The white-feathered sparrows fluttered their wings and alighted on the treetops, several tail feathers drifting down. Wind swept from deep within the forest sea, lifting the hem of Xiao Li’s robe. He stood leaning sideways against a tree with his arms folded, not looking at the group of people rushing over from the road, and spoke: “You’re looking for me?”
Though phrased as a question, his words were already certain.
White-feathered sparrows were the Azure Cloud Guard’s unique method of communication. Starting several days ago, he had noticed that wherever he went, white-feathered sparrows would appear not long after. At first, he thought it was coincidence, but after it happened several times, it could absolutely not be called coincidence anymore.
Zhaobai hadn’t expected Xiao Li would proactively reveal himself. After Xin and Yi Provinces lifted their road restrictions, the Azure Cloud Guard’s hidden operatives had already spread all the way from Pingzhou to Luodu. After the message to search for Xiao Li was issued within the Azure Cloud Guard, wherever Xiao Li went, any Azure Cloud Guards acting as hidden sentries who discovered his traces would use white-feathered sparrows to send messages to her. It was just that every time she brought people rushing over, Xiao Li had already turned and gone elsewhere.
This time Xiao Li had directly followed the white-feathered sparrows and proactively sought them out, which truly surprised Zhaobai. On her face that habitually showed no expression, astonishment briefly flashed across, then she nodded and said: “Please accompany us back, General Xiao.”
Xiao Li fell silent and didn’t immediately respond. Only after Zhaobai frowned and called out “General Xiao” again did he ask: “Is this your Princess’s intention?”
He had already left Pingzhou before Wen Yu was enfeoffed as princess and hadn’t yet gotten used to changing how he addressed her. At this moment, the words “your Princess” in his speech invisibly drew a boundary line.
Zhaobai also perceived the subtle change in Xiao Li’s attitude. She didn’t know what exactly the two had said that night when Xiao Li braved the rain to break in and see Wen Yu, but that the other party no longer showed the respect toward Wen Yu that he had before clearly displeased her. She furrowed her brow and replied: “Yes.”
However, Xiao Li mockingly lifted the corner of his mouth slightly. His appearance was the kind of handsomeness where one could see his heroic spirit at a glance. The contours of his face were extremely rugged, but because his features incorporated characteristics of Xiao Huiniang’s appearance, they were somewhat softened—like a wolf that had been domesticated from a young age. When docile, he seemed as harmless and approachable as a large dog. But once that pair of eyes revealed their wild ferocity, it would send chills down one’s spine, making one realize upon reflection that a wolf was ultimately still a wolf. When it bared its fangs, one had to remain constantly vigilant that it might pierce through one’s throat.
Xiao Li had yet to utter a word, but this atmosphere was already like invisible seawater lapping over in layers, making Zhaobai inexplicably irritated in her heart. She couldn’t help but tighten her grip on the sword hilt in her hand.
Behind her, the Azure Cloud Cavalry already had those who couldn’t endure this oppressive atmosphere, and in unison they drew their sabers three inches out of their sheaths.
Xiao Li acted as if he didn’t see it. The corner of his mouth was mockingly half-hooked. His deep brow and eyes were shrouded by the shadows of the leaves overhead, making it impossible to discern the emotions within: “This isn’t something your Princess would do. Speak. Who sent you?”
Zhaobai’s expression grew even colder. The other party no longer served Wen Yu as his lord, yet his words seemed extremely familiar with Wen Yu. So disrespectful and so irreverent—it made the displeasure in her heart gradually transform into hidden anger.
Xiao Li’s words had obviously also angered the other Azure Cloud Guards. One Azure Cloud Guard immediately shouted: “Commander Zhaobai, why waste words with this ingrate traitor? Just attack directly!”
After that Azure Cloud Guard spoke out, Zhaobai’s expression turned cold, but before she could voice a reprimand, Xiao Li’s side had already spoken again: “Traitor?”
The mocking arc at the corner of his mouth became more obvious. He seemed to have realized that their search this time had other causes. He lifted his eyelids to look at Zhaobai: “What do you mean?”
It was a question tinged with derision.
The Azure Cloud Guard who had spoken earlier shouted: “Still putting on an act! You fled back to Jinzhou precisely to seek Pei Song’s protection! The Princess promoted you so much—even raising a dog would have domesticated it by now, yet you this…”
“Dai Yan!” Zhaobai shouted in a low voice with warning intent. That Azure Cloud Guard glared hatefully at Xiao Li before finally shutting his mouth.
Only then did Zhaobai look toward Xiao Li, saying coldly and harshly: “General Xiao, the Princess has always cherished talent and valued the General greatly. Now there is evidence pointing to the General being Pei Song’s spy. The Princess, mindful of the General’s meritorious service, hopes the General will first return to Pingzhou. Once everything is investigated clearly, your innocence will naturally be restored.”
Self-mockery and derision climbed bit by bit into Xiao Li’s eyes. He nodded and asked with a light laugh: “So, your Princess suspects I’m a traitor, is that it?”
Zhaobai understood that Xiao Li had misunderstood Wen Yu. She frowned and explained: “There is evidence indicating that you studied under Qin Yi, Pei Song’s father, and that your mother also didn’t die—she’s been meticulously supported by Pei Song in a separate residence all this time…”
“What did you say?” The mocking smile froze at the corner of Xiao Li’s mouth.
His reaction also exceeded Zhaobai’s expectations, as if before this, he truly had no knowledge of it whatsoever.
Zhaobai’s frown deepened further as she said: “The one who taught you military strategy and martial arts was Qin Yi, Pei Song’s father. Your mother is also in Pei Song’s hands. The Princess has already ordered people to investigate the truth. If this is Pei Song’s divisive stratagem, after you return to Pingzhou, you can discuss at length with Lord Li and the others and plan a rescue. The Princess has given orders in advance—if it’s confirmed to be a stratagem, no cost is too great to rescue Madam Xiao.”
She believed she had explained the rights and wrongs, the pros and cons, and Wen Yu’s painstaking intentions clearly enough. Unexpectedly, after Xiao Li fell silent for a long while, as if digesting the information in those words, when he raised his head he only left behind one cold sentence: “Go back and tell your master that regarding her, my conscience is clear. My mother—I’ll rescue her myself. No need for you to interfere.”
Having said this, he turned to leave.
Zhaobai watched Xiao Li’s departing back with a stern and cold expression. Two Azure Cloud Guards glanced at her, then their long sabers left their sheaths. Stepping on the scorching heat waves in the air, they rushed out like arrows released from a bowstring.
When the blade edges slashed down toward Xiao Li’s head, though his back was turned to the two Azure Cloud Guards, it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head. He sidestepped to avoid that vertical slash, then immediately elbowed the forearm of another Azure Cloud Guard who was raising his blade to strike. That Azure Cloud Guard only felt his forearm go numb. Before he could react, he was already dragged forward by that arm and was about to collide almost instantly with the blade edge of his companion’s second slashing strike coming down.
The other Azure Cloud Guard, seeing this, could only hurriedly withdraw his force and redirect his blade edge, barely avoiding spattering his companion’s blood on the spot.
Xiao Li then pressed down on that Azure Cloud Guard’s wrist bone and forcefully twisted. A cracking sound like bones fracturing rang out. That Azure Cloud Guard tried his utmost to endure, but a pained grunt still escaped from his throat.
Xiao Li seized the blade from his hand and swung it backward in a fierce arc, blocking the blades of several other Azure Cloud Guards who had rushed over. Then he kicked out with his foot, and two of them went flying backward.
This entire exchange occurred only in an instant. After Xiao Li forced back the two Azure Cloud Guards who continued entangling with him, he stood holding the blade, his expression extremely cold.
Zhaobai made a gesture, and the injured Azure Cloud Guard retreated behind her. The Azure Cloud Guards who had been observing drew their blades and, like hunting beasts, surrounded Xiao Li at a distance.
The sun was scorching, cicadas shrieked noisily, blade edges flashed with patches of dazzling white sunlight, and the air seemed to have bright white threads tightening in the cicada sounds.
Sweat seeping from the Azure Cloud Guards’ hands moistened the blade hilts. Sweat drops flowing down from their tightened sleeves traced across the backs of their hands. In the instant they raised their hands to shake off the sweat, that thread in the air that had been stretched taut and trembling seemed to also be severed.
Steel-forged horizontal sabers collided with irresistible force. Amid sparks flying, they emitted sharp sounds that made one’s teeth ache.
The Azure Cloud Guard’s encirclement method was extremely similar to the pack attack method of Pei Song’s hounds back then—both intended to exhaust the opponent until they were completely drained.
Zhaobai had been standing aside with her sword, observing this fight. She knew that Xiao Li often took unconventional approaches in warfare, winning through risky maneuvers. However, she didn’t yet have any concrete understanding of Xiao Li’s fighting skills. After this probing by the Azure Cloud Guards, the expression in her eyes gradually grew grave.
—The opponent before her eyes was indeed formidable.
Fierce as a wolf, ferocious as a mastiff.
Xiao Li had experience fighting Pei Song’s hounds. Under the Azure Cloud Guard’s encirclement, he quickly found the flaws within and killed until they threw themselves into disarray.
When he once again wildly slashed out a rigid blade arc and forced back several Azure Cloud Guards, Zhaobai drew her sword and rushed up to meet him.
With a sharp “clang,” the shock made both parties’ eardrums sting painfully, but neither paused to catch their breath because of it. The fierce blade势 and sword edge slashed wildly and violently, so fast they even left trails of afterimages.
Zhaobai and her twin sister had initially been selected as shadow guards precisely because of their abnormal strength. In the current fierce battle, with such wide-open slashing and hacking, had it been anyone else, they would have long been exhausted. Yet Zhaobai fought more courageously the longer she fought. Even in the intervals between thrusting out her sword edge, she could still shout coldly: “Since you claim your conscience is clear regarding the Princess, why don’t you drop your blade and surrender, returning with us to Pingzhou?”
Xiao Li said not a word, only raising his blade to collide with Zhaobai’s slashing sword edge. The sword body was thin and brittle, fundamentally unsuited for slashing and hacking. After this vicious collision, it emitted a resonant hum as if unable to bear the burden.
Zhaobai’s tiger’s mouth felt numb with pain, but she had no leisure to look and see if it had torn and was bleeding, because Xiao Li’s blade势 came slashing down again without the slightest moderation.
She raised her sword to meet it, but was shocked to realize Xiao Li’s offensive was even fiercer than before. The force transmitted from that steel blade nearly caused the long sword in her hand to fly from her grip several times.
The battle situation reversed in an instant. Zhaobai was forced to fight while retreating. In the midst of her flustered response, two Azure Cloud Guards found an opening and swung their blades in, temporarily blocking Xiao Li’s offensive. Only then could she finally catch her breath.
The long sword in her hand suddenly shattered inch by inch when supporting her on the ground, clearly caused by the force of those previous slashing strikes. Zhaobai’s expression couldn’t help but turn ugly.
Those two Azure Cloud Guards also couldn’t hold back Xiao Li for long. When he gripped the blade with both hands and slashed down viciously, one Azure Cloud Guard who had fallen to the ground gritted his teeth and raised his blade to block. The steel blade was directly cleaved in two, and when Xiao Li’s blade edge continued slashing down without any room for moderation, that Azure Cloud Guard almost resignedly closed his eyes.
But the severe pain of his skull being split open ultimately didn’t arrive. That Azure Cloud Guard opened his eyes in shock and trepidation, only to see that gleaming blade edge was only a hair’s breadth from his face.
The delayed fear of having walked through the gates of hell instantly made his back drenched in cold sweat.
Xiao Li coldly withdrew his blade and looked toward Zhaobai. In those deep black eyes of his, there was no imperial authority, no hierarchy of status—there was only the blazing sun and the wind howling across the wilderness. Unrestrained, untamed.
He said: “I’m going to save my mother. Those things you mentioned—I haven’t done them, nor do I need to prove anything to anyone.”
As he turned to leave, however, a faint sound of crossbow mechanisms rang out from behind.
Xiao Li raised his blade to block almost the instant his ears caught that sound wave, but crossbow bolts came rushing urgently like flying locusts. While dodging, his face was still inadvertently grazed by an arrow, leaving a small cut.
When the line of blood seeped out, Xiao Li sensed something was wrong.
The arrow rain stopped, and the Azure Cloud Guards suddenly surged forward again. The slashing blades seemed to be pulled into dozens of overlapping shadows. Xiao Li shook his head fiercely before barely managing to block them, but what followed was even more severe dizziness and disorientation.
That arrow earlier had been problematic.
Zhaobai stood outside the crowd, saying coldly: “How the Princess has treated you, you yourself know best. Bringing you back to Pingzhou is to clear your name. That you’re so ungrateful truly wastes the Princess’s painstaking efforts.”
The arrows released earlier had been coated with knockout drugs.
It had originally been a backup plan in case of emergency, but to avoid a fight that would leave both sides devastated, they ultimately used this method.
After Xiao Li was struck by the arrow and continued fighting the Azure Cloud Guards, the drug that invaded the wound had already spread throughout his body through his bloodstream. At this moment, he only felt his eyelids growing heavy. The sun in his vision seemed to have already become a darkening shadow. In the distance on the steep slope, however, dust clouds were vaguely spreading. In the heat waves, there seemed to be masses of people moving.
A hallucination?
When his entire body lost strength and fell, he clearly felt the fine sand beneath him trembling. Xiao Li was certain—there was indeed a cavalry unit rushing toward this direction.
Facing this sudden turn of events, Zhaobai’s expression also changed. They had acted secretly this time and shouldn’t engage in combat with Jinzhou soldiers, creating additional complications. She immediately ordered her subordinates: “Retreat!”
Two Azure Cloud Guards went to support Xiao Li who had collapsed on the ground after being struck by the knockout drug, intending to help him onto a horse. Unexpectedly, the person who should have fallen into unconsciousness used the position where the two Azure Cloud Guards were supporting his arms from left and right to forcefully ram them together, crashing so hard that both Azure Cloud Guards’ noses stung and their vision blurred—they nearly fainted on the spot.
The incident happened suddenly, catching everyone off guard. By the time they reacted, Xiao Li had already mounted a horse alone and galloped away with a slap of the reins.
Zhaobai was furious beyond measure. Just as she ordered pursuit, an Azure Cloud Guard picked up a crossbow and fired several arrows in succession at Xiao Li.
Unlike the arrows previously shot at Xiao Li, these were clearly aimed at Xiao Li’s vital points. One struck directly into Xiao Li’s rear shoulder. Whether it was because the pain made Xiao Li more alert or not, he didn’t fall from the horse due to being hit. Instead, he swung his whip and continued galloping forward, gradually opening up distance from the Azure Cloud Guards.
Zhaobai’s expression turned ugly. She immediately shouted: “Shoot the horse! The Princess has ordered—Xiao Li’s life must not be harmed!”
This prohibition was something she had repeatedly emphasized to the Azure Cloud Guards when formulating the plan to forcibly bring Xiao Li back. Zhaobai assumed some Azure Cloud Guard had forgotten this prohibition in their urgency and shouted a reminder.
The sounds of hoofbeats and strong winds swallowed her voice. Apart from the Azure Cloud Guards following her, the soldiers behind couldn’t hear clearly what she was shouting.
The Azure Cloud Guards’ arrows shot out with rustling sounds, but because Xiao Li was already outside the crossbow range, those short arrows only embedded themselves in the yellow mud of the official road.
On the contrary, the soldiers behind were pursuing ever more closely. They seemed to take them for local bandits and wanted to kill them for merit. Even from far away, they were shooting arrows at them.
A group of people running on the official road made too large a target. Zhaobai could only order them to first scatter and evade the soldiers’ pursuit. She herself continued pursuing Xiao Li with two others.
Once the people and horses scattered in the dense forest, the soldiers instantly lost their targets. They didn’t dare disperse in pursuit like the Azure Cloud Guards, so they advanced like a net, pressing through the dense forest inch by inch in their search.
Following the blood trail, Zhaobai pursued to the river at the edge of the dense forest. The horse that Xiao Li had ridden away was indeed standing by the river, but Xiao Li himself was nowhere to be seen.
The blood trail ended at the water grass by the riverbank. Zhaobai guessed that Xiao Li must have abandoned the horse and used the river water to conceal the blood trail, wading through water to go elsewhere.
She was about to order the Azure Cloud Guards to search along the river when she suddenly noticed that the blood stains on the water grass were somewhat blackish.
The forest was too dark. When she had been following the blood trail all the way here earlier, she hadn’t noticed anything unusual. Only now, looking at these blood stains under the sun, did she realize something was wrong.
She used her finger to dab a bit of the blood and brought it to her nose to lightly sniff. It was indeed the scent of human blood.
But why was it this color?
After realizing something, Zhaobai’s face instantly turned ugly enough to kill.
—
Half an hour later, the Azure Cloud Guards gathered at the lower reaches of the river.
Zhaobai dismounted, the murderous aura around her entire body completely unconcealed. She walked straight toward the Azure Cloud Guard who had earlier shot arrows at Xiao Li and lashed a whip across his face.
That Azure Cloud Guard was struck such that his face turned to the side. A bleeding welt instantly appeared on his cheek, yet he said not a word.
Zhaobai forcefully grabbed his collar and demanded harshly: “Dai Yan, who gave you the audacity?”
The Azure Cloud Guard named Dai Yan was clearly made of stern stuff. Even being treated thus, he only said neither humbly nor arrogantly: “This subordinate doesn’t understand what Commander Zhaobai is saying.”
Zhaobai flung her hand and gave him another lash, staring at him with eyes that looked ready to devour someone: “Kneel!”
Everyone was shocked by this sudden action, not knowing what offense Dai Yan had committed to provoke Zhaobai to such furious anger.
Dai Yan, however, knelt before Zhaobai without a word of rebuttal.
Zhaobai asked coldly: “To whom do you pledge your loyalty?”
Dai Yan answered: “The Princess.”
Zhaobai struck another lash on his back, splitting his clothing and breaking his skin. The anger in her eyes didn’t diminish by half: “Do you truly serve the Princess?”
Accompanying another falling lash was Zhaobai’s icy questioning: “If you serve the Princess, when the Princess ordered us to bring Xiao Li back alive, why did you wound him with poisoned arrows? The Princess is about to go to the Chen royal court and has granted Lord Li the authority to handle many affairs within Great Liang’s territory in advance. Are you also eager to change your master?”
Dai Yan endured these two lashes, the pain causing the muscles in his back to spasm, yet he still knelt perfectly straight and said calmly: “This subordinate has not.”
Zhaobai was nearly driven mad with rage. She ordered the other Azure Cloud Guards: “Search his quiver.”
Two Azure Cloud Guards held down Dai Yan, removed the quiver from his waist, and after taking out the short arrows inside and sniffing each one, their expressions became somewhat strange. They looked toward Zhaobai and shook their heads, saying: “The arrowheads are all coated with knockout drug, there is no poison.”
The anger on Zhaobai’s face stalled, then her expression became even uglier. She stared at Dai Yan kneeling on the ground and said: “So the poisoned arrows were handled in advance. Indeed, the plan was seamless. No wonder you dare kneel before me with such an unchanged expression. However, Dai Yan, have you truly thought through the path you’ve chosen?”
Dai Yan knelt silently before Zhaobai. What came from his mouth was still only one sentence: “This subordinate is wronged.”
The look Zhaobai gave him in that instant was no different from looking at a dead man. She turned around, raised her hand to brush all the loose strands of hair at her forehead back, and ordered those around her: “Bind him. Continue searching downstream along the riverbank for Xiao Li. He’s been struck by knockout drugs and poison arrows—he can’t go far.”
She very much wanted to raise her blade and directly cut down this ingrate, but compared to a dead person, Wen Yu could extract more information from a living one.
In the past, she hadn’t quite understood the subtle conflict between Wen Yu and her teacher-student Li Yao. Now she understood.
Li Yao was always trying to make decisions for her without permission in the name of the great cause or for Wen Yu’s own good.
—
Three days later, Zhaobai returned to Pingzhou to see Wen Yu and knelt at the bottom of the stairs, refusing to rise.