Only Central Plains people had this profession of armed escorts, but this group was tall and burly, with deep-set features — they didn’t really look like Central Plains people at all!

Yu Xiaomeng was still guessing, but Madam Yu, an old hand at reading people, had spotted the problem with this group of escorts at a single glance — nine times out of ten, they were in disguise!

“Old nanny, our courtyard is too small, it can’t fit that many people. There’s an open space up ahead, sheltered from the wind — why don’t you all go rest there instead?” Madam Yu tactfully declined.

The men behind the old nanny clearly looked displeased, but the old nanny remained kind and gentle. “That place up ahead — how far is it?”

“Not far, not far, just about a hundred paces and you’ll see it. It’s spacious there, and you can tie up the horses too,” Madam Yu answered quickly.

“Thank you, dear sister! You truly are a kind-hearted woman.” The old nanny smiled, and between her brows there was a sense of nobility that seemed entirely out of place with her plain, simple attire.

Madam Yu felt a twinge of guilt at the compliment but still forced a smile and saw them off.

Yet who would have thought — the old nanny had only walked a few steps before she turned back alone. “Dear sister, the young people don’t mind the wind and snow, they can stay out there. But look… look at these old bones of mine, truly I can’t take much more of this hardship. I beg you, dear sister, please have mercy and let me in, just to get a mouthful of hot water. Even letting me huddle in the woodshed for the night would be enough!”

In this freezing cold, deep in the quiet night, with an old woman pleading so pitifully, it hardly seemed right to refuse her.

And besides, her words were so sweetly spoken that Madam Yu felt too embarrassed to turn her down outright!

Still, she declined politely. “Old nanny, our house is small, just two rooms. One is where the man of the house sleeps — he’s asleep right now and has quite a temper, I really can’t disturb him. The other little room is just for my daughter and me — we truly have no room to spare!”

“No worry, no worry, I can hide in the courtyard for the night. Dear sister, I beg you, just spare this old woman a mouthful of hot water first!” the old nanny pleaded again.

Yu Xiaomeng really couldn’t bear to watch anymore and was about to speak up, but Madam Yu still refused — this time quite bluntly. “Old nanny, how could we possibly let you suffer so? It’s just that our home really is… sigh, why don’t you try the household up ahead instead?”

With things having been said so plainly, the old nanny’s face proved even thicker-skinned than Madam Yu’s. “How could it be suffering? I’ll just drink some water and be on my way. Dear sister, I’m an old woman with quite a few years on me — surely I don’t look like a bad person?”

“No, no, not at all.” Madam Yu quickly waved her hands with a smile.

“Dear sister, just let me have a mouthful of hot water. I’ve already disturbed your sleep, and I’d feel bad troubling someone else at this hour of the night — it really wouldn’t be right. Once I’ve had the water, I’ll leave right away,” the old nanny said again.

Madam Yu gave in, and could only invite the old nanny to sit under the snow-covered melon trellis in the courtyard.

“Auntie, truly sorry about this, please wait a moment, I’ll go boil the water right now!” Madam Yu would absolutely not let her into the house — it wasn’t the old nanny herself that was frightening, but the fact that she’d brought so many big men with her!

“Good, good, good, thank you for the trouble.” The old nanny was very courteous, and as she spoke, her hand fumbled about in her sleeve — no telling what she was searching for!

Just as Madam Yu was about to leave, she saw Yu Xiaomeng still standing there and shot her a look, signaling her to go back inside.

Yu Xiaomeng didn’t want to leave, but when Madam Yu glared at her, she obediently went back in.

The moment both mother and daughter had gone, the old nanny immediately drew a colorful poison lizard from her sleeve and set it on her palm.

The poison lizard seemed to be searching for something! Its tail kept turning, its tongue flicking out, blood-red and eerie, again and again. After a good while, the tail finally settled on one direction — northwest!

This old nanny was none other than the Xiongnu’s Grand Priestess, Min Han Guxin, going by the alias Granny Gu!

She had searched outside the small town in the northern desert for a long time without success, until she reached the doorway of this household, and only then did the poison lizard finally stir. To confirm the direction precisely, sometimes one had to stand in a certain direction, at a certain position.

So she’d had no choice but to come inside!

As Granny Gu put the poison lizard away, she muttered to herself, “Northwest? Xiliang, is it?”

She had searched all the way from Dongqin to the Wuxie Ravine, then back into Xiongnu territory, circling around Xichu, searching her way westward. A while ago she’d been able to confirm the person was in the northern desert region, but by the time she arrived, the person had vanished again!

If she wasn’t mistaken, that beast Gu Sheng must have gone from the northern desert to Xiliang!

What was he going to Xiliang for?

Right now Xiliang, Xijing, and Dongqin were all in chaos!

As for Gu Sheng, all she knew was that as a child his temperament had been wild and unruly — who knew what he was like now?

Did he think he could just run away and live out his life in peace?

No chance!

No matter what, even if she could no longer control Gu Sheng’s mind, she could still capture him first and slowly cultivate him again!

For a person immune to all poisons through yin nature, once turned into a human Gu, only a person immune to all poisons through yang nature could subdue him!

But for a person immune to all poisons through yang nature, once turned into a human Gu, their blood would become a deadly poison — yet their own body would no longer be immune to all poisons. Depending on the different stages of the Gu-cultivation process, there would be a few specific poisons that could subdue him!

Exactly which poisons those were — only Gu Sheng and she, the one who had raised him as a Gu, knew!

So as long as she found Gu Sheng, Granny Gu had absolute confidence she could bring him back!

Thinking of this, Granny Gu’s mood brightened considerably. Without even waiting for Madam Yu to return, she turned and left directly.

Once she was gone, Madam Yu poked her head out from the kitchen — she had seen everything that just happened. Her usually kind face darkened heavily, filled with a complicated expression!

She hurried to check on Yu Xiaomeng, and seeing that Yu Xiaomeng was shut in her room and hadn’t witnessed any of it, she patted her chest in relief.

Madam Yu quickly shut the main gate and locked it twice, then hesitated a moment before heading toward Yu Xiaomeng’s room.

The moment Granny Qiu — no, Granny Gu — left, she led her men toward the mountain forest in the northwest direction. No matter how carefully the group moved, there was still some noise to be heard!

At the foot of the mountain, Xuanyuan Lige sat quietly writing out music notation. Hearing footsteps approaching, he immediately judged there were quite a few people coming.

He instantly extinguished the lamp and stood by the window, looking out by the moonlight!

No matter how well this group of “escorts” had disguised themselves, they couldn’t fool his eyes — they were Xiongnu people!

Why would they appear here?

Why disguise themselves?

And the direction they were heading was toward Xiliang!

Xuanyuan Lige had hidden in the northern desert for so long that he knew little of the outside world’s affairs. He was curious, yes, but he had no intention of looking into it further!

Once the escorts’ backs had faded into the darkness, he relit the lamp.

Across the wide table was spread a long scroll of rice paper, on which he had written out the entire piece “Lishang.” All the secrets he knew were marked with notations!

Including those twelve notes from the Qinse Sea Valley.

He had filled in a few notes himself, revising them into several different melodies. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder — had Granny Qiu found the secret of that totem on Yaoshun Island yet?

And Han Ziqing — how many secrets had she uncovered by now? Was she safe and well?