Chapter 115 Departure to the Southwest
Arno seemed to have expected this, taking something from his sleeve and placing it on the table.
It was an ebony token carved with a strange snake that spewed venomous tongues. Two scarlet dots were inlaid in the snake's eyes. It was consistent with the style of the Shadow Snake token that had been discovered before, but the workmanship was more exquisite and the aura was more sinister.
“This is the Shadow Guard’s identification token, obtained near the ambush site. I’m sure Your Highness’s men have also discovered similar traces,” Arno said slowly. “This is enough to prove that what I said is true.”
Lou Jin picked up the token; it felt cold and heavy in his hand, and the scarlet snake eyes stared at him as if they were alive.
He confirmed that the token was not counterfeit, and his doubts lessened somewhat.
"What does the princess want from all this?" Lou Jin put down the token and asked directly.
He didn't believe the princess would provide such important information for no reason.
A hint of admiration flashed in Arno's eyes: "It's so much easier talking to smart people. My conditions are very simple."
"First, Your Highness, please persuade the Emperor of Dasheng to refuse the marriage alliance."
Lou Jin raised an eyebrow; this was within his expectations. "Oh? The princess is unwilling to marry into the Great Sheng?"
Arno chuckled, a hint of self-deprecation in his voice: "It's not that I'm unwilling, but that I can't. The situation in my Nanzhao Kingdom is complicated. My brother is in a coma, and my uncles each have their own agendas."
"If I were to marry into the Dasheng, I would become a thorn in the side of some people, and I probably wouldn't survive my wedding night. I would rather cooperate with the Dasheng as an ally to eliminate the Shadow Serpent and stabilize the Nanzhao."
"Secondly," she continued, "I request that Your Highness take me with you on your journey to the southwest."
Lou Jin flatly refused: "Impossible. The situation in the southwest is unclear, and the princess's status is too high. If anything happens to her, I cannot bear the responsibility."
"Your Highness, please don't be so quick to refuse." Arno seemed to have anticipated his reaction.
“I know the terrain of Nanzhao, the relationships between the various tribes, and even some of the Shadow Serpent's strongholds better than Your Highness. With me accompanying you, Your Highness will be able to find General Ye and deal with Zhulong much more efficiently. Besides…”
Her tone turned serious: "The next target of Zhulong is very likely Dali City, or even my comatose brother. For both personal and professional reasons, I must go back."
"It would be safer to cooperate with Your Highness than to risk this alone. I swear a blood oath that I will obey Your Highness's every command on this journey, without any disloyalty, and only seek to eliminate the Shadow Serpent together!"
Her words were sincere, and her eyes were firm; she did not seem to be faking it.
Lou Jin remained silent for a moment, his mind racing as he weighed the options.
Bringing her along carries enormous risks, but the potential rewards could be beyond imagination.
Her knowledge of Nanzhao and Yingshe is exactly what they urgently need right now.
Moreover, keeping her under one's nose might be more reassuring than keeping her in the shadows.
“I have seen the princess’s determination,” Lou Jin said slowly. “However, this matter is of great importance, and I need to discuss it with my elder brother and father. I will give you an answer by this time tomorrow.”
Arno knew that this matter could not be decided immediately, so he nodded and said, "Alright, I will await Your Highness's good news."
Lou Jin rose to take his leave, but Arno suddenly said, "Your Highness, please remember that our enemies are the Candle Dragon and the Shadow Serpent. If we harbor suspicions among ourselves, it will only cause pain to our loved ones and joy to our enemies."
Lou Jin paused slightly, but without turning back, he strode away from the waterside pavilion.
It was already late at night when they returned to the King Jin's mansion.
Ye Xunyang was still waiting under the lamp. When he saw Lou Jin return, he immediately went forward.
Lou Jin recounted the details of the meeting, including the information provided by Arno and the conditions she proposed.
"Bring her along?" Ye Xunyang frowned. "Your Highness, this woman is cunning and cannot be trusted easily. If this is a scheme by 'Candle Dragon' to wipe us out in one fell swoop..."
“I know the risks.” Lou Jin grasped his hand.
"But the information she provided, regarding Second Brother's whereabouts and the existence of Zhulong, matches the intelligence we have, and the token is not counterfeit. Moreover, if she really wanted to harm us, she wouldn't have needed to propose cooperation; she could have simply stood by and watched."
He pondered for a moment and said, "I tend to... agree to her request. But we must be very careful and inform my father and brother immediately."
Ye Xunyang knew that Lou Jin's analysis made sense. Desperate to save his brother, he didn't care about anything else: "Since Your Highness has made a decision, I trust you. But we must be extremely careful on this journey."
"Of course." Lou Jin embraced him. "For you, for my brother, and for the Great Sheng, I will definitely find this Candle Dragon and pacify the Southwest!"
The next day, Lou Jin and Lou Yan went to the palace together to inform the emperor about Princess Arno.
After pondering for a long time, the emperor finally made his decision: "Since she is willing to cooperate, let's give her a chance. Lou Jin, you will take her with you, but you must firmly maintain control. The Dragon Shadow Guard will send a team to monitor her every move. If she makes any unusual moves... kill her without hesitation."
"Your subject obeys the decree!"
Having received his father's approval, Lou Jin no longer hesitated and immediately sent someone to inform Princess Arno to prepare for departure.
Meanwhile, the final preparations for the Prince Jin's Palace and the Prince Yan's Palace were also completed in a rapid and efficient manner.
Three days later, a well-trained team quietly left the capital.
After leaving Beijing, the group did not make a big fuss. Instead, they disguised themselves as a caravan heading to the southwest to purchase medicinal herbs, hiding during the day and traveling at night, choosing secluded routes to conceal their whereabouts as much as possible.
Princess Arno, using the pseudonym "Nuo Girl," dressed in the ordinary clothing of a Han Chinese woman, her face still covered by a light veil, silently followed in the procession.
As she said, she was indeed extremely familiar with the routes and local customs along the way, and could even identify some rare poisonous plants and miasma, giving advance warnings several times and avoiding unnecessary trouble.
This earned her a small amount of trust within the team, but Lou Jin and Ye Xunyang never relaxed their vigilance.
The closer they got to the southwestern border, the more somber the atmosphere became.
On the official road, one could often see bewildered refugees. When asked, they all said that the border was not peaceful, with frequent banditry, and there were even rumors of demons causing trouble, who could control poisonous insects and snakes, making it impossible to guard against them.
“It’s Shadow Serpent’s doing.” Arno whispered to Lou Jin and Ye Xunyang by the campfire, the firelight reflecting off her eyes, making them appear exceptionally deep. “They’re creating panic, clearing the border, to make it easier for their people to move around.”
Lou Jin looked at the Blackwater Marsh area marked on the map and said in a deep voice, "According to the itinerary, we will reach the edge of the Blackwater Marsh in three more days. Miss Nuo, how much do you know about that place?"
Arno stared at the flickering flames, a hint of barely perceptible apprehension in his voice: "That is a cursed land. It is perpetually shrouded in multicolored poisonous miasma, dotted with swamps and countless pitfalls, and inhabited by many venomous insects and strange beasts, many of which are unheard of in the outside world."
"What's even more terrifying is that the magnetic field there is chaotic, causing compasses to malfunction and making it extremely easy to lose one's way. Locals call it the Ghost Swamp, a place where you can enter but never leave."
Ye Xunyang clenched his fist: "Even so, we must go in."
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