Chaos reigned throughout Shuozhou Prefecture City. Soldiers cleared the battlefield while civilians tidied the streets. Duan Xu stood before the military encampment outside the city, still wearing his armor, though the bloodstains on his face and body had been wiped clean. Meng Wan stood by his side.

Duan Xu raised both hands, pressed them together, interlaced his fingers and rested them on his lips, then separated them, then interlaced them again.

Though she understood this was his habitual gesture when thinking, sometimes Meng Wan couldn’t tell what was on his mind. She tentatively asked, “Shunxi, are you worried about Commandant Han and He Xiaoxiao?”

News had just arrived that Han Ling Qiu had been attacked by Danzhi forces while on his way to bring He Xiaoxiao to Shuozhou, and they had lost contact.

It was now the morning of the second day, and there was still no word from Commandant Han and He Xiaoxiao.

Duan Xu turned his eyes toward her, his previously vacant gaze focusing on light. He smiled and shook his head.

“I’m not worried about He Xiaoxiao.”

“Then you are…”

“Report!” A scout came running and knelt before Duan Xu, saying, “General, Commandant Han, and Miss He’s carriage is approaching. They will reach the Prefecture City in half an incense stick’s time.”

Duan Xu smiled at Meng Wan and said, “See? I told you not to worry about her. Send someone to welcome them.”

Meng Wan was momentarily shocked when she saw He Xiaoxiao’s carriage. The carriage had originally belonged to a wealthy household in Shuozhou. The owner, also a Han person, had been delighted by the arrival of the Great Liang army and voluntarily offered his carriage for their use.

So the carriage had originally been magnificent, but now it was stained with patches of blood, light and dark. Half the window curtain had been burned away, and two arrows were still embedded in the carriage wall. Han Ling Qiu was wounded, his left arm hanging limply at his side, blood flowing steadily.

The battle must have been fierce.

“Commandant Han, are you all right?” Meng Wan jumped down from her horse and approached him.

Han Ling Qiu shook his head and replied briefly, “We were ambushed by Danzhi troops on the way. I received a minor wound.”

“We just got the news. How many were there? How did you manage to drive them back?” Meng Wan asked anxiously.

“About a hundred men… we were originally outnumbered. We were near a mountain when suddenly a blue ghost fire rolled down from above… it burned people but not trees or animals. The enemy suffered many casualties and retreated.”

“What about you all?”

“…Strangely enough, the fire didn’t burn any of us.”

A long sigh came from inside the carriage, followed by He Simu’s voice: “There were many graves on that mountain. Perhaps the ancestors were angered.”

This… ghosts in broad daylight?

Meng Wan couldn’t help but glance at the carriage several more times. Why was He Xiaoxiao always mixed up with ghostly matters? At this moment, she not only suspected He Xiaoxiao’s intentions but also felt she might bring bad luck.

When the carriage arrived before Duan Xu, He Simu finally lifted the curtain. While Han Ling Qiu and the soldiers were all disheveled and grimy, she was completely unharmed. Her sweet, lovely face still wore a smile, though she looked somewhat pale.

However, her composure didn’t last long.

As she stepped down from the carriage, her legs suddenly gave way. She waved her arms, staggered several steps, and fell directly into the arms of Duan Xu, who was standing before her.

The impact was solid. Fortunately, Duan Xu was steady, or she would have pushed him to the ground. For a moment, silence fell around them.

Meng Wan’s face turned ashen.

Duan Xu widened his eyes in surprise, then slightly raised his eyebrows, creating some distance between himself and He Simu.

He raised his hand to her forehead and said, “Miss Xiaoxiao, you’re ill. You have a fever.”

After a pause, he smiled and asked, “Didn’t you notice?”

Didn’t notice?

This little fox was testing her again.

He Simu’s eyes flickered slightly. She gazed at Duan Xu for a moment, then wiped her eyes with a wronged expression and said, “I was so frightened on the journey that I only relaxed when I saw you. Now I do feel unwell…”

As she spoke, her head tilted to one side, and she simply collapsed in Duan Xu’s arms.

…This girl was quite the actress! Meng Wan gritted her teeth.

In truth, He Simu was both acting and not acting, because this body was indeed difficult to control. She had initially thought it was because she had been away from this body for too long, but when Duan Xu pointed it out, she realized the body was sick.

Illness was one of the biggest headaches when possessing a body.

He Simu lay in bed under a blanket in a warm room specially prepared for her by a wealthy Han merchant in Shuozhou Prefecture City. The fire in the stove burned vigorously. The doctor took her pulse and asked, “Have you been feeling tired lately, with weakness in your limbs and pain in your lower abdomen?”

“…” He Simu smiled gently and said, “A little bit.”

“Fear of wind and cold, loss of appetite?”

“A little bit.”

“Chest tightness, shortness of breath…”

“A little bit.”

He Simu maintained her unchanging smile. No matter what the doctor asked, her answer was always the same—a little bit.

Whether the body was uncomfortable was one matter; whether the evil ghost possessing it was uncomfortable was another. Evil ghosts couldn’t even feel heat or cold, let alone pain, discomfort, chest tightness, or shortness of breath—sensations that were far too sophisticated.

According to He Simu’s usual experience, if a person she possessed fell ill, it was usually best to let the original owner wake up to describe the symptoms. Otherwise, a minor illness could turn into a serious condition.

Fortunately, the doctor was a military physician who had seen countless patients unable to speak. Seeing that He Simu’s answers were vague, he didn’t press further, decisively abandoning the “inquiry” part of the “observation, listening, inquiry, and pulse-taking” diagnostic method, and prescribed medicine for her.

He Simu sat on the bed, telling ghost stories to Chen Ying out of boredom while waiting for the medicine to be prepared.

The door was knocked on—three light taps. Without looking up, He Simu said, “Come in.”

Chen Ying, whose face had been pale with fear from the ghost stories, lit up with joy. He jumped up and shouted, “General Brother!” Only then did He Simu raise her head to look.

Duan Xu stood in the room holding a bowl of steaming medicine. He wasn’t wearing armor but instead a simple round-collared robe. When his eyes met hers, his face brightened with a smile.

“Young lady, it’s time for your medicine.” Duan Xu sat down beside He Simu’s bed.

He Simu asked Chen Ying to leave first. She took the medicinal soup from his hands. The wounds on his fingers had scabbed over, leaving marks of various depths on his fair skin. One couldn’t help but wonder how many scars there might be on the hidden parts of his body beneath his clothes.

This might also be a deliberate misdirection—with his martial prowess, he could probably fight his way in and out of a chaotic battlefield three times with ease. How many people could wound him?

He Simu pondered this secretly while outwardly displaying a flattered smile, saying, “How could I trouble the General with such a small matter?”

“You are our army’s wind diviner and a great contributor to Tabai. How could your illness be a small matter?”

“Is this a custom of Tabai? When Lang General Xia is wounded, does the General personally bring medicine to him as well?”

“That wouldn’t be the case. I heard from Meng Wan that you like me, so I thought you would be happier if I brought you the medicine.”

At the words “You like me,” He Simu sprayed a mouthful of medicinal soup all over Duan Xu’s face.

The black liquid dripped down Duan Xu’s well-defined face, making him look like a piece of jade fished out of an ink pool.

He blinked and burst into laughter, like a child whose mischievous plan had succeeded.

Faced with Duan Xu’s inexplicable joy, He Simu was momentarily speechless. She could only take out a handkerchief, and hold his face with one hand while wiping it with the other, repeatedly apologizing. Duan Xu didn’t refuse, allowing her to wipe the medicine from his face as his bright eyes gazed at her with amusement.

He Simu’s hand moved from Duan Xu’s jawbone to his cheekbone, applying a bit more pressure to feel his skull structure. She thought to herself that the young general indeed had a fine skull.

Duan Xu noticed her gaze shift to the side of his face. He tilted his head slightly upward and smiled languidly.

“So that’s it. The young lady doesn’t like me but my skull? Could it be that you collect skulls?”

This conversation could have seamlessly connected to the ghost story she had just been telling Chen Ying.

Though in stories about her, this ghost, she did indeed like collecting skulls—she had hundreds in her collection.

He Simu smiled slightly and said, “I’ve spent years wandering the jianghu, so I have some strange habits. But how could that compare to you, General, escaping from bandits and brigands at fourteen, traveling hundreds of li to reach the Southern Capital.”

Duan Xu’s eyes flickered slightly. He smiled and said, “You’ve investigated me.”

“Likewise, you’re no better.”

“So, what conclusions have you drawn?”

“And what conclusions have you drawn about me?”

He Simu cupped Duan Xu’s face in her hands. She shed her timid and docile shell, gazing directly into his eyes as she pulled his face closer.

At a distance where they were almost touching, she whispered, “We’re like shadow puppets on stage—let’s not tear through this paper screen.”

She paused briefly, then released his face, creating distance between them.

Barely two feet apart, Duan Xu suddenly grabbed He Simu’s shoulders and pulled her close again. He whispered in her ear, “Perhaps there are a thousand layers of paper. Tear through one, and there’s still another beneath, Miss He.”

After saying this, he moved away from her. The young man smiled brightly as if all those pointed probes just moments ago had never happened.

“To me, you are simply an extraordinary person who lacks the five senses. Though I don’t know what you’re after, I’m willing to trust you. Since you’ve helped me, I shall treat you as an honored guest and take good care of you. That’s all.”

He Simu crossed her arms and looked at Duan Xu for a moment before saying, “Young General, how do you know that I, this extraordinary person, will continue to help you? Maybe I’ll turn around and help Danzhi instead.”

“Oh? From my observation, their skulls aren’t very attractive, so they probably wouldn’t catch your eye as I have.”

This young general was truly silver-tongued.

“You’re so certain?” He Simu asked.

“I’m not certain at all,” Duan Xu tilted his head and smiled. “I just have a gambling nature, and my luck isn’t bad. I usually manage to turn misfortune into good fortune and win the bet.”

“You think you can win this gamble?”

“You can’t win if you don’t play.”

Duan Xu stood up gracefully with the medicine bowl in his right hand, his left hand behind his back. He bowed slightly and said he would get her another bowl of medicine, then turned and left.

He Simu watched his light steps and murmured, “Truly a thousand layers of paper.”

People say a gentleman is like jade, but his temperament was like something even more transparent and brighter than jade as if he were water jade.

This was probably due to his eyes, which contained a layer of light.

But in reality, he was like a cold pond a thousand feet deep, with no bottom in sight.

Those eyes of his were truly deceptive.