Minhan Mude’er glanced at the ginseng broth with little interest and asked lazily, “Auntie, is this how you plan to bribe me?”
If his aunt had come to see him not as the Great Barbarian Witch, then naturally she had some private matter to discuss—and to come in person all the way to the Eastern Qin battlefield meant it had to be something exceptionally important!
Minhan Mude’er, putting on his usual haughty air, pushed the broth back, narrowing his eyes with an innocent smile.
Seeing this, Minhan Guxin scoffed coldly. “Boy, some mere prince from Da Zhou has you utterly bewitched, yet your aunt here has far more learning in her belly than that Jun Beiyao ever will—why don’t I ever see a shred of admiration from you?”
Minhan Mude’er couldn’t see through him, but Minhan Guxin’s old eyes were anything but clouded—she could tell at a glance that Jun Beiyao was up to no good.
“Auntie, what a pity you’re a woman. There’s a saying in the Central Plains: a woman’s virtue lies in having no talent.”
That Minhan Mude’er could say something with so much “depth” to it genuinely startled Minhan Guxin. “Boy, it seems you’ve been quite studious lately!”
Minhan Mude’er chuckled and picked up the ginseng broth to drink, naturally forgetting entirely that he’d just refused it a moment ago.
Watching him, the doting affection in Minhan Guxin’s eyes showed plainly, impossible to hide. This nephew of hers had lost his mother in early childhood—had it not been for his status as the legitimate-born heir, he would have long since been torn apart by the ravenous wolves of the imperial family. How else could he have grown up at all, let alone grown so wild and free?
He drained the bowl of ginseng broth completely. Xiongnu cuisine was vastly different from that of the Central Plains—though Minhan Mude’er seemed to spend his days in idle indulgence, feasting on fine food and wine, in truth he never really ate all that much.
It was this bowl of soup, personally prepared by his aunt, that carried the true taste of their Xiongnu homeland—and he drank it with real satisfaction.
This boy was actually quite easy to manage, so long as you kept his stomach happy.
“So tell me—are you sneaking off to Nanzhao again?”
Minhan Mude’er got straight to the point. As the Great Barbarian Witch, his aunt couldn’t simply leave the Great Barbarian Witch-Spirit Faith as she pleased, except when her services were needed for divination or ritual.
Her leaving this time must have been under the pretext of coming to the front lines to perform divinations for the war!
Back when there was no war to speak of, his aunt would either ask him to go hunting with her, or urge him to undertake construction projects, building palaces in remote locations—all so that she would have an excuse to leave the Great Barbarian Witch-Spirit Faith and slip off secretly to Nanzhao.
Aside from divination and ritual sacrifice, his aunt had nothing else to occupy her life—her greatest passion was the art of poison!
This secret, though never deliberately concealed, was known to no one else in the imperial family but him.
Nanzhao was precisely where the art of poison flourished most, especially within Nanzhao’s Herb Clan and their Poison Den. His aunt would slip off to Nanzhao from time to time, always returning laden with bags and bundles—even he had no idea what exactly she brought back, only guessing it must be poisonous herbs and insects.
Minhan Guxin chuckled, and in front of her most beloved nephew, her laughter made her seem just like a mischievous old child.
“Boy, you’ve guessed wrong this time!”
“Wrong?”
Minhan Mude’er immediately sat up and leaned in. “Auntie, then where are you going? Don’t go too far—if Father Emperor asks after you, I won’t know what to tell him, and there are those difficult old elders in the Great Barbarian Witch-Spirit Faith too. Don’t leave me unable to find you!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll stay in touch with you the whole time!” Minhan Guxin promised at once.
“You’ll be gone long?” Minhan Mude’er grew wary.
“I don’t know how long myself, but once the war with Eastern Qin ends, I’ll be back.”
“Where exactly are you going?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“Auntie!”
Minhan Mude’er finally grew angry, his sword-like brows knitting deep, making him look all the more heroic and handsome.
Minhan Guxin only laughed. “This time, I’m going out to find someone…”
Then, quickly, she corrected herself. “No—I should say, I’m going out to find a beast I raised myself, with my own two hands, after all that hard work!”
As she spoke, a sharp glint flashed through her eyes, dark and sinister, utterly chilling.
“Is it a person or a thing? And you raised it?” Minhan Mude’er listened, utterly confused, unable to make sense of it.
“When I find it, I’ll be sure to let you see for yourself. Just promise your aunt this—whoever asks, tell them your aunt is here with you. Will you do that?” Minhan Guxin pleaded.
Minhan Mude’er hesitated. This time, the absence would be far too long—he couldn’t possibly take on that kind of responsibility, especially since his aunt held the position of Great Barbarian Witch, not just any ordinary status.
“My good nephew, your aunt has waited for this chance for so, so long. Just agree to it this once—I promise, it’ll be the last time!”
Minhan Mude’er still hesitated, watching Minhan Guxin’s brow furrow tight, saying nothing.
Minhan Guxin thought it over for a long moment, then spoke again. “Tell you what—if you agree to this, I promise to persuade your father not to interfere in your marriage. How’s that?”
“Deal!” Minhan Mude’er agreed almost without a second thought. He had been waiting far too long to hear those very words. “Auntie, we have an agreement, then—if you can’t persuade Father Emperor, I’ll make sure everything about you gets exposed!”
“It’s a deal!” Minhan Guxin agreed readily, extending her little finger!
Minhan Mude’er didn’t understand. “What’s that for?”
“A pinky promise! That’s how people in the Central Plains seal an agreement!” Minhan Guxin said, taking his hand to show him how, adding mockingly, “What, didn’t that fine teacher of yours even teach you something this basic?”
Minhan Mude’er looked at their two linked fingers with some awkwardness and quickly pulled his hand back. “It’s a deal, then.”
“Good, it’s settled!”
“All right then! When are you leaving?”
“Right away!”
“So soon! What exactly are you looking for?” This was the first time Minhan Mude’er had ever been so curious about his aunt’s business.
Helplessly, Minhan Guxin avoided the question and instead said earnestly, “Boy, I can’t interfere in your affairs, and it’s not my place to say much, but I’ll tell you this one thing—that Jun Beiyao is no good. Don’t be foolishly taken in by him. Keep your guard up!”
“Don’t worry! Does this prince really seem like the type to be easily fooled?” Minhan Mude’er scoffed, dismissing the warning without taking it to heart at all.
“Just be careful yourself, either way. Auntie’s off now!”
Minhan Guxin was in a hurry and said nothing more, slipping out of the tent and heading straight for the back hills.
In the hills behind camp, everything was already prepared—a group of people disguised as an escort caravan.
Minhan Guxin stood at the top of the hill, gazing out in every direction, checking the sky, then took out a brightly colored poisonous lizard. On the fifteenth of every month, when the full moon hung bright in the sky, this poisonous lizard could sniff out the direction of the human gu—the closer the distance, the more precise the direction.
For all these years, she had been searching, but unable to leave the Xiongnu lands for too long or travel too far, she would find the direction only to fail to catch up, and before long the human gu would slip away again!
Yes—what she was searching for wasn’t, strictly speaking, a person at all, but a gu!
A human gu she had spent over a decade of painstaking effort, exhausting all her strength and spirit, to cultivate!
According to Nanzhao’s legends of the Lone Island, the male, yang-type human gu, unlike the female, yin-type human gu, did not possess the ability to poison and destroy everything in its path—but it could suppress the yin-type human gu’s backlash, and could use its poisoned blood as a means to track down the yin-type human gu!
Five years ago, due to her own oversight, that very beast had escaped her!