Chapter 398: Hanging on to Life (1) (1/2)

Once General Qian heard that He Sanlang had rejected his mission, his first reaction was disappointment. After a moment, his next reaction was to grin with frustration from the brat’s actions.

No matter what, He Sanlang was an upstanding man who followed his own moral compass. He hadn’t been tempted by the easy chance to gain merit and had instead chosen to save his own wife first. Great General Qian only respected him even more for that choice.

It was more human to be carried away by one’s emotions. If a man could abandon his wife and children for the sake of chasing achievement or merit, then even if he had great talent, General Qian would prefer that he simply vanish without having those talents recognised.

He Changdi personally led his men in the investigation. After half a day of searching, they finally got some leads.

He Sanlang’s tense, statue-like face finally loosened and warmed up a little.

He took the men under him who were the most skilled in martial arts and rushed all the way through the night to the place the leads pointed to.

The harsh winds were accompanied by icy snowflakes, cutting like razors and jagged stones across his face. However, He Changdi acted as if he couldn’t feel any of it and urged his mount onwards across the snow-white plains fading into twilight.

He realised that he couldn’t think of Chu Lian at all. The moment she appeared in his thoughts, it felt as if someone had stabbed him in the heart. It hurt a lot.

He Changdi suddenly felt that he had turned into something beyond his control, something scary and fearsome. If anything happened to that wicked woman, even killing every single person wouldn’t be able to ease the hatred in his heart.

The mix of emotions in his chest made him uneasy. Ever since his reincarnation, he had thought that there would only be hatred left for him in this lifetime, that he would be able to remain calm and detached towards anything. However, in these mere six months, he had experienced a greater swath of emotions than he had ever felt in his previous life. And now the person who had brought all that to him was possibly in danger.

He Changdi raised the whip in his hands and directed it at his horse’s rump. He had to go faster, even faster!

He wanted to fly right to Chu Lian’s side and pull her into his embrace and comfort her.

Xiao Hongyu, Li Yue, Li Xing, and the rest of the party behind him could only grit their teeth and do their best to follow upon watching him whip his horse on faster and faster.

A hill finally came into sight before them, surrounded by darkness and the swirling snowy winds.

By the time He Changdi and his party had reached the two tents in the middle of the hill, night had fallen.

The owner of the tents had already been frightened half to death by the sudden visitors earlier that day. Now that another party brimming with a ferocious aura had come, he was overcome with misery.

He scrambled over to welcome them in a panic and tried his best to show them an accommodating smile. He raised his arm, prepared to welcome the icy-looking man in front with a proper Han salute. However, before he could, the owner was immediately pushed over onto the snow by that same handsome man.

He Changdi couldn’t wait for the man to speak. He strode forward with great urgency and quickly pulled aside the tent flap of one of the tents.