The Qilian Mountains were situated in the west south of Qi. Luguan guarded the key pass to Qi in the south of the Qilian Mountains. Leng Changxi heard about guardians who guarded Luguan had been transferred several months ago. They were young but able.
“Miraculous traps?” Tuoba Wuyu looked down upon on mysterious tricks. Ancestors and gods were what West Xia people believed. Therefore, they considered artificial tricks were ineffective. “They are only diagrams. General Leng, please wait. Let me ask my fellows to smash them into pieces.”
Leng Changxi’s army stopped in front of a narrow valley. It was of a high possibility that they fell into an ambush in such a pocket-like valley. Once they came in, they might not get out that easy. Leng Changxi led his army at the mouth of the valley. He observed the unknown environment before them for a while but couldn’t find any clues. The deadlock was broken when a scout brought back a strange pattern.
The pattern recorded a rock gate strategy inside. According to the scout, rocks there were as high as a person and as wide as two stretched arms. Each rock weighed a thousand pounds and had a different orientation and arrangement. Qin Yunuan stood next to Leng Changxi. She looked at the pattern on the parchment and frowned, “This strategy was strange.”
“You are familiar with them?” Leng Changxi knew that Qin Yunuan had read a lot.
“I have no idea.” Qin Yunuan was not a know-it-all. “I can only sense it strange. Normal strategies will differentiate the live door and death door. You choose the live door; then you walk out of the strategy in safe. But if you choose the death door, you will be trapped in it. Some fierce strategy will set illusions or other tricks to torture people to death. But this strategy has no arrangement. I doubt whether this is a strategy right now.”
“Let me say it is like a maze.” Shui Han said after her long silence. Her eyes glinted smartly. Tuoba Wuyu heard her opinions and stepped forward immediately, “She’s right. It is like a maze.”
Leng Changxi packed up the parchment without any words. He reproached Tuoba Wuyu, “Smelly valiants are discussing military issues in this tent. Why do you bring Shuihan here?”
He seemed to accuse Tuoba Wuyu of not taking care of Shui Han. He was reminding Tuoba Wuyu that anyone mustn’t enter a secret military base casually. No matter how he sought great importance of Shui Han, the lady in red.
Tuoba Wuyu choked. Shui Han responded quickly, “It has nothing to do with him. Just because I’m curious, it’s all my fault. General Leng, please don’t blame General Tuoba. I’d rather get punishment for him.”
See how innocent she was! Tuoba Wuyu moved forward and cupped his hand towards Leng Changxi, “General, I am responsible for breaking military rules. Please show your justice. Shui Han was only a weak woman. Stick punishment was too tough for her.”
“When did the general said he would punish you?” Qin Yunuan defended Leng Changxi. If they continued to set the pace, Leng Changxi would be a ruthless general. Qin Yunuan cast her eyes at Shui Han and smiled, “Shui Han, I’ve heard that you are capable of sewing and mending. So lucky that I am fond of it, too. Why don’t you go back to your tent and sew the clothes? It is also contributions.”
Because Qin Yunuan said politely, Shui Han had no reason to refuse. She lowered her head. Her pretty face turned shy and helpless, “Do I bother all of you?”
Other generals shook their heads. Leng Changxi shot a glance at Shui Han coldly, “You do. Now leave.”
Shui Han trembled and left quietly. Leng Shuang watched her figure of going and intended to move. She then heard Qin Yunuan’s warning in a low voice, “I can forgive you for saving her rashly. I can also forgive you for sending her cotton-padded clothes in private. But if you continue your reckless actions, Leng Shuang, you know who I am.”
“Yes, madam.” Leng Shuang lowered her head and replied. She then stepped back with compliance.
At this moment, a noise came out of the tent. With war horses whinnied and chaotic talking, someone broke into the military camp. Leng Changxi walked out of the tent ahead. A man in black was standing near the campfire. His tall figure was covered with blood. The color of the wounds was worse than black. It was crimson. With his back to Leng Changxi, the man took up his curved blade towards countless soldiers in black armor. There was no drop of blood on his curved blade, from which could conclude that a fight hadn’t come yet. It also showed that he was injured before breaking into the camp.
Leng Changxi shielded Qin Yunuan behind his back. Tuoba Wuyu rolled up his sleeves and hurled abuse, “Fuck your mother up, how dare you intrude into my military camp?”
Leng Changxi glimpsed at Tuoba Wuyu. Tuoba Wuyu shut up immediately and realized he was being arrogant. After a while, he slightly bowed to Leng Changxi and asked, “General, please give the order to kill this assassin quickly. Don’t let him be your trouble.”
“You said he was an assassin. Evidence?”
“If he wasn’t an assassin, why was he in black?”
“Hah,” Leng Changxi shook his head and scorned, “Suppose black outfits was the sign of assassins. You mean that my twenty thousand soldiers in black armor were all assassins, don’t you?”
People were watching what was happening there. The situation there was in a stalemate. The man in black standing in the center seemed to be exhausted due to the excessive loss of blood. He began to stand unsteadily. Qin Yunuan noticed Leng Shuang’s strange expression, so she said to her ears, “What’s wrong? It seems odd.”
Leng Shuang kept a close watch on the assassin in the distance and replied in a low voice, “That’s Heiying.”
Hei Ying was the personal imperial bodyguard for the emperor of Qi. Leng Shuang had cooperated with him. She was familiar with him, so she recognized him. Meanwhile, Leng Changxi sensed the difference. He shouted at the soldier in black, “Stop!”
At the same time, the man in black being surrounded fainted and passed out.
Leng Changxi wanted to designate someone to check the situation. Qin Yunuan stopped him. Leng Shuang ran like the wind to the black shadow’s side, nipped his philtrum, and felt his pulse, “He excessively lost blood, is in a coma right now.” Leng Shuang made her conclusion. Though she was ill grounded in medical skills, she had learnt martial skills a lot. Explaining such a minor illness was out of question.
Qin Yunuan smiled and explained to Leng Changxi, “Have you ever seen Leng Shuang being nervous for anyone?”
Leng Changxi’s mind fell into blank. Leng Shuang and Heiying cooperated only once. Haven’t seen them for a long time, he missed the fact that Leng Shuang cared for Heiying so much.
Before evening, Heiying was sent to the wounded’s tent. Leng Shuang also had her mission so that she couldn’t accompany him all the time. On the other hand, Shui Han actively joined Maner and Ting Xue to take care of the wounded.
The envoy who sent the letter of surrender demand came back in the evening. Dispatching envoys before the battle was a fundamental protocol. Though Sima Ray might not follow the rules, sufficient preparation was what Leng Changxi needed for a just cause of the war.
“General, the reply letter came.” The envoy kneeled in front of Leng Changxi. The letter seemed so weighty that the envoy presented it with struggle.
Leng Changxi received the letter. The envoy lowered his head guiltily.
With only one glimpse of the letter’s content, the frozen anger emerged quickly in Leng Changxi’s eyes. Genuine energy was transferred to surround him. That moment, he was quite horrible. Though expressions didn’t change on his face, his aura made everyone present shiver.
“I have fallen in love with Yunuan, the daughter of a concubine from the Qin Family, for a long time. We were destined to be together but separated by hardness in the world. General Leng, if you sincerely intend to sue for peace, would you bring our romance to a happy ending and send Madam to me?” Leng Changxi slapped the letter on the desk. He raised his head and could even recite that letter. The defending General’s greed surprised him.
“How dare him.” Leng Changxi covered his hand on the letter and exerted his strength. Within a second, the sheet of the letter was powdered and scattered by the wind.
“Send Madam to me?” Leng Changxi raised a sinister smile, “Spotting my woman. He will pay the price.”
On this side, Qin Yunuan was sorting out logistic materials. From grain reserves to the arrangement of wounded soldiers and doctors, she had to go through everything. With more and more materials at hand, she was not in the mood to care about what happened to Leng Changxi. She sorted and sorted until chats outside the tent caught her attention.
“Just go and tell her.”
“But it hasn’t been verified, what if Leng Shuang gets angry…”
“What are you talking about outside?” Qin Yunuan recognized Maner and Ting Xue’s voices.
Since Qin Yunuan discovered them, they pushed and shoved into the tent. Maner was more familiar with Qin Yunuan. She stepped forward and said under Ting Xue’s instruction, “Madam, we ran across something we weren’t supposed to see. Therefore, we are consulting whether we should tell Leng Shuang this thing.”
“Hum?”
“The man in black, Heiying, was supposed to be taken care of by me. Shuihan came in halfway and said it was Madam that arranged her to look after the wounded.”
Qin Yunuan nodded, “I appointed her. I made her sew a sample before and surprisingly found that she was skillful in doing that. Considering that she may help doctors to stitch the wound in spare time.”
“But,” Maner answered quickly, “At dusk, we saw Shuihan was feeding the medicine to Heiying. She was using her mouth.”
