Qin Zhiyan’s gaze was profound as he looked far into that desolate grassland. After a long while, he said faintly: “Then go deal with those people following her. If there are always people tracking her, she won’t be happy.”
Grand Tutor Zhong looked at Qin Zhiyan’s profile, thought for a moment, then carefully said: “Should we also send people to secretly protect her?”
“Forget it,” Qin Zhiyan shook his head. “She wouldn’t like being monitored. You just need to clear her path behind her. For everything else, let her be.”
“But…”
Qin Zhiyan slowly waved his hand, smiling as he said: “Teacher, do you still remember that saying we heard in the Southern Border?”
Grand Tutor Zhong was stunned. Though he was Qin Zhiyan’s tutor, it had been a long time since he’d heard this address of “teacher.” An inexplicable emotion stirred in his heart, and he smiled faintly without speaking.
“Remove the golden chains from the white bird’s wings, and the bird can fly freely. Remove the shackles of fame and fortune, and people can live according to their own will. In this life of mine, I’m already destined to never have that chance, so why should I obstruct others’ freedom?”
Qin Zhiyan suddenly turned his head, smiled gently at Grand Tutor Zhong, then slowly walked toward the distant camp tents. His ethereal voice echoed in the bitter north wind as the man in blue-green robes kept his back straight, though his steps seemed particularly heavy.
“I can give her nothing, so… let her go free.”
Among the tall and short wild grasses, Qin Zhiyan’s figure appeared somewhat desolate. Grand Tutor Zhong watched his retreating form, suddenly feeling a trace of sorrow in his heart. He suddenly realized that this body that seemed capable of supporting heaven and earth when standing truly had a hint of weariness and frailty. That heart which encompassed all phenomena under heaven had only experienced twenty-some winters and summers, yet why did he always feel that person was already so old?
On the desolate grassland, Qing Xia rode her warhorse, wearing a black cloak, galloping like lightning.
The pitch-black night was like a ferocious beast, opening its giant maw to swallow Qing Xia whole. The night wind was cold as knives, fiercely scraping against Qing Xia’s cheeks. She bit her lips tightly, as if forcing herself to remember this sensation.
This kind of wind was reality, this kind of cold was truth—far different from the heart-penetrating cold of the ice hall, and far different from the soul-crushing despair of the earthen hall.
“Hyah!” Qing Xia shouted fiercely, raising her whip to strike the horse’s flank, galloping toward the dark night.
After traveling for about half a tea-time, Qing Xia suddenly alertly tightened the reins. She saw flickering lights ahead—clearly a large group of people advancing. She initially wanted to detour around them, but suddenly glimpsed their earth-yellow garments with spotted leopard patterns. Qing Xia immediately tensed up.
This group had once frantically pursued her in the forests of the Southern Border heartland, using ruthless methods and skilled with poisonous insects, several times driving her to the brink of death. They say enemies cross paths in narrow places—she hadn’t expected to encounter them here.
Not seeking revenge had never been Qing Xia’s way of handling things. She tied her horse to a small tree and hid in the tall grass, silently creeping forward.
This was a relatively open grassland area. The taller wild grass had been cleared away, surrounding trees had just been cut down, providing good visibility but also creating certain difficulties for enemies trying to hide and infiltrate.
The camp of about two thousand people had built simple watchtowers around the perimeter with guards keeping twenty-four hour watch. The defenses were indeed watertight.
However, even so, this couldn’t stop Qing Xia with her special agent background. Infiltration and stealth had always been her specialties. With several leaps, she carefully approached the camp, quickly climbed the watchtower pillars, and crossed over the high fence.
Watchtowers, being surveillance areas, were always the most heavily defended places, but precisely because of this psychology, the guards didn’t pay attention to checking the watchtower direction itself. Qing Xia hid under the guards’ noses, crossed the fence, and had just taken a few steps when suddenly a soft, seductive woman’s voice drifted over.
“I thought you’d never want to see me again in this lifetime.”
The woman’s voice was charming and languid, carrying a honey-like smoothness. Wisps of fragrant breeze wafted through the air with an alluring scent.
Qing Xia hid in the shadows of the lamplight, holding her breath. Just as she was about to leave for the main tent to investigate, a cold voice suddenly rang in her ear like thunder, exploding in Qing Xia’s head.
“So you use this method to invite me here?”
The man’s voice was low and cold, carrying an intimidating authority. Qing Xia’s eyes widened as a name thundered through her mind.
Chu Li!
How could he be here?
“I too… had no choice…”
Low panting sounds suddenly arose, the woman’s rapid breathing carrying heart-stirring ambiguity in the night. Despite such cold weather, she wore only a transparent thin silk nightgown, the transparent purple silk perfectly outlining the undulating curves of her body.
The woman had jet-black long hair, slightly elongated eyes, a high nose bridge, and corners of her mouth curved in a soul-stirring lascivious smile. She slowly leaned closer, her boneless body pressing against Chu Li’s chest.
“How long has it been?” The woman pressed tightly against Chu Li, slightly raising her head with seductive charm in her eyes. She lightly stood on tiptoes, her snow-white fingers clasping Chu Li’s shoulders, her pink tongue extending to lightly lick Chu Li’s bronze-colored neck, sliding over his prominent Adam’s apple and stubbled chin, finally playing at his tightly pressed lips: “How long has it been? Don’t you miss me? Just arrived and already want to leave?”
Chu Li wore a dark green python robe with a pine-green gemstone belt at his waist. His features were handsome and martial. He smoothly pushed the woman away from his body and smiled wickedly: “How could I not miss you?”
“Miss me? Miss which part?” The woman showed no anger at Chu Li’s rejection, instead pressing closer even more charmingly. Her fingers slowly slid from Chu Li’s chest toward his waist, pausing slightly before exploring directly downward, her voice seductively saying: “Is it here that misses me… mm, or here?”
“Let’s talk business.” Chu Li frowned, suddenly pushing away her hand. The woman turned around, blocking Chu Li’s path, thrusting out her chest so her high, firm breasts pressed tightly against Chu Li’s body.
“What I’m talking to you about now is business.” The woman smiled alluringly, grabbing Chu Li’s hand and slowly pulling it up to press against her amazingly elastic chest, her eyes nearly dripping with desire.
“Oh my, so cold!” the woman exclaimed, lightly biting her lip with a coquettish smile, actually pulling Chu Li’s hand completely inside that thin layer of silk: “This way, won’t it be a bit warmer?”
Qing Xia hid in the shadows, never expecting to encounter such an explicit scene. At this moment, the two people’s footsteps slowly moved in her direction, about to discover her hiding place. Seeing their attention was elsewhere, Qing Xia decisively rolled forward, lying flat and crawling toward the dark area on the left. Just as she was about to reach the tent, the footsteps behind her suddenly turned toward her direction. Qing Xia cursed silently, lifted the tent flap, and quickly rolled inside.
Inside the large tent, aside from dim red lamplight, there was only an enormous bed. Qing Xia’s phoenix eyes swept around once before she bent down and crawled under it. Just as she lowered the bed curtain, footsteps sounded at the entrance. A heavy breathing sound followed, and before Qing Xia could regret her situation, with a bang, someone fell heavily onto the large bed.
Qing Xia was dumbfounded, thinking she wouldn’t have to spend the entire night hiding here listening to Chu Li and that wanton woman’s passionate encounter. As if responding to her thoughts, soft sounds of lips and teeth friction drifted down, and soon a purple silk garment thin as cicada wings floated down alongside the bed, a corner of the garment falling before Qing Xia’s eyes, carrying an increasingly intoxicating scent in the warm air.
“Li… hold me…” The woman’s gasps were like a cat’s, carrying slight panting: “Quickly… hurry…”
Qing Xia lay depressed under the large bed, feeling utterly unlucky, listening to the explicit live performance outside while involuntarily picturing Chu Li naked and entwined with the woman. Just as the image began forming, she quickly pinched her thigh hard, thinking to herself that she didn’t know this woman’s background, but for Chu Li to run here to fool around with her during such troubled times showed this woman was definitely not simple.
Just as she was thinking this, suddenly a loud “bang” rang out. Qing Xia was startled—she who had prepared to listen at the wall all night became instantly alert, secretly lifting a corner of the bed curtain and lying flat, peering out with one eye.
She saw the woman had already shed all her clothes, her full flesh still carrying the peach-pink of desire. She sat on the ground, her expression gradually changing from surprise to coldness as she slightly raised her head, a trace of mockery at the corners of her mouth.
“What did you give me to eat?” Chu Li’s voice was low, breathing with suppressed difficulty, extremely labored.
The woman smiled mockingly, saying in a charming voice: “Just applied some aphrodisiac to my lips. How was it? Did it taste good?”
“Shameless woman!” Chu Li snorted coldly, trying to stand up, but before he could straighten his body, he fell back onto the bed with a bang, the soft bed immediately sinking down. Qing Xia was nearly crushed breathless and could even feel the contours of Chu Li’s body.
“Only busy dealing with that insatiable old woman in the Chu palace—have you forgotten me so quickly?” The purple-clothed woman slowly stood up from the ground, walking to Chu Li’s side. Her naked body had stunning allure under the lamplight, her round breasts rubbing against Chu Li’s muscular chest. Her delicate jade hands softly rested on Chu Li’s shoulders as she opened her cherry lips to bite his earlobe, whispering: “Li, I missed you so much. I couldn’t bear even one day without seeing you—I would die if I didn’t come to you.”