In these treacherous times, the surface calm belied an underlying turmoil. To have someone to stand by, to rely on each other amidst the chaos, and to find solace in one another brought immense comfort. Even if misfortune were to strike the next moment, at least for now, they were not alone.
“Then we won’t leave,” Zhu Yan said, understanding Shen Du’s inner conflict. With the entire Shen family massacred and the truth seemingly within reach, how could she selfishly ask Shen Du to give up? If their roles were reversed, she too would likely persist, refusing to turn back until she hit a wall, and even then, she would keep pushing forward.
Zhu Yan released her tight grip on Shen Du’s sleeve, clenching her delicate fist. “Let’s dig out this rotten piece of wood and uncover everything about what happened back then. It would be best to let Lai Luozhi taste his own invented torture devices.”
She suddenly paused, and Shen Du looked at her with slight confusion.
“Oh, ‘let him fall into his trap.’ Let him experience the torment of those wronged souls,” she added.
For a moment, they exchanged smiles, with Shen Du nodding firmly in complete agreement.
The atmosphere was just right, and they had reached a consensus. Zhu Yan, remembering that Shen Du was still hungry, stood up to make some porridge.
A teacup suddenly flew between them, startling Zhu Yan back into her chair.
They both looked in the direction from which the cup had flown. They saw Su Guang grabbing Pan Chi’s collar, trying to drag him out the door. Pan Chi was desperately clinging to the wall cracks, his toes braced against the threshold, refusing to budge an inch.
Unexpectedly, Su Guang, seeing this, delivered a flying kick to his thigh. The barbarian woman’s strength was surprisingly great, and Pan Chi couldn’t withstand it, falling to his knees with a thud.
Even on his knees, Pan Chi stubbornly resisted, refusing to move a step.
Left with no choice, Su Guang grabbed his collar with one hand while rummaging through her satchel with the other. As if performing a magic trick, she produced a plain little box, smiling maliciously as she dangled it before Pan Chi’s eyes.
Pan Chi immediately recognized it as a box for housing gu worms. Western Region people were fond of raising gu, and there might well be several gu worms inside, just waiting for a drop of Pan Chi’s blood.
“You crazy woman!” Pan Chi suddenly shouted. Zhu Yan didn’t understand, but judging by the situation, the box seemed to contain something frightening and ominous. Her heart clenched, and at that moment, Shen Du whispered beside her:
“That’s a gu box for raising gu worms. There are gu worms inside.”
Gu worms?
Pan Chi had already exploded, jumping up and facing Su Guang with wariness.
“Then come back to Wusun with me,” she demanded.
“What do you mean ‘come back’? I was born and raised in the Central Plains! If anyone’s going back, it’s you coming back here from there,” he retorted.
“I don’t care, you’re coming with me,” she insisted.
Zhu Yan felt a hidden worry. It was at her insistence that Pan Chi had gone to the Western Regions, but she hadn’t anticipated that in his quest for the antidote, he would provoke a gu-raising holy maiden, potentially putting his life in danger.
“Zhu Yan?!”
Seeing Zhu Yan not responding, Shen Du followed her gaze and saw her staring intently at Pan Chi, oblivious even to his call. An alarm bell rang in his heart, and he tugged at her sleeve, forcing her to look at him.
Zhu Yan turned to face him, seemingly puzzled by his behavior.
Seeing her bewildered expression, Shen Du swallowed the words that had been on the tip of his tongue, causing Zhu Yan to look at him strangely.
They stared at each other, neither speaking a word.
Suddenly, Zhu Yan laughed, “What’s the matter? Why so serious and silent?”
Although she asked with a smile, Shen Du’s face remained stern, his eyes dark. Zhu Yan was taken aback, wondering if she had done something wrong to upset Shen Du.
But she couldn’t think of anything.
“Could it be that the poison in your body hasn’t been fully eliminated? Are you feeling unwell?” she asked, reaching out to check Shen Du’s pulse.
Shen Du remained silent, allowing her to do so. His eyes glanced toward Pan Chi, but he eventually shook his head and said, “It’s nothing.”
Since Zhu Yan had completely forgotten about the amber stone incident, Shen Du thought to himself, why bring it up voluntarily?
Just as he was about to say something to change the subject, Pan Chi’s cry for help pierced the air.
Su Guang held the gu box in one hand and gripped Pan Chi’s hand with the other. Whether she had pressed on his acupoint or not, Pan Chi suddenly found himself unable to break free and was obediently following her.
Seeing this, Shen Du naturally moved to intervene, but Zhu Yan stopped him:
“You’ve just been detoxified and your body is weak. I don’t want you to get involved.”
“I’ll go stop them,” she said.
Shen Du nodded, feeling a warmth in his heart. He then spoke a few sentences in the Wusun language, leaving Zhu Yan bewildered. She hadn’t expected Shen Du to know the Wusun language.
She did lack experience.
Su Guang turned her head to look at Shen Du in surprise, apparently not expecting a third person here to know the Wusun language.
Zhu Yan also looked at Shen Du quizzically, hoping for an explanation.
“I was responsible for receiving guests from Wusun when foreign envoys came to pay tribute in the past, so I learned a few phrases,” he explained, then looked pointedly at Pan Chi. “Of course, not as much as he knows.”
This didn’t seem like Shen Du, being so modest at a crucial moment.
“Still better than me, I don’t know a single word,” she said, turning his face towards her and smiling softly. “I don’t even know how to say hello.”
With that, she gently tapped Shen Du’s face, her smile growing sweeter.
The two of them seemed oblivious to their surroundings, which infuriated Pan Chi. Before he could react, Su Guang, for some unknown reason, exploded like an agitated grasshopper. She continued to drag Pan Chi towards the door, unwilling to let him go.
Pan Chi, caught off guard by his attention on Zhu Yan, was easily manipulated by Su Guang. Now he panicked, as he had no desire to go to Wusun.
He had merely not denied Su Guang’s words, but he hadn’t agreed either. These Western Region women were strange indeed, so stubborn and persistent. Central Plainswomen were better, he thought; they didn’t cling or make a fuss, just shed a few tears and said goodbye when it was time to leave.
“Are you going to stand by and watch me die?” Pan Chi suddenly shouted at Shen Du as he was about to be dragged out.
At Shen Du’s command, Jing Lin and the other hidden guards appeared out of nowhere, standing before Shen Du, awaiting his orders.
Pan Chi felt like crying. So these people had been here all along but only responded to Shen Du’s call.
Shen Du looked at Pan Chi and said, “Stop them.”
The men surrounded Su Guang and Pan Chi, blocking their path.
Su Guang’s face turned red with anger as she tried to break through the encirclement.
Jing Lin was also quite surprised. This Western Region woman had given the antidote to their leader, but who would have thought she had so much entanglement with Pan Chi?
Looking at Pan Chi’s face, as handsome as Pan An, well, understanding prevailed.
Su Guang didn’t dare poison these innocent people for no reason. Unable to break through left or right, before they could move in to pull Pan Chi away from her, she angrily threw him aside out of frustration.
Due to the sudden loss of balance, he nearly fell.
After several attempts at persuasion, Su Guang still refused to let Pan Chi go, even accusing Shen Du and the others of meddling, insisting that Pan Chi should be taken back.
Left with no choice, Shen Du had to order his men to place the holy maiden under house arrest.
All this was done considering that Pan Chi had provoked this woman while seeking the antidote for him.