Chapter 199 Wood Wolf

That afternoon, the two of them stayed in Dangyang Inn, the largest in Yunzhou City.

As soon as he entered the room, Zhu Lan couldn't wait to sit down at the table and opened the book. Zhu Qingyan also came over to take a look out of curiosity.

Sure enough, this book "Research on the Origins and Meanings of Various Characters" recorded some lost characters, including the one they found in the desert.

The two men spread out the pages of the book they brought out from the desert on the table and compared them one by one with the contents recorded in "A Study of the Origins and Meanings of Various Characters". As expected, they found many similarities.

In order not to damage the original manuscript, Zhu Qingyan copied the original pages exactly.

Zhu Lan looked up the characters in the book, while Zhu Qingyan marked the backup manuscript with small characters. However, the two soon discovered that what was recorded in "The Origin and Meaning of Various Characters" was only a small part of that kind of writing. There were still many characters that were not recorded, and it was impossible to know what their meanings were.

Finally, on the morning of the third day, the two of them had marked all the characters on the pages that could be found, and the next step was to piece together the meaning of the original text from these intermittent annotations.

"Look at this symbol, it appears many times." Zhu Lan said, pointing to a symbol composed of a triangle and several strange lines.

Zhu Qingyan nodded, "This symbol means sacrifice. It appears so frequently, so these pages should be about sacrifice."

"Yes." Zhu Lan moved his finger. "Look at these words again. The Wood Wolf's Ambush... When Yin is strong and Yang is weak... It also mentions women. They should all be related to that kind of sacrifice. As for this Wood Wolf——"

Zhu Lan thought for a long time and had never heard of such a thing as a "wooden wolf".

Zhu Qingyan beside her suddenly remembered something.

"Ah Jing mentioned to me that there seems to be a place called Wood Wolf Mountain in the desert. Could it be that place?"

"It's very likely. Then 'when yin is strong and yang is weak' should refer to the night, so the meaning put together is the night of Timber Wolf Mountain."

Zhu Qingyan asked again: "But there doesn't seem to be any mention of a date here?"

Zhu Lan was also a little confused. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head gently. "These pages are incomplete, and the records of the date are likely lost. But those great purification soldiers have been taking risks recently to move around and capture women. It must be that the time for the sacrifice is approaching, otherwise they would not be so anxious.

If there really is such a place as Wood Wolf Mountain, and we send troops to ambush and wait in advance, I think we will reap the rewards in no time."

Zhu Qingyan nodded in agreement and asked, "They were catching women everywhere, and the pages of the book also mentioned women... Could it be that all those who participated in the sacrifice were women?"

Zhu Lan was silent for a moment, and his tone became heavy.

"Women don't necessarily participate in sacrifices. They may also..."

Zhu Qingyan suddenly remembered that day in Niujia Village, when those great exorcists killed the men and tried to abduct the women in the village. His face turned pale, and he covered his lips and lowered his voice and shouted:

"They...want to sacrifice women!?"

"It's hard to say now, but it's not impossible." Zhu Lan looked solemn.

She thought for a moment, stood up and said, "Those great purification soldiers want to capture women, it is very likely that they are about to hold this kind of sacrifice. If they did not succeed in Niujia Village, they will definitely send teams to plunder other villages.

This is a matter of great importance. We will return the book to Mr. Su right now, and then set off today to return to the Northern Frontier Camp!"

…

In the Northern Frontier Camp, two figures rode in one after the other.

In the tent, King Zhenbei sat upright and listened quietly to the news brought by Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan. He was silent for a long time.

"I know about this matter." King Zhenbei said, his voice full of the calmness of someone who has experienced many storms.

"Oh, Jing'er told me that because your grandfather passed away, you two can't take part in the imperial examination next year. That's why you need to do something great to get special treatment from the court and take part in the imperial examination, right?

You two have worked hard these past few days and have made great contributions. I will soon write a separate letter to commend you two for your contribution in escorting Zhu Ertai's daughter to the northern border.

With the recommendation of this prince and the Sixth Prince, the emperor will make an exception for you two, and those old guys in the court will not dare to say anything more. "

When Zhu Qingyan heard this, his face immediately showed joy.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Zhu Lan bowed solemnly.

She continued, "It's just that the pages of this book record the sacrifices for the Great Purification. I think we can use this opportunity to find out where their main force is..."

"Are you going to teach me how to do things?" The face of King Zhenbei, which had just been kind, suddenly darkened.

“Students don’t dare.”

"Don't forget where this is." King Zhenbei lowered his eyes and looked at the two of them coldly, his words full of a sense of oppression without anger.

"This is the Northern Frontier Camp, a place of strategic importance. Even if your Sixth Prince came, he would not be qualified to interfere in my military affairs, let alone you two little students who have not yet entered the world.

If it weren't for the fact that you are Jing'er's classmates, I would have given you some respect. Otherwise, do you think you can enter this central army camp?"

Zhu Lan knew that he had been a little impulsive. What the King of Zhenbei said was true. He was the chief military commander in the court, but from the degree of fear that officials of all ranks had for Murong Jing, one could see how powerful the King of Zhenbei was.

Even if the high officials in the court saw him, they would certainly be respectful and submissive. And the fact that he and Zhu Qingyan could stand here at this moment was indeed entirely due to Murong Jing's face.

"…It was the student who overstepped his authority. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"Yes." King Zhenbei slowly leaned back in his chair and said in a deep voice: "I will write the memorial to ask for merit. Your business is done. Let Mu'er take you and your two friends back tomorrow."

Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan looked at each other and naturally knew that the friends King Zhenbei was talking about were Ding Xiaoqiu and Master Xie who were invited by Murong Jing to come together.

"Show the guests away." After the King of Zhenbei said this, two guards came in and invited Zhu Lan and the other two out of the tent.

Zhu Qingyan didn't expect that the King of Zhenbei would immediately order him to leave. "What should I do? Ah Jing has not returned from escorting Ah Jiang to Wuzi yet. The King of Zhenbei asked us to leave tomorrow. Doesn't that mean I won't have a chance to say goodbye to Ah Jing?"

When Zhu Qingyan thought about when he would see Murong Jing again, his eyes immediately turned red.

It was clearly agreed last time that a majestic tiger would be embroidered on her battle robe, but she hasn't even had the time to do it.

Zhu Lan frowned, and when there were no people around, he whispered to Zhu Qingyan:

"Do you feel that the King of Zhenbei is anxious to drive us away, as if he doesn't want us to meet the little princess?"

"Hmm?" Zhu Qingyan was still immersed in sadness and was stunned by the question.

"There's something wrong with this matter..." Zhu Lan was just speaking when he suddenly caught a glimpse of Mu'er walking towards him from the corner of his eye, so he stopped talking.

The two looked at Mu'er who was walking towards them.

"I heard everything. The prince asked me to escort you away." Mu'er walked up to the two of them and gently patted Zhu Qingyan's shoulder.

"But Ah Jing asked us to go back to the Northern Frontier Camp and wait for her. If we leave like this, will she be angry when she comes back? It would be better to..."

"I understand." Mu'er sighed, "But the prince has issued an order, and there is nothing anyone can do."

"Then... I'll leave a letter for her." Zhu Qingyan said softly.

Zhu Qingyan returned to the tent where she and Zhu Lan lived, and wrote a few lines with a lost look on her face.

Just as she started writing down what they had found out in Yunzhou, she saw a hand reaching out from the side and pressing on the rice paper in front of her.

"You can't write a single word about Yunzhou, the Great Purification, or the sacrifice."

Zhu Lan looked into Zhu Qingyan's eyes and spoke every word very seriously.