In the dark, long mountain path, Duan Xu and Han Ling Qiu led their troops quickly forward, heading toward the route that the Hulan Army’s supply transport would inevitably pass.

The mountain path was dark and damp, the ground slippery, but Duan Xu’s steps remained swift—and this was already the result of him restraining his speed. Han Ling Qiu was the same. He had selected soldiers with quick feet, and the entire unit moved like the wind.

Duan Xu felt the repeated glances from behind and said languidly, “I’m very tired. Does Officer Han want to say something to me to keep me alert?”

Han Ling Qiu stammered that he did not, but Duan Xu could feel his tense, rigid state with perfect clarity. Duan Xu turned his head and said helplessly, “Could it be you’re still worried I’m a spy who will abandon you to the Huqi people, sending you on a one-way journey?”

“This subordinate… has no such intention.”

“But Officer Han originally came from Danzhi. If you surrendered to the Huqi people, wouldn’t you be like a fish back in the water, much more at ease?”

Duan Xu placed this treasonous hat on Han Ling Qiu, who naturally wouldn’t accept it, and immediately removed it.

“I have never hidden my origins from Commander Wu or the Tabai Army. I no longer remember my life in Danzhi. From the time I was rescued by a Han couple and came to Great Liang, I have been a person of Great Liang.”

“You merely don’t remember. If you still had a wife and children or parents and siblings in Danzhi, could you say without any attachment that you are a person of Great Liang?” Duan Xu nimbly placed the hat back on him.

Han Ling Qiu was silent for a moment, then struggled earnestly, “General, I was only fourteen when I came to Great Liang.”

What wife and children could a fourteen-year-old have? The new and old scars all over his body didn’t suggest someone who had been loved by his parents.

“Even without relatives, what if you had been very close to the Huqi people like He Yan was, or simply wholeheartedly trusted them and worked for them?” Duan Xu persisted.

“I don’t want to recall past matters. I just consider my past self as dead.”

“What if one day you remember, what then?”

“That would be someone else’s life, not Han Ling Qiu’s.” Han Ling Qiu finally shook off the hat Duan Xu had placed on him.

He hadn’t noticed that originally he was suspecting Duan Xu, but Duan Xu had reversed their roles, turning it into a debate where he had to prove his innocence.

Duan Xu laughed heartily and stopped questioning, seeming somewhat satisfied with this answer. He said casually, “Don’t be tense. I just wanted to get closer to you, to talk more, that’s all.”

…He had never seen anyone try to get closer using such topics.

They continued their rapid advance while conversing quietly. Before long, they saw the end of the mountain path, and the light grew brighter. At the end of the path were some huge moss-covered rocks. Hidden behind these rocks and looking down, they could see the winding official road below.

This official road was indeed rather shabby, appearing long-neglected, probably left over from the previous dynasty without any renovation. It seemed that although Danzhi had taken this territory, they were too lazy to manage it properly.

Duan Xu positioned his troops behind the massive rocks and sent scouts to investigate the situation. He ordered his soldiers to form their positions, planning that when the convoy arrived below, he would first shoot the leader. After the leader was killed, they would use archers to take down seven or eight out of ten enemies, then charge down from the left flank to break the enemy’s wagon train.

“The target is the grain wagons. Don’t get entangled in prolonged fighting,” Duan Xu repeated again and again.

Just as he finished speaking, the scout returned to report that the grain convoy had appeared. Duan Xu then asked a soldier for a crossbow, took an arrow, and placed it in the groove. He raised the crossbow, using one arm as support, bent slightly, and squinted his eyes to aim at the approaching target.

The distance from the giant rocks to the official road was still far, and a strong wind was blowing. Even for an excellent archer, aiming at a person on horseback in motion would be difficult. For the second step, the rain of arrows would only need to hit the general area, relying on sheer volume.

But what Duan Xu held now required a single, fatal shot.

Han Ling Qiu was somewhat worried and was about to suggest taking the shot himself. But in the piercing cold wind, Duan Xu didn’t even blink as he pulled the crossbow’s trigger.

In an instant, the arrow shot through the air, straight and swift, producing a tearing sound as it precisely pierced through the eye of the Huqi leader on the tall horse.

The Huqi man’s head burst open instantly. With a scream of agony, he fell from his horse, and the Danzhi soldiers transporting grain all became alert.

Duan Xu smiled and raised his hand, “Release arrows.”

Immediately arrows fell like rain, with the enemies’ screams incessant. Han Ling Qiu, however, stared blankly at Duan Xu. The image of that arrow piercing through the eye lingered in his mind.

Duan Xu had a habit of aiming for his prey’s eyes when shooting.

Many familiar scenes flashed through his mind, exploding with such intensity that his head ached. But Duan Xu said, “What are you standing there for, Officer Han? It’s time to go down.”

He pressed against the rock wall and leaped down nimbly, drawing the Powang swords from his waist. Holding one in each hand, he gave them a twist, and blood splattered as lives were taken. The few surviving Danzhi soldiers were quickly swept away like clouds before the wind, and they gained control of the grain wagons.

Han Ling Qiu was a step slower. As he rushed to Duan Xu’s side, Duan Xu suddenly focused his gaze and pushed him away with one hand.

An arrow flew straight past Duan Xu’s arm, cutting a long bloody gash. The Great Liang soldier standing between Duan Xu and Han Ling Qiu couldn’t dodge and was shot through, slowly falling to the ground.

Duan Xu looked up and saw a group of Huqi people with bows and swords emerging from the other side of the mountain. They were positioned above, surrounding them, apparently numbering in the thousands, like a massive black cloud enveloping them.

He was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, “Ah, it’s the praying mantis catching the cicada while the oriole waits behind. We’ve fallen into an ambush.”

This was truly unfortunate, almost as if he had really led them to the Huqi people, making them like dumplings thrown to dogs, with no hope of return.

The Huqi leader standing on the cliff quietly reprimanded the person who had just shot the arrow in Huqi language, then made a gesture indicating Duan Xu and Han Ling Qiu, followed by flattening his palm and making a sweeping motion in the air.

This gesture meant that Duan Xu and Han Ling Qiu were to be captured alive, while the rest could be killed without mercy.

Duan Xu glanced at Han Ling Qiu, then slowly turned his head to look at the Huqi people surrounding them. He weighed the sword in his hand, blood flowing from his injured arm across the character “Po” on the sword.

Just as the character “Po” began to glow, suddenly an abrupt voice rang out in the valley. The same meaning was spoken in both Chinese and Huqi language.

“Wait.”

It was a somewhat low and slow female voice, instantly breaking the tense atmosphere.

Above the official road and below the cliff, in the fierce northern wind of a clear day, a bright blue flame suddenly ignited in midair. That strange flame seemed like a rootless tree, yet it burned with extraordinary intensity. The cold wind couldn’t move it even slightly.

White silken threads grew from the flame, wrapping around it layer by layer like a cocoon, transforming into a jade-like, hollowed ice-crackle pattern hexagonal palace lantern. From the top of the lantern grew a slender sophora wood lantern pole, black and glossy.

On the lantern pole, the figure of a woman gradually appeared. She sat on the Sophora wood pole with one leg crossed, her left hand caressing the eerie flame, her right hand resting on her knee. She wore a magnificent three-layered curved-hem robe in red and white. The outermost layer was rust-red, embroidered with flowing clouds and honeysuckle patterns. Her long hair fell to her waist, tied with a red ribbon.

Unlike her splendid clothes, her face was as white as paper, with only a small mole by her phoenix eyes strikingly black. She truly had the ice-cold flesh and jade-like bones of someone not among the living.

A lantern raised at night guides people’s way.

A lantern raised in daylight opens the path for ghosts.

The woman smiled slightly and said in Huqi language to the Huqi soldiers on the mountainside, “I am but an evil ghost, not wishing to meddle in your affairs. However, I just ate the young brother you shot dead, feeling a bit hungry. He begged me to save these Great Liang soldiers, and I agreed.”

The soldier who had just been shot through by the Huqi people lay in a pool of blood, with teeth marks faintly visible on his neck.

She tilted her head slightly and said, “Brave warriors of Danzhi, could you do this evil ghost a favor and let them return?”

Both those on the mountain and below had expressions of seeing a ghost in broad daylight—which was indeed what was happening. For a moment, heaven and earth fell silent, most people rubbing their eyes, doubting what they were seeing, unable to immediately respond to her words.

But Duan Xu looked at this strange female ghost in the air without blinking, pursed his lips, and then called out, “He Xiaoxiao.”

The female ghost didn’t look at him, as if she didn’t know who he was calling.

Duan Xu smiled and said, “Stop pretending.”

The female ghost seemed to give a soft scoffing laugh, slowly turning her head. A black crow landed on her shoulder, followed by crows like black rain, densely covering this mountainous area, each with beady eyes looking around. Strangely, not a single crow cawed, making the scene eerily quiet.

She blinked her pitch-black eyes, which showed no whites, and smiled, “Someone dares to bully you? I didn’t expect our little fox would have a moment of stumbling.”

The Huqi people on the mountainside finally reacted. They were also intimidated by this strange sight. After a rustling sound, the leading officer shouted, “May Cang God protect us, how dare a heretic pretend to be divine and play with—”

Before the word “ghost” could be uttered, He Simu made a gentle hushing sound, and blue ghostly fire suddenly ignited on him. After a scream, he instantly turned into charred bones, collapsing to the ground.

He Simu shifted her gaze and smiled, saying in Huqi language, “Did you think I was truly negotiating with you? In life, you had no discernment; in death, you’ll at least recognize me.”

When she appeared in this cold and beautiful true form, she had an entirely different aura from He Xiaoxiao. The laziness and playfulness were completely gone. Even when she smiled, it was fierce, arrogant, and impatient, like a knife that would cut you just from looking at it.

Seeing the situation, the Huqi people finally faltered, turning to flee while calling out for Cang God to deliver them from calamity, escaping from this strange and evil place, startling a flock of crows into flight.

Duan Xu turned his head and saw the dazed Great Liang soldiers beside him. They seemed trapped in some kind of illusion, standing motionless. After a moment of silence, he walked to the Great Liang soldier who had been shot through and ultimately died in the evil ghost’s mouth.

He was a boy from Liangzhou, only about fifteen years old.

He crouched down, closed the soldier’s wide-open eyes, and said softly, “Rest now.”

Then he stood up and walked step by step to He Simu’s side. His injured, bloodstained hand grasped the suspended Sophora wood lantern pole. She turned her head and looked down at him from her height, amid the flying crows.

There were a few drops of blood on her face, presumably from when she bit the soldier’s neck.

Duan Xu used his clean hand to take out a handkerchief from his bosom, just as he had when they first met, and extended it to her, saying, “Wipe the blood from your face, Miss Evil Ghost.”

He Simu glanced at the handkerchief in his hand, then moved her gaze to his face, and said coldly, “And then what?”

“Then in exchange…” Duan Xu touched her face with the handkerchief, her face as cold as the wind.

He slowly wiped the blood from her face, even saying somewhat playfully, “Miss Evil Ghost, could you let me keep this memory of encountering a ghost?”

Judging by the Great Liang soldiers’ dazed state, they probably wouldn’t remember how they escaped death. The Danzhi soldiers would likely not recall why they retreated, nor why their leader died.

He Simu moved slightly closer to him, staring into his eyes at very close range, trying to find a trace of fear or disgust to prove that this unperturbed, smiling appearance was entirely a facade.

Duan Xu blinked, but the smile in his eyes was not at all fake. He said, “What, do we need to reintroduce ourselves?”

“My name is Duan Xu, the ‘xu’ from ‘fenglangjuxu’, courtesy name Xunxi. May I ask what kind of ghost are you, miss?”

He Simu lowered her eyes with a slight smile, then raised them again to look into his clear eyes, saying deliberately:

“I am but the King of Ten Thousand Ghosts.”

Her words were humble, but her tone was dismissive.

She smiled as she took the bloodstained handkerchief from his hand, then wiped the blood clean from his injured left hand, saying slowly, “Obviously, I’m not He Xiaoxiao, and you’re not Duan Xu.”