Firmament Sword

”Third Brother... what... what’s going on?” Xu Jie asked in surprise as he watched Xu Luo approach with an obviously unwell Mo Yun.

Xu Luo gave Xu Jie a strange look. Supporting Mo Yun, he walked over, placed her in Xu Jie’s arms, and then whispered a few words in his ear. Xu Jie’s normally tan face instantly flushed beet red. He shook his head like a rattle drum and said repeatedly, ”No... No, absolutely not!”

Over on the side, a curious Little Fatty looked at Xu Jie. ”Second Brother, Third Brother, what are you talking about? Is this woman Mo Yun? Why does she look so... off?”

”Don’t ask so many questions. This has nothing to do with you,” Xu Jie snapped, his face stern. He then turned his pleading gaze to Huangfu Chongzhi.

Huangfu Chongzhi came over and looked at the flushed, panting Mo Yun. He pulled back her eyelid for a glance, then shook his head and said, ”Second Brother... this matter... I’m afraid... it really is up to you.”

Little Fatty looked aggrieved. ”I mean, Second Brother, I don’t even know what’s going on. How could I go around blabbing?”

”Then don’t say anything at all!” Xu Jie said fiercely. He then looked at Huangfu Chongzhi. ”Eldest Brother... is there... really no other way?”

Huangfu Chongzhi shook his head. ”It looks like a very potent drug. If it isn’t neutralized in time, I’m afraid...”

”Her life will be in danger?” Xu Jie asked.

Huangfu Chongzhi nodded slightly. ”Even if she survives, she’ll definitely be crippled...”

Xu Luo smiled from the side. ”Go on, Second Brother. I’m sure General Mo won’t blame you when she wakes up...”

”He’s right, Second Brother. Your family background is more than a match for hers, and you’ve always liked her,” Huangfu Chongzhi added. ”Besides... you’d be saving her life.”

”No. My feelings for her are my own business. She doesn’t even know. Besides, I’m the reason she’s in this state. Even though there’s no right or wrong in war, I still feel guilty about what happened to her. If I do something to her while she’s like this, wouldn’t that make me a despicable opportunist?” Xu Jie said in a low voice. ”I believe that if she were lucid right now, she would rather die than accept this!”

Just then, Mo Yun, leaning in Xu Jie’s arms, couldn’t help but let out a soft moan.

At that, even the ever-curious Little Fatty finally understood what was happening. His eyes widened as he looked at Xu Luo. ”How did this happen?”

Xu Luo shrugged and spread his hands. ”How would I know? It was probably Wei Ziting’s men.”

”What a beast!” Little Fatty exclaimed, then looked at Xu Jie. ”Second Brother, this is one thing we brothers really can’t help you with. For now, we should hurry up and get General Mo back to the castle. We’ll figure it out from there.”

Xu Jie nodded, holding Mo Yun with a troubled expression. ”I suppose that’s our only option for now.”

The group didn’t wait to see the final outcome of the battle, as the conclusion was already foregone. The private soldiers Wei Ziting had brought were no match for old veterans like Tang Yong and Li Yu.

After returning to the castle, Xu Luo and the others immediately vanished from Xu Jie’s sight, claiming they were going to rendezvous with Tang Yong and his men. In the room, only Xu Jie and Mo Yun, lying on the bed, remained.

Just then, Mo Yun’s eyes suddenly flew open. She gave Xu Jie an incredibly complicated look and asked through clenched teeth, ”You’re Xu Zhongtian’s son?”

”Ah... you... you’re still lucid?” Xu Jie was stunned, then overjoyed. ”Does that mean you’re all right? That’s... that’s wonderful!”

”Wonderful my ass!” With her armor and mask removed, Mo Yun, who was revealed to be a peerless beauty capable of toppling nations, couldn’t help but curse. She said with difficulty, ”My sect... has a Cultivation Technique... that allows me... to barely hold on to a final... shred of consciousness for two hours. Just now... if you had agreed... I... would have killed you!”

Xu Jie gave a bitter smile. ”General Mo, truth be told, I’m directly responsible for you ending up in this state. I know you hate me to the bone, so how could I ever do something so opportunistic?”

”Do you like me?” Mo Yun suddenly asked, looking at Xu Jie with a flash of shyness in her eyes.

”I...” In all his life, this was the first time a woman he admired had asked him such a question. The Second Master Xu of the past had eyes only for forging and sword-making; what concept of ’women’ did he have?

”You’re a grown man... and you don’t even... dare to admit it?” Mo Yun endured the waves of the drug’s effects, forcing herself to look at Xu Jie. ”Liking someone is just that...”

”I do!” Before Mo Yun could say more, Xu Jie looked her straight in the eye and said, ”I like you!”

”Heh...” A smile touched Mo Yun’s lips, but tears suddenly streamed from her eyes. Far too many men had said those words to her, but she had never imagined that one day, a man who should have been her mortal enemy would be the one to say them.

”Then... aren’t you afraid that someone with my identity will bring you endless trouble? Aren’t you afraid... that your father, General Xu Zhongtian, will throw you out of the family? And what about your father’s rivals? They’ll use this to wildly accuse your family of colluding with the enemy...” Mo Yun said with difficulty, a sarcastic smile on her face as she looked at Xu Jie.

”I’m not afraid.” At this point, Xu Jie stopped holding back. Second Master Xu was a straightforward man by nature; once he set his mind on something, no one could change it.

”I... I should hate you, but for some reason, I can’t. If I have to blame someone for how I’ve ended up... I can only blame myself for being stubborn and overly conceited...” Mo Yun said through her tears. Then, she spoke softly, ”I still have so much I need to do. I’m not afraid of death, but I don’t want to die now. Xu Jie, come and cure my poison. From this day forward, there is only Xu Jie’s woman... there is no... Mo Yun!”

...

”Third Brother, Third Brother, what do you think... Second Brother will do?” Little Fatty sidled up to Xu Luo with a sleazy grin, asking in a low voice.

”What do you mean, ’what will he do’? Of course he’s going to cure General Mo’s poison. Are any of us brothers the type to stand by and watch someone die?” Xu Luo replied with a dead serious expression.

Little Fatty rolled his eyes, utterly despising Xu Luo’s completely unhelpful answer. He shuffled over to Huangfu Chongzhi’s side and asked, ”Eldest Brother, that poison... could you really not cure it?”

Sui Yan sneered from the side. ”Idiot!”

”Holy hell, Sui Xiaoshi, you’re getting completely out of line! You tell me right now how I’m an idiot! If you can’t give me a good reason today, this Fourth Master is not letting you off the hook!” Little Fatty flew into a rage. Not daring to act out against Huangfu Chongzhi or Xu Luo, he vented all his anger on Fifth Brother.

”Even I could see that it wasn’t that Eldest Brother couldn’t cure it, but that he wanted to give Second Brother an opportunity. And you couldn’t see that?” Sui Yan ignored Liu Feng’s fury and said nonchalantly, ”If you’re not an idiot, what are you?”

Little Fatty stared dumbfounded at Huangfu Chongzhi. ”Eldest Brother, is that true? You... you’re not that kind of person! How... how could you be sure that woman would go along with it? What if she just stabs Second Brother in the back after the poison is cured...?”

Huangfu Chongzhi looked at Little Fatty with a helpless expression. ”General Mo Yun has been conscious the entire time. If she wasn’t willing, do you really think Second Brother could have brought her back?”

”Holy hell... is that for real?” Little Fatty looked at Huangfu Chongzhi in disbelief, then turned to Xu Luo. ”Third Brother...”

Xu Luo nodded. ”You really are a blockhead. I have no idea what you’re doing all day when you’re with that little princess from the Lan Meng Clan.”

”I... I... I...” Little Fatty hadn’t expected Third Brother to turn the fire on him. Seeing Sui Yan’s curious expression and Huangfu Chongzhi’s feigned calm smile, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes. ”You’re all a bunch of scoundrels!”

Just then, Tang Yong, Li Yu, and the others returned, bringing with them the remnants of Mo Yun’s troops.

To this point, these battered soldiers still believed their rescuers were truly from the Da Han Empire. It was only upon arriving here that they realized something was wrong.

For one, this place was a long way from the Da Han border. For another, how could such a large contingent of Da Han Empire soldiers move so brazenly through Cangqiong territory without anyone from the Cangqiong Kingdom noticing? If that were the case, Cangqiong would have been conquered countless times over by now!

They were Mo Yun’s personal guard, so their insight was naturally different from that of ordinary soldiers. However, their general had been taken away by these people, and the group truly didn’t seem to harbor any ill will towards them. Thus, they all suppressed their doubts and followed them here.

”Young Master, we have fulfilled our duty and completed the mission!” Tang Yong, Li Yu, and the others stepped forward and greeted Xu Luo.

Tang Yong and his men held no great animosity towards Great Yan. The ones they truly hated were the Da Han Empire and Prime Minister Wei Feng, who had brought them endless suffering. They were a group of men who clearly distinguished between friend and foe, so they had no objections to this mission.

Xu Luo nodded slightly. ”You’ve done well!” Then, he turned to Mo Yun’s personal guard and said in a low voice, ”Your general requires medical treatment. Settle in here for the time being. We can discuss everything else after she has recovered.”

”Young Master, we first thank you for saving our lives, but could you please tell us who you really are?”

”That’s right, Young Master! You’re definitely not from Da Han!”

”Sigh... he is Xu Luo, the third son of the Grand General of National Guardian!” someone among the remnants of Mo Yun’s troops said with a sigh.

Instantly, a dead silence fell over Mo Yun’s remaining troops. Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at Xu Luo and his brothers, almost losing the ability to think.

The one who had spoken was none other than the sharp-eyed Reconnoitre with a photographic memory who had recognized Xu Jie that day!

”Is it really true?”

”How... How can this be?”

”Aren’t we enemies?”

Mo Yun’s remaining troops, this group of battle-hardened veterans, were all completely dumbfounded. They had no idea what to say.

They had traveled thousands of miles from the Southern lands to the north with the express purpose of getting revenge and causing trouble for the Cangqiong Kingdom... but they never expected that in the end, when they faced mortal danger, the very people they most wanted to retaliate against would be the ones to save them!

Mo Yun’s remaining troops fell silent.