CH 138

February 7, 2023Merchie

In just a few moments, Shen Shijiu came out of the room.

Shen Huan led Shen Shijiu out of Jiang Yubai’s clinic, before they boarded a carriage and left the Imperial City.

Shen Shijiu sat in the carriage. Since the moment he left that room, he had been extremely quiet, not saying a word, his long lashes drooping downward.

“Disciple,” Shen Huan twisted his hair into a bun, “Your master… isn’t trying to force you two apart.”

Shen Huan could also see that grief that filled Shen Shijiu’s heart and gaze, but she didn’t know how she could comfort him.

“There’s something that your master has never told you. In truth, your master has known about the foreign blood in your veins for a long time, and your master is also a foreigner. It’s possible that we share a blood relationship.”

Crystalline droplets hung at the corners of Shen Shijiu’s eyes. It appeared as though he had just cried, and was now trying his best to hold back his tears.

His voice was a soft whisper, “Shifu, then… then who am I?”

Shen Huan froze.

“Y-y-you’re Shifu‘s dearest disciple!”

Shen Huan suddenly didn’t want her little disciple to remember the things that had happened in the past.

From the beginning, Shen Huan was very opposed to Pei Zheng’s relationship with her little disciple, because she thought that Pei Zheng was too gloomy, and he shouldered too many burdens; no ordinary person would be able to carry him. Instead, he would drag them into the abyss.

On top of that, after she found out that her little disciple was already pregnant, Shen Huan was even more unwilling to allow Pei Zheng to continue disturbing their lives.

But later, after so many things had happened, Pei Zheng was currently severely injured and unconscious; to say that Shen Huan’s attitude toward him hadn’t changed at all would be false. However, she still wasn’t ready to accept him.

Right now, the foreign tribe was in turmoil.

In truth, Shen Huan’s insistence on taking Shen Shijiu with her to the foreign tribe had stemmed from another consideration.

Right now, war was about to break out between the barbarian tribe and the Celestial Dynasty, and the foreign tribe was a small patch of land sandwiched between two powerful nations. Geographical location was crucial; moreover, the foreign tribe’s culture and customs had always shared similarities with those of the barbarian tribe, so it was more likely that they would align themselves with the barbarians.

If the foreign tribe chose to seek refuge with the barbarian tribe, the Celestial Dynasty would definitely kill off the foreigners within its borders. When that time came, her and her little disciple’s lives would become rather dangerous.

Although Shen Huan believed that Pei Zheng had the ability to protect them, at the moment, Pei Zheng hadn’t even solidified his own influence; Shen Huan couldn’t allow her little disciple to take this risk alongside her.

The carriage gradually drove away from the Imperial City. Shen Shijiu’s tears suddenly fell. He pulled open the curtain over the carriage window and waved. Goodbye, Imperial City.

Goodbye, Pei-gege.

You told me, no matter where I am, you’ll find me and take me back.

I’ll wait for you. You have to remember to come.

The carriage continued to head toward the south. After traveling on foot for dozens of days, they finally arrived at an area that was near the borderlands.

The borderlands were in turmoil. In the past two days, a large number of Celestial Dynasty troops had been stationed here, right next to the border with the foreign tribe; it seemed that they were taking precautions against the foreign tribe as well.

Shen Huan and Shen Shijiu left the limits of the Celestial Dynasty and came to the foreign tribe’s border. Shen Huan had a letter from the leader of the foreign tribe, so they crossed the border easily.

This was a small town in the foreign tribe’s territory; after they passed through it, they came to the foreign tribe’s capital city.

The foreign tribe’s territory had always been quite small, so there were only a few cities in total.

Throughout the ages, there was a reason that the foreign tribe was able to survive squeezed between the Celestial Dynasty and the barbarian tribe.

The culture and customs of the foreign tribe were also very open, and it was abundant with beautiful women and extraordinary talents. The beautiful women had all been offered as tribute to the Emperors or chiefs of the two great nations. As for those extraordinary talents, they could be found all over the world, and were versed in all sorts of trades and professions.

Shen Huan, as the Ghost Doctor, could also be classified as one of those extraordinary talents.

As they walked along the street, they saw many gorgeous beauties that flaunted some sort of exotic charm, though everyone seemed to be accustomed to it.

Just like that year, Qi Changyi’s mother, Noble Consort Ning, was the loveliest beauty in the entire tribe, so she was offered to the Emperor of the Celestial Dynasty, and later gave birth to two princes.

Except, no one expected that beautiful blossoms were often plucked1. In the end, due to some mysterious, secretive circumstances, that lovely beauty was gone.

As Shen Huan and Shen Shijiu walked along the road, they didn’t see anyone who had been infected. Everybody looked completely normal; none of these people looked like they were ill.

But there was still something off about all this. Everybody was walking quickly, as though they weren’t willing to linger too long on the street. On top of that, people only walked on the main roads; there wasn’t a single person in any of the alleys lining the sides.

Shen Huan found this strange. She walked toward an alley and glanced into it.

Shen Shijiu also followed his shifu to take a look, but a man suddenly grabbed him by the arm.

That man said kindly, “Hey, don’t go in there, or you’ll catch it.”

Shen Shijiu was confused, “Catch what?”

But that man was unwilling to explain any further, and quickly walked away.

“Little disciple, eat this.”

Shen Huan passed Shen Shijiu a pill she had developed to resist the infection. She didn’t have much, so she couldn’t distribute it to everyone. She could only ensure her and her little disciple’s safety first.

Shen Shijiu obediently took the pill and swallowed it.

“Are you scared?” Shen Huan asked.

Shen Shijiu shook his head, “Shifu, I’m not scared. Let’s hurry in there and treat them.”

Shen Huan nodded.

“Let’s go.”

The master and disciple had just entered the city, and hadn’t even met with the tribe leader yet, but they had already decided to see how serious the situation was for themselves.

After they passed through that little alley, they came to a long lane.

The master and disciple stood at the exit of the alley, stunned by the scene in front of them.

People were lying along both sides of the lane, but these people all looked terrifying. Their exposed flesh had already begun to rot, and large patches of red had already soaked through their clothes. Not only was the air filled with the odor of decaying flesh, but also the scent of blood.

Shen Shijiu’s face immediately paled to a deathly white. He had never seen anything like this before. Once that overwhelming stench filled his nose, he couldn’t stop himself; he grabbed the wall and began to retch violently.

Shen Huan was afraid that his body couldn’t handle it, and said worriedly, “Little disciple, why don’t you go back out and wait for Shifu. Your master won’t begin any treatment today, it’ll just be a quick check on their condition. After this, we’ll find the tribe leader and give him a report. Then, we can plan everything else.”

Shen Shijiu covered his mouth. His stomach was still churning and urging him to retch again. He nodded.

“Shifu, I’ll go out and wait for you then. Please be careful.”

Shen Shijiu held onto the wall and slowly walked out.

The moment he walked out onto the main street and saw all the normal-looking people, he could finally breathe again.

The things in there couldn’t even be called “people” anymore. They were just rotten chunks of flesh that were still showing a few signs of life.

Shen Shijiu leaned against the wall and shut his eyes, panting softly.

Suddenly, a loud commotion came from not far away; it seemed as though several of the Celestial Dynasty’s soldiers had rushed in, and had actually entered the capital city. However, they were unarmed; they were searching all over the main street, looking for someone.

Shen Shijiu looked at the soldier at the head of the group and was quite shocked. It was none other than Zhao Litang’s subordinate, Wu Quan.

Just as Shen Shijiu was about to wave to him, a hand reached out from behind him and covered his mouth. Then, he was pulled into a small shop.

“Who are you?! Don’t try anything with me! I’m super strong!”

But once he saw the person in front of him, his eyes immediately brightened.

“A-Yue!”

Shen Shijiu enveloped Yue Nu in a hug, “A-Yue, is it really you? Why are you here? Where’s General Zhao? We’re in the foreign tribe’s territory, General Zhao shouldn’t be allowed in here, right?”

Shen Shijiu asked a string of questions, and didn’t give Yue Nu the chance to answer any of them, “Also, A-Yue, do you know who I just saw? I saw Lieutenant Wu, isn’t he General Zhao’s subordinate? Why is he here, is he looking for you?”

Yue Nu could only hear someone jabbering in his ear, asking a bunch of questions without giving him the opportunity to interject.

After Shen Shijiu finally shut his mouth, Yue Nu stepped forward and hugged him.

“Young Master Shen, long time no see.”

Shen Shijiu patted his shoulder, “A-Yue, what are you supposed to call me?”

Yue Nu smiled, “All right, all right, Shi-gege.”

Shen Shijiu smiled as well, “Good A-Yue.”

At this moment, the sounds of footsteps came from outside. It seemed as though Wu Quan and his soldiers were about to come inside.

Yue Nu pulled Shen Shijiu behind a counter and squatted down. Both of them were quite thin, so they were completely blocked by the counter.

Wu Quan didn’t find who he was looking for in the shop, so he left.

Once the soldiers were gone, two heads poked out from beside the counter.

Shen Shijiu found this all a bit strange, and asked, “A-Yue, why are you hiding from Lieutenant Wu? Maybe General Zhao is looking for you?”

Yue Nu said, “The general is looking for me.”

His eyes dimmed, “I’ve stayed with the general in the borderlands for so long, but the general, he… still wants to have someone send me back.”

Shen Shijiu asked, “Why? Why isn’t General Zhao willing to let you stay with him?”

“The general says that it’s too dangerous here. No one can guarantee my safety, so he wants me to go back to the General’s Manor, where it’s safe. I wasn’t willing to go, so Lieutenant Wu came to capture me and take me back. But I never expected that they’d still pursue me, even after I ran all the way to the foreign tribe.”

Shen Shijiu seemed to have thought of something, “A-Yue, why don’t you come with me? Me and Shifu, we’re going to see the foreign tribe leader, why don’t you come with us?”

Yue Nu thought for a moment, before he nodded.

At this moment, Shen Huan emerged from that alley. When she saw that Yue Nu was here as well, she thought it was extremely weird.

“Why are you here?”

Shen Shijiu explained on his behalf, “Shifu, A-Yue doesn’t want to go back to the General’s Manor, so he’s hiding from Lieutenant Wu.”

Shen Huan’s eyes were pinned on Yue Nu.

“That’s not what I meant. I’m saying that you need to provide identification in order to enter foreign tribe territory. You aren’t a foreigner, are you?”

Notes

Oh wowiee, this is actually getting quite interesting…

Thanks for reading~

1.红颜薄命 (hóng yán bó mìng): beautiful women suffer terrible fates.