Chapter 622 - As if on a Cloud

“General Yang!Let’s go ashore and have some fun!”

A few soldiers jostled and pushed their way over, calling out to the deputy general.

These soldiers wore broad smiles, but each one had a fierce demeanor, clearly men accustomed to battle.

In the military, discipline is strict, and only now, as they had withdrawn from the battlefield, did they have some leeway to relax, inevitably leading to a bit of rowdiness.

Yang Yin understood this very well.

“Let’s wait until we’ve passed this stretch of water.

In the next city, I’ll allow you to have fun for a day.

Then, we’ll head straight back to Jiujiang Commandery.”

The soldiers were somewhat disappointed, but no one voiced any objections.

After all, they were the Jiujiang Xuan Armor, the most elite troops of Zhuang Country, and obedience to commands had long become instinctual.

After arranging for his subordinates, Yang Yin bent down and entered the cabin, indeed finding his general sulking in a corner.

Without lighting a lamp or speaking a word.

“You really should take a good rest this time.

Others have rotated out more than a dozen times, avoiding the frontlines at all costs.

Yet you, you refuse to leave, clinging to the front.

If General Duan hadn’t directly ordered your return to Jiujiang, you’d probably have almost fought your way into Dingwu City.”

The “General Duan” he mentioned was the commander of the Jiujiang Xuan Armor, Duan Li.

Dingwu City was the capital of Mo Country, a place where the military culture is revered, so even the name of the capital brimmed with a killing aura.

Yang Yin tried to make a joke to lighten the mood, but it evidently wasn’t very funny.

At least Du Yehu, with his full beard, couldn’t manage a laugh.

“For me, the battlefield is where I find rest,” grumbled Du Yehu.

“Those fierce beasts in Jiujiang Commandery mustn’t be killed in excess, there’s hardly anything left to kill.”

Yang Yin was quite troubled.

“We, as members of the military, are certainly destined for the battlefield.

But nobody’s made of iron.

How can one endure endless years of slaughter?

General Duan values you highly, bringing you back for rest and recuperation is out of concern that you’d lose your path and be corroded by the desire to kill…”

Du Yehu glanced at him impatiently.

“There you go again.”

“All right, all right, I won’t talk about it,” Yang Yin raised his hands in surrender.

Once Du Yehu’s mood improved a bit, he nudged him again.

“Whether you like it or not, you’ve been recalled anyway; military orders are not to be defied.

Taking advantage of the fact we’re not back at the base yet and General Duan can’t control us, how about we go ashore together and have some fun?

Pick up a couple of pretty girls, listen to some music—how about it?”

He eagerly urged, “After all, you have nowhere to spend your salary, and earning so much bonus money, you can’t possibly spend it all on drinks.

Might as well treat your brothers!”

“Yang Yin…” Du Yehu leaned his head against the cabin wall, unable to see outside through the thick planks, but he knew where they were.

Close to where.

“Do you hear it?” he asked.

“Hear what?”

“Some voices, they keep shouting in my ears.”

Yang Yin heard the sound of the Jianglang waves slapping the warship’s sides, the sounds of soldiers pacing back and forth on the deck, but he did not hear any shouting.

Not a single shout, where are “some” coming from?

Swallowing, he asked, “What are they shouting?”

“They’re asking,” Du Yehu twisted his brows in pain.

“They’re asking me—’Why aren’t you there?'”

Before Yang Yin could say anything else, Du Yehu sat up abruptly.

“Where are there bandits, pirates, or just any type of scoundrel nearby?

Quick!”

Yang Yin shivered, quickly pulled out a small booklet, and hurriedly flipped through it.

“If we go thirty li further on this water route, then forty li directly to the east bank, there’s a band of robbers.

It’s the local city’s Dao Academy disciples’ trial this year…”

Before he could finish, Du Yehu had already grabbed a military saber and left, parting the curtains by himself.

Yang Yin sat in the cabin for a while, dazed, before putting away the booklet.

Of course, he knew what Du Yehu was going to do, and he was almost used to these sort of things by now.

But what worried him was that Du Yehu’s state seemed to be getting worse, his bloodlust increasingly difficult to control.

Yang Yin sat silently in meditation, while Du Yehu flew alone, far from the ship, which smoothly sailed on the Qing River.

The water mirrored the sky, clouds piled upon clouds.

Traveling by boat in the water was like gliding through the clouds in the sky.

High above the clouds, Jiang Anan was worrying.

She felt that Sister Qingyu was very strange today.

She would laugh upon seeing her but Jiang Anan didn’t know why.

Did I forget to wipe my mouth after eating chicken legs?

Jiang Anan wiped her little mouth, clean and refreshing.

Ah, it wasn’t just Sister Qingyu; they all seemed strange.

The round-faced, fun little Senior Sister Wang—she also has a very gentle older sister, the great Senior Sister Wang—recently has been endlessly asking about brother’s matters.

How old is he, is he handsome or not…

Brother is of course the most handsome in the world!

She also asked whether brother had any meat matches, but she was chased away by Sister Qingyu with her ear twisted.

What’s a meat match?

Is it like a meat dish pairing?

These people are really strange.

The little Jiang Anan felt very tired at heart.

So many people to worry about, every big and small issue piled up; she bore worries that one of her age shouldn’t have to.

She really wanted to say, can’t you people do something serious for a change?

Playing all day long, don’t you need to practice or study?

I, Jiang Anan, have to practice my punches every day!

And I still have to practice writing large characters!

And that annoying Senior Brother Ghost—who was originally called Senior Brother Mo Liang, but he’s so annoying that I renamed him Senior Brother Ghost—has been flitting around me seven or eight times just today!

It’s enough to make one’s eyes go blurry!

One moment he has this snack, the next that snack, foolishly coming to apologize.

Do you think I, Jiang Anan, am a pig?

That you can mollify me with some food?

I eat your food, but I still won’t forgive you.

Humph!

Then there’s Brother Fang—Brother Fang isn’t actually surnamed Fang, but his face is very square, so he’s called Brother Fang—Brother Fang suddenly ran over today saying, girls and men alike should never tattle, let bygones be bygones.

But I already told Uncle Ye about him stealing my chicken leg.

That’s not tattling…

Uncle Ye secretly appointed me as an inspector!

I was reporting on my duties…

They always secretly roast snow cranes, and if they get beaten, they can’t blame me.

I can’t pervert the course of justice…

The more Jiang Anan thought about it, the more weary her heart felt, with her little brows furrowing together.

Tonight, I’ll write a letter to brother and ask him what to do.

Was I found out for reporting on my duties?

They’ve been so strange today, do they want to hit me…

Thinking this, Jiang Anan, looking at every Senior Brother and Sister who swayed back and forth, became more and more convinced that something was amiss.

Forget it, I should first go hide out at Uncle Ye’s place.

Uncle Ye always likes to tell those stories he’s repeated many times, but it’s safe there.

The Senior Brothers and Sisters all fear him…

Having decided on her course of action, Jiang Anan spun around on the spot and started running with her little short legs.

“Eh!”

She crashed into something soft.

Sister Qingyu somehow appeared in front of her, and Jiang Anan bumped right into her embrace.

“You’re in such a hurry, where are you going?” Ye Qingyu scolded gently.

Jiang Anan rubbed her head, then looked up with her eyes blinking: “I’m off to play chess with Uncle Ye!”

Can you call it playing chess when you use the chess pieces to spell words?

Taking turns, you lay down the character Jiang, I lay down the character Ye—is that playing chess?

Ye Qingyu was somewhat helpless but still said, “Playing chess with the old man is too boring!”

She smiled: “I’ll take you to a fun place, how about that?”

“Where is it?” Jiang Anan perked up immediately.

“You’ll know when we get there!” Ye Qingyu was mysterious: “I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!”

Jiang Anan was about to agree instinctively, but suddenly she remembered her “terrifying conjecture” from before, and cleverly asked, “Just the two of us?”

“Of course.” Ye Qingyu seemed puzzled: “Who else do you want to bring along?”

“Nobody!” Jiang Anan felt relieved, her little fist clenched: “Let’s set off now!”

ps:

I hope that readers can feel the inner world of Du Yehu in the first half.

And when they reach the second half, I hope they can smile knowingly.

If a novel can bring joy and sorrow to readers, it should be considered a success.

I think the definition of success isn’t just the subscription performance.

It’s not just about whether the website offers recommendations or not.

Of course, successful writing indeed also needs a lot of subscriptions for support.

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