Chapter 20

"Finally I saw you!" Meng Ji originally walked briskly towards Cheng Duo. However, he seemed to remember Cheng Duo's ferocity when they first met, so he stopped a distance away from him.

"It's me," Cheng Duo nodded calmly. Despite wearing coarse clothes and carrying a large bamboo basket, he stood confidently with the presence of a warrior.

Meng Ji bowed in salute, "May I ask for your name, sir?"

"You don't have to call me 'sir,'" Cheng Duo frowned. "I saved you, and you gave me money. We're even… Also, you can call me Cheng Duo."

"So it's Brother Cheng…" Meng Ji felt a little embarrassed. It was his first encounter with someone like Cheng Duo, who settled a debt of gratitude with just a few taels of silver.

As a Seventh-rank Colonel, how could he fail to repay a life-saving favor?

While Meng Ji and Cheng Duo were talking, General Wei Ling, who had come with them, looked Cheng Duo up and down. Suddenly, he spoke, "I heard that you have immense strength, and with an unsharpened wooden spear alone, you can stab a person through from front to back… Is that true?"

Yong-ge widened his eyes upon hearing this. Cheng Duo had just assured him that he had never killed anyone, but now he wondered how Cheng Duo managed to pierce someone from front to back. He only knew that Cheng Duo was strong, but he had no idea that he was so brutal.

Yong-ge's shocked expression was quite obvious. As he turned to look at Cheng Duo, he noticed that he had brought a young ger with him.

Meng Ji only glanced at Yong-ge, took note of his face and the red birthmark on his eyebrow, then politely averted his gaze.

However, Wei Ling was different. As soon as his eyes met Yong-ge's, he was momentarily stunned, and then he stared at him intently, as if trying to find something extraordinary in his face…

Yong-ge blushed under his intense gaze. He had become hot during the journey and had taken off his clothes that were serving as a makeshift headscarf. It happened that Cheng Duo, who was tall and robust, shielded him, so he didn't think much of it.

Who would have thought that this person, who looked like an ordinary man, would stare at him so fixedly? Even the local old bachelors and rogues in their village didn't behave like this!

Yong-ge angrily hid behind Cheng Duo, who took a step forward and blocked the intruding gaze, responding without hesitation, "So what if it's true? Do you want to fight me?"

Meng Ji didn't understand what was going on with their young general, why he was inexplicably staring at a stranger. But this confusion didn't hinder him from sensing the tense atmosphere. He quickly grabbed his young general, preventing him from seeking his own death.

Meng Ji had witnessed Cheng Duo's skills before, coupled with his terrifying strength. Even ten young generals wouldn't be his match.

Furthermore, he could sense that Cheng Duo always used lethal techniques in his moves. Even if he didn't intend to take a life, he could easily end up severing hands and legs…

Wei Ling realized that he had acted too impetuously, causing the two opposite him to misunderstand. He withdrew his gaze and turned to Cheng Duo, hesitantly saying, "If there's a chance, I just want to exchange a few moves with you…"

Wei Ling wasn't the type who only knew how to fight and kill. Based on Meng Ji's reaction, he deduced that he most likely wouldn't be Cheng Duo's opponent. Hence, he mentioned exchanging moves instead.

However, he was still very curious about the young ger behind Cheng Duo. It felt like he had seen him somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where…

Meng Ji also quickly chimed in with a joke to help defuse the situation. "This is our young general, Wei Ling. He's a martial arts enthusiast. He heard that Brother Cheng has extraordinary skills, so he couldn't help but be interested. Brother Cheng, please don't mind, haha…"

Cheng Duo didn't mind fighting someone, but he had other matters to attend to, and he wanted Meng Ji's help. If he happened to knock down this so-called young general and lose face, what if Meng Ji refused to assist him?

Also, that guy was staring at Yong-ge the whole time, wondering what he was studying. In case he angers him and he disregards martial ethics, sending a large number of soldiers to chase them to Yang Village… Cheng Duo could escape, but it would be troublesome for Yong-ge and the villagers.

Thinking of this, Cheng Duo glanced at the young general coldly and said, "Let's talk about sparring another time…"

Before he could finish speaking, a gust of wind suddenly blew from behind, accompanied by the sound of galloping hooves…

Without thinking, Cheng Duo turned around, pulling Yong-ge closer to his waist and turning his body to face the person who had suddenly pulled on the reins, causing the horse's hooves to rise high in the air.

The person probably just wanted to frighten them. After pulling the high-headed horse to a stop, he calmly sat upright on its back. First, he glanced unexpectedly at Cheng Duo, then narrowed his triangular eyes with ill intentions as he looked at Meng Ji and Wei Ling beside him. He said, "I heard that two foreigners came to find trouble. Who are they? Are you colluding with the enemy and betraying the country?"

Because Cheng Duo was tall, had short hair, and Yong-ge had a foreign-looking face, the soldier spreading the news misunderstood.

"Cai Gaozhan, who is colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, knows best!" Meng Ji was furious. This was a clear case of diverting blame!

The last time he brought back a list of border generals accepting bribes from the Rong people, unfortunately, he didn't know that the list and account books were separate. Therefore, the soldiers on General Wei's side knew who was colluding with the enemy and betraying the country but lacked evidence.

Cai Gaozhan's face suddenly changed, "Captain Meng, you dare to call me by my full name? Believe it or not, I'll report this to the Bureau of Justice…"

Before he finished his threatening words, the black horse under him suddenly raised its head and let out a loud neigh. Then, the rider stood up like a madman, whipping the horse forward in a frenzy…

"What's going on?" Cai Gaozhan's horsemanship was evidently not good. He desperately grabbed the reins, but even at the risk of his life, he couldn't stop the horse. Instead, he almost got thrown off its back.

Meng Ji watched as the black horse disappeared like a gust of wind into the military camp's training ground, not yet understanding what had happened. On the other hand, Wei Ling, with sharp eyes and ears, turned to Cheng Duo and asked, "What did you do?"

Cheng Duo feigned innocence, "What could I have done? I didn't even move my hands."

Everyone saw that his hands were not free. As for his feet, that was uncertain. Kicking a small stone or something was still possible…

Yong-ge, who was still held by Cheng Duo, blushed at his words. He clumsily pushed away Cheng Duo's large hand and took two steps back, keeping a distance.

Of course, he knew that even if they were outside, they wouldn't be able to go far.

Cheng Duo rubbed his nose under Yong-ge's glare. It was just a moment of anger, after all… By the way, the young ger had a slender waist and felt surprisingly supple and warm in his grasp.

Meng Ji smirked teasingly at Cheng Duo, a look that men understood. Wei Ling, due to the faint sense of familiarity from Yong-ge and his own upright character, refrained from laughing.

However, due to the incident with Cai Gaozhan just now, his impression of Cheng Duo suddenly improved. He said, "Anyway, thank you for what you did."

Meng Ji snorted, "This Cai Gaozhan is like a lice-infested hair, disgustingly everywhere! Once I get the account books, I'll report it to the Grand General and let him and Yuan Kui bear the consequences!"

"Meng Ji, stop talking nonsense!" Wei Ling reprimanded softly. With Cheng Duo and Yong-ge present, he didn't say much more.

In fact, Cheng Duo had already understood. They belonged to two different factions, and the other side was colluding with the enemy and betraying the country… It didn't surprise him at all. The governance in Wudu County was already so bad, so it wasn't surprising to have internal traitors in the military camp.