The Phoenix Reborn Book II

Chapter 80 The Time that Passes

“Ahh!”

The man's eyes opened abruptly, his muscles tightening, causing pain to radiate rapidly throughout his body. The man's gaze was directed upwards, at the ceiling of the room that was unfamiliar to him. Then, he glanced down, towards his body that was wearing a spotless clean suit, not a blood-stained armor.

From the clothes that seemed to be deliberately left half-open, the man saw a bandage bandaging his body. The man's eyebrows were linked, he wondered about what had happened, as well as who had saved him.

The man's gaze then turned to the room he was in. He swept the scenery around him and whispered, ‘How can I be here?’ His head felt dizzy, and it made the man frown.

Suddenly, the door of the room slammed open, surprising the man who was on top of the bed. This was followed by the appearance of a girl who stepped into the room, her face looked so worried and serious.

“Who?!” furious at the man with a hoarse voice, the frown on his forehead showed that talking alone could cause the man to feel pain. However, his spirit of self-protection caused the man to force his body to sit up and be on standby.

Seeing this, the girl in maid clothes immediately knelt on the floor. “Deputy General Chen, please do not be afraid! Servant is Mudan, subordinate of Mr. Liang, part of Lianhua Yuan!” He knew that explaining his identity was much more important to calm the extremely wary figure of Chen Long. Mudan grimaced when he saw the red stains that began to spread on the bandages that wrapped the body of the deputy general. “Deputy General Chen, please do not move. Your injury is so severe, and a big move will cause it to reopen.”

As soon as Mudan's words landed on Chen Long's ears, the man's face immediately wrinkled as a result of the piercing pain on his chest. “I ... how can I get here?” tanyanya while leaning her back on the wall behind.

Chen Long did not understand, clearly the last thing he remembered was being outside the capital gate, watching his entire army being slaughtered completely by Nanhan Ding. Hongchen .. Hongchen also died there.

Then, how could he end up in Shi Kingdom?!

‘Ah!’ Chen Long was wide-eyed, an image appeared in his mind. ‘No, the last thing I remember is ...’

Just as memories began to flow into his mind, Chen Long heard a number of footsteps approaching. The deputy general's gaze was diverted to the figures who approached the open door of the room.

In the moment Chen Long's eyes met Huang Miaoling's figure, his vigilance instantly disappeared. “Huang Miaoling!” Then, he glanced towards the man next to the woman. Unlike the usual reaction he showed when meeting the man, Chen Long immediately shouted excitedly, “Liang Fenghong!” The deputy general tried to get out of bed. But he ended up falling.

“Chen Long!” Huang Miaoling immediately stepped over to the man, and Liang Fenghong hurriedly followed him.

At the moment when Huang Miaoling and Liang Fenghong approached to help him stand up, Chen Long immediately clutched their hands firmly. “You should leave immediately! You must immediately bring troops and save Wu!” he shouted, not caring about his wound that was re-opened.

Knowing that Chen Long could not be left in a state of panic, Liang Fenghong immediately took a few spots on the deputy general's body. This made Chen Long's body relax due to his loss of strength. Then, Liang Fenghong lifted Chen Long's body onto the bed.

Even with his injuries getting worse, Chen Long kept shouting, “Liang Fenghong! Did you hear my words?! The Wu Kingdom is in danger! Li Changsheng ambushed the palace and took Emperor Huatai hostage! Nanhan Tribe is helping him! Emperor Huatai in danger!” Not getting the reaction he wanted from his interlocutor, Chen Long turned to Huang Miaoling. “Huang Miaoling! You are Wu's savior! Please use your strength to help us again!”

"Yelling won't solve anything!” reply Liang Fenghong, unable to control his bursts of anger. His shout shocked everyone in the room, except Huang Miaoling who knew the reason the man could not control his emotions.

Huang Miaoling took a step forward and touched her husband's shoulders, calming him down. Then, he said to Chen Long, “Pacify yourself, Chen Long. Let A Feng treat your injuries first. Once he does, you can explain to us everything that happened. Thus, we know the next steps to take.”

Chen Long tried hard to control his emotions. He took a deep breath, then began to close his eyes. He hoped that the memories in the corner of his mind would be spurred to flow out.

After Mudan brought the necessary equipment, Liang Fenghong gave a medicine to Chen Long. Then, he opened a bandage that bandaged the wound of the deputy general.

When he managed to see the wound on Chen Long's body, Liang Fenghong was wide-eyed. “This—!” He immediately asked, “Mudan, you gave this first aid?”

From his place, Mudan lowered his head while answering, “True, Chairman. I don't have enough medical expertise. I'm sorry, Chairman.” He guessed that his actions did not match Liang Fenghong's expectations.

Liang Fenghong shook his head, “No, that's not the case.” Mudan's medical ability is not as good as he is. Therefore, it is not surprising that the girl is not aware of the oddity she caught. He glanced towards Chen Long. “When did war happen?”

Hearing Liang Fenghong's question, Huang Miaoling frowned. The woman took one step forward thinking, ‘What makes A Feng so—’ and she was surprised to understand why her husband behaved so strangely. ‘That wound—?!’

Huang Miaoling was the first to regain his consciousness. “T-quiet,” he told Chen Long. “We were surprised not because of how long since that day has passed, but rather .. how quickly you managed to arrive here.”

The wrinkle on Chen Long's forehead became deeper and deeper, he was no longer aware that Liang Fenghong had started to stitch up his wound. “What do you mean?” ask the deputy general.

Huang Miaoling's black bead shone, then he replied, “Chen Long, only three days have passed since that day.” His words managed to make Chen Long's eyes enlarge, as if he wanted to jump out of his socket. “I really want to know how you ended up here. However, I think the best thing we can do is hear your story about what happened that day.” Huang Miaoling added, “Start from scratch.”

Chen Long gulped his saliva, trying to reassemble his thoughts. “That day was a day of rest, government officials were not required to come to the court of the palace. Therefore, my father and I spent time in the military field to train the troops.” The man frowned, “Suddenly, a message came from the South and West gate regarding the attack launched by Nanhan.” troops

Hearing this, Huang Miaoling frowned. ‘Nanhan is just a small tribe, they can't possibly have that many troops to take down the capital's two main gates of Wu,’. ‘No, they don't even have enough troops to be able to break through the defenses of other cities and arrive at the capital.” Then, he realized something, ‘Terunless ... There was another kingdom involved, also an insider who instigated the local government.’ The woman deeply regrets the one party involved, ‘Li Changsheng ...’

Despite having conjectures in his mind, but Huang Miaoling did not voice them at all. The woman was silent as she listened to the chronological chaos that had occurred in the Wu Kingdom.

Chen Long explained that when he and his father intend to hold the enemy forces from two sides, another messenger—a eunuch palace— arrived and informed him that the palace had been ambushed and Emperor Huatai and Empress Tianzhen were taken hostage. With the imperial sword that the eunuch presented as proof, Chen Qiang quickly learned that the situation had reached its worst point. Not only was the life of the royal family in danger, but the capital of Wu would also most likely fall that day as well.

“Therefore, Father told me to go bring some troops out of the capital through the East gate, hoping that a message could be delivered to Prime Minister Liang to return with reinforcements from Shi.” As soon as he said that, Chen Long's eyes felt hot. “At first, everything went so smoothly …. But who would have thought …? Who would have thought that baj*ngan would—?!” Chen Long's words came to a halt, not strong enough to re-imagine what had happened to his troops.

Liang Fenghong who had just finished sewing Chen Long's wounds immediately cleaned his hands, he let Mudan finish the last step and bandaged the deputy general's wounds with bandages. “Then,” Liang Fenghong spoke up, “what was the last time you remembered before ending here?” His eyes stared intently at Chen Long, there was a hidden hope from his gaze.

Unaware of the gaze given by Liang Fenghong, Chen Long frowned. “The last thing I remember is ...”

***

A thunderous laughter could be heard from the direction of the capital's gate. A wide smile was plastered on Nanhan Ding's face as he watched Chen Long's figure fall to his knees on the ground. The miserable appearance displayed by the vice general of Wu Kingdom was a very satisfying thing.

Originally, Nanhan Ding had no intention of leaving Chen Long a. However, when he saw the arrival of the deputy general in his armor of honor, Nanhan Ding immediately knew that the young man was someone who had been ready to sacrifice—not just for his country, but for his country, but also for his subordinates.

The appearance of Chen Long complete with uniform and head protector of the vice general of the Wu Kingdom was so eye-catching. From that, Nanhan Ding was convinced that the deputy general was expecting the enemy to target him. It was intended that the other Wu soldiers would have a great opportunity to leave the capital.

Fed up with the intentions of Chen Long who seemed so noble, Nanhan Ding also lowered the order for his subordinates to make it difficult for the deputy general. Meanwhile, he allowed his other subordinates to ease the departure of the other Wu warriors. When the first person—Hongchen— made it through, Nanhan Ding gave a sign to his archers who were inside the forest. The arrow that Chen Long thought was aimed at Hongchen.

In the final moments, when Chen Long's entire subordinate managed to cross the boundary that Nanhan Ding had given him, he had deliberately allowed his soldiers to release the deputy general. This would raise the hopes in Chen Long's heart, thinking that not only did most of his subordinates manage to survive, but he even managed to escape safely!

But reality is not that beautiful.

“Ha ha ha! Unfortunately,” sneered at Nanhan Ding while smilingly looking at Chen Long. “She must have been devastated seeing everything she hoped to survive .. ended up being a corpse.”

Next to him, Nanhan Ding's representative saluted, “Second chief,” he praised.

“Heh!” Nanhan Ding snorted proudly. “Arrow,” he stretched out one hand. After his representative quickly gave the thing he wanted, Nanhan Ding immediately aimed towards Chen Long who was still sitting limp on the ground. “Let me escort you to meet your subordinates.” And the arrow was released.

___

A/S:

*Smiling relieved*