It’s Sunday night in Melbourne now. I really don’t want tomorrow to come. I still want to rest 0O0. Yet, life must go on. I’m releasing two parts tonight and will release 3 more before next week is over. Enjoy and have a wonderful week. This batch (like always) is edited by Remy :) Thanks, girl!
***
“Ah…”
A low moan from the inside the tent made Su Ren’s heart sink. Big brother always didn’t let the doctor to use general anesthetic every time he got injured. Every time, he always stubbornly endured the pain. People in the battlefield got injured very frequently. However, he had never seen his brother hurt like this before. Su Ren’s heart was worried. Finally, he couldn’t help himself and went into the tent.
Inside, two soldiers were tightly pressing on Su Ling’s shoulders. His army uniform and face were splattered with blood. Su Ling was half-lying on the bed. There were traces of plum-red blood on his back and a deep dent on his right shoulder. Su Ling rapidly panted, his hands tightly clutched the edges of the bed. His complexion was very pale, alarming people, and his forehead was covered in sweat. Meanwhile, his face became twisted because of the pain. Su Ren asked, “Doctor, how could this have happened?”
One doctor was helping to tend Su Ling’s wound while another doctor was holding the bloodied short arrow. Putting it on a towel, the doctor gave a long sigh before replying, “It’s almost done; the short arrow has been pulled out. Please be assured, Commander. After this, the handling of the wound won’t be a problem.”
Walking closer to see, Su Ren’s eyes flashed slightly. This arrow was really tricky. It had a five-inch length and was covered in blood. On the arrow, there were many fine hooks. Looking at it made him tremble. This kind of arrow didn’t penetrate out of the body. Every movement would have made the hook penetrate deeper into the muscle. No wonder the doctors were tending the wound for so long!
After much hard work, the wound stopped bleeding. The doctors carefully applied the dressing onto the wound. Su Ling finally loosened his fist. Facing Su Ren, Su Ling asked, “How is that woman?”
He didn’t think that the first sentence his big brother asked would be about Qing Mo. He hesitated for a moment and then replied, “She… She went to see Han Shu.” If he let big brother know she went to the rainforest, Su Ling would be really annoyed.
With two eyebrows pressed together, Su Ling asked icily, “Ask her to come to my tent.” When did she become so close to Han Shu? This would be the first time she met him! He didn’t know what was the source of his anger, but the final result was that he wasn’t happy.
Su Ren was slightly surprised and faked a smile, “Big Brother, you have been injured so heavily. Please have a good rest. Meeting sister-in-law tomorrow won’t be too late!”
Sensing something fishy, Su Ling squinted, “Where did she go?”
Su Ren didn’t know how to reply. Su Ling lost his patience and growled, “Speak.”
Deliberately concealing some facts, Su Ren evasively said, “She went into the rainforest. She said that she wanted to train the soldiers on how to stay in the rainforest at nighttime.”
“She wanted to stay in the rainforest tonight? Does she want to die?!” Su Ling quickly rose up, wanting to sit up. However, just because of a move, his shoulder started to bleed again.
The doctors were frightened and said, “The wound was really deep. Please don’t randomly move, general!”
There was a lot of blood loss. A slight movement made his vision blur. Struggling to rise up, Su Ling growled at Su Ren, “Call her back!”
“Big brother?” Su Ren was stupefied by Su Ling’s temper. He knew that his big brother would get angry, but never did he think that his big brother would be this angry. Could it be that he was worried about impropriety?
He just reenacted ‘hero saves the beauty,’ now he was very anxious and angry. Did this mean Su Ling cared about her? Su Ren smilingly replied, “I’ve told Yu Shi Jun to accompany her. Just rest assured! The wound in her arm has been tended to. I saw that her spirit and body were pretty good, so you need not worry.”
The ‘understanding’ look on Su Ren face made Su Ling shudder. Impulsively he said, “When did I worry about her?!”
Su Ren lightly raised his eyebrows, making Su Ling become even more uncomfortable. He angrily roared, “All of you, go out!”
Fortunately, the doctors had finished bandaging his wound. Getting scolded by Su Ling like that, they didn’t dare to delay any longer and quickly retreated. Su Ren looked at him. He could still roar with so much strength. Su Ren could leave him without worrying, leaving behind Su Ling alone in the tent. Su Ling was lying on the bed. He must be crazy! It was just staying a night in the rainforest! Why should he care about what she was doing?!
***
Night in the rainforest was cold and wet, despite the five to six big bonfires on the ground. Gu Yun and Yu Shi Jun had gotten used to it, but the two doctors couldn’t help but shiver.
Yu Shi Jun anxiously asked, “Madam, Xu hour had arrived. Did they encounter some trouble?” In this kind of haunted place, once people had entered it, they wouldn’t forget about it for the rest of their lives. The last time, he got lost near Crow’s Valley, embarrassingly enough. They went deeper into the forest, and he didn’t know what kind of trouble they would encounter!
Gu Yun secretly thought the same, but her mouth could only calmly reply, “Just wait a little bit more.”
The time passed by slowly; an hour in the rainforest had made some of them crazed. Not far, there was a flash of light. Yu Shi Jun alertly tightened his grip on his sword and shouted, “Who’s there?”
The light was becoming brighter, Gu Yun guessed they were coming back. However, there were ten groups, so she didn’t know which group was coming. She asked, “Who’s there? Quickly report your name!”
Today will be a single part update. So tired ¬o¬. I went to a Boxing circuit class in Emporium Melbourne, innocently thought that I was going to be okay after the workout and could directly go to work afterward. Now, abs muscles are aching. Hiks hiks… Have any of you went to a boxing class before? Did you experience the same thing? Okay, back to the post. Enjoy~~~
“Leng Xiao.” His voice sounded patently tired. As they gradually came closer, Leng Xiao called, “Boss, it’s me.”
Gu Yun secretly sighed. “At last, someone came back.”
The soldiers walked extremely slow. Gu Yun had a bad feeling, so she went and greeted them. She found sluggish faces in front of her, gradually relaxing after a long period of tension. Behind Leng Xiao, there were several soldiers carrying three to four people whose feet had got injured. Gu Yun squinted her eyes to look further. It looked like they stepped on a trap. Gu Yun shouted, “Doctors, tend their wound.”
“Yes.” The two doctors carried the medicine box away towards their direction.
The first group had come back, and they were now sitting in front of the bonfire, looking extremely tired. They didn’t speak a word. Gu Yun also didn’t tell them to line up. After today, they would start to understand what the rainforest was.
Arriving at Leng Xiao’s side, Gu Yun asked, “Did you encounter the rebels?”
Leng Xiao eyes were full of surprise and admiration. He didn’t say anything, yet she knew. “En, we encountered a group of cavalries. However, they looked like they went to get some water, so they didn’t bring any weapons. When we found them, they had gone back. It happened by a deep pond. Behind the pond, the vegetation grew vastly, but we didn’t pursue.”
Gu Yun satisfyingly looked at him, “En, you did well. Is the drawing okay?”
Nodding his head, Leng Xiao took out the drawing paper from the bag full of plant ashes. Leng Xiao’s drawing was quite detailed, even the small tributaries were drawn. Gu Yun asked, “Where did they disappear?”
Pointing at a specially marked place, Leng Xiao replied, “Here.”
Yu Shi Jun also came by and looked at the drawing. He happily replied, “If the rebels took the water from there, it means their lair is nearby. It seems like they didn’t hide very deep in the forest!” The madam was really smart. Putting the drawing in the middle of ashes would keep it dry. Unlike him, drawing them for a whole day for nothing!
Gu Yun’s eyes slightly widened. Shaking her head, she smilingly replied, “It is not necessarily true. They are very sly, they must have a backup plan. After all the drawings are complete, we can then carefully analyse and judge.”
In the middle of the discussion, there was a fire light again for afar. This group walked very fast, within minutes they arrived in front of Gu Yun and quickly replied, “Madam, quickly look at him.”
After speaking, a soldier was carried to her. His foot was swollen double its original size. Gu Yun frowned and quietly asked, “Did he get bitten by a snake?”
Luo Yan shook his head and replied, “Not a snake, but a small red-coloured worm!”
“How long ago was it?”
“About four hours ago.”
Although the foot was very swollen, he was still conscious after several hours and could still say ‘hurt’. Gu Yun was relieved and replied, “Fortunately, it wasn’t a life-threatening poison. Doctor, quickly tend his wound.”
***
Another hour had passed, and all ten groups had returned. More or less, there were people who had gotten injured. Everything was between Gu Yun’s prediction. From the beginning she didn’t have much expectation, but Yu Shi Jun frowned a lot. This was the Su Army’s elite force. One full day hasn’t even passed, yet they’d become like this. How could they fight the enemy later? What should the other (non-elite) force do?
After letting them rest for an incense time, Gu Yun loudly shouted, “Everybody, line up! Luo Yan, start counting the people.”
“Aye.”
Both their bodies and souls were extremely exhausted. However, being soldiers, they should follow superior’s order. Even though they didn’t feel like moving, they still had to move. At last, they started to crawl up from the ground and lined up.
After finishing his count, Luo Yan reported back. In the middle, he encounter a small soldier who kept on scratching his back. Luo Yan quickly asked, “Fang Qing Hong, how can you keep moving when you are lining up?!” The small soldier was frightened and didn’t dare to move. However, his face looked so pitiful and in pain, it attracted Gu Yun’s attention.
Luo Yan was satisfied with his performance and strode to Gu Yun’s side, “Reporting to Madam, the troop…”
He was still speaking, but Gu Yun had shook her hand, signaling him to stop.
Walking to the small soldier, Gu Yun asked, “Your body is really unbearable, isn’t it?”
Fang Qing Hong strongly nodded his head but still didn’t dare to move.
The lad’s face was pale and his eyes look uncertain. Coming across one possible scenario, Gu Yun’s heart quivered and asked, “Turn your back.”
“Aye.” The lad quickly turned his back.
“Take off your upper clothes.”
The small soldier was hesitating. Madam was still a woman, in addition…
Not letting him hesitate for too long, Gu Yun commanded, “Take off! This is a military order.”
The small soldier was taken aback and quickly took off his upper clothes.
His back was exposed. Beside Gu Yun whose brows creased, Leng Xiao, Luo Yan and Yu Shi Jun simultaneously took in a long breath. Fang Qing Hong was facing the soldiers, making everyone else curious about the thing on his back that could make their superiors surprised to such an extent?
The long breaths he heard behind him made Fang Qing Hong nervous. He quickly turned and asked, “Madam, what’s wrong with me?”
Once he turned his back to face Gu Yun, his entire back was exposed to his fellow soldiers. This time the gasps behind him were even louder. In addition, many of them looked shocked, because…
There were 20 to 30 fatter-than-a-finger soft and squishy black worms stuck on his back. Upon closer inspection, those worms gradually turned red and became fatter as the time passed…
Luo Yan regained his focus and quickly wanted to help him to pull off the worms, but Gu Yun said, “Stop!”
Luo Yan didn’t understand and looked at Gu Yun. However, he still stopped and stepped back.
Gu Yun was observing the worms on Fang Qing Hong back while saying, “Leng Xiao! Give me a torch and small branch stick.”
“Yes.” Leng Xiao quickly grabbed a torch and a stick. Gu Yun placed the fire close to Fang Qing Hong’s back. The soft worms quickly detached themselves. Under the firelight, they became red-blood pouches of water, making anyone who looked at them feel itchy. Many of them couldn’t help themselves and started scratching, worrying that worms were stuck somewhere on their bodies.
Holding the stick, Gu Yun was burning those soft worms while explaining, “These are leeches. They are commonly found on the edges of farms and fields. Many of you should have encountered them. However, this kind of leech is different from the one which lives on a farm. The rainforest is very humid, so they don’t need to live inside a water body. The grass nearby a body of water and the back of leaves provide a suitable environment for them to grow. To detach a leech, don’t use your hands to pull it, instead, use fire. It will disengage itself.”
Before it was too long, the leeches fell off. Luo Yan strode forward and stomped on them. The blood spattered all over the place, creating a heavy blood smell. Gu Yun continued to explain, “They access our skin through collars, pants, and sleeves, and then stick onto our skin. There they will draw blood. The more they draw blood, the bigger they grow. Before drawing blood, they were as thin as wild grass, but after drinking blood …” Without further explanation, everyone was clear of what would happen.
Seeing every one of them lingering with fear, Gu Yun said, “Okay, now all of you get into pairs and check each other’s back. Those with leeches on their back, please immediately go to one side.”
For a while, thousands of soldiers were looking for leeches. They found leeches on tens of soldiers’ backs, however, they weren’t as enormous as Fang Qing Hong’s leeches.
Liu Xing looked hesitant and suppressing his fear, he walked to Gu Yun’s side and quietly asked, “Boss, in case of no fire to roast them, what if we pulled them out?”
“The only thing that will get pulled is the body. Its head and sucker will still be attached onto our bodies. The wound will need a careful handling, or else it will ulcerate. In the rainforest, ulcerated wounds are very problematic,” Gu Yun slowly explained.
Liu Xing’s facial complexion whitened. His eyes were widely open, and his voice trembled, “Then how can the wound be handled properly?” Don’t say there is no cure…
Just as he finished his sentence, suddenly three to four hundred soldiers strode forward. Gu Yun was secretly taken back. She knew that there were leeches in the rainforests, but it wouldn’t be this many. That was why she forgot to warn them about it yesterday. In addition, leeches were not life-threatening. She really didn’t expect this many leeches here.
Secretly sighing, Gu Yun said, “Let me see the wounds.”
The soldiers didn’t really care about embarrassment at the moment. They quickly brushed their sleeves and pulled up their pants. One by one, they stretched out their mud-covered arms and legs in very pitiful way. Most of them just showed signs of mild irritation, their skins were swollen and inflamed. However, quite a lot of their wounds had started to develop into ulcers. The milky pus was flowing out from the wounds. Seeing the sorry states of arms and legs in front of her, Gu Yun shouted, “Doctor…”
She had miscalculated, two doctors were not even close to enough.
Busy the whole night, the doctors’ tired hands were about to be cramped. After all the wounds were tended, every soldier was waiting for the order to go back to the camps and to have a good rest. However, they instead heard Gu Yun’s order that they were to stay the night in the rainforest. This news caused the soldiers’ hearts to sink. Their bodies were covered in mud. In addition, the mosquitos’ bites started to get itchy and painful. Their ears heard many types of weird voices and sounds. Adding to all of this, the air was really hot and humid, making people anxious, impatient and restless.
What Gu Yun wanted was this lesson: inside a rainforest, despair and fear were the biggest enemy. They just stayed a day in the rainforest. If they couldn’t endure this, how could they talk about having a battle here?
Yesterday, Gu Yun had taught them what to be cautious of when staying a night in a rainforest. She quietly stepped aside and sat, objectively observing their arrangement. After the commotion, under Luo Yan and Leng Xiao’s coordination, thousands of soldier immediately moved. Some were assigned as night watchmen, some looked for places to rest, some looked after the fire, etc. They did everything according to what Gu Yun had said before. Gu Yun’s lips slightly raised, she could be said to be satisfied with their performance.
Leaning on a trunk, Gu Yun took out ten of the drawn maps, sorting them based on order. While marking the drawings with charcoal, she was studying the maps. After a while, Yu Shi Jun’s voice was heard, “Madam, just take a nap for a while.”
Gu Yun tilted her head, looking at the sky. The sunlight was starting to show up. A night had already passed like that. Seeing the soldiers who had just closed their eyes, resting, Gu Yun didn’t immediately order them to line up. Gu Yun put all of the drawings back into the bag and replied, “I’m fine. It’s almost morning. Go and bring these ten drawings to the camp and give it to Su Ling. Let him draw a bigger map based on those. Tonight, I will go back to the camp. Then, I will discuss with him the rebels’ location.”
“Aye.” Tying the bag at his waist, Yu Shi Jun walked two steps before looking back and asking, “Madam, do you need dry food to be sent here?”
Gu Yun shook her head and said, “There is no need.”
Apologies in advance, guys! The release of chapter 14 parts would be delayed by minimum one week. I am posting the rest of chapter 13 tonight. Have good week
***
Yu Shi Jun was a little bit surprised. He didn’t know before this that a persistent and determined woman could be so attractive. General was really blessed!
Hiding the cloth bag, Yu Shi Jun sped up.
Let them rest for another two hours.
Gu Yun half-leaned on the trunk and closed her eyes, resting for a bit.
After half an incense time, Bing Lian in her hand started to move. Gu Yun opened her eyes, quickly got up and carefully observed the surroundings. Everything was so quiet. It looked like nothing had changed.
Gu Yun was doubtful and looked at Bing Lian. It still shook continuously. What did it actually mean?!
She tighten her grip on Bing Lin and carefully inspected all of the surroundings. When she walked towards the east, Bing Lian’s shaking grew stronger. She carefully stepped further for approximately one kilometre, when Bing Lian suddenly stopped moving!
Gu Yun again looked at the surroundings. However, there was nothing but bushes! Why? Screwing around with her! Gu Yun glared at Bing Lian. Just as she was about to swear, an emerald shadow attracted her attention. Gu Yun loudly shouted, “Who?”
There was no movement from afar. Gu Yun strongly clenched her grip on the sword, taking out Bing Lian from its scabbard. A hissing sound, accompanied by an icy light was observed.
Just as she was prepared to go there and investigate, the green shadow slowly appeared from behind the tree.
Gu Yun was somewhat alarmed. It was actually a beautiful woman. Her ink-like long hair was grown down to her knees. There were no extraordinary ornaments on her hair. It was only decorated with green vines knotted together with her hair into braids. The long emerald-green skirt was very simple. There was no layer of shawl straps, exposing her crystal white shoulder with only an emerald ribbon hanging on her shoulder. Wait! It was not a ribbon. It moved! Gu Yun squinted her eyes to focus. It was a small green snake! With approximately a bit over one metre in length, it was slithering around from her shoulder to her wrist. Its blood red eyes were glaring at Gu Yun. Occasionally, its small tongue stuck out. The woman and her surrounding were strangely blended in harmony.
If she wasn’t an atheist, Gu Yun would have believed she saw a mountain spirit. With her hand gripped tighter on the sword, Gu Yun asked, “Who are you? Why are you in the rainforest?” Even though she looked holy and harmless, Gu Yun could not underestimate this woman who could survive in the rainforest!
The woman was just silently looking at Gu Yun, speaking no words. Her eyes were so deep and peaceful, Gu Yun couldn’t read anything on her face. Gu Yun continued asking, “Are you a local (Aborigine)?”
Hearing the word “aborigine,” the girl’s eyes changed for a second. Gu Yun didn’t have enough time to analyse the expression when suddenly a green emerald whip directly attacked her. Gu Yun quickly used her sword to defend. The sword and the whip collided. Gu Yun was surprised because the whip did not break. A closer look revealed the whip was made of snakeskin. The emerald green and inky black pattern on the skin made it look like a living snake, vibrant and lively. Gu Yun subconsciously looked at the small green snake on the woman’s shoulder, only to find it was looking at her and sticking out its tongue, ready to attack anytime. .”
Bing Lian in her hand began to shake. A bright cold light and chilly breeze followed its every shake. The long whip bounced. The woman and Gu Yun both took a step backward simultaneously.
The surrounding became quiet. Only the snake’s hissing occasionally broke the silence. Both women were staring at each other, not fighting anymore.
“Boss.”
From behind Gu Yun’s back, noisy footsteps indicated that Leng Xiao had brought a group of people.
The woman didn’t even bother to look towards the upcoming (hundreds of) soldiers. It seemed like their existence were completely irrelevant. Moving her attention away from Gu Yun, the woman took her long whip and retreated.
Leng Xiao and the others were ready to chase after her. Gu Yun said, “Don’t go after her.” Her instinct told her that Leng Xiao wouldn’t be able to chase her.
What kind of a person was that woman? Was she a partner of the rebels? Or were there other people living in the forest besides the rebels?
***
The main tent.
The night curtain was just dropped. Tens of torches were placed around a big table, making the table very well-lit.
In front of the table, Yu Shi Jun took out some small drawings and laid them out accordingly on the table. He carefully looked at every detail on them. Su Ren’s hand was holding a brush, marking all the intersections. Both people’s full attention was on the papers. They were so focused that they didn’t notice two people entering the tent.
Su Ling’s black eyes were secretly looking around and slowly walked to Yu Shi Jun’s back. Perhaps his footsteps were too loud, it surprised Yu Shi Jun. Yu Shi Jun looked back to find Su Ling and Han Shu standing behind him. He exclaimed, “General! Vanguard!”
Su Ren tilted his head to look and saw Su Ling and Han Shu whose bodies were covered with bandages. He put down his brush and pointed at the chairs, urgently saying, “Quickly sit. Why did you come here?”
Su Ling didn’t even bother to look at the chair and icily replied, “I am not that weak!”
Moving to the table’s front, Su Ling studied the completed water map on the table. His eyes looked surprised, but his mouth didn’t say anything. However, Han Shu curiously asked, “What is this?”
Putting back all ten small drawings, Yu Shi Jun smiled, “Madam asked the soldiers to follow water sources and to draw the water system. Having this, we will be able to guess the den’s most likely location.” As expected, Madam had found a way. In less than ten days, Yu Shi Jun was already convinced of the petite madam’s resourcefulness and martial arts.
It was unknown whether it was the admiration in Yu Shi Jun’s eyes or Gu Yun who hadn’t returned that made the great general worried. In summary, Su Ren keenly observed that older brother of his. He found that Su Ling’s face was pale and sunken. Smilingly he said, “She said she will return tonight. It is Shi hour now, she should be coming soon.”
“I…” Su Ling embarrassingly coughed.
He just wanted to reply and say ‘who cares about her?’, but Su Ren had cut him off and laughed, “I know, Big brother, you did not want to know what time she will return. I just said it randomly. Just take it as if you didn’t hear it.”
His eagle eyes opened furiously. Su Ling didn’t know how to vent his anger, so he just glared at Su Ren. Han Shu and Yu Shi Jun’s faces were red. However, they didn’t dare to laugh out loud at this time. If they wished to stay alive, they would not joke now.
The atmosphere in the main tent was not good. Fortunately, a soldier from the outside said, “Reporting! General Zhenxi (It is a title, given to Lou Mu Hai. The literal meaning is the western town general) is asking to meet.”
Su Ren promptly replied, “Quickly escort him in.” He just randomly said some words. It looked like he had said what his big brother wanted to say. No wonder he looked like he would explode soon.
Lou Mu Hai was unaware of what happened before. In addition, he didn’t pay attention to the weird atmosphere when he entered, so he brightly greeted Su Ling, “General Su.”
Su Ling restored back to his icy composure. He nodded lightly and greeted, “General Lou.”
Lou Mu Hai’s expression was tighter than before. After exchanging the greetings, he continued to report, “General Su, the Emperor had decreed to finish this matter and take back the gold within a month. The time was not much. If we can’t ambush them within next days, I’m afraid it will be hard to ambush again in next half-month.”
“How?” Su Ling didn’t understand.
“Why?” The tent’s curtain was open; a clear and beautiful female’s voice was heard.
The woman was wearing a black attire. However, her sleeves were damp and her hair was a little bit messy. Luckily, she looked like she neither cared nor felt uneasy about it.
Gu Yun entered the tent and saw Su Ling whose shoulder was covered in bandages. Getting such serious injuries, and he still didn’t rest properly! She silently criticized in her mind but didn’t speak a word. She was not his ‘anyone’. This person liked to look for trouble, why did she need to care!
“Madam, you have returned?”
“Madam, you’ve finally returned.”
Looking at Gu Yun, Han Shu and Yu Shi Jun smiled at each other simultaneously; their speeches were hinted with eager respect. This act not only made Su Ling frown, even Lou Mu Hai also showed some displeasure. When he came in, he needed to ask for permission to enter the main tent. Yet how come when Qing Mo came, she could so easily rush in?
“Well, Old General Lou, please continue.” Su Ren secretly chuckled, but at this moment they should talk about more important stuff!
Why did he need to compare himself with a little girl? Lou Mu Hai cursed at himself, as he got older, he was becoming more muddled. He immediately continued, “According to my observation over the years, the rainforest has waves of rain patterns. In 12-13 day intervals, there will be 7-8 days of continuous rainfall. It will be like this until September when the rainy season will finally end.”
Yu Shi Jun was surprised, “You mean the army came here at a time when there’s less rainfall?” Impossible! If less rainfall was already like this, what would it be like when there was heavy rain?
Lou Mu Hai firmly nodded, “Yes, within 3-4 days, there will be a new round of rain coming. At that time, it will be raining for a minimum of 20 hours a day.”
Minimum? Yu Shi Jun was completely stunned.
Gu Yun’s facial expression was not too good either. She said, “It is already hard to fight in the rainforest, adding rain to the complication… the soldiers’ spirit and energy will be halved at least.”
Su Ling’s pair of black eyes was staring at her from the moment she entered. Being stared at that way, Gu Yun felt weird and icily said, “Don’t believe me? Great General Su should go out and see your so-called elite forces. What do they look like after staying a day in the rainforest?!”
Gu Yun thought he was about to explode. On the contrary, she found there was a touch of helplessness and concern in his slightly narrowed eyes? She must have stayed too long in the rainforest! She somehow became a little bit dull-witted. Just as Gu Yun wanted to reconfirm, Su Ling had recovered to his indifferent state and said to Su Ren, “Once you found the den, quickly get ready.”
She was indeed wrong.
“I have painted the watering system. Therefore, we should be able to identify the approximate location of the rebel’s camp. Our army has 30,000 people. As long as we are able to find their hideout, it will be much easier to sweep it off.” Looking at Han Shu, Su Ren asked, “You have stayed in the lair for three days, did you find out anything? What were the surroundings?”
“Oh please, when I was captured and entered the lair, I was unconscious. Later on, I was locked inside a cave for three days, without any sunlight. Those rebels were very disciplined. I was thinking to prey on them, but they didn’t even pay attention to me. On the way to Crow’s Valley, I was blindfolded. When they set out, the sky was still dark. I think it was about 10-12 hours before we arrived at Crow’s Valley.” Han Shu’s voice was originally loud, now when complaining, it was deafening.
“10-12 hours?” Gu Yun scratched her ears. Seeing his ‘lively’ state, his injuries were not heavy. Gu Yun smiled and replied, “According to this water map, their hideout should not be that far. It seems like they took a long way around to fool you.”
After listening to Gu Yun’s words, Han Shu’s hands tightly clasped together. He couldn’t wait to skin that rebel’s boss. He urged, “Then, according to your analysis, where is their hideout?”
Walking to the side of the table, Gu Yun pointed to two adjacent places on the map and said, “Here and here. The right side of that area is not very far from three rivers. Therefore, even if it isn’t the rainy season, they wouldn’t need to worry about water supply. In addition, Leng Xiao and the others saw the rebels at the pond. It is most likely that their hideout is there. In contrast, the left side…” Gu Yun paused for a moment and smiled, “I suspect that is the location of the gold.”
Upon the mentioning of the gold, everyone’s eyes brightened. Su Ren chuckled and asked, “How come?”
Gu Yun confidently laughed. She was just about to open her mouth to explain when Su Ling’s husky voice was heard, “That place is not very far away from the hideout location she mentioned before. In addition, compared to the surroundings, the topography is the most complicated one: there are many small paths that are very slippery. This would ease the transport of gold to any direction.”
Gu Yun shrugged. It had been said by someone else, she didn’t have to say anything.
Han Shu was overjoyed. Brightly he said, “This is great. Now we know where their lair is and where they hid the gold. Tomorrow, we can quickly raid them. This will definitely hit them hard!”
Compare to Han Shu’s level of excitement, Yu Shi Jun was a lot calmer. He said, “The land structure there is very complicated. How are we going to send the troops in with discretion?”
“Fire attack.”
“Using fire.”
Once again they spoke at the same time. Gu Yun gently raised her eyebrow, feeling a little bit helpless and frustrated. Su Ling’s face was black, making it hard to guess his feelings. It looked like there was always something wrong today, how did they become so understanding of each other?
Under everybody’s attention, Gu Yun acted like nothing’s wrong and continued to study the map. Su Ling’s eagle eyes glanced through everybody, making them afraid to look at Su Ling and Gu Yun again.
Being glared by Su Ling like that, several of them acted like they knew nothing and pretended to be busy talking about the case…
“That’s right! A fire attack is a really good suggestion!”
“Yes! The forest’s unpredictable terrain is their best advantage. Burning the area of their hideout will make it harder for them to escape.”
“Makes sense.”
The three people were ‘singing’ in harmony. Only Lou Mu Hai didn’t follow suit and seriously said, “From the map, we can see that the area is very inaccessible. I’m afraid, even if there is no vegetation covering it, it will still be difficult to catch them there.”
Su Ren, who was ‘singing’ with Han Shun and Yu Shi Jun, seriously replied, “The mission, this time, focuses on the gold, not the rebels. Even if we can’t catch them, it would still give them quite a blow. Wanting to settle them down is not an easy task.”
Han Shu nodded and added, “A fire attack is good. However, inside the rainforest, it is so humid…”
“Use petrol (lamp oil) and sulphur to ignite. As long as it doesn’t rain, we can definitely burn a small area!” Their facial expressions changed rather quickly. Su Ling was surprisingly calm and continued his explanation. Gu Yun couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“Okay then, this old subject will go back to the city and prepare. Before noon tomorrow, the items will be fully prepared.” Su Ling who acted as military advisor had spoken, Lou Mu Hai could only fully cooperate.
“Then, I will trust Old General Lou. Tomorrow noon, we will meet again.”
“Good!” In a light-spirited manner, Lou Mu Hai strode out.
Su Ling’s attention was back to the table, immediately asking them to continue discussing the attack strategy, “Ren, Han Shu, Yu Shi Jun, please speak your opinions regarding the distribution of the soldiers and attack strategy for tomorrow’s raid.”
“Aye.” The trio spoke at once.
Gu Yun stretched her waist. They were discussing military things, not her matter. It was better that she left. Passing the table, Gu Yun quietly opened the tent’s curtain. An icy chilly voice was heard behind her, “Stop.”
It’s Sunday night in Melbourne now. I really don’t want tomorrow to come. I still want to rest 0O0. Yet, life must go on. I’m releasing two parts tonight and will release 3 more before next week is over. Enjoy and have a wonderful week. This batch (like always) is edited by Remy :) Thanks, girl!
***
“Ah…”
A low moan from the inside the tent made Su Ren’s heart sink. Big brother always didn’t let the doctor to use general anesthetic every time he got injured. Every time, he always stubbornly endured the pain. People in the battlefield got injured very frequently. However, he had never seen his brother hurt like this before. Su Ren’s heart was worried. Finally, he couldn’t help himself and went into the tent.
Inside, two soldiers were tightly pressing on Su Ling’s shoulders. His army uniform and face were splattered with blood. Su Ling was half-lying on the bed. There were traces of plum-red blood on his back and a deep dent on his right shoulder. Su Ling rapidly panted, his hands tightly clutched the edges of the bed. His complexion was very pale, alarming people, and his forehead was covered in sweat. Meanwhile, his face became twisted because of the pain. Su Ren asked, “Doctor, how could this have happened?”
One doctor was helping to tend Su Ling’s wound while another doctor was holding the bloodied short arrow. Putting it on a towel, the doctor gave a long sigh before replying, “It’s almost done; the short arrow has been pulled out. Please be assured, Commander. After this, the handling of the wound won’t be a problem.”
Walking closer to see, Su Ren’s eyes flashed slightly. This arrow was really tricky. It had a five-inch length and was covered in blood. On the arrow, there were many fine hooks. Looking at it made him tremble. This kind of arrow didn’t penetrate out of the body. Every movement would have made the hook penetrate deeper into the muscle. No wonder the doctors were tending the wound for so long!
After much hard work, the wound stopped bleeding. The doctors carefully applied the dressing onto the wound. Su Ling finally loosened his fist. Facing Su Ren, Su Ling asked, “How is that woman?”
He didn’t think that the first sentence his big brother asked would be about Qing Mo. He hesitated for a moment and then replied, “She… She went to see Han Shu.” If he let big brother know she went to the rainforest, Su Ling would be really annoyed.
With two eyebrows pressed together, Su Ling asked icily, “Ask her to come to my tent.” When did she become so close to Han Shu? This would be the first time she met him! He didn’t know what was the source of his anger, but the final result was that he wasn’t happy.
Su Ren was slightly surprised and faked a smile, “Big Brother, you have been injured so heavily. Please have a good rest. Meeting sister-in-law tomorrow won’t be too late!”
Sensing something fishy, Su Ling squinted, “Where did she go?”
Su Ren didn’t know how to reply. Su Ling lost his patience and growled, “Speak.”
Deliberately concealing some facts, Su Ren evasively said, “She went into the rainforest. She said that she wanted to train the soldiers on how to stay in the rainforest at nighttime.”
“She wanted to stay in the rainforest tonight? Does she want to die?!” Su Ling quickly rose up, wanting to sit up. However, just because of a move, his shoulder started to bleed again.
The doctors were frightened and said, “The wound was really deep. Please don’t randomly move, general!”
There was a lot of blood loss. A slight movement made his vision blur. Struggling to rise up, Su Ling growled at Su Ren, “Call her back!”
“Big brother?” Su Ren was stupefied by Su Ling’s temper. He knew that his big brother would get angry, but never did he think that his big brother would be this angry. Could it be that he was worried about impropriety?
He just reenacted ‘hero saves the beauty,’ now he was very anxious and angry. Did this mean Su Ling cared about her? Su Ren smilingly replied, “I’ve told Yu Shi Jun to accompany her. Just rest assured! The wound in her arm has been tended to. I saw that her spirit and body were pretty good, so you need not worry.”
The ‘understanding’ look on Su Ren face made Su Ling shudder. Impulsively he said, “When did I worry about her?!”
Su Ren lightly raised his eyebrows, making Su Ling become even more uncomfortable. He angrily roared, “All of you, go out!”
Fortunately, the doctors had finished bandaging his wound. Getting scolded by Su Ling like that, they didn’t dare to delay any longer and quickly retreated. Su Ren looked at him. He could still roar with so much strength. Su Ren could leave him without worrying, leaving behind Su Ling alone in the tent. Su Ling was lying on the bed. He must be crazy! It was just staying a night in the rainforest! Why should he care about what she was doing?!
***
Night in the rainforest was cold and wet, despite the five to six big bonfires on the ground. Gu Yun and Yu Shi Jun had gotten used to it, but the two doctors couldn’t help but shiver.
Yu Shi Jun anxiously asked, “Madam, Xu hour had arrived. Did they encounter some trouble?” In this kind of haunted place, once people had entered it, they wouldn’t forget about it for the rest of their lives. The last time, he got lost near Crow’s Valley, embarrassingly enough. They went deeper into the forest, and he didn’t know what kind of trouble they would encounter!
Gu Yun secretly thought the same, but her mouth could only calmly reply, “Just wait a little bit more.”
The time passed by slowly; an hour in the rainforest had made some of them crazed. Not far, there was a flash of light. Yu Shi Jun alertly tightened his grip on his sword and shouted, “Who’s there?”
The light was becoming brighter, Gu Yun guessed they were coming back. However, there were ten groups, so she didn’t know which group was coming. She asked, “Who’s there? Quickly report your name!”
Today will be a single part update. So tired ¬o¬. I went to a Boxing circuit class in Emporium Melbourne, innocently thought that I was going to be okay after the workout and could directly go to work afterward. Now, abs muscles are aching. Hiks hiks… Have any of you went to a boxing class before? Did you experience the same thing? Okay, back to the post. Enjoy~~~
“Leng Xiao.” His voice sounded patently tired. As they gradually came closer, Leng Xiao called, “Boss, it’s me.”
Gu Yun secretly sighed. “At last, someone came back.”
The soldiers walked extremely slow. Gu Yun had a bad feeling, so she went and greeted them. She found sluggish faces in front of her, gradually relaxing after a long period of tension. Behind Leng Xiao, there were several soldiers carrying three to four people whose feet had got injured. Gu Yun squinted her eyes to look further. It looked like they stepped on a trap. Gu Yun shouted, “Doctors, tend their wound.”
“Yes.” The two doctors carried the medicine box away towards their direction.
The first group had come back, and they were now sitting in front of the bonfire, looking extremely tired. They didn’t speak a word. Gu Yun also didn’t tell them to line up. After today, they would start to understand what the rainforest was.
Arriving at Leng Xiao’s side, Gu Yun asked, “Did you encounter the rebels?”
Leng Xiao eyes were full of surprise and admiration. He didn’t say anything, yet she knew. “En, we encountered a group of cavalries. However, they looked like they went to get some water, so they didn’t bring any weapons. When we found them, they had gone back. It happened by a deep pond. Behind the pond, the vegetation grew vastly, but we didn’t pursue.”
Gu Yun satisfyingly looked at him, “En, you did well. Is the drawing okay?”
Nodding his head, Leng Xiao took out the drawing paper from the bag full of plant ashes. Leng Xiao’s drawing was quite detailed, even the small tributaries were drawn. Gu Yun asked, “Where did they disappear?”
Pointing at a specially marked place, Leng Xiao replied, “Here.”
Yu Shi Jun also came by and looked at the drawing. He happily replied, “If the rebels took the water from there, it means their lair is nearby. It seems like they didn’t hide very deep in the forest!” The madam was really smart. Putting the drawing in the middle of ashes would keep it dry. Unlike him, drawing them for a whole day for nothing!
Gu Yun’s eyes slightly widened. Shaking her head, she smilingly replied, “It is not necessarily true. They are very sly, they must have a backup plan. After all the drawings are complete, we can then carefully analyse and judge.”
In the middle of the discussion, there was a fire light again for afar. This group walked very fast, within minutes they arrived in front of Gu Yun and quickly replied, “Madam, quickly look at him.”
After speaking, a soldier was carried to her. His foot was swollen double its original size. Gu Yun frowned and quietly asked, “Did he get bitten by a snake?”
Luo Yan shook his head and replied, “Not a snake, but a small red-coloured worm!”
“How long ago was it?”
“About four hours ago.”
Although the foot was very swollen, he was still conscious after several hours and could still say ‘hurt’. Gu Yun was relieved and replied, “Fortunately, it wasn’t a life-threatening poison. Doctor, quickly tend his wound.”
***
Another hour had passed, and all ten groups had returned. More or less, there were people who had gotten injured. Everything was between Gu Yun’s prediction. From the beginning she didn’t have much expectation, but Yu Shi Jun frowned a lot. This was the Su Army’s elite force. One full day hasn’t even passed, yet they’d become like this. How could they fight the enemy later? What should the other (non-elite) force do?
After letting them rest for an incense time, Gu Yun loudly shouted, “Everybody, line up! Luo Yan, start counting the people.”
“Aye.”
Both their bodies and souls were extremely exhausted. However, being soldiers, they should follow superior’s order. Even though they didn’t feel like moving, they still had to move. At last, they started to crawl up from the ground and lined up.
After finishing his count, Luo Yan reported back. In the middle, he encounter a small soldier who kept on scratching his back. Luo Yan quickly asked, “Fang Qing Hong, how can you keep moving when you are lining up?!” The small soldier was frightened and didn’t dare to move. However, his face looked so pitiful and in pain, it attracted Gu Yun’s attention.
Luo Yan was satisfied with his performance and strode to Gu Yun’s side, “Reporting to Madam, the troop…”
He was still speaking, but Gu Yun had shook her hand, signaling him to stop.
Walking to the small soldier, Gu Yun asked, “Your body is really unbearable, isn’t it?”
Fang Qing Hong strongly nodded his head but still didn’t dare to move.
The lad’s face was pale and his eyes look uncertain. Coming across one possible scenario, Gu Yun’s heart quivered and asked, “Turn your back.”
“Aye.” The lad quickly turned his back.
“Take off your upper clothes.”
The small soldier was hesitating. Madam was still a woman, in addition…
Not letting him hesitate for too long, Gu Yun commanded, “Take off! This is a military order.”
The small soldier was taken aback and quickly took off his upper clothes.
His back was exposed. Beside Gu Yun whose brows creased, Leng Xiao, Luo Yan and Yu Shi Jun simultaneously took in a long breath. Fang Qing Hong was facing the soldiers, making everyone else curious about the thing on his back that could make their superiors surprised to such an extent?
The long breaths he heard behind him made Fang Qing Hong nervous. He quickly turned and asked, “Madam, what’s wrong with me?”
Once he turned his back to face Gu Yun, his entire back was exposed to his fellow soldiers. This time the gasps behind him were even louder. In addition, many of them looked shocked, because…
There were 20 to 30 fatter-than-a-finger soft and squishy black worms stuck on his back. Upon closer inspection, those worms gradually turned red and became fatter as the time passed…
Luo Yan regained his focus and quickly wanted to help him to pull off the worms, but Gu Yun said, “Stop!”
Luo Yan didn’t understand and looked at Gu Yun. However, he still stopped and stepped back.
Gu Yun was observing the worms on Fang Qing Hong back while saying, “Leng Xiao! Give me a torch and small branch stick.”
“Yes.” Leng Xiao quickly grabbed a torch and a stick. Gu Yun placed the fire close to Fang Qing Hong’s back. The soft worms quickly detached themselves. Under the firelight, they became red-blood pouches of water, making anyone who looked at them feel itchy. Many of them couldn’t help themselves and started scratching, worrying that worms were stuck somewhere on their bodies.
Holding the stick, Gu Yun was burning those soft worms while explaining, “These are leeches. They are commonly found on the edges of farms and fields. Many of you should have encountered them. However, this kind of leech is different from the one which lives on a farm. The rainforest is very humid, so they don’t need to live inside a water body. The grass nearby a body of water and the back of leaves provide a suitable environment for them to grow. To detach a leech, don’t use your hands to pull it, instead, use fire. It will disengage itself.”
Before it was too long, the leeches fell off. Luo Yan strode forward and stomped on them. The blood spattered all over the place, creating a heavy blood smell. Gu Yun continued to explain, “They access our skin through collars, pants, and sleeves, and then stick onto our skin. There they will draw blood. The more they draw blood, the bigger they grow. Before drawing blood, they were as thin as wild grass, but after drinking blood …” Without further explanation, everyone was clear of what would happen.
Seeing every one of them lingering with fear, Gu Yun said, “Okay, now all of you get into pairs and check each other’s back. Those with leeches on their back, please immediately go to one side.”
For a while, thousands of soldiers were looking for leeches. They found leeches on tens of soldiers’ backs, however, they weren’t as enormous as Fang Qing Hong’s leeches.
Liu Xing looked hesitant and suppressing his fear, he walked to Gu Yun’s side and quietly asked, “Boss, in case of no fire to roast them, what if we pulled them out?”
“The only thing that will get pulled is the body. Its head and sucker will still be attached onto our bodies. The wound will need a careful handling, or else it will ulcerate. In the rainforest, ulcerated wounds are very problematic,” Gu Yun slowly explained.
Liu Xing’s facial complexion whitened. His eyes were widely open, and his voice trembled, “Then how can the wound be handled properly?” Don’t say there is no cure…
Just as he finished his sentence, suddenly three to four hundred soldiers strode forward. Gu Yun was secretly taken back. She knew that there were leeches in the rainforests, but it wouldn’t be this many. That was why she forgot to warn them about it yesterday. In addition, leeches were not life-threatening. She really didn’t expect this many leeches here.
Secretly sighing, Gu Yun said, “Let me see the wounds.”
The soldiers didn’t really care about embarrassment at the moment. They quickly brushed their sleeves and pulled up their pants. One by one, they stretched out their mud-covered arms and legs in very pitiful way. Most of them just showed signs of mild irritation, their skins were swollen and inflamed. However, quite a lot of their wounds had started to develop into ulcers. The milky pus was flowing out from the wounds. Seeing the sorry states of arms and legs in front of her, Gu Yun shouted, “Doctor…”
She had miscalculated, two doctors were not even close to enough.
Busy the whole night, the doctors’ tired hands were about to be cramped. After all the wounds were tended, every soldier was waiting for the order to go back to the camps and to have a good rest. However, they instead heard Gu Yun’s order that they were to stay the night in the rainforest. This news caused the soldiers’ hearts to sink. Their bodies were covered in mud. In addition, the mosquitos’ bites started to get itchy and painful. Their ears heard many types of weird voices and sounds. Adding to all of this, the air was really hot and humid, making people anxious, impatient and restless.
What Gu Yun wanted was this lesson: inside a rainforest, despair and fear were the biggest enemy. They just stayed a day in the rainforest. If they couldn’t endure this, how could they talk about having a battle here?
Yesterday, Gu Yun had taught them what to be cautious of when staying a night in a rainforest. She quietly stepped aside and sat, objectively observing their arrangement. After the commotion, under Luo Yan and Leng Xiao’s coordination, thousands of soldier immediately moved. Some were assigned as night watchmen, some looked for places to rest, some looked after the fire, etc. They did everything according to what Gu Yun had said before. Gu Yun’s lips slightly raised, she could be said to be satisfied with their performance.
Leaning on a trunk, Gu Yun took out ten of the drawn maps, sorting them based on order. While marking the drawings with charcoal, she was studying the maps. After a while, Yu Shi Jun’s voice was heard, “Madam, just take a nap for a while.”
Gu Yun tilted her head, looking at the sky. The sunlight was starting to show up. A night had already passed like that. Seeing the soldiers who had just closed their eyes, resting, Gu Yun didn’t immediately order them to line up. Gu Yun put all of the drawings back into the bag and replied, “I’m fine. It’s almost morning. Go and bring these ten drawings to the camp and give it to Su Ling. Let him draw a bigger map based on those. Tonight, I will go back to the camp. Then, I will discuss with him the rebels’ location.”
“Aye.” Tying the bag at his waist, Yu Shi Jun walked two steps before looking back and asking, “Madam, do you need dry food to be sent here?”
Gu Yun shook her head and said, “There is no need.”
Apologies in advance, guys! The release of chapter 14 parts would be delayed by minimum one week. I am posting the rest of chapter 13 tonight. Have good week
***
Yu Shi Jun was a little bit surprised. He didn’t know before this that a persistent and determined woman could be so attractive. General was really blessed!
Hiding the cloth bag, Yu Shi Jun sped up.
Let them rest for another two hours.
Gu Yun half-leaned on the trunk and closed her eyes, resting for a bit.
After half an incense time, Bing Lian in her hand started to move. Gu Yun opened her eyes, quickly got up and carefully observed the surroundings. Everything was so quiet. It looked like nothing had changed.
Gu Yun was doubtful and looked at Bing Lian. It still shook continuously. What did it actually mean?!
She tighten her grip on Bing Lin and carefully inspected all of the surroundings. When she walked towards the east, Bing Lian’s shaking grew stronger. She carefully stepped further for approximately one kilometre, when Bing Lian suddenly stopped moving!
Gu Yun again looked at the surroundings. However, there was nothing but bushes! Why? Screwing around with her! Gu Yun glared at Bing Lian. Just as she was about to swear, an emerald shadow attracted her attention. Gu Yun loudly shouted, “Who?”
There was no movement from afar. Gu Yun strongly clenched her grip on the sword, taking out Bing Lian from its scabbard. A hissing sound, accompanied by an icy light was observed.
Just as she was prepared to go there and investigate, the green shadow slowly appeared from behind the tree.
Gu Yun was somewhat alarmed. It was actually a beautiful woman. Her ink-like long hair was grown down to her knees. There were no extraordinary ornaments on her hair. It was only decorated with green vines knotted together with her hair into braids. The long emerald-green skirt was very simple. There was no layer of shawl straps, exposing her crystal white shoulder with only an emerald ribbon hanging on her shoulder. Wait! It was not a ribbon. It moved! Gu Yun squinted her eyes to focus. It was a small green snake! With approximately a bit over one metre in length, it was slithering around from her shoulder to her wrist. Its blood red eyes were glaring at Gu Yun. Occasionally, its small tongue stuck out. The woman and her surrounding were strangely blended in harmony.
If she wasn’t an atheist, Gu Yun would have believed she saw a mountain spirit. With her hand gripped tighter on the sword, Gu Yun asked, “Who are you? Why are you in the rainforest?” Even though she looked holy and harmless, Gu Yun could not underestimate this woman who could survive in the rainforest!
The woman was just silently looking at Gu Yun, speaking no words. Her eyes were so deep and peaceful, Gu Yun couldn’t read anything on her face. Gu Yun continued asking, “Are you a local (Aborigine)?”
Hearing the word “aborigine,” the girl’s eyes changed for a second. Gu Yun didn’t have enough time to analyse the expression when suddenly a green emerald whip directly attacked her. Gu Yun quickly used her sword to defend. The sword and the whip collided. Gu Yun was surprised because the whip did not break. A closer look revealed the whip was made of snakeskin. The emerald green and inky black pattern on the skin made it look like a living snake, vibrant and lively. Gu Yun subconsciously looked at the small green snake on the woman’s shoulder, only to find it was looking at her and sticking out its tongue, ready to attack anytime. .”
Bing Lian in her hand began to shake. A bright cold light and chilly breeze followed its every shake. The long whip bounced. The woman and Gu Yun both took a step backward simultaneously.
The surrounding became quiet. Only the snake’s hissing occasionally broke the silence. Both women were staring at each other, not fighting anymore.
“Boss.”
From behind Gu Yun’s back, noisy footsteps indicated that Leng Xiao had brought a group of people.
The woman didn’t even bother to look towards the upcoming (hundreds of) soldiers. It seemed like their existence were completely irrelevant. Moving her attention away from Gu Yun, the woman took her long whip and retreated.
Leng Xiao and the others were ready to chase after her. Gu Yun said, “Don’t go after her.” Her instinct told her that Leng Xiao wouldn’t be able to chase her.
What kind of a person was that woman? Was she a partner of the rebels? Or were there other people living in the forest besides the rebels?
***
The main tent.
The night curtain was just dropped. Tens of torches were placed around a big table, making the table very well-lit.
In front of the table, Yu Shi Jun took out some small drawings and laid them out accordingly on the table. He carefully looked at every detail on them. Su Ren’s hand was holding a brush, marking all the intersections. Both people’s full attention was on the papers. They were so focused that they didn’t notice two people entering the tent.
Su Ling’s black eyes were secretly looking around and slowly walked to Yu Shi Jun’s back. Perhaps his footsteps were too loud, it surprised Yu Shi Jun. Yu Shi Jun looked back to find Su Ling and Han Shu standing behind him. He exclaimed, “General! Vanguard!”
Su Ren tilted his head to look and saw Su Ling and Han Shu whose bodies were covered with bandages. He put down his brush and pointed at the chairs, urgently saying, “Quickly sit. Why did you come here?”
Su Ling didn’t even bother to look at the chair and icily replied, “I am not that weak!”
Moving to the table’s front, Su Ling studied the completed water map on the table. His eyes looked surprised, but his mouth didn’t say anything. However, Han Shu curiously asked, “What is this?”
Putting back all ten small drawings, Yu Shi Jun smiled, “Madam asked the soldiers to follow water sources and to draw the water system. Having this, we will be able to guess the den’s most likely location.” As expected, Madam had found a way. In less than ten days, Yu Shi Jun was already convinced of the petite madam’s resourcefulness and martial arts.
It was unknown whether it was the admiration in Yu Shi Jun’s eyes or Gu Yun who hadn’t returned that made the great general worried. In summary, Su Ren keenly observed that older brother of his. He found that Su Ling’s face was pale and sunken. Smilingly he said, “She said she will return tonight. It is Shi hour now, she should be coming soon.”
“I…” Su Ling embarrassingly coughed.
He just wanted to reply and say ‘who cares about her?’, but Su Ren had cut him off and laughed, “I know, Big brother, you did not want to know what time she will return. I just said it randomly. Just take it as if you didn’t hear it.”
His eagle eyes opened furiously. Su Ling didn’t know how to vent his anger, so he just glared at Su Ren. Han Shu and Yu Shi Jun’s faces were red. However, they didn’t dare to laugh out loud at this time. If they wished to stay alive, they would not joke now.
The atmosphere in the main tent was not good. Fortunately, a soldier from the outside said, “Reporting! General Zhenxi (It is a title, given to Lou Mu Hai. The literal meaning is the western town general) is asking to meet.”
Su Ren promptly replied, “Quickly escort him in.” He just randomly said some words. It looked like he had said what his big brother wanted to say. No wonder he looked like he would explode soon.
Lou Mu Hai was unaware of what happened before. In addition, he didn’t pay attention to the weird atmosphere when he entered, so he brightly greeted Su Ling, “General Su.”
Su Ling restored back to his icy composure. He nodded lightly and greeted, “General Lou.”
Lou Mu Hai’s expression was tighter than before. After exchanging the greetings, he continued to report, “General Su, the Emperor had decreed to finish this matter and take back the gold within a month. The time was not much. If we can’t ambush them within next days, I’m afraid it will be hard to ambush again in next half-month.”
“How?” Su Ling didn’t understand.
“Why?” The tent’s curtain was open; a clear and beautiful female’s voice was heard.
The woman was wearing a black attire. However, her sleeves were damp and her hair was a little bit messy. Luckily, she looked like she neither cared nor felt uneasy about it.
Gu Yun entered the tent and saw Su Ling whose shoulder was covered in bandages. Getting such serious injuries, and he still didn’t rest properly! She silently criticized in her mind but didn’t speak a word. She was not his ‘anyone’. This person liked to look for trouble, why did she need to care!
“Madam, you have returned?”
“Madam, you’ve finally returned.”
Looking at Gu Yun, Han Shu and Yu Shi Jun smiled at each other simultaneously; their speeches were hinted with eager respect. This act not only made Su Ling frown, even Lou Mu Hai also showed some displeasure. When he came in, he needed to ask for permission to enter the main tent. Yet how come when Qing Mo came, she could so easily rush in?
“Well, Old General Lou, please continue.” Su Ren secretly chuckled, but at this moment they should talk about more important stuff!
Why did he need to compare himself with a little girl? Lou Mu Hai cursed at himself, as he got older, he was becoming more muddled. He immediately continued, “According to my observation over the years, the rainforest has waves of rain patterns. In 12-13 day intervals, there will be 7-8 days of continuous rainfall. It will be like this until September when the rainy season will finally end.”
Yu Shi Jun was surprised, “You mean the army came here at a time when there’s less rainfall?” Impossible! If less rainfall was already like this, what would it be like when there was heavy rain?
Lou Mu Hai firmly nodded, “Yes, within 3-4 days, there will be a new round of rain coming. At that time, it will be raining for a minimum of 20 hours a day.”
Minimum? Yu Shi Jun was completely stunned.
Gu Yun’s facial expression was not too good either. She said, “It is already hard to fight in the rainforest, adding rain to the complication… the soldiers’ spirit and energy will be halved at least.”
Su Ling’s pair of black eyes was staring at her from the moment she entered. Being stared at that way, Gu Yun felt weird and icily said, “Don’t believe me? Great General Su should go out and see your so-called elite forces. What do they look like after staying a day in the rainforest?!”
Gu Yun thought he was about to explode. On the contrary, she found there was a touch of helplessness and concern in his slightly narrowed eyes? She must have stayed too long in the rainforest! She somehow became a little bit dull-witted. Just as Gu Yun wanted to reconfirm, Su Ling had recovered to his indifferent state and said to Su Ren, “Once you found the den, quickly get ready.”
She was indeed wrong.
“I have painted the watering system. Therefore, we should be able to identify the approximate location of the rebel’s camp. Our army has 30,000 people. As long as we are able to find their hideout, it will be much easier to sweep it off.” Looking at Han Shu, Su Ren asked, “You have stayed in the lair for three days, did you find out anything? What were the surroundings?”
“Oh please, when I was captured and entered the lair, I was unconscious. Later on, I was locked inside a cave for three days, without any sunlight. Those rebels were very disciplined. I was thinking to prey on them, but they didn’t even pay attention to me. On the way to Crow’s Valley, I was blindfolded. When they set out, the sky was still dark. I think it was about 10-12 hours before we arrived at Crow’s Valley.” Han Shu’s voice was originally loud, now when complaining, it was deafening.
“10-12 hours?” Gu Yun scratched her ears. Seeing his ‘lively’ state, his injuries were not heavy. Gu Yun smiled and replied, “According to this water map, their hideout should not be that far. It seems like they took a long way around to fool you.”
After listening to Gu Yun’s words, Han Shu’s hands tightly clasped together. He couldn’t wait to skin that rebel’s boss. He urged, “Then, according to your analysis, where is their hideout?”
Walking to the side of the table, Gu Yun pointed to two adjacent places on the map and said, “Here and here. The right side of that area is not very far from three rivers. Therefore, even if it isn’t the rainy season, they wouldn’t need to worry about water supply. In addition, Leng Xiao and the others saw the rebels at the pond. It is most likely that their hideout is there. In contrast, the left side…” Gu Yun paused for a moment and smiled, “I suspect that is the location of the gold.”
Upon the mentioning of the gold, everyone’s eyes brightened. Su Ren chuckled and asked, “How come?”
Gu Yun confidently laughed. She was just about to open her mouth to explain when Su Ling’s husky voice was heard, “That place is not very far away from the hideout location she mentioned before. In addition, compared to the surroundings, the topography is the most complicated one: there are many small paths that are very slippery. This would ease the transport of gold to any direction.”
Gu Yun shrugged. It had been said by someone else, she didn’t have to say anything.
Han Shu was overjoyed. Brightly he said, “This is great. Now we know where their lair is and where they hid the gold. Tomorrow, we can quickly raid them. This will definitely hit them hard!”
Compare to Han Shu’s level of excitement, Yu Shi Jun was a lot calmer. He said, “The land structure there is very complicated. How are we going to send the troops in with discretion?”
“Fire attack.”
“Using fire.”
Once again they spoke at the same time. Gu Yun gently raised her eyebrow, feeling a little bit helpless and frustrated. Su Ling’s face was black, making it hard to guess his feelings. It looked like there was always something wrong today, how did they become so understanding of each other?
Under everybody’s attention, Gu Yun acted like nothing’s wrong and continued to study the map. Su Ling’s eagle eyes glanced through everybody, making them afraid to look at Su Ling and Gu Yun again.
Being glared by Su Ling like that, several of them acted like they knew nothing and pretended to be busy talking about the case…
“That’s right! A fire attack is a really good suggestion!”
“Yes! The forest’s unpredictable terrain is their best advantage. Burning the area of their hideout will make it harder for them to escape.”
“Makes sense.”
The three people were ‘singing’ in harmony. Only Lou Mu Hai didn’t follow suit and seriously said, “From the map, we can see that the area is very inaccessible. I’m afraid, even if there is no vegetation covering it, it will still be difficult to catch them there.”
Su Ren, who was ‘singing’ with Han Shun and Yu Shi Jun, seriously replied, “The mission, this time, focuses on the gold, not the rebels. Even if we can’t catch them, it would still give them quite a blow. Wanting to settle them down is not an easy task.”
Han Shu nodded and added, “A fire attack is good. However, inside the rainforest, it is so humid…”
“Use petrol (lamp oil) and sulphur to ignite. As long as it doesn’t rain, we can definitely burn a small area!” Their facial expressions changed rather quickly. Su Ling was surprisingly calm and continued his explanation. Gu Yun couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“Okay then, this old subject will go back to the city and prepare. Before noon tomorrow, the items will be fully prepared.” Su Ling who acted as military advisor had spoken, Lou Mu Hai could only fully cooperate.
“Then, I will trust Old General Lou. Tomorrow noon, we will meet again.”
“Good!” In a light-spirited manner, Lou Mu Hai strode out.
Su Ling’s attention was back to the table, immediately asking them to continue discussing the attack strategy, “Ren, Han Shu, Yu Shi Jun, please speak your opinions regarding the distribution of the soldiers and attack strategy for tomorrow’s raid.”
“Aye.” The trio spoke at once.
Gu Yun stretched her waist. They were discussing military things, not her matter. It was better that she left. Passing the table, Gu Yun quietly opened the tent’s curtain. An icy chilly voice was heard behind her, “Stop.”
