Whether it was telepathic connection or Gong Yin’s accurate intuition, his footsteps headed straight toward Jing Hengbo’s corner without deviation.
Yelu Qi opened his mouth to call out.
Jing Hengbo suddenly blocked his mouth with the polygonum multiflorum root.
She dared not use her hand, dared not use her sleeve. When Yelu Qi pushed the polygonum multiflorum away, the two gazed at each other in the darkness.
Yelu Qi’s eyes showed disapproval, but Jing Hengbo’s gaze shimmered with pleading tears.
Don’t speak.
No, you need to be saved, and he can save you.
I can’t. If I go out, I’ll harm too many people. Gong Yin isn’t skilled in medicine – what if I cause him to catch the disease…
No one finds you a curse!
It’s not that they despise me – I simply cannot!
No!
Promise me!
Their gazes locked intensely in silent struggle. Jing Hengbo’s heartbeat grew more violent as the icy atmosphere around them thickened. She felt both comforted and slightly bitter.
Fate never seemed willing to properly bring her and him together. He fled, she pursued. When he finally stopped to look for her, she had to flee instead.
Those eyes in the darkness gradually misted with crystalline moisture, like diamond light flowing, yet speaking of entreaty and vulnerability.
Yelu Qi stared at those eyes, feeling pain in his heart and blockage in his throat. He wanted to speak, but his throat seemed filled with that misty vapor.
Gong Yin seemed to sense something again and actually stopped, then called softly: “Hengbo… Hengbo!”
Jing Hengbo held her breath, then noticed Yelu Qi’s breathing had become slightly rapid, while Gong Yin had apparently detected something and was moving toward their direction.
Jing Hengbo took a deep breath and suddenly pushed Yelu Qi outward with all her might, while her own form flashed away.
She used her last strength to flash away, and in the moment of departure felt her hand being tightly grasped.
Light and shadow shifted, and before her eyes lay layers upon layers of darkness. She felt weak and dizzy, momentarily unable to tell where she was.
The one gripping her hand tightly was still Yelu Qi. He seemed to have anticipated she would push him out and flee herself, and had grabbed her hand the moment he was pushed.
“Still in the palace…” he looked around and said in a low voice.
Ahead, the distant clamor could be heard – flames reaching the sky, battle cries faintly audible from here but still discernible in their tragic desperation. Luoyun had indeed fallen into civil war within the royal city. After this battle, regardless of who won, it would surely be a scene of devastation, leading to permanent decline.
“Go, go!” Jing Hengbo pushed Yelu Qi in the opposite direction. “If you won’t listen, I’ll flash away by myself…”
Yelu Qi sighed and carried her on his back, walking in the opposite direction. At this time the palace was in complete chaos – all palace guards had been transferred to the front halls to resist the rebels, while the remaining eunuchs and palace maids were grabbing valuables and fleeing in all directions. Who would bother asking questions?
When Yelu Qi passed by a certain palace chamber, he went in to find clothes, changing both himself and Jing Hengbo. The two wrapped their heads and faces tightly with cloth and fled with the escaping palace servants. The palace had eight gates – the four main gates near the square were under attack, while the guards at the other side gates had already fled. The two escaped through the western side gate. Yelu Qi carried her while searching for medical halls, using gold and silver jewelry taken from the palace to open those establishments that hadn’t yet begun business. Two places diagnosed it as a cold, but Yelu Qi tore up their prescriptions after one glance. At the third place, a white-haired old physician carefully took her pulse, his expression changed, and he said, “Please wait, I’ll go prepare medicine,” then turned and left the hall.
Immediately the doors slammed shut with a bang, followed by the clatter of locks. Rapid footsteps echoed from the corridor as the apprentices who had been in the hallway quickly departed, their steps making the floorboards thump loudly.
Yelu Qi and Jing Hengbo sat without moving, sharing a knowing smile – a smile tinged with bitterness.
“This one has some medical skill…” Jing Hengbo murmured.
Yelu Qi didn’t respond, but tenderly stroked her hair.
“How do you plan to get out?” Jing Hengbo looked at the door. Without needing to check, she knew it was locked. The old physician had discovered she might have contracted an epidemic disease and had rushed out to notify the authorities.
“We won’t get out,” Yelu Qi said. “Historically, when authorities discover epidemic disease, they directly send patients outside the city. You were going to leave the city anyway – now there’s a ready-made carriage to ride.”
And it would avoid being discovered by Gong Yin, Pei Shu and the others, Jing Hengbo silently added to herself.
She pulled out a nearly crumpled paper from her bosom. As she struggled to sit up, Yelu Qi immediately pressed her down and took the paper. Looking at it, he saw it was the antidote prescription Jing Hengbo had asked Si Rong Ming to write for him when his poison flared up the night before.
He stared at the paper for a while, flicked it, and smiled self-deprecatingly.
Even while suffering from a life-threatening epidemic disease, she still remembered his poison. How could anyone not love such a Jing Hengbo? How could anyone give her up?
She might not lack fierceness, might inevitably be crafty, but deep in her heart, she pitied life, treasured companions, and loved all those who cared for her.
At this moment, he suddenly began to feel grateful to heaven. This period when he was poisoned and she fell ill might be heaven’s gift – granting him the opportunity to support and depend on each other with her, to walk together through a stretch of life’s road, caring for each other through hardship.
That was good too.
Watching Yelu Qi silently prepare medicine, Jing Hengbo sighed. “You should stay and find Gong Yin. He might have a chance to cure your poison.”
“Then why wouldn’t you let him know?” Yelu Qi efficiently ransacked all the old physician’s medicines and packed them in a bundle.
Jing Hengbo remained silent for a long while before saying: “I’m sorry, I’m still too selfish…”
Epidemic disease wasn’t an injury or poison – she didn’t believe Gong Yin had a solution. She was unwilling to let his already problematic body have even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of contracting the disease.
She felt somewhat guilty about agreeing to stay with Yelu Qi while being unwilling to let Gong Yin risk infection.
“No,” Yelu Qi sat across from her and gently patted her hand. “For me, I can only be grateful for your trust and reliance.”
She raised her eyes, reflecting his smile in her pupils. Yelu Qi was naturally graceful and charming – even after being injured and ill for so long, when he smiled he still swayed with elegance, his eyes seeming to ripple with the concentrated starlight and moonlight of the entire universe.
That smile was composed and enchanting, indifferent to heaven and earth, yet present in her world.
Footsteps sounded outside. Jing Hengbo collapsed onto the table, pretending to be dead. Yelu Qi smiled and leisurely settled in his chair, slightly shielding her.
As the door opened, a group of officials wrapped tightly from head to face rushed in. The old physician followed behind, trembling as he said: “Those two. The woman’s symptoms are very similar to the plague five years ago. The man also appears seriously ill. These two absolutely cannot be kept… Quick, bring water to wash the floor!”
“Send them to Ping’an Office ten li outside the city!” The lead official waved his hand. Two medical assistants came forward, stuffed the two into a large covered wagon already waiting in the corridor, sealed the wagon door tightly and rushed outside.
The two didn’t resist, lying comfortably in the wagon. The palace turmoil hadn’t yet affected the city center – the outer city was still relatively calm. But since dawn hadn’t broken, the city gates weren’t yet open. However, epidemic patients urgently sent out of the city were exceptions. The lead official went forward to negotiate. A soldier looked over the covered wagon, then ran to ask his superior for keys to open the gate.
The covered wagon waited quietly by the roadside. Jing Hengbo kept lifting the curtain to look outside, very worried that Gong Yin would suddenly catch up. With Gong Yin’s intelligence, he would eventually guess what method she would use to leave the city.
Then she heard hoofbeats.
Jing Hengbo’s heart tightened as she peered out. The hoofbeats came from more than one place – ahead seemed to be a single rider racing like the wind, while behind came sounds from all directions with many riders.
At this time dawn was breaking, but thick fog had risen, making it impossible to see clearly. Only one rider broke through the dense fog, the horseman seeming extremely urgent, repeatedly whipping the horse while constantly looking back.
Seeing that defeated dog posture, Jing Hengbo felt slightly relieved. Even if Gong Yin fell into the dust, he would never appear in such a state.
Soon the rider gradually approached. On the long street, two horses could be seen – a red horse in front with its rider frantically whipping it, and a black horse about five zhang behind in close pursuit. The rider on the trailing black horse looked somewhat familiar.
The person on the red horse quickly approached, wearing armor in common soldier’s attire, with the helmet brim pressed low. They rushed past the wagon like the wind, saw the city gate was closed, and seemed to shudder.
The gate guards also saw this red horse rider and walked over to question them. The person suddenly reined in and turned around, but upon turning saw the relentlessly pursuing black horse rapidly approaching.
In desperation, this person’s gaze darted around. Suddenly hearing someone on the city wall shout loudly: “The pass has been verified, open the gate immediately!” Looking around, they spotted the roadside wagon that appeared ready to leave the city. Immediately overjoyed, they jumped off the horse, whipped the horse’s rump to send it away, bent low, and when no one was watching, dove into the covered wagon.
Upon entering, this person immediately drew the blade from their waist and hissed: “Don’t make a sound! Or I’ll kill you!”
Hearing this voice, Jing Hengbo nearly burst into laughter.
Holy crap, Ge Lian!
Coming from outside into the dark wagon interior, Ge Lian couldn’t see clearly. This wagon for transporting patients was shabby and crude – how could she imagine her mortal enemies were sitting inside? Her attention was entirely focused outside, lifting a small gap in the window curtain to stare intently at the black horse’s movements.
Jing Hengbo also discovered that the rider on the black horse pursuing Ge Lian relentlessly was actually Zuoqiu Mo.
Thinking about it, this wasn’t strange. Zuoqiu Mo had also followed her into the palace last night. When the Luoyun palace erupted in chaos, her attention would certainly focus only on her mortal enemies, the Ge sisters. It appeared Ge Lian had been defeated, and Zuoqiu Mo had pursued her from the palace all the way here.
Ge Lian didn’t glance at Jing Hengbo even once, staring outside with a face full of tension. Her heart was still pounding, her mind filled with scenes from this night of blood and fire – Liu Yuan hanging from the bell tower, the ministers blocking iron hooves with their bodies at the palace gates, the inch-by-inch fierce fighting within the palace. Initially she had the upper hand, but after the Imperial Guard battalion arrived and occupied advantageous terrain, she fell into disadvantage. Ge Shen quickly stabilized his footing and stopped retreating. After forcing the soldiers back one round, he shouted from the battle line, using the same heart-attack strategy as her, announcing that all soldiers had been deceived and induced into rebellion by Ge Lian. His Majesty’s brilliant illumination had long ago perceived the truth of this matter. The soldiers need not worry – as long as they now corrected their course and eliminated the chief rebel Ge Lian, not only would they be blameless, they would earn great merit. If they persisted in delusion and continued in rebellion, the three-foot dragon sword would completely behead the nine clans of all rebellious generals!
To convince the soldiers, Ge Shen immediately swore a blood oath by the generations of Luoyun royal bloodline. It was remarkable how he managed to reverse the situation and protect his precarious throne through two oaths in one night.
Once Ge Shen spoke, the soldiers lost their concerns. Already hating Ge Lian for her deception, they immediately turned against her. Ge Lian suddenly became the center of a whirlpool being battered from all sides by the army’s tide. She was clever in her reaction – when Ge Shen began shouting, she knew the tide had turned. Rather than trying to win back hearts, she decisively ordered a trusted subordinate to spur his horse and flee, while others shouted that Ge Lian was escaping to lead the crowd in pursuit. She herself dismounted and took advantage of the chaos to kill a small soldier, snatched his helmet and put it on, mixed into the army, escaped through the palace gates, then stole a horse and galloped away.
Thinking of that moment rushing out of the palace, with corpses and blood scattered everywhere, she had stumbled and crawled through piles of flesh and blood, terrified as she realized most of these corpses were Luoyun court officials, and the killing orders had come from her. This thought made her legs weak. In the misty fog, those gaping mouths, staring eyes, and blood-drenched faces appeared fierce as demons, surrounding her in groups. The ground felt sticky beneath her feet – whether from the thick blood or her own weak legs, suddenly her leg was grabbed and she couldn’t break free no matter how hard she tried. Seeing her trick about to be discovered and the soldiers about to pursue her, she was both shocked and anxious, crying out in despair. Not daring to look back, she closed her eyes and murmured prayers, beseeching everyone from the nine heavenly gods and Buddhas to the founding empress, making vows from conducting salvation rites to spending all family wealth on grand funerals. After praying to everyone she still couldn’t pull free. Looking back, she saw Zuoqiu Mo racing out from the side of the palace gate, frightening her out of her wits. Only then did she discover her foot was caught in a broken bone. When she ruthlessly cut through the bone to free her foot, she found the face looking up in shock belonged to the Luoyun Grand Chancellor who had died first by her hand.
In that instant her heart and courage shattered. She seemed to hear the cackling laughter of retribution in the unseen realm. Struggling desperately to rise, she whipped her horse and ran, having been spotted by Zuoqiu Mo from afar and pursued all the way here.
Now as the city gate opened a crack to let the covered wagon through, then the soldiers prepared to close it again – the opening hours hadn’t yet arrived.
Zuoqiu Mo also noticed this wagon. At this time this wagon was most suspicious, so she quickly caught up to intercept it. The wagon had already rumbled through, and the gate guards swarmed forward to stop Zuoqiu Mo. After Zuoqiu Mo knocked down two of them, the soldiers shouted that the wagon only contained two people, both verified epidemic patients, absolutely untouchable. They desperately blocked the gate, keeping Zuoqiu Mo at the entrance.
In the covered wagon, Ge Lian, who had been tensely watching the gate situation, finally exhaled a long breath and patted her chest.
While patting her chest, her heart suddenly skipped a beat, feeling something was wrong. She whirled around, but before she could react, a hand had reached over and viciously yanked off her earring.
This pull was clean and vicious. Ge Lian cried out in pain as her ear immediately became bloody.
The curtain lifted, and that large, bloody gem earring whooshed through the slowly closing gate crack, flying toward Zuoqiu Mo.
Zuoqiu Mo, still fighting with the soldiers, was quick-eyed and caught it with one hand. Looking down, her expression changed dramatically.
At this moment the city gate thundered shut, but Zuoqiu Mo no longer cared, fighting desperately at the gate to get out of the city immediately.
Inside the wagon, Ge Lian’s doomsday had arrived early.
Covering her ear, Ge Lian proved to be an extremely quick-witted person. After one scream, she endured the pain and rolled toward the wagon floor, not even looking to see who had struck.
Whoever it was, they were an enemy. Preserving her life was most important.
A hand suddenly reached out, calmly pressing on her shoulder. She felt a sharp qi like a sword thrust straight at her heart and lungs. With a pained cry she immediately couldn’t move.
A voice said with amusement: “Turns out it’s tonight’s prominent figure. Speaking of which, your current state is also thanks to her. Tell me, what kind of death should we give her?”
Another voice laughed breathlessly: “Enemies meet on a narrow path, walking into a trap – this is heaven’s gift to me. Just killing her would be too wasteful.”
Hearing this voice, Ge Lian’s vision went black.
In despair, hope suddenly arose – Her Majesty the Queen wasn’t like those reckless killers, nor like the vengeful Zuoqiu Mo who had deep hatred for her. The Queen was intelligent and would surely understand how to use a person’s value. As long as she still had value, she still had hope!
“Your Majesty!” She kowtowed very smoothly, banging her head heavily down. “Don’t kill me! Whatever you need, if I have it, I’ll definitely offer it up. I guarantee you won’t regret it!”
“You have something?” Jing Hengbo’s voice carried amusement. “What do you have that I don’t? Money? Status? Beauty? Oh right,” she laughed happily, “your failure – I don’t have that!”
“How dare firefly light compare to moonbeam radiance!” Ge Lian seemed not to hear her mockery, looking sincere as she desperately kowtowed. “But Your Majesty surely has things you need… Your Majesty, I… I have extensive connections in Luoyun and Fushui, perhaps they could assist Your Majesty.”
“You’re now a homeless dog,” Yelu Qi said flatly. “Toward fallen dogs, former friends generally choose to beat them.”
Ge Lian was struck speechless, sweat rolling down her forehead. She couldn’t help but raise her head, seeing two pairs of eyes in the darkness, bright and crystalline, able to illuminate any filth in her heart. A wave of despair rose in her heart, knowing that trying bribery or psychological manipulation on these two was useless.
Suddenly she heard slightly rapid breathing in the wagon. Listening carefully, she discovered both people before her had unstable breathing, and couldn’t help but feel joy.
Though she didn’t know what had happened, she keenly guessed that the Queen wasn’t with her subordinates but was hiding in this covered wagon with poor spirits – she must have encountered trouble, and this trouble was mostly related to their health.
Connecting this to what this covered wagon usually transported and the Queen’s method of leaving the city, inspiration flashed in her mind as she quickly said: “Has Your Majesty caught a cold? I know several famous physicians – some excel at treating plagues, others at treating poisons…”
Yelu Qi smiled slightly, glancing at Ge Lian. Though this glance carried elegant amusement, Ge Lian felt a chill throughout her body and lowered her head, knowing her excessive cleverness had aroused the other’s killing intent.
“She’s clever, too clever,” Yelu Qi said. “Keeping her invites trouble. She’s done enough evil – let’s kill her.”
But Jing Hengbo was moved by Ge Lian’s suggestion. She was ill, Yelu Qi was poisoned – they indeed needed famous physicians. Moreover, the child in her belly – if affected by this disease… nothing was more important than this.
“Let’s keep her. Given our condition, don’t we also need someone to serve us?”
“Yes, yes, this servant is willing to serve Your Majesty and the young master.” Ge Lian immediately changed her self-address, very smoothly.
“I’d rather personally serve you myself.” But Yelu Qi wasn’t pleased. However, when Jing Hengbo cast a charming, graceful glance his way, he smiled and fell silent.
Ge Lian joyfully scrambled up, thinking about whether to find a chance to escape or trick them to some particularly difficult physician to waste time, when suddenly she saw cold light flash before her eyes. Her hands and feet immediately felt cold and painful. Before she could react, she instinctively let out a miserable scream. Looking down, her left hand and left foot each had an additional bloody gash.
Across from her, Yelu Qi was already sheathing his sword, saying calmly as clouds and wind: “Your hand and foot tendons – I used a special technique to cut each halfway through. If you find a famous physician for treatment in the short term, there’s still possibility of recovery. If not, you’ll spend this lifetime dragging your hands and feet around.” He smiled kindly at Ge Lian. “You were going to take us to find a famous physician anyway, right? Perfect timing.”
Ge Lian met his enchanting, brilliant smile but felt coldness seeping from the bottom of her heart. She quickly lowered her head, hiding her expression and suppressing her moans, smiling: “Young master, rest assured. I will definitely find you a famous physician and absolutely dare not have any treacherous thoughts. If you’re not at ease, just give this servant two more cuts.”
“So, where is this famous physician?”
Ge Lian lowered her head slightly, paused, then answered: “Between Luoyun and Fushui territories, beside Cuiping Lake, lives a famous physician. Not renowned, with an eccentric temperament, but truly a master of medicine. He especially excels at difficult and complex cases. If Your Majesty and the young master can find him, you’ll surely have no worries in the future.”
Ten days later.
Ge Lian limped forward, pointing to a large body of water ahead: “Cuiping Lake has arrived.”
The lake before them was called the largest lake in the central Dahuang region, connecting the Fushui and Luoyun territories – the east side belonged to Luoyun, the west side to Fushui. The name Cuiping had two meanings: first, referring to backing against verdant mountains surrounding it like a jade screen; second, referring to the lake water’s tranquil green like a jade screen. At this moment mountain reflections created layers of green in the lake surface – light green, emerald green, deep green, jade green, blue, lake blue, jade blue… extremely clean and pure colors distinctly separated in one lake like a jade rainbow spanning the earth. In the center of this jade rainbow, a small white island could be vaguely seen like a precious pearl on the jade screen.
Jing Hengbo was shivering in thick bedding, tremblingly praising: “Beau… beautiful…”
Yelu Qi glanced at her, tucked her bedding tighter, had Ge Lian call for boatmen, worry in his eyes.
After the two left Luoyun city, they got off the wagon before reaching the medical office for plague treatment, hired a large cart, and pressed Ge Lian all the way to their destination. It must be said that the smooth-tongued Ge Lian truly bent and stretched, devotedly taking care of them along the way – preparing medicine, arranging food and lodging, tending to tea and water, bustling about without daring to slack off, and never playing any tricks. She was indeed very familiar with Luoyun’s routes, quickly crossing the Luoyun territory and taking shortcuts to reach here.
Yelu Qi had been taking medicine according to Si Rong Ming’s prescription, barely keeping the poison temporarily controlled. But Jing Hengbo’s condition was not good – she alternated between hot and cold, had body aches, vomiting, and fever. Blisters appeared on her hands but sometimes subsided on their own. Along the way they had seen various physicians who gradually diagnosed epidemic disease, but said it was milder than ordinary epidemics, as if something in her body was suppressing the disease. Otherwise, for ordinary people under epidemic attack, death would come in just three to five days.
Seeing her persist to this point, Yelu Qi felt somewhat comforted.
Shadows moved in the distance – that was Zuoqiu Mo, who had caught up with them half a day later, naturally thanks to Jing Hengbo deliberately leaving clues.
Yelu Qi hadn’t let Zuoqiu Mo show herself. Not knowing what agreement the two had reached, Zuoqiu Mo surprisingly didn’t immediately execute Ge Lian but silently provided protection along the way to Cuiping Lake.
Ge Lian was negotiating with boatmen to go to the island in the lake center. A row of boatmen all shook their heads, saying: “That place is forbidden. Only those with fate can land on the island. We can’t break the divine physician’s rules.”
Yelu Qi offered heavy gold. Though the boatmen showed greedy expressions, they still shook their heads repeatedly.
“What does ‘having fate’ mean?” Jing Hengbo couldn’t help asking.
“We don’t know. Anyway, having fate works.” The boatmen rolled their eyes with “rules cannot be broken” expressions.
Jing Hengbo also rolled her eyes – hoping this so-called “divine physician” had some real skill behind these melodramatic tricks, otherwise she’d definitely tear down his sign.
“Doesn’t matter if you’re the Heavenly King himself – without that fate, don’t even talk about it!” A boatman loudly declared. “Not long ago, a princess from Fushui – noble enough, right? Came seeking treatment, waited half a month and couldn’t pass the test, went back crying. Hah! How could you be greater than a princess?”
Jing Hengbo chuckled, thinking perhaps the silver wasn’t enough.
Seeing the sky darken with no boat to cross, they had to rest by the shore first. Jing Hengbo thought about stealing a boat to the island at midnight.
But when darkness fell and she saw boatmen lighting fires and cooking on their boats, she realized the fishermen’s homes were their boats – people stayed on boats day and night. Stealing boats was too naive an idea.
However, darkness had one advantage – it was suitable for unseen activities. When it was completely dark, Jing Hengbo saw through cracks in the carriage that a boatman secretly came to find Yelu Qi under cover of darkness. After a while Yelu Qi returned with slight joy, helping Jing Hengbo up.
“Settled?” Jing Hengbo asked.
“Heavy rewards will find brave men,” Yelu Qi smiled. “When I offered heavy gold earlier, I saw one boatman looking particularly tempted, just afraid to break the rules before everyone. I hinted he should come talk after dark, and sure enough he’s willing to take us. But he’s very afraid of the island’s inhabitants, saying he can only take us near the island, then we figure out how to get across ourselves.” He lifted Jing Hengbo, and the two boarded the boat under cover of night. Ge Lian followed with an ingratiating smile, but when she tried to board, Yelu Qi glanced at her: “You don’t need to come.”
Ge Lian was stunned, looking down at her wrists and ankles where white bandages still seeped with dark red blood.
“Hand tendons and foot tendons – if they’re severed, they’re severed. There’s no such thing as cutting them halfway,” Yelu Qi smiled more gently than moonlight. “You’ve spent your life deceiving others. Now taste what it’s like to be deceived for once. Isn’t it refreshing? No need to thank me.” He finished speaking and boarded with Jing Hengbo in his arms.
Jing Hengbo laughed delightedly, feeling satisfaction in her heart.
Leaving Ge Lian behind certainly wasn’t from saintly mercy. Having experienced so much, Jing Hengbo no longer showed compassion to a she-wolf. She just felt killing such a person with one blow was too cheap – she should be left to suffer several more rounds in this world, experiencing more of the pain she had inflicted on others. Only then would it be fair, only then might she learn to be a good person in her next life.
The small boat swayed away as Jing Hengbo’s satisfied laughter echoed across the lake surface.
Ge Lian stared at those two figures, her fists clenched tightly under her sleeves, so forceful that her wounds reopened and white bandages slowly bloomed with deep red.
She seemed unconscious of this, suddenly looking toward the small island, then at those two people, her mouth corners slowly stretching into a sinister smile.
The sinister smile hadn’t faded when her spine stiffened, but she didn’t turn around, only quietly lowered her eyes.
Her own shadow stretched long on the ground.
Above her shadow, another human silhouette had soundlessly covered it.
The small boat swayed gently, gradually reaching the lake center.
The lake center reflected a full moon, round and smooth as a silver plate. The boat traveled on water as if traveling within the moon. Paddle sounds shattered the moon’s reflection into countless crystal scales covering the jade screen.
Wind came across the lake, cool and refreshing. Jing Hengbo took a breath, feeling her chest expand pleasantly, when suddenly her gaze focused.
Ahead, under the moon, something white was drifting toward them on the water.