Chapter 1412: Beauty Undercover General's Mischief 03

The blade soaked in liquor slowly cut open the rotting flesh; this step was the most painful. Muyue couldn't help but bite down hard on the finger pressed to her lips, tears continuously sliding into Jin Chen's palm.

The fatigue of several days surged all at once; Muyue was tormented by this pain akin to abuse, leaving her consciousness dazed, her waist and abdomen trembling slightly, pitiable to an extreme.

By the time the worst wound was treated, Muyue was already drenched in sweat, as if fished out of water; her soft whimpers had ceased, the face pressed against Jin Chen's palm was bloodless, and she had completely fainted.

The military doctor hesitated whether to continue, fearing the poor person's body couldn't bear it, and asked, "General, should we treat the remaining wounds?"

Jin Chen pondered for half a second, took a pill from his close-fitting clothes pocket, but as soon as he produced it the military doctor stopped him: "No, General! This is a life-saving item given to you by the Chief; how could you give it to someone of unknown origin?"

Jin Chen ignored him, pulled out the thumb that Muyue had bitten bloody, casually wiped it on his armor, and personally fed her the pill before stopping.

"Continue treating the wounds."

"Yes, sir." The military doctor could only continue, meanwhile silently wondering who this person was, worth the general producing a precious, hard-to-obtain life-saving pill.

With just this one pill taken, let alone his wounds all over, even if his heart were stabbed three times, even King Yama wouldn't dare to claim him.

After all wounds were treated, Jin Chen sat beside the bed for a moment, then slowly released the hand that Muyue had gripped tightly.

"Arrange two people to guard her; notify me immediately when she wakes up… By the way, go into town and fetch two sets of nice clothing."

Having given these instructions, Jin Chen finally felt at ease leaving.

"I will obey, General." Right General Shi You clasped his fists again, glanced doubtfully at the closed tent, and found it strange.

The general surely wouldn't really develop lustful intentions toward this beauty, would he?

Inside the tent, the wrist of Muyue covered by the thin blanket began to darken, like a coiling venomous snake, slowly and distortedly creeping toward her heart.

——

Council Tent.

Jin Chen sat upon the main commander's seat, his battle robe solemn, the eyes behind his ghost mask sharp as a hawk's.

All the seated officers had followed Jin Chen in battle; they were long accustomed to that terrifying ghost mask, and if one day the general showed his true face, they would probably still find it strange.

The colonel was analyzing the current situation with a battlefield map, his tone grave: "After the previous few engagements, the Iron Mud State's troops have lost two battles in a row; they surely won't dare to repeat it lightly, at least not for the next two months."

"However, our city-state this time is special—it is a trade hub bordering a frontier town of Xiwu State, and we must also guard against their sneak attacks."

Currently, the Red Sky State is the largest under heaven, followed by the South Li State to the south; the two countries are still on friendly terms.

Both the Iron Mud State and Xiwu State are borderland foreign lands; though their forces cannot match those of the great powers, they possess weapons unlike the ordinary.

The colonel clasped his fists and knelt: "Reporting, General, in this engagement with the Iron Mud State they heavily used tamed wild beasts as vanguards, especially elephants! Elephants are huge in size and thick-skinned; ordinary blades and spears cannot pierce them at all!"

"If this continues, we may well repeat the past when fighting Xiwu State, where we were nearly driven back by deadly poisonous insects."

Repelling them this time was already a stroke of luck, but this tactic obviously cannot be used every time; once the tactic is seen through, sending the soldiers to face towering herds of elephants would have unimaginable consequences.

Jin Chen pondered for a few moments, recalling the battlefield scene from the fight against the Iron Mud State in his mind; the vast sand field kept shrinking in his mental image until, according to memory, he pieced together the layout of the entire field.

"Kong Lang, you personally go to the northern part of the city to scout out a usable troupe, then go into the city to secretly purchase large quantities of fuel,"

"Ah… ah, yes." Left General Kong Lang stared blankly, not understanding why the general suddenly wanted to look at a troupe, but he complied anyway.

Jin Chen had the colonel rise, then solemnly ordered: "Have the troops stationed on the battlefield switch to a sparse formation and expand the position."

"I will obey, General." The colonel rose and saluted.

After the meeting ended, Kong Lang and Right General Shi You exchanged a glance, then both simultaneously decided not to talk about that mysterious poor person.

"By the way, General," Kong Lang asked, changing direction, "what do you think should be done with those few performers our subordinates captured today?"

Actually, such minor matters are usually decided by them; they shouldn't bother the great general, but today's situation is clearly different.

What if… the general takes an interest and wants to pick one to keep by his side? Then they would be utterly lacking in discernment.

Jin Chen hadn't failed to notice Kong Lang and Shi You exchanging glances, but in the original plot, among those performers there was still one who was Muyue's accomplice; if they disposed of him…

Relying on that 99 Blackening Value, by the time they failed to capture the person, they'd first be assassinated.

"First keep him in the military camp, then send him into the city after a few days."

As expected, the general indeed had other ideas!

Kong Lang considered himself already the most attentive subordinate, and with a grin he went off hands behind his back to arrange things.

——

Muyue slept soundly for a full day, only waking the following afternoon.

The moment her consciousness returned, Muyue glanced inside the tent, confirmed no one was watching, then sat up, her body wrapped in bandages.

First she marveled at the skill of the Red Sky State's military doctors—such severe wounds had already improved considerably—then she warily pressed her wrist.

Yesterday was the fifteenth, and she hadn't yet had a chance to take the antidote.

Muyue lifted the blanket and indeed saw the black markings spreading upward from her forearm; before long they would reach her heart.

Muyue expressionlessly took this month's antidote from her wrist and swallowed it, only then discovering that only three remained.

Suddenly, her beautiful face was overcast with gloom; her fox-like narrow eyes narrowed slightly, brimming with killing intent.

Three months—if he cannot kill that ghost-masked general and return to report, he will die bleeding from all seven orifices.

Recalling the ghost-masked general's actions before she lost consciousness, Muyue had already made up her mind.

He rose from the bed; clean clothes lay beside it. Muyue pinched the fabric with her fingertips, examined it, and two words surfaced in her mind: 'Vulgar!'

Bright red garments embroidered with large flowers! Is that the general's taste?

Muyue picked and chose, then donned the vulgar red outfit in a different way, barefoot she opened the tent flap.

Many patrol units filled the camp; as soon as Muyue stepped out she attracted plenty of glances, but not the blatant stares of yesterday—most soldiers merely glanced and quickly looked away, daring not to stare directly at the beauty the general had taken a liking to.

Muyue didn't know the way to the general's main tent, so the soldiers guarding outside her tent personally led her there.

Muyue was led to a temporary encampment far from the main tent; as he walked, his expression was blank and at a loss, yet he continually memorized the patrol intervals and the layout of the various camps.

"Wait, you still can't go in."

The general's guards on duty today stopped Muyue, stating bluntly: "Outsiders entering the main tent must be searched."

It wasn't an excessive request, after all they were protecting the general's safety.

Muyue's face turned deathly pale; she bit her lip and stepped back, saying, "No… why must I be searched?"

Guard: "This is the rule!"

They saw Muyue unwilling to cooperate, grew suspicious and approached, saying, "Submit to a search, or face military punishment!"

Muyue glanced at the main tent curtain within arm's reach, murmured softly, "Is this also the General's order?"

The next second, the curtain was flung open by a powerful surge of qi; the two guards and the soldiers who had brought Muyue immediately knelt, hearing the Grand General's voice, deep and cold.

"Let him in."

The guards were all startled, hastily replying, "Subordinate obeys!"