My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

In the dark alley between the houses, hidden from the streetlamps, four bodies spread across the ground, groaning and panting in pain. A tall silhouette stood as he grasped onto another man's collar, his fist hammered again and again onto the latter's face.

Each punch was very hard, swift and merciless. "You madman…laozi will kill you—ah! Damn you! You crazy bastard!" The fight was clearly one sided. Even though the man kept on cursing, he was obviously on the losing side.

Blow upon blow fell upon his face until the end, the man's curses weakened but the attacker hadn't relented. After making his head swollen like a pig, he proceeded to step onto the man's fingers that fell limply on the ground. The man's eyes widened in pain and shock, his mouth opened to let out a piercing scream…only to be clamped by the attacker's bloody palm before he could even let out a squeak.

"Shut up. Don't make a ruckus, or else I will kill you here." he hissed in a low tone.

Fear flashed through the man's eyes. This madman wasn't lying! He would seriously kill him right here and now if he didn't obey!

Sweat dripped across his forehead and his veins bulged out due to the pain. But the madman didn't show any mercy as he proceeded to press some force onto his foot and the terrifying sound of bone cracking echoed amidst the faint scent of blood in the air.

"If you come to me again, I will make sure that the next time you open your eyes, it will be in the ICU. You got it?"

The man nodded in panic. Tears welled up his eyes, half from the bone piercing pain and half from the ghastly fear crawling up his body. He regretted it! He regretted ever provoking this madman! How would he know that such a thin, slender and seemingly weak man was actually a beast in disguise?!

"Good. You'd better remember it." The man loosened his grab on the man's mouth and let him go. The man slumped to the ground, strengthless, his eyes reflected the man's dark and cruel eyes. Heartbeat thundered in his ears and his broken hand twitched in numbness.

In the next second, a string of melody resounded through the alley, breaking the tense and stagnant atmosphere to pieces.

It was Shi Nian's ringtone.

She snapped out of her reverie and hastily dug into her pocket to mute her phone. In the next moment, silence returned to the space, this time it was a little too eerie and sinister. She lifted her head to find the man's eyes staring at her.

At that instant, Shi Nian had the notion that she had been transported to the past when she had just met Jiang Jinyan. He wielded sword like the extension of his arm, he cut heads as easy as cutting tofu and in the end, he would always walk out victorious. Covered in his black armor, his whole body reeked of blood and his gaze murderous. He was General Jiang, the God of War in countless battlefields who instilled fear among people.

The past and present merged into one, forming into Jiang Jinyan's figure hidden in the dark, his glacial eyes boring into hers.

Shi Nian couldn't read his thoughts at all. Her mind churned with questions. How could Jiang Jinyan be here? What was he doing here? Why was he fighting with these people? The blood…was that his? Did he get hurt?

In the end, it was the incoming call that—once again—awoke her of her thoughts.

The light from the screen illuminated her face. Xu Binchen's name flashed on it. She answered it absentmindedly and the man's voice travelled into their ears. "Where are you? I am done here."

Shi Nian tapped on the screen as answer and hung up on the call.

Jiang Jinyan slowly walked toward her as she was still frozen in place. Closer and closer…five meters…three meters…one meter…the scent of blood and faint cologne rushed into her nose and her eyes raked across his body in search for the source of the wounds.

However, in the next moment, Jiang Jinyan walked past her, just like that.

She gasped in surprise, her head turned so fast that she could get a whiplash. Her hand shot forward before she could think and grasped onto the hem of his shirt. Jiang Jinyan halted in his tracks. Even Shi Nian was stunned after doing it. She hastily let go as if her hand had just been burned.

He half turned and gave her a frosty glance. So cold and distant as if they had never seen each other. There was even blood splattered across his face, his cheek was slightly swollen and there's a cut on the corner of his lips.

Shi Nian stared up at him, bewildered.

The man spoke in a low voice. "Go back. You didn't see anything here." After saying that, he continued forward without turning around. His silhouette was drowned into the darkness once again, the diminishing back looked particularly straight yet desolate.

Shi Nian instinctively opened her mouth, wanting to call out to him but no sound came out.

She grasped the phone in her palm so hard that her knuckles turned white.

Hesitation flickered through her eyes. Had…Jiang Jinyan forgotten her? Did he really not remember her at all? Last time, he told her to forget him. He said that he's not the Jiang Jinyan she liked anymore.

However…how could he decide what kind of Jiang Jinyan she liked?

He didn't know anything. In this lifetime, he had no memory of her…

In their past lives, he had brushed her hands off and went straight to the war even though he knew that it would be his burial mound. What was she thinking of at that time?

She decided that…if there was a next time, she didn't want to leave him alone again.

Thus, when she received the news of his death, she didn't hesitate to hang herself and followed him to the underworld. She just didn't want him to show such a sad and destitute profile again. She wanted to accompany this strong, kind, gentle yet fragile man.

As what? She hadn't thought that far yet. The intangible, complicated feelings and bittersweet warmth he offered couldn't be described with mere words.

It was just that…she really, really wanted to stay by his side.

Multiple thoughts spiraled in her head but in fact, it only took less than two seconds.. The next moment Shi Nian lifted her eyes, the brief hesitation vanished, replaced with resolution and determination. His disappearing back reflected within her eyes and in the next moment, Shi Nian started to chase after him!