Swaying Gladiolus — I

After Liu Mingyun finished reading the letter, he quickly rolled the scroll back up and lit it on fire, amber flames licked the paper as they devoured it and turned the material into ashes.

"General Hong," he began, voice low and somewhat pensive. "The road to this camp—" his frown deepened "—if this prince's memory does not betray him, is it not filled with bandits?"

General Hong nodded, still kneeling as he replied, voice grave. "Indeed, Your Highness. If not for the condition here at the borders, we would have cleared those mountains off those bandits."

"This is not good," Liu Mingyun murmured, worry plaguing his captivating voice as he looked up at the stars. "Not good at all. General Hong, this means we cannot send soldiers to clear up a path?"

"Yes— may this lowly one ask Your Highness why he is asking about those bandits right now?"

Liu Mingyun held his forehead, long silver hair curtaining forward as he bent slightly, right elbow propped on the crook of his left one as he let out a sigh, silken locks of hair shimmering under the moonlight.

"The Divine Phoenix, Li Jinhua, of Jianghu has sent her only nephew to aid our forces in the Northwest. But if those bandits somehow manage to get him… It will be a disaster."

Hearing that, for a moment General Hong froze, imagining the consequences before he shook his head and spoke up, voice tentative.

"But Your Highness," he bowed his head, forehead pressing on the ground. "If he is the Divine Phoenix's nephew… Won't he know enough martial arts to protect himself? Or guards?"

"That is true. But let us not forget that he too is a doctor, who knows he might be staunchly against violence for all that can happen?"

"... Yes, Your Highness."

"Regardless, keep a few soldiers on the lookout for him and his entourage." Liu Mingyun sighed, feeling an onset of headache as he shook his head, turning to get back to his tent. "What is his name, do you perhaps know, General?"

General Hong nodded, a little slowly. "Yes, Your Highness." He paused for a second. "According to the rumours going around in Jianghu, the Divine Phoenix's nephew is called…"

…

[Well this is a major change. I like it!] +1

[Help, I don't remember Imperial Consort coming into the storyline so soon. Much less as a character who would be a major help??] +0

↳

— [Is it a bad change though?]

↳ [Nah, it's good.] +1

[About time the author starts revising this novel!] +1

[Wait, is the genre changing for real?]

↳

— [Seems so.]

↳ [Damn.]

Li Xinyuan didn't know what exactly to feel when he looked at the forum posts at the end of the novel. His elegant brows drew into a deeper frown as he rubbed the corner of the page between his fingers.

"Did no one like the genre of this book?" He wondered in a low voice. So far, it seemed to be the case. But he could never be too sure, no? "Or is it just all the fujo-whatever banding together the moment they see a remotely romantic relationship between two male characters?"

He would never know that.

With a sigh and a gentle shake of his head, Li Xinyuan took a deep breath whilst closing the novel and stuffing it in his qiankun sleeve.

"Whatever," he hummed, turning to look at the mountainous 'scenery' outside the carriage.

Admittedly, there wasn't much to look at except for rocks, and green trees towering above all as is common in mountains. It was… Okay, he supposed.

Not too fantastical for a novel Li Xinyuan thought was a strange mix of Wuxia, Xianxia and historical. It was not too shabby either.

At least the mountain range where Divine Phoenix Hospital was built. It was a beautiful place.

Now back to the more pressing issue. According to Hu Lijing — whom Li Xinyuan knew he could trust (mostly) — this valley that separated their entourage from their destination, which was the Northwestern Mountains, had bandits.

Violent bandits.

As soon as Li Xinyuan heard about them, unironically, he was reminded of his death which was caused by — a modern and more violent version of — bandits. More or less.

Or maybe his description was too light.

As a way to ensure their safety, Hu Lijing decided to sit on the roof of the carriage to get a better look at the terrain— which Li Xinyuan was not opposed to.

Hence, leading to him sitting inside the carriage all alone in the depths of the night.

Their journey to the Northwestern Frontier was a long and rather tedious one. But considering that almost all of them — doctors — were cultivators and martial artists, safe to say, that none of them were too tired.

And they had yet to encounter any bandits so far, if at all. Maybe he should get a shut eye for the night?

Li Xinyuan nodded to himself, slightly adjusting his body so that he could sleep with his head leaning on his fist that was propped against the wind.

Then, the surgeon closed his eyes, letting out a quiet sigh. What a peaceful night.

Knock. Knock.

Li Xinyuan's eyes snapped open.

… Or maybe not. Li Xinyuan somehow jinxed himself. Fuck.

The man who was sitting above the surgeon rapped his hand on the roof twice as a signal. The latter's head snapped to look at the roof above his head as if he could see Hu Lijing sitting there.

His pursed lips didn't move as he spoke to the man using Qi and the vibrations in the air.

'What happened?' He asked a pensive look dawning on his face. 'Did you see something?'

Hu Lijing's answer came, almost instantaneously. 'You are not going to like the answer, Master.' He paused. 'I see a group of people riding horses and coming towards us. They are—'

'—Bandits.' Li Xinyuan finished his sentence, the entirety of his beautiful face darkening as his lips pressed together.

On the roof, Hu Lijing nodded, standing up as he squinted at the rapidly approaching bandits. Amber eyes blazing as he whipped around, green robes fluttering along with his long amber locks as he bit his lips.

Using the distant whispering technique, the male warned all the doctors behind him.

'Unsheathe your blades!' He took a deep bracing breath before adding. 'Now is the time your hands shed blood than save it!'

Li Xinyuan felt a chill crawl down his spine at his words, cold sweat breaking on his back as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before pushing away the memories of his past life.

When one of the doctors' voices fell into his ears, Li Xinyuan's eyes snapped open, black-rimmed golden irises gleaming dangerously under the cold moonlight filtering through the swaying curtains as he slightly parted his lips.

'Defend yourself, we have soldiers to treat.'