Chapter 58

Xi Xiao turned slightly to avoid her hand, and very slowly and carefully put Xi Yu down from her back and placed her on the soft hay on the oxcart.

Seeing this, Daya awkwardly lowered her hand, but didn't seem to mind, and continued enthusiastically, "Miss, I'm working at the best tailor shop in town now! The proprietress is kind and treats me very well. I've saved up some money and am thinking of going back to the village to build a decent house! I came into the mountains today to find some sturdy and useful timber to take back..."

After settling Xi Yu in, Xi Xiao turned around and carefully looked at Daya, who was now dressed neatly and had bright eyes. She was completely different from the pale, thin, and helpless girl she remembered. She slowly said, "You did a good job." She took out a heavy coarse cloth money bag from her bosom and stuffed it into Daya's hand without saying a word: "Thank you for today. Take this."

Daya reacted as if she'd been burned, refusing repeatedly and shaking her head like a rattle: "I can't take it! I really can't take this! My benefactor, I'm truly grateful to you, I'm not doing this for any benefit! If it weren't for you and that young master speaking up for me, I don't know where I'd be suffering now... Your kindness to me is far greater than this silver!"

After several refusals, Xi Xiao saw that Daya was resolute and sincere in her eyes, so she finally slowly put away her money pouch. Her pale, chapped lips curved upwards very slightly, as if she had smiled and would not insist any further.

Seeing that Xi Xiao was in low spirits and exhausted, Da Ya obediently kept quiet. She sat quietly in front of the carriage shaft, gently cracked the whip, and urged the old ox to move the carriage smoothly forward.

Yunwu sat beside Xiyu, sword in hand, watching her surroundings warily while occasionally glaring at Yao Yanfu. Yao Yanfu rolled her eyes in exasperation, then closed them and remained silent.

The oxcart moved slowly along the mountain road. Apart from the sound of the wheels and the occasional moo of the oxen, only the gradually warming sunlight quietly shone on the group.

*

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Inside the Beijiang commander's tent, the atmosphere was so heavy it was almost suffocating. Chen Jian sat listlessly at his desk, several yellow blisters rising from the corners of his mouth. His lips were dry and his tongue cracked, and a deep, unyielding melancholy lingered between his brows. He stared down at the rough military map, his heart feeling as if a thousand-pound boulder was pressing down on it.

They had assumed victory was assured, but the Yuan Chu army, though lacking in combat experience, possessed unusually sophisticated weapons. They could take lives from a hundred paces away without close combat, and a few elite soldiers even wielded modified muskets. With a roar, the Beijiang soldiers fell like cut grass.

In just two days, the casualties had exceeded expectations, morale in the camp was low, and grief and fear spread silently. What was even more alarming was that Yuan Chu's commander-in-chief, Ling Zhouchong, seemed to have swallowed some kind of gunpowder, and his offensive was as ferocious as a tiger unleashed from its cage. No sooner had one battle ended than he would launch another, leaving his troops exhausted and on the verge of collapse.

Chen Jian slammed his fist heavily on the table, making the pen holder tremble. For a moment, he couldn't help but miss Ge Quan. If Ge Quan were still in command, how could he have fallen into such a predicament? Complaints were rising in the army, and the blame was being directed at him. He remembered that it was he who had plotted against Ge Quan, forcing him to leave, and now he was reaping the consequences of his own actions.

Just as he was overwhelmed with worry and trying to redeploy defenses, a guard outside the tent suddenly reported that someone had arrived at the Chen residence. Chen Jian was already in a state of agitation, thinking it was just some trivial family matter bothering him. Just as he was about to lash out, the curtain was lifted, and Sun Wei barged in with two women.

Sun Wei's face was filled with undisguised excitement and pride. Before he even got close, his voice shrieked, "Uncle, guess who I've brought for you! One is Ling Zhouchong's lover whom he forcibly took from someone else, and the other is the concubine he snatched from his father!"

These words were filthy and extremely sarcastic. Upon hearing them, Yao Yanfu immediately glared fiercely at Sun Wei, her eyes almost spitting fire. Xi Xiao, on the other hand, simply lowered her eyelashes indifferently, staring at the animal skin carpet spread on the ground, as if those unpleasant words had nothing to do with her, remaining as silent as a lifeless jade sculpture.

Chen Jian was taken aback at first, then his eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked urgently, "How did you manage to do it? I sent several groups of skilled men, and they all went and never came back!"

Since the day he successfully devised the plan and escaped right under the enemy's nose, Sun Wei had long regarded himself as an extraordinary figure. He stood up straight with pride and said, "It was truly a stroke of luck. Today, I happened to pass by my aunt and sister-in-law's clothing shop in the west of the city, and guess what? I saw these two young ladies selecting fabrics in the inner room. Young women love these cosmetics and silks, and they didn't even bring any guards. They just came out alone. I recognized the one who was with me at a glance, and immediately, with two shop assistants, I captured them without breaking a sweat. It was truly a case of 'searching high and low without finding it, only to have it come to me effortlessly.'"

Chen Jian frowned as he scrutinized him. Although he felt the matter was too coincidental and easy, and harbored some doubts, the person was indeed right in front of him. He barely suppressed his unease, casually praised Sun Wei a couple of times, and then waved him away.

Silence returned to the tent. Chen Jian's gaze swept intently over the two women, his mind racing. Regardless of the process, the outcome was ultimately good. He dared not delay, immediately ordering his personal guards to keep a close watch on them. He straightened his armor, and with barely suppressed excitement, personally and cheerfully delivered these two "grand gifts" to Ling Zhouling. He hoped that His Highness the Crown Prince could use this as an opportunity to devise a brilliant plan to turn the tide of the battle.

*

Inside the tent of Yuan Chu's commander, a chilling cold was even more biting than the howling north wind outside.

Pei Yun, dressed only in a thin undergarment, sat quietly on the edge of the couch, his dark hair loose and disheveled over his shoulders. His eyes were bloodshot, staring blankly into the void, as if he hadn't closed them for days. His face was haggard, his lips pale, only his eyes burning with a fierce crimson. A suffocating palpitation throbbed in his chest, as if the lingering poison of the mind-controlling agent was still eroding his internal organs.

He Ying bowed as he entered the tent, a chilling aura enveloping him and causing him to shiver involuntarily. He noticed Pei Yun sitting there in thin clothes and felt worried. He wanted to take a heavy cloak from the side and drape it over him, but seeing the other's grim face, he didn't dare to move and instead whispered the information he had gathered.

He Ying's voice was exceptionally clear in the cold tent, tinged with disbelief and astonishment, "After extensive investigation, what happened that night... seems to have been planned by you from the beginning." He paused slightly, observing Pei Yun's reaction. Seeing no change in her expression, he continued, forcing himself to speak, "You deliberately sent Young Master Xi away, but then tricked him into being drugged on his way out. The female corpse in the room, used as a substitute, was originally prepared by Young Master Xi for you to escape, but you... secretly tampered with it, changed the body, and adjusted the plan."

He glanced quickly at Pei Yun, only to find the other man expressionless, his deep eyes growing even colder. He could only continue his report: "As for those assassins who suddenly appeared, they have been thoroughly interrogated. They were indeed ordered by Chen Jian, the commander of Beijiang. Their original purpose was to kidnap the young lady to threaten His Majesty. I believe their appearance... may just be a coincidence, that they stumbled upon the young lady's plan..."

As he finished speaking, Pei Yun's lips curled into a faint yet chillingly sarcastic smile. He simply didn't believe in so many coincidences in this world. He suppressed the surging resentment and pain in his heart, and merely raised his chin slightly, signaling He Ying to continue.

He Ying secretly breathed a sigh of relief and continued his report, his tone growing increasingly grave: "Afterwards, the young lady drove away with the unconscious Young Master Xi, and on the way... it seems they encountered an extremely bizarre ambush. Below the mountain path, we discovered dozens of corpses of men in black." He paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully, a look of horror appearing on his face: "Their deaths... were extremely peculiar, not caused by ordinary swords or external force. Each person had a strange, deep purple ligature mark on their neck, but... but it couldn't possibly have been caused by human force or any known weapon; rather, it seemed... as if they had been strangled by some invisible force, very eerie..."

He took out an ancient book wrapped in dark silk from his bosom and carefully presented it to Pei Yun: "Your Majesty, this item was found in a hidden compartment of the destroyed carriage. It should belong to the young lady."

Pei Yun reached out, his fingertips slightly cool, and took the ancient book that felt chilling to the touch. He slowly turned the pages; the pages were yellowed, covered with dense ancient characters and strange incantations, along with some delicate annotations and corrections in red ink.

The tent was silent except for the occasional rustling of pages turning. Three incense sticks' worth of time passed before he slowly put down the ancient book, raised his hand and rubbed his furrowed brow, his voice revealing deep weariness: "It is the long-lost sorcery of the Southern Frontier. What is contained in this book is like a heavenly book to ordinary people, utterly useless… Only she knows how to wield its power. Well, since it is hers, I will keep it for her for now."

"That girl...isn't she extremely dangerous?" He Ying blurted out, his heart filled with horror. Witchcraft was inherently unpredictable, and those densely packed marks of modification clearly indicated it had undergone numerous refinements and risky trials. Who knew if it didn't possess an even more terrifying power? Or perhaps using it wouldn't backfire on him at all...?

Pei Yun's head throbbed with pain; he supported his forehead with his hand, his voice tinged with a deep sense of helplessness. He waved his hand, changing the subject, and asked, "What's been happening in Beijiang lately?"

He Ying's expression hardened, and his tone carried a hint of disdain: "That Chen Jian actually sent someone to deliver a letter today, saying that he wants to cease hostilities for two days, and he even arrogantly said that if our army does not respond, we will regret it."

"Continue the attack." Pei Yun lowered his hand, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, though deep within them lay an undisguised weariness. "Send more people to search for her, expand the search area, and if anyone obstructs us, kill them without mercy, no matter who they are."

The answer to "who" was almost obvious. He Ying felt a chill run down his spine and quickly bowed, replying, "Yes!"

He was about to step back when Pei Yun stopped him. His gaze returned to the ancient book, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the edges of the pages. His voice was low and cold, tinged with a sinister edge: "Find out who carried out the ambush in the mountains that day. Also... investigate whether the assassins who broke in that night have any connection with Lingzhou Mausoleum?" He paused, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, and almost gritted his teeth as he added, "Investigate Xi Yu thoroughly as well."