The Enemy General is a Bondservant

Events of days past (3)

“Such a lecher!” Little Bai sneered in disgust. He hopped off Duanmu Li’s body and fastened his clothes properly around him, then quickly and efficiently fished out the Tiger Seal1 and military maps from Duanmu Li’s clothes. He took Duanmu Li’s purse as well, since he was at it anyway.

He placed all these things securely into the folds of his clothes, then tied the black hair that fell over his shoulders in soft waves up into a neat, clean ponytail.

The delicate, charming courtesan had transformed into a confident and imposing youth.

This new courtesan at the brothel house called Little Bai was no other than the awe-inspiring Great Crimson Flame General of Yao, Zhan Tianbai.

Because Zhan Tianbai was unable to win the Emperor’s trust, he had not been sent to the battlefront immediately. As a result of that poor decision, news that Yao’s Li City had fallen to the Nanchu cavalry quickly spread far and wide.

The one name that had been mentioned particularly often in relation to that was Duanmu Li, the Great Fuguo General of Nanchu.

Zhan Tianbai had yet to go up against Duanmu Li at that time. All he had heard was that this member of the Nanchu royal family was only fond of men, and as such had made plans to check out Duanmu Li for himself in this way.

“Hmph. He’s really nothing to shout about,” Zhan Tianbai sniffed.

Nanchu might have taken Li City, but there were many people here who would jump at the opportunity to kill this Nanchu Wangye. Li City had been a territory of Yao since time immemorial after all.

“If you let down your guard this easily, you deserve what’s coming to you next,” Zhan Tianbai said, pulling out a dagger from below the bed. 

The blade flashed bright and silver; it was keen and sharp.

Before this, Zhan Tianbai had sent his subordinates to tail Duanmu Li, and when they confirmed that he had entered this brothel house, he had made the necessary preparations.

Originally, he had intended to just poison the wine he served to Duanmu Li, but rumour had it that Duanmu Li’s body was impervious to all poison. That was why he had switched to using a soporific drug instead to knock him out.

“Duanmu Li, you and I serve different masters and are working for the good of our own countries. You can’t blame me for using underhanded tactics,” Zhan Tianbai said.

His bright black eyes were fixed firmly on the soundly sleeping Duanmu Li as he raised a hand and aimed the dagger straight at Duanmu Li’s throat. 

Clatter!

The dagger that had been in Zhan Tianbai’s hand fell onto the ground. The unexpected blow was hard, and Zhan Tianbai had to retreat two steps back to regain his balance.

When he raised his head again, he saw Duanmu Li, who should have still been knocked out by the drugs, sitting up straight on the bed, his arms folded across his chest, staring icy daggers at him out of slightly narrowed eyes.

“You…!” Zhan Tianbai couldn’t help inhaling sharply.

“What?” Duanmu Li said, smiling frostily. “Surprised?”

“You weren’t knocked out by the sleeping drugs?!”

How could it be?

Zhan Tianbai subconsciously turned to look at the wine jar and the wine cup on the table.

He had taken the antidote in advance, and that was why he hadn’t been knocked out, but how could Duanmu Li have avoided losing consciousness?

In that brief moment when Zhan Tianbai turned his head away, Duanmu Li had shot off a powerful palm blast at Zhan Tianbai using his internal force.

Zhan Tianbai dodged like lightning just in the nick of time, then leapt backwards lithely, putting more distance between himself and Duanmu Li.

“You’re pretty agile!” Duanmu Li said. His deep voice sounded strangely amused and pleased.

“What on earth are you playing at…” Zhan Tianbai said, his brows furrowing.

“You want to know why knockout drugs have no effect on this Wang?” Duanmu Li asked, grinning widely. He looked like a wild beast that couldn’t wait to tear into its chosen prey. “Before I entered this brothel house, I already realised that I had been followed… you probably sent your best shadow guards2 to tail me, didn’t you?” 

Zhan Tianbai’s expression became irked; he felt like Duanmu Li was mocking him.

“It’s extremely unfortunate, but that fellow’s skills were just not up to par. Also… this brothel’s boss and those heavily made up courtesans from earlier were clearly all martial artists with strong internal force, so I had been on my guard all this time…” Duanmu Li said. He paused, then raised a hand to point at Zhan Tianbai. “And you, you were the one with the strongest internal force.”

On hearing this, Zhan Tianbai’s heart thudded ominously in his chest, and he silently clenched his jaw.

He had already taken the utmost care not to be found out, but Duanmu Li had still noticed all this. How strong was this man, really?!

In that moment, Zhan Tianbai suddenly had a very strong desire to fight fair and square with Duanmu Li on the battlefield. It would certainly be an invigorating and exciting match.

“Do you always look at men in this way?” Duanmu Li asked.