Rebirth of a Star General (Legend of the Female General)

Chapter 108: Spy

With many thoughts on her mind, He Yan couldn't sleep soundly at night. On the second day, she woke up before dawn. After the morning training session, she went to talk to Hong Shan.

Hong Shan said, "Yesterday, Shitou and I took turns watching over him half the night, but we didn't notice anything unusual."

He Yan looked at Shitou, who nodded in agreement.

"No activity all night?"

"No, he slept even sounder than we did." Hong Shan looked at He Yan with suspicion. "Aren't you overthinking this, Ah He? Hu Yuanzhong is just an ordinary hunter. I haven't noticed anything strange about his behavior. His family is poor, and he seems quite pitiful."

"Brother Ah He, why are you so suspicious of him? What's wrong with him, after all?" Xiao Mai asked curiously.

What's wrong with him? In the end, it was just a red rash on his wrist and the back of his hand, not a significant point of suspicion. However, the timing of it all, coinciding with Xiao Jue's absence, made her feel that something was amiss.

Having experienced the brink of life and death on the battlefield countless times, sometimes, the body's instincts could provide a more accurate assessment than the mind. One saying of an old general she had followed was always on her mind: "The intuition of an ordinary person may be wrong, but for people like us, our instincts about danger are usually right."

She contemplated for a moment and said, "Let me take another look."

Hong Shan shrugged and didn't press further.

By the late afternoon, all the daytime training had concluded, and He Yan went to get the medicine from Shen Muxue's room before looking for Hu Yuanzhong. He was alone in his room, hunched over a piece of paper.

When He Yan entered, he immediately hid the paper in his chest.

"Why are you alone in your room, Brother Hu?" He Yan pretended not to have seen his actions and asked with a smile.

"I didn't do anything," Hu Yuanzhong sighed. "My leg isn't better yet, so I can't get out of bed. I'm sorry for troubling you all."

"No trouble at all," He Yan smiled. "With such a severe injury, it's only right to take good care of yourself."

She rolled up Hu Yuanzhong's pant leg and knelt down to apply the medicine. She hadn't examined closely the day before, but today she was here with suspicions, so she paid extra attention.

Both of the hunter's legs were covered in scars, with the most significant one appearing to be from a deep gash that was visible down to the bone, making it the most severe.

"I heard from Miss Shen that Brother Hu encountered a bear when he went up the mountain," He Yan casually asked. "Is it common to find bears at this time of year?"

Bears in White Moon Mountain would most likely be in hibernation even during the daytime. Encountering one in the winter was quite rare.

"Yes," Hu Yuanzhong scratched his head. "I just had bad luck. I couldn't find any foxes, and I ran into a bear first."

"How can you say it's bad luck?" He Yan shook her head. "Facing a bear and escaping unharmed is not something everyone can achieve. I've heard that bears have poor eyesight but an extremely keen sense of smell. When Brother Hu was injured and covered in blood, that bear couldn't even catch up to uyou. Brother Hu was already quite remarkable."

"And," without looking at Hu Yuanzhong's expression, He Yan continued while her hands were still busy. "It's quite coincidental that Brother Hu was buried in the snow and was rescued by Miss Shen. Our new recruits from Liangzhou Garrison only go up the mountain every few days. If Brother Hu had spent an extra day or fallen in the wrong place, he might not be in Liangzhou Garrison now."