Seeing her own master being bullied, Su Mo was instantly filled with righteous indignation and wanted to stand up for him.
“National Advisor, you might want to keep your voice down. Otherwise, if someone else overhears you, it might not end well for Miss Jiang.”
Yun Chunfeng immediately put on a pitiful expression and looked at Jiang Xingyan.
“So, my affection for you is actually causing trouble for you, miss?
If that’s the case, should I hold back a little?”
The little girl in his arms looked at Su Mo with pity.
Here he goes again.
Seriously, why on earth did you have to provoke him?
Of course, Jiang Xingyan knew that Yun Ge’er was just acting cute, and what else could she do but spoil him?
“Don’t be afraid, Yun Ge’er. As long as no one likes to squat by the wall eavesdropping like Guard Su Mo, I’m sure no one will find out.”
Su Mo was outdone by her own tactic, his face turning red as he hung his head in defeat.
Only then did Xiao Zhenhuai start to piece things together.
No wonder Jiang Xingyan didn’t try to hide the truth about the soul swap from him. So Su Mo had let it slip? Shocked and angry, he turned to look at Su Mo.
Su Mo didn’t dare meet his master’s eyes and kept dodging his gaze.
Then Jiang Xingyan remembered that Su Mo had told her the truth behind Xiao Zhenhuai’s back. She scratched the tip of her nose.
Awkward.
Too many things had happened in the past couple of days, and she had genuinely forgotten about this.
Weak as he was, Xiao Zhenhuai was still a prince, and his aura instantly turned ice cold.
“Su Mo, what’s the first rule of the dark guards?”
Su Mo’s lips trembled as he whispered, barely audible, “Absolute loyalty to one’s master.”
“Tell me, what exactly happened?”
Jiang Xingyan looked up and saw the shock and grievance on Su Mo’s face.
So this was the first time Xiao Zhenhuai had ever lost his temper like this.
“Alright, stop picking on him. I’ll explain.”
Jiang Xingyan briefly laid out how Su Mo had acted for Xiao Zhenhuai’s sake.
Xiao Zhenhuai felt utterly desolate.
It was already cruel enough that he wouldn’t live past this year. Why did he have to endure a hopelessness with no silver lining?
Before, he could at least pin his feelings on the soul swap, clinging to a beautiful fantasy to get him through his final days.
Now, he had nothing left.
Not even the last shred of dignity in front of Jiang Xingyan.
Thinking of this, he started coughing violently.
Su Mo fumbled to feed him the new medicine made by Imperial Physician Sun, but Xiao Zhenhuai shoved his hand away.
“Master…”
Yun Chunfeng watched him coldly.
“Take the medicine. Otherwise, even I won’t be able to save you.”
Xin Zhui acts rashly and is likely the key weakness that the visitors from beyond the Northern Luo skies will exploit.
Without Xiao Zhenhuai by his side to correct him—the two of them working together, complementing each other to guard the front—Shanhe Pass will surely be breached.
If that happens, the young miss will be caught between a rock and a hard place, making it very difficult for her to escape unscathed.
Xiao Zhenhuai was stunned by his words.
Su Mo, quick as a flash, fed him the medicine.
Even so, Xiao Zhenhuai coughed for a full fifteen minutes before he could finally stop.
Jiang Xingyan frowned.
Perhaps it was from sheer mental exhaustion, but his condition seemed even worse than before.
“National Advisor, you—”
“Since the Second Prince deigns to call me National Advisor, then know that I have the power to defy fate and command the elements.
If you don’t believe me, then please, get off the carriage.
From now on, we go our separate ways, with no further ties.”
Xiao Zhenhuai desperately wanted to live.
He had survived his dark, hopeless childhood.
How could he die now, just when he had finally met someone who stirred his heart?
“But… why are you helping me?”
His will to live made him humble in front of Yun Chunfeng.
Others might not know, but Yun Chunfeng understood his feelings completely.
Someone as stubborn as him—why would he ever save a romantic rival?
“Naturally, to make sure everyone stays alive.”
Jiang Xingyan understood what Yun Chunfeng meant.
Xin Zhui had just come back from death’s door. His body wasn’t fully recovered, and his mind wasn’t exactly sharp.
If there was no one to guide him, he’d just be marching to his death.
Xiao Chonghua was too calculating. She was afraid that at the critical moment, he might discard Xin Zhui like a useless pawn.
Xiao Zhenhuai, tied to the same boat, was more trustworthy.
“Alright, I promise you. I will hold Shanhe Pass and bring Deputy General Xin back alive.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the carriage came to a smooth stop.
“General, Deputy General Xin is waiting at the army camp gate.”
Jiang Xingyan lifted the carriage curtain and saw Xin Zhui, his face still pale and not fully recovered, rushing over in a hurry.
“Ah—”
He’d started to call her A-Xing.
But then his eyes accidentally landed on Xiao Zhenhuai, and he swallowed the name back down.
“General, a strange man has shown up at the Military Innovation Camp, and he’s having a contest with Tieshi!
You have to come and see, General. Those two are betting their lives on it.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Xingyan waited for Yun Chunfeng to get off the carriage with the little girl before hurrying with him toward the Military Innovation Camp.
Left behind, Xiao Zhenhuai and Su Mo looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
They couldn’t very well follow, but they couldn’t just stay put either. So they had no choice but to let the guards escort them to the main tent to wait.
Xiao Zhenhuai gazed at the retreating figure, a sudden pang of bitterness stabbing his heart.
The jealousy you’re not qualified to feel is the most bitter of all.
He was even worse off than Huo Ci.
What right did he have to beg for even a single glance from her?
——-
At the Huo Family Army’s Military Innovation Camp.
Tieshi stood in his armor, his face grim, clutching a long, sharp lance.
Facing him was a swarthy, simple-looking man, also fully armored, gripping a weapon no one had ever seen before.
It resembled a mace, but it was slimmer and much lighter.
It looked a bit like a sword, but it had four edges and didn’t seem sharp at all.
“Hey, you, Mister Mo. It’s not too late to back out!
Don’t come here and get yourself killed on your first day. People will say the Huo Family Army bullies outsiders!”
Almost everyone thought Tieshi would win.
Tieshi himself included.
His modified lance was at least nine feet long.
From this distance, all he had to do was reach out, and he could take Mo Zhai’s life.
This guy looked honest and simple, but the moment he opened his mouth, he spouted nonsense.
The first thing he said upon arriving at the camp was that all the weapons they made were just for show—useless, basically just waiting to die on the battlefield.
Of course, Tieshi couldn’t stand for that.
But the repeating crossbow, the mace, the flail, and the meteor hammer that Tieshi had brought out had all been beaten, one by one, by the even stranger weapons Mo Zhai presented.
For the final round, they were competing over whose weapon could kill an enemy inside Iron Pagoda armor faster and with less effort.
“What’s the fun in hitting pork? Let’s do it for real!”
Xin Zhui rushed to stop him. “Tieshi! Don’t be reckless!”
But Tieshi was red-eyed from losing. “Deputy General Xin, stay out of this.
If I can’t beat him, I don’t deserve to stay in the Huo Family Army anyway. I’d rather die by his mace!”
Mo Zhai looked like a timid bumpkin from the countryside, but his big, ox-like eyes were unusually bright.
They shone like the flames in a forge.
“You’re the first person to recognize this as a mace.
I’m ready whenever you are.”
So the two of them suited up and signed the waivers.
A crowd of Huo Family Army soldiers gathered around, all clenching their fists, holding their breath, as they watched the life-or-death duel.
“Make your move!”
Tieshi shouted, striking cleanly and fast, his long, sharp lance stabbing straight for Mo Zhai’s heart.
Mo Zhai shifted his feet slightly. Just a moment before the lance tip reached his heart, he gathered all his strength in both hands, gripped the mace, and slammed it down with all his might.
Crack!
The sound of metal shrieking against metal was so piercing that many people winced.
Sparks flew everywhere.
The sharp tip of the lance was knocked sideways and snapped right off.
But Mo Zhai didn’t stop there.
He surged forward a few steps, and in that opening, his mace struck true every single time.
Whenever Tieshi tried to parry with his lance, Mo Zhai would smash down on it with full force.
After a few exchanges, the lance was completely broken.
Yet the mace in Mo Zhai’s hand remained unscathed.
“Tieshi!”
Tieshi’s eyes suddenly went wide.
Reflected in his pupils was the sight of a mace swinging down toward his head.
His heart stopped, and his ears filled with a continuous ringing.
He had lost. A bet was a bet.
This was it.
It was a shame he wouldn’t be there to see the day when all those Northern Luo bastards were finally brought to justice.
Tieshi closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate.
