-Chief’s council hall.

“Raise the tent! Urgently summon all the lords for a council!”

Advisors and military officers were woken up in the middle of the night, hastily dressing as they gathered inside the hall!

In a short while, seals of authority were frequently dispatched from the hall. Horses galloped out of Lanxian City in all directions, shattering the peace of the night.

Several highly skilled scouts retraced Shi Shu’s path. After observing from the pavilion, they stealthily pursued up the hillside, following the lights in the night…

Another group received their orders, mobilized troops, and led a column of soldiers galloping along the riverbank towards the grain transport wharf, marching swiftly under the moonlight…

And another fast horse, its rider holding a feathered seal, was galloping towards the northeast, getting closer and closer to the main garrison of the northern border, which had been waiting for orders…

…

In Yinzhou City, there was a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

In Lanxian City, a temporary peace was maintained.

By the time Xie Wuchi finished writing his letters, the sky was already dawning. The council hall was quiet. Lin Yan entered and said, “My lord, shouldn’t you rest?”

Xie Wuchi asked, “Is he awake?”

“The second young master is still fast asleep. The doctor has seen him. They are all flesh wounds on his back, nothing too serious. But the wounds are numerous and small, and it’s the height of summer, so we must be careful of them getting worse.”

Xie Wuchi stood up and walked out, pondering, “Someone used a blade to cause extensive bleeding on his back, but did not intend to kill him. Could it have been to save him?”

Lin Yan said, “I’m afraid so.”

Xie Wuchi lowered his eyes and calmly asked, “Do you believe that good deeds are rewarded?”

Lin Yan: “Your subordinate does not believe so.”

“Neither do I.”

Xie Wuchi walked out the door. At that moment, someone else came to report.

“My lord, will you see the second young master? He woke up once and was asking for you.”

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