Chapter 10

Ming Cult.

Ah Lu woke up early and slowly opened his eyes. He had been leaning against the door all night, maintaining the same posture. Although his neck and legs were a little sore, for someone who had lived in the desert for a long time, it was just that his hands and feet were cold for a while.

It's only a few hours in a night, I can manage.

Ah Lu stretched her arms and legs and twisted her neck. Grasping the railing, she leaped down, landing lightly without stirring up much dust.

He clapped his hands, and as soon as he turned around, he was startled by a little girl wearing a brown cotton coat.

"Ge Yue?" A Lu asked in confusion, "What are you doing standing here so early in the morning? You startled me out of nowhere."

Ge Yue stood with her hands on her hips, puffing out her cheeks as she stared at A Lu.

"Brother Lu, what are you doing up there so early in the morning?"

Ah Lu rubbed her neck and answered nonchalantly.

"Go to sleep."

Ge Yue's eyes looked even bigger.

"Sleeping?!" She rushed to Ah Lu, grabbed his clothes, and sniffed them. "There's someone else's scent! Don't think Ge Yue doesn't know, Brother Ah Lu, you brought someone from outside back!"

A-Lu pinched her nose and said with amusement, "Instead of learning needlework and sewing from your mother all day, you're trying to discipline me. Tell me, did Yita send you to spy on me?"

Ge Yue let go of his hand, covered her nose, and stared at him.

"Can't Ge Yue go see whoever she wants? It's obvious that Brother A-Lu doesn't want to see Ge Yue! Humph... I'm never letting Father lend you food again. Why give food to outsiders? You only remember that Central Plains person..."

A-Lu covered her ears and strode into the house, interrupting Ge Yue's words with her actions.

Ge Yue blinked twice, then remained silent, pouting as she walked back to the other side of the tent.

She walked into the kitchen. A-Lu looked around. There was a fire and a stove, and raw meat with skin on, probably caught just yesterday; several dried fish hung on the counter, salted for a few days, their aroma tempting her stomach; on the table next to the counter were some vegetables and rice, seemingly brought from Kunlun by a caravan, with melted frost still on the leaves.

A-Lu walked to the counter and stared at the ingredients for a long time. He took off his gloves and set them aside, then went to the stove to start a fire. He pulled the bellows a couple of times, and the flames 'whooshed' into scorching flames. He went back and wiped his hands with a damp towel—the water for the towel was taken from the lakeside; then, A-Lu scooped a ladle of water from the side against the stone wall and poured it into the large iron pot on the stove; there was still some rice bran mixed in with the rice, which he carefully picked out, poured the sifted rice into the pot; he put the lid on, went to the table, picked up the cabbage to examine it, broke off a few leaves, and put them back in the basket under the table.

He took a basin, scooped out some water, and washed the vegetables clean. He picked them up, squeezed out the water, and put them in a bowl. He lifted the lid of the pot to look at the bubbling porridge, then took a wooden spoon from the wall and stirred the porridge in the pot.

The water had almost completely soaked into the rice grains, and the porridge was becoming increasingly thick. He tore off pieces of the washed vegetables and put them into the porridge, then grabbed a pinch of salt from a small jar next to the pot and sprinkled it in.

After a while, she lifted the lid again, and the steam that wafted out carried the aroma of rice porridge. A-Lu quickly took a bowl and ladled out a portion, placing it on the table. She gave the other portion to Ge-Yue.

The little girl paused for a moment, then asked, "Are there any left for me?"

A-Lu picked up her gloves and put them back on. She carefully picked up the other portion and put a spoon inside. Ge Yue walked over and patted her head, making the little girl's face flush.

Following the stone staircase up, A-Lu walked back to the door, hesitated for a moment, and then knocked on the door.

"Are you dressed and have you combed your hair? I'm coming in."

After saying that, he pushed open the door.

What came into view was Yang Yuan, sitting in the corner of the bed, hugging herself. Her black hair was disheveled, and her face was hidden under her clothes, remaining silent.

He placed the congee on the table, said nothing, and turned to leave.

After closing the door, A-Lu leaned against it, her head resting against a protruding part of the stone wall, her eyes closed, trying to ease the pain in her neck.

Yang Yuan slowly raised her head in the room.

Her eyes were so red and swollen she could barely open them; tears really are a poisonous thing. She stared at the door for a long time, sunlight filtering through the paper and illuminating the silhouette of the man from the Western Regions.

She stared at that figure for a long time. It seemed that no one had ever stayed by her side like this, never leaving her side. Since she could remember, she had been getting up early with her senior brothers and sisters in the sect to practice and recite scriptures. She had never slept until the sun was up and yet someone still brought her food.

Looking at the bowl of steaming porridge, Yang Yuan slowly climbed out of bed.

She glanced at the bowl of vegetable porridge; it seemed a bit overcooked, too thick. She still sat down and began to eat, spoonful by spoonful.

A-Lu stood there for a while, his drowsiness lessening as the sun rose higher. He closed his eyes, and his other senses became more acute.

The moment his hair twitched, he immediately opened his eyes, pulled out two knives from behind his back, gripped them tightly in his hands, and slashed to his side. A man dressed in coarse cloth was instantly slapped across the neck and stopped breathing.

A-Lu immediately caught his sliding body and pushed him down along the side of the stone wall.

He sheathed his sharp knife, placed it back at his waist, and leaned back to rest with his eyes closed. On the other side of the stone wall, seven or eight corpses were piled together, the bottom ones already rotting, their remains being gnawed on by creatures from the desert.

This is the eighth one.

Ever since Yang Yuan was brought here, there have been people trying to take her life. Although A Lu didn't know if it was the black-robed man's arrangement, he knew that once the agreed-upon deadline arrived, he would send Yang Yuan there, and then his mission would be complete.

The day after Yang Yuan disappeared, Xue Hua lay in bed staring at the ceiling, unable to close his eyes for a moment.

As soon as he closed his eyes, Yang Yuan's image filled them. The little girl in the green dress smiled and said thank you; she hid fearfully under the table; she stood nervously in front of him, begging him to let her stay.

beg……

Yes, what right does he have to make her beg him?

He tossed and turned all night, and by the time he sat up and went to the window, the sun was already high in the sky.

Chengdu was bustling with activity during the day, people coming and going. Guangdu Town was also filled with people stopping by for a rest or simply passing through. He stood by the window and glanced at the weather outside. The sunlight shone through the clouds, making it much warmer. Many women were wearing skirts, their hems swaying gently, always drawing attention.

"Thump thump thump... thump thump thump..."

There was a series of knocks on the door, and Xue Hua immediately went to open it. He was taken aback by what he saw.

Ye Min pursed her lips and looked at him, then immediately looked away when their eyes met.

"Are you... alright?" Ye Min asked awkwardly.

Xue Hua glanced at him, nodded, and walked back inside.

Ye Min raised an eyebrow, clenched his fist, and strode inside.

"I... I was a bit short-tempered yesterday, and I said something, but please don't take it to heart. Consider me a brother... just forget what I said yesterday!"

Xue Hua stopped in front of the table, looked at the things Yang Yuan had left behind, his eyes dimmed for a moment, and he didn't say anything.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Ye Min assumed he had tacitly forgiven her. But then she thought of Xue Hua—the kind of person who, when she once joked about going to the Five Poisons to see her mother-in-law, had made her so angry she was bedridden for three days. Remembering this incident, she hurriedly explained:

“I was really worried! Think about it, Yang Yuan is only sixteen this year, right? Such a young girl just disappears like that, who wouldn't be anxious? I wanted to go look for her right away, but you just stood there looking at the things and didn't even think about what to do. I got so anxious and upset, and then…”

Ye Min stopped speaking, and seeing that Xue Hua had no reaction, he felt very uncomfortable.

"I'm telling you, give me an answer!"

"From here to the Ming Cult, at full speed, it shouldn't take more than a few days, right?"

Ye Min paused for a moment, then immediately did the calculations.

"Yes...yes."

Xue Hua turned around, looked at him, and her eyes shone with a hint of light.

"Then let's set off immediately."

After saying that, Xue Hua immediately picked up the package on the table, slung it over his shoulder, grabbed the shield and sword Shura Ghost Mask, and left. Ye Min was still standing there in a daze when he came to his senses and Xue Hua had already gone downstairs. He immediately followed.

"No, what are we going to the Ming Cult for? Do you know where Yang Yuan is?" Ye Min asked hurriedly. Following Xue Hua's pace, he had to take three steps at a time.

“There’s something I haven’t told you, something I’m not sure about. When we chased after it, you were standing next to that horse, and I vaguely sensed something following you. But strangely, it only circled around you once and then disappeared immediately.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Min suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, and his legs went weak.

Xue Hua continued walking and said, "I have a feeling that the people who took Yang Yuan away didn't intend to harm her. It's as if they want to tell us that there must be something on her that they want to know. But we can't be sure, so it's just taking her away, not kidnapping her."

The two walked to the stable and hurriedly tidied their horse tack. Ye Min gave the innkeeper the money for lodging, then leaped onto his horse, spurred it on with his legs, and the horse, with the iron block in its mouth, neighed and galloped away with the golden-clad young hero and the black-armored general.

"Do you think what we're doing is a bit unfair?"

Cheng Feng took a bite of the meat bun he had just bought. The bun, steamed with water vapor, had a soft skin and a fragrant filling. He chewed on the delicious filling and, satisfied, bought another one from the vendor.

Qingyan watched the two disappear into the forest path, her expression as calm as a still lake, without any change.

"Whether it's kind or not is not something we can judge. Just like back in Maple Valley... can you say that what Xiao Mozi did was unkind?"

Qingyan murmured to herself.

She turned to look at Cheng Feng, who was eating a steamed bun, and asked with her arms crossed, "Is it good?"

Cheng Feng nodded, smiled, and handed her the other one he had bought, wrapped in oil paper.

"The meat buns are delicious because the effort put into kneading the dough and chopping the filling was evident. Little Mozi did all this not for his own sake. As for whether it was kind or not, that's up to future generations to judge!"

Qingyan smiled and said, "You seem to have matured a lot lately."

"Haha, the military pay has increased a bit recently. I bought some Napier grass, and what's left is just enough for a steamed bun! Once we're full and satisfied, we can think things through, right?"