As the tears flowed fiercely from her eyes, they fell onto Qingyun’s arm, scorching hot. Qingyun found himself unable to sort out his feelings at that moment. He simply gazed at her for a long while before finally sighing and putting his clothes back on.
“There’s another way to counteract the poison,” he said, sitting down beside her and pulling out a cloth pouch from his pocket. “These are Yongdong grassroots. If a person eats them, they’ll lose all carnal desires for seventy-two hours. It can neutralize the poison of the Double Fruit tree.”
“I won’t eat it!” Huang Beishuang had calmed down, though her throat still held a slight sob. She stated firmly, “I won’t eat it. Consuming Yongdong grass not only eliminates the sexual desire for seventy-two hours but also removes the desire for food and sleep. I can’t go three days and nights without eating, drinking, or sleeping.”
Qingyun was quite surprised, not expecting her to be so knowledgeable despite her apparent youth – she seemed to be only eighteen or nineteen years old. So he asked, “If you won’t let me help you, what do you plan to do?”
Huang Beishuang gritted her teeth and struggled to her feet. She walked step by step into the lake until the icy water reached her chest. Then she shed all her clothing, save for a jewel-encrusted headband.
“This water is so cold,” she said with a bitter smile visible in the moonlight.
Qingyun’s grip on his sword tightened, leaving him momentarily speechless. Huang Beishuang shivered from the cold and turned her back to him.
At this moment, with the moonlight cascading over the water and a gentle, chilly breeze, no amount of tenderness or tranquility could match the trembling shoulders of the young woman in the lake. No radiance or mystery could compare to her moist eyes.
Though she was so beautiful, so undeniably beautiful, Qingyun suddenly felt embarrassed and agitated, unable to continue looking at her.
She was right there before his eyes!
Bang!
Like a maddened bull, Ruoquan burst into the hall, which was filled with debauchery. He smashed tables and chairs, and the sound of destruction echoed throughout the great hall. His brothers, startled by this sudden behavior, stopped all their actions and looked at their leader with confusion and fear.
Ruoquan’s anger clearly couldn’t be quelled. He kicked aside one of his brothers and grabbed the young woman who was being humiliated beneath him. Right there, in front of everyone, he vented the uncontrollable fire in his heart.
Why? Why in this life as a human would one become so crazed?
It was indeed a cruel and terrifying night, filled only with sounds – violent sounds, crying sounds, excited sounds, invasive sounds. There was no heart here, no soul, only madness – a lonely, desperate madness!
The next day, the mess in the great hall had been cleaned up. It was unclear how many of the captured prisoners, including maids and guards, remained. In any case, they were all pressed together in the middle of the hall, awaiting their fate. Ruoquan sat in the grand chair, his two fingers tapping on the smooth, dragon-carved armrest. Finally, he issued a grim order, “Bring that old witch here.”
In the air, only a cold, intimidating authority remained, as if everything that had happened here last night had never existed.
Duo Zai was pushed out, stumbling. To call her a witch now seemed somewhat apt. Even when properly dressed, she had seemed eerie, but now with disheveled hair and tattered clothes, her bones visible in various places, she looked like an ancient, bizarre piece of deadwood.
“That woman escaped!” Ruoquan said coldly.
“Na Xiu’er escaped?” Duo Zai’s eyes flickered, her expression suddenly becoming animated as if she had found enlightenment at the end of a desperate road. She turned to face the remaining members of her clan behind her and shouted, “Did you all hear that? Did you hear? Our Na Xiu has escaped, she’s not here, she succeeded. Our journey wasn’t in vain, we didn’t give our lives for nothing, and we didn’t fail our distant E’na Qi brethren. We didn’t do wrong, and we’re not in despair. Rejoice, everyone! Now we can die without regrets, now we have no more remorse!” As soon as she finished speaking, those before her began to shout in agreement, their voices of resolution rising one after another.
“She will come back to save you!” Ruoquan’s eyes darkened as he spoke slowly, one hand still playing with an earring he had taken from Huang Beishuang’s ear the night before, seeming quite expectant.
“No! She definitely won’t!” Duo Zai turned and shouted angrily.
“She is Na Xiu’er, who was sent for political marriage. Her existence is not for us, a mere hundred people, but for the seven thousand E’na Qi far away in a foreign land. She won’t forget her mission, absolutely not!”
“Hmph! What’s her real name? Na Xiu is just a title, isn’t it? What’s her true name?” Ruoquan asked.
The hall fell silent, with no one answering him.
Ruoquan remained silent for a moment, then stood up, dropping the earring in his hand. The earring hit the ground with a jarring sound. The bandits standing on both sides of the hall grew excited. They heard Ruoquan say coldly, “Kill!”
The hundred prisoners were immediately surrounded in the middle. The bandits, some holding knives and others swords treated the prisoners as mere flesh dolls, slashing and hacking as they pleased.
After sunrise, the small oasis wasn’t as cold as it had been at night. Sunlight penetrated the hardy desert trees and fell on the yellow earth. Many jumping mice and white scorpions emerged from their burrows to forage. Wisps of white smoke could be seen rising from deep in the green forest, thin and long, likely from a recently extinguished campfire.
Huang Beishuang was wrapped in a thick blanket, her skin still bearing the chill of the icy lake water from the night before. Although she had restrained her primal instincts, it had thoroughly shattered her delicate frame. When she woke up, her face was flushed, her limbs weak, her entire body curled up and shivering.
“You have a fever. You were too reckless last night! Your body couldn’t handle it, could it?” Qingyun, who had been awake for some time, was packing things up nearby. Seeing her pitiful state, he felt both annoyed and amused.
Huang Beishuang turned her head to see Qingyun standing tall beside his white horse, looking almost dreamlike. She was lost in thought for quite a while before gritting her teeth and shakily standing up. She slowly walked up to him, her eyes fixed intently on Qingyun. He was indeed a handsome man, with fine features, tall and straight, and an extraordinary demeanor, more charming than any man she had seen in her clan.
Yet she couldn’t help but wonder, how could such a man be wandering in the desert.
Qingyun glanced at her, ignoring her thoughts, and suddenly tied up his bundle. He then placed his hand on Huang Beishuang’s forehead, smiling as he said, “Good, the fever has gone down a bit! Let’s find something to eat in a while.” With that, he turned and kicked apart the campfire.
Huang Beishuang suddenly felt a bit shy. She quickly turned her head away, her hand unconsciously touching her forehead. In her heart, she felt joy. It was the first time in her life she had felt this way, and it was indeed very strange, making her eyes flicker, unable to look directly at him.
“Ah!” Lost in her thoughts, Huang Beishuang was caught off guard as Qingyun suddenly scooped her up and leaped onto the horse’s back. He said in a deep voice, “Let’s go!”
“Where to?” Huang Beishuang held onto his chest.
Qingyun looked down at her, their faces close, and chuckled, “Wherever you need to go, I’ll take you there. Yunpei? Or E’na Qi? Whatever you decide.”
“Why?” she asked.
“To repay your kindness of lending me your horse!”
Hearing this, Huang Beishuang fell silent for a moment, then sighed softly, “Feita must be very important to you!”