Chapter 43

Ning Fu thought to himself: Could it be that I have blundered into some great disaster? He scrambled to his feet and lunged towards the door.

Just as his hand touched the door bolt, he was stopped by a shout.

"Hold it!" the Crown Prince said.

Ning Fu looked back. The Crown Prince had lowered his hands and was supporting himself on a washstand. He panted heavily a few times and said, "It's nothing. Ning Qianhu, did you bring any Soul-Returning Life-Preserving Powder?"

Ning Fu, upon hearing this, immediately said, "I don't have Soul-Returning Life-Preserving Powder; it's too expensive. However, I do carry Seven-Li Powder. It can also stop bleeding and relieve pain, just without the effect of opening the orifices and reviving the spirit."

He pulled out the medicine porcelain bottle from an inner pocket sewn into the front of his robes, found a bowl in the room, scooped some clear water into it, and respectfully handed both to the Crown Prince.

After bustling about, he suddenly realized, and hesitantly looked at the Crown Prince, "Your Highness, have you remembered?"

The Crown Prince took the medicine. His whole body slowly relaxed. Without replying, he merely glanced indifferently at Ning Fu, casually set down the bowl, and strode quickly outside.

Ning Fu thought: I truly asked a stupid question! His Highness's memory is truly good; he actually remembered me, someone he had only met twice before. He hurriedly followed after him.

The door was already open.

He naturally changed his form of address to "young gentleman."

"Young gentleman, please rest here. The doctor will arrive soon. You need not worry about the matter of saving people..."

Chao Yan took the reins of Ning Fu's horse from a subordinate’s hand, mounted the horse, and said, "Spare me the nonsense. The two of you ride together, follow me."

Ning Fu blocked the horse's path, saying, "Young gentleman, how can you place yourself in danger? Besides the gentry, there are also the prefectural troops. Sanlang has gone to find the Tongzhi of Nanling Prefecture to request the prefectural troops!"

Chao Yan tightened the reins and said, "Move aside!"

Ning Fu knelt down: "Please, young gentleman, consider the bigger picture!"

The other person also knelt down: "Please, young gentleman, consider the bigger picture!"

Chao Yan's expression darkened. He lowered his eyes, quietly watching them. After a moment, he said, "Others who can be saved, save them. But there is one person I must save. I promised him."

Ning Fu said, "Young gentleman, who is it?" To avoid unnecessary complications, Prime Minister Meng had not informed Ning Fu and Meng Zhao about Gu Jun’s existence. Their mission was solely to bring back the Crown Prince.

Chao Yan said, "I married in the common folk. He is my wife."

Ning Fu was momentarily stunned, then immediately kowtowed, saying, "Young gentleman, leave one person by your side. I still have fifteen men here; I can take them to rescue the lady."

Chao Yan said, "When can Sanlang arrive here?"

Ning Fu said, "Sanlang can arrive in about half the time it takes to burn a stick of incense.

"Sanlang retraced our steps for several miles, found an express delivery station, borrowed a messenger pigeon, and used the pigeon to contact the Tongzhi of Nanling to mobilize troops.

"Without considering the horses' wellbeing, changing horses at every express delivery station, the first batch of soldiers redeployed from the Guard Station Army and the garrison capital training army will arrive in about two quarters of an hour.

"This is already the fastest speed possible; it cannot be any faster.

"Before Sanlang and I parted ways, because we did not know the specific situation in the county seat, he ordered someone to find the officer stationed at the border to transfer more troops here, just in case the enemy bandits were too ferocious. This group will be a bit later, arriving here in one double-hour."

Zhuyang County was separated from the border by only two counties.

Chao Yan, upon hearing this, looked towards the direction of the county seat. The sky there glowed with an orange-red light. He dismounted and said, "You take the men and go. The person should be in the residence behind the county office. I want to see a living person."

"We do not know what the lady looks like?"

"Tall and slender, dressed in blue. At a single glance, one would be stunned by otherworldly beauty. That will be him."

.

The first time Gu Jun killed someone was on Fengyun Mountain.

At that time, the attendant of Magistrate Wang, Wang Gong of Yanlin County, along with several nimble constables, was escorting him to search for the White Python Army's den. He had lied to Magistrate Wang, saying he knew where the White Python Army's den was located.

From afar, Fengyun Mountain looked exceptionally tall. It was rare to see such a towering mountain in the entire northern region. The specific altitude, he wasn't sure.

After entering the mountain, relying on his high school knowledge and his present observations and experiences, he could estimate that the mountain's terrain was highly complex, with a vegetation coverage rate as high as 86.1%.

He led them, following a shallow stream, trekking deep into the mountain.

Inside the mountain, it was dark, cold, and damp. The mountain path was rough and bumpy, occasionally causing someone to fall flat on their face, eating mud. After trekking for two days in a row, everyone was utterly exhausted. Someone even got bitten by a poisonous insect in the mountain; a fist-sized lump swelled on their forehead, and not long after, they died.

That very night, these people buried the corpse, then punched and kicked him, asking if he was tricking them.

He assured them that by tomorrow afternoon at the latest, they would reach the place.

These people finally let him off.

He lay on the ground, pretending to be breathing more out than in. Afraid he might die, they got him a bowl of sugar water. It was sweet and they didn't bind his hands or feet.

He waited until deep into the night, then quietly got up and ran.

His adrenaline surged, and he ran at the fastest speed he had ever run in his life.

However, not long after, they discovered he was gone. Furious, they quickly gave chase.

But heaven helped him. Just when he could run no more, the sky poured with heavy rain. Mist and fog rose everywhere. Even the two who had almost caught up to him lost track of him after a short distance.

He hid behind a tree, secretly observing them. Realizing he couldn't sneak away, he recalled a cliff not far off and hatched a plan.

He picked up stones, lured them in front of the cliff, then lightened his steps, pounced, and reached out a hand to push—

A very light push.

In his memory, it was a very light push.

...cliff. He heard the huge crashing sound echoing back. He twisted around and ran. Midway, he heard footsteps, went forward, perhaps forward. By then he had lost his sense of direction, stumbling and staggering, until he found a tree hollow.

The dark night passed.

Gu Jun's breathing was heavy. He opened his eyes. Reflected in his eyes was a large blade with a few specks of rust yet still incredibly sharp. The person holding it was precisely the thug he had previously knocked unconscious with a stone.

He had actually been overcome by the smoke and fainted. The thug had found him.

This whole process had been very short, no more than ten-plus minutes.

All the blood in his body rushed to his head at once. Gu Jun, excessively startled, instinctively, like a broken toy suddenly activated, let out an extremely loud scream.

The thug’s ears were jarred by the buzzing sound. His movements froze. At that moment, the world before Gu Jun’s eyes became exceptionally clear. His mind, in that split second, became unimaginably calm. He mustered all his strength, rolled to the left, narrowly avoiding the large blade the thug, coming back to his senses, viciously hacked down.

"Damn bitch, still daring to move!"

Gu Jun pushed his palms against the ground, got up, and ran.

The other party gave chase with blade in hand, relentless.

The buildings inside the county office had already become a place where flames reveled. From time to time, objects fell, or corners collapsed.

Gu Jun did not dare to go inside. He circled around the courtyard with the other party. Now, he realized that some thugs had already gone out. Whether compelled by the threat of the flames or having killed enough, they had stopped.

Gu Jun's current physical condition was worse than before. Coupled with fewer obstacles in the courtyard now, he soon couldn't run anymore. The other party's large blade hacked over again. Gu Jun blocked it with his kitchen knife. The web of his hand and his wrist were jarred painfully.

He couldn't hold onto the kitchen knife and let go.

The kitchen knife fell to the ground. The other party grinned viciously. The large blade hacked over again.

Dodging to the left, he tripped over an obstacle. Twisting his head to look, it was a thug's corpse, hacked into pieces. Beside the corpse lay a blood-stained large blade.

Gu Jun immediately picked up the large blade. With one kick, he struck the other party's vital part. The thug clutched his groin and howled loudly.

He scrambled up, stomped fiercely on the back of the other party's knee. The other party collapsed onto his knees.

He raised his hand and hacked at the back of the other party's neck.

Damn this blade! It wasn't even sharp!

This single stroke failed to sever the other party's neck, only cutting to the bone at the back. Under the excruciating pain, the thug’s chest filled with raging fury. For a moment, he forgot his injury, leaped up, raised his blade, and attacked to kill.

Gu Jun couldn't beat the other party in a head-on fight. He hastily dodged, simultaneously using the large blade to parry.

The thug couldn't take him down immediately and called out to his comrades to surround and kill him.

Gu Jun's heart went completely cold. He thought, I am certain to die.

That bastard Lin Yue, his words didn't count; he didn't come back to save me at all!

Gu Jun thought the other party must have escaped far into the distance. Just seeing him break through the rain of arrows previously was enough to know he possessed martial arts skills, and his martial skill level was not low. Such a person, even if pursued, wouldn't die.

Reaching this conclusion, Gu Jun felt a surge of resentment.

But then, his mood sank low.

Resentment? What was he to the other party? What right did he have to be resentful? The other party’s failure to keep a promise would only mean losing a little liar who had already sucked his blood.

Gu Jun bit his lip, too hard, so hard that several cuts were bitten into his lip, bright red blood flowing freely.

The thug's comrade arrived behind him.

Gu Jun's eyes stung slightly from the flash of the blade.

The comrade's blade slashed across his back.

Gu Jun groaned in pain. The strength in his hand loosened, and the thug's blade pressed down a few more points.

He persevered for a short while, truly unable to hold on any longer. Perhaps part of it was also because his heart’s will had scattered. He released his lip, watching the blade fall from his hand and roll on the ground once.

All sounds of the world disappeared from his ears.

Gu Jun waited for death. At that very moment, the sounds of fighting came from outside the residence. Both the thug and his comrade froze. Gu Jun suddenly snapped back to the human world. Summoning all his strength, he escaped the encirclement, pricked his ears, discerned that the fighting sounds came from the back door. Gritting his teeth fiercely, he immediately ran towards the back door.

He ran too fast. The several thugs hadn't yet recovered from the news that someone had come to rescue when he had already reached the back door.

They gave chase. He darted out the door like a rabbit.

Several arrows were shot over but didn't hit him. Gu Jun clearly saw some people outside fighting against the archers surrounding the back door and a group of thugs who had exited the county office.

The scene was too chaotic. Only a few archers noticed him slipping out and shot arrows at him.

Because everyone was fighting, moving back and forth, occasionally bumping into each other, their arrows went wide. Not a single one hit Gu Jun.

Gu Jun was not in the mood to check if Lin Yue was among the rescuers. Without waiting for the archers to fire a second volley, relying on past experience, he lifted his legs and ran, darting into the small alley, then kept running.

No one was guarding the city gate. Gu Jun ran out of the county seat in one breath.

Belatedly, he felt a tearing pain in both knees.

His back also throbbed with waves of pain.

He arched his body and sat down. Looking around, it was pitch black and silent. He didn't feel the joy of escaping alive. As if bitten by some ghostly monster, he slowly sank into darkness, feeling a sense of loss and confusion.

Just... just ran away like that? Could Lin Yue be among the rescuers? What if the other party didn't know he had escaped and insisted on going inside, and something happened as a result...

No, he wouldn't come back.

He had already run away alone.

Enduring the pain, Gu Jun stood up and slowly moved his steps, walking towards the city gate.

Go back and check.

After two steps, he paused again.

What could he do by going back like this? Add trouble for others? By the time he shuffled back at this speed, Lin Yue would probably already be dead, and possibly even the rescuers would be dead.

Lin Yue might not even have gone to save him.

Gu Jun didn't know if he was rationally analyzing the current situation or finding a reason for himself to retreat, in order to save his own pitiful life.

In any case, he could walk no more.

He found a patch of woods near the city gate, and within the woods, found a mountain gully, and shrank inside it.

An unprecedented sense of security enveloped him.

He finally dared to relax all the muscles in his body. He took off his outer clothes, folded them twice, crudely wrapped his back wound, then put his outer clothes back on. Leaning against the gully wall made of damp mud, smelling the earthy raw scent and the smell of decaying leaves, he lowered his head and kneaded his knees.

Suddenly, a drop of liquid fell.

Was it raining?

But it was warm.

Gu Jun couldn't deceive himself; these were his tears. He couldn't hold back any longer. Burying his head against his knees, he cried stifledly.

He cried until his eyes hurt. Groping around, he grabbed three tree branches of different thicknesses, broke them to the same length. Wiping his tears, he choked out:

"Lin Yue, if you are alive, then live well. I don't blame you for not keeping your promise."

"If you've died, don't come looking for me. It wasn't me who caused your death. The debt has its debtor.

"Rest assured, once you are in the Netherworld and I find a job, I will definitely burn lots and lots of paper money for you, even gold ingots.

"I will find you a paper artisan with super good skills, burn a bunch of servants for you, burn a big mansion, burn a beautiful wife."

Having said this far, Gu Jun's tears fell even more heavily, his eyes feeling as if a scoop of sand had gotten in, unbearably uncomfortable.

"If you want anything else, just send me a dream. But absolutely do not come looking for me, I beg you..."