CH 7

Xia Zuoyi slowly opened his eyes, the bright light shining through the cracks in the wattle grass piled in the hole allowed him to clearly confirm his current situation.

He saw a young man leaning against the mountain wall with his head hanging down and taking a nap, covering himself with a piece of clothing, and beside him was a slightly worn cowhide water bag.

Obviously, he was saved.

Xia Zuoyi moved with difficulty, the slight sound awakened the boy.

The young man quickly grasped the hoe with one hand, picked up the stone with the other, first observed the situation outside the cave, and then reacted and turned his head abruptly.

“Are you awake?!”

Xia Zuoyi nodded, “Well, I want to sit up.”

His whole body is in pain right now, and his right arm is totally unconscious.

When he heard his words, Gibran Keno got up and walked over, carefully helping him up.

Xia Zuoyi, “Thank you for saving me.”

“It’s nothing…”

Gibran Keno said carefully, “Do you remember what happened last night? You seem to have rolled down the hillside… Does your body hurt?”

The little nobleman has many scratches and redness on his exposed white and tender skin.

It became more and more obvious as the night passed, alternating between blue and purple, and the contrast was strong, which made people feel that a light touch would aggravate the pain.

Xia Zuoyi said, “I remember, it hurts.”

His face was pale with pain, and his lips lost blood, but he didn’t cry or make trouble, just leaned quietly on the mountain wall.

I don’t know how Udit and the others are, whether it’s safe now…

Ignoring the physical discomfort as much as possible, Xia Zuoyi began to think about how to deal with the next situation.

Since the main target of the robbers was him, they would not give up searching for him until they confirmed his death and saw his body.

Xia Zuoyi looked at the young man in front of him and said, “Little brother in the market, can you do me a favor?” 

He had to turn to the young man for help.

Gibran Keno was stunned, the little nobleman actually remembered him.

“How do you want me to help you?”

He thought, the little nobleman’s voice sounded soft and waxy, and his moist caramel-colored eyes looked more cute and lovely.

Xia Zuoyi took out a badge engraved with thorns and roses from his arms and handed it over, “Leave Pal Mountain, go to Wissas and find patrolling knights to come and rescue.”

The civilians and slaves living in Wissas knew what the emblem of the Desinia family was.

Gibran Keno was shocked by the fact that the little nobleman turned out to be Earl Desinia.

After a while, he took the badge and held it tightly, and finally found his voice to ask, “But you…what do you do, Lord Earl?”

Xia Zuoyi, “I’ll stay here and wait for you to come back.”

If he’s taken with him, it will undoubtedly affect the speed of the young man seeking help, and besides, the teenager will be safe.

Gibran Keno, “Do you believe me?”

“I believe you, you saved me.”

Gibran Keno, “It’s about three thousand and one hundred feet from here to Wissas, I’ll be back in two hourglasses.”

“Don’t be afraid, I will definitely bring the knight to save you.”

After speaking, he turned and left quickly.

The most commonly used timing tool on the Western Continent is the hourglass or water sundial.

The other is a self-ringing bell driven by a heavy hammer, which is large and cannot be moved. It is usually placed in the center of a big city and is expensive to build. It’s not available in rural areas like Wissas.

Xia Zuoyi was a little surprised that the teenager could approximately tell the accurate distance between Pal Mountain and Wissas and the time it took to go back and forth.

It seems that he is very familiar with the terrain and orientation of Mount Pal.

The young man carefully covered up the cave before he left, the light in the cave was a little dim, but it didn’t hinder his vision.

Xia Zuoyi gently held his right arm, confirmed the dislocated position, and borrowed the reaction force from the mountain wall—with a “click” sound, the joint is reset.

He used to, no, it should be said that his previous job was directing and recording documentary videos of surviving in the wild. Of course, the “actor” who appeared in the documentary was also him.

He travels all-year-round, going up the mountains and down the sea at home and abroad, and surviving in the wilderness is a daily routine.

Injuries are common. Dislocations are the mildest, the most serious one was being bitten by a poisonous snake and almost died. Fortunately, because of timely treatment, he got out of danger.

Finally, when returning home to receive the award, he was hit by a car while saving a man and died.

After Xia Zuoyi rested on the mountain wall for a while, he checked the prestige points accumulated during this time, which totaled 28 points.

He clicked the white building icon and searched for the keyword “Chinese herbal medicine”. Among the listed books, he exchanged a copy of “Encyclopedia of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Detailed Explanations” for the time being.

The rest of the books include “Chinese Herbal Medicine Formula”, “Chinese Herbal Medicine Ointment Encyclopedia”… there are probably more than 20 books listed.

Studying medicine can save lives.

In the future, he can become a qualified alchemist with real substance.

At least he can’t let the doctors of this era use hammers and drills to move his brain, use leeches to suck his blood1, use iron cauterization2 and enemas3 for minor illnesses, amputation4 and fumigation5 for serious illnesses, and pray for repentance and drink holy water when he is not sick. It’s terrible.

Improving medical conditions must be emphasized on infrastructure plans.

“God of Creation, please bless and protect Lord Earl so he will be fine.” Kelly prayed.

After Xia Zuoyi rolled down the hill, Fernandi Edwards led the remaining knights out of the encirclement, taking advantage of the darkness to avoid the pursuit of the “robbers”.

Be on guard to the other party’s search all night.

They tried to secretly return to the place and searched for the trail of Lord Earl along the hillside, but first found Kelly who was unconscious.

It was bright now, they still couldn’t find Xia Zuoyi’s shadow.

Udit was anxious.

“Is there no way to go down the mountain and go to Wissas to ask for help?”

The knight who had gone to investigate the situation before shook his head, “The robbers are now blocking the mountain road leading to Wissas. If we want to go down the mountain, we have to fight them and breakthrough by force, but their number is more than us…”

Moreover, half of them were casualties, their combat effectiveness is insufficient.

The knight thought of this and glanced at Fernandi Edwards in a complicated manner. He did not expect that a slave would lead them to survive.

Udit, “What about other methods?” 

The knight said, “Turn back.”

“Climbing over from another mountain road takes too long, and Lord Earl’s situation may be even more dangerous…”

“More importantly, the patrol knights guarding Wissas can only be mobilized with the badge engraved with thorns and roses.”

Udit’s hair was scattered, his spirit was tense, his clothes were stained with blood, and his eyes were red and dry with impatience and worry.

After a while, he asked, “How sure are you to force a breakthrough?” 

The knight glanced at Fernandi Edwards.

Udit also turned to look at him.

Fernandi Edwards leaned against the tree in silence, with a lot of blood on his sword.

He whispered hoarsely, “Less than 40%. It was lucky to be able to break through yesterday.”

“There is a great disparity between the enemy’s strength and ours. Moreover, their purpose is not for money, but to kill us all in Mount Pal, they have come prepared.” 

The dreary atmosphere is spreading.

At this moment, the knight who was monitoring the robber’s movement suddenly ran back and shouted.

“The patrolling knights came to the rescue!” 

In the cave.

Xia Zuoyi folded the jacket left by the young man and put the cowhide water bag on the side.

He checked his body and found that most of the injuries were red, swollen, and bruised. After a few days of rest, he would recover, but it would take about a month to lift his dislocated right arm.

Time passed for a long time.

Xia Zuoyi moved close to the entrance of the cave and saw that the sun was about to rise to the center.

He doesn’t know if the young man has successfully arrived in Wissas and found the patrol knights…

“Where the hell do you think that little whelp was hiding? I didn’t find it all night.”

“Who knows? Stop talking nonsense. This mission has not been completed, do you want to go back to receive punishment?”

Suddenly there were two men talking outside.

Xia Zuoyi suddenly held his breath, pressed his lips tightly and picked up the hoe that the young man put at the entrance of the cave.

“Of course I don’t… wait, do you think there’s a cave there??” A man with a black cloth mask pointed his sword at where Xia Zuoyi was hiding.

The front of the cave is full of messy tall wattle grasses. It’s pitch black inside and there is a tree next to it. If you don’t pay attention, it will really be ignored.

“It seems to be…Go, go over and see.”

…

Xia Zuoyi’s heart beat violently.

As the two men got closer and closer, just as the scimitar was about to cut the grass, a sword came suddenly and pierced a man’s chest from behind.

All of a sudden, blood splattered.

The other person was shocked, immediately wanting to plunge into the cave quickly.

But Fernandi Edwards leaped like a lion, his sword’s attack was unstoppable, a few strokes killed people in front of the cave entrance.

Gibran Keno successfully brought the patrol knights, and happened to meet the bandits blocking the mountain road “on a narrow road”6.

Fernandi Edwards and others united with the patrol knights he brought to eliminate the robbers.

He wanted to leave one or two alive to be interrogated later. However, seeing that the situation was not right, the remaining robbers took the opportunity to kill each other.

Afterwards, Gibran Keno brought them here.

“My lord!” Udit could not restrain his excitement and yelled worriedly.

The grass covering the entrance of the cave was slowly pulled away.

A small figure came out. The white coat with a lotus leaf collar was dirty, covered with grass leaves and soil, and damaged in many places. So was the black shorts.

The “miserable” appearance of Xia Zuoyi’s exposed white and tender arms and legs makes the tip of Udit’s nose sour.

He walked over and knelt down on one knee, “My lord, how are you?” 

Xia Zuoyi, “I have nothing to worry about, Udit.”

Udit lowered his head and gently held Xia Zuoyi’s little hand to his forehead, “My lord, please don’t push me away from now on, your safety is more important than my life…”

At first, he only wanted to offer his loyalty, but at this moment and even later, he could give his life to Xia Zuoyi Desinia.

The soft little hand suddenly left his palm and pressed it on his head at the moment when Udit was stunned.

“But I hope you can always be my butler.” 

For a long time, Udit said, “As you wish, my lord, I will.”

Return to the castle.

Xia Zuoyi asked Gibran Keno what reward he wanted.

Gibran Keno licked his dry lips, “…anything will do?”

Xia Zuoyi, “Yes.”

“Can I be your manservant?”

Gibran Keno wanted a stable life and he wanted to stop worrying about food and clothing for himself and his brother.

Xia Zuoyi, “If your family agrees…”

“I only have one brother, my lord.” 

Xia Zuoyi nodded, “You can bring your brother to the castle.”

Gibran Keno immediately rejoiced, “Thank you very much! My lord!”

Xia Zuoyi asked a knight to follow Gibran Keno back to pack his things.

They went back to the castle first.

The Earl went out nicely but returned with injuries, the poor appearance frightened the servants.

Not to mention the craftsmen and knights who went with them, they were either wounded or died.

Xia Zuoyi asked people to gather the corpses of craftsmen and knights, settled the injured and gave them or their families generous compensation.

After all matters are settled.

Fernandi Edwards was called to the study.

Xia Zuoyi, “What do you think of the identity of the attacker?”

Fernandi Edwards, “They’re not like robbers but more like a group of well-trained knights.” 

The old earl, Matt Desinia, was addicted to alchemy in his castle. He seldom went to Wissas so it was impossible to attract any enemies.

A group of knights disguised as robbers attacked them at the time when he offered the salt drying method for the king…it can’t be such a coincidence.

Xia Zuoyi said, “Udit, is the territory of Beavis Elliott directly enfeoffed by the king?” 

Udit was taken aback, then immediately reacted, “No, my lord. Earl Beavis Elliott’s superior is Duke Bass Richards. You doubt…” 

Xia Zuoyi, “It’s not a suspicion.”

“Now I’m sure Bass Richards thought that Fort Comoy and Wissas are next to each other across Pal Mountain. What’s more convenient than letting the lord of Fort Comoy do it?”

On the way back to the territory, Earl Desinia was robbed by a gang of robbers and unfortunately died.

Without a lord and no successor, Wissas would be taken back by the king.

However, the salt drying in the sea still has to continue, and the most likely possibility is to entrust Wissas to other people again.

Needless to say who this person is.

The old king relied on Duke Bass Richards the most.

Unfortunately, even if the truth of the matter is analyzed, in the absence of evidence, they can not testify against an earl or even a duke.

Can only swallow this bad breath first.

But it is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge ten years later7, and a villain to avenge from morning to night8.

He was neither a gentleman nor a villain, so he took a middle value and first tried to get back at Earl Beavis Elliott.

And Fort Comoy is his next target to light up.

Xia Zuoyi, “Fernandi Edwards, do you want to get out of slavery?”

Fernandi Edwards raised his head quickly, his eyes flickering, and said in a low voice after a long time, “…I think.”

Xia Zuoyi, “You have contributed in saving me, but I don’t know what you have done before. I hope you can tell me the truth and don’t hide it.” 

Fernandi Edwards was silent for longer this time.

Xia Zuoyi waited patiently.

He finally said, “As you know, I am a Gaynor. I was formerly loyal to Bruno Green, a marquis of the kingdom of Gaynor.”

“I have a sister who depends on each other. She is very beautiful and kind. She would wait for my return at home every day. But when I was fighting outside once, she was brutally killed by the lord’s brother…”

“The last thing I saw… was the mutilated body of my sister.”

“You know what happened next.”

He should have been executed.

But the lord thought of his old feelings and spared his life.

Xia Zuoyi asked softly, “Do you regret it?”

“I don’t regret it. The knights fought for justice, fought against injustice and evil, bravely faced powerful enemies, and unreservedly fought against sinners. I did not violate the spirit of chivalry. “

But for his sister, he betrayed the lord he’s loyal to.

Xia Zuoyi, “I don’t think it’s wrong for you to kill the lord’s brother.”

“But suppose the person who killed your sister is the lord? Would you still take revenge without hesitation?”

Between family affection and loyalty, which would you choose?

Fernandi Edwards looked at Xia Zuoyi suddenly.

He said hoarsely, “I will take revenge.”

“After the revenge, I will commit suicide.”

Let the devil take his soul, even if he can’t meet his sister.

The study was quiet for a while.

Xia Zuoyi, “After leaving your status as a slave, do you want to be a knight again?”

Fernandi Edwards’ pupils trembled.

Translator’s Notes:

So I just learned that unless directly being addressed to or have their names attached next, noble/royal titles aren’t capitalized. For example, king. It would be capitalized if his name is attached next to it, such as King Duke Paige, or Earl Desinia, and the likes. I may be wrong though, feel free to correct me.