Chapter Eighty-Eight: A Meeting of Three Parties, Part Two

At dawn, pale threads of sunlight slipped through the broken window and struck the face of the man still not fully awake inside the room. On his heavy beard there clung a few drops of saliva that had not yet dried. It was Su Bai, who had collapsed from exhaustion the day before.

Beside him sat an old man with hair and beard entirely white, his face covered in wrinkles, his frame so frail he looked as though a mere touch might send him to pieces. This was Xi Menghe, the one who had taken him captive.

At that moment, he sat quietly by Su Bai’s side, waiting for him to wake.

"It seems I overestimated this barbarian’s constitution. I never expected he would nearly not make it back." Watching Su Bai still unconscious, Xi Menghe’s brow furrowed, his heart clearly anxious.

Just then, Su Bai gave two faint coughs and slowly opened his eyes a slit.

"Hm?"

Xi Menghe lifted an eyebrow, surprised that the man had woken just as he finished complaining.

But then Su Bai began muttering in the barbarian tongue, a string of sounds so weak that even Xi Menghe could scarcely make them out. Even if he had heard clearly, it would have done him no good; he did not understand a word.

In truth, Su Bai was only trying to make him doubt nothing about his identity. After waking, most people would speak their mother tongue, and besides, he had not said anything important at all, only three very ordinary greetings: a blunt curse, a harsher curse, and a third insult aimed squarely at Xi Menghe.

He thought to himself: That old hound can’t understand anyway. Maybe if I curse him a few times, he’ll even treasure it and remember it like a prize. He’s tormented me plenty these past few days, nearly dragging me to death more than once. Good thing my face never hit the ground, or else I couldn’t have kept this mask on. If I get exposed, I’m dead for sure.

Then he suddenly remembered the signals he had been leaving for the barbarians behind them over the past few days, and quietly calculated the distance: "Every few miles I left a mark. Those people should now be no more than ten miles away. We’ve probably reached the heartland of North Province by now. It’s time to pick a suitable place and make our move."

The reason Su Bai had not ordered them to strike at once was, first, that Xi Menghe’s restraints left him utterly powerless. He did not believe that group would be able to pull him out of the hands of a peak Soul-Calming expert. That was why he had sent them back to gather a squad and come rescue him.

Second, he feared that if they attacked too near the front lines, other armies might notice. Fortunately, that was no longer a concern.

After another quarter-hour, Su Bai could finally struggle to his feet. Given his condition, Xi Menghe had no choice but to let him sit on the horse, while he led the animal on foot.

Along the way, Su Bai saw almost no high walls or military camps; presumably everything had been thrown into the assault on Green Province.

"After all, they’re a nomadic people. When they ride south to plunder, they don’t bother building many extra fortifications here," Su Bai thought as he looked at the flat grassland around him.

He lowered his head and saw Xi Menghe personally leading his horse, then glanced into the distance. Silently, he began timing the moment...

Suddenly, he clutched his chest and cried out in the Mongol tongue before toppling from the saddle beneath the horse.

"Hm?" Xi Menghe glanced at Su Bai on the ground and gave a contemptuous smile. "So you rather miss being dragged along under a horse, do you?"

Well, this was awkward... Su Bai, sprawled on the ground, felt somewhat embarrassed. According to the usual script, shouldn’t he have come over to check whether I was injured?

"Cough, cough!" Su Bai coughed twice, slowly pushed himself up, and said with great seriousness in Chinese, "I just tried to force my internal energy through the seal in my body, and suffered backlash. I’m fine now."

After speaking, he nodded, climbed back onto the horse, and looked at Xi Menghe with a trace of curiosity. "Why are you staring at me? Keep moving."

......

There sat the white-haired old man, leisurely astride the horse, turning his head to ask toward the horse’s rear, "Riding really is more comfortable, isn’t it?"

"Heh." From behind the horse’s rump came a cold laugh. The bearded man turned his face away, unwilling to answer.

Seeing that Su Bai still clung stubbornly to his words, Xi Menghe abruptly squeezed the horse’s belly with both legs and cried, "Giddy up!"

"Ahhhh!"

Caught off guard, Su Bai shot forward as the horse lunged ahead, dragging him across the ground in a wild slide.

While being dragged, Su Bai strained both arms to pull his body forward. With great difficulty, his bound hands tugged the beast seal free, then hurled it to the ground.

Looking at the seal lying in the dirt, Su Bai’s mouth curved into the faintest smile.

If he did not get down from the horse, how could he possibly do such a thing under that old man’s very nose?

At the end of the first part.

....

After another two hours, Xi Menghe suddenly reined in his horse. Looking back at Su Bai, who was already half-dead, he abruptly noticed something and immediately asked, "Eh? Where did the beast seal on your chest go?"

"Are you trying to exhaust me to death, you bastard? I’ve only just recovered!" Su Bai seemed not to hear Xi Menghe’s question at all and shot back with a stream of abuse.

"I asked you a question. Where is the beast seal from your chest?" Even a fool knew that seal represented identity. Xi Menghe had kept Su Bai not only because he could speak with these barbarians, but also because his status was high enough to command them at will.

Yet now the most important thing had somehow vanished. Xi Menghe’s face filled with murderous intent as he pressed in step by step. "Did you deliberately throw it away to draw the barbarians here to rescue you?"

At last he had said it.

The reason Su Bai had chosen the beast seal as the signal to begin was precisely because he had thought of this. Only by making this old man turn back to search for it could he reunite with the barbarian troops.

Now it depended on whether Su Bai could fool this old fox.

Facing Xi Menghe’s grim old face, Su Bai let out a sneer. "Are you kidding me? In a place this vast, you think I tossed away a medal and someone would actually find it?"

Xi Menghe narrowed his eyes and stared hard at Su Bai’s face, as though trying to find even the slightest flaw.

This was perhaps the greatest advantage of a human-face mask: neither gooseflesh nor changes in complexion could be detected by the other side. Su Bai only needed to keep his eyes from betraying him, and Xi Menghe would find nothing wrong at all.

The two stared at one another for a long while before Xi Menghe finally rasped, "Turn back now and find it, or I’ll kill you. I can always find someone else to replace you."

Su Bai’s heart was nearly leaping into his throat. Facing such a formidable enemy really did make it hard to defeat instinct itself; he had almost slipped up.

Yet on his face he only shrugged carelessly. "Suit yourself. Whether I find it or not, I may not live anyway. Hey, at least let me rest a bit first!"

Xi Menghe had no patience for his nonsense and immediately rode back along the same road.

"You’re going that fast and still expect me to find it?!" Su Bai protested loudly from behind as he was dragged along. "Do you have no decency at all?!"

Xi Menghe suddenly stopped the horse. Su Bai, flung by inertia, shot forward to the horse’s head and nearly planted a passionate kiss on a stallion...

After that violent jolt, Su Bai braced himself against the horse’s head and said weakly, "Next time you stop, could you do it a little more slowly?"

"Find it quickly. You must find it before dusk." Xi Menghe’s face turned cold as he continued, "What I said before was not empty talk. If you want to keep your life, you’d best obey me obediently."

"Yes, yes, yes~" Su Bai answered carelessly.

Though inside, he was somewhat anxious: I wonder if that group will be able to find the beast seal I left on the ground before dusk. Looks like I need to move closer to that spot too.

And so Su Bai began searching for the beast seal with his head lowered.

Seeing how leisurely he sounded while speaking, yet how frantically he searched with his head down, Xi Menghe grew to despise him even more. This, naturally, was exactly the effect Su Bai wanted.

....

At this moment, a carriage jolted across the desolate plains of North Province, the sound of its wheels rolling on and on.

Gu Fanshuang gazed placidly into the distance, her riding whip rising and falling with steady rhythm in her hand. Inside the carriage, Jiang Xixuan gently smoothed her hair and from time to time lifted the side curtain to look at the barren scenery around them.

A li behind them, more than a dozen black-clad men maintained the distance between the two sides, as if waiting for the right moment to arrive.

After inspecting the terrain, the second man said to their leader, "Boss, this place should be good enough. Why not make our move? We’re already two or three hundred li from Green Province. Killing them here is practically a sure thing, and if we do it cleanly, the men in brocade uniforms won’t even find the bodies."

The leader looked toward the direction the carriage was headed, then beckoned them closer. Several men gathered around, and he said, "We’ll strike at dusk. That way, by nightfall we can bury everything properly. Then we’ll move under cover of darkness and, after dawn, find an abandoned house to rest in. Three days should be enough to enter Green Province."

"Everything will be as the boss commands!" the others answered with a nod.

From the carriage, Gu Fanshuang looked off into the distance. It seemed there was a horse, and atop it sat a person whose features were unclear, though the slightly stooped body suggested advanced age. Beneath the horse, another man kept his head lowered, searching left and right for something.

Inside the carriage, Jiang Xixuan also drew back the curtain and looked at the two figures, saying curiously, "It’s rare to see something like this. Could they be local people fallen on hard times?"

"Absolutely not." Gu Fanshuang answered at once. "In these circumstances, how could the natives still be unharmed—and still have horses to ride?"

Jiang Xixuan found the logic convincing and asked, "Then who are they?"

"Not good!" As if she had realized something, Gu Fanshuang no longer had time to warn Jiang Xixuan to sit properly. She lashed the horse hard with the whip.

Jiang Xixuan, caught off guard by the sudden acceleration, lost her balance and fell backward inside the carriage. She tumbled around for quite a while and still could not sit up.

But just as she barely managed to rise, the carriage made a sharp turn, throwing her onto her side again. Her head struck the seat, and she immediately lost consciousness.

When she woke, the scene had changed utterly...

Gu Fanshuang and she were already bound with ropes, unable to move. Just as she was about to call out to wake Gu Fanshuang, she discovered an old man seated directly across from her.

His face was densely wrinkled, and his gaunt body could barely support the loose clothes hanging on him. He was thin to the point of resembling a skeleton.

That appearance alone made Jiang Xixuan uneasy. Instinctively, she lowered her gaze, unwilling to meet the old man’s eyes. Deep inside, it felt as though a voice were warning her: this man is extremely dangerous; drawing his attention may cost you your life.

Yet the more she thought that way, the more curious her eyes became, again and again drifting to the other side. Each time she looked, she would immediately bow her head to stare at her toes in fear.

The next time she glanced over, the old man had opened his eyes and was staring directly back at her.

Those murky eyeballs held no trace of life, and with that ashen complexion he looked no different from the living dead. Jiang Xixuan had never seen such a terrifying face before and could not help screaming.

"Ahhh!"

But before she could even finish the cry, she tilted her head and fainted again. Probably her poor little heart could not bear it any longer. Still, that one scream did wake the person beside her.

Gu Fanshuang blinked, shook her head, and instinctively looked forward, just in time to meet Xi Menghe’s gaze.

But for Gu Fanshuang, it was not enough to frighten her as easily as Jiang Xixuan. Instead, she stared into Xi Menghe’s eyes and said word by word, "Who are you, and why have you taken us hostage?"

She forced herself to remain calm, though her tightly clenched fists and trembling voice had already betrayed her completely.

Xi Menghe clearly noticed this, but his expression still carried a hint of admiration as he looked at Gu Fanshuang. "You girl have some nerve. There aren’t many young people who dare speak to this old man like that."

Then, with a sinister smile, Xi Menghe said, "But most of those people ended up dead at this old man’s hands. I hope your luck is better, and that you can walk out of my hands alive."

Hearing this, Gu Fanshuang’s fingers tightened until they turned white, and all color drained from her face.

Jiang Xixuan had been knocked unconscious by the carriage’s jolting, but Gu Fanshuang had personally witnessed how Xi Menghe had seized her with his own hands. That feeling of being powerless to resist still remained vivid in her memory, and it had not been long since then. It already took courage simply to face him, let alone now that she knew Xi Menghe was the sort of man who changed moods in an instant and spoke of murder as casually as breathing.

Just as their exchange reached the point where neither knew how to continue, the carriage suddenly stopped.

"Hm?" Xi Menghe frowned and asked the driver unhappily, "Why did you stop the carriage?"

From outside the curtain came the coachman’s low voice: "We’re surrounded..."

Hearing that reply, Gu Fanshuang’s eyes widened. Xi Menghe did not notice the change in her expression; instead, he lifted the curtain and looked outside the carriage. At once he saw that more than ten black-clad men had surrounded them, each holding a weapon.

Xi Menghe swept them with his spiritual sense and discovered, to his surprise, that they were all troublesome opponents, with even one already having stepped into the Soul-Calming realm.

Inside the carriage, the coachman who had been driving earlier looked at her just as he lifted the curtain, and the man, as if moved by inspiration, also looked at her. He gave her the slightest, almost imperceptible nod.

Tears instantly welled in Gu Fanshuang’s eyes, making her appear on the verge of weeping as she cried out inwardly: I knew it. I knew I would find you!