“This isn’t something that you should worry about,” Leng Changxi turned sideways and said to Lu Wuyi, “Your only tasks are to make poison and antidote.”
“Do you really think that there is a mystery tribe in the dangerous Yeren Valley?” Lu Wuyi raised his tone, “All I can see are snakes and beasts here, but no traces of human beings.”
The chilly wind in the night made Lu Wuyi sneeze. Somehow, he felt like there were eyes looking at him in the dark, demon-like eyes. They were looking at the throat, as if they were waiting for a chance to stab through it.
“That’s only because we can’t see them. It doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.” Leng Changxi turned around and said to Lu Wuyi, his cold eyes glittered through his silver mask.
“That’s right.” Qin Yunuan said, “Did you still remember what Maomu said that when he came to the Yeren Valley seven years ago? There was a conflict between them, yet he was the only survivor. He would just need to bury the bodies up, or even leaving them there in the wild, exposing to the sun. Why would he bother pulling the guts out of the bodies and hang them on the trees?”
“Maybe he made that up,” Lu Wuyi shook his head, “Maomu isn’t trustworthy after all.”
“No, I’ve tempted him before,” Qin Yunuan lowered her eyes and raised them suddenly. Her pupils were calm and unpredictable, like an old well. “I once deliberately let him see butchers killing lambs. I told the butchers to pull the intestines of the lambs out and hang them on bamboo sticks. He was extremely terrified then, and he even started shaking. He was afraid, because he had experienced it. If he really took out his companions’ guts, he wouldn’t have been so afraid. The only explanation is that seven years ago, after the conflict between Maomu and his crew, someone stole the bodies and hung their organs on the trees. We don’t know whether it was a warning or a religious ceremony, but we could be sure that there must be someone else in the valley.”
“I don’t have time to play such a mind game with you.” Lu Wuyi suddenly turned his head towards Qin Yunuan and said, in shock, “Madam Leng. I’m curious about it. Since when have you known so well about reading people’s minds? It was as if you could know what others think just by their actions and moves. Why have I never heard that third Miss Qin has such ability?”
Qin Yunuan smiled, “If you have lived twice, and you have someone whom you love so dearly that you decided to follow him wherever he goes, you’ll become stronger without knowing it. You’ll do all you can without knowing it. Observing others and a good memory, these are what I can do. All I’ve done is just to let myself becoming stronger.”
Lu Wuyi thought about her words for a while and looked at Leng Changxi. Leng Changxi’s glance was tender, looking at Qin Yunuan just like the gentle young master he was when he first fell in love with her, but not the fierce General Leng.
The sun in the forest always rises a bit later. After what happened last night, Qin Yunuan only slept a few hours in the tent, before she was woken by the sound of the soldiers packing. As she put on a cloak and leave the tent, she saw a pot of rice porridge. The conditions were tough, as some of the food they brought along fell into the muddy pond during their fight with the snakes. A clever soldier handed Qin Yunuan a bowl of porridge as soon as he saw Qin Yunuan coming out from the tent. There was some mushroom on it. It seems that the soldier collected it by himself.
“Where’s my husband?” To avoid trouble, Qin Yunuan was still covering her face with veils. However, Leng Changxi took away a few layers of the veil so that Qin Yunuan could see clearly through the white veil.
“Oh, Mr. Tuoba went out early in the morning. He was finding the way together with the pioneering squad. He should be back soon.”
“Oh,” Qin Yunuan said, “What about the Prince?”
The soldier smiled flatteringly, yet he didn’t say it out directly. He just pointed his elbow in the southeast direction. Following this direction, Qin Yunuan saw Yasu arguing with Fourth Prince Wanyan Su about something. There was a face-down clay bowl by their feet. The porridge was spilled out, and they were arguing fiercely.
Qin Yunuan narrowed her eyes. Wanyan Su was looking serious, as if he was interrogating Yasu. Yasu looked innocent. Qin Yunuan suddenly remembered that the soldier who handed her porridge was still besides, so she said calmly, “My eyes are not working properly, I couldn’t see it clearly even if you pointed it out for me.”
The soldier looked embarrassed. Suddenly, there was sound of horses. Qin Yunuan held her breath, and it was like she could hear the hooves stepping on the grass and breaking the grassroots. A familiar fragrant of grass flew into Qin Yunuan’s nose. Leng Changxi smelled exactly the same last night.
He was back.
At the moment, the soldier who was on watch at the highest spot waved his flag and yelled, “They’re back.”
With the previous dangers, they deeply felt that it was the most fortunate thing to be able to come back alive.
“How was it?” Wanyan Su took over the reins for Leng Changxi in person.
Leng Changxi hopped off the horse, patted off the dust on his armor and said, “We’re on the right track. We followed the map and found Yingzui Mountain. However, there was a slot canyon in our way, and we couldn’t get through on our horses, so we have returned for now.”
Wanyan Su frowned, “Are there any other paths apart from that?”
Leng Changxi took a quick glance at Wanyan Su and said, “No, that’s the only way.”
There were no other paths other than the slot canyon, and horses couldn’t get through. It meant that they had to abandon all their horses. It would be much slower without horses, and it meant that they had to abandon everything that could only be carried by horses.
After a long while, a man next to Wanyan Su said with a blunt voice, “How could there only be one path in such a big valley? Please wait here, my Highness. I’ll lead the man and find another way. Horses are everything to us North Di people. How could we abandon them?” After saying that, the man turned to his counterparts and urged them, “Brothers, the Prince treated us very well. It’s time for us to repay that. It’s just a valley, how dangerous could it be?”
The people were excited by the man’s speech, and they were all looking fearless with the blades in their hands.
“If you could come back alive after such a ruthless expedition, I’ll cut my head off.” Suddenly, Leng Changxi’s words put them off.
“What do you mean?” The man was filled with discontent, “Tuoba, don’t think that you’re special just because you’re a noble from West Xia, and that our Prince treats you well. If you could come back alive, I surely can.”
Leng Changxi turned his head away, ignoring the unreasonable man.
“But what if you can’t make it back?” A sudden shout stopped the man from leading his horse. He turned around and saw that the shout came from Wanyan Su, who was always gentle and reasonable.
“My Highness?”
“I’m asking you now, what if you can’t make it back?” Wanyan Su was nothing like his usual self, who was always gentle. His glance was dominant and powerful, “Then my soldiers will go to look for you. We’ll delay further and further. When could we finally set off then? I’ve told you all that Mr. Tuoba is my important guest. You’ve all seen what he’s capable of. Since he said that there’s only one path, what else could you say? Since you’re all my men, whenever you disobey my orders, you should know what consequences there are.”
Seeing Wanyan Su’s anger growing, soldiers were trying to save that man, “My Highness, he was just too excited just now, please…”
“Too excited?” Wanyan Su sneered at the man, who was kneeling on the ground. He took out the sword of his guard and waved it against the man’s neck. There was blood everywhere in the next moment. Everyone was shocked. Was this still the gentle Prince they knew?
Wanyan Su was very quick. He handed the sword back to his guard, but the guard was too shaken to hold the sword.
Wanyan Su looked around, “Would you blame me? Too emotionless or too violent? You should all know that you’re not alone, and we are a team. What I need to do isn’t securing the life of any individuals, but you all as a whole. It’s a dangerous place here. Whether we stay here or not, or whether we are on the right track, there might be loss of life.” Wanyan Su pointed firmly at the body of the man and said, “Anyone who doesn’t follow my orders would end up like him. If you don’t agree with my way, feel free to leave now. I won’t blame you for that. However, if you’re staying, remember that no one should disobey my orders.”
After saying that, Wanyan Su looked at Leng Changxi. Seeing Leng Changxi’s approving glance, he was getting more confident. Yasu held Wanyan Su’s arm and said, “My Highness, I’ll always be with you.”
Wanyan Su replied with a “hmm”, but he didn’t look so happy about it. Qin Yunuan knew that after what happened in the morning, there had been something else in the relationship between Wanyan Su and Yasu.
After a while, there was still no one leaving the army. It was only when Wanyan Su said, “last chance”, when a few people pushed each other and stood out.
“My Highness, we all have children waiting for us at home, we…”
“Don’t say so much. You can go now.”
The few people left one by one. When they walked past Qin Yunuan, she said faintly, “Don’t turn back. Keep going east. When you see a cliff, climb down the cliff slowly. Don’t try to take any shortcuts.”
She didn’t know whether these people had heard her or not. When they left, Wanyan Su took a deep breath and said, “For the rest of you, abandon your horses and carry everything you can with you. Let’s march towards the slot canyon.”
