Chapter 1193: His backbone (2/2)

“What are you so excited about? If you don’t want her to go, just take her away. My eye isn’t so good so I’ll just pretend I didn’t notice,” Ning Cheng teased.

Han Yunxi had long wrote to him about keeping an eye on Jin Zi so he wouldn’t bully Mu Linger. Ning Cheng didn’t take it seriously because he knew what kind of man Jin Zi was better than anyone else.

No matter how much Jin Zi liked his melon, he wouldn’t eat it if it was forced.

Jin Zi said no more. He reached out a hand, but Ning Cheng easily took out the indenture agreement from his sleeve and placed it in Jin Zi’s palm.

Shocked, Jin Zi nevertheless tightened his grip around the paper in case Ning Cheng snatched it back again.

“There will be no more wars in Northern Li’s northern regions. I received news from the snow mountains yesterday that all of the civilians there rose in revolt.” Ning Cheng wasn’t joking as his expression turned serious. “We had an agreement back then. After you help me take down Northern Li, I’d give you your indenture agreement.”

Jin Zi had no feelings of gratitude in his heart. He had earned this paper fair and square. After studying it carefully to make sure it was genuine, he tore it to shreds and tossed it into a furnace.

“Heheh, you can take her away now! Do it before I change my mind,” Ning Cheng laughed as he left the tent.

Ning Cheng wasn’t doing this to test Jin Zi because there was no need. He simply wanted to persuade Han Yunxi not to worry. Compared to Gu Qishao, Ning Cheng still favored Jin Zi more. He even had a little bit of selfish motives at heart. If he couldn’t make Jin Zi stay behind to oversee the Black Clan, perhaps Mu Linger might.

--

Mu Linger only had two hours left in the camp, but Jin Zi never went to find her. Ning Cheng discovered that he’d left all his affairs with a deputy general and disappeared before Mu Linger’s departure.

After eating her meal, Mu Linger finally left the tent. She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t see Jin Zi around and went to find Gu Beiyue directly. Just like that, Mu Linger didn’t stay a single night at the main camp and left with the doctor for a quarantined region. That night, Ning Cheng sat alone on the grass outside the tent to drink wine. The guards felt strange after not seeing Jin Zi because he was Ning Cheng’s frequent drinking companion.

A single person drinking wine looked especially lonely. But nobody ventured any guesses and assumed that Jin Zi had business to take care of.

However, Jin Zi remained missing in action three days later.

Deputy General Chen, whom Ning Cheng had personally promoted, couldn’t sit still any longer and ran over to ask Ning Cheng about the details.

“Master Ning, could Jin Zi have ran away?”

“So what if he did?” Ning Cheng retorted.

“If Jin Zi flees, who else can control those people from the Black Clan?” Deputy General Chen was panicked! Those Black Clan members were tough and reckless and only feared Jin Zi.

“The indenture agreement is with me and you’re still afraid he’ll run away?” Ning Cheng asked next.

“Master, how could a single indenture agreement constrain him? He’s someone who doesn’t fear the laws!” Deputy General Chen declared.

Indenture agreements might have effects on ordinary civilians, but they were rather ineffective against someone like Jin Zi. Even if he fled without taking it with him, Ning Cheng couldn’t be guaranteed to track him down.

Ning Cheng raised his gaze at the deputy general and asked, “Since it’s so useless, why didn’t he run in all those other years?”

Deputy General Chen was rendered mute. That indenture agreement represented Jin Zi’s integrity, sincerity, and sheer backbone!

“This subordinate misspoke,” Deputy General Chen made a military bow before backing out.

--

Currently, Mu Linger had just finished inspecting the medicinal ingredients and returned to her tent. She and Gu Beiyue had been extremely busy after reaching the quarantine region. Although it was late night now, she only had time to take a nap for the length of an incense stick before Gu Beiyue sent more ingredients to be inspected her way.

She should be catching a snooze right now, but all she could think of was Jin Zi. Yesterday was the deadline, but he hadn’t come to find her? It was completely unlike his character!

Did he give up?

Soon enough, Gu Beiyue’s medical assistant came with a fresh batch of ingredients, much more than Mu Linger imagined.

“Miss Linger, these are all ingredients used to treat the plague. Doctor Gu said that we’re rather short on Chinese ginseng, Buddha’s hand, and Sunda pangolin.[1] He estimates that we’ll run out of stock by the next month…”

Before the assistant finished, Mu Linger knew what Gu Beiyue meant. “Alright,” she said, “I’ll do my best to find adequate replacements and adjust the dosages accordingly. Pass on the message to Doctor Gu for me so he doesn’t have to worry.”

That night, Mu Linger didn’t sleep a wink, using the entire time to finish up a third of a potential prescription. After all, Gu Beiyue had sent her some rather complex ingredients.

Mu Linger busied herself by Gu Beiyue’s side until inexplicably, a month had passed.

Jin Zi never came to find her, nor did he show up at the military camp again.

Where did Jin Zi go?

1. Imagine my shock when PGC gave me three ingredients that actually exist in our world instead of fanciful made-up names…