freenovelworld Chapter 208 It turns out that hell really does exist on earth.
Chapter 208 It turns out that hell really does exist on earth.
In a secluded house in Yangguan City, Li Duan groggily opened her eyes.
She watched for a while under the warm bed curtains, then suddenly sat up.
The room was dimly lit by only one candle, and she stared at it for a while before she realized what was happening.
"Where am I? I..." Li Duan mumbled for a while, then suddenly remembered: "Yang Yang, it's Yang Yang! She knocked me out!"
She threw back the covers and got out of bed.
Hearing the noise, the maid at the door pushed open the door and came in. "Miss, you're awake?"
Li Duan frowned: "Who are you?"
"Reporting to Miss, this servant is Qiao'er. I used to work in the General's mansion. The steward said that the General asked me to come and take care of you," Qiao'er replied hurriedly.
"General? Brother Sheng?" Li Duan fully regained consciousness and murmured to himself, "Brother Sheng sent someone to take care of me, which means he didn't send me away. So where am I?"
Li Duan hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed Qiao'er's arm: "Am I in the General's Mansion now?"
Qiao'er shook her head: "Miss, we are now in an empty house in the city. It is also the general's house. The general bought many houses with his own money and gave them to his subordinates as rewards. This is one of them."
“Not at the General’s Mansion, then…” Li Duan was stunned for a moment, then her eyes suddenly widened.
"It's Yangyang! She teamed up with Brother Sheng and locked me up! They actually locked me up! This is too much, too much, too much, ahhhhh!" Li Duan screamed frantically, grabbing her hair, and turned to look at Qiao'er.
Qiao'er trembled slightly at her appearance and asked in a low voice, "Miss, what do you need me to do?"
"Is someone guarding outside?" Li Duan stared intently at her.
"Yes, yes, the steward ordered... no, we can't let... let the young lady leave the house even a step," Qiao'er replied cautiously.
Li Duan stomped her foot angrily: "I knew it! I knew it would be like this!"
Her guess was right; they were going to lock her up. They didn't want anything to happen to her, but they were also afraid she'd insist on coming along, so they simply locked her up without a word and went to face the risk of the epidemic themselves. She could understand, but... but...
Li Duan's eyes immediately turned red. But what if they contracted the disease? What if they died?
One was her best friend, and the other was someone she had liked for many years. They had both gone to pursue their ideals, even at the cost of their lives. What could she do? She had traveled all the way to the border just to remind him and to help him survive!
What should she do!
With red eyes, Li Duan took two steps back, lost her balance, and fell to the ground.
"Miss? Are you alright?" Qiao'er hurriedly came over to help her.
Li Duan's eyes and nose stung terribly. She wanted to cry, but her remaining rationality told her she couldn't. She understood their thoughts. Just like last time when she hid in the trap and was almost discovered, she couldn't cry. Crying wouldn't help. She had to think, think about what she could do.
She can't just wait like this; what if she gets bad news?
Li sat upright on the ground, biting her lip tightly, determined not to let her tears fall.
Just then, a horn sounded in the distance.
"What is that sound?" Li Duan asked in a hoarse voice.
Qiao'er's face turned pale, and her voice trembled: "Yes, it's an enemy attack. This, this is the first time this year. In previous years, every year before, it happened. It's been much less frequent in the last two years. With the general here, it will be over soon, but, but now..."
Qiao'er didn't care about the pears for a moment. She turned around in a panic, walked out the door, and looked outside.
Sure enough, she saw the signal light appear in the sky. She stared at it intently, instinctively clasping her hands together and softly praying, "Amitabha, please bless the general to return safely!"
Li Duan had somehow appeared behind her, looking up at the dark sky, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.
She had lived in the capital since childhood, enjoying a life of luxury and never experiencing hardship. Even when Yangyang mentioned some of it, she was only curious. This journey was the first time in her life that she had seen what the outside world was like, a world completely different from the capital where she lived.
What's it like at the border? There's a deadly plague in the city, and a sudden enemy attack outside. What if we can't stop those enemies? Will they break through the city gates? What about the people in the city, the civilians? Will they all die?
Just thinking about it made Li Duan's bones tingle. She couldn't help but ask Qiao'er, "If, if they break in, what will happen?"
Qiao'er quickly spat twice: "The general will absolutely not let them invade!"
After saying that, she turned her head and saw Li Duan's pale face, and hurriedly comforted her: "Girl, don't be afraid, the general will protect us. Before the general came, there were many battles here every year. Sometimes there were small-scale harassments, and they would plunder the surrounding villages and towns, taking away food, livestock and even people. The old people were killed directly, and men and women were enslaved. Children were either killed or eaten. There were some foreign tribes who ate raw meat and drank blood, and they didn't treat people as human beings at all."
"And then there were the worst times, large-scale attacks. After the city was breached, they burned and killed everywhere. If they couldn't take the trash with them, they massacred the entire city. This happened every year at the border. When the war ended, those without homes had no choice but to return here and continue their lives. And every year, a large number of criminals were exiled here. Year after year, most of them survived by sheer luck. I was lucky. My ancestors were also exiled here, but my whole family died. I was only twelve or thirteen years old at the time. I was almost bullied by the village thugs. It was the general who saw me, saved me, and even let me work in his mansion."
"In the years since the general came to the border, things have become more peaceful year by year. There have been few large-scale battles. Most of the small-scale ones are just raids by some remote foreign tribes that have traveled a long distance to plunder, which can be dealt with quickly. But this time, the city has been closed for a long time. I wonder what will happen..."
Qiao'er originally intended to comfort Li Duan, but as she spoke, she couldn't help but veer off-topic. Seeing Li Duan's face growing increasingly pale, she quickly snapped back to reality and apologized: "I'm sorry, Miss, I wasn't trying to scare you. The general is really amazing, really, he'll be alright."
Li Duan nodded vigorously: "Brother Sheng is very amazing. He is the most amazing person in my heart!"
Qiao'er's eyes lit up, and she nodded along, then secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "Don't be afraid."
"I wasn't afraid, I, I just..."
She simply didn't know that the world has so many forms, and that hell really does exist on earth.
……
About fifteen minutes ago, Lu Yangyang exclaimed excitedly from inside the cowshed, "I found it!"