Chapter 396: Meeting

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Li Jinghua looked at Yuan Hui in surprise. What surprised her even more was that although Qi Haoran was pacing around angrily, he ordered his men to rest while waiting for Mu Yangling, just as instructed by Yuan Hui.

Even though Li Jinghua had thousands of questions, she had no choice but to suppress her temper and wait for Mu Yangling to arrive.

Seeing that the sky was about to brighten, Li Jinghua was so anxious that the corners of her mouth were bubbling. Seeing that Mu Yangling still had not arrived, she looked at Qi Haoran anxiously.

Qi Haoran’s chest heaved up and down as Fan Zijin pressed him down on the chair…

Yuan Hui looked up at the starry sky and saw that the star was getting increasingly dimmer, and drifting further and further away from the Emperor Star. He was equally anxious. Qi Haoran waved Fan Zijin’s hand away and stood up with a bang. He shouted, “You guys wait for her here. I’ll set off first.”

Yuan Hui quickly calculated with his fingers and said, “Fourth Young Master, let’s wait a little longer. Otherwise…”

“When? My big brother is still in Fuping. We’re not even sure if something happened. We can’t sit here and do nothing just because of a word from you. Besides, I’ve been waiting for an hour.” As he spoke, he waved his hand and instructed his men to set off.

Unable to stop him, Yuan Hui anxiously looked at Fan Zijin. However, Fan Zijin didn’t stop him. Instead, he followed Qi Haoran to the main door. Seeing this, Li Jinghua hurriedly followed them out.

The group of them walked out of the door. Qi Haoran mounted his horse, and the entire row of soldiers behind him was already ready to set off. Qi Haoran turned to Fan Zijin and said, “Zijin, I’ll leave the house to you. If Ah Ling comes, let her catch up.”

Fan Zijin nodded. “Don’t worry, I’m here.”

Qi Haoran nodded slightly at Li Jinghua. “Sister-in-law, you don’t have to worry too much. I’ll definitely bring Big Brother back safely.”

Li Jinghua nodded gratefully and held her handkerchief tightly as she looked at him. Qi Haoran turned his horse around and was about to wave his hand to get his men to set off when he narrowed his eyes and looked towards the main road. Yuan Hui also looked over and only heaved a sigh of relief when Mu Yangling appeared in his line of sight on her horse.

With a cold expression, Qi Haoran turned to Steward Zhu and said, “Bring Big Brother’s Ruby over.”

Qi Xiuyuan’s mount was called Snowy, but it was injured in the last battle, so Qi Haoran found a horse for him to ride as a secondary mount. Its name was Ruby, and it was also a thousand-mile horse.

Mu Yangling’s Blackie was definitely not as fast as Ruby.

Steward Zhu immediately ran to the backyard to bring the horse over. When Mu Yangling and the two guards arrived, their bodies were emitting cold air. As they were still sweating from riding the horse, the cold air turned into smoke that dissipated.

She reined in her horse and asked, “What happened?”

Seeing that the dagger he gifted her was tied to her horse, Qi Haoran was satisfied. His expression softened slightly as he said, “Master Yuan Hui said that something might have happened to Fuping. Big Brother is in Fuping.”

Mu Yangling frowned and looked at Yuan Hui suspiciously. “Really? You can tell?”

Yuan Hui looked back at Mu Yangling calmly.

Steward Zhu had already brought the horse out. Without saying much, she threw Blackie to him and jumped onto Ruby with the knife. Seeing that it was not its master, Ruby stomped a few times restlessly. Mu Yangling exerted strength with her feet to suppress it. Then, she relaxed her strength and gently stroked its neck. “Good baby, we’re going to see your master now. You have to be quiet.”

Ruby gradually calmed down.

Only then did Mu Yangling look up and say to Qi Haoran, “Let’s go.”

The two of them rode side by side on their horses. The horses gradually sped up, and in a short while, they ran a long distance. The cavalrymen behind hurriedly followed.

The sky was already slightly bright, and the city gate had already opened. Without having to waste time opening the city gate, the group left the city right away, riding quickly towards Fuping County.

In the afternoon, they finally arrived at Fuping County, but the people there said that the Jin soldiers had slaughtered two villages under them the day before yesterday. Qi Xiuyuan had personally led his troops to patrol yesterday and had yet to return today.

Qi Haoran’s face turned ashen as he asked, “How many men did General bring along?”

“500 soldiers. The Military Advisor also went with them.”

“Since the general isn’t back yet, why didn’t you send someone to look for him? Why didn’t you report it!” Qi Haoran glared at the battalion commander with a vicious expression.

The battalion commander’s face was pale as he said, “Little General, when the general left, he said that he would patrol the border. As you know, the border here is very long. Not to mention that the general will only be gone for a day, even if he is away three days, it’s considered normal. They also brought military pigeons with them. If they encounter danger, they will naturally use the military pigeons to seek help. However, we didn’t receive any distress letters.”

Mu Yangling patted Qi Haoran’s shoulder to calm him down. Mu Yangling said, “Brother Haoran, let’s rest for a while before leaving.”

Qi Haoran instructed with a cold expression, “Prepare three days worth of food, rations and water for us immediately. Feed our horses to their fullest. Also, bring me the map of Fuping County.”

The garrison battalion commander of Fuping County heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly ran to make arrangements. After obtaining the map, Qi Haoran finally understood why Yuan Hui said that he would have wasted time by leaving first. It was because the two villages were deep in the mountains and forests.

In terms of familiarity with the forest, he was indeed inferior to Mu Yangling.

Qi Haoran circled two circles around the two villages and said, “The wealthy place great importance on their health. Every time I go to war, Big Brother has to recite it once. Why did he go here? And why didn’t Big Brother Rong stop him?”

Naturally, there had to be enough benefits. Located in such a deep forest, the two villages were almost isolated from the world. Not to mention Qi Xiuyuan, even if Qi Haoran knew that the two villages had been slaughtered, he probably wouldn’t lead troops there without knowing the exact strength of the other party’s army. Wouldn’t that be sending himself and the soldiers to the wolves?

“There must be something in these two villages that attracts Big Brother Qi. At least, someone made him feel that way,” Mu Yangling said.

Mu Yangling suspected that there was a traitor among Qi Xiuyuan’s men, and Qi Haoran naturally thought of this too.

Qi Haoran gritted his teeth in hatred. He put away the map and said to Mu Yangling, “Rest well. I still need your help to find him when we enter the forest.”

Mu Yangling nodded.

After filling their stomachs, the group took their dry food and set off for the two villages. Though quite far from Fuping County, the two villages were not far from each other.

Because it was remote and the road was very narrow, the group slowed down considerably. When they arrived at the first village, the sky was gradually darkening and the sun was about to set.

Before they entered the village, they could already smell the thick smell of blood. When they saw the tragic situation inside, everyone’s faces darkened. This village was not big, only about 20 families or loo-odd people. However, they did not even let off newborn babies.

The scouts who followed Qi Haoran were all scouts who had been trained by the two of them. Hence, when they dismounted at the entrance of the village, Qi Haoran instructed, “Go in and search immediately. See if you can find any traces of the general.”

Everyone responded and quickly entered the village. Mu Yangling and Qi Haoran also checked the surroundings of the village.

The footprints were very chaotic. Some were left behind by the Jin soldiers, and some were left behind by the villagers who were fleeing. Qi Haoran walked around and stopped in front of a crushed bush in the northwest. He carefully observed the situation on the nearby lawn, then straightened his body and said, “Big Brother arrived at this village first before bringing people to the next village.”

Mu Yangling nodded. “Let’s go. Since that village isn’t far from here, we should be able to reach it before dark.”

Qi Haoran called the scouts out. They stood by the door and reported by the door. “General and the rest definitely didn’t stay there for long. There are traces of two searches. The first time was very messy—that should be the Jin soldiers checking for people who had slipped through the net. The second time should be the General and his men looking for survivors.”

“The general and his men didn’t stay at the village entrance for long. The footprints leading to the next village are relatively neat. I’m guessing they didn’t find any survivors.”

As they spoke, they arrived at the second village. They found the corpses of the Jin soldiers and the soldiers of the West Camp here.

The soldiers’ expressions changed drastically.. “The general and his men bumped into the Jin soldiers here!”