Invitation
On a quiet afternoon in spring, with Chenying still sleeping on the side, Duan Xu kept his voice very low, almost whispering, yet each word was exceptionally clear.
The oath Duan Xu made, using his name, carried a weighty significance.
Gazing into his eyes, He Simu smiled after a moment and pushed him away gently. “If it’s not, then it’s not. Why such a big reaction? You’re actually angry. This is the first time I’ve seen you genuinely angry. Interesting.”
He had been thrown to the northern shore by General Qin, interrogated by Wu Shengliu, and marginalized by General Qin’s subordinates, yet he had never been angry. Yet now, he was angry over such a trivial question.
Duan Xu pursed his lips, his gaze drifting away before returning. He was about to say something when he suddenly saw He Simu’s figure flash before him. He was immediately grabbed by the neck and pressed against the wall. He Simu, clad in a white robe, lifted him effortlessly with just one hand, smiling as she turned her head. “But we haven’t settled our score yet. What did you say? Just live for ten more days?”
It seemed the Ghost King still remembered the grudge from the day she gained her sense of touch.
Duan Xu grasped her wrist, struggling to speak through his discomfort. “Your… injury…”
“You should worry about yourself first.” He Simu leaned closer, staring into his eyes, and Duan Xu could only silently meet her gaze.
The warm sunlight filled the room with tranquillity.
He Simu was somewhat surprised. “You’re usually so eloquent. Why the silence now?”
Duan Xu smiled faintly, tightening his grip on He Simu’s wrist and obediently saying, “Please… spare me… as the Ghost King…”
“Will you dare next time?”
Duan Xu blinked but didn’t answer.
Admitting mistakes proactively, and then doing the same thing again next time.
He Simu narrowed her eyes. He seemed to have seen through her reluctance to kill him and was now here, trying to appease her. It didn’t feel good to be manipulated by such a cunning little fox.
But at this moment, he looked at her with innocence and sincerity, his eyes brimming with her image.
Those who always protect others are very lonely.
He Simu suddenly recalled the phrase Chenying had relayed to her. She paused, her hand on Duan Xu’s neck, before loosening her grip.
When Duan Xu fell to the ground, he still had the composure to employ some skill, making no sound to wake Chenying. Even the relieved sigh after finally catching his breath was suppressed. He coughed quietly while smiling up at He Simu, who looked down at him from above. Waving her hand, she sat down beside the bed, and with a snap of her fingers, the heavy ancient book appeared in her hands again.
“What’s going on?” Duan Xu asked as if the earlier incident hadn’t happened, sitting down beside He Simu on the bed. He Simu’s gaze remained on the ghost book as she briefly recounted the events to Duan Xu.
With Master Mingfeng and Fake Qiao Yan both burned to death by her, Duan Xu could fabricate any story he wanted. He Simu had no interest in interacting with ordinary mortals. For her, the individuals in the ghost realm seeking to take advantage of the situation were the ones she aimed to punish.
Duan Xu chuckled. “What’s wrong with your subordinates? They’re so disrespectful.”
“It’s not surprising. They’ve been eagerly awaiting my downfall for a long time now,” He Simu flipped through the ghost book, not lifting her eyelids as she spoke. “Whether in the mortal realm or the ghost realm, it’s always the same on the throne.”
Duan Xu fell silent, his gaze falling on the scars crisscrossing her arms.
He Simu looked up at Duan Xu, following his gaze to the scars on her body. She sighed and pulled her sleeve down, covering her arms. She hadn’t thought much of Duan Xu’s numerous scars before, but experiencing pain herself made her realize how unpleasant it was. Mortals living in this world were truly fragile.
So she said, “It would have been better if I had found you when you first entered the Celestial Realm. That way, you would have suffered fewer injuries and less pain.”
Duan Xu seemed to think about it seriously for a moment, then his eyes sparkled with a hint of amusement. He said in an almost joking tone, “No, if you had met me back then, you definitely wouldn’t have been interested in me. Meeting you now, I feel it’s the best time.”
When he first entered the Celestial Realm, he was lost and tormented, his heart a furnace with no room for admiration. He was grateful she met him as he was now, clear-minded and firm in conviction, without needing salvation.
“You don’t wish I had come to save you earlier?”
“No.”
I’m willing to descend into hell, endure hardship, change my bones, alter my nature, understand the world, just to meet you again.
When Chenying woke up, he found himself in Duan Xu’s room. He felt dazed for a moment before seeing Duan Xu enter through the door. His general brother was dressed in light armour, as if he had just returned from the training grounds, and he smiled when he saw him. “Did you worry so much last night that you slept until evening?”
Chenying looked at the light armour on Duan Xu and immediately jumped out of bed. He ran to Duan Xu and asked eagerly, “General brother, when can I go to the battlefield with you?”
Duan Xu squatted down and looked at him, saying, “You’re still too young. When you’re thirteen or fourteen, I’ll definitely take you to the battlefield, alright?”
Chenying lowered his head somewhat dejectedly, then lifted it again. “Miss He is a ghost… Will she always stay with us? Will she leave us?”
To this question, Duan Xu fell silent.
Chenying began to feel anxious. In his heart, He Simu and Duan Xu were the two most indispensable people. Duan Xu’s silence seemed to suggest that there was no room for manoeuvre on this matter. Anxiously, he held Duan Xu’s hand and said, “Miss He really likes you. She… she’s lovesick for you. Don’t you like Miss He? If you both have feelings for each other, then Miss He will stay with us.”
Duan Xu was taken aback for a moment, his expression becoming somewhat subtle. “Lovesick? She said that?”
“Yeah, yeah!”
“Hahaha…” Duan Xu’s expression changed a few times before he couldn’t help but burst into laughter. He whispered, “She really can say anything.”
Chenying looked at him somewhat puzzled. Duan Xu placed a hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes, saying, “I want to tell you something. Will you keep it a secret for your big brother?”
Chenying nodded vigorously, saying, “I won’t tell anyone.”
“Good.” Duan Xu said slowly and seriously, “He Simu may often say that she likes me or admires me, but it’s all false. In fact, she doesn’t like me at all. It’s just for fun. To her, I’m just a somewhat special mortal, special enough to tolerate some offenses, but not special enough for her to love me.”
Chenying’s expression showed confusion.
Duan Xu was silent for a moment before continuing, “I’ve never said that I like her. But, I really do like her, sincerely.”
**Nomad: Ahhhhhhh we got a confession (,,>﹏<,,)**
Chenying looked at Duan Xu in astonishment. Before he could express his opinion, he saw Duan Xu place his index finger on his lips, smiling, “You promised to keep this a secret for me. You absolutely can’t tell He Simu.”
Chenying was still puzzled, but he nodded earnestly. With his eight-year-old mind, he couldn’t understand why someone would like another person but not want them to know. He was even more puzzled by how Duan Xu’s explanation contradicted what he had learned!
Duan Xu nodded satisfactorily, patting Chenying’s shoulder. “From now on, don’t call me General Brother anymore. Since you’re my sworn brother, call me Third Brother.”
Chenying’s eyes lit up, and he hesitantly called out, “Third Brother… Are you really going to be my brother from now on?”
Duan Xu nodded, affirming, “As long as I’m still in this world, if you call me Third Brother for a day, then I am your family.”
In truth, all Chenying wanted was a promise that he would never be abandoned. As he stood guard by He Simu’s bed, lost in unconsciousness, he wondered why he always seemed to keep losing people who were kind to him.
Fortunately, he hadn’t lost Miss He, and he gained another brother.
Chenying immediately hugged Duan Xu, overwhelmed with joy, but he managed to hold back his tears this time. He resolved to grow up quickly so he could protect all the people who were kind to him.
As for the farce involving collusion with evil spirits, General Yin accused Duan Xu of killing Master Mingfeng to silence him, while Duan Xu countered that General Yin intended to harm Miss Seventeen using Master Mingfeng, resulting in the failed attempt. When neither side could prove their case, Qiao Yan woke up.
This time, Qiao Yan really woke up.
Seeing her mother and brother, she was almost scared faint again, and then tearfully told everyone that her mother and brother intended to sell her to an old man as a concubine. Unable to bear the humiliation, she escaped and begged everyone not to let her return to that nightmare.
She also claimed that her mother and brother, in order to take her away, conspired with Master Mingfeng to make her possessed by an evil spirit, framing Duan Xu, and also intended harm towards Miss Seventeen. But they lost control of the evil spirit and were consumed by it instead.
Of course, this was a story scripted and coached by Duan Xu.
General Yin naturally denied everything. With no evidence of Master Mingfeng’s death and the key witness, Qiao Yan, recanting her previous statement, General Qin and Zheng An decided to let the matter rest for now to maintain stability among the troops, thus closing the case.
This was probably the outcome that all parties were pleased with.
However, when He Simu saw Duan Xu casually mentioning that the matter was not over yet, she could already imagine that General Yin’s future would not be too bright.
On the other hand, Daliang and Danzhi officially went to war again, with Duan Xu’s Tabai being dispatched to feint an attack on Youzhou, while the main forces unexpectedly launched an assault on Luozhou. Duan Xu didn’t complain about this thankless task and went with Tabai.
He dutifully attracted Danzhi’s firepower in Youzhou, allowing Chengjie, Su Ying, and Feng Xi to break through Luozhou. However, the situation in Luozhou quickly reached a stalemate, and General Yin even died in the chaos.
When He Simu heard this news, she found it hard to believe that Duan Xu had nothing to do with it.
The lieutenant of Chengjie’s army was unable to cope, and the three armies in Luozhou were on the verge of retreat. Duan Xu was urgently dispatched to Chengjie to take over military affairs, while The Tabai army remained under the command of Wu Shengliu and Xia Qingsheng.
Upon Duan Xu’s arrival at Chengjie’s army, he swiftly issued numerous military orders and, contrary to his previous compliant attitude, adopted a more assertive and aggressive stance during discussions with several generals and General Qin about the military situation. With the situation dire and pressure from above with a royal decree to conquer Yun and Luo provinces within two months, General Qin had no choice but to let Duan Xu take a bold gamble.
Unexpectedly, the results were quite good.
Duan Xu was very familiar with the terrain of Yun and Luo provinces. He lured the enemy into ambushes by taking advantage of the terrain, harassed them with flanking manoeuvres by splitting his troops, and disrupted the morale of the Danzhi army by employing psychological warfare tactics using the content of the Cangyan Scriptures. In short, he adhered to his usual unconventional and cunning style.
As the land of Yun and Luo provinces was gradually swallowed up, coupled with the ongoing struggle for succession in the Danzhi court, the royal court didn’t attach much importance to these provinces. Suspecting that Daliang still coveted Youzhou, elite forces were stationed around the capital and Youzhou, refusing to reinforce Yun and Luo. With inadequate supplies and reinforcements, the defenders of Yun and Luo provinces couldn’t hold on for long and gradually retreated.
Under such favourable conditions of timing, location, and strategy, two months later, the Daliang army occupied Luozhou and Yuzhou.
Duan Xu became the commander of both Chengjie and the Tabai armies.
As the Daliang soldiers fortified their positions in these two provinces and temporarily ceased hostilities, the war that had shifted from defence to offense for almost half a year finally came to a temporary halt. Duan Xu also had to return to the Southern Capital with General Qin to report his duties. The journey from Yuzhou to the Southern Capital would take about a month.
“What a waste of time spending a month on the road,” remarked He Simu, who could travel thousands of miles in a day and appear anywhere in an instant. She reminded Duan Xu, “You still owe me a trade for swapping senses.”
After finishing writing the memorial, Duan Xu put down his brush and replied, “When do you want to come and claim it?”
“Now,” He Simu said, approaching Duan Xu with a smile. “General Duan, during this month’s time, would you like to take a look at the Ghost Realm?”
Author’s note: The first volume ends here! The second volume will introduce a new map.
Thank you for your support and encouragement throughout this volume! Bowing deeply!
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