Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 265 Pig Man
A fire suddenly lit up the dark cell.

It emanated from Gu Jingnian's fingertips, illuminating the figure of the boy huddled in the dirty haystack.

"Are you a pig?"

After Gu Jingnian asked a question, the boy slowly sat up and turned to look at him.

"Yes."

The boy's voice was soft and muffled due to timidity.

His face and body looked extremely frail, as if he couldn't even lift a straw. Gu Jingnian had never seen such a frail person before. Even the emaciated refugees during famine years were more powerful than him.

“Then we’re practically the same kind,” Gu Jingnian said.

The boy didn't speak, nor did he show any surprise in his eyes. He just stared blankly at Gu Jingnian.

Although they were silent, they seemed like old acquaintances.

Miao Chunniang tugged at Gu Jingnian's sleeve and shook her head, meaning she didn't know if this pig-man was Zhao Boheng's man, because she couldn't sense that he had taken Zhao Boheng's medicine.

"What's your name?" Gu Jingnian asked.

“A-Xu”.

"Come out."

Gu Jingnian summoned the jailer and opened the cell door.

A-Xu struggled to stand for a moment but couldn't get up. Gu Jingnian then went in and helped him up, but he was very apprehensive, afraid of getting the stains on Gu Jingnian.

"No... I dare not trouble... Young Master."

"What did you call me?"

"Young... Young Master."

Gu Jingnian was slightly taken aback and stopped what he was doing.

Miao Chunniang stepped forward and asked softly, "Are you really a descendant of the Undying Army?"

"Yes."

A-Xu answered softly, glanced up at Gu Jingnian, and then lowered her head guiltily.

Miao Chunniang then asked, "How do you know he is Qiu Funan's son? Who told you?"

She initially thought it was Zhao Boheng's deliberate arrangement to let the Undying Army members come into contact with Gu Jingnian, but A Xu gave her a rather unexpected answer.

“We’ve always known,” A-Xu said slowly and with difficulty. “We, the prisoners of the Valiant Army, have always known that our leader had a child with… with…”

He didn't call Gu Beiming by his name directly, nor did he refer to him as "General." He mentioned Gu Beiming vaguely, and then became even more nervous, his voice trembling as he spoke the rest of the sentence.

"Are you a prisoner of the Valiant Army?"

"Yes."

Gu Jingnian also thought that Axu was Zhao Boheng's man, after all, they were both descendants of the Yue Kingdom. But after asking again, he realized that he was wrong. Axu and his group of Zhi people had been captured in Jusai City. Later, Gu Beiming surrendered to the Yong Kingdom and presented some of the Zhi people captives to Yongjing. This time, Qu Jizhi went to the southwest on business. Because he was worried about the dangerous situation, he brought a few Zhi people with him in case of emergency, so that they could be used as military rations.

For the time being, this matter seems to have nothing to do with Zhao Boheng, but whether there are other schemes behind it is unknown. After all, Zhao Boheng has long had the idea of ​​winning over the remnants of the Undying Army and integrating all the forces of the Yue people.

Gu Jingnian was also very curious about the Undying Army.

From childhood to adulthood, the Gu family never spoke of his "lowly" birth mother. It was only after coming into contact with the remnants of the Yue Kingdom that they were able to find out some details.

He brought A-Xu back to the inn and arranged some food for him.

Soon, a bowl of lean meat porridge was served.

"Eat."

The porcelain bowl for the porridge was exquisite. Ah Xu looked at the colorful patterns on it, pursed his lips, swallowed hard, and said, "I am a lowly person and do not deserve to eat such a thing."

"Who said you have a worthless life?"

“Boy boys don’t live to adulthood; they have a worthless fate,” A-Xu said, head bowed.

Seeing A-Xu's timid and hesitant demeanor, Gu Jingnian realized that he couldn't be taught in a short time. He swallowed back the words of reasoning he was about to say and instead gave a command.

"Just eat what I tell you to eat."

A-Xu was taken aback. Not daring to disobey, he carefully held the bowl without lifting it, hunching his shoulders and craning his neck to eat in small bites. He had never eaten such exquisite food before, and he ate with great relish. By the end, he wished he could lick the bowl clean, but fearing he would dirty it, he scraped off the remaining rice water bit by bit, which made him look quite bitter.

"You like this bowl?" Seeing his expression, Gu Jingnian said, "Then this bowl is for you."

Ah Xu was overjoyed and finally dared to pick up the bowl and lick it.

Gu Jingnian asked Miao Chunniang, "You said before that there are still remnants of the Undying Army. Is that him?"

Miao Chunniang shook her head and said, "It's not him. I'm talking about the remnants of the Undying Army, who are bandits in Tiger's Mouth Mountain, which borders the Yan and Yu states."

Upon hearing this, A-Xu looked at Gu Jingnian, hesitating to speak.

"Speak your mind." "We know about Tiger's Mouth Mountain."

"How did you know?"

“The little men are prisoners in the city of Gyuse, but they also have a source of information.”

At first, A-Xu spoke haltingly, but after becoming more familiar with Gu Jingnian, his tone became smoother.

Another reason why the Zhiren were bullied and treated like fish meat was also revealed: they were simple-minded.

Because he trusted Gu Jingnian, Axu said whatever he knew.

"Does the young master know General Wu?"

"Who is he?"

“General Wu Niu used to be the chief’s deputy general. He surrendered when the Rui army came,” A Xu said. “Although he surrendered, he took good care of the prisoners. He was the one who told us about the young master’s affairs. He also said that if the young master were to take charge of the Gu family, the lives of the Zhi people would be better. Later, General Wu was found to be disloyal to the Rui Kingdom and fled to Tiger Mouth Mountain.”

At this point, A-Xu looked forward to it with great anticipation.

But that was all he knew about the remnants of the Undying Army at Tiger's Mouth Mountain.

Gu Jingnian then asked about A-Xu's background.

It turns out that the Rui army often arranged for male and female pig-people to mate, producing new pig-people for various purposes. They were often sent to the battlefield or used as military rations, and probably some were even used to make medicine.

After saying all this, A-Xu was already very weak.

Gu Jingnian then told him to go and rest, while he asked Miao Chunniang, "It's useless for Gu Jizu to drink my blood, but the pig people are the same kind as me. If I use my blood to make some simple pills for him, will it make him stronger?"

The "simple pills" he mentioned were the kind Zhao Boheng had previously refined to enhance the strength of the Yong Kingdom's generals, not the blood-coagulating beads found in the realm.

Miao Chunniang was taken aback and asked in return, "You want to use blood to refine medicine and make others stronger?"

“He’s one of us now, isn’t he?” Gu Jingnian said. “My blood is inexhaustible. If we can use my blood to make pills that make the pigs stronger, I can quickly win over the Undead Army, and our strength can increase rapidly.”

Miao Chunniang said, "But how can we trust the Undying Army?"

“Didn’t my sister-in-law want to use me to unite them before? She said I was their leader’s son,” Gu Jingnian said. “Even if we couldn’t trust each other at the beginning, isn’t this a way to gain their trust?”

Miao Chunniang couldn't pinpoint what was wrong, but she subconsciously felt that helping others become stronger was a loss.

Gu Jingnian's attitude was different. The Undying Army was the core group he had the best chance to win over. If he could use his inexhaustible blood to win over, strengthen, and control these people, it would be entirely beneficial.

In comparison, the Yue Kingdom's refining process was a wasteful endeavor, using the entire nation's resources and the lives of millions to create extraordinary abilities for only a handful of people. Gu Jingnian, on the other hand, did the opposite.

To succeed, one must have this much magnanimity.

The reasoning is self-evident; when Miao Chunniang saw the firmness and open-mindedness in Gu Jingnian's eyes, she quickly understood.

She hesitated and said, "Master has never let me watch him refine medicine before. I just don't know if he can refine pills using only blood."

"Then I'll trouble you to ask, sister-in-law."

Gu Jingnian called her "sister-in-law," but his tone made it sound like he was treating Miao Chunniang as a subordinate.

Miao Chunniang complied and agreed before turning to leave.

As Fengniang watched the graceful figure hidden beneath the mourning clothes disappear into the distance, she couldn't help but say, "Your sister-in-law is so good to you, always taking care of everything."

Gu Jingnian ignored her pointless chatter and said, "I told you before that I would take you to Woye."

"You did say that, otherwise why would I have wandered here in such a state?"

Feng Niang's tone was reproachful, but when she mentioned the words "wandering and displacement," she looked at Gu Jingnian with eyes full of autumn water, her gaze carrying a hint of tenderness.

What's more captivating than gentleness is that that gentleness flashes by, concealed by a cunning glint.

“But now I’ve discovered that Woye is not a paradise,” Gu Jingnian said. “The story of the Queen Mother of the West bestowing medicine is false, and the immortality of the Womin people is the result of refining countless living beings.”

"I know."

"you know?"

"The extraordinary people of Zhongzhou are all those who failed to make it in the Yihai region thousands of years ago and were left behind after their joint attack on Zhongzhou failed. How could they possibly go back?"

"Then you even drew a map to get home?"

Fengniang sighed softly and said, "That is the hometown I have painted in my heart."

Gu Jingnian asked, "If that's the case, why did you follow me on the road to Woye?"

Feng Niang smiled slightly, and instead of answering, asked, "What do you think?"

She moved closer to Gu Jingnian, her delicate, flawless skin very close to his eyes, and a faint fragrance tickled his nose.

With great difficulty, Gu Jingnian managed to hold on.

“I have let you down. I wanted to take you far away.” He paused, then said, “But now, I want to create another ‘cageman’.”

(End of this chapter)