Chương 23: Not Dead Yet

Gu Zhiwei set down the oil lamp. Ignoring the pain in her hand, she immediately opened the group chat. Messages were still flooding the screen. Aglaya: Wang Pu?! Are you still there? Say something! Matt: Kid, don't talk that kind of shit. Send us your location. Now. Your camp's name, a nearby town, anything. Just give us something! Chen Li: Wang Pu, don't do anything rash. There has to be another way. If you can still see the group chat, answer us.

Everyone knew that even if they found out where he was, there was nothing they could do from this far away. Still, they clung to the hope that Wang Pu might answer. Gu Zhiwei remembered what had happened to the accounts of players who had died. She hurriedly tapped Wang Pu's profile and found that it was still lit, with no message saying This player is dead. Oliver had clearly thought of the same thing. He immediately shared the information in the chat to calm everyone down. Oliver: Don't panic yet.

His account is still active. At the very least, he hasn't been confirmed dead. Gu Zhiwei: Wang Pu, if you can answer, let us know you're safe. I'm sorry. We've underestimated how dangerous the northern frontier is this whole time. Please take care of yourself. Staying alive matters more than anything. Outside the abandoned kiln, the handcarts were still creaking. The villagers were carrying in the last few sacks of grain.

The kiln was damp, and old brick dust hung in the air, mingling with the smell of rice and catching in their throats. Gu Zhiwei closed the interface and strode over to Matt.

"I'm going to the northern frontier. We have to get Wang Pu out of that hellhole." Matt had been thinking the same thing.

"I'm coming too." Aglaya handed the sack of grain she had just carried in to a villager and immediately announced that she was coming too.

"The Yong Emperor ordered me south," Gu Zhiwei said thoughtfully. Matt wiped the mud from the scabbard at his waist.

"Then convince him there's more worth investigating in the north. You're better at that sort of thing than I am." That was exactly what Gu Zhiwei had in mind. The next day, she wrote Gu Zhao a letter telling him she intended to head north and asking him not to worry. She also drafted a report to the Yong Emperor, stating that the floods in Yunzhou had subsided, while fighting had broken out repeatedly along the northern frontier and war beacons were burning across the borderlands.

Both were signs that the baleful star was sowing chaos across the realm. She therefore requested permission to divert north and determine whether the warfare there bore any connection to the baleful star. She was not worried in the slightest that the Yong Emperor would refuse. After all, the truth had never been what he needed. The report was sent by express courier, and she took her leave of Shen Yan.

"The grain requisition officers will arrive in two days. Don't disturb the entrance to the abandoned kiln again. If they insist on opening the granary to inspect it..."

"I know how to handle them." Shen Yan tucked the grain ledger into his sleeve.

"The flood swept through the government granary. The grain was soaked and spoiled. The old ledgers were washed away too, so there's nowhere for them to start even if they want to investigate."

"If there's no grain, they may force you to provide laborers instead," Gu Zhiwei warned him. Shen Yan fell silent for a moment.

"We'll stall them for as long as we can. First we'll say there's an epidemic in the villages. Then we'll say the roads outside the county have collapsed. There's always some way to drag it out." Excellent. This man had already mastered the art of deceiving his emperor. If Ji Heng were here, he would probably praise him for being a quick study.

"Miss Gu, don't worry about us. You've already done more than enough for Qianshui County. Go and rescue your friend." The Yong Emperor approved Gu Zhiwei's request the very day it reached him. By the time the new written order reached Yunzhou by relay, they had already been on the road for several days. On the day they left Qianshui County, the road was packed with people who had come to see them off.

Many families had nothing decent left to give, yet some still pressed two coarse-grain flatbreads into their hands, or a bundle of dried wild greens. Gu Zhiwei tried to return them, only for the villagers to secretly tuck them into the carriage again. Shen Yan escorted them on horseback for dozens of miles. At every village along the road, more people were waiting. Those from one village would accompany them as far as the next. Gu Zhiwei told them to go back several times, but no one would listen.

In the end, Shen Yan had to dismount, plant himself in the middle of the road, and put on his sternest magistrate's face before he finally managed to drive the people home. At parting, he stood beside the road and bowed so deeply that his back was nearly parallel to the ground.

"If you ever have need of me, I would face death ten thousand times without hesitation." The mountain wind stirred his official robe, faded pale from countless washings. The mud along its hem had dried into patches of dark brown. His robes had never been as immaculate as Magistrate Wang's. But the man inside them was cleaner by far. Gu Zhiwei solemnly returned his bow. Then she turned the carriage north and set off.

Seven days later, Wang Pu finally woke to find himself lying inside a low mud-brick house. Firewood crackled in the charcoal brazier beside the bed. The bitter, astringent taste of medicine lingered in his mouth, and he was covered with a sheepskin blanket that smelled faintly rank. 【Near-death state detected during combat. 】 【Skill activated: Undying Breath. 】 【Rapidly heals wounds and regenerates lost limbs, even those completely severed. 】 Wang Pu opened his Panel and read the system update three times.

He still could not believe he had just acquired a skill, especially one that looked so ridiculously good at keeping him alive. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. It was everything he could have asked for. After the first rush of excitement, he abruptly came back to his senses. He tried to sit up, only for a bolt of pain to shoot through his right shoulder and wrench a sharp hiss from him.

"Shit... I can still feel pain? This skill's got a pretty serious design flaw." Someone by the bed snorted.

"Heh. You're damn lucky. I've never seen anyone survive wounds like that." Wang Pu turned his head. A bearded man sat beside the window. A section of his left eyebrow was missing, and he wore hide armor that looked vaguely familiar. A long saber lay across his knees as he worked a whetstone along the blade. Wang Pu's last memory ended in that deep alley. It was the first time in his life he had ever charged forward with such reckless abandon. A year ago, he barely knew how to hold a long saber.

But this time, he had swung his army saber with everything he had. A sweeping slash. An upward cut. A downward chop. Every blow landed hard. Blood had plastered half his face. Hundreds of soldiers crowded beyond the mouth of the alley, yet not one of them dared to take the first step inside. Then those cowardly Beirong soldiers began shooting arrows. The first buried itself in his right shoulder. The second punched through his chest. After the third, he lost count. Blood surged up his throat.

Every breath felt like swallowing knives. After that, he remembered nothing. His hand instinctively went to his chest. The wound was still bound beneath thick layers of cloth. A fine, crawling itch spread beneath his skin, as though new flesh were slowly knitting itself together beneath the bandages.

"There were two others with me." As his memories returned, Wang Pu braced one hand against the bed and tried to sit up.

"Did you find them?"

"The old one was badly wounded and lost an arm, but he's alive. The young one was down to his last breath, but we pulled him back too." Wang Pu lay down again. The movement tugged at the wound on his back. His whole face twisted with pain, but he kept muttering, "They're alive. That's what matters. They're alive." The man rose, dragged a stool over to the bedside, and sat down with his legs planted wide.

"Squad Leader Wang, let's be straight with each other. You've been investigating us for over a year." The man prodded the charcoal fire.

"Can you tell me what you've been looking for?" Wang Pu's mind went completely blank.

"That abandoned relay station in the northern part of the city. You've been snooping around there all this time, haven't you?" the man said with a quiet chuckle, studying him closely.

"Holy shit, it was you guys!" Wang Pu could no longer keep his cool. After chasing this lead for so long, how could anyone stay calm when it suddenly walked right up to them? The instant the words left his mouth, he regretted them. He had just given himself away. Now he couldn't even bluff his way out of it.

"What, you know a lot about us?"

"No, wait, let me come up with an excuse." He had been caught so completely off guard that he skipped straight to babbling. The man burst out laughing.

"Relax. I'm not going to do anything to you. We've been watching you for a long time too. You're not one of Old Dog Ge's men." With that, the man introduced himself. His name was He Zheng, and he had once served as a deputy commander in the Northern Garrison Army. The "Old Dog Ge" he spoke of was Ge Chu, the army's current commanding general, who had sworn never to take the field. For years, Ge Chu had kept his troops behind the defenses while Beirong cavalry pillaged towns and villages at will.

He Zheng had defied orders and led his men out to save the civilians. Upon his return, he was accused of colluding with the enemy, chained, and thrown into prison. His men weren't willing to take that lying down. They stormed the military prison and broke him out, then deserted en masse, joined by other like-minded soldiers from the Northern Garrison. They hid deep in the mountains, cleared wasteland for farming, built up their numbers, and stockpiled supplies.

Over the years, they had ambushed the Beirong countless times, becoming the northern frontier's true defenders in all but name. The border folk knew who they were and quietly protected their secret, even providing them with food and clothing. No matter how often Ge Chu organized campaigns to wipe them out, someone always tipped them off in advance. That day, their scouts had been waiting outside the city, preparing to mount a rescue.

When they saw Wang Pu lead just nine men out to face a Beirong army a thousand strong, saving people all along the way, they could not help but respect him. He Zheng looked at him.

"When we reached you, you were still breathing. The men all said you had guts, so we brought you back and saved you. What do you plan to do now?" Wang Pu stared at him, still trying to digest everything he had just heard. He Zheng did not rush him.

"You can go back to your camp, or you can stay and join us. Think it over. I'll get you something to eat." The instant He Zheng stepped outside, Wang Pu immediately opened the group chat. Wang Pu: Guys! I finally tracked down the people from the abandoned relay station! He then repeated everything He Zheng had just told him, complete with his own commentary: I really don't think any of these guys are the baleful star. They have no designs on Emperor Yong at all.

All they care about is protecting the civilians on the border. The chat fell silent for a long moment. Then Aglaya fired off more than a dozen frantic questions in one breath. Matt: Send us your exact location. Right now. Oliver: What happened to you before? Are you sure you're safe now? Chen Li: Good. That's good. As long as you're all right. I'd rather you stay alive and take care of your grandmother yourself. Only then did Wang Pu remember the messages he had sent that sounded suspiciously like final words.

His toes curled from sheer embarrassment. He quickly scrolled through the earlier discussion about him. Every message was filled with concern, and his eyes suddenly stung. He hurriedly thanked everyone, then explained what had happened and described his current situation, including the skill he had unexpectedly acquired. Everyone was thrilled for him.

Chen Li asked a couple of follow-up questions about how he had obtained the skill, but unfortunately, Wang Pu had been completely unconscious at the time and couldn't provide anything more useful. Gu Zhiwei: Focus on recovering and stay with He Zheng for now. We're already on our way north. Matt: You did good, kid. Damn good. Wang Pu: Wait! You're finally coming?! I'm in Huaiyuan! It's a city at the northernmost edge of Liangzhou! Gu Zhiwei: Okay, got it. Aglaya: Get some tasty local specialties ready for me.

Your esteemed auntie is on her way. The mud-brick house was quiet for a moment. Then cheerful laughter suddenly rang out. Halfway through, the laughter tugged at the wound across Wang Pu's chest and dissolved into a violent coughing fit. Someone passing outside poked their head in, confirmed that there was nothing wrong with him except his brain, and ducked back out.

When Gu Zhiwei's party left Yunzhou and entered Jizhou, they encountered a very strange band of mountain bandits. The group lay in ambush behind a slope. Their weapons consisted of woodcutting knives, pitchforks, and a single sharpened wooden laundry pole. When they saw the Insignia Guards Matt had brought with him, they charged instead of fleeing, shoving several boulders downhill before rushing forward and shouting that anyone who handed over their grain would be spared.

Once the fighting began, however, they had no fighting skills to speak of. Matt and his soldiers soon beat them until they were spitting teeth. The leader cursed their rotten luck, turned, and ran.

"You've got guts." Matt immediately spurred his horse after him. The group knew the mountain trails well, but they could not outrun cavalry. Half an hour later, Gu Zhiwei's party found their settlement in a mountain hollow. Several thatched shelters had been built against the cliff face, with barely more than an acre of poor farmland cleared on the slope before them. Elderly people were digging at the soil with wooden sticks. At the sight of the soldiers, several children crawled beneath the stove.

Wild vegetable roots simmered in the pot. Not a drop of oil gleamed on the surface. The leader was pinned face-first in the mud, yet he still craned his neck and shouted, "Robbing the grain was my idea! If you want to kill someone, kill me!" Matt motioned for his men to release him. As it turned out, these so-called mountain bandits were all farmers who had fled from nearby villages. Last year, their harvest had failed and they could not pay their taxes, so the village head had sent men to seize their plow oxen.

This year, the Yong Emperor had demanded lumber and laborers for his calamity-averting prayer platform. Unable to provide either, they had simply fled into the mountains with their families to clear land and farm. The man insisted that they had never robbed anyone from the nearby villages. Today, when they saw Matt traveling with Insignia Guards, they mistook the party for a government grain convoy and decided to take their chances. Gu Zhiwei looked around and decided he was probably telling the truth.

If they had ever successfully robbed anyone, they would not be eating wild vegetable roots here. And their "weapons" were almost all farming tools. Before heading down the mountain, she left them some grain. After a moment's thought, she advised, "Government grain convoys don't use this road. Besides, with weapons like those... you really shouldn't try fighting anyone head-on." The man stared at the grain in his hands.

"You... aren't you soldiers?" Gu Zhiwei did not answer. For some time now, something had been building inside her, a tangle of emotions and half-formed thoughts that had yet to settle into anything clear. Half a month later, in the capital. A player whom Gu Zhao had personally thrown out of the Bureau of Astronomy for presenting forged Ministry of Revenue documents walked into the Metropolitan Prefecture. He wrote Gu Zhao's name on a letter of denunciation.

In the space marked Accusation, he wrote: Harboring Yan Qi. Colluding with rebels.