Chapter 48 "Flesh Flying Immortal"

  This chapter is a bit late, sorry about that.

  "But those people continued to serve in the Sui Dynasty because they had already surrendered to the Sui. But you, young master, are different. Your past identity has always been a secret, and now you are the commander of the Broken Army Camp, holding the reins of 10,000 elite imperial guards by the emperor's side. What if the emperor finds out about your true identity? Don't you think he will be suspicious of you? What if he thinks you're a threat and wants to kill you?" Ma Yi hastily advised Chen Ke, seeing that he was not taking this seriously.

  The big camp was still bustling, the distant noise directly transmitted into the account, and the cow oil big candle in the account emitted a bright fire. Chen Kefu sat cross-legged on the account and the leather cushion, tilted his head with his hand, looking at the two people in front of him.

  He himself knew that if Shen Guang didn't mention this matter, it would be better. If he mentioned it, the matter wouldn't be as simple as he said before. The identity of the Southern Chen imperial clan was nothing, but the identity of the Southern Chen crown prince's eldest son, which had been hidden for over 20 years, plus being Yang Guang's close guard commander and holding a million elite cavalrymen, these two things added up to make it a sensitive matter.

  Especially now that he has made great achievements, and also has a grudge against the Pei family, many aristocratic families have some jealousy towards him. If his identity were to be exposed at this time, it would definitely lead to someone using this as an excuse to attack him. Even if he could save his life, he wouldn't be able to continue staying in the Broken Army Camp and leading the army that he had built with his own hands. The most likely outcome is that he will be assigned a idle position, just like his current position as Silver Blue Glorious Officer, which has a high rank but no actual power. This is not what he wants, if it were during a peaceful era it would be fine, but now that the world is about to enter a chaotic era, he doesn't want to take that path.

  After a moment of contemplation, Chen Kefu looked at the two people in front of him and said, "Then what should I do?"

  Lu Shixian spoke in a low, deep voice, "Young Master, the world is now in chaos, with uprisings everywhere in the Central Plains. Instead of hanging around here with bated breath, why not make a clean break? Let's take the Broken Army Camp and leave. The world is vast, where can't we go? Who knows, maybe we can even rebuild our achievements in this chaotic world."

  Chen Kefu smiled, "Leave? Where to go? Although the world is big, where can we really go? The Broken Army Camp now has 10,000 people, but these 10,000 are from the Sui Dynasty. If we really want to take people with us, how many will be willing to follow? Moreover, this place is the main camp of the Sui army, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers gathered here. Even if some brothers are willing to follow us, I'm afraid we won't be able to escape more than 20 miles before being defeated by the Sui army. At that time, it's uncertain whether we can even keep our bodies intact."

  It's unrealistic to think that he can take people with him. Although the world has started to become chaotic, most people still believe in the Sui Dynasty and won't think that it will collapse soon. If he really wants to leave with the broken army camp, I estimate that the first person to oppose him would be Li Boren. Only those from Chenjiazhuang might follow him, but not many others would dare to go with them. Even his personal bodyguards are sons of Sui Dynasty's nobles, and who knows, they might not even follow him when the time comes. Leaving is unrealistic, where else can he go?

  "Staying is not an option, leaving is not an option either. What are we supposed to do then? Are we going to stay here and wait for death?" Lu Shide slapped his thigh heavily and said.

  Mao Yi shook his head, "No, not necessarily. Actually, the key now is Shen Guang. As long as he doesn't reveal this matter, everything will remain the same as before. The past will be like the past, and the future will still be like the future."

  Lu Shi deeply didn't understand the way, "His mouth is on his body, how can we guarantee that he won't speak out? It's possible that he has already gone to inform in order to gain merit."

  "Who are you? Why are you hiding outside the tent eavesdropping?" Suddenly, a shrill voice came from outside the account, and Chen Kefu immediately recognized it as the voice of Xiao Ye Lisha.

  The three of them exchanged a glance, and hastily got up to rush out of the tent. No matter who was outside, the topic they had just discussed was even more sensitive than Chen Kefu's secret identity. If their conversation had been overheard, it would have been tantamount to treason. Shen Guang had revealed his origins, but the outcome was still uncertain. However, if their previous discussion had been known to others, then this matter would undoubtedly be considered a rebellion.

  Three people acted swiftly, and as soon as they left the tent, they saw a man covering Ono Rie's mouth with his hand. Chen Kefu and the others didn't hesitate, and immediately launched a surprise attack. The man quickly put down Ono Rie and responded to the three of them with all his might. Although the man's martial arts skills were quite good, he was still unable to cope with the simultaneous attack from three people, and soon found himself being knocked to the ground. Lu Shide immediately covered the man's mouth and dragged him into Chen Kefu's tent.

  Chen Kefu helped Xiao Yeli up from the ground, dusting off her clothes. "Are you okay?" If she hadn't spoken up just now, they really wouldn't have discovered that someone was eavesdropping.

  "Sir, I'm fine. When I just returned, I found that the two guards who were guarding outside the account had fainted, and I rushed over to find that person hiding there eavesdropping. Sir, isn't this an enemy's spy?"

  Chen Kefu looked up and saw that indeed, the two bodyguards twenty steps outside his tent had fainted to the ground. It seemed that the eavesdropper had knocked out his bodyguards first. If it weren't for Xiao Ye Lisha returning, this matter would have been really bad.

  "Help me wake up those two guards, help me keep watch outside, I'll go inside to see which guy dares to come and cause trouble here." Chen Kefu said as he turned around and walked back.

  In the tent, Lu Shide and Mao Yi had already tied up the man with a rope like a rice dumpling, and even stuffed his mouth with a ball of cloth. Chen Kefu scanned him up and down, only to find that this was not some Goguryeo spy, but rather a military officer's uniform, with a horizontal sword hanging from his waist. He was tall and robust, with a strong physique.

  Lu Shide walked up to Chen Kefu and whispered, "Young Master, it's really troublesome. This person is Shen Guang, I didn't expect this guy to sneak in and eavesdrop, probably he heard everything we said earlier. Young Master, what do we do now?"

  Chen Kefu looked at the man in front of him, and for a moment he couldn't decide. He had followed Ru Shideep and Mao Yi here to eavesdrop that night after seeing them, which meant he must have also recognized Ru Shideep and Mao Yi.

  Mao Yi saw Chen Kefu's hesitation and leaned in close to his ear, saying, "Sir, why not just kill him? He snuck here without anyone knowing, so if we kill him, no one will ever find out. We were just worrying about how to deal with this situation, but now it's perfect - killing him will make everything disappear."

  Chen Kefu was somewhat moved by what Mao Yi said, and it was true that if they killed Shen Guang now, they could continue as if nothing had happened. However, when he turned to look at the man who was still twisting his body and muttering to himself, Chen Kefu found it hard to make up his mind.

  "Old Lu, take the cloth out of his mouth. I want to ask him some questions. If it's not necessary later on, we don't have to kill him either. He looks like a decent man and shouldn't be the kind who rises through the ranks by informing on others."

  Although the cloth was removed from his mouth, Lu Shide did not untie his rope. Shen Guang struggled to get up from the ground, sat upright and seriously looked at the three people in the account. First, he looked at Lu Shide and Mao Yi, then carefully looked at Chen Kefu several times.

  "Indeed, indeed, just as I thought. You are really the son of the Crown Prince, I didn't expect that the commander of the Sui Tianzi's Imperial Guard would be the son of the Chen Dynasty's Crown Prince." Shen Guang said while sizing up Chen Kefu.

  Lu Shide kicked Shen Guang to the ground and cursed, "I knew you were no good, you're just trying to curry favor with the master. Young Master, kill this guy, kill him, and we'll be done with it."

  Shen Guang was tied up tightly, unable to move even a bit. With one kick from Lu Shi Deep, he rolled around like a rolling gourd in the tent for several rounds before stopping. As soon as he stopped, he cursed and scolded, "Lu Stone Head, you rascal! I know you're taking advantage of this opportunity to take revenge. Back then in Jiankang, your kid was beaten by me countless times. Now you're actually using this chance to kill me? That's too despicable! If you have the guts, release me and we'll fight again. With your black stupid goods, even in the next life, you won't be able to beat me!"

  Lu Shi-de spat at Shen Guang, "You scoundrel, back in Jiankang you always brought helpers with you. Otherwise, you would have been my match? You're the most despicable one, if I let you go, who knows, you'll probably run to inform the Emperor immediately. It's better for me to kill you, if you want revenge, come find me again in your next life."

  Watching the two of them cursing at each other over there, Chen Kefu couldn't help but feel a bit amused, and smiled slightly, saying to Mao Yi, "What's going on, did they have some kind of falling out in the past?"

  Mao Yi smiled and said, "It's not considered a big deal, at that time we were all just teenagers, the sons of noble officials in Jiankang City. I was good friends with Old Lu and his gang, while Shen Guang was good friends with another group of noble children. At that time, everyone was still young, so they would often fight and whatnot. Old Lu was big and strong, no one could beat him in a one-on-one fight, but later Shen Guang led a few sneak attacks on him, ganging up on him several times, so Old Lu hated Shen Guang the most. However, that was all just childish play from when we were young, it can't be taken seriously."

  Chen Kefu smiled and said to the two who were still arguing, "Alright, as the saying goes, meeting old friends in a foreign land is one of life's greatest joys. You two are also good friends who haven't seen each other for over 20 years, why are you acting like children? We're all from the same hometown in southern China, and now that we've met by chance, it's a reunion. Old Lu, quickly untie Shen's bindings, Shen is now one of our generals in the broken army camp, and from now on, he'll be our colleague, so let's get closer."

  The Nine Transformations of Heaven