Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely Chapter 1297: 425: Chen Qing, Defection and Tragic News

In the ninth year of Great Xia, on the tenth day of the third month, during the day

Northwest of Hongmen, southern outskirts of Beining Mountain’s snow forest.

[Tomb of Ji Jiang]

With brows tightly knit, Lin Kai, Liu Yuan, Zhao Bao, and Li Longkai gazed at the lone grave ahead, while hundreds of Cloud Dragon Army soldiers in golden armor scoured the surroundings meticulously for any signs or hints.

The three Vice Chiefs of Punishment labored somberly near the lone grave; Bai Shanning scrutinized the earth; Xiang Liang inspected the tombstone intently; and Tong Xingsheng, in the most striking manner, shoveled directly into the grave, obviously aiming to exhume the corpse.

“No wonder Ji Hong failed to come back to camp; his sister Ji Jiang has actually passed away…”

Right then, Lin Kai positioned himself before the grave, his expression brimming with bewilderment and disbelief. He turned instinctively toward Zhao Bao, spotting the man's face etched with astonishment blended with intricate emotions. After a brief reflection, Zhao Bao's brows suddenly tightened.

“Yuanxiu’s marriage is finally confirmed?”

At that instant, Zhao Bao could only utter this one thought.

Truth be told, upon getting the report from the Prison Department’s envoy searching for the siblings, stating they’d discovered Ji Jiang’s tombstone on Beining Mountain’s outskirts, his immediate response was a secret thrill.

Yet, once the initial thrill faded, he swiftly detected something off.

For not just Ji Jiang had perished, but her brother Ji Hong had vanished too!

Five days prior, when Zhao Bao first got Zeng Rou’s report, he hadn’t paid it much mind. After all, Hongmen served as Great Xia’s gateway, teeming with Eight Towns folk coming and going, a chaotic blend of all sorts. Plus, with some deceptive monsters stirring trouble in the city, it wasn’t surprising that missing a few people—or even a handful dying occasionally—counted as everyday occurrences.

If Ji Hong weren’t a Dragon Martial Army soldier, frankly, Zhao Bao wouldn’t have bothered dispatching a Prison Department envoy to track them down.

Owing to his daughter Zhao Yuanxiu’s marriage, he already harbored resentment toward the Ji Hong siblings. Bound by Great Xia’s rigid laws and his brother Zhao Long’s caution, he refrained from acting against them directly, yet secretly wished they’d face some misfortune outside.

That’s why, from the third to fifth, he merely dispatched two Iron Order Prison Wardens for a perfunctory search near Hongmen, yielding no findings, as expected.

Not until the seventh night, when Dragon Martial Army Commander Hou Quan messaged Liu Yuan from Bashang, noting that Scout Camp’s squad five soldier Ji Hong hadn’t returned from his seven-day leave on schedule, requesting a check into the matter.

Liu Yuan, who now doubled as Hongmen Military Department Commander alongside Cloud Dragon Army Commander, had to assist since a soldier missing muster was a military issue, and Hou Quan required his involvement in the probe.

Three days back, upon receiving Hou Quan’s message, Liu Yuan’s first instinct was puzzlement, but duty-bound, he checked with Hongmen Civil Affairs Department’s Ying Yi for Ji Hong’s lodging and visited at once.

During the visit, Liu Yuan uncovered the issue.

The Ji Hong siblings hadn’t returned home for six straight days.

Great Xia upholds military discipline rigorously; missing attendance outside leave periods warrants severe punishment—at least ten to fifty strokes from the military rod, or expulsion at worst—this stands as the foundational rule every recruit commits to memory.

Ji Hong’s failure to report back to the Dragon Martial Army post-leave was already grave, or Hou Quan wouldn’t have reached out personally.

Given the siblings had gone hunting and stayed away for six days, it seemed highly likely that trouble had befallen them.

Once he confirmed something was wrong, Liu Yuan promptly involved the Prison Department.

From Liu Yuan’s recounting, learning Ji Hong hadn’t returned to Bashang Military Camp on time, Zhao Bao grasped the gravity instantly and started handling the siblings’ vanishing with full earnestness.

This diligence quickly yielded fruit.

Deploying the three Vice Chiefs of Punishment, he probed North City environs for two days, pinpointing the siblings’ final known spot as Beining Mountain’s outskirts before they disappeared.

Last night, the three Vice Chiefs of Punishment, backed by over a hundred Iron Order Prison Wardens and a full battalion from Liu Yuan’s Cloud Dragon Army—over two hundred strong in total—swept through Beining Mountain’s outskirts exhaustively.

The Ji Jiang lone grave they now faced emerged from that exhaustive effort.

Ji Hong wasn’t some insignificant soul; his Dragon Martial Army soldier status alone held weight, let alone his top-grade Battle Body Qualification and personal praise from Lord Xia Hong. With his sister dead and him vanished, this incident was too big for Zhao Bao to hide, and he caught a hint of intrigue, prompting him to alert Lin Kai and Liu Yuan right away.

This brought about the current gathering, where Lin Kai, Liu Yuan, Li Longkai, and Zhao Bao fixed their stares on the lone grave.

With thoughts whirling, Zhao Bao abruptly noticed something and glanced at Lin Kai observing him. Guessing Lin Kai’s suspicions immediately, he blurted out anxiously, “Lord Lin, you’re not thinking I murdered Ji Jiang, are you? No matter how foolish I might be, I’d never pull off something so idiotic…”

“I’m not suspecting you!”

Lin Kai cut Zhao Bao off with a firm wave, shaking his head gravely as he declared, “Forget how Ji Jiang met her end for now; she departed with Ji Hong in the latter half of the first night. This tombstone was probably set up by Ji Hong himself for her…”

With that, he creased his forehead and pressed on, “What’s your take—why didn’t Ji Hong head back to Hongmen after raising this tombstone for her?”

“Dare not return, unwilling to return, cannot return—these are the sole three options!”

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