ITF Chapter76

Just like Bai Heting and Jiang Han, Luo Congye’s residence on the island had also been prepared with Lin Qian’s help. At the time, he had only made two requirements regarding the location: it had to face the sea, and it had to be on the west side of the island.

The sun slowly rose from behind him, and the ink-blue canopy overhead seemed diluted by water, silently fading as time passed before finally turning into a clear, bright blue.

The temperature climbed rapidly under the sunlight, baking his cheeks until they felt hot, but what jolted Luo Congye out of his memories was the recent injury on his shoulder.

He pulled open his collar to take a look; the knife wound that had still not fully healed had split open once more during yesterday’s commotion, showing faint signs of becoming inflamed again.

He rubbed his dry, aching eyes, stretched his neck and shoulders which had grown stiff from sitting for so long, and stood up from the beach.

*

As the red sun first rose, Chen Qiao brought the carriage to a halt in front of the wooden cabin where Bai Heting was temporarily staying. A few days ago, he had been the one to drive this very carriage to deliver Bai Heting here.

Bai Heting appeared to have been waiting for a long time; before Chen Qiao could even get down from the carriage, he had already walked out fully dressed and ready. To Chen Qiao’s surprise, he did not make a request to go pick up the other person.

This situation did not match what Luo Congye had previously instructed. However, Chen Qiao asked no questions, which saved him a lot of trouble.

The two made the journey in total silence, and the carriage soon arrived at the nearest pier. Docked at the end of the pier was a small sailboat capable of carrying about a dozen people. As Bai Heting drew closer, he saw three other unfamiliar faces on board working together to untie the ropes securing the white sails. Chen Qiao led him to a seat at the stern of the boat, then ducked into the cabin to fetch a few items.

Looking up at the now fully bright sky, Chen Qiao let out a relieved sigh, “Your luck is quite good. Today’s weather is very suitable for setting sail.”

Bai Heting watched him without making a sound. This Beta had a composed demeanor and looked to be around his age. He was holding a piece of black cloth and a thick hemp rope, his purpose was self-evident.

“The location of this place can’t be exposed.” Chen Qiao also looked slightly embarrassed, offering an apologetic smile. “I’m truly sorry for the offense. It’s for our own safety.”

*

Lin Qian did not give Luo Congye any friendly looks today either.

If she had to choose one word to describe Luo Congye, Lin Qian’s choice would be—heartless. Three years ago, to rescue Luo Congye from Bai Heting’s official residence, the Urdan people had paid a price in blood. When he was brought before Lin Qian, his life was already hanging by a thread, and it was only after she and several other physicians gave their all in treating him that they barely managed to pull him back from the gates of hell. Yet, when he woke from a coma that lasted over half a month, his very first reaction was actually to go back and court death.

However, Lin Qian also had to admit that this young man, who had taken over Bei Chengzhou’s position, had made many correct decisions. Over the past three years, the Urdan forces had completely ceased direct armed confrontation with the royal regular army, instead withdrawing from Urdan in organized waves as planned and living in relative peace and ease for the next three years. Later, as the domestic situation grew increasingly chaotic, they absorbed a group of experimentalist scholars who had been oppressed by the religious factions and left with no way out and established a hidden armed base in the mountain forests of southern Damasen.

Yet, no one could have imagined that Luo Congye, who had finally agreed to come to the island, would actually bring their archenemy back with him.

Still, bringing Senior Jiang to the island could be counted as redeeming his mistake with merit. Pretending not to notice Luo Congye push the door open and enter, Lin Qian carefully smoothed the herbal medicine over Jiang Han’s wrist, then took a towel soaked in hot water and wrung out the excess moisture.

Luo Congye stood at the doorway and stared blankly at Jiang Han for a moment, only speaking up after a long while, “Why are you here?”

“What kind of tone is that?” Lin Qian was already angry, and hearing this made her even more furious, “Do you have any manners at all?”

With the injury on his hand making movement inconvenient, it had taken all of her persuasion yesterday to make him stay and spend the night in the guest room of her home. She placed the hot towel over Jiang Han’s wrist and answered with a somewhat impatient, dismissive tone, “I still haven’t found a suitable residence for Senior yet.”

Luo Congye knit his brows. Yesterday, he had specifically instructed Chen Qiao to send both Jiang Han and Bai Heting away together.

“Oh right, Luo Congye.” Lin Qian dried her hands with another cloth, her tone conversational, “Senior Jiang said that the two of them are not in that kind of relationship at all. I knew it, how could Senior possibly…”

Luo Congye had no time to ponder what she was talking about, directly interrupting her, “Did Chen Qiao not come looking for you?”

“Chen Qiao?” Lin Qian froze, “No, why would he come here?”

Jiang Han rested his wrist flat on the table and sat up straight in his chair. This usually gentle Beta physician rarely showed a look of interrogation.

“Why would you think that I and Ji…” He was still not used to directly calling Bai Heting by his old name, stopping halfway through his sentence and changing his wording, “…and General Bai are…” He paused, so embarrassed it was almost hard to speak, “…in that kind of relationship?”

Luo Congye, however, turned a deaf ear to his words. He looked at Lin Qian and pressed quickly with another question, “Does Chen Qiao know that he is here with you?”

“He should, I didn’t hide it from anyone.” The three of them were all speaking on different wavelengths, talking about topics completely unrelated to one another. Lin Qian stopped packing up the medicinal ingredients and asked in confusion, “Why do you keep asking about him?”

Luo Congye gave no further response and simply turned to leave the room.

“Luo Congye!” Jiang Han hurriedly stood up and called out to him loudly.

The wanted posters issued by the king all used Pei Yan’s real name, and this unfamiliar name also made Jiang Han a bit unaccustomed.

Luo Congye paused his steps before casting a distracted look back at him.

This Alpha’s absentminded attitude truly angered Jiang Han, and he no longer intended to hide his fury, “You should apologize to him.” With a cold expression and steady gaze, he gave a subtle yet solemn reminder, “Having thoughts like that is an insult to him.”

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