Yongzhou’s city gate remained tightly closed for over a month. Before the barbarian general Aduorong had defended Juhan Pass, such situations had occurred from time to time, so the city’s common people were not particularly anxious. Under Qin Jixun’s direction, the country folk transferred from outside the city were also properly settled in temporarily erected felt tents.

Wuluo Su Qile still confronted the Qi army at the poplar forest. While the two sides remained in stalemate, from the direction of Jiyang west of Juhan Pass, a rebel Han army was approaching Yongzhou.

“Prince, the rebel army’s leader is Yang Tianzhe, son of Yongzhou’s former prefect Yang Ming. The Han slaves he’s gathered number a full five thousand—all madmen who’ve thrown away concern for their lives. When you came here from Juhan Pass, you only brought your personal troops and advance guard. They’re coming from the rear, and ahead of us are Qin Jixun and Wei Dechang. If they form an encirclement, I’m afraid before we can wait for reinforcements, we’ll…”

Vice-general Zaheer who attended Wuluo Su Qile spoke cautiously.

Wuluo Su Qile’s expression was sinister. He bit forcefully into a roasted lamb leg, chewing vigorously. After a while he said: “Do you remember how Yang Ming died?”

“I heard he was killed by Miao Tianning, the younger brother of that Qi nation’s Grand Marshal Miao. If not for that, Yang Tianzhe wouldn’t have turned to serve our royal court.”

Zaheer said.

“Yes, Yang Tianzhe pledged himself to the royal court of his own accord. Now if he wants to regret it and turn back to his old country, he must see whether his old country will agree.”

Wuluo Su Qile wiped clean his grease-stained dagger. “Send word to the Qi army guarding the poplar forest—say that I, Su Qile, can cease pursuing the matter of Aduorong’s death, but on the condition that they must deal with Yang Tianzhe’s rebel army.”

Zaheer frowned and pondered for a moment, then grinned, raised his hand to his chest in salute, and said: “Prince, Zaheer will go right away!”

When this news reached Qin Jixun and Wei Dechang’s ears, the two were examining a sand table in their tent. Wei Dechang never had many ideas in his heart, his brow furrowing into the character for “river.” “Sworn brother, this Yang Tianzhe betrayed the nation and defected to the enemy sixteen years ago. Now he’s leading a rebel army back—what does he think Yongzhou city is? A place he can come and go as he pleases?”

“The Han common people making a living under the barbarians are all slaves. Even if Yang Tianzhe can have an official position among the barbarian tribes, he’s still a minor official subject to exclusion and discrimination. The barbarian nobility would never permit Han people to be a rank above them.” Qin Jixun stared at the position of Juhan Pass on the sand table, speaking mildly.

“But what this person truly intends in his heart—how could sworn brother and I possibly guess? He’s so fickle—we absolutely cannot welcome him into the city!”

Wei Dechang paced back and forth in the tent. “This kind of traitor—if he hadn’t escaped from Yongzhou back then, he should have suffered death by a thousand cuts along with that Xu Hexue!”

The people’s hearts in Yongzhou city were solid—this was the result of years of Qin Jixun and Wei Dechang educating the common people. If at this time they welcomed a national traitor who had once betrayed Great Qi into the city, it would likely cause panic and chaos among the people in the city.

Su Qile was precisely using this point to force Qin Jixun and Wei Dechang into a difficult position, compelling them to eliminate the scourge of Yang Tianzhe for him.

“An excellent opportunity, what a pity…”

Qin Jixun’s expression was complex.

“Sworn brother, what excellent opportunity?” Hearing this, Wei Dechang walked closer to him.

“The imperial edict came first—unless the barbarians invade first, we cannot rashly start war.”

Actually Qin Jixun didn’t care whether Yang Tianzhe’s allegiance was genuine or false. If not for the alliance treaty beforehand, if Great Qi could not be the first to tear up the treaty, he could have Yang Tianzhe present a pledge of loyalty, and the two sides could work together to trap Su Qile to death at the poplar forest.

Wei Dechang grew increasingly agitated. “Damn it! Fight sooner or later—we’re going to fight eventually anyway! This old man really wants to chop off that barbarian brat Su Qile’s head!”

“Do you two want to lose your positions and then your lives?!”

A sudden angry shout rang out. Qin Jixun and Wei Dechang both turned their faces to see a hand lifting the tent flap, followed by an old man in official robes with graying hair and beard and stern brows and eyes walking in.

“Supervisor Song, why have you come?”

Qin Jixun stood up and bowed to him.

Wei Dechang’s expression wasn’t good, but he still bent to bow in greeting.

“If I hadn’t come, were you two about to ally with that Yang Tianzhe and damage relations between the two nations?” Song Song walked before them with hands clasped behind his back.

Wei Dechang couldn’t hold back. “Supervisor Song, Su Qile is too much of a bully! If we could…”

“If you could what?”

Song Song tapped his fingers on the table. “Commander Wei, Su Qile is a young prince of the Wuluo royal court. His mother is the queen of the royal court, a princess of the Nanyan tribe! Who doesn’t know the Nanyan tribe has Danqiu’s most elite cavalry! Setting aside what Yang Tianzhe truly intends, if Su Qile dies in Yongzhou, it would be no different than Great Qi tearing up the treaty and declaring war on Danqiu! But you’re not unaware of the current situation—in recent years rebel armies have been causing trouble everywhere. The court is busy suppressing rebellions, yet you’re here waiting for an opportunity to start even greater war!”

“First pacify internal bandits, then resist external insults! Otherwise how can the court manage both ends?”

Seeing that Qin Jixun remained silent, Song Song softened his expression somewhat, stroked his beard, and said: “Both of you have been stationed in Yongzhou for many years. Your own achievements go without saying, but you must not lose your heads. If you make a misstep, it won’t just implicate you two—it will also affect the clansmen of your two Yongzhou surnames.”

“Since you can resolve Aduorong’s death, what are you hesitating about? On my order, comply with Prince Su Qile’s request and jointly resist the traitor Yang Tianzhe!”

Song Song made the final decision.

Wei Dechang’s hands curled into fists. He couldn’t help but look at his sworn brother beside him, but Qin Jixun also showed little reaction, made no sound, only lowered his head slightly toward Song Song.

The supervisor’s authority was great enough to override military orders. Even Qin Jixun had no choice but to obey.

That same day, the money, silk, and women that Qin and Wei had blocked were ultimately sent out of the city on Song Song’s orders. At that time, Ni Su was at the home of the young woman whose child had been struck down by Supervisor Song’s personal guard, writing a new prescription for her.

With a “bang,” armored soldiers burst through the door.

Ink from the brush tip dripped onto the paper, soaking the characters. Ni Su raised her head. Sunlight fell on their armor, reflecting a cold color.

“What are you doing? What are you doing!” The young husband saw them enter and start dragging his wife from the bed. He quickly stepped forward.

“We’re also just following orders. Who told the roster to mark your household? You haven’t yet served corvée labor. By rights, your family should also contribute!”

One soldier blocked him, then ordered men to bind the young woman.

The woman cried out but couldn’t break free from their hands. Ni Su stepped forward to block them. “May I ask, officers—didn’t General Qin previously decide not to send money, silk, and women to the barbarian prince?”

She wore a face veil, so the soldiers couldn’t see her face clearly. One of them was vaguely impatient: “We must now focus on the big picture. Supervisor Song has already ordered us to jointly resist rebel army leader Yang Tianzhe with Prince Su Qile. You woman—if you keep nagging, we’ll bind you too!”

“Aren’t we still short of people?”

Someone coldly added a comment.

In an instant, all eyes in the room focused on Ni Su.

The sunlight was scorching, heating scalps until they burned. Ni Su and the young woman both had their hands bound and were escorted by a group of soldiers toward the city outskirts.

“I’m sorry, Miss Ni. If my husband hadn’t asked you to come examine me today, you wouldn’t have…” The woman said half her words before breaking into sobs again.

“How can this be your fault?”

Ni Su’s expression was calm. As she walked forward, she paid attention to the ball of luminous white fluffy light in the medicine basket at her waist.

Outside Yongzhou city they were digging trenches in case of emergency. Fan Jiang was also among the conscripted laborers. He was busy in the trench when he suddenly looked up and unexpectedly saw Ni Su being escorted out from the city gate by soldiers.

The face veil she wore, the dress—he wouldn’t mistake them.

Moreover, she still had the medicine basket at her waist.

“Miss Ni!”

Fan Jiang scrambled and crawled up from the trench. Before he could get close to Ni Su, a soldier kicked him back into the trench.

Ni Su saw him land on his back, falling covered in mud, unable to straighten up in the trench from pain. She stepped forward several paces and glared at the person: “What are you doing!”

The soldier turned back to meet such a pair of eyes. He was first stunned, then spoke harshly: “What do you want to do?”

“Miss Ni, how could you…”

Fan Jiang was in such pain at the bottom of the trench that his head was covered in sweat.

But before Ni Su could respond to his words, she was forcibly escorted away by the soldiers. Fan Jiang kept calling after her from behind. Ni Su turned her head, her face veil blown aside somewhat by the wind and sand. She saw Fan Jiang lying at the edge of the trench, his eyes reddened with anxiety.

Dozens of Qi women and nine chests of money and silk were escorted by Song Song’s personal guards toward the opposite side of the poplar forest.

In his military tent, Qin Jixun listened to reports from his subordinates. He pressed both hands on his knees, pondering for a long time, then closed his eyes. “Let him do as he wishes.”

At dusk, gorgeous rosy clouds filled the sky. The hottest time of day had passed, and by now it was getting cold. The lightly dressed women all huddled, taking heavy steps as soldiers led them forward with hemp ropes.

Ni Su saw Agate Lake. Flowing clouds reflected on the water waves like a translucent piece of agate. By the lake grew a lush field of reed flowers. Approaching it, even the wind seemed to moisten somewhat.

“Walk faster!”

The leading officer ahead was harsh and mean. A soldier yanked the rope hard, causing the women tied to one rope to stumble. Several women fell to the ground, and Ni Su was also affected, twisting her ankle and falling.

The leading officer cursed and walked quickly in military boots to the front of the several people. “Get up quickly! Don’t delay the schedule!”

Ni Su’s ankle hurt terribly. She rose slowly. The officer frowned, his sword hilt about to press against her back when luminous light scattered from the medicine basket. Sharp luminous dust dispersed, piercing into his finger bones.

The officer cried out in pain. His fingers immediately loosened and the sword fell to the ground. He stared at his hand—there was no wound, yet he didn’t know why it hurt so severely.

“Officer Liu, there’s someone over there!”

A soldier pointed toward a distant hill.

Officer Liu immediately looked in the direction the soldier pointed. A white-robed figure stood holding a sword, and the cold wind was fierce, blowing from his direction, rolling up dust and sand, stinging people’s eyes painfully.

Officer Liu immediately shouted loudly: “Who’s there! What are you trying to do!”

The person said nothing but suddenly leaped with borrowed force, using lightness skills to come toward them.

Officer Liu and the accompanying soldiers immediately drew their swords to meet him. Wind and sand flew. The sound of clashing swords and blades was dense as rain. Meanwhile, Ni Su took the opportunity to feel in the hidden pocket lining her garment for an extremely small dagger, cut the rope binding her wrists, then immediately untied the restraints on the women beside her, instructing them in a low voice: “You’re all Yongzhou people—you should know where outside the city you can temporarily hide. Go quickly!”

One woman’s movements cutting the rope were too large, alarming the soldiers guarding the horse carts transporting money and silk. That soldier turned his head, saw them trying to escape, and immediately led several men forward with raised swords.

The raised blade flashed with pale golden rosy light. The women immediately cried out and scattered in flight. Ni Su forced herself to stand, but the pain in her ankle left her unable to use strength. Seeing a soldier running toward her, that blade swinging—

A cold light flashed.

Ni Su was blinded by the glare. She heard the muffled sound of a blade entering flesh and opened her eyes at once to see the soldier before her, chest pierced by a sharp sword, falling heavily.

Across the wilderness, there were almost no human sounds.

Those women had already vanished without a trace, while the soldiers who had escorted them and that officer had all become corpses on the ground.

Drops of luminous dust floated in the diffused rosy light, slowly merging into Xu Hexue’s body. His snow-white garments were stained with some mottled bloodstains. He bent down to pull the sword blade from the corpse.

The sword blade shattered into light, falling into his sleeve and disappearing in an instant.

“Xu Ziling!”

Seeing him almost losing strength, Ni Su couldn’t care about her ankle pain. She hurriedly moved to his side to support him.

Yongzhou’s city gate was tightly closed. The dew that Fan Jiang and Qingqiong had collected wasn’t enough, which caused Xu Hexue’s damaged soul body to repair extremely slowly.

“Your foot—is it injured?”

She carried a scent of osmanthus, the fragrance of the shaved flower water she occasionally used. Xu Hexue supported himself to sit up straight from her embrace, his gaze falling on her right foot. He was so weak his voice was almost only breath.

“Just twisted…”

Ni Su had just said one sentence with both hands supporting herself at her skirt’s edge when she saw him place her right leg on his knee. Through her silk stockings, the coldness of his fingers wasn’t clear, but his touch made her entire body stiffen.

“Were you very afraid?”

His fingers moved back and forth at her ankle. Ni Su’s entire heart almost jumped with his fingers. She shook her head: “I knew you were there.”

Almost the moment her words fell, his hand suddenly applied force. Only the sound of bone was heard. Ni Su cried out in pain, tears forced to fill her eyes.

She looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

The luminous dust on his body was flying wildly again. Large patches of rosy light filled the space behind him, and he could barely support himself, his form faint as mist.

Ni Su wiped her face and immediately helped him stand, limping as she brought him toward that brilliant golden Agate Lake shore.

“Ni Su, doesn’t it hurt?”

His voice grew increasingly low and hoarse.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

Ni Su draped his arm around herself. “Though it’s dusk now and the reed flowers won’t have dew, the dew that drips from the reed flowers every day must have all fallen into Agate Lake. It will have some effect, right?”

Xu Hexue lowered his eyelids and saw her looking up with her face raised, as if hoping he would give an affirmative answer. He made an “mm” sound, his voice raspy. “Right.”

“If we don’t come out for so long, this is precisely our opportunity.”

She showed a smile, straining to support him forward.

Clearly it was a calamity where she had nearly fallen into a tiger’s mouth, yet she glossed over it with the two words “opportunity.” Xu Hexue’s thoughts were chaotic, luminous dust scattering wildly around his body.

“Xu Ziling, can you hold on?”

Her lightly panting voice fell upon his ear, carrying several undisguisable traces of anxiety.

“I’ll be fine. Even if I transform into my original form, I’ll still be by your side.”

So don’t be afraid. No one can abduct you from my hands, harm you.

His voice grew even softer.

“But,”

The wind howled. The dust and sand choked Ni Su until she coughed several times, scraping her throat raw and painful. “I want to hear you speak. When you change back, you won’t talk to me, and also won’t…”

Ni Su’s words stopped abruptly due to a stumble underfoot. She couldn’t see clearly beneath the reed flowers. With this trip, without warning she and Xu Hexue both tumbled into the lake water.

The mirror-like lake surface was broken. Water sounds surged. Ripples spread outward.

Xu Hexue promptly pulled Ni Su from the water waves. She coughed violently and sneezed a great sneeze. The two stood in shallow water, their garments soaked by the lake water, dripping sounds continuous.

Xu Hexue’s ice-cold fingers brushed away the wet, disheveled hair from her forehead. She raised her head to look at the person before her. Water drops fell from his high-bridged nose. Water drops were crystalline at his smoothly lined jaw.

His wet hair knot was even darker and denser. His face was pale and transmitted coldness. The luminous dust all around his body flickered drop by drop, almost impossible to look away from.

Ni Su suddenly recalled Qingqiong’s words.

He is a star.

“Also won’t what?”

His lightly colored lips parted slightly.

“Also won’t cook for me to eat.”

Ni Su’s voice became very small.

Almost the moment her words fell, she saw his eyes curve minutely. Water drops fell from his thick, long lashes onto his eyelids. “Qingqiong said you’ve already learned to cook.”

Many things—she would become no longer in need of him.

“No.”

Ni Su was like a soaking wet cat. With a shake of her head, the water drops suspended at her ear tips swung. She blurted out: “Not as good as yours.”

The sound of dripping water continued.

Wind blew, making the reed flowers rustle.

Xu Hexue looked at the water drops at her cheeks. The River of Hatred’s water was incompatible with human realm water but would be dried by sunlight. The remaining River of Hatred water, meeting him, successively transformed into silken threads of light and shadow underwater, merging into his body.

But ultimately this was a drop in the bucket.

The severe pain in his body remained, yet shamefully his heart swayed because of these words of hers.

Being needed by her was truly a very good thing.

The setting sun illuminated the entire lake surface. The reed flowers trembled. Xu Hexue lifted her up and placed her sitting on the shore. Her skirt hem still soaked in the water, while he stood in the water, right before her:

“I’ll teach you.”