Qing Xia shook her head and said, “No, these past years Penglai has completely excavated the Hongtian underwater prison, discovering that the passages inside extend in all directions, but they still haven’t found any trace of you. Five years ago I also went down twice to search, but returned empty-handed both times. What exactly happened to you back then?”
Lie Yunji smiled bitterly, raised her head to look at Qing Xia with pain, and said slowly, “We found an exit and kept crawling outward along it. Just when we had finally found a way out, suddenly the entire earth’s crust shook and the stone chamber collapsed. I had been poisoned at the time, and in order to let me escape, he used his shoulder to prop up the thousand-pound stone door, but in the end couldn’t escape himself.”
Qing Xia immediately recalled the tremors when the great yellow roc emerged, and said in a deep voice, “But no bones were found in the stone chamber, not even a trace of blood was left behind. He shouldn’t have been attacked by wild beasts.”
Lie Yunji bit her lip and said grimly, “In six years, I’ve descended into Penglai over seventy times, spending more than two years underground total. I’ve killed every single rat down there clean. Even if he died, even if he died, I should have found at least some remains.”
Qing Xia’s heart shook, showing an expression of sympathy, but Lie Yunji didn’t notice and only continued in an increasingly low voice, “But after all these years, I haven’t even found a single scrap of clothing. I know he definitely didn’t die.”
“So that’s why you’ve been relentlessly pursuing Ousi Lanya, wanting to get information from her?”
“That wench definitely knows something!” Lie Yunji raised her eyebrows and said in a deep voice, “I’ll search heaven above and the underworld below—I must see him alive or see his corpse dead. Otherwise, I will absolutely never give up!”
Qing Xia’s face suddenly grew hot, with threads of ashamed burning fire arching and arching in her heart, like silkworms in early spring March, nibbling at her heart bit by bit.
“Heh, you must be laughing at me in your heart, right?”
Qing Xia was startled and asked in confusion, “What are you saying?”
Lie Yunji smiled bitterly, “No matter how much I refuse to admit it, I still know that the person he loves is you, not me.”
“Yang Feng and I…”
“Don’t tell me that you and Yang Feng only have sibling feelings. He loves you—everyone in the world knows it, only you pretend not to know.” Lie Yunji cut her off, her expression carrying a trace of mockery.
Qing Xia’s face went pale, and she smiled bitterly, saying, “You’re right. I’ve been too affected and pretentious. What I owe Yang Feng, I can never repay in this lifetime.”
“You don’t need to repay it anymore,” Lie Yunji’s face was grave as water as she slowly said, “If you stop looking for him, stop provoking him, that would be the best repayment to him. After all, you’ve never had romantic love for him, so it’s appropriate for you to do this.”
Qing Xia nodded and said, “I understand.”
Lie Yunji stood up, changed her clothes, picked up her bundle, and said, “I’m leaving.”
“You’re still going to pursue Ousi Lanya?”
Hearing Ousi Lanya’s name, Lie Yunji’s eyes immediately showed thick hatred, and she said in a deep voice, “That cunning wench managed to escape even when surrounded by so many people, but she’s now seriously injured—this is the best opportunity to capture her.”
Qing Xia frowned and said, “But you’re injured too.”
“This small injury won’t kill me.”
Qing Xia frowned and said, “How about this—I’ll find some people to accompany you, so you’ll have support along the way. Ousi Lanya strikes ruthlessly and is extremely cunning, so you must be extra careful.”
“No need,” Lie Yunji shook her head and said, “I’ll be cautious. You also have your hands full now. The Great Emperor of South Chu sent troops to the desert for your sake, and now he’s incurred public anger, being attacked by Western Region people and surrounded by Qi people. Hua Rongyue is also waiting for an opportunity nearby, while Xichuan and North Qin are simultaneously sending troops to the desert. If we wait until Guli A’shu withdraws, it will truly be beyond salvation. If you don’t hurry there, perhaps you’ll never see each other again.”
“What are you saying?” Qing Xia was greatly shocked, grabbing Lie Yunji’s hand, her face immediately turning snow white as she said urgently, “What do you know? Tell me everything. What do you mean by sending troops to the desert for my sake?”
“You don’t know?” Lie Yunji frowned and said, “When you were poisoned by the yellow bird’s blood in Penglai Valley, and later went to North Qin with Prince Xuan but didn’t receive treatment from the Wuxian tribe’s great elder, don’t you know why?”
Qing Xia’s heartbeat grew increasingly rapid. She shook her head and said, “The Eight Shamans of Nanjiang said my constitution was special, that I was gradually neutralizing the toxins myself…”
“Ridiculous!” Lie Yunji snorted coldly and said, “Can’t you feel that over these years the toxins have been concentrating in your body? You can’t be completely unaware. Back then, the Crown Prince of North Qin secretly sent the Nanjiang great elder beyond the pass to control Prince Xuan, intending to kill and silence him there, cutting off Prince Xuan’s lifeline. Unexpectedly, Guli A’shu happened upon this and rescued him, so the great elder has been under Xiongnu supervision ever since, his whereabouts mysterious. The Xiongnu originally wanted to use this to control Prince Xuan, but unexpectedly the prince disappeared. These years, the King of Qin has been fighting the Xiongnu like a madman, sending troops year after year, because Prince Xuan left orders that they must find the great elder to cure your poison. I once lay in ambush in the East Qi imperial palace looking for a chance to assassinate Ousi Lanya, and I heard this from Prince Qi.”
Like waves surging and rolling up one after another, Qing Xia’s chest suddenly felt that kind of pain. Her face was pale, her eyes pained, as she said in a tiny voice, “So you’re saying Chu Li entered the desert also to search for that Wuxian tribe great elder?”
“It should be so,” Lie Yunji nodded and said, “Ousi Lanya and Prince Qi are birds of a feather, otherwise she wouldn’t have traveled thousands of li to come assist in the desert. I imagine news of the Chu Emperor being in the desert has already spread throughout the Central Plains.”
Everything was like a farce. Qing Xia smiled bitterly, unable to describe what she felt in her heart—hundreds of different feelings converged together, making things even more bitter.
Qin Zhiyan, since you couldn’t stay by my side, since you had already resolutely decided to leave, why did you treat me so well, why did you arrange everything for me? Such a you—how can I forget, how can I abandon you? Treating me this way, how cruel is it? And Chu Li, knowing that I cannot betray my principles to love you wholeheartedly, why must you be so recklessly persistent and stubborn, willfully forgetting that you are a nation’s ruler and rashly taking risks? Such a you—how should I repay you?
You all want to leave me the best, do everything you can for me, but you don’t know that the consequence of doing so is only putting my heart on burning coals to scorch, piercing my heart with pain. What they call heartbreak must be exactly what I’m feeling at this moment.
Qing Xia slowly closed her eyes, her heart filled with vast expanses of indescribable desolation, just like the desert outside—boundless and endless, unable to see the direction ahead.
Lie Yunji looked at Qing Xia, suddenly sighed softly, and said slowly, “Actually, you don’t need to hesitate. Why not ask your own heart which one you love most? Cast aside gratitude and guilt, just choose the one you love most, and that’s enough. Living in this world, who isn’t selfish? Affairs can never be perfect—even if there’s harm, it’s better than three people suffering their whole lives.”
The wind outside the tent suddenly howled up, and Qing Xia immediately felt a chill throughout her body. She straightened her spine, but discovered that her whole body felt so weary.
“Take care of yourself.”
Lie Yunji said this quietly and turned to walk out.
Qing Xia sat on her horse, looking at Lie Yunji on the black warhorse, suddenly feeling her throat somewhat blocked. She only smiled bitterly and said, “Be careful on your way.”
Lie Yunji smiled and said, “You too.”
The two nodded to each other. These former enemies who had once wanted to devour each other’s flesh and blood suddenly developed a trace of mutual respect. Lie Yunji spurred her horse forward, and after taking just two steps, suddenly turned back and said, “By the way, back in Penglai Valley, I had altered the letter you wrote to Prince Xuan.”
“I know,” Qing Xia smiled and said, “Zhiyan also guessed afterward that it wasn’t written by me. You don’t need to worry about it.”
Lie Yunji smiled, suddenly turned around, let out a delicate cry, and whipped her horse’s flank, galloping swiftly away.
Qing Xia watched her thin, lonely shoulders gradually disappear into the darkness, and a surge of tragic sadness immediately rose up.
“My lord,” Song Yang approached from behind and said, “The entire army has been organized and is ready to move.”
Qing Xia nodded faintly. Song Yang asked again, “My lord, where are we going?”
Qing Xia’s voice was low as she slowly uttered two words: “Loulan.”
Muscles contracting, blood vessels dilating, left atrium insufficient blood supply—it was truly painful. Qing Xia sat on her warhorse, looking at the scattered corpses and discarded armor and weapons on the desert, feeling as if her heart was being tightly gripped by someone. The northwest wind howled and blew, lifting her black cloak behind her, soaring and fluttering, inspiring and floating like the wings of a broken-winged eagle fighting in the vast sky—powerless, yet full of unyielding stubbornness.
Qing Xia bit the corner of her mouth, took a deep breath, and said almost word by word, “Continue forward.”
Her voice was very low, without a trace of emotional fluctuation. The commander’s composure and calmness greatly encouraged those anxious soldiers, allowing them to still maintain a thread of clarity and confidence as they continued forward. Indeed, along this journey, if not for Qing Xia’s utmost efforts to suppress and her flawless strategic assistance, the soldiers might have mutinied before even reaching Loulan.
This was already the fourth battlefield. The bloody smell grew heavier and heavier, and the corpses of South Chu soldiers accumulated higher and higher. This was no longer a war, but a retreat in defeat with scattered armor and helmets. The broken banners and horse dung scattered everywhere made it easy to calculate how many great armies had passed through here. It was as if a firm nail had been ruthlessly driven into her heart, with vast amounts of fresh blood roaring forth, making her heart feel increasingly heavy.
Had they all finally come?
The young general smiled coldly at the corner of her mouth. They finally couldn’t bear the loneliness and had all stirred into this muddy yellow desert, taking advantage of the fire to rob, or perhaps it could be said they were kicking someone when they were down. Xichuan, North Qin, Southeast barbarian states, Northwest vassal states, East Qi remnants—all had advanced into this muddy yellow desert that had been ignored for hundreds of years during this precarious time. Those cold arrows and conspiracies from all directions, those pervasive underhanded schemes and contests, had finally all turned their arrows around together, all aimed at that willful and stubborn man.