General Haoran took a step back and calculated his options. The mosquito bastard’s death at best would get rid of an everyday major headache for him, and at worst, especially if his death were to be deemed an accident, it would spur an unprecedented war between the now-at-peace empires. His inconvenience was but a triviality when it concerned the empire.
Furthermore, if that mosquito bastard didn’t actually have anything to do with the arsenal incident, then he would make for an eyewitness to a possible incident or culprit. And even if he was the culprit… it didn’t matter. He’d already asked his subordinates to deal with any sign of suspicion at first sight.
Hence, his death was a loss, no matter how one looked at it. And it has to be vehemently avoided.
The troops were all engaged in the activity of looking out for a potential runaway suspect. Haoran couldn’t ask them to rearrange their formation and hunt Fu Lin because that would mean sacrificing a possible leeway to trapping a third party’s involvement in the matter. He didn’t bring an additional troop either; he’d have to work with the well-dwellers to rescue that mosquito bastard.
Actually, he kind of wished in his heart that the mosquito bastard would be somewhat burned or injured, perhaps also crippled, so that he wouldn’t be able to move around and cause so much
trouble—even if he didn’t want him dead. His death wouldn’t be excusable, but a lifetime injury would definitely be understandable—even by the Empire of Silver Mountain.
He tried navigating the whole place for a blind spot where the fire wouldn’t be as invigorating and tried to break into the arsenal somehow, but to no avail. The fire had consumed every part of the place, eating away through the gunny bags as well.
“Well-dwellers.” He clapped his hands as a group of people in blue robes surrounded him and bowed down to him, and said, “The fire is not as strong in the left half of the establishment as it is in the right, so get to splashing water from there. If you witness someone who is fatally injured but alive, start medication immediately. But if what you found are the remains of a dead body, do not touch the body and leave it for bodily inspection by the troop. We can’t let any evidence go to waste.”
This way he could ensure that Fu Lin is somehow found if he were in the arsenal—the
well-dwellers will cover the right and he will cover the left. He mounted his horse, dashing through to the left partition and gazing fixedly at the roaring fire.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
It wasn’t as strong as the flames of the frontier but still looked rather horrendous.
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He looked at his burnt finger; the blackened edges of the pale white skin and suddenly an ugly thought surged within him.
That mosquito bastard was unsightly enough without burn marks, and what if he ended up burning his face instead of his legs or arms?
Does that mean he would have to live with that face roaming about his manor? The General’s face turned pale. That cannot happen!
Just as he was about to order his subordinates to bring another troop of well-dwellers, a man in blue robes—evidently a well-dweller—walked into the place he was in with a horrified face.
General Haoran raised his brow, befuddled, but he signalled the man to speak anyway. “Imperial General…” The man swallowed hesitantly. “We found something that looks like the remains of… somebody.”
“Oh?” He pursed his lips as any other thought he had went down the drain. “Lead the way.”
Haoran took deliberately steady steps as he walked ominously down the path the man led. The man rattled past the frontier to the right side of the partition, where a group of people stood somberly waiting, forming a circle around what looked like the silhouette of a body that was now covered in white cloth.
General Haoran’s consciousness suddenly sharpened, and his ears began drumming when he saw the humanoid structure, clearly outlining a nose and lips through the cloth of reverence.
He didn’t think that this bastard would actually get himself killed and jeopardise his empire in the process. His hands shook slightly as he removed the cloth.
The figure was distorted beyond recognition and was completely blackened. It was ghastly to look at, as there was not an ounce of clothing on the body left—everything was charred as if it underwent a volcanic eruption. As smoke billowed from it, a slightly rustic smell as if iron was smelt pervaded their noses.
Rustic smell? A sense of suspicion rose within the General as he got up, breathed in slowly, and kicked the blackened figure, letting it fly through the air!
As the figure landed, a heavy metallic clang echoed and continued even as it rolled on in the mud. General Haoran exhaled a sigh of relief when he heard that and palmed his face. It seems he was surrounded by more than one fool.
“Who in the world,” he asked murderously, “dares to deceive this General by calling an iron mannequin a dead body?!”
The well-dwellers who heard this immediately fell to their knees, begging for forgiveness and repenting of their ignorance. General Haoran commanded them to stop wasting their time and get back to the job at hand.
Speaking of fools, he really had no idea where that mosquito bastard was. He probably didn’t run away because if he did, the people of the farms, or at least the General’s informants in the streets, would have immediately sent him a message. The General was also positive that the mosquito bastard simply did not have the common sense to run away when the situation required it, although he did have a talent for running away when it was absolutely not necessary.
“General,” one of the well-dwellers came forward. “The fire is almost washed out, and the interior has been thoroughly examined, but there seemed to be no trace of a human being
within.” The well-dweller stopped himself before saying, “If I may be presumptuous, Your Grace… Can I know who it is you’re looking for?”
The General was silent for a long time before saying, “A relative.”
“In that case, why don’t you try thinking from their perspective about where they might first run if a sudden fire were to break out in the house?”
Which place? How would this General be able to empathise with that foolish weakling to guess where he might have run off to?!
But even as he thought this, an idea slowly started making its way into his brain as he hurriedly took to his feet and ran to a place where he could see the edge of the upper slab of the arsenal.
Where else would that fool run off to but the roof?
And unsurprisingly, as General Haoran peered into the place, an ugly fringe was dancing in the air hidden beneath.
Hello there! Your author is back with another update huehue~~☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆ How’s new year coming for you folks? Mine’s been super productive, I’ve been indulging myself in some intense self-care time I lost during my 9×5 job! That said, I apologize for the late update. Real life happened and I didn’t have time to update for a while but now I do!
What do you think is the general going to ask the lil mosquito bastard next chapter?? („ಡωಡ„)
I’m so happy a lot of of you people are enjoying this story so much, I’m so grateful really <3
Thank God that mosquito bastard didn’t became Rip in piece lol
And What General going to ask him ? He gonna ask , Y AREN’T YOU ROASTED DEAR WIFE ? also you smell like shit you must’ve pooped !
Yey ! Mosquito the Survivor . I knew it , idiots don’t die 😎