Chapter 63

The piercing cold wind blew bitterly, and the carriage was lined with a thick, plush woolen blanket, with a fiercely burning charcoal brazier specially placed inside.

Gu Hanjiang lifted the carriage curtain from the outside, tilting his head to peek inside.

Fortunately, the two inside were getting along rather well; aside from the atmosphere being frozen to absolute zero, everything else could be considered harmonious.

A blast of cold wind poured in, and Pei Muchi lifted his gaze indifferently, "What is it?"

Looking at his clear and piercing expression, Gu Hanjiang rode his horse closer to the carriage, seized the right moment to step inside, and said, "I've followed you for all these years, facing life and death countless times more than I can count. How come you never mentioned transferring even a tiny bit of your internal energy to me?"

In past years, he had constantly led troops into battle, stepping back from the gates of hell on multiple occasions, yet this man had never been willing to spare even a single kind word.

Du Jin put away his needles, silently began to organize his medicine chest, and looked as though he were merely a traveling physician temporarily invited to treat an illness.

Seeing that Du Jin hadn't even prescribed a single herbal remedy, Gu Hanjiang panicked and said, "Finding medicine in this place isn't easy, but we can still figure out a way to brew some."

In truth, he was also afraid that Du Jin held a lingering grudge against Pei Muchi and would refuse to treat him with full effort.

"No prescription is needed." Du Jin shook his head, his tone devoid of any particular emotion.

Gu Hanjiang patted his chest, finally letting his suspended heart drop back into place. "You scared me. I thought he was beyond saving."

Du Jin originally did not want to discuss this matter, but unwilling to violate the initial oath of his medical practice, he pondered for a moment and said, "He is indeed beyond saving."

The poison in Pei Muchi's body was far too complex; medicine might temporarily alleviate the pain, but it had no way of completely suppressing it. Given his current physical condition, further rough and exhausting travel would render ordinary medicine utterly useless. The only option was to use acupuncture to force the poison into a single area, and then bleed him to relieve the symptoms.

"Didn't you used to say that blood exchange using a direct relative was possible? How can he be beyond saving?"

Du Jin wanted nothing to do with this. He disinfected and wiped the silver needles one by one, methodically placing them back into the needle pouch of his medicine chest, deliberately avoiding the topic.

Gu Hanjiang understood the entanglements between the two men, but recently he had frequently kept Du Jin by his side, subtly teaching him to familiarize himself with military affairs. He had observed that Du Jin often used his rest periods to visit the medical tents and examine wounded soldiers, personally handling bandaging and decocting medicine himself.

A person capable of such actions could not be cold-hearted and merciless. As long as someone pestered him with pleasant words, he might just relent.

"It is only right that you do not wish to save me," Pei Muchi said indifferently, his sickly pallor masking any trace of blood in his complexion.

His robe was still half-draped over his shoulder, the dark embroidered dragon pattern along the edges winding around him like a coiled ring, making him appear as opulent and noble as warm suet jade, emitting a gentle, radiant luster through the pale cyan-white tones.

Unable to bear this self-defeating attitude, Gu Hanjiang turned back to try and persuade Du Jin.

"Just think, that young lady's whereabouts are still unknown. Although Pei Muchi isn't much to look at otherwise, his power is vast; aren't we relying on him to track her down? If he were to drop dead halfway, who would have the ability to go search for that girl?" Gu Hanjiang sat beside Du Jin, rambling away inside the cramped carriage.

He was naturally talkative, and Du Jin, unable to fend him off and knowing it wouldn't do to ignore him entirely, replied, "This acupuncture treatment forced back the poison approaching his heart, which can ensure he remains safe for half a month."

Only half a month? How could that possibly be enough?

The roads of the border towns were already difficult to navigate, and Pei Muchi, suffering from an intolerance to the cold, had already pushed himself to the absolute limit by chasing all the way to the northern frontier without fear or hesitation. Furthermore, upon seeing Qingwu being coerced by Qi Yu and helplessly missing her by a hair's breadth, he had swallowed a breath of despair, causing his physical condition to instantly collapse.

Even Lian Xizhi and Lian Xixing, who obeyed his every word, had urged Pei Muchi not to go out again.

Yet he stubbornly insisted, dragging his riddled and broken body out of the city to search for someone.

Pei Muchi's internal energy was now reduced to only half of its original level; if he suffered another relapse of the poison, there would be no path to survival left.

Moreover, the fact that Du Jin could buy him half a month with a casual exertion of effort showed that he did have a way to detoxify the poison; it was simply that he still resented the destruction of his wedding banquet and was unwilling to save the man.

Gu Hanjiang was just about to speak, but before he could get two words out, he was interrupted by Pei Muchi.

"Half a month is enough."

He remained calm and unruffled, acting as though it were not his own body at all, letting himself be relentlessly tormented without a shred of self-pity.

"Enough? What do you mean, enough!" Gu Hanjiang raised his voice to a shout, so loud that even An Qi, sitting outside the carriage, felt his eardrums ache.

As if already accustomed to it, Du Jin ignored Gu Hanjiang's ear-splitting roar, took out a few pieces of cotton the size of finger joints, dipped them in strong liquor from his pouch, and applied them to the needle punctures on Pei Muchi's shoulders and back. He did not look like someone petty enough to harbor grudges for personal enmity.

Having finished all this, he did not linger, burying his head as he stepped out of the carriage.

Left without anyone to talk to, Gu Hanjiang feigned rubbing his knees and stood up.

Pei Muchi's gaze sank slightly as he cast a gloomy glance at his companion.

Realizing his purpose had been seen through, Gu Hanjiang sheepishly settled back into his original seat and continued running his mouth, "Just how deep is your grudge and hatred toward Du Jin that you have to drive things to this state? I've stayed with him all these days and found out he's genuinely a wonderful person. I was even thinking of securing an official post for him once we return to Bianjing."

"You haven't even become the Imperial Preceptor yet, and you're already forming cliques?" Pei Muchi furrowed his brow.

Gu Hanjiang refused to show weakness. "You haven't even become emperor yet, and your suspicions are already this heavy?"

Pei Muchi easily tuned out his voice, treating him like air.

Anxious and furious, Gu Hanjiang had gone out of his way to win over Du Jin precisely because of the poison in Pei Muchi's body, only to find that some people still didn't appreciate the gesture.

For the sake of this sickly wretch's frail appearance, he, as a magnanimous man, would temporarily let it go.

"How could a situation like this even happen?" he changed the subject.

Qi Yu had indeed been deliberately released from the heavenly prison by them, but his arrival time in Quanzhou was a full day earlier than planned.

"Are you certain there's nothing wrong with that Prefect of Quanzhou?" Pei Muchi had also been pondering this question.

The anticipated route had been simulated countless times; Qi Yu could not have altered the pre-arranged events through his own strength alone.

Gu Hanjiang said with absolute certainty, "There's no problem. The prefects I promoted are either impoverished scholars who spent years in hard study, or long-time brothers behind the scenes in the Chiyu Pavilion. Several of them were personally trained by me; their scholarship and moral conduct are top-notch."

It was rare for Pei Muchi to hear someone boasting of themselves in his presence, and he couldn't help but deflate his arrogance. "Even someone who has followed you for many years can still develop problems."

Just like Yun Ting, who had known about something for over half a year and kept silent; if he hadn't accidentally revealed clues about capturing Hanyue, perhaps Pei Muchi would have truly mistaken him for Qingwu's person.

The usually endlessly talkative Gu Hanjiang fell as silent as if a bottle cork had plugged his mouth, frighteningly quiet.

Not hearing a response for a long time, Pei Muchi asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Pei Yuanxi, are you taking a jab at me over this? Do you have any conscience at all as a human being?"

When it came to the length of time spent following him, who could possibly surpass Gu Hanjiang? Pei Muchi's suspicious paranoia was clearly a way of blaming him for failing to properly arrange this affair and placing the person he cared about most into mortal danger.

He was simply heartless and ungrateful—a dog biting Lü Dongbin!

Pei Muchi shifted his body slightly, his silk-like black hair spreading across the soft couch with his movement, leaving him indifferent as the person right in front of him threw a tantrum at arm's length.

"There's only half a month left. Any other last words or instructions?" Gu Hanjiang deliberately spoke with malicious intent.

Pei Muchi's gaze was serene and desolate, as if completely unmoved by everything Gu Hanjiang had said.

"When my time is finally up, I will pass the remaining half of my internal energy to you. Do you want it?"

His hands rested softly on the blanket before him, a faint, detached smile hanging on his lips, with a chilling curve that was even more freezing than ice and snow.

An Qi had no idea what was happening inside the carriage, only seeing Military Advisor Gu rush out of the carriage looking furious, slam the curtain down fiercely, and whip his horse forward without looking back, as if venting the accumulated frustration and discontent in his heart through rapid galloping.

He turned his head and lifted a corner of the carriage curtain.

Pei Muchi half-leaned against the edge of the couch, closing his eyes to rest, his breathing so faint it seemed as though all vitality had left him.

***

In the vast desert, wind and sand rolled endlessly, with nothing meeting the eye but monotonous earthy yellow. The red sun rose from the horizon and descended not far away.

On the very first day of his arrival, Qi Yu was invited into the Great King's tent, and the two of them engaged in unknown discussions.

Meanwhile, Qingwu adjusted and rested within her own small tent until the third day, when she decided to go out for a stroll and perhaps gather some intelligence.

Spending the nights in the same tent as Qi Yu left her unable to sleep soundly through the night. Having made up her decision, she wrapped herself in half of the quilt, enjoyed a comfortable sleep upon waking up, and then got dressed and packed.

Unexpectedly, the moment she stepped out of the door, she was blocked.

Two exceptionally crude and wild broadswords crossed to bar her way, and a foreigner with small eyes and high cheekbones inspected the newcomer with a lecherous gaze.

Who knew how Qi Yu had managed to win the hearts of these people, actually causing that Great King to issue an order restricting his barbarian subordinates from offending her.

Unwilling to expose her martial arts skills too early, Qingwu gazed at the two tiger-skin-clad giants with delicate, alluring eyes.

Since they couldn't communicate through language anyway, she couldn't be bothered to waste her breath. Her eyes were brimming with autumn waters, clearer and more mesmerizing than a mirror lake in the wilderness, paired with a radiant smile capable of melting ice and snow—altogether far more charming than the most bewitching white fox, effortlessly coaxing people into willingly drowning in the illusion without wishing to wake up.

"I never expected that in this lifetime I would still get to see her Ladyship the Princess display such an expression." A clear, standard Mandarin voice reached her ears, carrying a sense of long-lost familiarity.

Qingwu searched her memory thoroughly, yet she could not recall where she had ever heard such a voice.

Noticing that the two brute guards had already shown signs of backing down, and not wanting to let her previous efforts go to waste, she feigned the panicked fluttering of a startled jungle fawn, darting her eyes about in distress.

The woman who had spoken moments before slowly paced to the front, standing a few paces away with a complex expression.

"How could it be you?"

The woman stepped out from behind a tent flap, their gazes locking instantly. Surprise gradually morphed into impatience; Qingwu didn't even care to put up a front anymore, her expression instantly dropping.

Qin Susu's complexion didn't look much better either. She waved her hands dismissively at the two guards and muttered a few obscure, difficult words.

Just as Qingwu was astonished by Qin Susu's standing in this place, Qin Susu unexpectedly offered to help her out of the tent enclosure.

Naturally, going with the flow, Qingwu decided to follow her outside first and figure things out later.

The tribespeople basically could not understand the Han language, so the two women did not deliberately lower their voices.

Walking in the fine sand was inconvenient; every step sank deep and easily filled their shoes with grit. Qin Susu led Qingwu on a tour around the densely populated area, working up a light sweat, though they failed to spot the people who had originally ambushed and abducted them.

After exchanging a few perfunctory pleasantries, the two ran out of things to say. It wasn't until their calves began to ache that Qin Susu finally took the initiative to ask, "Are you still walking, or not?"

Supporting her waist lightly, Qingwu shook her head.

Expecting Qin Susu to lead her back to her tent, she was surprised when her guide instead turned toward the area with the tightest guard presence.

"I know what you're trying to find out. I can take you there, but you have to promise me one thing."