Rebirth of a Star General 105

Thank you for the Kofis~~

Hot Spring

The peaceful martial arts field turned into a mess because of Song Taotao and Cheng Lisu’s appearance. The two of them were in the middle of a fight. Under Liang Ping’s gaze, He Yan persuaded Song Taotao to leave. After the both of them left, He Yan was left alone to face everyone’s gazes.

Hong Shan poked He Yan’s arm and asked in a low voice, “Was she Young Master Cheng’s fiancée?”

He Yan nodded.

Hong Shan looked at her with a little complicated and admiring gaze, and said, “Ahe, I underestimated you.”

He Yan, “…You don’t have to think much about it.”

But apparently Hong Shan was not the only one who thought too much. After the drills were over, the soldiers immediately gathered around her and asked about her relationship with Song Taotao. Someone even said sourly, “Congratulations to Young Master He in advance. It seems that it won’t be long before our Liangzhou Wei have a son-in-law of Master Song. May I ask when is Young Master He going to invite us to wedding sweets?”

He Yan, “Don’t talk nonsense! How can you slander the reputation of a girl without thinking?”

“What’s the matter?” the person said nonchalantly, “I think Second Miss Song is very happy with you.”

Jiang Jiao passed by from the other side and glanced at He Yan. His gaze was sharp like a knife, as if he couldn’t wait to cut out a piece of meat from her body, as he snorted and flicked away. He Yan was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously asked, “What’s wrong with Brother Jiang? I didn’t provoke him, did I?”

Jiang Jiao has always been arrogant but his temperament was good. Although he was older than He Yan but was also very humble every time he consulted He Yan on spear skills. It was rare for him to show He Yan an expression like this.

Wang Ba said contemptuously, “You cuckold your brother. Who are you to ask such a thing? Why would Xiao Jiang give you a good face? Dream on!”

He Yan, “…”

That said, Jiang Jiao’s fiancé eloped and died with someone she loved. He hated this kind of thing the most in his life. He probably thought of himself when he looked at Cheng Lisu and considered He Yan as the bastard who robbed people of their wives.

“Who am I cuckolding?” He Yan suddenly reacted, “I do not have any…”

Before she could finish speaking, someone on the other side called her name, “He Yan! Xiao He!”

“The head instructor called me,” He Yan said, “I’ll be going first.”

The one who called He Yan was one of the three instructors who had previously competed with He Yan in equestrian archery — the old man named Ma Damei. The old man beckoned to her kindly. “Xiao He, I heard that you were injured when you went to Liangzhou City with the General this time.”

“It’s just a small injury.” He Yan smiled.

“You shouldn’t force it. You are still young and it won’t do you any good if you don’t treat your injuries properly.” Ma Damei said enthusiastically, “Go have your meal first, and come here to find me afterwards.”

 He Yan asked, “Is there something, instructor?”

 “Of course it’s a good thing,” Ma Damei was being very mysterious, “You will find out soon.”

Having no idea of the matter, He Yan went to eat the meal first. The soldier who put the meal got Shen Han’s order. Knowing that He Yan was injured, he gave her an extra bun. He Yan finished eating on the spot and went to the martial arts field as Ma Damei instructed.

The weather was getting colder, and in late autumn, the sky turned dark early. When she arrived at the martial arts field, He Yan saw that there were already more than a dozen people standing there, all of whom were Liangzhou Wei’s instructors. Ma Damei waved to her, “Hey… Xiao He, here!”

He Yan walked forward. Du Mao and Liang Ping were also there. Liang Ping looked at her and said in surprise, “Why did you call him?”

“I heard from the Chief Instructor that Xiao He is injured. It’s okay to take him along. Liang Ping, don’t be so stingy.” Ma Damei approached Liang Ping and whispered, “I think the Chief Instructor takes care of this kid very much. Maybe he will rise faster than you and me. There is no harm in betting a good deal for the future.”

Liang Ping looked at the old man with a shrewd smile, and said angrily, “What do you think of me! I…I won’t please him!”

“You won’t but I will,” Ma Damei didn’t bother to pay attention to him, crossed Liang Ping, came over to take He Yan’s shoulder, smiled and said, “Young man, let’s go.”

“Go?” He Yan said strangely, “Where to?”

What are so many instructors doing together? Even if they were doing night training, not all of them were present. Were they going to drink behind Xiao Jue’s back? When He Yan used to be in the Fuyue Army, her Deputy Commander-in-Chief often drank behind her back. However, she was a little overwhelmed to be taken along as a soldier.

“Don’t ask,” Ma Damei smiled mysteriously again, “You’ll know when you arrive.”

He Yan was at a loss, but she couldn’t refuse the other party’s kindness. She guessed that it was either gambling or drinking, so she did not refuse. She had a good relationship with these instructors. Maybe in the future, she would be having more bargaining chips to make Xiao Jue consider allowing her to join the Nine Banners Battalion.

“Okay.” She immediately responded with a smile.

The group did not ride horses but instead walked up the Baiyue Mountain. The route was not the same as the previous flag-fighting paths. It was a trail. The instructors were very enthusiastic, talking about the recent recruit training, which recruits were outstanding, and whether there would be enough firewood for winter this year if it snowed.

He Yan was walking silently, and heard someone say, “Instructor Du, your relative, Lei Hou, is very prestigious in the Forward Camp these days!”

He Yan’s ears stood up as soon as she heard the name.

After the flag-fight that day, Xiao Jue granted Lei Hou to join the Forward Camp. In addition, he also granted other outstanding recruits who performed well in Baiyue Mountain, plus the previous troops of Liangzhou Wei, a total of 1,000 people. Even though He Yan was dissatisfied, she soon followed Xiao Jue to Liangzhou City. When they came back, she learned that the training for the Forward Camp had already started for a while.

However, what was strange to her was that the training of the recruits in the Forward Camp, as she knew in the past, was still raiding and charging. It was not the “three times the amount of training” that Xiao Jue said. He Yan has a conjecture in her heart, maybe Xiao Jue’s selection of recruits into the Nine Banners Battalion and the selection of recruits into the Forward Camp were two different matters.

But she couldn’t directly ask Xiao Jue about this, so at this moment she just continued to pay attention to the movement on the other side.

“I don’t dare,” Du Mao heard the praise of his relative and was feeling somewhat proud, “When I saw him back then, this kid had just been able to walk, holding my sword and not letting go. Now he is as big and handsome as I was back then. Haha!”

“Don’t you feel ashamed?” Liang Ping looked sideways, “Everyone of us has seen what you looked like back then.”

“Hey, that’s a bad remark,” another Instructor said, “Now that Lei Hou has entered the Forward Camp, he is outstanding with a bright future ahead. I don’t think it will be a problem that he makes a feat in the future! Although our old Du can’t do it, his Nephew can. It’s not bad!”

“Fuck you!” Du Mao cursed with a smile.

It was probably because He Yan’s gaze towards the other end was too obvious, Ma Damei, who was walking beside her, noticed it. He thought she was upset that she hadn’t entered the Forward Camp, so he said: “Young man, the road ahead is still long. Although you did not enter the Forward Camp, you may not be worse than Lei Hou in the future. Take a long-term perspective and don’t stick to it.”

He Yan turned her head and was about to say something, when the old man patted her shoulder and said, “Look, here we are!”

There was still some distance from the mountainside with white sand and green bamboo everywhere, moonlight falling like snow, and the forest was covered with steam, warm and bright, as if the ink left on a blank paper, a scene from a painting.

“How is it?” Ma Damei smiled, “I didn’t lie to you, right?”

“There are hot springs here?” He Yan muttered.

Liang Ping glanced at her and hummed: “I wouldn’t have brought you here if you weren’t injured.”

“Wait,” He Yan looked wary, “You guys didn’t bring me here to soak in the hot spring. right?”

“Of course!” Hearing the words, a slightly gentle-looking Instructor next to him chanted a poem, “When I wish for love, money calls for water and passion; on the day of bathing, the temperature is soaring. The whole body is as refreshing as crisp, dispelling the illness as wonderful as a god; I don’t adore birds of the heaven lake, but I am willing to be a hot spring person. A hot spring to cure illness is a good thing!”

“Yes,” Ma Damei said, “Since you are injured, it is good for you to take a dip.”

He Yan took a step back awkwardly, “No…I didn’t bring clean clothes, so let’s forget it.”

“It’s okay, I brought an extra one, I can give it to you to wear.” Du Mao said, “It’s washed. It’s not dirty.”

“I’m afraid of water.” He Yan continued to back away.

“This water level is only up to the chest. And we are watching. What’s there to be afraid of?” Liang Ping was impatient.

“I…I…” He Yan racked her brain to make up a reasonable excuse. Unexpectedly she bumped her head into a person, she turned around to see that it was Xiao Jue.

The young man was dressed in a dark green and cloud-embroidered brocade robe, and his hair was like ink under the moonlight.

He was born outstanding, standing in the secluded scenery, the charm of his body was like clear snow or the sparkling dust under the autumn moon.

 He Yan, “General?”

 “General!” Du Mao and the others also called.

“General also came to soak in the hot springs?” He Yan was shocked, thinking of Xiao Jue actually soaking in the hot springs with these instructors? The picture was really unimaginable.

Xiao Jue moved her to the side and brushed the place where she had just touched her, looking very disgusted. He Yan only listened to Ma Damei’s explanation, “There are two hot springs here, not far from each other. The smaller one is used by General. We came for the bigger one.”

“Has General finished soaking?” Du Mao asked.

 Xiao Jue nodded, “Yes.”

“Then I’ll go soak over there!” He Yan hurriedly said. As soon as her voice fell, she saw the instructors looking at her.

 “I…I mean, the General has already soaked anyway. The hot spring is smaller, so I can just soak alone… Anyway, it’s a waste to be left idle, isn’t it…”

“Liang Ping.” Xiao Jue said calmly.

“I’m here!” Liang Ping cursed, “He Yan, that is the General’s hot spring. Is that something you can touch? Come over here! Why aren’t you afraid of the water now? Aren’t you afraid of drowning alone in there without anyone noticing!”

This was back to the original conversation. He Yan turned to Xiao Jue with her back to the instructors, and said in a low voice, “Do something!”

Xiao Jue put his arms around his chest, looking at her calmly, and said slowly, “I said, I won’t help you cover it up.”

“But I didn’t know they would bring me to the hot spring!” He Yan was furious, “If this goes on, the only way I’ll only get out of this is to fight with them.”

“Oh,” Xiao Jue nodded with interest, “Then you can fight hard.”

After that he turned to leave, He Yan gritted her teeth and said, “Are you not afraid that I will tell everyone about the red mole on your waist?” In the end, she herself felt that was a feeble thing to say and Xiao Jue was not really threatened by her.

Sure enough, the man only smiled, “Whatever you want.”

“Xiao Jue!”

The young man’s eyebrows were handsome and heroic, his eyes seemed to be full of rippling autumn water, as he seemed to have a cold smile. But his words were not tender at all, and contained playful indifference.

“Liar,” he said, “You are about to be discovered. What would you do?”

After saying this, he stopped paying attention to He Yan, turned around, and left.

“Xiao…” Before He Yan could finish speaking, she was grabbed by someone, it was Liang Ping who really couldn’t stand to watch. He was annoyed, “What are you doing? You brat, aren’t you getting ahead of yourself? It’s good enough that we brought you to the hot springs from the tens of thousands of recruits of the guardhouse. And you still wanted to go to the General’s hot spring to have a bath. You are very brave!”

He Yan struggled away from him, and said with a smile, “I actually don’t want to soak at all…”

Another hand came to grab her shoulder, and said to the others, “This guy looks so pretty. Why is he so sloppy? He’s looking at the water like it’s some horrible thing.”

“I……”

Ma Damei smiled and looked at her, “Young man, you haven’t bathed in a hot spring before? Don’t be afraid. Just take a bath and you will know the benefits.”

He Yan said in her heart, this is no way to go on. It seems that the only way to run away is to fight against them. She was about to do it when someone rushed to her back and kicked her.

The kick was actually not that heavy, but because He Yan was being pulled by Liang Ping and Du Mao, her body was not balanced, so she fell into the spring water.

With a “puff”, the people on the shore and in the water burst into laughter immediately.

“Hey!” The culprit who kicked her stood at the water’s edge, smiling happily, “Little brother, helped you, no need thank me!”

He Yan popped her head out of the water, shook the drops of water on her forehead, and cursed in her heart. Who would want to thank him!

The few remaining people saw He Yan enter the water, and took off their clothes to join her in the water. They were really frank. He Yan turned around immediately, feeling that her eyes were full of white flesh.

The spring water in the mountain was warm and light, wrapped around the body, it felt very comfortable. Unfortunately, at this moment, He Yan was really unwilling to enjoy it. For one thing, she was now afraid of water, even if the spring water is not deep, she was flustered. With the spring water vaporizing and forming steam and her submerging in the water, it was difficult for her to be identified as a woman. But once she had to come out of the water, her clothes would be sticking close to her body. As long as one was not blind, she would be caught.

What’s more, this group of guys was having fun in the water. Who knows if they will be “good-hearted” again later, making the situation even more difficult to deal with.

In fact, the more she is afraid of something, the more and more those things will be bound to happen. She was farther away from the crowd, soaking alone, and everyone noticed it at a glance. The instructor who kicked her off said, “Hey, why don’t you take off your clothes? Now that you are down, wouldn’t it be uncomfortable for you to soak in with your clothes?”

“No,” He Yan reluctantly smiled, “I like to soak with my clothes.”

This preference was a bit unusual. The other instructor looked at each other. Someone stared at him and smiled, “Hey, isn’t this guy ashamed?”

One word stirred up a thousand layers of waves, and then, the other instructors started talking.

“Is he? I didn’t think he would be ashamed of himself.”

“I think it’s possible, this kid was born as beautiful as a girl, maybe he’s also like this in private.”

“That won’t work, how could the soldiers of Liangzhou Wei be so squirming? Why don’t we together teach him a good lesson today and do our duty as the instructor.”

After saying that, the group swam towards He Yan.

He Yan was shocked, “…What do you want to do?”

“Of course it’s to train our new recruit!” Du Mao smiled, “If we have to use the waterway in future wars, you being so uncomfortable, wouldn’t it be bad for us?”

Is it necessary to take the waterway? He Yan turned around and swam.

It was okay when she did not swim. When she started swimming, others seemed to find it interesting. The other instructors also came over one after another. For a moment, He Yan felt like she had become a ball. Everyone was scrambling to stop her from all directions. All of a sudden, the hot spring became lively.

If it was a different place and the situation, the picture can be considered harmonious. The usually serious Instructors were laughing and joking, obviously making fun of her as their own but in this situation, He Yan really can’t laugh.

While avoiding the actions of these people, she slandered in her heart, what kind of people are these! There is something wrong with Liangzhou Wei’s instructors!

Now it looked like if she wanted to avoid them completely, she could only knock them all unconscious. If it had been ashore it would have been okay, but moving underwater was difficult. Moreover, there were so many people and she had nowhere to avoid.

She struggled to swim, but she didn’t know that one of these instructors had grown up by the waters since he was a child, and was familiar with water. He had already dived into the water and was swimming quietly in front of her. As He Yan’s focus was only on her back, she was suddenly grabbed by a hand in the water before she knew could care about her front and couldn’t avoid it.

The instructor seemed to have grabbed the ball, and he even called out to his friends and shouted, “I caught him! Come on!”

Come on? Come on! He Yan was shocked, but she couldn’t muster her strength underwater and was unable to break free. She felt a cold sweat as she watched Du Mao and his party swimming closer and closer and about to take off her clothes.

She doesn’t want to be discovered here!

At the last moment, suddenly, the hand holding her arm loosened as the instructor yelled “Ah”. A stone-like object flew across the water and sank quickly. At the same time, He Yan was grabbed up from the water and landed on the shore. A cloak wrapped her tightly from the bottom of her neck.

All this happened so quickly that everyone had no time to react. After standing still, He Yan looked sideways and said in surprise, “General?”

It was Xiao Jue who came back.

He grabbed He Yan out of the water and wrapped He Yan into a cocoon. No one knew why except He Yan. The instructors looked at him blankly, staring at each other.

“What are you doing?” At this time, someone’s voice sounded, and Shen Han walked out from deep in the dense forest, carrying his clothes in his hand to take a dip in hot springs, not expecting to encounter such a scene. He looked at Xiao Jue standing next to He Yan with dripping wet hair, and the rest of the instructors hiding in the water, as a bad premonition swept through his heart.

Liang Ping said, “We… are soaking in hot springs.”

Shen Han was frightened, “He Yan…you too…”

He Yan, “…Yes.”

Shen Han was suddenly shocked. Although men-and-men was different from men-and-women, Shen Han also knew how possessive human beings were. He himself treasures his good knives — not showing them to people in case they would be yearned for. He Yan… With his relationship with Xiao Jue unclear, on top of showing himself here, he was even seen by others. How could Xiao Jue feel happy?

Something big has happened!

The instructors all gathered in a group, knowing that Xiao Jue was cold and loved cleanliness, they didn’t dare to stand up while they were naked. They only showed their heads on the surface of the water, staring at them, wondering what to ask but not daring to ask with a face full of confusion.

They were like a group of ducks waiting to be fed.

He Yan laughed aloud when she thought of this.

Xiao Jue glanced at her and raised his eyebrows, “You can still laugh?”

He Yan immediately fell silent.

The instructors did not dare to speak, and the scene was very embarrassing. The Chief Instructor, Shen Han, could not stand still and not say anything. After hesitating for a long time, he asked, “General, are you going to take He Yan back?”

“Ask him.”

“Ah,” He Yan said hurriedly, “I just had a good dip. I’ve had enough. I want to go back. I’ll just go with the General.”

“Oh, that’s good, that’s good.” Shen Han didn’t know what to say. At a glance, he saw that the cloak on He Yan actually belonged to Xiao Jue. He didn’t even know where to look, so he looked down at his shoes and said haphazardly, “Then, General and He Yan should go back to rest early… The night on the mountain is cool.”

Although he didn’t understand why Shen Han suddenly became so frightened, He Yan was still very grateful for the help he gave at the moment, and smiled, “In that case, we shan’t stay for long.”

After that, she turned around and wanted to go. But after taking two steps, she was stunned when she saw that Xiao Jue hadn’t moved. Before she could speak, she heard Xiao Jue talking.

He said, “Don’t take him with you when you go to the hot spring next time.”

Shen Han’s heart went “badump”, and all he could think about was ‘It’s over’.

At this time, there was actually someone who didn’t fear death. The teacher who had dived into the water and had a wet head, boldly asked, “Why? Wasn’t he injured? Wouldn’t it be better to soak in the hot spring if he’s hurt?”

He Yan said in her heart, “Brother, I really appreciate your kindness.”

“You don’t know that,” Xiao Jue looked at the crowd, with his long jade-like body, his lips bent gracefully, and his eyes mocking. “It was found during the enlistment that this recruit had something wrong with his body before entering the camp.” He spat out these words with his thin lips. He Yan felt dizzy with every word as he uttered, “His body has a hidden illness.”

This guy? This guy has a hidden illness?

The man who asked the question choked on a mouthful of water and coughed violently.

The atmosphere was more rigid than before, and what was even more unbearable was the gaze of those instructors looking at He Yan, with sympathy, surprise, and regret mixed together, and some even looked down under He Yan’s body.

He Yan, “…”

Although she made up a random reason when during her enlistment back then, at any rate, there was only one person, and when she set out, the doctor did not follow along with her, so no one knew. That was a good thing, but how should she get along with these instructors in the future!

Xiao Jue deliberately created trouble for her!

Could it be that he was feeling happy to see her in a dilemma? What kind of fun is this?

“Actually, it’s not that serious…” She weakly defended herself.

It’s just that all the people were convinced by the words of General, the only person who didn’t believe was Shen Han. Shen Han thought that Xiao Jue deliberately lied in order to protect He Yan from being provoked.

“It’s okay,” Liang Ping was still a little bit sour towards He Yan, but this time there was no sourness. In a situation like this, what else can he care about? He even enthusiastically said, “It’s not a major problem, you can take care of it slowly. I know a doctor who specializes in this… Otherwise it might be too late to save it in the future…”

He Yan had nothing to say and left a sentence of “Thank you, instructor. See you later” and fled.

Xiao Jue said, “You guys continue.” After that, he followed without any haste.

Shen Han stood at the edge of the hot spring in a daze, and the crowd waited until they couldn’t see the shadow of Xiao Jue anymore before they had the courage to talk. Du Mao swam up to the hot spring, approached Shen Han’s feet, and asked with his head up, “Chief Instructor, have you known it from before? I always wondered why you treated this kid especially nicely. It turns out there was a reason for it. Tsk tsk, how did he get such a disease at such a young age? Can it be cured?”

“Cure my ass,” Shen Han was so angry that he kicked him back to the bottom with one foot, “I think you guys are too old to live, so please treat your own brains first!”

…

The hot spring was left far behind. In the dense forest, He Yan followed Xiao Jue and walked in the direction of the guardhouse.

The steps of the man beside her were neither hurried nor slow, just enough to let her follow. He Yan squeezed out two words from the gap between her teeth, “Thank you.”

“You look reluctant.” The corner of his mouth hooked slightly. “If you are not appeased, you can turn around and go back.”

The cloak on her belonged to Xiao Jue, and if it wasn’t for Xiao Jue, there was no telling what would have happened just now. Thinking of this,  her complaints dissipated a little, and she said, “No, I sincerely thank the General.”

Xiao Jue hummed, “Flattery.”

This person was really weird, neither can he listen to good things nor the bad ones. He Yan paused slightly and raised her fist at his back.

“Liar,” he was speechless for a moment, “Don’t you know there are shadows under the moon?”

He Yan paused, looked down subconsciously, and saw that under the moonlight, the shadow of her stretched claws fell behind Xiao Jue’s shadow, like a comic shadow play.

“I just saw a mosquito, and drove it away for you.” She lied without changing her face, “You don’t have to thank me.”

Xiao Jue laughed when he heard the words, and continued to walk forward.

The night was long and the rogue with his back looking languid and lazy was like a floating spring dream.

Seeing that he was in a good mood, He Yan said, “I just don’t understand. Since you had already decided to help me, why didn’t you make the move until the end?”

If Xiao Jue had helped her when she first arrived at the hot spring, in just a word, he wouldn‘t have to turn back and dirty his cloak nor would she have to fall and be doused into the water.

“To teach you a lesson.”

 “What?”

Xiao Jue’s footsteps paused slightly, “Ma Damei asked you to go with him, and you went with him, without asking what they were going to do. Are you stupid or are you conceited to be sending yourself to such a situation, Miss He?”

It was true that she needed to be taught a lesson but He Yan still didn’t understand, “I have already learnt my lesson the moment I saw the hot spring. Did you have to wait until they pushed me into the hot spring and suffered before coming to help me?”

“It is only when you are forced to desperation that you will really know what a lesson is.” He said indifferently, “Others are totally untrustworthy. In a desperate situation, one can only rely on oneself. So, try not to put yourself in danger.”

He Yan, “…”

Although his words were correct, He Yan felt that the lesson was too radical. She mumbled “Who teaches people like this”, wondering if Xiao Jue heard it.

But nothing happened when he heard it, he didn’t even look back and just went on.

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