Translator: Ink Hub

Editor: Yoog

“Stop shouting.”

Luo Yu sat down composedly and crossed his legs.

“After you entered the tent, your guards were knocked unconscious.

“Tsk, tsk. You really hid yourself deep. To think you were setting a trap for me behind my back?”

Xiao Shaoyou’s gaze narrowed slightly, his fingertips tapping gently on the table.

“You really surprise me. How did you guess?”

He wasn’t stupid. The fact that no personal guards had rushed in by now meant only one thing: Luo Yu had truly guessed his deployment.

“It was simple. I only needed to ask around the camp to know what kind of person Zhang Lu was. His actions were detestable, and the soldiers under him feared him like a tiger.

“You, on the other hand, have always kept yourself clean; the soldiers praise you endlessly.

“A person like you should instinctively think of ways to protect me, not place me in a dangerous situation. Your actions were too suspicious.

“After thinking it over, I felt you were playing tricks in the dark, deliberately trying to harm me. But I wasn’t sure what you wanted to do.

“So, I kept observing your moves until I deliberately provoked you into speaking your heart just now.”

Luo Yu’s face was full of smiles. In truth, ever since arriving at Black Ditch Fortress, he felt he was being targeted by someone in the shadows; nothing he did went smoothly. Now, he had finally caught the mastermind!

“Tsk.”

Xiao Shaoyou clicked his tongue lightly, sighing with emotion.

“I always thought my calculations missed nothing. I didn’t expect to stumble today. You are much smarter than I imagined. Perhaps I truly am not worthy to be your superior.

“However, this also proves my eye for talent is good. I didn’t misjudge you. Hahaha!”

Xiao Shaoyou’s calm and composure puzzled Luo Yu greatly.

“How can you still laugh? Don’t forget: just a moment ago you were threatening to kill me.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you right now?”

“I’m really not afraid.”

“Why?”

“Because if you kill me, you won’t live either.”

Xiao Shaoyou was extremely calm, showing no sign of panic.

“In the battle of Jiming Fortress, your standard commander and vice commander both died. Now that the battle of Black Ditch Fortress is over, the centurion and vice centurion are dead too. Yet you alone remain unharmed.

“Are there such coincidences in this world?

“No matter what excuse you make up, the higher-ups will definitely suspect you of plotting behind the scenes. Once you return to Yunyang Pass, you will die without a doubt!”

“I admit, what you say is correct.”

The short dagger flipped in his hand as Luo Yu toyed with it.

“But I hate it when others threaten me. What if I really kill you? Zhang Lu said it just now: I am a madman.”

“Consider it my loss to you, alright? Why don’t we each take a step back and make a deal.”

Xiao Shaoyou spread his hands helplessly.

“I will handle the aftermath of Zhang Lu’s death. It will have nothing to do with you, and we will let this matter rest.

“What do you say?”

Luo Yu was silent for a moment before a light smile appeared on his face.

“Deal.”

He had never intended to fight Xiao Shaoyou to the death. He turned to look at Zhang Lu’s corpse.

“How do you plan to clean this up? A centurion dying for no reason isn’t a small matter.”

“Since I dared to kill him, I naturally have no fear.”

Xiao Shaoyou kicked the corpse casually.

“This is the front line. Qiang scouts are everywhere, and small-scale skirmishes happen every day. There is nothing strange about one or two centurions dying. The higher-ups won’t investigate too deeply; I just need to stop the mouths of the crowd.

“Of the dozen soldiers who accompanied us, half are my men and absolutely reliable. I only need to deal with Zhang Lu’s few confidants. Anyway, they have done much evil; killing them is just killing them.

“As for your men, they don’t know how Zhang Lu died. Just tell them Zhang Lu died at the hands of the Qiang. No one should question you, right?”

“No problem on my side. Just look after yourself.”

Since Luo Yu led everyone to survive the desperate situation at Black Ditch Fortress, everyone now admired him to the point of prostration.

He didn’t worry about whether Xiao Shaoyou could handle the cleanup; this man clearly had a meticulous mind for planning.

“Good. Then I’ll go first and solve those few small troubles.”

Xiao Shaoyou picked up his scimitar, ready to go cut down Zhang Lu’s guards.

“No rush. I have a big trouble here.”

Luo Yu stopped Xiao Shaoyou, fishing a secret letter from his chest and handing it over.

“Take a look.”

“What is this?”

Xiao Shaoyou looked puzzled, but after opening the secret letter and scanning it a few times, his pupils contracted.

“Where did this come from?”

The content of the letter was simple: the collaborator had agreed on a time with the Qiang soldiers to open the gates and surrender, and would find an opportunity to eliminate the other military commanders.

A few short lines of text, yet they involved the life and death of thousands!

“Found it on the corpse of a Qiang centurion.”

Although the two had just been at each other’s throats moments ago, Luo Yu believed this man was definitely not a traitor. Xiao Shaoyou was the only one who could help investigate this matter.

“Damn traitor! It is exactly because of these greedy cowards who fear death that the border situation has fallen to this state!

“The fighting has barely begun, yet they turn around and sell their own people!”

Xiao Shaoyou’s face was iron-blue; presumably, he had seen quite a few traitors over the years.

Luo Yu spoke in a deep voice.

“If Yunyang Pass falls, I’m afraid we’ll all die. The letter doesn’t leave a name, so we can’t tell who wants to collaborate with the enemy. I don’t trust anyone else; I can only discuss it with you.

“Look at the handwriting. Can you recognize who it is? Or do you have any suspects among the generals in Yunyang Pass?”

Luo Yu’s trust warmed Xiao Shaoyou’s heart. He looked at it again.

“The handwriting is unfamiliar; I can’t tell who wrote it. The situation inside Yunyang Pass is somewhat complicated. There are several generals with the ability to do this, and I can’t explain it clearly in a short time.

“However, this person agreed with the Qiang to open the Yunyang Pass city gates on New Year’s Eve to let the Qiang enter.

“Today is the first day of the twelfth lunar month. That means we only have one month to drag out the traitor. We must return to Yunyang Pass as soon as possible.

“Once we are back in the city, I’ll think of a way to get handwriting samples from those generals. We can compare the calligraphy and see if we can find anything.”

Xiao Shaoyou determined a plan of thought very quickly. Luo Yu nodded secretly; it seemed finding this helper wasn’t in vain.

“I’m going.”

Xiao Shaoyou stepped out of the tent.

“We set off tomorrow morning. Return to Yunyang Pass!”

“Yes!”

* * *

Peace had long been restored in the camp as if nothing had happened.

Luo Yu didn’t return to his own military tent. Instead, he took a detour to the place where the refugees were resting. From a distance, he saw Shen Li waiting at the door, flustered and confused.

“How did it go? Where is Zhang Lu?”

As soon as Shen Li saw Luo Yu, she ran over taking three steps in two, her expression nervous.

“Are you alright?”

“He’s dead.”

“Ah? How did he die?”

“You don’t need to worry about those things.”

Luo Yu glanced into the tent. “Are you all okay?”

“We… we’re fine.”

Shen Li felt much more at ease, her head drooping low.

“Don’t worry about us. People from the Slave Court all have cheap lives; if we die, we die.”

“But now that you are out of the Slave Court, you should live well.”

Luo Yu seemed to dislike that sentence very much, frowning.

“Otherwise, what was the point of all the effort these past few days? In this world, no one is born with a cheap life, and no one is born noble.

“If even you give up on yourself, what path to life is there to speak of?”

Shen Li listened with a dazed look, nodding as if she understood but also didn’t.

“I’ll remember. Also, thank you for today.”

“Don’t thank me. Zhang Lu was targeting me to begin with; saving you was just done in passing.

“I have a heart of iron and stone, so don’t treat me like a good person. Once we reach a safe place, you should leave quickly. Following the army makes you a burden.”

Luo Yu dropped a remarkably cold sentence and left, leaving Shen Li stomping her foot in anger.

In the end, the little thief waved her fist at his retreating figure.

“Heart of iron and stone, yet you specifically took a detour to come see us!”

NOTES

Twelfth lunar month (腊月): The last month of the Chinese lunar calendar, leading up to the Spring Festival (New Year). The timeline is set: 30 days to save the city.

Heart of iron and stone (铁石心肠): An idiom meaning unfeeling, hard-hearted, or merciless. Luo Yu claims this, but his actions prove otherwise.