ITF Chapter91

The king publicly proclaimed Zhong Maoru’s crime of rebellion. At the same time, an army of battle-hardened mercenaries was marching toward Zhong Maoru’s fief, aiming to punish the wicked rebel who had flouted the royal majesty.

On the third day after this news reached Urdan Island, Bai Heting saw the “exciting good stuff” that Luo Congye had mentioned before.

Luo Congye stood behind him with a faint smile in his eyes, “I’ve already said that you would definitely like it.”

Bai Heting put the metal firearm back and countered, “I don’t like firearms.”

Unlike the hand cannons he had used in the infantry legion before, this gun had an extra firing mechanism at the grip. As long as the metal curved hook holding the burning matchcord was pressed into the touchhole, the weapon could be fired while simultaneously aiming at the target.

Compared to hand cannons that required two operators to work together, this thing could clearly improve accuracy by quite a bit. It could be called a precious weapon against cavalry.

In addition to this new gadget called a “matchlock gun,” Luo Congye also took him to visit the bronze cannons and iron cannonballs in the armory. The mineral resources and superb smelting technology possessed by the Urdan people secretly astonished Bai Heting.

But he wasn’t lying either; he truly did not like firearms.

To be precise, he disliked all ranged weapons, preferring close-combat weapons that relied on agility and strength to win. Yet he also had to admit that on the battlefield, the boost that firearms gave to combat effectiveness was incalculable.

Appearing largely unimpressed, Bai Heting turned and walked out, remarking as he went, “You’ve improved the gunpowder.”

Luo Congye followed him out, explaining to him concisely, “Granular gunpowder is more powerful than powder, and it’s also easier to load and transport. We also made some improvements to the formula proportions.”

The two of them walked out of the armory gates together. Luo Congye gave a few brief instructions to the guards with sabers at the door. When he turned back around, Bai Heting had already walked quite far. As the heavy gates slowly closed behind them, he led his horse, jogged a few steps, and caught up with Bai Heting, who had just entered the dense forest.

“Our steel is pretty good too,” he said, adding, “I’ll make you a new dagger sometime.”

“When?” Bai Heting kept walking straight ahead, his tone flat. “Three months from now? Or half a year from now?”

Luo Congye’s footsteps suddenly paused.

He let go of the reins, shooed his mount away, and walked side-by-side with Bai Heting.

“You’ve been eavesdropping again.” He tilted his head to look at Bai Heting, asking teasingly, “You look so unhappy. Is it because you don’t want me to leave?”

Bai Heting stared straight ahead, ignoring his banter, and merely said, “I just don’t want you to squander a life that someone went through immense hardships to save.”

Echoing Lin Qian’s words almost verbatim, he made Luo Congye laugh once more. “I’m not going there to get myself killed. I’m simply going to tell Zhong Maoru that his allies can be trusted.”

According to the original plan, if the king insisted on sending troops, the Urdan people would send a batch of already-paid mercenaries to assist while providing aid supplies. However, Luo Congye’s tone was far too relaxed; Bai Heting didn’t feel any reliability, only negligence and casualness.

When Bai Heting ignored him, Luo Congye kept talking non-stop, “The ones doing the real work are the mercenaries. My squad of Alphas will nominally be under Zhong Xiao’s command, but they won’t take on high-risk missions, and they won’t even expose their identities. Zhong Maoru doesn’t want to court trouble and get hit with another charge of colluding with rebels.”

“Don’t make it sound so easy. You’ll have to contend with the armed forces of both sides at the same time, and throughout it all, you’ll need to maintain an absolute advantage.” Bai Heting stopped in his tracks, looked at him seriously, and asked rigidly, “Do you understand what I mean?”

Luo Congye, of course, understood.

The moment the war tilted even slightly toward the opposing side, opportunistic nobles would immediately surrender to the king to secure royal rewards after the war ended. By then, the hostile forces would roll into an unstoppable snowball, growing bigger and bigger until it crushed them all into dust.

He stopped smiling and said earnestly, “I told you, I’m not going there to die.”

Bai Heting hesitated to speak, then lifted his feet and continued walking forward.

The temperature here was much warmer than in the capital, and the plants growing in the forest were slightly different from those in the imperial hunting grounds. Even so, the scene brought Luo Congye back to the autumn hunt four years ago. Back then, he could never have imagined this exact moment—that regardless of the reason, his life and death would sway Bai Heting’s emotions.

“In the past, I was always the one watching you leave. It’s a feeling that takes some getting used to.” He tugged at Bai Heting’s arm, slowing his pace a bit. “When you went south to suppress the rebellion back then, why didn’t you take me with you? Did you think I was useless?”

To be honest, yes. But Bai Heting didn’t reply.

Luo Congye took his silence as confirmation. He said gloomily, “After I leave, what will you do when your heat arrives?”

Bai Heting said, “I have suppressants.”

Luo Congye froze.

“Wasn’t that stuff supposed to be useless? Back in the fishing village…”

“It didn’t work because of your pheromones.”

The wind swept through the forest interrupted their whispers. A small leaf drifted down and landed on top of Bai Heting’s head. As he lifted his head to shake it off, Luo Congye suddenly stepped toward him and pulled him into an embrace.

“Don’t say things that are so easily misunderstood.” He said softly.

With that, he blew sharply at the crown of Bai Heting’s head.

The leaf spun away into the air.

The canopy overhead grew thick and dense. A few beams of light pierced through the gaps, striking the muddy ground. As the wind blew gently, the patches of light trembled softly, and Luo Congye’s breathing became very light too, “By the time I get back, autumn will probably be almost over.”

Yet both people present knew full well that this was the most optimistic estimate. Once the battlefield became gridlocked, no one could predict a return date.

“Now that I think about it, this really is going to be a long parting,” he said, immediately contradicting himself. “You should say a few more words after all, just to make me happy.”

But the person in his arms kept his lips tightly sealed, merely taking slow breaths in and out.

Luo Congye persisted relentlessly, “Do you really not want me to go?”

“Yeah.” Bai Heting finally made a sound.

“Yeah?” He agreed so readily that Luo Congye almost thought he had misheard.

He paused, slowed his pace of speech, and asked tentatively again, “Then… after I leave, will you miss me?”

Bai Heting gave another “yeah.”

Luo Congye abruptly stood up straight.

“Bai Heting, are you trying to make me lower my guard so you can sneak away while I’m gone?” He looked down at Bai Heting, reminding him with absolute seriousness, “General Bai, a true gentleman doesn’t resort to underhanded tactics.”

He was the one who asked, yet when it was answered, he didn’t believe it. Bai Heting let out a soft sigh and leaned his head back against his shoulder.

“Don’t be half-hearted on the battlefield,” he closed his eyes and instructed softly. “Come back safely.”

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