Bandaging
With the death of Awoqi, the situation on the battlefield changed suddenly. He had gotten involved in the struggle for succession in Danzhi, causing the sudden loss of support for the thirteenth prince, whom he had vigorously backed. Temporarily at a loss, they even attempted to force their way into the palace.
Danzhi’s royal court fell into chaos. The sixth prince urgently called back his supporter, Feng Lai, to Danzhi, ostensibly to rescue the king but in reality to seize the inheritance. Feng Lai was struggling on the battlefield in Yuzhou with no progress, and his supplies and reinforcements were cut off by Duan Xu. Therefore, he immediately concentrated his forces in Liangzhou, opened up a breach, crossed the river, and withdrew.
Although the reinforcements from Daliang had stationed in Liangzhou, neither Xia Qingsheng, leading the remaining thirty thousand troops of the Tabai Army, nor the subsequent armies, were holding on steadfastly. As the saying goes, besieging troops will inevitably lack supplies, but one should not force them into a desperate situation where they have no choice but to fight to the death.
However, harassment along the way was unavoidable. When the Huqi people withdrew their troops and crossed the river, Xia Qingsheng launched an ambush, causing countless enemy soldiers to perish in the surging river. When the enemy reached Shuozhou, they were intercepted once again by Duan Xu’s garrison, suffering considerable losses but having no time to deal with it. For a while, they let the entire Shuozhou region slip from their grasp.
Fortunately, the reinforcements arrived just in time. Under the command of General Qin, Su Ying and the other three armies crossed the river and advanced into Shuozhou, taking control of the entire region.
As the saying goes, a small event can have far-reaching consequences. What Duan Xu did on New Year’s Eve in the eleventh year of Tianyuan became the key to turning the tide of the battle. Although Duan Xu was the greatest hero, he had been living a very peaceful life lately, far from the previous days of constantly hunting down enemies like a ferocious tiger, because—he was seriously injured, and if he pushed himself any further, he might not survive.
While recovering from his injuries, Duan Xu entrusted the defence of Shuozhou to Wu Shengliu. He spent his days writing letters from all directions, sometimes giving instructions to Xia Qingsheng about naval warfare in Liangzhou, sometimes sending battle reports to General Qin, sometimes submitting memorials to the court, and sometimes writing letters to his family, as if he had transformed from a military commander back into a civil official. He Simu had the opportunity to witness Duan Xu’s exquisite prose and skilful writing, and he skilfully removed all the suspicions from himself. Suddenly, he even added a few literary allusions without a trace, subtly showcasing his literary talent.
In the ghost realm, if someone were to submit such a memorial to He Simu, they would probably be sent back and asked to speak straightforwardly—stop with all these abstract things.
Similarly, recovering from injuries was the real boss Lin. Fifteen, in order to study his words and deeds, did not kill him but imprisoned him instead. Wu Shengliu searched the entire city before finding Lin Jun. He was barely hanging on, saved for the moment, but at least he had no worries about his life. When he woke up and spoke, He Simu shivered—this was exactly like the young man who pretended to be Fifteen before, completely a hot-blooded patriot who hated evil. Fifteen had indeed pretended too well.
During this period of recuperation, as a return for He Simu’s assistance in taking care of him all along, Duan Xu gladly accepted Chenying as his “brother,” promising to take Chenying back to the Duan residence to nurture and care for him in the future. Chenying felt reluctant to leave for quite some time. He Simu tactfully indicated that she hadn’t planned to leave yet, and during this time, Chenying would still be able to see her frequently, so his reluctance was a bit premature.
With Duan Xu covered in injuries this time, he couldn’t manage to change his own bandages. Originally, this task would fall to either the military doctor or Meng Wan’s hands, but now it fell to He Simu—before Duan Xu lost consciousness, he clenched He Simu’s clothes and signalled her with his eyes. She remembered Duan Xu’s old wounds all over his body and the scar on his waist, thinking that this young general was indeed quite troublesome. Nevertheless, she timely expressed her grief and shed tears, cooperating with Duan Xu’s performance to take over the task of bandaging.
He Simu thought to herself that this was her destiny anyway, and considering his dire condition, she temporarily refrained from taking his senses from him.
He better recover quickly and fulfil his promise.
“Hiss…” Duan Xu made a slight sound of pain, frowning as he looked at He Simu, but after a moment, he couldn’t help but smile again. “Your hand is really heavy. Indeed, you have no sense of touch.”
He Simu raised an eyebrow, looking at this guy who laughed more when he was in pain, and loosened the gauze in her hand. “Should I let Captain Meng come in instead and you can explain to her about these old wounds of yours?”
“It’s my honour for Your Highness to bandage my wounds,” Duan Xu replied promptly and smoothly, with a smile on his face.
In the dim morning light, his upper body was bare, revealing fair skin and crisscrossing wounds. Fortunately, except for the wound Fifteen had given him under the ribs, the others were not too deep. He let He Simu wrap the gauze between his arms and waist.
After finishing her masterpiece, He Simu tied a knot and patted Duan Xu’s shoulder, saying, “Take off your pants.”
“…” Duan Xu turned his head to look at her, showing a rare expression of astonishment, as if he wasn’t sure what he had just heard.
She said very naturally, “I remember there’s also a wound at the base of your thigh.”
Duan Xu held He Simu’s hand on the clothes around his waist, and said seriously, “The wound isn’t deep, so there’s no need for that.”
“Why not?” He Simu raised an eyebrow and said, “I’ve been dissecting corpses with my father and Master Fu since I was young. I’ve seen all kinds of naked bodies. Besides, even though I’m a ghost, I’ve possessed men before. What are you shy about?”
Duan Xu smiled and politely declined, “This isn’t appropriate. I still need to maintain some decency.”
He Simu narrowed her eyes slightly, and suddenly Duan Xu’s hands were bound by invisible forces behind him. He fell back on the bed with a dull thud. Duan Xu blinked and said, “Ouch, Your Highness, I’m still an injured patient.”
He Simu bent down to stroke his cheek. As she appeared as “He Xiaoxiao,” her touch was warm. When her fingers brushed over the wound on his face, she applied a bit less pressure. “If you want me to bandage you, are you going to be picky? Do you think I’m at your beck and call, Little General?”
Duan Xu laughed, his eyes shining brightly. He replied calmly, “I’m not being picky. I’m asking for your help. Your Highness, give me some face. You can’t treat me like this.”
As He Simu dangerously smirked, the door suddenly swung open, and a familiar male voice sounded.
“General, General Qin…” Han Lingqiu looked at Duan Xu lying on the bed with his hair scattered and He Xiaoxiao leaning over him, touching his face. For a moment, he forgot what he was going to say next. He wondered if he should just pretend he hadn’t seen anything and leave, turning back to close the door.
Before he could act, Duan Xu’s eyes lit up as if he had been granted a pardon. He got up from the bed and said, “Captain Han, speak quickly.”
He Xiaoxiao calmly moved away from Duan Xu and sat at the head of the bed, crossing her legs and picking up a cup of tea.
Han Lingqiu, feeling a bit awkward, continued, “General, just received news that General Qin will arrive in the capital two days later.”
Duan Xu smiled lightly and said leisurely, “General Qin is coming in person… It seems one Shuozhou is not enough. There’s still a battle to fight. Since I’m not feeling well, you should have Wu Lang treat General Qin well. As for the etiquette, consult with Meng Wan.”
Han Lingqiu agreed to leave but was stopped by Duan Xu. Despite his pale face due to blood loss from the injury, Duan Xu’s gaze was sharp. “Captain Han, do you have anything else to ask me?”
Han Lingqiu remained silent for a moment, then bowed respectfully. “Not at the moment.”
On the night when Duan Xu briefed him on the New Year’s martial arts competition, Duan Xu had mentioned knowing that Han Lingqiu had many questions for him. He promised to give him an opportunity to ask after the siege of Shuozhou was lifted.
He promised that he would tell Han Lingqiu everything he wanted to know.
Han Lingqiu had long prepared this question, but on the day of the martial arts competition, when the fake Lin Jun threw out that line, “You are my seventeenth junior brother,” Han Lingqiu vaguely sensed the outline of past events. He suddenly felt fear, realizing that those past events could potentially overturn his current life.
He hadn’t been particularly fixated on the past, but Duan Xu’s appearance had sparked his curiosity. It wasn’t so much about his own past as it was about Duan Xu as a person.
But on the first day of the Lunar New Year, as Han Lingqiu looked up at Duan Xu under the city wall, covered in wounds but still smiling happily, he suddenly felt that who Duan Xu was might not be so important after all.
While there were indeed many mysteries surrounding Duan Xu, what could be confirmed was that he was a good general of Daliang. Perhaps that was enough.
And Han Lingqiu himself was a captain of the Tabai Army of Daliang. Knowing this much was sufficient for him too.
Watching Han Lingqiu walk out and thoughtfully close the door behind him, He Simu chuckled softly. Her gaze then turned calmly to Duan Xu.
Before she could even ask, Duan Xu answered with understanding, “Han Lingqiu, he was once my contemporary.”
With injuries all over his body, unable to lean on anything, Duan Xu propped himself up with his hand on the bed and slightly leaned back to assume a comfortable storytelling posture.
“Only heaven knows, each cohort had a hundred people. The assessment was a fight to the death. Nine out of ten would die within seven years, leaving only one person, who would then be assigned a number and graduate.”
— He made me start killing people at the age of seven, and by the time I was fourteen, I had killed all my peers.
He Simu recalled Duan Xu’s words to her during the chaos in the Danzhi camp, when his eyes were burning with both excitement and pain, with a hint of madness. But now, the madness in Duan Xu’s eyes seemed to fade away, replaced by a calmness as if discussing a mundane memory. He fell silent for a moment before smiling.
“Han Lingqiu was always silent and reserved back then. Actually, most of us were like him in our group, except for me. I hardly spoke to him; the most interaction we had was during that life-and-death duel in the Night Trials. I imagine he must have felt desperate, with ninety-eight dead and only the two of us left. But our master favoured me, and I was strong. In the end, he had to die by my hand, just a matter of sooner or later compared to the other ninety-eight.”
Duan Xu tapped his own forehead and said, “That scar on his face, I gave it to him.”
“When you killed him?” He Simu asked.
“No, when I saved him.”
This answer was somewhat unexpected.
Duan Xu smiled. He turned his head slightly and said, “During the Night Trials, I should have killed him, but I used a little trick. I made it look like he was dead but still alive. Then I gave him a memory-wiping potion, cut his face, and swapped him with a corpse that had the same facial wound, and took him out.”
He Simu chuckled softly, “You didn’t know him well, why would you be so kind?”
“Why can’t I be so kind, Your Majesty of the Ghost Realm, do you understand me?”
Duan Xu joked as usual, but his gaze suddenly seemed somewhat perplexed, as if he had been caught off guard by his own words.
Did anyone truly understand him in this world?
His thousand-layered mask had some sincerity to it, but no one could trust it.
“Do you want to hear my story?” Duan Xu suddenly said in such a casual tone, but his eyes were serious. “Since Han Lingqiu isn’t asking me, I’ll give you this opportunity. From now on, I’ll answer all your questions truthfully.”
He Simu set down her teacup and said, “Last time when I was strangling you, you wouldn’t say a word. Why are you willing to talk now?”
“When you were strangling me, of course I wouldn’t talk. But when I reached out to you, and you grabbed my hand, then I could talk.”
Duan Xu’s tone sounded like a joke, full of ease.
But He Simu remembered the boy sitting on the ground, his eyes stained with blood. When he reached out to her, it was like a fragile sakura flower about to be blown away by the wind. If she hadn’t grabbed him, he might have fallen.
Even in the most dangerous situation, he didn’t ask for her help, but as long as she reached out, he agreed to the deal.
She had just grabbed him, that’s all there was to it.
What was this boy truly seeking?
He Simu said, “You’ve done so much in Liangzhou and here. Are you seeking revenge against those who know about you?”
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