Chapter 7 Bad Flag

"From that alley, we are outside the city..."

Ji Ruxue leaned against the only wooden pillar in the room, her pretty face a little pale due to weakness.

A broken pottery bowl was placed at her feet. The medicine inside had already cooled down and was slowly being eroded by the snow.

But Xiao Yan, who had his back to her, just turned a deaf ear to her question and was only focused on slowly pouring the newly boiled medicine into the old man's mouth.

Seeing this, the girl could only bury her head deeply in her wrists, remaining silent with mixed emotions.

After a long time, the sound of wind and snow outside gradually died down, and finally the old man's faint cough could be heard.

Ji Ruxue then raised her head and looked over there.

Xiao Yan had already put his hooded robe and warm clothes on the old man, but the latter was still shivering from the cold.

The former placed the medicine next to the old man's mouth, allowing him to drink it slowly, and asked, "Uncle Lin, how do you feel now?"

The old man opened his eyes half-open and slowly turned his head to the side.

He shook his head and opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out.

"He is too deeply poisoned to be cured."

Over there, Ji Ruxue analyzed the old man's lip language and explained to Xiao Yan: "Some time ago, Lin Dalang used him to test poison, and the poison has now infected his internal organs..."

The old man forced a smile, but there was no sadness on his face.

Even so, he had guessed that Lin Dalang was killed by Xiao Yan.

The latter pursed his lips, his expression did not change much. He had long been indifferent to life and death.

But the original body's emotions were still there, and at this moment a cry of sorrow still rose from his heart.

He pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you have any unfulfilled wishes?"

The old man shook his head and then opened his mouth.

Next to him, Ji Ruxue crouched down with her sword in hand, and translated for him to Xiao Yan at the same time: "In the fifth year of Qianning, Zhu Wen occupied Luoyang and attacked the palace of Chang'an. Your father was the commander of the imperial guards of Emperor Zhaozong at that time, and he should have gone out of the city to fight the enemy, but Emperor Zhaozong stopped him because he had lost his wife and had a young son, and ordered him to disguise himself and go out of the city to wait for the right time. Afterwards, Emperor Zhaozong was trapped by Zhu Wen, and your father has been dormant until now. At present, the only one left in the Li Tang bloodline is the Prince of Jiyin. In order to repay Emperor Zhaozong's grace, your father had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure..."

The old man began to cough heavily, with cold sweat oozing from his forehead, but he still insisted on continuing: "At that time, your father asked me to change your appearance. He actually wanted to replace the King of Jiyin and then take you out when the opportunity arose. He never thought of sacrificing your life... This could have succeeded, but I didn't expect that my evil son would do such a stupid thing. Don't blame your father..."

"Yes, I won't blame him."

"There is one more thing. Your father and I are both the eighth generation of the Tang Dynasty's Outlaws. He is much stronger than me. He is the Dark Star of the Thirty-Six Captains of the Heavenly Gang and holds the Outlaw Flag that commands the Yanzhou Outlaws. Although the Outlaws were disbanded thirty years ago, the position has always been passed down from father to son. There are still many people lurking in the dark, working for the Tang Dynasty... Now, the flag must have fallen into the hands of the Liang thief, which may cause big trouble."

"I understand what Uncle Lin means, but can't this bad flag be copied?"

"The flag is made by secret methods, and has array symbols engraved on it, which will change with the change of sunlight, day and night. There are 36 flags in the world, and the array symbols engraved on each one are different, but they fit together. It was jointly drawn by the Tang Dynasty's Bad Leader and Li Chunfeng, the Minister of the Taizong Dynasty. It is not something that ordinary people can imitate... If your father wants to train you to be a Bad Person, he will teach you how to recognize the flag."

After hearing this, Xiao Yan was silent for a long time, and then asked: "But the Tang Dynasty has been destroyed, and the bad people you mentioned have long disappeared. Will anyone really continue to listen to the orders of this flag?"

But contrary to his and Ji Ruxue's expectations, the old man's eyes suddenly widened and his chest began to heave violently.

This time, even Xiao Yan could understand what he said:
"Once you are a bad person, you will be a bad person for the rest of your life!"

The atmosphere in the hut suddenly stopped. Ji Ruxue did not translate this sentence, but she could feel the power contained in it.

The old man was about to die, but at this moment, his face emanated a red glow that was like a last ray of light.

He held Xiao Yan's hand tightly, his eyes filled with earnestness.

"The Bad People never ask why, they just do what they want. The older generation of subordinates in the branch only recognize the flag, regardless of the identity of the flag bearer. They have already engraved this into their souls."

Ji Ruxue quickly read the old man's lip language, but an inexplicable wave of shock surged in her heart.

"Xiao Lang, I know this matter is difficult for you, but if you don't take back the Bad Flag, many people may die in vain..." After reading the old man's last sentence, she turned her head to look at Xiao Yan.

The latter did not avoid the old man's gaze, but nodded slightly: "I will do it, but even if Zhu Wen's people really seize the flag, they should not know how to summon other bad people."

"There will always be someone who understands. When the Bad People were disbanded, although we burned most of the documents, a lot of the accumulation of the Tang Dynasty for three hundred years fell into Zhu Wen's hands. There is also the Xuanming Sect, which has many people who are proficient in this matter. They have long wanted to kill all of us, the officials of the Tang Dynasty..."

Xiao Yan thought for a moment, nodded and consoled him, "Since this is of great importance, I will do my best. Uncle Lin, you should take care of yourself first, and then we can discuss this matter."

The old man closed his eyes at this time, and cold sweat kept oozing out of his forehead.

He shook his head, opened his eyes with great effort, looked at Ji Ruxue, and asked her to translate: "The poison has already invaded the bone marrow. Even if a god came in person, there is nothing he can do. I will suffer for every moment I live. Now that I have done what I should do, I only hope that Xiao Lang can give me a quick death..."

Ji Ruxue widened her eyes and began to stumble as she spoke the last part.

Xiao Yan frowned but remained silent.

The old man smiled softly, propped himself up and sat up straight, asking Ji Ruxue to translate for him: "I have been practicing medicine for nearly fifty years. Although I was fortunate enough to be called the 'holy hand' by the late emperor, I have no martial arts skills and am often laughed at by your father as 'not as strong as a child'. But he also knows that I am never afraid of death. If he were here today, he would only end my life quickly. Killing me now would actually save me..."

Xiao Yanyi remained silent and did not agree with the old man's words.

Finally, the old man looked at Ji Ruxue earnestly, but from his expression, it was clear that he wanted to ask the girl to step aside temporarily.

Although Ji Ruxue didn't understand, she stood up with a respectful attitude. Before leaving, she looked back at Xiao Yan, wanting to persuade him not to pay attention to the old man's opinion, but when the words came to her lips, she didn't know how to start, so she could only drag her body, which had not yet recovered, to the outer room.

Inside the thatched cottage, Xiao Yan moved and wanted to speak.

But the old man just waved his hand, and then, under Xiao Yan's gaze, he tried his best to use his hunched fingers to heavily tap several acupoints on his neck.

Following a muffled groan, some dirty blood oozed from the corner of the old man's mouth.

He smiled slowly, then called Xiao Yan to bow down to him.

Xiao Yan followed his instructions, and then he saw the old man whispering in his ear in a strange and hoarse voice:
"I know you are not Xiao Lang."

Xiao Yan's eyes flickered slightly, but the expression on his face did not change at all.

Then I heard the old man continue to speak.

"Although Xiao Lang is calm, he still has a childish heart. He is not as capable as you in suppressing his humanity all the time. And although he has martial arts skills, he is not outstanding, and he is certainly not as strong as you... But if you are not Xiao Lang, who are you?"

Xiao Yan pondered for a moment and shook his head at him.

The old man coughed but chuckled, then said with relief: "Born in this world, it is a disaster for him. In fact, you avenged Xiao Lang's father, and to me you are no different from Xiao Lang. I can feel that you have the ambition to swallow the sky..."

He paused, then pleaded with Xiao Yan sincerely: "If you take the bad flag, you must protect their lives."

"Follow the advice of your elders."

"Give me a ride."

Xiao Yan hesitated for a long time, and indigo light began to rise in his eyes.

The old man seemed not to see it. He leaned against the wall and exhaled a sigh of relief.

He smiled, closed his eyes and said, "Before I die, I suddenly remembered something from the past."

"Back in Chang'an, your father carried you into the palace to meet the emperor, but before leaving, the late emperor dismissed everyone and only kept you and your father in the palace for a long time."

Xiao Yan was stunned for a moment, and heard clearly the old man's last words before he died.

"Now that I think about it, maybe Xiao was also a little unfaithful..."

　According to historical records, the act of knocking on the palace gate in Chang'an was supposedly done by Prince Qi Li Maozhen, but as a fan fiction of The Bad Guys, we still follow the narrative of the anime and attribute these extremely disloyal acts to Zhu Wen - don't be too serious about it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)