Chapter 141: 141, you are not a deserter!

“…I’m keeping her around as a precaution against Su Mengqing.”

Seeing their expressions, Lin Fan couldn’t help but smile. Then, his face grew serious as he explained frankly to Yuan Youwei and Mrs. Xue.

“Iguchi Tama must have taken Su Mengqing with him. He plans to prop her up, hoping to continue vying for the high-grade medicinal herb supply in the Southwest provinces.”

“No wonder you made an exception and showed Zhang Meili mercy… But Iguchi Tama must be blind. How could he get mixed up with trash like Su Mengqing?”

Yuan Youwei paused, stunned, then exchanged a look with Mrs. Xue. Both seemed somewhat relieved.

“Mrs. Xue, send some people to keep an eye on the cemetery. We can’t let Zhang Meili get away.”

“Don’t worry, Miss. We own shares in the company that manages the cemetery. I just need to say the word, and our people can have the Tomb Guardian watch her.”

Mrs. Xue nodded at the rearview mirror as she started the car.

“If Zhang Meili dares to slack off or play any tricks, I’ll have someone teach her a harsh lesson!”

“She probably won’t run,” Lin Fan said, shaking his head. “Su Gang is going to prison, Stubborn Su Gang is off in the Sha Country, and Su Mengqing couldn’t care less about her, having already run off with Iguchi Tama. Moreover, the Su Family looks down on Zhang Meili, and the situation with her maternal family is likely the same. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have ended up on the streets, looking like a madwoman to everyone else.”

“We should still have someone watch her. That woman is unpredictable; her mood changes faster than you can flip a page,” Yuan Youwei insisted, hesitating for a moment as she recalled the first time she had seen Zhang Meili’s true colors in the clinic’s memorial hall.

“Alright, handle it as you see fit,” Lin Fan replied casually, turning his head to gaze out the window in the direction of the Imperial Capital.

For some reason, he had a mysterious feeling that many pairs of eyes were watching Haicheng from afar.

“Go home and get some rest. You’re going to be very busy for the next two days.”

A short while later, the black Bentley came to a slow stop outside a small alley in the Southern City. As Yuan Youwei got out of the car, her beautiful eyes clearly showed a hint of reluctance to part.

Lin Fan was silent for a moment before steeling himself. He turned his back on her and walked alone toward the clinic in the alley.

“Don’t let your imagination run wild. You know I’m not… quite ready yet.”

“Hah! Who’s letting their imagination run wild? Hmph, you make it sound like I’m desperate!”

Yuan Youwei’s delicate body trembled, her beautiful face flushing crimson as she gnashed her teeth at Lin Fan’s retreating figure.

“Miss, what did he mean by that? He doesn’t get a period, so what’s there to be inconvenient about?” Mrs. Xue asked from the car, a look of complete confusion on her face.

“It’s nothing! Ignore that bastard. He’s like a hedgehog covered in spikes!” Yuan Youwei snapped, annoyed. But then, the thought of Lin Fan’s miserable condition made her lips curl into a wry, helpless smile.

ROAR.

The black Bentley’s engine fired up once more, its sound fading into the distance.

「At the entrance of the clinic.」

Lin Fan pulled his gaze away from the alley’s entrance, his expression darkening slightly. Who on earth planted the Seven-Core Deadly Lotus in me… You’d better hope I never find out who you are.

He took out his key, unlocked the door, and went inside, planning to wash up. He immediately tossed the trousers Zhang Meili had dirtied into the washing machine.

“You’ve been standing there for a while. Come on in if you have something to say,” Lin Fan said coolly, glancing toward the doorway amidst the WHIRRING of the machine.

One second, two seconds, three… After more than twenty seconds, a tall, imposing figure emerged from a dark corner, his head hanging low. It was Wang Meng, wearing a jacket over the white bandages wrapped around his upper body.

“Yin—”

Wang Meng approached Lin Fan and dropped to one knee, but he had barely uttered a single word before Lin Fan raised a hand to stop him.

“I’ll say it again. My name is Lin Fan. You have the wrong person.” Lin Fan frowned, gesturing toward the door with his chin. “If you insist on thinking I’m him, then there’s nothing more to say. You can leave.”

“I came here specifically to explain! I, Wang Meng, am not a deserter!” Wang Meng suddenly lifted his bloodshot eyes, which burned with grief and indignation.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re him or not, I have to set the record straight! Back when the Hulin Guard changed commanders and Shen Changlong was appointed Great Commander, the truth is, none of the brothers respected him!

“And just as we expected, ever since that old bastard Shen Changlong took over, he’s been suppressing the old commander’s trusted confidants and replacing them with his own men.

“Worst of all, he promoted Ying Rufeng—who was only in his twenties and had zero military achievements—all the way to the position of Deputy Great Commander!

“Which of us didn’t know that Ying Rufeng had no real ability? He only soared through the ranks because Shen Changlong is his maternal grandfather!”

As he spoke, a look of intense bitterness and pain crossed Wang Meng’s face. His fists, hanging at his sides, clenched with an audible CRACK.

“In later operations, many of our comrades were sacrificed needlessly due to Ying Rufeng’s incompetent command! I couldn’t bear to see my brothers get killed by that damn bastard, so I defied his orders, led my men in a retreat, and became a so-called ’deserter’!”

After saying his piece in one breath, Wang Meng lowered his head deeply again, a humiliating tear welling up in his crimson, tiger-like eyes.

“Disobeying an order is still disobeying an order. You violated a soldier’s sacred duty to obey. But…” Lin Fan shook his head silently, his expression growing complicated. “…for them to pin all the blame for the failed battle on you, Wang Meng, that’s certainly going too far.”

I never would have thought that command of the three-hundred-thousand-strong Hulin Guard would end up in the hands of the Imperial Capital’s Shen family. And my half-brother, Ying Rufeng, he certainly climbed the ladder quickly thanks to his connections. So young, and yet he’s already showing shades of who I once was… Utterly ridiculous!

It’s not as if Ying Rufeng is from the main bloodline. He’s the bastard son born from an affair between Ying Wenyuan and the married Shen Yueli, shortly after Ying Wenyuan married my mother, Lin Suxin! Later, after Shen Yueli’s husband died, she brought a teenage Ying Rufeng to the Ying family and forced Ying Wenyuan to divorce my mother and marry her instead. With the firm backing of Mrs. Ying Sr., even though my mother was unwilling to leave, Ying Wenyuan ruthlessly drove her out of the Ying family!

“But I can’t accept it! Ying… Director Lin, I… I want to follow you for the rest of my life!”

Wang Meng’s deep voice shattered the memories flashing through Lin Fan’s mind. The dazed look in his eyes vanished as he reached out and helped Wang Meng to his feet.

“I… I suppose I’m a deserter, too. Aren’t you afraid of getting dragged down with me?” A self-mocking smile touched Lin Fan’s lips.

He must have recognized me, but what of it? The past is too painful to revisit. The young man named Ying Bufan is gone. The Xia Country government has already declared him a martyr with a state funeral, his fate sealed. He is now just a name on a monument. If he is to appear again, he can only be Lin Fan. A lonely ghost, a wandering soul with no past.

“Afraid of what? Anyone else might be a deserter, but I, Wang Meng, firmly believe that you would never be one!” Wang Meng grinned, shaking his head with conviction. “You’re not a deserter. One day, you will take back everything that belongs to you!”

“…Alright. If you have nowhere else to go, you can stay with me,” Lin Fan finally said after a long silence, meeting the other man’s intensely excited gaze with a reluctant nod.

“However, your strength isn’t sufficient yet. Come back tomorrow morning. I’ll clear your meridians and give you two Qi Replenishing Pills.”

“Then I’ll come back tomorrow morning, hehe!” Wang Meng was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed, nodding eagerly like a chicken pecking at grain.

Qi Replenishing Pills! Back in the Hulin Guard, those were miraculous rewards only granted to soldiers who had earned at least a third-class combat merit! He himself had once earned a third-class merit for his bravery on the battlefield. After taking a single Qi Replenishing Pill, his martial arts strength had soared, advancing from the Mingjin Early Stage all the way to the Great Perfection of the intermediate stage! He had been stuck in Late Ming Jin for years now. If he could have two Qi Replenishing Pills, plus have Lin Fan clear his meridians… he could definitely soar to new heights and might even break through to the long-dreamed-of Hua Realm!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep