Chapter 402 Who Is Lin Nanshu?

Chapter 402: Who Is Lin Nanshu?

"Since you admit it... what?" Hutuke was taken aback, thinking he had misheard, his gaze boring into Cheng Ge like a barb. "You say you're not Lin Nanshu?!"

Cheng Ge met his gaze with a clear and unflinching look, his eyes holding not a hint of guilt. In fact, since the roast rabbit leg had left him parched, he took the opportunity to pour himself another cup of milk wine and knocked it back.

The cool liquid slid down his throat, and he narrowed his eyes in contentment before setting the empty cup down on the table with a soft clink.

Hutuke watched this insolent, lazy air of someone acting like he owned the place in the khan's own tent, and his smug certainty of having "caught the big fish" wavered instantly, plunging him into self-doubt.

Could they really have grabbed the wrong person? After all that effort—cordon off several areas around the Uerha Tribe—they'd dragged back some glutton?

Hutuke slowly approached Cheng Ge, his leather boots silent on the thick felt rug, yet radiating a storm-brewing pressure.

He stopped in front of Cheng Ge, his shadow nearly engulfing Cheng Ge entirely.

"You say you're not Lin Nanshu," Hutuke spoke, his voice low, yet each word razor-sharp. "What proof do you have?"

Cheng Ge seemed momentarily flustered by the sudden close-quarters interrogation, instinctively flinching back.

He looked up, his face looking even paler in the tent's firelight, his lips nearly colorless.

"Proof?" Cheng Ge's voice was soft, even a little feeble, but his tone was earnest.

He pressed his lips together, as if bracing himself, then reached up and pulled at his sleeve, exposing an equally pale arm.

"Great Khan, look at me. Lin Nanshu is the eldest legitimate grandson of the Lin family of the Central Plains, an heir raised with every resource a great clan could muster.

A young master from a family like that—what should he be? Even if not brawny, he should at least be healthy and steady, right?"

He lowered his arm and turned slightly, making his lean, frail frame more obvious.

"Now look at me. I've been sickly since I was a kid—a walking medicine cabinet. I get winded just walking a bit too much, and a gust of wind can put me in bed."

As he spoke, a natural gloom and weariness from years of chronic illness crept across his brow.

To drive the point home, Cheng Ge suddenly jerked his head aside, clapped a hand over his mouth, and coughed, muffled and strained.

It started as a light cough, then grew worse and worse. His frail shoulders shook hard, an unnatural flush spreading fast across his pale cheeks, tears springing to the corners of his eyes. He swayed, looking like he might keel over and die any second.

"Cough... you see... cough cough..." he said between coughs, his voice hoarse and broken.

"Look at me... two steps and three coughs... can't lift a finger, can't shoulder a thing... the Lin family... cough...

How could the Lin family hand their future to someone like this... a sickly wreck who could kick the bucket any second? Wouldn't that be... wouldn't that be a laugh..."

Hutuke: "..."

He stood there, brows furrowed, his gaze sweeping repeatedly over Cheng Ge's fragile, trembling form.

He had to admit, the bastard actually had a damn good point.

Cheng Ge's coughing gradually subsided. He slumped weakly against the low table beside him, gasping for air.

His chest rose and fell hard, tear streaks still on his face, his lips frighteningly pale. He looked completely drained, fragile as if a touch would break him.

"You're not Lin Nanshu," Hutuke's voice deepened. "Then where is the real Lin Nanshu now?"

Cheng Ge's eyes darted shiftily, then he slowly edged closer to Hutuke and murmured something softly in his ear.

...

"Let me go! What do you want?! I haven't done anything to any of you! I'll scream! Is there no law—ow!"

Zhou Ming's voice nearly split the sky. The escorting soldier, annoyed, kicked him behind the knee.

Zhou Ming thudded to his knees, then pitched forward from the momentum.

He face-planted into the thick felt rug, the rest of his cursing was muffled into grunts.

Hutuke, annoyed by the god-awful squealing, his brow furrowed into a knot, waved his hand impatiently.

The soldier got the hint and hauled Zhou Ming up, making him kneel properly.

Zhou Ming was rattled from the tumble. He finally caught his breath, lifted his head with difficulty, his eyes sweeping blankly around before abruptly landing on Cheng Ge, who stood off to the side.

Zhou Ming was totally dumbfounded. He opened his mouth, instinctively about to ask Cheng Ge what was going on.

But before he could utter a single syllable, Hutuke's icy voice slammed down: "You are Lin Nanshu?"

Zhou Ming: "???"

Zhou Ming thought his ears were playing tricks on him. He turned to look at Hutuke.

He pointed at his own nose, the gesture looking somewhat ridiculous: "What? Me... Lin Nanshu? You've got to be kidding..."

But before he could finish, a vicious kick landed on his rear!

"Whoa—!" Zhou Ming was caught completely off guard, sent lurching forward.

His hands and feet scrambled comically in front of him, and with another thud, he face-planted once more in a clumsy sprawl.

"A... A Ge?!" Zhou Ming's voice went shrill, filled with shock and confusion. "Why... why did you kick me?! Are you okay?!"

Cheng Ge cut him off immediately, his voice shooting up in pitch with a sharp, "heartbroken" edge: "Eldest Young Master Lin! Do not lose your dignity!"

Zhou Ming: "???" His mouth remained half-open in stunned disbelief, confusion practically spilling from his eyes.

Hutuke looked at this disheveled Zhou Ming, his brow furrowing even deeper, his voice turning colder: "You really are Lin Nanshu?"

Zhou Ming finally managed to scramble back up, and upon hearing Hutuke's words, found the whole thing utterly absurd.

"Where did you hear that from? How could I possibly be Lin Nan—" The word "shu" hadn't even left his mouth when things took another turn!

Cheng Ge lunged at him, shouting, "Brother Lin—!!!"

"I—" Zhou Ming barely got out a single syllable before being slammed into and nearly knocked out of existence.

"Brother Lin!!! Don't you remember me?! I'm Amoxicillin!!!"

Zhou Ming: "???!!!"