Anyone who heard the news had assumed Sister-in-law Ji had bloomed in her later years and finally moved on. Little did they imagine that even back then, she was already pregnant with a ghost fetus!
Sister-in-law Ji was carried in on a stretcher. She looked as though she had no strength left to walk, her eyes blank and dazed.
Though she was the human mother of a ferry spawn, she was an ordinary mortal after all, so the Gale Army soldiers were not on guard against her.
Yet as more civilians gathered to watch, who knew where she found the strength—she suddenly bolted upright and shrieked, "Give me back my sons! Both of my sons laid down their lives for Panlong City, and after all the agony of bringing these little ones into the world, you're going to kill them too! Are you even human?! Give me back my sons! Give them back to me!"
Her voice cracked in raw, shrill hysteria as she thrashed about on the stretcher, her face twisted like a vengeful demon, startling the crows right out of the treetops.
The crowd fell abruptly silent, her piercing shrieks seemingly echoing through the open sky.
Xiao Maoliang gave a cold jerk of his chin. Soldiers rushed forward to gag her and bind her hands, strapping her securely to the stretcher before swiftly carrying her inside.
Only then did Commander Xiao bow in all directions to the surrounding townsfolk, announcing in a clear voice, "Elders and fellow citizens, this woman was bewitched by an evil god to bear ghost fetuses and harm our people. Today she has been brought to justice! There is no need for concern!"
Hearing this, the onlookers gradually dispersed.
Watching the scene unfold, He Lingchuan could not say what he felt, while beside him, Skinny let out a heavy sigh.
The tragedies of Yun Gu and Sister-in-law Ji—who was truly to blame?
When Wen Daolun brought his son home, the entire Wen household erupted into chaos.
The women of the family took turns weeping their eyes out, leaving Wen Daolun frazzled and burning with torment inside.
When Zhong Shengguang saw him again only a few shichen later, Wen Daolun looked as though he had aged several years all at once.
Arriving alongside Zhong Shengguang was General Red, travel-worn and wind-dusted.
Having received the urgent report via sparrowhawk, she had indeed raced back from the front lines on horseback.
The two titans of Panlong City had finally appeared side by side.
Because He Lingchuan had interacted with Sister-in-law Ji, Wen Daolun had summoned him to the manor to question him repeatedly about the details, so he was present on the scene as well.
Wen Daolun was already frantic as an ant on a hot pan. The moment he saw General Red, he bowed low to the ground. "I beg General Red to save my son's life!"
Before his waist could bend all the way down, General Red caught him firmly by the arms.
Her eyes were still hidden in darkness, and her voice sounded hollow and cold, yet it was Wen Daolun's only hope at this moment: "Let us see him first."
He Lingchuan took special note of the fact that although the room was brightly lit with lamps, the illumination still could not pierce General Red's visor.
However, the visor she wore this time differed from the one at Mount Chifeng. It was an exquisite wolf-head mask, with the wolf's eyes set right where human eyes would be, cast in solid reddish-gold.
Wearing visors into combat was no rarity in these times; it was an effective defense against the hail of spears and arrows. Quite a few Gale Army warriors also wore visors in battle, though whether they were influenced by General Red was anyone's guess.
Once inside the inner room, the mask vanished, and He Lingchuan once again saw that breathtakingly beautiful face.
Wen Xing's sleeves and trouser legs had been cut open. General Red walked to the bedside, inspected him for a moment, and pressed twice on the wound on his arm.
She did not jump to conclusions. Instead, she closely examined the remains of the ghost whelp resting on the tray, then called for a needle and picked out a tiny "fruit pit" from the creature's head.
The "pit" was snapped in half.
Just as He Lingchuan found it looked rather familiar, General Red asked, "Who killed it?"
He could only sheepishly answer, "I did."
"You again." General Red's voice carried no detectable emotion. "You killed both of the runts."
Now He Lingchuan could be certain: what he had severed was the ghost fetus's brain core.
"Since it was the ninth child of the ferry mother that struck him, what Wen Xing was struck with should be the Woodification Art," General Red said with certainty. "This is Tongming Zhenjun's specialty, far exceeding the divine power of a ferry mother."
The four words "Tongming Zhenjun" stirred He Lingchuan's heart.
When the He clan had been falsely accused of deity blood sacrifice back then, the charge was offering living sacrifices to this very "Tongming Zhenjun."
Never in his wildest dreams had he expected to hear this name from General Red's mouth at a time like this.
"Can he be saved?" Wen Daolun cared only about this. "Or can the injury be transferred?"
He Lingchuan recalled that Wu Shaoyi had used an injury-shifting secret art to transfer a severe injury onto another bandit. Though it left behind many complications, it had allowed him to live a few more years.
There were many capable people in Panlong City, and it seemed someone else knew that trick as well.
"It cannot be transferred," General Red said faintly. "A mere injury-shifting art thinks it can deceive the eyes of a deity?"
Wen Daolun was utterly disheartened.
General Red seemed to weigh her words before speaking: "If my true body were to descend, dispelling this divine art would be effortless. But right now..."
Hearing the words "true body," He Lingchuan realized that the one speaking right now was actually the deity Mitian.
General Red paused. "Tongming Zhenjun lent a sliver of power to the ferry mother, but this whelp could never have achieved it alone. It must have devoured the other whelps and burned away its own life force to launch the strike. Even if you hadn't killed it, it would have died shortly."
With Wen Xing in dire straits, she was not speaking without aim: "You must understand that the Woodification Art requires an immense amount of life force from casting to completion. Conversely, only by channeling an astronomical amount of flesh-and-blood essence into Wen Xing's body can one resist or even counteract the invasion of the Woodification Art!"
That meant the process of "woodification" was reversible. Wen Daolun murmured, "An astronomical amount of flesh-and-blood essence... astronomical... Can you do it?"
"Not only mortals, but even divine generals could not accomplish it. Even if all the surrendered captives and death-row prisoners in Panlong City were slaughtered, it would still fall far short." General Red turned to Zhong Shengguang. "No person could possess such boundless life force."
She placed special emphasis on the words "no person." The room fell dead silent, the atmosphere turning subtle in an instant.
A person couldn't, so what about...?
Wen Daolun naturally did not miss this. His thoughts raced, and he froze on the spot. "Could it be...?"
General Red explained further, "Nowadays, only divine arts can counter divine arts. If there are no divine arts, one can only look to a divine..."
Before she could finish, Zhong Shengguang snapped quickly to He Lingchuan and the others, "Everyone out."
"Everyone" included He Lingchuan and the other guards, the servants waiting to the side, as well as Helian Chen, A'luo, and the other physicians.
The group complied and stepped outside, leaving behind only Zhong Shengguang, General Red, Wen Daolun, and the still-unconscious Wen Xing.
He Lingchuan was the last to leave. As he pulled the door shut behind him, he faintly caught Wen Daolun's murmur: "How could it come to this?"
His voice was laced with profound despair, leaving He Lingchuan puzzled even after closing the door.
The words General Red had been cut off from saying—was she about to say "divine artifact"?
As a dream traveler from over a century later, He Lingchuan knew full well that Panlong City housed a divine artifact at this very time:
The Dafang Pot.
Did Wen Daolun not know that Zhong Shengguang possessed such a supreme treasure? Why would he sound so despairing?
The Wen family women waiting outside lit up upon seeing everyone exit, especially Helian Chen. They swarmed forward like bees, talking over one another:
"Master Helian, how is our Xing'er?"
"Has he woken up? How long until he recovers?"
"Is the affliction on his body contagious?"
"Why did General Red come? Has there been some dire turn of events?"
...
Helian Chen felt a massive headache coming on. A'luo quickly stepped in to shield him, saying, "We cannot say right now, we truly cannot! Commander Zhong and General Red are holding an urgent consultation!"
The Wen family women grew even more alarmed. "What does Xing'er's injury have to do with General Red?! Neither of them is a doctor—why must we wait for them to reach a verdict?"
"Why can't Master Helian speak?"
Just as Helian Chen tried to retreat into a side room, the Wen family's matriarch stepped forward and scolded the younger generation for lacking decorum. But before the physicians could breathe a sigh of relief, the old matriarch strolled over herself and said, "Physicians, let us step inside to speak!"
"..."
The eye of the storm—Wen Xing's sickroom—was utterly quiet, likely sealed by a barrier to prevent any sound from leaking out.
After about fifteen minutes, the door suddenly opened. Zhong Shengguang personally stepped out to invite the old matriarch inside, saying Wen Xing had awakened.
Overjoyed, the old matriarch went in, while the rest of the female relatives were kept outside.
He Lingchuan stood quietly among the crowd, watching Zhong Shengguang. Seeing his gloomy expression with not the slightest hint of relief, He Lingchuan knew things boded ill.
Before long, General Red walked out wearing her mask. She pulled the door shut behind her and asked Zhong Shengguang, "How stands it now?"
"Brother Wen's mind is made up; he will not change it." Zhong Shengguang looked toward the closed door. "Return to the front lines."
General Red nodded and strode off, her subordinates following closely behind.
Yet before taking more than two steps, she suddenly looked back and waved to He Lingchuan. "Broken Saber."
Calling him? He Lingchuan was startled, then quickly caught up.
General Red tossed him a small, transparent glass vial containing the fractured brain core of the ferry whelp. "Your spoils of war."
The monster He Lingchuan had slain, so the loot still belonged to him.
General Red continued, "You have performed well lately. What reward do you desire?"
He Lingchuan had not thought of anything on the spot, so he could only reply, "I have a few questions and would ask the General to clear my doubts."
General Red was straightforward: "Ask."
"General, can Wen Xing truly not be saved?"
"You heard just now. He was injured by divine arts, which lies beyond my power," General Red said. "Divine arts can fundamentally alter the bodies of mortals like you and me. Present-day arts are no longer capable of this."
Present-day? Adding this prefix—did it mean it was once possible in the past?
General Red added, "All I could do was awaken Wen Xing so he could bid his family a final farewell before death."
Yet if Wen Xing was truly incurable, they could have simply announced the result right then, putting an end to everyone's hopes inside and out. Why would the three of them have needed to deliberate behind closed doors?
The anomaly in this matter undoubtedly hinged on the divine artifact, the Dafang Pot.
Observing from the perspective of someone from the future, it was not difficult for He Lingchuan to infer that General Red had been about to say a divine artifact could save Wen Xing's life.
Yet in the end, they actually did not intend to use the Dafang Pot to save him?
Why?
From He Lingchuan's observations, the bond between Wen Daolun and Wen Xing was one of deep fatherly love and filial devotion, far surpassing that of the He father and son. How could he stand by and watch his son succumb to his wounds? Could it be that Zhong Shengguang or General Red refused to agree?
As if hearing the voice in his thoughts, General Red suddenly spoke: "A year ago, when Wen Daolun performed a divination for his son, he already foresaw great ill fortune in his destiny and that disaster would strike, which was why the entire family opposed Wen Xing enlisting in the army. Now that this has happened, Wen Daolun can view it with composure instead."
Chapter 330