The sishi opened his eyes, only to close them again and await his death upon seeing Su Xi-er.
Su Xi-er grabbed him by the collar and asked again, “Where are the others? I’ll kill your leader if you don’t tell me.” As orphans who could lose their lives at any moment, they treasured their comrades and were loyal to their leader. There was no way the sishi could ignore this, and he opened his eyes to glare at Su Xi-er.
“You just have to point me in the general direction.”
After some contemplation, the sishi raised his arm and pointed at the left side of the road.
As Su Xi-er laid the sishi back down and stood up, Feng Changqing came up to her and said, “There’s a mountain in that direction; perhaps they’ve gone there.”
It was highly possible that Situ Li fled into the mountains with his men and decided to hide there to bide their time. The mountain was dense with trees, allowing the sishi to lie in ambush, something they excelled at.
“Eldest Imperial Princess, shall we go to the base of the mountain first? There might be an ambush, so we can’t act rashly. We should trust Prince Hao to be able to handle himself.”
Su Xi-er nodded and hopped back onto the horse, heading in the direction of the mountain. I trust A-Jing, but it’s unlikely that Situ Li can be defeated that easily with how long he has waited for this moment. Situ Li is an intelligent man who could deduce that I was Ning Rulan simply from how Lianchen and Yun Ruofeng acted.
A group of men in coarse clothes followed closely behind as Su Xi-er’s horse galloped through the night.
When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, Su Xi-er spotted a mark left behind on a tree; it was a circle with a horizontal line within. This was something that she had come up with while in the military, and it signalled that the area up ahead was dangerous. A vertical line would instead mean that it was safe.
“Eldest Imperial Princess, if Prince Hao is confident enough to knowingly step into Situ Li’s trap, he will likely come out unscathed. He has the help of his guards and our ex-subordinates too.”
“You’re suggesting that we stay here and wait?”
Feng Changqing knew that she was worried about Pei Qianhao, but he felt that the situation was too dangerous right now. Furthermore, he had heard from Ruo Yuan that Su Xi-er had a cold constitution, and the chilly mountainous environment could not be good for her health.
“You stay here. I’ll go take a look.” Su Xi-er then patted the horse’s mane to get it to move. Of course, Feng Changqing could do little but follow along.
There were several dead bodies as they ascended the mountain, and their previous owners had been associated with both sides.
Su Xi-er gripped the horse lead tight as she took in the scene, seeing more bodies up ahead. These ex-subordinates escaped Nanzhao, only to lose their lives in Beimin! Even Feng Changqing felt hatred rising in his heart as he saw the increasing number of casualties.
