Chapter 99: Mutation!

“So— you’re the wife of a Military Commissioner?”

“Yes.”

“Hold out your hands.”

The noblewoman extended both hands and cupped them together.

Zheng Fan reached into his pouch, grabbed a handful of fried flour, and dropped it into her palms.

Then he tossed her a waterskin.

“Eat.”

The noblewoman lowered her head and looked at the fried flour in her hands.

She hesitated briefly.

In the end, she bent her head and began eating in small mouthfuls.

Zheng Fan dusted off his hands and stood.

Not far away, the young girl beside Liang Cheng was also holding fried flour and eating happily.

This girl’s personality seemed almost excessively cheerful.

She appeared completely unafraid of her current situation and cared only about sticking close to Liang Cheng.

Based on experience, there were two possibilities.

Either the girl was missing a screw or she was frighteningly precocious and understood exactly what kind of attitude she needed to display to maximize her chances of survival.

Night had already fallen.

After abducting the mother and daughter, Zheng Fan’s group had soon encountered Qian cavalry again.

Another race followed.

After shaking them off, they encountered another cavalry force around dusk.

It probably was not the same unit they had met earlier.

But regardless another race.

After losing that group as well, it was now already deep into the night.

In other words, ever since successfully charging into Mianzhou City the previous night, Zheng Fan and his men had spent an entire day and still had not managed to escape Qian territory.

But nobody was particularly anxious.

Northern Qian was vast and sparsely populated, perfect terrain for a game of hide-and-seek.

On top of that, Qian cavalry whether in quality or numbers simply could not compare with Yan cavalry.

Their ability and efficiency in pursuit were both poor.

One had to remember back in the desert, these barbarian soldiers under Zheng Fan had played cat-and-mouse with the Zhenbei Army.

Now that the Zhenbei Army had been replaced by Qian cavalry, the pressure suddenly felt almost laughable.

As for supplies, there was little need to worry.

That afternoon, they had encountered a merchant caravan.

The caravan had been extremely sensible.

Faced with several hundred cavalrymen bearing down on them, they immediately raised their hands and surrendered.

Since the other side had been so cooperative, Zheng Fan naturally had to show them some courtesy.

After plundering their food, provisions, and horses, he left the people and merchandise untouched.

When Zheng Fan’s men departed, the caravan steward had actually thanked them over and over, saying they had encountered good people.

The reason Zheng Fan was still eating fried flour was simply that everything depended on comparison.

Compared with the dry provisions carried by that merchant caravan, the fried flour could already be called a delicacy of the mortal world.

When Liang Cheng saw Zheng Fan stand and walk toward the perimeter, he rose and followed.

Zheng Fan found a depression sheltered from the wind and leaned inside it.

To be safe, he even used his helmet as cover while silently smoking a cigarette.

After getting shot beneath the gatehouse last night while trying to look cool, Zheng Fan was now being cautious as hell about every movement he made.

Who knew whether some divine archer might be lurking nearby, spot the glowing tip of his cigarette flickering in the darkness, and send an arrow straight at him?

“Master.

“Are you worried?”

Liang Cheng crouched beside the depression and asked.

Zheng Fan shook his head.

He exhaled a ring of smoke.

“We’ve already circled back around.

“Tomorrow we should be able to break out through the same place we entered, right?”

Throughout the entire day and the first half of the night, Zheng Fan’s cavalry had essentially been moving in circles.

After an entire day of maneuvering, their current resting place was actually not far from Mianzhou City.

“If we can rest undisturbed for the rest of the night, then tomorrow, we can break out.

“Qian cavalry lack both quality and numbers.

“They’ve spent the whole day searching for us.

“They should be tired as well.”

“Mm.”

Zheng Fan acknowledged him and took another drag.

“Master.

“That woman must have told you already.

“She suggested that we travel through the defense sector controlled by her husband.”

Qian’s Military Commissioners did not possess anything close to the authority wielded by the Jiedushi of the Tang Dynasty in Zheng Fan’s former world.

If one had to make a rough comparison, the position stood perhaps one rank above Xu Wenzu’s post in Tiger Head City.

A Military Commissioner probably commanded twenty or thirty thousand frontier troops and oversaw the defenses of a region of forts and strongholds.

In Yan terms, the closest equivalent would be a regional commander holding actual military authority.

Of course, Qian’s frontier armies suffered severely from phantom soldiers on the rolls.

An establishment of twenty or thirty thousand might contain only ten or twenty thousand actual men.

Seeing Zheng Fan remain silent, Liang Cheng continued:

“She means that we can pass through her husband’s defense sector.

“So long as we keep our promise and release the two of them afterward.”

Zheng Fan shook his head.

“I don’t trust women.”

“............” Liang Cheng.

“What?”

“Nothing.

“I guessed Master might refuse.

“I simply didn’t expect Master to use that reason.”

“Then maybe I phrased it badly.

“I don’t mean that I distrust women as a sex.

“I mean I don’t trust this woman’s judgment of her husband.

“Ah Cheng.

“You and I both know exactly how ruthless these people at the top can be.

“In our old world, no matter how ugly things became, people at least bothered holding a pipa in front of their faces and pretending to cover themselves.

“Here— it’s naked jungle law.

“That woman believes her husband will let us go for the sake of his wife and daughter.

“But that’s how she sees things as his wife.

“I’ve never slept with her husband.

“How the hell am I supposed to know whether he’s some once-in-a-century romantic fool who values a beauty more than his official hat?”

As he spoke, Zheng Fan tossed the cigarette butt beneath his foot and crushed it under his boot.

“We stick to the original route.

“If tonight passes peacefully, then at first light tomorrow, we break back out along the same route we used to enter.”

“What about the two women?”

“Taking them back is another piece of military merit.

“They’re not especially useful in our hands.

“But in the hands of the Secret Intelligence Department or the Marquis of Jingnan, that will be different.”

“There may be even more Qian troops involved in hunting us tomorrow,” Liang Cheng said.

As news of Mianzhou City continued spreading combined with the consequences of abducting this mother and daughter perhaps half of Qian’s northern frontier army would be mobilized.

“I’m more worried there won’t be enough of them,” Zheng Fan replied.

“Why?”

“The Marquis of Jingnan isn’t Blind Man Bei.

“I refuse to believe that Qian can mobilize troops on this scale along the frontier without the Marquis of Jingnan knowing anything about it.”

“Is that Master’s guess?”

“You never saw that Marquis with your own eyes.

“That man— is no easy customer.”

“Since Master has already considered it, this subordinate won’t worry further.

“Master should rest.

“I’ll arrange the night watch.”

“Thanks.”

Zheng Fan waved.

He rolled up his cloak, covered his face with it, and closed his eyes.

...

Naturally, there was no question of setting up a proper camp while they rested.

They had merely chosen this secluded and quiet place as a temporary stopping point.

If anything happened, they could move immediately.

After Liang Cheng personally checked the sentries and the number of mounted scouts deployed around the perimeter, he returned to the large tree where he had eaten earlier.

“Are you tired?”

The girl’s voice came from nearby.

Liang Cheng turned his head and glanced at her.

He said nothing.

“You’ve been running for so long.

“You must be exhausted, right?”

The girl moved closer on her own initiative.

She wrapped both arms around Liang Cheng’s shoulder and rested her head against him.

The mother and daughter had not been tied up.

There might be many barbarian soldiers sleeping around them, but Liang Cheng had also positioned hidden sentries.

And even while snoring, these barbarians could keep one eye cracked open and watch their surroundings.

There were many wolves in the desert.

People who slept too soundly had long since been eaten.

“Hey.

“Why are you always so cold?”

The girl pouted in dissatisfaction.

Liang Cheng remained silent.

“Do you not like women?” the girl asked.

Liang Cheng closed his eyes.

As she spoke, the girl’s hand began sliding downward.

“Hiss...”

She suddenly sucked in a sharp breath and jerked her hand back.

Her fingertip had been cut.

Blood began flowing.

“Why are you so prickly down there?”

The girl looked aggrieved as she put the injured finger into her mouth and sucked it.

In reality, a piece of spearhead was still lodged in Liang Cheng’s abdomen.

When the girl’s hand slid downward, the exposed metal had cut her finger.

Liang Cheng did not explain.

He kept his eyes closed.

“Hey.

“Talk to me, will you?

“I saw you from the carriage during the day.

“I’ll tell you the truth—

“I took a liking to you.

“My father wants me to marry some bookworm.

“I don’t want to.

“I like iron-blooded men like you.”

A zombie viewed from another angle really was an iron-hard man.

Even a man literally forged from iron might not be as hard as Liang Cheng.

Liang Cheng opened his eyes and looked at the girl.

Then he said:

“During the day, your guards all died protecting you.”

“Yeah.

“So?”

“You aren’t sad?”

“They ate my family’s food.

“They served my family.

“They gave their lives for my family.

“That’s only natural.

“What is there to be sad about?”

“Mm.”

“Right?

“There are miserable things everywhere in this world.

“But who has the time to spend every day being sad?

“So— how about becoming my husband?

“You’re probably not some important official in Yan, are you?

“Even if you were, an important official wouldn’t come out risking his life with only this handful of men.

“Become my husband.

“I’ll speak to my father and have you take an official post in Qian.

“I guarantee it’ll be higher than whatever position you have in Yan.

“I can even bear your children.

“How about it?”

Liang Cheng nodded.

“You agree?”

The girl looked delighted.

Liang Cheng suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand.

“What are you doing?

“There are too many people here.

“Why don’t we go into the woods over there?”

Liang Cheng stared into her eyes.

Then asked:

“Just what— are you?”

...

Sleeping outdoors in freezing weather, without blankets, while wearing armor, and unable even to light a fire this was less sleep than outright suffering.

But there was no choice.

To preserve enough energy for tomorrow, they had to force themselves to sleep.

Ever since awakening in this world, Zheng Fan had experienced so much that he himself had changed considerably.

He could genuinely fall asleep under these conditions now.

That would have been almost unimaginable in his previous life.

But his sleep was extremely shallow.

When a fragrant breeze drifted toward him, Zheng Fan slowly opened his eyes.

The noblewoman had appeared before him.

She too had climbed down into the shallow depression.

“What are you doing?”

Zheng Fan asked.

“I...

“I’m a little afraid.”

“If you’re afraid, go find Liang Cheng.

“He’s a warm-hearted man.”

After saying that, Zheng Fan closed his eyes again.

He was not worried about the mother and daughter escaping.

Who knew how many barbarians were keeping watch nearby?

If either woman made any suspicious movement, arrows would immediately come flying.

Zheng Fan had issued that order in front of the two women themselves.

Naturally, they knew it too.

“I hope... you can spare my daughter.”

The noblewoman moved closer to Zheng Fan.

At the same time faint wisps of pink mist began curling around her fingertips.

Slowly, silently, they drifted toward Zheng Fan’s mouth and nose.

“I’m not someone who enjoys killing.

“You can rest assured.

“As long as you cooperate obediently, neither you nor your daughter will be harmed.

“All right, now—”

“I’ll cooperate.

“I’ll cooperate properly.”

The noblewoman suddenly embraced Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan froze.

Then, he suddenly felt his vision beginning to turn red.

His body grew hot.

The sensation was strange.

His entire body seemed to be floating among the clouds.

Everything around him felt unreal.

“Whatever you want me to do, I’ll cooperate.

“Really.”

The noblewoman held Zheng Fan while one hand slowly stroked across his chest.

At that moment, there were undoubtedly plenty of barbarian sentries nearby, along with men merely pretending to sleep, who noticed what was happening.

But they simply assumed their Master was enjoying some sort of game with the female captive.

They even deliberately turned their eyes away.

That was respect for their Master.

Everyone knew better than to stare.

If you angered the Master, he might have your skull hacked off and turned into a bowl!

Nobody noticed the woman’s other hand was quietly reaching toward the saber lying beside Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan had already realized that something was wrong.

But for some reason, his body would not move.

There was something wrong with this woman!

Yet no matter how hard Zheng Fan struggled, he could neither move nor make a sound.

He could not even circulate his qi and blood.

His entire body felt as though he were trapped beneath a ghost in sleep paralysis.

“Really.

“I’m willing to do anything.

“I can serve you.

“I can stay with you.

“You can do whatever you want to me.

“Really...”

As the woman embraced Zheng Fan, her hand finally touched his saber.

At the same time to conceal what she was doing, she continued speaking, making it sound as though she and Zheng Fan were engaged in flirtation.

“As long as you spare my daughter, I’ll do anything for you.”

Her fingers closed around the saber.

She was going to succeed!

“As long as you spare my daughter.

“Truly...

“I can become your wife.

“Become your woman.

“And if you have a child—

“I can become your child’s mother.”

“Gurgle...

“Gurgle...”

(End of Chapter)