Yu Jin Chang An (With Jin's Chang'An)

Chapter 38

Li Shuang wrote a letter, instructing each of the generals to lead their troops back to the capital.

The generals who received the letter were worried about Li Shuang's safety and were unwilling to leave just like that. They all went up to the Five Spirit Sect and saw Li Shuang. They noticed the injury on her neck, and several of the generals immediately became furious. They had all followed the Grand General in battles across the north and south for many years. If counted properly, Li Shuang was like a niece to them. Li Shuang tried to pacify them with words, but Fu Changqing was unwilling to leave.

"General, to be frank, during this military campaign, the Grand General repeatedly instructed us to protect you at all costs. But now that you're in danger..."

"It's nothing serious, just an accident," Li Shuang interrupted him with a headache.

"How can it be an accident? Do you think I, as a general, am blind? This injury looks severe, it's on your throat, making your voice hoarse. That person must have tried to kill you!" Fu Changqing deliberately raised his voice, wanting the people of the Five Spirit Sect to hear, embarrassing them. Li Shuang's first reaction, however, was to look back at the house where Jin'an was. The house was far away, but was Jin'an an ordinary person? His hearing was sharp; she didn't know if he heard it.

Li Shuang sighed, "General Fu, things here are almost settled. I've saved the people I needed to save. This injury truly was just an accident. The day after tomorrow, I'll follow the army back to the capital. I know you're worried. How about leaving a thousand elite cavalry here..." Before Li Shuang could finish her sentence, Qin Lan chimed in, "I'm willing to stay here to protect the General."

Qin Lan was Li Shuang's personal guard, and his courage and martial arts skills were not weak. Although Fu Changqing and the other generals still had doubts, seeing Li Shuang insist, they didn't say much more and left the mountain.

Watching them leave, Li Shuang breathed a sigh of relief, but Qin Lan asked beside her, "Was it the black-clothed person who injured the General's neck?"

Li Shuang was taken aback, "Why do you suddenly ask that?"

But Qin Lan didn't look at her, just stared into the distance with no expression on his face. "No... I just feel that perhaps only he could have injured the General, causing you to protect him like this."

Li Shuang caught sight of Wu Yin heading towards Jin'an's house, and her attention was immediately drawn there. As she turned in that direction, she casually added, "He was just confused at the time. Let someone find you a place to stay temporarily. The day after tomorrow, we'll set off."

After finishing his words, and with the others already far away, Qin Lan lowered his head to look at his own hands. Coming from the capital on a swift horse without rest, his hands were all marked with wounds from the reins, with the dry cracks on his knuckles oozing blood, as if reflecting the turmoil within his heart.

Meanwhile, Li Shuang hadn't noticed Qin Lan's emotions. She returned to the room and saw Wu Yin standing by the bed, looking at Jin'an with a slight frown.

"What's wrong?" Li Shuang asked.

"See for yourself," Wu Yin stepped aside. Li Shuang then saw that Jin'an's clothes had been removed, and he lay on the bed with his eyes closed, as if asleep. However, the fiery mark on his chest was fluctuating in size, sometimes spreading to his face, sometimes shrinking rapidly. The red mark seemed to squirm and writhe beneath his skin, as if swiftly rearranging itself.

Li Shuang frowned, "How could this be?"

"I don't know," Wu Yin innocently replied, arms crossed. "When I examined him earlier today, I noticed his pulse and breathing were a bit unstable, but it didn't seem like a serious issue, so I let him rest in his room. Just now, someone passed by the hut and told me they heard groaning inside. When I came to check, I found him like this after stripping his clothes."