My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

The physiotherapy session lasted until afternoon. The sun had begun to set when she's done. Shi Nian worked up quite a lot of sweat. Her back was soaked and her hair was sticking to her face. There was a healthy flush on her cheeks and her eyes were a lot brighter.

In this session, she stepped into the next level after the doctor examined that she was quite ready. She started to jog, it was a slow walk in the beginning and after twenty minutes, the speed increased a bit into speed walk, until the end, she had started to run for five minutes before stopping.

The therapist guided her down the treadmill and took down her speed and time. "Very good. You healed very fast, girl."

She beamed brightly at the compliment.

Her breath was harsh and she had almost collapsed on the bench when she stopped.

The therapist prohibited her from lying down and gave her an aid on how to guide her breath. Shi Nian followed the step earnestly and she felt herself calming down afterwards.

"Good, we won't need much therapy again if you keep up with the improvement." The helper nodded with a smile. "Maybe two or three more times and you will be as fit as a fiddle."

Shi Nian bowed in thanks and stepped out of the physiotherapy department. She found her way to the elevator and walked back. Inside the empty elevator, she fanned herself. The smooth wall reflected her face. Round, big light brown eyes, small nose, pinkish lips, fair skin. She looked exactly as she did in her past life.

Absentmindedly, she opened her mouth and saw a perfectly intact tongue there.

Her mind couldn't help but drift toward the night when she first came to the General's residence.

At that time, everyone didn't understand why the General insisted on saving the witch on the death rows and brought her back to his home. An uncanny thought unanimously appeared on their mind.

The witch must have bewitched the General to save her.

Shi Nian didn't understand him either. But then, the enemy of her enemy was a friend. He was the one that had killed the fugitives who executed her sisters, thus she was quite obedient and accommodating to his wish. At that time, she had no one left anyway, thus she thought 'why not' and followed him home.

The General dismissed everyone in the main hall, leaving the two of them alone.

He took off his armor and raised his brows. "Do you not want to ask me the reason why?"

Before he opened his mouth, she had the intention to ask. Now…she refrained herself. The moment he asked this question, she knew that he was standing on her side. But the reason why? At that time, she wasn't really interested in knowing.

He frowned. "Then, do you follow anyone home as long as they lead you?"

Shi Nian was stunned for a moment before shaking her head.

General Jiang was both frustrated and amused. He told the servant to bring out the paper and ink and put it in front of her. "Write."

She stared blankly. Write what?

"Tell me the reason why you are willing to follow me."

She held the brush on her hand, it felt cold and refreshing. Gingerly, she wrote, [No reason.]

The man laughed in anger. "Then what if I kill you right now?"

[Will you take me away if you're planning to kill me?] She rolled her eyes at him.

General Jiang, who was feared by millions of soldiers, the man whom even the Emperor had to be courteous to, was disdained by a little girl in front of his very own face. The experience was quite marvelous and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"All right, you win. I won't kill you for now." He threatened jokingly. "Then, why are you being called a witch? What is the secret in the dark forest? If you told me honestly, maybe I will spare your life."

Shi Nian gave him a look that made him doubt his own intelligence. She looked around the hall and found a pot of bonsai on top of the table. She walked toward it and scrutinized the little tree closely. It was well taken care of, but maybe because the environment was dark and the servant didn't maintain its need, the leaves were dull green, almost yellowing in color.

She beckoned for him to come closer and in front of his eyes, she tapped on the leaves twice. The next second, the originally yellowish green leaf twitched heavily and turned into a deep healthy green color!

The change was swift and perplexing that if Jiang Jinyan didn't witness it with his own eyes, maybe he wouldn't believe it happening in real life.

"This…" He brought the pot of bonsai close to his eyes and found that the change only appeared in the area where her fingers touched. "Is it magic?"

She hesitated and nodded.

"Dark magic?"

Her head shook furiously.

"Hmm, interesting." Jiang Jinyan rubbed his chin in contemplation. "So, the reason why the dark forest was filled with countless precious herbs and medicines is because of this magic?"

Yes, she agreed. [But we are not witches.]

He clearly didn't care about that and waved his hand in dismissal. "What else can you do?"

Shi Nian blinked and stared at his face deeply for a while. He looked back in amusement, trying to guess what she was thinking inside her little head. Then, she stretched one finger out and tapped it on his arm where a half-bleeding wound was at.

It was the wound he received by the sword of one of the fugitives. He hadn't treated it yet. But now, under one tap of her fingers, the glaring wound closed with a speed visible to naked eyes before recovering rapidly. This time, his pupils shrank and he wiped his arm only to find that there wasn't any wound there!

"Wow…" he exclaimed in admiration. "This is such an amazing ability—" He narrowed his eyes and asked, "Then why don't you treat your own wound?" Without Shi Nian needing to answer, he had already found it for himself. "You want to die."

It wasn't a question, nor was it an inquiry. His tone was firm and determined, showing that he was confident in what he discovered.

Shi Nian was helpless because he was indeed true. She had been welcoming death with open arms only to find that The King of Hell didn't intend to reap her soul yet.

He pursed his lips. "Do you want to know why I brought you back?"