Chapter 218: Try To Leave Them Alive
The little snake didn’t sleep for long this time. Because it had swallowed Lin Xin’s supernatural ability, it seemed very close to her and extremely lively, crawling up and down on her body while she was taking care of those plants and poisonous creatures.
This was only because it was Lin Xin. If it were someone else, they would probably be scared out of their wits.
When Mo Ziyuan came over after finishing the discussion, he saw this scene and was immediately scared half to death. His voice trembled as he spoke: “Xin’er, you, don’t move, absolutely don’t move!”
While speaking, he drew the sword from his waist, waiting for an opportunity to kill the little snake.
“Don’t, you absolutely mustn’t,” Lin Xin grabbed the little snake coiled on top of her head, “This is Military Doctor Chu’s treasure. If you kill it, be careful he comes after you desperately.”
The little snake didn’t get angry even when held in her hand. It flicked its tongue and coiled around her finger, making the back of Mo Ziyuan’s neck prickle with cold sweat. He tentatively asked: “Xin’er, this snake is poisonous, right?”
“It is. Military Doctor Chu said it’s the boss of all the poisonous creatures here, and they all fear it!” Lin Xin flicked its head with her finger, flicking its body sideways.
“You, you be careful. Don’t let it bite you, or if······” Mo Ziyuan swallowed and held back the words after that “if.” He was afraid he might jinx it.
“Don’t worry, it’s very well-behaved!”
As if responding to Lin Xin’s words, the little snake curved its body and then suddenly sprang out like a bolt of lightning, shooting straight onto Mo Ziyuan’s head, scaring him so much that he jumped three feet high.
The little snake, flung to the ground, flipped over wronged and pitifully, wriggling back to Lin Xin’s side. It climbed up her skirt hem into her palm, flicking its little tongue as if complaining to her. Weirdly, Lin Xin actually understood its head-shaking.
“Alright, that’s enough. You scared him once, he dropped you once, you’re even!” Lin Xin felt she was being perfectly fair, unaware that the person and snake opposite her were both very dissatisfied because she hadn’t sided with them.
The little snake limply crawled onto her wrist to continue pretending to be a bracelet. Mo Ziyuan sheathed his sword and sat down on the ground beside her.
“How did the discussion go on your side?” Lin Xin carefully picked a few palm-sized leaves from a gray-green small tree, then lifted the lid off the largest can in the tent. A musty smell wafted out from inside.
She held her breath, quickly tossed the leaves in, and hurriedly covered it back up. She fanned her nose with her hand several times before daring to take a small breath.
“What’s in here? Why does it smell so strong?” Mo Ziyuan frowned and leaned his head back as he asked.
“A poisonous frog,” Lin Xin shrugged. “Basically all the living things Military Doctor Chu has here are poisonous. You’d better not touch anything.”
“All poisonous? What is he trying to do? Raise gu?” Mo Ziyuan had heard that people who raise gu put many different kinds of poisonous insects together, letting them kill each other, and the last one surviving becomes the gu.
“Don’t talk nonsense. He just wants the venom from these poisonous creatures, not to raise any gu.” Lin Xin quickly dispelled his fantasy and shattered his wild imagination. “Besides, do you really think raising gu is that easy? Not just anyone can do it.”
“Haha, still, the young lady speaks pleasantly. Zi Yuan, you brat, you actually dare to badmouth me behind my back. Come to me tonight, and I’ll loosen your muscles and bones!” Military Doctor Chu stormed in glaring, speaking irritably to Mo Ziyuan.
“Heh heh,” caught red-handed badmouthing someone behind their back, Mo Ziyuan awkwardly smiled and said: “No need, no need. My body is perfectly fine, no need to loosen anything. It can save you some medicinal herbs.”
“That’s not up to you. I heard the general say that besides you, Gao Yong and the others will come too. When they arrive, you’ll all do it together.” Military Doctor Chu kept a straight face, showing no compromise.
Mo Ziyuan’s face fell at once.
Lin Xin was extremely curious. On the way back to the camp tent after bidding farewell to Military Doctor Chu, she pulled him aside and asked what was going on.
“People like us who often go to battle get injured more or less. Some injuries can heal completely, but some can’t. Military Doctor Chu basically makes us drink some medicine every once in a while, saying it can prevent leaving any root of illness.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? Why do you look so reluctant?”
“It is a good thing, but that medicine is really too hard to drink—fishy, bitter, smelly, and astringent.” Mo Ziyuan grimaced as he explained.
Thinking of the bitter taste of traditional Chinese medicine, Lin Xin sympathetically glanced at him, then patted his shoulder with schadenfreude: “Don’t they say good medicine tastes bitter? Military Doctor Chu is doing it for your own good. If it’s hard to drink, so be it—endure it and it’ll pass.”
By the time they finished talking, they were back in the tent. Mo Ziyuan shivered and shook his head to shake off that weird taste. “Let’s not talk about that. Today the general suspended Deputy General Kong Xiao’s duties and made him reflect properly. I saw he seemed very dissatisfied. I always feel uneasy, afraid something might happen in the military camp.”
“What could happen?”
“Plenty could happen. Wasn’t the granary burned yesterday?”
“Then what to do?”
“The general has already sent people to watch him, but I don’t think it’s very useful. Kong Xiao has operated in the military camp for many years and who knows how many people he’s bought off. If he’s dissatisfied and causes trouble, it would be a huge loss for us.”
“You······want me to help watch him?” Lin Xin asked.
Mo Ziyuan decisively shook his head. “Of course not. I don’t want you to go through that trouble.”
“Then what do you plan to do?”
“I haven’t thought of it yet. He should probably behave for a while. Let’s see first!” What Mo Ziyuan didn’t say was that he could feel General Chen still held illusions about Kong Xiao, thinking he had only acted that way because he was momentarily muddled.
“Then handle it yourself! Just tell me when you need me. Anyway, as long as you’re not going to battle, I’ll be over at today’s tent. You can find me anytime.”
“Good,” Mo Ziyuan reached out to pull her into his arms, rubbing his chin against the top of her head. “I really want to finish this battle quickly. Then when we return to the capital, we can have the wedding.”
Lin Xin rolled her eyes. “You should solve the matters at hand first!”
“Sigh! These damn Western Rong people!” Mo Ziyuan let out a long sigh and said hatefully.
Suddenly, Lin Xin’s ears twitched, and her eyes narrowed. Leaning in Mo Ziyuan’s arms, she whispered to him: “There’s someone on top of the tent.”
“What?” Mo Ziyuan was startled and instinctively wanted to look up. Lin Xin was quick-eyed and nimble-handed, twisting his waist, making him involuntarily twist his body in pain.
“Don’t look up.” Lin Xin said.
Mo Ziyuan instantly understood. He thought for a moment, then crouched down in a princess carry to pick her up, walked to the table, sat down on the chair, placed her on his lap, and pressed his big hand on the back of her head to pull her head toward him. The pose was quite ambiguous.
However, their conversation had not a shred of romance:
“Can you guarantee a one-hit kill?”
“I can try.”
“Try to leave him alive. It’s okay if you can’t kill him.”
Lin Xin nodded. Using this ambiguous pose, she hid her right hand behind Mo Ziyuan and flicked her middle finger. The person lurking on top of the tent peeking down felt intense pain in his wrists and ankles at the same time. He immediately knew he’d been discovered. He tried to run but found his hands and feet no longer obeyed him.
