Saving Wei Yun and gaining freedom

Watching the Xiantian Martial Artist who had already vanished and the retreating backs of the remaining Falling Cloud Soldiers, Li Dao hesitated for a moment but ultimately did not pursue them.

As far as he was concerned, he had already made a killing today.

This haul could be considered an unexpected windfall.

The most important thing now was to make sure Wei Yun was all right.

If this fellow died, all his efforts over this period would have gone down the drain.

On the flagpole, Wei Yun's mouth hung slightly open. He still had not fully recovered from the shock of seeing Li Dao slay a Xiantian Martial Artist.

Only when he felt someone lift the flagpole and lower it again did he gradually come back to his senses.

Looking at the dazed Commander Wei, Li Dao stepped forward and patted his face. "Commander Wei, you're not dead, are you?"

Feeling the slight sting on his face and confirming that none of this was a dream, Wei Yun shook his head. "I'm fine. They weren't trying to kill me."

The Falling Cloud Tribe People had captured him mainly to make him admit that he was the culprit who had killed the Third Prince of Falling Cloud. Rather than killing him, they had only tortured him.

So while he looked miserable, he had actually only exhausted his true qi and suffered some external injuries.

For frontier officers like them, any injury that did not cost an arm or a leg could only be considered minor.

Just then, Wei Yun suddenly raised his head and looked at Li Dao, his face full of emotion. "Nine Five Two Seven, I never imagined you'd come to rescue me. I'm truly touched."

After saying that, he suddenly spread his arms, looking as though he wanted a hug.

Li Dao sidestepped him, his expression darkening. "You're getting touched too soon. I just figured that if you died, nobody would restore our freedom. That's why I came."

"I know, but couldn't you lie a little and let me feel touched?"

Wei Yun was no fool. He naturally knew that the two of them were not that close. He had only said it to express his feelings, but he had not expected reality to be laid bare so mercilessly.

Li Dao raised an eyebrow and said bluntly, "What do I get out of you feeling touched?"

"Aren't you afraid I'll go back on my word and refuse to give you your freedom if you treat me like this?"

"You can try."

The next second, the Black Iron Saber he had given away was resting against his own neck, sliding back and forth. The cold blade sent goosebumps rippling over his body, and even his hairs stood on end.

Wei Yun believed that if he dared to go back on his word now, this blade would slit his throat without the slightest hesitation. Nine Five Two Seven was that decisive.

While hanging in the air earlier, he had already seen just how bloodthirsty this man was. An excited expression had remained on his face almost the entire time he was killing. It was no act; it came straight from his heart.

He could not imagine what sort of person would regard slaughter as a pleasure.

Wei Yun turned sideways and carefully slipped away from the Black Iron Saber, rubbing his goosebumps as he said, "All right, all right, I was only talking. No need to bring out a blade."

Hearing that, Li Dao put away the Black Iron Saber, returning it to its sheath, then extended a hand to Wei Yun.

"We've been out long enough. Time to head back."

Wei Yun stared at the offered hand for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "Thank you."

Whether Nine Five Two Seven had acted for his freedom or some other purpose, he had saved him all the same. Wei Yun had to acknowledge that debt.

After pulling Wei Yun up, Li Dao looked over his injuries. "Can you still ride a horse?"

"Ride a horse? Would you believe I could still kill another round of Falling Cloud Tribe People if they came back?"

He gestured as he spoke, perhaps pulling at a wound, and immediately grimaced in pain.

Li Dao could not help rolling his eyes. "If you can ride, ride your own horse. I don't want to share a horse with a man."

Beside him, Wei Yun retorted weakly, "You make it sound as though I want to share a horse with a man."

Li Dao said, "Who knows?"

Wei Yun: "???"

Inside Changgu Town.

After Old Ghost's treatment, most of the remaining Great Qian soldiers in Changgu Town had received medical care.

Many of the soldiers around him looked at Old Ghost with gratitude.

Some of them had even had their severed arms reattached by Old Ghost.

He had also forcibly snatched many soldiers on the brink of death back to life with his miraculous medical skills.

Looking at his wounds, which had already scabbed over, Squad Leader Liu could not help marveling, "Old Ghost, you really are talented."

Suddenly, something seemed to occur to him, and he could not help asking, "Say, Old Ghost, if your medical skills are so impressive, why did the Embroidered Uniform Guard list your crimes as practicing medicine without a license and selling fake medicine, then arrest you?"

Hearing that, Old Ghost snorted softly. "Someone repaid kindness with betrayal. I fulfilled his wish, yet he had the Embroidered Uniform Guard arrest me."

Old Ghost then explained the rough course of events.

After hearing Old Ghost's story, everyone froze.

In Old Ghost's story, a powerful dignitary had a son, but in his old age, he suddenly wanted a daughter too. He asked whether Old Ghost had a way to let him have a daughter.

Old Ghost had just finished developing a medicine at the time and happened to need a test subject.

And so, after some work on his part, the dignitary had a daughter.

As for why that dignitary ultimately had the Embroidered Uniform Guard arrest him...

It was because, after gaining a daughter, the dignitary no longer had a son.

Relying on his medical skills, Old Ghost had actually turned the dignitary's son into a daughter-a real daughter, one who could even marry and bear children.

Fortunately, the dignitary's son had been an ignorant, worthless scoundrel. The Embroidered Uniform Guard felt that Old Ghost had also rid the people of a menace, so they had not killed him on the spot, merely thrown him into prison.

Hearing Old Ghost say this, everyone present instinctively clamped their legs together.

Old Ghost, however, continued on his own. "Since fate brought us together, if any of you want to become a woman, I can help free of charge."

Beside him, Shen San could not help saying, "Old Ghost, you're not going to screw me over by making me your medicine boy, are you?"

Previously, he had thought there was nothing wrong with being a medicine boy. Old Ghost's medical skills were so good that it would be fine as long as the medicine did not kill him.

But looking at it now, sometimes living was worse than dying. If he had been that official's son, he would never have chosen to cling to life.

Old Ghost shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. I'll let you know once I've developed a new medicine."

The idle conversation soon ended, and Liu Neng sighed. "I wonder whether Nine Five Two Seven can catch up and save Commander Wei."

Even Shen San, who got along worst with Wei Yun among those present, wore a worried expression now. "Wei Yun, oh, Wei Yun, whatever you do, don't die. If you die, who'll restore my freedom? If you come back alive, I'll even call you Grandpa."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Shen San heard hoofbeats coming from nearby.

"Shen San, I heard what you said. Hurry up and call me Grandpa."

Everyone turned toward the voice and saw two figures riding through Changgu Town's shattered gate nearby.

One was Li Dao, and the other was naturally Wei Yun.

"Commander Wei!"

Liu Neng sat up from the ground, his face full of delighted surprise.

The other soldiers of the Mighty Camp also excitedly tried to get up. Even those who could not stand were lifted by their comrades beside them.

Looking at his subordinates, Wei Yun heaved a long sigh inwardly, but still forced a smile as he greeted them. "I'm glad you're all all right."

Then he turned his gaze to Shen San. "Fatty, what happened to calling me Grandpa?"

Shen San's face turned green, then purple.

"Fatty, you're a grown man. You're not going to break your word, are you?"

Wei Yun continued teasing him.

"You bastard!"

Wei Yun then waved his hand. "Forget it. Since Nine Five Two Seven saved my life, you don't have to-"

"Grandpa!"

After shouting that, Shen San said without any change in expression, "Trying to wipe away your debt to my boss for saving your life with a single sentence? You think that's possible?"

Wei Yun: "???"

Then Shen San walked up to Wei Yun and held out his hand.

Wei Yun looked down at it. There was nothing there. "What are you doing?"

"Give us back our freedom!"

"I can't yet."

"Why not?"

"Fatty, just look at what's become of the Mighty Camp. How am I supposed to do that?"

"Then when can you do it?"

"At the very least, I'll have to wait until the Mighty Camp is rebuilt and I can contact the higher-ups."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Wei Yun said very seriously, "Restoring household registration for death-row prisoners isn't that simple. There's a process to follow. In any case, I promise I'll get your household registrations sorted out as soon as possible and restore your freedom."

Shen San looked suspicious. "You're not messing with us again, are you?"

Wei Yun shrugged. "If you don't trust me, surely you trust Nine Five Two Seven?"

Shen San turned to Li Dao. "Boss, is this fellow reliable?"

Li Dao said bluntly, "We'll know whether he's reliable if we wait and see."

He had already asked about the relevant details on their way back, so naturally, he would not make a fuss like Shen San.

Hearing that, Shen San glanced at Wei Yun. "I'll trust you one last time."

"Don't worry."

Time slipped by.

A month had passed since the attack on Changgu Town and Wei Yun's return.

To prevent another attack by the Falling Cloud Tribe People, Wei Yun moved the Mighty Camp's remaining troops to another deserted ancient town a hundred li east of Changgu Town.

After a month of construction, the old town had begun to take on a fresh look.

Wei Yun had also renamed it "Changping Town."

The name carried the wish for enduring peace and safety.

The only thing Wei Yun found strange was that Nine Five Two Seven's expression had turned a little odd when he named it Changping.

That day.

Inside a tent in Changping Town.

Li Dao and the other four gathered together.

On the bed, Little Madman, who was usually wild and deranged, lay quietly.

Old Ghost sat beside him, holding Little Madman's wrist and carefully checking his pulse.

After a moment, Old Ghost released his hand. "Done."

Hearing that, Little Madman immediately scrambled up and began moving all over the place. Staying perfectly still had nearly driven him mad. If everyone there had not been familiar to him, he would have started acting up long ago.

Li Dao stood nearby. "How is he?"

Old Ghost shook his head. "He can be cured, but not here."

He glanced at Little Madman and explained, "I've learned about these Gu Child Arts before. They originate from certain Ancient Clans in the Southern Mountains of Great Qian. To cure Little Madman, we'll have to go there."

Xu Hu suddenly stood up. "Go!"

After spending this past month together, Little Madman and Xu Hu, two kindred souls, had grown increasingly close. Seeing that Little Madman had a chance of being cured, Xu Hu naturally agreed without another word.

Old Ghost nodded. "If you say we're going, then we're going. Difficult and unusual cases are my favorite things to treat. But we'll still have to wait for young Commander Wei to restore our freedom."

Hearing this, Shen San immediately grew angry. "Is Wei Yun trying to avoid giving us our freedom? It's been a whole month. Why is there still no result?"

Just then, someone lifted the tent flap, and a voice rang out. "Fatty Shen, I've barely stepped inside, and I already hear someone insulting me."

"Insulting you? I want to beat you up! It's been a month. Your Mighty Camp is rebuilt, but where the hell is my freedom?"

Shen San turned, ready to unleash a torrent of curses, but when he saw what Wei Yun was holding, he froze and hurriedly said, "What you're holding is..."

Wei Yun smiled faintly. "The Household Registration Registration Booklet."

Shen San froze. "Really?"

Wei Yun said, "Guess!"

Shen San: "..."

Although he desperately wanted to snatch that unverified Household Registration Registration Booklet from Wei Yun's hands, he knew he could not do it.

"All right, Commander Wei. At a time like this, stop teasing him."

Li Dao stepped forward and spoke.

His eyes also held curiosity. After waiting a month, he too had grown somewhat impatient.

Since Li Dao had spoken, Wei Yun stopped wasting words. He walked to the table and set down the booklet, casually opening it to a page clearly recording several people's household registration details.

Soon, the Household Registration Registration Booklet was turned to a blank page.

"Next, all you need to do is tell me your details, and I can enter them in the booklet. Once it's submitted, you'll officially be people with household registrations again."

Wei Yun glanced at Li Dao and the other four. "Who's first?"

The others instinctively looked toward Li Dao.

"All right, I'll go first."

Li Dao took a deep breath and sat opposite Wei Yun.

Ever since being imprisoned in the Death Row Camp, he had gone from despair to hope, making his way here one step at a time. Only heaven knew how much pressure he had borne. Now, at last, he could shed his identity as a death-row prisoner.

Just then, Wei Yun suddenly reminded them, "One more thing: your household registration details mustn't match your previous ones, or there'll be problems. It's best to write down an entirely unfamiliar identity with no connection to your old one."

Hearing that, Li Dao nodded. He naturally understood this.

His identity was especially unusual and sensitive. If someone accidentally discovered him, that old Great Qian emperor would absolutely never let him off.

However, he would not change his name.

The entire Great Qian Dynasty had a population of two hundred million, and Li was one of the most common surnames. Many people shared the same full name, so he was not afraid of being discovered through a name alone.

Then Li Dao told Wei Yun the household registration details he had come up with and had him write them in the Household Registration Registration Booklet.

"Come on, come on, my turn."

The moment Li Dao finished speaking, Shen San sat down beside him without ceremony.

Since Wei Yun was right there anyway, Old Ghost and the others could not be bothered to fight him for a turn.

In less than the time it took an incense stick to burn, all five of their household registrations had been entered in the booklet.

Once the registration was finished, Shen San impatiently asked, "When can we leave this damned place?"

Wei Yun put away the booklet and said, "Although you've been registered, this booklet still needs to be submitted for the higher-ups to record your details and make your Identity Plaques. Only once you have those Identity Plaques can you travel throughout Great Qian."

Li Dao understood what identity plaques were. In ancient times, they were something like identification cards, used to prove a person's identity.

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

Inside the tent.

Wei Yun handed the five identity plaques to their respective owners.

Having an identity plaque meant their identities had been officially registered in Great Qian. Even if they lost their plaques in the future, they could apply for replacements.

It also meant the five of them had officially shed their status as death row prisoners and gained new identities.

Running his fingers over the rather shoddy plaque in his hand, Li Dao felt as though an invisible shackle had unlocked around him. Both his body and mind relaxed completely.

Three months had passed since his memories returned.

From a third-rank count to a death row prisoner, and then from a death row prisoner back to an ordinary citizen-to him now, it all felt like a dream.

He still dimly remembered how desperate he had been when he first landed on death row. Fortunately, his system had awakened, finally allowing him to regain his freedom.

"Happy?"

At some point, Wei Yun had come to stand beside Li Dao, a smile on his face.

He understood Li Dao's feelings very well.

After all, no small number of death row prisoners passed through his hands every year. Most were numb and despairing. The few with some ability could only hold on for a while before dying in a frenzy on some death row mission.

To date, Li Dao and the other four were the first group of death row prisoners under him to survive long enough to earn their freedom.

"Of course I'm happy."

Li Dao carefully put away his identity plaque, then turned back with a faint smile. "Commander Wei, you must have something to tell me."

Wei Yun paused, then shook his head with a smile. "I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

"All right. Besides bringing you your identity plaques today, there's something else I wanted to ask you."

Li Dao raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Wei Yun's expression turned serious. "Would you be interested in joining the army?"

"You should know that people in your position usually can't reclaim their former identities. Most end up lost, unsure of what to do."

"From your earlier performance, I've found that you're particularly suited to military life. If you stay, the road ahead will certainly be smooth. Would you consider it?"

Li Dao looked startled.

Wei Yun's words surprised him. He hadn't expected an invitation to join the army.

After thinking for a moment, he answered, "I could consider it, but not right now."

"What do you mean?"

Li Dao shrugged. "I want to go 'home' and have a look first."

He had already decided on that earlier.

Especially after learning from Sun Zheng and Gao Liang that the Chancellor's Residence had been targeting him, he was even more impatient to go back and take a look.

"All right."

Wei Yun understood Li Dao's thinking as well. He nodded and said, "If you decide to enlist, you can come to me."

Li Dao nodded.

The next day.

Outside Changping Town.

They had only received their identity plaques yesterday, yet today Li Dao and the other four were already preparing to leave.

That was only natural. They had long since grown sick of this place.

Sitting on his horse, Li Dao looked at the other four. "Have you all settled your plans?"

Shen San said cheerfully, "Boss, don't worry. I'll make sure Old Ghost and the other two reach their destination."

Although they had all regained their freedom, Shen San still called him "Boss" at every turn.

As he put it, once a boss, always a boss.

Put simply, when traveling the martial world, another friend meant another road to take. Their time together in the Death Row Camp had made Shen San realize that none of his four companions were ordinary people. If an ordinary man like him wanted to get anywhere, he needed to cling to a powerful leg-and Li Dao's was the thickest of all.

Li Dao nodded. "Good. Be careful on the road, and don't let anything go wrong."

Little Madman had been refined into a Gu Child. Although he retained some intelligence, he suffered severe aftereffects. According to Old Ghost's judgment, if things continued this way, Little Madman would lose control of the gu poison in his body and die suddenly within a year.

Thus, Old Ghost had decided to take Little Madman into the Southern Mountains of Great Qian himself to search for a way to treat him.

Xu Hu, meanwhile, had no home to return to. Coupled with his closeness to Little Madman, that led him to decide to protect Old Ghost and Little Madman along the way.

As for Shen San, he had decided to escort the three of them to the Southern Mountains of Great Qian before continuing to make his way through the martial world.

That was why they were now parting ways.

Shen San was just about to leave with Old Ghost and the other two when something suddenly occurred to him. He reached into his clothes and pulled out a pile of gold, silver, and valuables.

"Boss, the roads of the martial world stretch far. Take these for your travel expenses. They'll make the journey easier."

Li Dao raised an eyebrow. "Did you swipe all this during our last few missions?"

Shen San scratched his head and grinned. "My hands just happened to wander."

Looking at Shen San's bulging bundle, Li Dao couldn't help marveling inwardly, A thief through and through. Even on death row, you never forgot to steal.

Looking at the gold and silver being offered, Li Dao shook his head. "Keep it. I have my own, so I don't need it."

He already had quite a bit of silver on him, all of it given to him by Wei Yun.

It wasn't repayment for a favor, but something he had earned.

Completing three missions had bought him his freedom, but the military merits he had accumulated had all gone to Wei Yun.

At one tael of silver per ear, Li Dao had received several hundred taels from Wei Yun. For one person, that would be enough for now.

"All right, then."

Shen San gave Li Dao a final cupped-fist salute. "Boss, we'll be on our way."

"Go on."

Li Dao smiled faintly and returned the salute.

Shen San looked back at the red sun rising over the distant plains. Unable to restrain himself, he let out a long cry, urged his horse onward, and set off with Old Ghost and the other two.

Li Dao watched the four figures gradually disappear across the plains, then turned his gaze north and murmured, "It's time I left too."

With that, he flicked his whip.

Before long, his figure vanished across the northern plains as well.

Meanwhile.

Atop Changping Town's wall, two armored men stood side by side.

"Grand Commander, isn't it a bit of a shame to let Nine Five Two Seven leave?"

Watching Li Dao in the distance, Liu Neng couldn't help sighing.

"Not at all."

"Why?"

Wei Yun gazed ahead and smiled faintly. "Because he'll come back sooner or later."

"The martial world isn't suited to a man like him. The battlefield is."

Liu Neng froze at those words. Recalling the sight of Li Dao slaughtering enemies on the battlefield, he couldn't help saying, "If he takes to the battlefield, Great Qian might gain another great star of slaughter."

Wei Yun patted Liu Neng on the shoulder and chuckled. "As long as his blade doesn't fall on our necks, who cares?"

Liu Neng laughed heartily. "That's true enough."