Nightfall

Those Worthless Things

In the Middle Military Camp, General Shu Cheng was discussing with officers of all levels from the Northeast Front Army. He suddenly noticed the fluctuation of the Qi of Heaven and Earth from the depth of the camp. When he heard the miserable cry a while later, he couldn’t help the shift in his expression.

Looking nervous, a vice general stood up and looked ready to rush out the camp.

General Shu Cheng glared at him and asked coldly, “Xu Yin, what are you trying to do?”

Xu Yin, the vice general of the Front Army, turned and looked at the iron-clad General Shu. Finally understanding the reason for such a meeting today, he forcibly suppressed his shock and explained in a low voice, “Something strange is happening in the camp. Maybe an enemy spy has sneaked in. I should be inspecting it as the vice general of the Mountain Battalion.”

“There’s no need.” Ranking far above Xu Yin, General Shu Cheng stared blankly at him. “The imperial court is carrying out its mission. You don’t need to inspect it.”

Xu Yin seemed to be heavily hit on his chest. He was not only worrying about the situation in the camp but also about the imperial court looking into the Horse Gang issue. Then it might involve even more people. So he gritted his teeth and asked, “Why am I not aware of what the imperial court is investigating? And we’re now in the depth of the Wilderness. Would the imperial court send someone just to investigate?”

General Shu Cheng slammed the table. “Enough! Does the imperial court owe a little vice general like you an explanation? Shut up and sit down!”

…

…

The pale middle-aged man was the chief of the Horse Gang who had killed the grain team in the Wilderness. He looked at Ning Que’s face with his tired eyes and said weakly, “Since you can find me, why are you still asking for my identity?”

“I found you because I guessed your identity. But a guess isn’t enough, after all.”

Ning Que took back his umbrella and continued, “Your identity isn’t really important here. And it was easy for me to find out. All I need is to paint a picture of you and have the Military Ministry check it out.”

The middle-aged man frowned in pain. “Then go and investigate it.”

“I can’t return to Chang’an now that I’m in the Wilderness. And even if I find out your identity, it doesn’t tell me the things I want to know. For example, if I violated the Tang law and killed, no one would dare to say a bad word about the Headmaster of Academy.”

The middle-aged man slowly closed his eyes. “I’m Lin Ling, one of the main generals of the Northeast Border Army Inner Camp of the Tang Empire.”

Ning Que looked at his pale cheeks, silently repeating the name again in his heart. “Very good. Next, tell me who instructed you to kill me.”

The middle-aged man tightly pressed his bloodless withered lips together. From the looks of it, he seemed unwilling to say another word.

Since he was the main general of the Northeast Border Army Inner Camp, then his superior was naturally General Xia Hou. In fact, Ning Que had no need to ask and the middle-aged man had no need to answer. They both knew very well who was it that wanted to kill Ning Que. But an inference will never turn into an evidence. As Ning Que had said earlier, the Psyche Master Lin Ling confessed his identity because he knew it didn’t mean anything.

Ning Que looked at the middle-aged man with tightly pressed his lips. Out of the corner of his eye, he looked outside the camp and saw a faint shadow of a figure there. After a moment of silence, he said seriously, “I’ll swear by the Headmaster’s character. If you’re willing to tell me who ordered you, I’ll let you go back alive. I’ll also have the Academy ensure your safety.”