Chapter 201: A Shocking Secret

Chapter 201: A Shocking Secret

With General Yue Feipeng’s awakening, the general’s mansion was filled with joy. The strange old man who had cured General Yue naturally became an honored guest. A grand feast was laid out in the mansion, with everyone drinking to their heart’s content.

“Old sir, I truly thank you,” said Yue Feipeng. “If not for your help, I fear I wouldn’t have survived. If you have any requests, as long as I can fulfill them, I will do so to repay your life-saving kindness.”

The old man, drunk and full, swallowed a piece of meat before advising General Yue, “This old man... has nothing... that needs the general’s help. I only hope that in the future, the general will respect the Fox God and never again destroy Fox God temples.”

Yue Feipeng hadn’t expected this response. He asked curiously, “Old sir, does the Fox God truly exist in this world?”

The old man smiled mysteriously through his drunkenness, “If you believe... it exists. If you don’t... it doesn’t. But if you don’t believe... yet force others not to believe... you’ll surely face retribution.” With that, the old man collapsed onto the table, asleep from too much drink.

A glint flashed in Yue Feipeng’s eyes; he still didn’t believe in any Fox God. “Someone, help the old sir to rest.”

“Yes, sir!” Two soldiers carried the old man away.

After the banquet dispersed, Yue Feipeng kept Deputy General Li in a secret chamber.

“His claim that I was cursed by the Fox God isn’t credible. I must have been poisoned, probably at that time...” Yue Feipeng recalled: “When we were scouting the border terrain earlier, didn’t we save a group of civilians? A little girl among them gave me a piece of cake, which I ate without suspicion. The next day, the poison took effect. It seems those civilians were actually from the Blue Hill Kingdom. I fell into their trap.”

“I know about that incident, General. I was there too. I sent people to pursue them immediately, but that group vanished like smoke. My men tracked them to a fox den, where they seemed to disappear into thin air.”

“A fox den? Foxes again?” Yue Feipeng’s face darkened, feeling enveloped by a grand conspiracy. “We must keep that old man under close watch. We can’t let him escape. He came with the antidote to save me – what’s his real plot?”

“Yes, don’t worry. I’ve arranged hidden guards to watch him,” said Deputy General Li.

Yue Feipeng rubbed his temples, having to deal with these strange matters right after waking up. After Li left, he took out the wooden box Zhanyue had brought him. He unfolded the silk cloth inside, which was indeed a map, though he didn’t know what it marked. However, he didn’t focus much on the cloth, instead examining the box carefully before finally smashing it. The box had a hidden compartment containing a secret letter. This was something Zhanyue hadn’t anticipated; anyone opening the box would focus on the silk cloth, not the box itself. Yet the real secret lay within the box, something General Yue had previously arranged with a friend.

“Brother Feipeng, by the time you receive this letter, I fear I’ll no longer be in this world. I don’t even know when you’ll receive it. But I don’t want this secret to be buried, and after much thought, I feel I should tell you...” The letter writer was Yu Xinwen, father of Yu Dayou, the Cloud Ink Village chief. Yu Xinwen had once enlisted in the army with Yue Feipeng, both performing excellently. But their paths diverged – one remained in the military, while the other entered the palace, becoming a leader of the Imperial Guard and deeply trusted by the previous emperor.

After reading the letter, Yue Feipeng’s eyes widened, his whole body trembling. The letter completely overturned his understanding of things.

Yue Feipeng’s face darkened. He gritted his teeth and said, “Don’t mention foxes in front of me again.”

“Oh...” Li was confused by this reaction.

Meanwhile, the old man was fleeing at top speed, having completed his mission and just needing to escape. However, a figure followed closely behind – Zhanyue. Ordinary people might think the old man was just after the golden statue, but Zhanyue knew it wasn’t so simple. This old man was certainly no ordinary person. Zhanyue had also kept watch for a long time and had seen something incredible: the old man using a bone-shrinking technique to make himself smaller and squeeze out through a gap in the roof tiles. The old man’s lightness skill was impressive, but he still couldn’t evade Zhanyue.

“How long are you going to chase me?” the old man shouted. He was nearly exhausted, never imagining there could be someone in the world whose lightness skill surpassed his, the ‘White Rat’.

Soon, Zhanyue’s hand landed on his shoulder. “Still running?”

“Impossible! Who are you? How could you catch up to me?” White Rat was astounded. He was supposed to be the world’s best in lightness skill, a generation’s king of thieves. But he didn’t know that with Zhanyue’s arrival in this world, that title had to be relinquished. It was truly a case of the king of thieves meeting the saint of thieves.

“Let’s cut to the chase. Where did you get that antidote? How could it cure General Yue?” Zhanyue asked directly.

“What antidote? I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” White Rat’s eyes darted evasively.

“If you don’t understand words, maybe you’ll understand this.” A dagger pressed against White Rat’s throat.

“Great... great hero, no need for weapons. Let’s talk this out. I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you everything. The antidote was given to me by a fox immortal,” White Rat said.

“You’re still trying to fool me? What fox immortal? Nonsense,” Zhanyue said, exasperated.

“Hero, it’s... it’s true. It was a fox immortal. That day I was sleeping in a Fox God temple when a blurry figure appeared beside me. I couldn’t see clearly. It said it would give me a great fortune and then gave me a gourd, telling me to find that General Zhang. It guaranteed I’d be rich and famous after curing General Yue. I’m telling the truth,” White Rat hurriedly explained, not seeming to be lying.

“Then why are you running?” Zhanyue asked, puzzled. “You saved General Yue’s life. What are you afraid of?”

“I... I don’t know. I just had a gut feeling that staying there was dangerous. My instincts are usually right...” As he finished speaking, White Rat’s expression changed. He had been preparing for a while and finally let out a thunderous fart. Zhanyue felt nauseous from the stench. In a moment of dizziness, he realized White Rat had vanished.

“He got away... like a weasel,” Zhanyue quickly moved to a clean area to recover. “Next time I see him, I won’t let him off so easily,” he said through gritted teeth.