Chapter 226: Lin Xin Goes Missing
As soon as he entered the camp tent, Mo Ziyuan was dumbfounded. Chen Lingyuan was swaying unsteadily, holding a long sword and leaning against the supporting pillar by the bedside. Kong Xiao was half-kneeling on the ground not far from him, his face deathly pale as he clutched his shoulder, bright red blood gushing out from between his fingers.
“General, what… what happened?” Mo Ziyuan walked over to support Chen Lingyuan and sat him down on the bed. Only upon touching his body did he realize how ice-cold it was, still trembling nonstop.
“Beast, beast, that beast!” Chen Lingyuan’s voice was extremely weak, his body seeming somewhat limp. He forced himself to lean against the quilt, pointing shakily at Kong Xiao as he spoke.
Kong Xiao suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes flashing with resentment, and said viciously, “I’m a beast? How am I a beast? I was just considering myself. They all say ‘if a man doesn’t look out for himself, heaven and earth will condemn him.’ I just wanted to take back what should belong to me—how does that make me a beast?”
“You! You’re still quibbling! Do you know what fate awaits the soldiers outside if you do this? Do you really want to sacrifice all these brothers who’ve lived and died with you just for your own selfish gain?” Chen Lingyuan was utterly heartbroken.
“That’s their own fault! If they were willing to surrender, I would definitely lead them to live well. It’s they who are stubborn. Their deaths have nothing to do with me!” Kong Xiao said stubbornly, but Mo Ziyuan still caught the flash of guilty conscience in his eyes as he spoke.
“You’re the one who’s stubborn! This is treason! Do you think you’ll have a good end after going to the Western Rong? Do you think those Western Rong people will honor their promises to you? Hmph! Don’t dream—they’re just using you.” Chen Lingyuan looked at this former capable deputy general, feeling utterly disheartened.
“I’m willing to let them use me. At least what they give me is tangible. And you? I’ve followed you for over a dozen years—what have I gotten? Tell me!” Kong Xiao roared out of control.
“Zi Yuan, knock him out. I have nothing more to say to him.” With that, Chen Lingyuan clamped his mouth shut and said not another word.
Mo Ziyuan was very obedient. Without a word, he stepped forward and delivered a hand chop to the neck of Kong Xiao, who was still ranting that Chen Lingyuan had wronged him. Watching his limp body fall to the ground, he found a rope and tied him up tightly.
“General, what exactly did he… General?” After finishing this, Mo Ziyuan walked to Chen Lingyuan’s bedside, intending to ask what had happened, but he saw two streams of hot tears rolling down from the corners of Chen Lingyuan’s eyes.
“Zi Yuan, I was wrong, but it’s too late! Kong Xiao… he poisoned the drinking water in the camp. All the soldiers who used the water have been drugged. I… I’m a sinner!” As Chen Lingyuan spoke, he forcefully slapped himself twice, but since he was also drugged, his body was limp and powerless. Those two palms were like tickling, leaving not even a mark, which only made him feel worse inside.
“…” Mo Ziyuan hadn’t expected Kong Xiao to pull this move. He had thought at most he would reveal their plan to sneak attack the enemy camp tonight with Lin Xin.
“General, rest first. I’ll go check the situation outside.” He had rushed in earlier in a panic, leaving all the Western Rong people to Lin Xin. Now he was eager to know what was happening outside.
“Go quickly!” Chen Lingyuan knew the priorities and nodded promptly.
Mo Ziyuan lifted the curtain of the camp tent, and a thick stench of blood hit him. At the entrance, besides the corpse of the Western Rong soldier he had fought and the man in black sitting in the chair, there was no sign of Lin Xin.
“Xin’er!” His heart panicked instantly. He darted out of the tent and searched everywhere, but as far as the eye could see, there were only corpses of Western Rong people and unconscious soldiers—no one standing.
“Zi Yuan, what happened?” Hearing his shout, Chen Lingyuan supported his limp body and walked out to ask.
“General, Xin’er, Xin’er is gone.” Mo Ziyuan rushed to him upon hearing the voice and said.
Chen Lingyuan now also saw the scene before him clearly. His heart sank, and he staggered to a soldier-dressed person, kneeling on the ground. With trembling hands, he checked his breathing. Feeling a faint warm breath on his fingertips, he finally let out a long sigh of relief, only to feel blackness before his eyes.
He forced himself not to faint, extending a hand toward Mo Ziyuan, who was pacing anxiously nearby. “Zi Yuan, don’t panic. With Miss Lin’s skills, she should be fine. Calm down and think carefully—where is she most likely to have gone?”
Hearing this, Mo Ziyuan forced himself to calm down and think hard, but even after nearly pulling out his hair, he couldn’t figure it out. His bloodshot eyes turned toward Chen Lingyuan.
“Go check those two corpses first for any clues!” Chen Lingyuan said again.
“Right, I’ll go now.” Mo Ziyuan jumped up and ran to the corpse of the man in black in the chair, examining it carefully. He searched his entire body and found only a wound on his neck that had nearly severed it, with blood flowing from the wound and staining the front of his clothes.
That wound was very neat, likely caused in one strike.
Looking again at the Western Rong soldier fallen to the ground, besides some sword wounds on his body, he had a similar wound in the same place.
He checked a few more corpses of Western Rong soldiers and found their causes of death were much the same—basically a single wound on the neck, killed in one strike. His heart settled a bit, as he could tell these were all Lin Xin’s handiwork.
Seeing him regain some reason, Chen Lingyuan could no longer hold on. He collapsed softly to the ground and lost consciousness.
Mo Ziyuan was caught in a dilemma. He wanted to go look for Lin Xin but couldn’t leave this place. After much thought, he suppressed his worry for Lin Xin, bent down, hoisted Chen Lingyuan over his shoulder, and carried him back to the tent.
“Mm~” A low groan caught his attention.
A soldier stirred his arm groggily, standing out among the crowd of unconscious soldiers and dead Western Rong people.
Mo Ziyuan dashed to him in one stride, grabbed his arm, pulled him up from the ground, and asked urgently, “What just happened? Speak quickly!”
The already dizzy soldier was shaken even more by him. He barely lifted his eyes, saw it was Mo Ziyuan, and mustered his spirits to answer, “Mor-more… more Western… Western Rong people came…”
“More Western Rong people came?” Mo Ziyuan repeated, then asked again, “What about Miss Lin? Did you see her?”
“Miss… Miss Lin?” The soldier asked groggily in return.
“Yes, Miss Lin. Did you see her?”
The soldier shook his head. “No… didn’t see…”
Didn’t see her. Mo Ziyuan felt disappointed for a moment, but quickly rallied. If one had woken up, there would be a second. Someone must have seen where Lin Xin went.
So, he patiently checked every soldier in the camp. After questioning those slightly awake ones, he settled them in a cleared unified big tent. Anyway, those awake all had wounds on their bodies.
He arranged those who wouldn’t wake up together as well.
After settling all the soldiers, he got a rough idea of the news: After Lin Xin killed the man in black who led this assault on the large camp, she lured the remaining Western Rong people away.
