Hidden Shadow – CH 228

Chapter Two-Hundred-Twenty-Eight: Medicine

An Jiu ignored the Song army’s advance or retreat and rushed back to Hejian Prefecture to reunite with Gao Dazhuang and the others.

At this time, the city walls of Hejian Prefecture were brightly lit, clearly preparing for battle.

An Jiu sneaked into the city and, before even seeing the supervisor’s residence, sensed the presence of Gao Dazhuang and the others! An Jiu was startled. Previously, she could only discern the presence of a few individuals from a distance, like Chu Dingjiang, but not like this! It seemed her mental strength was exceptionally sharp now; despite her serious injuries, her mental awareness was clearer than ever.

Without time to think, An Jiu headed straight for the others.

Gao Dazhuang sensed An Jiu’s arrival and smelled the strong stench of blood and lingering killing intent. “Who did you fight?”

“The Liao army.” An Jiu swallowed the blood that welled up in her throat.

Acting without orders was a taboo of the Konghe Army.

Sui Yuntong was about to plead for mercy when Gao Dazhuang asked, “Did you win or lose?”

“I killed a few Liao martial artists. From my personal perspective, I won,” An Jiu replied.

Gao Dazhuang chuckled twice, satisfied. “Well done.”

An Jiu continued, “But I only exchanged five blows with one Liao martial artist before the Song army was defeated and retreated.”

Gao Dazhuang snorted coldly. “Sure enough, a few hot-blooded men cannot save such a bunch of cowards!”

“Cough! Cough! Cough!” Three coughs echoed from the supervisor’s residence.

Gao Dazhuang rolled his eyes and lightly leaped into the courtyard.

Zhao Ling asked with a grim face, “Is the Liao army going to attack the city?”

Gao Dazhuang, too lazy to explain, simply replied with a word, “No!”

Zhao Ling’s expression visibly relaxed. “What happened when the defending general came to report that Liao troops had entered the city?”

“I do not know,” Gao Dazhuang said.

Zhao Ling’s face darkened further, and he said coldly, “Go investigate! You are not going to refuse even this order, are you?”

“Yes!” Gao Dazhuang replied, without moving.

Zhao Ling waved his hand impatiently. “Nothing else; go.”

He had initially thought that the court sending a few of the Konghe Army’s secret guards was a great thing. Regardless of whether it was beneficial to the war, at least his life would be more secure. But now it seemed that was not the case at all! These shadows were arrogant and did not take him seriously at all, and he really could not do anything about them. After all, the Emperor had not given him the authority to directly command the shadows. Ostensibly, they were supposed to be his assistants, but in reality, they were cooperating…

Gao Dazhuang returned. “Find a place to sleep.”

“Are you not going to tell him?” Sui Yuntong asked.

They had gathered a lot of information these past few days, and based on that, they could guess the Liao army’s intentions in this surprise attack. Gao Dazhuang did not seem to intend to tell Zhao Ling any of this.

“What use would it be for him to know all this for?” Gao Dazhuang said indifferently. “If he lived in the main camp, he’d know the situation by now. Why would we need to tell him?”

“My Lord, are you not going a bit too far?” Sun Dixian asked worriedly.

After all, the supervisor’s authority was considerable. If Zhao Ling were truly pushed to the limit, they probably would not have a good time either. Sun Dixian generally did not easily offend people, especially superiors.

“Useless trash, I have no interest in serving him.” Gao Dazhuang flattered whomever he felt like. He knew Zhao Ling’s background from the beginning, but he was not too opposed to him. After all, this was the consistent rule of the Song Dynasty. But Zhao Ling was abusing his official power—this was unacceptable!

Gao Dazhuang had dealt with many civil officials before and understood their nature very well. If they were obeyed blindly from the start, they would take it for granted and have the Shadow Guard handle every trivial matter. Therefore, it was necessary to warn them in advance that the Shadow Guard of the Konghe Army was not someone anyone could order around at will!

No one spoke again; each lost in their own thoughts, they found suitable places to rest.

An Jiu curled up on a beam in the corridor, closing her eyes to regulate her breathing.

After taking the pills specially prepared by Mo Sigui, the damage to her body caused by the mental energy quickly healed. After about two hours, the pain was no longer as intense as before, and she clearly felt that her senses had become clearer.

An Jiu took out the small bottle containing the pills, opened it, and sniffed it. The first thing she smelled was a strong medicinal odor. Just as she was about to seal it, she suddenly noticed a faint, almost imperceptible, scent of blood.

The smell was extremely faint, but An Jiu was always very sensitive to the smell of blood.

An Jiu sniffed carefully, and the scent of blood became clearer and clearer.

Recalling that after her body was rebuilt, Mo Sigui had given her similar pills, much larger than the ones in the bottle. At that time, she had just come out of a medicinal bath, and her senses had not fully recovered, so she had not noticed the bloody smell.

Now… she was certain that the rapid healing of her wounds and the change in her mental strength were closely related to this pill.

Thinking about the changes in her seven orifices, An Jiu’s heart skipped a beat, as if she had grasped something, but the feeling was fleeting and never became clearer.

An Jiu put away the medicine bottle and secretly practiced the Plum Blossom Fist.

The east began to lighten.

The distant rumble of war drums could be faintly heard.

The people hiding in the corner were awakened.

Zhao Ling also woke up from his sleep. The lights in the room were on. He hurriedly dressed and ran to the main hall. “Someone, come here!”

The guard entered the room. “Sir!”

“What happened?” Zhao Ling asked.

The man said, “I do not know, but judging from the direction, it seems the Liao army launched a surprise attack on our camp.”

“What?” Zhao Ling was shocked. Having spent many years in officialdom, while not quite at the level of completely concealing his emotions, he was at least not easily flustered. “The Liao army dares to attack our camp?”

The man slightly raised his eyes, not daring to answer, thinking that this was expected. The Liao Kingdom harbored wolfish ambitions, raiding the border for years; a large army pressing in was only a matter of time.

Zhao Ling, however, was thinking, “Was Ling Ziyue not hailed as a divine general of the Song Dynasty? His years of guarding the border had deterred the Liao army from making any rash moves—was that not impressive?”

“You may leave,” Zhao Ling said, slowly calming himself.

“Yes!” The guard bowed and withdrew.

An Jiu, in the corridor, heard the entire conversation clearly.

Zhao Ling coughed three times.

A pebble struck a pillar near An Jiu with a loud crack.

An Jiu knew Gao Dazhuang was telling her to go in, so she lightly jumped down and slipped into the house.

An Jiu’s murderous aura had not completely dissipated. She had several wounds on her body, and because of her black clothes, the bloodstains were not visible, but a faint smell of blood wafted through the air.

Zhao Ling glanced at her a few more times. “What happened?”

“An encounter with Liao army martial arts instructors,” An Jiu answered truthfully.

Zhao Ling paused. “Where did you encounter the Liao army?”

Huh? Did she let something slip?

An Jiu frowned, trying to figure out how to cover it up. She could not very well tell Zhao Ling the truth—that they were secretly helping Ling Ziyue…

Seeing her silence, Zhao Ling pressed, “They were not sent to assassinate me, were they?”

Great! He’d actually found a reason for her. An Jiu’s brow relaxed, and she nodded solemnly.