Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 428 Chen Yiqing, Defection and Devastating News

The ninth year of the Great Xia Dynasty, the tenth day of the third month, during the day.
Northwest of Hongmen, on the outer edge of the southern side of Beining Mountain, surrounded by snow forest.

The Tomb of Ji Jiang

Lin Kai, Liu Yuan, Zhao Bao, and Li Longkai were staring intently at a solitary grave before them, while hundreds of Yunjiao soldiers clad in golden armor were scattered around searching for any clues.

The three deputy chief executioners were busy around the lonely grave with solemn expressions. Bai Shanning was checking the soil; Xiang Liang was carefully examining the tombstone; and Tong Xingsheng was the most exaggerated, directly digging at the grave with a shovel, clearly trying to open it up and dig out the corpse.

"No wonder Ji Hong didn't return to the military camp; his sister, Ji Jiang, is dead..."

Lin Kai stood before the grave, his face full of confusion and bewilderment. He subconsciously turned to look at Zhao Bao and found that the other man's face showed both astonishment and some complexity. After thinking for a moment, he frowned.

"Is Yuanxiu's marriage settled again?"

At this moment, Zhao Bao had only one thought in his mind.

To be honest, when he was in the prison, he received a message from the warden who was out searching for the brother and sister, saying that Ji Jiang's tombstone had been found on the outskirts of Beining Mountain. His first reaction was genuine delight.

But after his initial smugness, he quickly realized something was wrong.

Not only did Ji Jiang die, but her brother Ji Hong also disappeared!
Five days ago, when Zhao Bao first received Zeng Rou's report, he didn't really take it seriously. After all, Hongmen was now the gateway to the Great Xia Dynasty, with people coming and going from the eight towns, a mixed bag of people, and it was already very chaotic. In addition, there were a few strange monsters causing trouble in the city. It's no exaggeration to say that it was normal for people to go missing, let alone for two people to go missing, or for several people to die every now and then.

If it weren't for Ji Honglong's status as a military soldier, Zhao Bao wouldn't have bothered sending the prison warden to look for him.

Because of his daughter Zhao Yuanxiu's marriage, he already disliked the brother and sister Ji Hong and Ji Jiang. However, due to the strict rules of the Great Xia Dynasty and the warning from his elder brother Zhao Long, he certainly wouldn't dare to lay a hand on his own people. But in his heart, he naturally hoped that the brother and sister could suffer some hardship outside.

Therefore, from the fifth to the seventh day of the month, he only sent two iron-order prison guards to conduct a token search around Hongmen, which naturally yielded no results.

On the night of the seventh day, Hou Quan, the commander of the Longwu Army, sent a message to Liu Yuan from Ba, saying that Ji Hong, a soldier of the fifth scout team, had not returned to his unit on time after seven days of rest, and asked him to investigate what had happened.

Liu Yuan is now not only the commander of the Yunjiao Army, but also the military commissioner of the Hongmen Military Command. Soldiers not returning to their posts on time is a military matter, so Hou Quan naturally needs his cooperation in the investigation.

Three days ago, Liu Yuan received Hou Quan's letter. His first reaction was naturally bewilderment, but due to his duty, he took the lead in finding Ying Yi of the Hongmen Civil Division, discovered Ji Hong's whereabouts in Hongmen, and then went to his door immediately.

Upon searching, Liu Yuan discovered the problem.

Ji Hong and his sister haven't been home for six days.

The Great Xia Dynasty strictly governs its army. Not being able to report for duty outside of rest periods is a serious crime. The punishment ranges from ten to fifty lashes to expulsion from the army. This is the first rule that everyone must memorize after joining the army.

Ji Hong's leave ended but he didn't return to the Longwu Army to report for duty, which is a big deal in itself; otherwise, Hou Quan wouldn't have personally sent a letter to inquire about it.

Considering that the brother and sister went hunting and didn't return for six days, it's almost certain that something must have happened to them.

Now that he had confirmed that something had happened to the two men, Liu Yuan immediately went to the prison warden.

Upon learning from Liu Yuan that Ji Hong had not returned to the Ba Shang military camp on time, Zhao Bao immediately realized the seriousness of the problem and began to take the case of the brother and sister's disappearance seriously.

This emphasis quickly yielded results.

He led three deputy chief detectives to investigate and visit people in the northern part of the city for two days, and immediately pinpointed the last destination of the brother and sister before they disappeared: the outskirts of Beining Mountain.

Last night, Tong Xingsheng and his three deputy chief jailers, along with over a hundred iron-rank prison guards and a battalion drawn from the Yunjiao Army by Liu Yuan, totaling more than two hundred men, conducted a thorough search of the outskirts of Beining Mountain.

The lonely grave of Ji Jiang before us is the result of this search.

Ji Hong is no small fry. His identity as a soldier in the Dragon Martial Army already carries a lot of weight. In addition, he has top-notch combat physique and has been personally commended by Lord Xia Hong. Such a person, his sister died and he himself disappeared.

Even if Zhao Bao was incredibly bold, he wouldn't dare to hide it. Moreover, he instinctively sensed a conspiracy in this matter, so he immediately notified Lin Kai and Liu Yuan.

That's why we have this scene now, with Lin Kai, Liu Yuan, and Li Longkai all standing with him in front of this lonely grave, their brows furrowed.

Zhao Bao was lost in thought when he suddenly realized something. Turning his head, he saw Lin Kai staring at him. He immediately guessed what Lin Kai was thinking and hurriedly said with a worried expression, "Lord Lin, you don't suspect that I killed Ji Jiang, do you? Even if I were confused, I wouldn't do such a stupid thing..."

"I'm not doubting you!"

Lin Kai waved his hand to interrupt Zhao Bao, shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Leaving aside Ji Jiang's cause of death for now, she came out with Ji Hong in the middle of the night on the first day of the lunar month. This tombstone is most likely erected by Ji Hong for her..."

At this point, he frowned and continued, "Why do you think Ji Hong didn't return to Hongmen after he helped her erect the tombstone?"

"I dare not return, I am unwilling to return, I cannot return—there are only these three possibilities!"

Liu Yuan seemed to have said something pointless, but after a moment of thought, Li Longkai and Zhao Bao's expressions immediately became serious.

Click...

"Sir, the body has been dug up!"

Just then, Tong Xingsheng's voice came from the other side of the mound.

Lin Kai and his three companions rushed over immediately. Upon seeing the condition of the female corpse inside the mound, all four of them frowned slightly.

The temperature in the Ice Abyss is extremely low, so even if the corpse is not treated, it can be preserved for a long time. The female corpse in the mound has basically no change in appearance, and it can be seen at a glance that she has only recently died.

Of course, this was not unexpected for the four of them. Ji Jiang had only disappeared on the night of the first day of the third month. Even if she had died shortly after going out, it had only been nine days since then, so the state of her body was perfectly reasonable.

The four men frowned because they saw the large knife wound on Ji Jiang's neck.

"He was murdered!"

After Lin Kai finished speaking, a hint of speculation flashed in his eyes, but he didn't say anything more and just continued to wait for Tong Xingsheng to perform the autopsy.

"She's been dead for about nine days, so she was probably killed on the night of the first day of the lunar month. The fatal wound was to her neck; there were no other wounds on her body. Judging from the depth of the neck wound, the killer's strength was absolutely overwhelming. It's highly likely that she was killed in one blow before she could even react..."

Tong Xingsheng was extremely experienced in autopsies. He quickly gleaned a lot of information from the wound on the woman's neck. He then lifted the woman up and was about to examine the other parts of her body.

But as soon as he raised his head, his expression suddenly froze.

"Sir, please come down and take a look..."

Upon hearing the sound, Lin Kai and his three companions immediately jumped into the grave pit.

The four of them looked in the direction Tong Xingsheng was pointing, and their expressions suddenly froze.

It turned out that there were three words under the woman's body.

Those three characters were hastily arranged with small stones. The characters were not neat, and you could tell that the person who arranged them was in a panic. The characters were even a bit messed up because Tong Xingsheng had been lifting the corpse too vigorously.

Tong Xingsheng naturally noticed it as well. He put down the female corpse, then walked to the small stone and carefully fiddled with it for a while. The three words were immediately restored.

Chen Yiqing

"A name?" "Didn't the master say that the person who erected the monument for Ji Jiang was most likely Ji Hong? Then this name must have been left to us by Ji Hong, right?"

Unlike Liu Yuan and the other two, Lin Kai seemed to immediately understand something upon seeing this name, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

“I know what Ji Hong wants to tell us. Collect Ji Jiang’s body and transport it back to Xia City for burial. Come back with me first!”

After Lin Kai finished speaking, he turned and walked towards Hongmen.

Although Liu Yuan and the other two were somewhat puzzled, they quickly followed.

………………

The ninth year of the Great Xia Dynasty, the twelfth day of the third month, at night.
The fourth floor of the Hongmen City government building houses the prison morgue.
Zeng Rou walked in shakily from the doorway. When she saw her once lively and cheerful best friend lying motionless on the ice bed, now a cold corpse, her breath caught in her throat. Tears streamed down her face like raindrops. With a mournful cry, she couldn't help but throw herself onto Ji Jiang's body and weep uncontrollably.

“Ah Jiang…”

She wasn't the only one in the morgue; Tong Xingsheng and a dozen other iron-ordered prison guards were also there. They all sighed slightly when they heard her crying.

Tong Xingsheng was examining another body when he saw Zeng Rou crying for an hour without stopping. He couldn't help but walk over to her and softly comfort her, "Miss Zeng, please accept my condolences. The dead cannot be brought back to life. Ji Jiang has no relatives left. We plan to transport her body back to Xia City for burial tomorrow. If you..."

"Lord Tong, Brother Ji would never betray us. He is utterly loyal to the lord and to the Great Xia Dynasty. There is no way he would defect from the camp. Your prison office must have made a mistake. Lord Lin has misunderstood..."

Before Tong Xingsheng could finish speaking, Zeng Rou turned around and interrupted him. Before Tong Xingsheng could speak, she seemed to remember something and continued, "Moreover, there must be something hidden about A-Jiang's death. Brother Ji isn't the kind of person who's fickle. I know best what his feelings for the lord are like... he..."

"Miss Zeng!"

Tong Xingsheng suddenly interrupted Zeng Rou, his tone unusually serious: "Ji Hong's defection was announced by Lord Lin himself, and there is no room for leniency. No matter what the hidden reasons are for Ji Jiang's death, they cannot be a reason for his defection. From now on, Ji Hong is the enemy of Great Xia."

"Impossible, impossible, Brother Ji would never..."

Zeng Rou clearly wouldn't listen to Tong Xingsheng's words, still muttering that Ji Hong would never betray her. But when she saw Tong Xingsheng turn his head away and ignore her, she didn't continue.

An angry look suddenly appeared on her face, and she questioned, "Who said A-Jiang had no relatives? I am her relative, and there is also Lord Xu An of Wuyuan, who is her fiancé. A-Jiang's body does not need you to send it away; I will send it myself."

After saying that, she ignored Tong Xingsheng's objections and wrapped Ji Jiang's body in a white cloth, then carried her out of the morgue.

"Why…………"

Tong Xingsheng tried to speak up to stop her, but seeing Zeng Rou's tear-streaked face, he couldn't bring himself to say anything. He sighed softly and let her go.

………………

The ninth year of the Great Xia Dynasty, March 15th, night.

The Wuyuan City Government Office Building has three floors, including the main hall of the Civil Affairs Department.

Xu An, who was handling government affairs, suddenly had his eyebrows twitching violently.

As if sensing something, he suddenly looked up at the main hall entrance, his expression darkening slightly as he asked, "Who's standing outside?"

"It's...it's me, Brother Xu."

A familiar female voice sounded from outside the door. Xu An was startled, then a look of guilt appeared on his face. He subconsciously sat up straight, wanting to say something.

"Brother Xu, don't be nervous, I'm not here to bother you this time..."

A beautiful woman in a white dress walked gracefully in from outside the door. She was about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, and her beautiful eyes were focused on Xu An, making no attempt to hide the love in them.

But besides love, there seemed to be some inexplicable sympathy in her eyes.

"Yuanxiu, I'm sorry!"

Xu An indeed dared not meet Zhao Yuanxiu's gaze. He believed that his feelings for Ji Jiang had never changed, but Zhao Yuanxiu's proactive pursuit over the years, coupled with her previous act of risking her reputation to ask her father to arrange a marriage between her and her elder brother, had moved Xu An somewhat. Therefore, he felt a little guilty towards Zhao Yuanxiu.

“Brother Xu, it was a matter of mutual consent, there’s nothing to be sorry about. You and Ji Jiang are childhood sweethearts, you were meant to be a couple, in the end I’m the one who came between you.”

Upon hearing Zhao Yuanxiu's words, Xu An was taken aback. He remembered clearly that Zhao Yuanxiu was not like this before.

Really changed sex?

Thinking of this, Xu An immediately felt much more relaxed. He looked up at Zhao Yuanxiu and comforted her, "Yuanxiu, there are many people in Great Xia who are more outstanding than me, you..."

Xu An stopped halfway through his sentence.

Because he didn't dare to look Zhao Yuanxiu in the eye, he had been looking down. Only when he looked up now did he realize that Zhao Yuanxiu's eyes were filled with pity.

He suddenly remembered the feeling of palpitation he had just experienced and asked, "Yuanxiu, haven't you been in Xia City lately? Why did you suddenly come to Wuyuan?"

"Brother Xu, I just heard some bad news. I thought you were in Wuyuan and no one might have informed you yet, so I came to find you on my own."

"what news?"

Upon hearing this, Xu An's heart skipped a beat.

Zhao Yuanxiu's expression faltered slightly, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, but then he continued in a deep voice: "Ji Jiang was killed on the southern outskirts of Beining Mountain. The murderer is still unknown. Her brother, Ji Hong, has been confirmed to have defected. Lord Lin Kailin, the Hongmen Envoy, has ordered a manhunt for him throughout the Nine Towns."

Snap...

"what?"

Xu An jumped up from his chair. The news was so shocking to him that he didn't even have time to process it. He thought he had misheard and asked in surprise, "Ji Hong has defected? How is that possible?"

As he said this, his body jolted, and only then did he realize that Zhao Yuanxiu's first words had frozen his expression, his pupils filled with panic.

"Ji Jiang was murdered?"

"Impossible, impossible!"

“I just exchanged letters with her at the end of last month, it’s impossible.”

"Absolutely impossible!"

………………

Xu An sat back down in his chair, asked a dozen questions in a row, and then suddenly realized what he had done. He quickly stood up and rushed out of the hall.

"Please ask Shi Shouzheng for leave for me. I'm going to Hongmen and will be back tomorrow morning."

(End of this chapter)