Chapter 213: Enemy Attack
Regardless of whether General Chen could bring himself to be harsh with Kong Xiao, they had to see him tonight, so Lin Xin didn’t expect Mo Ziyuan to give her a satisfactory answer. She knelt on one knee on the ground, pressed her right hand to the ground, and the devil vine seeds in her palm quickly burrowed into the ground under the stimulation of her wood element ability.
Its root system kept growing in the soil, easily creating a hole similar to a cave.
“Let’s go, be moles for once.” Lin Xin withdrew the devil vine, pulled the dazed Mo Ziyuan, and plunged headfirst into it.
Chen Lingyuan was quite angry at Kong Xiao, but his injuries were severe. The military doctor, under Kong Xiao’s instructions, had only given him the most basic bandaging, making it very difficult for him to move.
Kong Xiao had instructed them to guard the tent well before leaving, and he had heard it all. At this moment, he felt very complicated inside, even somewhat following Kong Xiao’s line of thinking, wondering if he had really done something wrong.
When Lin Xin and Mo Ziyuan crawled out of the cave, they saw him lying dejectedly on the bed.
“General!” Mo Ziyuan looked at Chen Lingyuan, who was clearly much more aged and dejected, felt a pang in his heart, and called out in a lowered voice.
Chen Lingyuan turned his head in surprise following the voice, and saw Mo Ziyuan crawling out from a hole that had appeared in the ground at some point, looking at him with complicated eyes.
“…Zi, Zi Yuan?” Chen Lingyuan blinked hard, almost suspecting he was seeing things.
“It’s me, General!” Mo Ziyuan hurried to the bedside in a few steps, grasped Chen Lingyuan’s outstretched hand, “General, I’m here.”
The two grown men held hands tearfully gazing at each other, then Lin Xin, who crawled out from the cave, curled her lips, turned back to fetch the things she had prepared earlier, “I’ll check the general’s body, you two make long stories short.”
Chen Lingyuan stared at Lin Xin like she was a ghost, pointed at her, and stammered in shock: “Zi, Zi Yuan, who, who is she?”
“General, this is my fiancée, granted by His Majesty.” Mo Ziyuan’s gaze softened, he pulled Lin Xin and said: “Xin’er, this is General Chen Lingyuan, his body is in your hands now.”
“Rest assured!” Lin Xin didn’t refuse. Chen Lingyuan’s condition was really not good; he hadn’t received effective treatment after his severe injury, and it had already hurt his foundation. If this continued, whether he could return to the battlefield was one thing, but even surviving to a natural death was questionable.
Receiving Chen Lingyuan’s puzzled gaze, Mo Ziyuan paused but still said: “General, Xin’er and I heard your conversation with Deputy General Kong just now. To prevent him from making the same mistake again, the only plan now is for you to recover. Xin’er’s medical skills are a bit unconventional, so please keep it secret for her, General.”
“Oh, alright.” Chen Lingyuan had been in a fog since they appeared, and his calm was entirely due to his trust and understanding of Mo Ziyuan.
It was precisely because of this understanding and pity for the youth’s background that he had treated Mo Ziyuan differently during his time in the Western Frontier, almost teaching him military strategy hand in hand, which could be considered passing on everything he knew.
Lin Xin wasn’t very clear about the matters between them, but she trusted Mo Ziyuan, so without any reservation, she raised her hand to cover a wound on Chen Lingyuan’s chest that pierced through his body, slowly outputting her wood element ability, repairing the wound while nourishing his body.
Chen Lingyuan found it extremely miraculous. The injury that had tormented him painfully for three days was enveloped by a warm breath, the pain quickly disappeared, and he could even feel the inside of the wound gradually healing, his originally weak body also gaining strength.
“General, don’t be alarmed. Xin’er’s healing methods are just special; she won’t harm you.” Mo Ziyuan saw Chen Lingyuan’s eyes widening more and more, and explained.
Chen Lingyuan nodded dazedly: “I know, I’ve already felt it.”
After Lin Xin repaired the inside of Chen Lingyuan’s wound, she stopped the supernatural ability output, so the surface of the wound showed no change at all. She then took out the healing medicine given by Cui Shi and handed it to Mo Ziyuan: “You apply the medicine for the general!”
While Mo Ziyuan was applying medicine to him, Lin Xin took out the meal she had prepared earlier and set it out. When she turned back, she inadvertently glimpsed Chen Lingyuan’s drooling expression, and the corner of her mouth twitched uncontrollably. Mo Ziyuan was right; this man really couldn’t resist meat!
After eating and drinking their fill, Lin Xin began cleaning up, and Mo Ziyuan and Chen Lingyuan started talking about serious matters.
“General, what do you plan to do about Kong Xiao?” Mo Ziyuan asked directly. Treating Chen Lingyuan’s injury and eating had already taken quite some time.
“He…” Chen Lingyuan hesitated. Although he had been furious at Kong Xiao earlier, when it came time to make a decision, he still couldn’t bear it.
“Zi Yuan, actually Kong Xiao isn’t a bad person; he’s just been deceived. As long as you give him some time, he’ll figure it out.” Chen Lingyuan adopted a very humble posture.
“Heh,” Lin Xin, who was packing things while listening on the side, paused, unable to hold back a chuckle.
“General!” Mo Ziyuan spoke almost at the same time as Lin Xin.
“I know what I said is problematic, and I understand your thoughts, but Kong Xiao really isn’t the kind of person you think. Believe me.” Seeing neither of them agreed with him, Chen Lingyuan grew anxious.
“I don’t know what kind of person he is, but I now understand what kind of person you are—you’re a muddleheaded fool!” Lin Xin slammed the rice bowl in her hand onto the table and unleashed on Chen Lingyuan:
“Do you know what would have happened to you without me? Have you thought about it—if something happened to you, the entire military camp would become Kong Xiao’s one-man show? Do you think with his strength, he could repel the enemy if the Western Rong people attack again? Or would he just throw soldiers’ lives at it?”
Lin Xin’s words made Chen Lingyuan feel utterly ashamed, but she wasn’t finished, “What position do you put the soldiers in the entire military camp? Do they deserve to be sacrificed by Kong Xiao?”
“General, Xin’er’s words may not sound good, but can you say they lack reason? You know how you’ve treated him all these years; he treats you like this, so how would he care about the soldiers’ lives?” Mo Ziyuan followed up after Lin Xin.
“This… Sigh!” Chen Lingyuan let out a long sigh, giving up on continuing to plead for Kong Xiao. He knew they were right, but Kong Xiao had followed him for so many years; he really couldn’t bring himself to be ruthless.
Mo Ziyuan and Lin Xin exchanged a glance, both relieved in their hearts. Fortunately, Chen Lingyuan was someone who could be reasoned with; if he insisted on going his own way, they would really be in a passive position.
“General, rest early. Tomorrow Xin’er and I will wait for your good news!” Seeing his entanglement and struggle, Mo Ziyuan said at the right moment.
“Alright, you two be extra careful!”
No sooner had the words fallen than it suddenly became noisy outside. Lin Xin’s expression changed, and she said in a low voice: “Enemy attack!”
“What?” Mo Ziyuan frowned, “Xin’er, pack up the things; we need to go back.”
“Got it!” Lin Xin didn’t hesitate at all, quickly packed up all the things they had brought. The two jumped back into the cave they came from. Lin Xin used a water blade to roughly restore the ground to its original state before avoiding the patrolling soldiers and returning to their respective camp tents with Mo Ziyuan.
