Chapter 951 - 953 - : Returning Victorious_1
When the dark guard found him, he just saw a bandit about to ambush Jiang Yichun and directly swung his sword to chop down. The Dark Arrow was deflected and grazed past Jiang Yichun’s shoulder.
Jiang Yichun looked over and was also startled. He nodded at the dark guard and said, "Thanks."
"It was the master who sent me," the dark guard inquired. "She said that You Shen’s corpse might bring disaster and asked whether it could be burned immediately."
The head of the bandit leader needed to be brought back for verification. Jiang Yichun frowned but still nodded and said, "Let Ruozhu handle it."
The dark guard quickly reported back that Bai Ruozhu had started a fire and was burning You Shen’s corpse.
At that moment, Lin Chengjie came over, saluted her, and said, "Madam, You Shen’s head must be kept to report back. Can we just burn the body?"
Bai Ruozhu had no choice but to explain to Lin Chengjie again, and just as she finished explaining, a dark shadow suddenly flew out from You Shen’s skull and burrowed into Lin Chengjie’s eyes.
The incident happened too suddenly; Bai Ruozhu was unable to stop it, and without Furball’s help, she couldn’t stop a strange Poisionous Insect.
Lin Chengjie was terrified. Clutching his left eye in agony, he screamed, "What’s burrowed into my eye? Quick, save me!"
Jianqi stepped forward to shield Bai Ruozhu and said to Lin Chengjie, "If you hadn’t stopped us from burning You Shen’s corpse, this wouldn’t have happened."
After he finished speaking, he immediately lit a fire, burning You Shen’s skull. Bai Ruozhu scattered some Drug Powder, making the fire burn fiercer, quickly turning You Shen’s skull to ash. Meanwhile, many people saw that You Shen’s head was full of bug eggs, which were also destroyed in the fire.
Bai Ruozhu’s stomach churned at the sight. Now that she no longer had to suppress her emotions to maintain her dignity, she bent over and started retching.
Not just Bai Ruozhu, even Jianqi’s face turned pale, and he took a few steps back.
"This You Shen used his body to raise Poisionous Insects. Even in death, there is a brood of eggs that can continue to hatch. It’s absolutely disgusting," Bai Ruozhu wiped the corner of her mouth. Although she hadn’t vomited anything out, she still instinctively wiped it.
As she looked over at Lin Chengjie, she started to worry again.
With Furball asleep, how could she save Lin Chengjie?
Lin Chengjie, not sure if he was in real pain or just too frightened, was shaking all over like a sieve. Covering his left eye, he looked at Bai Ruozhu and pleaded, "Madam, please save me. I know I was wrong."
Bai Ruozhu felt a headache coming on. Did Lin Chengjie think that she was angry with him for the interruption and that was why she wasn’t saving him now?
With a slight sigh, she ordered people to restrain Lin Chengjie and then swiftly used silver needles to seal many of his acupoints, especially those around his eyes and head.
"It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but I have never seen a case where the owner of the Poisonous Insect dies and it can still hatch on its own to attack people. I can’t think of a solution to the curse right now. All I can do is seal your acupoints to stop the activity of the Poisonous Insect," Bai Ruozhu explained.
She couldn’t say her pet was in a deep sleep, so she couldn’t solve the curse—who knew if You Shen had any accomplices? She couldn’t expose her current weakness.
Lin Chengjie, not having lost his senses due to the curse, covered his eyes in pain and shook his head, "It’s alright. If the lady can think of a solution, it would be my good fortune. If truly there is no solution, then it is my fate."
"You’re quite open-minded about it. Don’t worry, I will also contact others knowledgeable in lifting curses to help. Perhaps we can find a solution," Bai Ruozhu said.
Because Lin Chengjie’s acupoints were sealed, and he couldn’t move, in the end, he was carried back. Jiang Yichun was shocked when he returned and learned of this matter. Just thinking that the Poisonous Insect might burrow into Bai Ruozhu’s eyes made him tremble slightly, inwardly blaming himself for not keeping her at his side.
But the situation inside was even more chaotic. He himself had almost been hit by a Dark Arrow and, after all, it was not suitable to have her by his side.
The army’s campaign to suppress bandits soon cleared Batianzhai. Those who resisted were killed without mercy, and those who surrendered were captured and sent to the Government Office. It didn’t take long for someone to find a Secret Passage in Batianzhai and, amazingly, a treasure vault was discovered inside, all of which were the spoils that Chen Batian had plundered and pillaged over the years.
Of course, he couldn’t have amassed so many treasures by just robbing villagers in the countryside. Most likely, a large portion of it was rewards from the Turkic Country.
"With this secret passage, if Chen Tianba wasn’t so overconfident, it would have been very difficult to stop him if he really tried to escape," Tu Lie said with eyes shining brightly, happily, "This time, Ruozhu has made great contributions. If it weren’t for her resolving You Shen’s Poisonous fog and offering strategies to paralyze Chen Tianba and his men, this bandit suppression wouldn’t have been so smooth."
Jiang Yichun felt very proud hearing someone praising Ruozhu, "Ruozhu indeed made a big help, which is why I spent a lot of effort to persuade her to come with us earlier."
Bai Ruozhu gave him a sidelong glance—could he really be proud of such a thing? Wasn’t he worried about being laughed at by others?
Tu Lie and Tu Bai both laughed. Who couldn’t see how much Jiang Yichun cared for his wife?
After that, everything went much smoother. The main army descended the mountain and temporarily stationed in Tianshan Town. Bai Ruozhu and the Military doctor helped everyone with detoxification and treatment. Soon, the condition of the troops stabilized, and they could return to Beiyu City.
The large contingent of Horsemen took the captives and a great amount of treasure from Batianzhai on the road. The treasures were disguised as supplies to avoid detection. Along the way, only when they passed through villages and towns would people throw rotten vegetable leaves, stones, and other objects at the captives. Some even threw feces. The captives always stank, making it tough on the soldiers tasked with guarding them.
Bai Ruozhu had no sympathy for those bandits. Sympathizing with them would be to tear open the wounds of the villagers they had plundered and murdered. She was not a saint and couldn’t muster sympathy for them.
On the road, she had Jianqi secretly investigate some matters, mainly about who had come down the mountain seven or eight years ago to rape a woman. She wasn’t necessarily determined to find out who Xiaosi’s biological father was; she just wanted to be prepared in advance to avoid hidden troubles. Unfortunately, she didn’t find any useful clues along the way, as if the shameless bandit who had done it was already dead, leaving no one to know this secret.
However, she didn’t believe that Batianzhai had been completely eradicated—at least the second-in-command, Shi Feiming, was still missing.
Because they escorted the prisoners, their return speed was much slower. Along the way, Bai Ruozhu tried several times to lift Lin Chengjie’s curse, but it was utterly fruitless. She couldn’t lure out the Poisonous Insect that had burrowed into his eyes.
Some said that Lin Chengjie would groan in pain at night, speculating that the bug was eating his brain. Some even saw blood tears flowing from Lin Chengjie’s eyes. Hearing these things, Bai Ruozhu grew very anxious, hoping that Xiaomao would wake up quickly to save this pitiable young man.