Can’t Bear to Cry or Move House

Can’t bear to see innocent people suffer

General Liu Dan, the Bandit Sweeping General, was a miscellaneous general, a 30-year-old fourth-rank military officer, which was rare in the imperial court. Especially since this was the Qi Dynasty, where Lu Zhang’s throne was obtained by usurping the throne. Obviously, the founding Emperor of the Qi Dynasty would not promote generals like Emperor Ling of the Chu Dynasty did.

Liu Dan was born into a humble family and his parents died when he was young.

This was originally a disadvantage but in the eyes of the Qi Dynasty Emperor, it became a remarkable advantage.

Liu Dan once thought that the most difficult time in his life was when he was young, with no tiles on the roof and no place to stand, he could only go to the army when he didn’t have enough to eat. He fought against barbarians in northern Xinjiang and escaped death. Even when the Emperor was assassinated, he decided to use his life to rescue him——

Liu Dan stepped over so many dangers.

He’s now a loyal subject of the current Emperor. Although his official position was not high, he did have a hundred elite cavalry and another 800 infantry under his command.

Compared with those border generals who commanded tens of thousands of troops, Liu Dan, a rogue general, did not sound so imposing. Still, the people under him were his direct subordinates, the kind who’d follow him wherever he went, regardless of whether it was a lieutenant general or a soldier, Liu Dan would have the final say.

Having the final say didn’t refer to appointing a pawn at will, but about being able to refuse people who were crammed in by the Ministry of War, and if he wanted anyone, he could pick from the list drawn up by the Ministry of War.

There aren’t many generals in the Qi Dynasty who enjoyed this kind of treatment, and those who could make waves were all the Emperor’s confidants. Liu Dan was the youngest among them, so many people were optimistic about his official career.

Liu Dan knew that staying in Taijing wouldn’t do him much good, and the risk was high. He needed to accumulate some prestige for himself, so he took the initiative to go to Pingzhou and suppress the bandits.

But at this time, Liu Dan doubted whether he could return to Taijing alive.

——he might have to bend here in Pingzhou.

On the way back to Taijing, a certain Jinyiwei member was targeted by Meng Qi. In order to escape, he didn’t hesitate to cut off all contact with the outside world and went into the deep mountains of Bazhou. As a result, no one knew the whereabouts of this person, and no one saw him alive or his dead body.

General Liu didn’t want to end up like this.

He calmed down, and the hand holding the reins seemed to be extremely heavy.

“…General, what should we do?” Several soldiers surrounding him also saw Meng Qi.

There were too many people here, and to avoid the worst situation, they dared not retreat rashly.

In Mo Li’s eyes, General Liu and the others were unexpectedly calm.

Meng Qi’s appearance was different from others, so besides General Liu, many people present also noticed him. From the Si family caravan to the government corvees, they were all discussing in secret, guessing who he was and how he could be mixed in the crowd.

The black-skinned man from the Si family stronghold stared at Meng Qi for a while, then turned his anxious eyes back to the crowd.

“Someone stole an important item from the Si family.” Mo Li became thoughtful.

This person was hiding behind the corvee’s carts transporting grain and grass, and his location was relatively hidden, but if checked one by one, he wouldn’t be able to hide for long. Not to mention that the man seemed to have fainted and was unable to run by himself.

“Didn’t the people from the Si family stronghold say it, it’s an heirloom!” Meng Qi casually said.

Mo Li ignored his joke and turned his attention to Liu Dan.

General Liu’s head was covered with cold sweat and his mind buzzed but when he saw the black-skinned guy from the Si family stronghold, who had a complacent look and saw the Si family private soldiers still searching the caravans, Liu Dan’s body shook violently and he came back to his senses.

Even if he was afraid, what he was afraid of was the State Teacher Meng Qi, not this nuisance of a Si family.

What the hell? Did they think him not speaking just now was because he’s afraid of the forces behind the Si family?! Damn your mother, before being killed by the State Teacher, this General will kill you bastards from the countryside first!

“Pah!”

The whip was whipped so loudly that everyone stopped moving.

Liu Dan looked at the leader of the Si family stronghold and sneered: “What? Seeing that there are so many dogs with no leashes around their necks, how could they not bite people? This General will not leave here today. Wait for the hundreds of soldiers left behind by this general! And these caravan guards, where did those bows and arrows on your bodies come from?”

Pointing with the hand holding the whip, the members of the Si family caravan quietly retreated.

They were just businessmen who made money for the boss’ family, so they wouldn’t sacrifice themselves. Those guards were the Si family’s private soldiers, but they were not.

There were only a dozen or so soldiers around Liu Dan. Excluding the caravan guards, there were more than a hundred people from the Si family stronghold, so the leading black-skinned man was proud of this.

Now that his face was torn, the black-skinned man couldn’t stop cursing secretly when he saw the bows on their backs and sabers on the waists of Liu Dan’s soldiers, as well as the Liangcheng horses under their crotches.

Both sides had bows and arrows, but the opponent’s horse was very good. Even if there were many people on his side, if two escaped from the other side, the Si family would be in trouble. Not to mention that there were still so many people here, and it was really difficult to do anything under the watchful eyes of everyone unless they also killed them.

It happened that at this time, the private soldiers of the Si family searched and found that the corvees were particularly nervous and kept paying attention to a corner from time to time. Seeing that General Liu had suppressed their leader, they couldn’t continue searching so they shouted in desperation, “There are people over there!”

Everyone looked at the back of the cart in unison.

Mo Li’s hand moved slightly, but Meng Qi held it down, and indicated with his eyes that Liu Dan was still there!

——the Bandit Sweeping General coming to Mount Silang, isn’t it to investigate the gold mine?

“There are bloodstains on the ground! It must be that thief!” The black-skinned man preemptively yelled for someone to catch the thief.

How could Liu Dan give up? Those who knew about the gold mine were almost dead, and he felt even angrier: If it weren’t for the Si family messing things up, would he have led his troops to the garrison at Mount Silang? Even meeting Meng Qi here?

Why is it so difficult to escape?!

“Let me see who dares to move?” General Liu shouted violently.

The sound was like thunder, and the lion’s roar was nothing more than that, but it made everyone dizzy.

Meng Qi’s expression suddenly changed, with murderous intent in his eyes.

Mo Li thought that it wasn’t good. General Liu unintentionally used the innate spiritual energy obtained from swallowing the elixir!

With the current situation, Meng Qi couldn’t be allowed to get angry——

Mo Li took advantage of Meng Qi’s previous movement of holding down his hand to grab Meng Qi’s wrist. He injected spiritual power, hoping to suppress the momentary disordered, and violent inner aura in Meng Qi’s body. The result was his fingers going numb from the shock and he almost couldn’t hold the person down.

The two fell into a stalemate. Mo Li couldn’t move, let alone go find the ningshen pill.

And as it was now, the ningshen pill might not be effective.

He didn’t dare let go even more as the other person might be gone if he let go.

If the two of them fought here, innocent people would suffer, but if Liu Dan died, the Si family would escape!

Mo Li tried his best to suppress Meng Qi. Seeing that the situation was getting worse, General Liu and the Si family stronghold’s people had already met. Liu Dan’s personal soldiers had quick eyesight and quick hands, deftly overturning several people, and taking the lead to carry the person behind the cart to General Liu.

“Report to the General, this man has an arrow wound on his body, is still bleeding, and is now unconscious.”

Liu Dan deliberately kept himself from looking at Meng Qi’s side. The most urgent thing to do was to deal with the Si family, so he calmly asked, “You say this is the thief who stole your family’s heirloom? To avoid being accused of taking other people’s family treasure, this General will take a look!”

He jumped off his horse, ordered his soldiers to retreat, and rudely tore off all the clothes of the unconscious man in front of everyone.

…not even sparing the inner-wear.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Liu Dan also tore through the man’s hair, but there was nothing hidden inside.

He moved very quickly. After stripping the man naked, he took off the cloak he was wearing and threw it on the man. Immediately, some soldiers wrapped the man knowingly, otherwise, he might freeze to death that day.

As for the stripped thick robes and cotton trousers…Liu Dan tore them all to shreds in a slow manner, including the tattered pair of shoes where even the soles were torn apart.

Nothing at all!

“Heirloom?” General Liu said disdainfully, “Why doesn’t he have anything on him?”

The Si family stronghold people were stunned at first, and then their eyes turned to the corvees and the cart they were escorting.

When Liu Dan saw that, he knew that there was indeed something, but it was hidden by this person first.

“General, this man’s wound is still bleeding…”

The soldier’s voice was very low, but Mo Li could hear it clearly. He saw the men from the Si family stronghold staring at the corvees with fierce eyes and became anxious. But at this moment, he was stuck with Meng Qi, his inner strength constantly being depleted, and he couldn’t hold down Meng Qi at all, while the latter was about to lose control.

Physician Mo’s heart thumped. He took a deep breath and secretly urged his spiritual power to speak through velintroquism.

“Meow.”

That meow was so vivid that some people even unconsciously looked towards the side of the road, thinking there were wild cats.

To Meng Qi, this voice infused with spiritual power was like pouring a basin of cold water over his head, with ice cubes added.

“Meow——”

The sound was a little louder. The cat appeared so out of the blue that even General Liu was taken aback, involuntarily looking their way.

Meng Qi rested a forehead on one hand, while the other hand was tightly held by Mo Li. After regaining his sanity, he weakly curled his fingers, and said in a low voice, “Physician, that’s enough!”

Mo Li’s palm was hooked by his fingers like this, and he was forced to meow like a cat while enduring the feeling of his hair standing on end. His heart was full of mixed feelings as if he had smashed a seasoning shop.

Meng Qi’s embarrassment came and went quickly, and he actually laughed in a low voice, “I really embarrassed the Physician.”

“Practicing medicine to help the world is a physician’s job.” Mo Li said with a straight face and shook off Meng Qi’s hand. He strode out of the crowd and said to General Liu, “I am a physician, I see that this man is seriously injured, can you let me diagnose and treat him?”

Liu Dan’s pupils contracted, and he subconsciously glanced at Meng Qi. Finding that the latter ignored him completely, he calmed down a bit.

Mo Li had already taken out the medicine box from his bag, and the people from the Si family stronghold fiercely glared at him.

Although General Liu didn’t say anything, his soldiers all saw that this man who claimed to be a physician was holding Meng Qi’s hand just now, so they subconsciously stood in front of Liu Dan. To outsiders, it looked like General Liu’s subordinates took the initiative to make way for Mo Li.

Physician Mo looked at the arrow wound on the unconscious man, tapped acupuncture points to stop the bleeding, and then stretched out his hand to feel the pulse.

“There is a fever caused by the wound, he needs to take medicine in time and go to the county town!”

Mo Li took out a pen and paper from his luggage and quickly wrote the prescription.

The soldiers took it in fear and looked back at their general.

Liu Dan didn’t understand what kind of development this was, so he could only make his face solemn, nod, and say, “You ride a fast horse and take the prescription to the county town to grab the medicine, as for here…since the Si family says this person is a thief, show us the evidence! All those present are witnesses, and they can’t leave until the matter is clarified. Let’s all go to Qiuling County! Rush through the night!”

There was a commotion among the caravans and only the corvees were overjoyed.

The people from the Si family stronghold brought enough torches, so there was no problem seeing the road clearly at night.

“By the way, what are you escorting?” Liu Dan asked.

The small supervisor vaguely guessed the key point was this, and suddenly said nervously and panicked, “Yes, it’s the grains and grass that your soldiers and horses need to use, General!”

“Send it directly to this general’s camp!”

“Yes, yes!” The supervisor promised but secretly gave the corvees a glare.

It’s all trouble caused by these guys. Although he didn’t understand the Si family’s actions, if he got into trouble with the Si family, how will it end?

Liu Dan felt very empty, but Meng Qi didn’t make trouble until everyone was on the road.

The Si family stronghold’s private soldiers quietly left a few people behind. After everyone left, they searched the place but didn’t find anything.

“…Physician, guess what this man took from the Si family?” Meng Qi put on his cloak again and slowly asked.

Mo Li just went out to attract the attention of many people, and now followed General Liu and the others openly, looking like they’re afraid of revenge from the Si family stronghold people and seeking General Liu’s protection. As for the real situation, only General Liu himself knew.

Their voices were not deliberately concealed, so Liu Dan eavesdropped with his ears pricked up.

Mo Li pondered and said, “It’s probably an account book.”

Local snakes like the Si family couldn’t be shaken with only witnesses. If someone wanted to grab their bottom line, there were only the account books. What made them so nervous was probably the account books.

“I just don’t understand why these people always like to record shady things into account books, do they have a bad memory?”

“Not necessarily, account books generally involve other people, and they are written down as evidence to deal with people who have interests in them.” Meng Qi knew what was in the account book without thinking about it. He knew that Liu Dan was listening. Because of the elixir, he couldn’t control his desire to torment the other party, so he simply made the matter more serious.

“It might be Qiuling County or even the entire Pingzhou officials…the people of the Si family went out to do business, so why didn’t they open up branches? Giving bribes is a private matter, and no one would openly talk about it. The government only thinks that the Si family is rich, but they don’t know the origin of the Si family’s money. The sum of these accounts is probably an astonishing number, so much that it surpasses the Si family’s wealth. Even if it is justified as money earned from businesses, it might be difficult to explain.”

While trying not to be led into the ditch by Meng Qi, Liu Dan felt that what the teacher said made sense.

“Who stole the account book?”

Meng Qi’s question was strange, and none of them knew the comatose person.

Mo Li knew what he meant, and replied naturally, “When someone does rough work, they have calluses on their hands and feet, and the lines on their palms are almost invisible. Judging from the material of those clothes, there are no patches, and he didn’t look like a poor person. Based on the combination of the two, it’s probably a servant of the Si family.”

“A servant who does rough work could have access to such an account book?” Meng Qi asked intentionally.

Mo Li very cooperatively told the story of the corvees helping the thief before, and his voice was still within the range that Liu Dan could hear.

“…the people who served as corvees together were mostly people from the same village, so they knew each other from the beginning. Only then could they hide people without hesitation, and it happens that they are very dissatisfied with the Si family. As for how the servant got access to the account books, it’s up to General Liu to investigate. Maybe the Si family intends to destroy the account books, or someone else stole the account books, and the man was just entrusted with desperately trying to deliver things.”

Sounds like that!

Liu Dan almost couldn’t help nodding his head, and soon realized that those two were not his aides, but evil stars who wanted his life.

This feeling of hanging by a thread is really terrible——

“The account book is hidden on the grain cart, so the Si family will not stop there. They won’t just watch these carts enter the camp without doing anything.”

As soon as Mo Li finished speaking, there was a whooshing sound beside his ear and Liu Dan avoided it in time.

“Hidden weapons?”

Meng Qi quickly picked one up, but when he looked down, he found it was a caltrop.

This thing had sharp corners on all sides and could only be held by fingers.

Not many people were hit by the caltrops, but it was very painful when hit. However, as long as they were not hit at a vital point, it’s not life-threatening. The trouble was that when this thing fell, it would have a sharp corner pointing up. The caravan and the crowd were frightened, the donkeys and horses ran wildly, and since it was dark, they accidentally stepped on them. Screaming in pain, the people on the mountain road suddenly became chaotic.

Liu Dan was so angry that there was smoke coming out of his ears. He reined in his horse and was about to give a loud shout but that was snatched by Mo Li.

To prevent Meng Qi from having another attack, it was very difficult for Physician Mo.

“Stop! Don’t run around, there are hidden weapons on the ground!”

The feet stretched out by everyone froze. The voice was not only deafening but also brought a kind of fear. The screaming and jumping donkeys and horses went limp on the ground, and only the Liangcheng horses could barely stand.

“Those Si family bastards…”

The Si family stronghold people hid in the dark and threw hidden weapons. They originally wanted to cause chaos and take the opportunity to destroy the corvees’ carts transporting the grain and grass, but Qiuling County was reluctant to part with money and used all their manpower. They’re not at all like the other caravans being thrown off by frightened donkeys and horses, apart from being hit a few times in the chaos, most of the carts were intact.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the leading black-skinned man simply waved his hand, “Shoot the arrows!”

Liu Dan’s soldiers reacted very quickly, taking their bows and arrows one after another.

The people caught in the middle held their heads and squatted, not daring to move.

There was a strange piercing sound.

The people on the Si family stronghold’s side screamed, the archers either clasped their hands or covered their faces as the broken bowstrings bounced off, wounding them.

Physician Mo silently looked at his side.

Meng Qi took out a coin from his purse. Raising his eyebrows, he said, “Do you want to learn how to cut ten bowstrings with one copper coin?”

“…did you grind that copper coin just now?” Mo Li’s sharp eyes saw the sharp luster of the “hidden weapon”. The copper coin from before was obviously different from the one Meng Qi held in his hand since using the current one simply couldn’t achieve the effect Meng Qi said.

Meng Qi gave a dry cough and vaguely said: “People like me who oppose the court always have preparations in hand. Of course, it also depends on the person. The more polite one is this kind of copper coin, which only damages the bowstring and does not hurt others. I only have that one copper coin just now.”

“No thanks, the store doesn’t accept copper coins that are thinned out.” Mo Li ruthlessly exposed him.

“…”

There are many kinds of hidden weapons used by martial arts masters. The most common ones are stones and copper coins. It’s just easy to find and you can use it once you grabbed it, so basically everyone had ground the edges of copper coins to increase their lethality.

Meng Qi didn’t expect that this physician who had never been out of the house would know the disadvantages of copper coins as hidden weapons.

“What did your teacher say?”

Meng Qi didn’t mention Qin Lu’s name because other people might hear it.

“Right, he asked me to use stones. Money is precious, so how can I throw it away?” Mo Li seriously said.

How many poor people couldn’t get medical treatment because they didn’t have money? Every time Elder Qin saw people throwing copper coins as hidden weapons, he couldn’t wait to knock their heads.

Meng Qi gave Mo Li the caltrop he picked up and then went to pick up stones by himself.

“Then use this.”

While they were talking, the arrows from the Si family stronghold’s other archers had already arrived.

General Liu drew his long sword to block.

A gloomy black light flashed across, followed by a dozen or so stones, which accurately hit all the flying arrows to the nearby mountain wall.

“Stop shooting arrows for now, there are too many people here, and it’s inevitable to accidentally injure them in a fight,” Meng Qi said, and General Liu’s soldiers hesitantly stopped.

Liu Dan gritted his teeth and nodded. If the State Teacher wanted his life, he could take it with his own hands, no need to borrow the Si family’s hand.

There were caltrops on the ground, and Liu Dan and the others couldn’t get through, but Meng Qi didn’t have this problem. He stretched out his arms, and flew away like a bird, stepping on the mountain wall twice with his toes, and arriving at the Si family’s side in the blink of an eye.

The other group became chaotic, and in less than the time to brew a cup of tea, including the leading black-skinned man, all of them were beaten until their noses were bruised and their faces were swollen, falling unconscious on the ground.

The soldiers around Liu Dan asked tremblingly, “General, how many people do you think it takes to win against this…”

“…the entire Weiyuan army must be fully armed.”

The Weiyuan Army is a large army stationed at the five checkpoints in northern Xinjiang, with a total of 100,000 people.

Liu Dan suddenly remembered that there was still Mo Li here. He listened to what they said just now and suddenly broke into a layer of cold sweat. There was no second Weiyuan army in Qi Dynasty.

When Meng Qi came back, Liu Dan tried to pull out a smile that was uglier than crying, pretending not to know the other and thanking this “hero” for his help.

Meng Qi waved his hand and said nonchalantly, “You don’t need to thank me. When General Liu rescued someone just now, you destroyed his clothes in front of everyone, apart from being anxious to get things, you also thought that if the Si family saw the thing fall into your hands, they won’t bother everyone here.”

Everyone who was still in shock came back to their senses and thanked General Liu, and even the members of the Si family caravan secretly resented their boss. They were all businessmen, and no one wanted to get involved in such a terrible matter.

The caravan guards who didn’t do anything just now were naturally fine, but under the gazes of everyone, they shrunk to the side and dared not make a sound.

After speaking, Liu Dan simply walked to the side of the grain cart, found a thing wrapped in oilcloth, and put it in his arms under the eyes of everyone.

“Don’t move!”

Meng Qi gave a warning, and Liu Dan froze.

His personal soldiers also acted like facing a great enemy, but what Meng Qi said was, “There’s a caltrop in front of your right foot, don’t take this step if you don’t want to be pierced through the back of your foot.”

“…”

“Until all the caltrops are found, everyone should stay still,” Meng Qi said naturally, “Please, General Liu.”

“Gulp…hero, can’t you help?” Liu Dan looked at the dark mountain road beyond the torches, his head getting bigger.

“The general can ask the others to help and I will help the Physician.” Meng Qi solemnly pointed to Mo Li, who was taking out a hidden weapon from a person who had been stabbed.

“Are there any spirits?” Mo Li asked with a frown, not washing the wound.

This was not a rare item as people who went out in winter always had to prepare some spirits.

Mo Li went to see the man who was hunted down by the Si family stronghold again. His fever seemed a little higher, so he took out a pill and stuffed him as an emergency.

After finishing all this work, the sound of horseshoes and people came from a distance. It was the person Liu Dan sent to the county to grab medicine before, as well as notifying the soldiers in the camp to come.

The author has something to say:

Meowing like a cat is worse than fighting,

When it comes to being cheated, no one gets special treatment like the protagonist, so what about General Liu?

——————

Meng Qi had a seizure, Mo Li grabbed him and didn’t dare move, because it was a struggle of internal strength. Not daring to let go because if he let go, the person will run away.

Translation: …that means, let go once the seizure is gone.