With the passage of time, the former military stronghold had taken on immense economic significance. Yet Zhenxi Prefectural City had ultimately been forged for war. As the sun sank in the west, watchmen from the City Defense Bureau began calling out the curfew, and the bustling clamor of carriages and crowds in every street and alley swiftly receded like the tide.
Row upon row of houses and the upturned eaves of towering pavilions seemed frozen for a fleeting instant in the setting sun before plunging into the nocturnal darkness.
Shrouded in darkness, the long streets grew quiet and empty. Traveling merchants and peddlers with no homes to return to gathered inside inns and taverns of every size. In the main halls, travelers of all stripes clustered in groups of two or three, shouting boisterously as they drank and made merry.
This din traveled up the stairs, drifting through the corridors and penetrating the poorly soundproofed wooden door of a guest room.
The room was not large, plainly and simply furnished. No heavy incense burned, yet a faint, subtle fragrance hung in the air.
A large yellow dog sat on its haunches by the entrance, blinking foolish, innocent eyes as it stared at a woman pacing back and forth inside.
Due to the oppressive heat, she was not fully dressed. Across her chest was a wrap in the style of Western Regions women, paired below with silk underpants. Slender, fair legs crossed continuously in her stride, outlining a tall, graceful figure.
Perhaps sensing her inner restlessness, the yellow dog occasionally gave a tentative, ingratiating wag of its tail.
Unfortunately,
This fawning did it little good.
When the tall woman paced back beside the dog and caught it staring at her, she gave its seated rump an irritated kick.
"What are you looking at?"
"Awoo—"
Yelping in pain, the dog immediately tucked its tail and scrambled over to the double bed inside the room. Wagging its tail frantically at the other woman sitting on the bed, it whined softly to register its grievance.
The woman sitting by the edge of the bed appeared far gentler. Her features were picturesque, her waist slender as a willow swaying in the breeze. Clear, emerald-green eyes like polished jewels glanced at the tall woman before she reached out a slender hand to rub the dog's head in comfort.
The dog narrowed its eyes in bliss, panting softly, and was just about to hop onto the bed when the tall woman's cool voice rang out:
"If you dare get on that bed, I'll break your legs!"
"..."
Hearing the sharp rebuke, the dog froze mid-motion, flopped onto the floor, and rolled over onto its back to show its belly in appeasement.
The tall woman snorted coldly at the sight and resumed pacing the room.
The Western Regions woman seated by the bed watched the pacing woman for a few moments before softly speaking in slightly awkward Great Yan tongue:
"Li Junwu, are you acting so strange today because of what those madmen were shouting this evening?"
Hearing this, Li Junwu furrowed her brows, shot a glance at the ethereal Western Regions maiden, and scoffed, "What does that have to do with you?"
The Western Regions maiden offered a faint smile. "We are in the same boat now, so naturally it concerns me."
Li Junwu halted her steps. Staring at the Great Desert Divine Maiden with a hint of amusement in her eyes, she said in a slightly raspy voice, "Jiayi, don't think I don't know what you're after."
Jiayi's emerald eyes flickered, and she chuckled softly. "You're so wary of me, yet you still rely on Linlang's avatar for cover. If it hadn't concealed this room, those traitors in your family would have found you long ago, wouldn't they?"
With that,
Jiayi lowered her gaze and leaned down to rub the belly of the yellow dog beside her feet. Her soft bosom pressed against her bare thighs as she spoke in an unhurried drawl:
"Truly pitiful... You have returned to your own family's city, yet you have no one you can trust and can only wait until your father marches his army back."
Li Junwu was not provoked. Tucking the loose hair that fell across her front behind her ear, she retorted tartly, "No matter how bad off I am, I'm still better off than the Great Desert Divine Maiden. Hounded all over like a stray dog, trying to find a master to beg for help, only for them to want to butcher you for dog meat."
A flash of warning crossed Li Junwu's handsome, spirited dark eyes as she scrutinized the other woman's curvaceous figure.
"Besides, are you itching for another beating?"
Jiayi's exquisite eyes froze slightly, her chest heaving as she forced herself to calm down. "Li Junwu, I don't want to quarrel with you. Rather than pacing there making wild guesses on your own, why not speak your mind so we can figure something out together?"
"..."
A warm breeze drifted through the half-ajar window lattice, fluttering the two women's long hair in the silence.
Recalling the shouts she had heard at dusk, Li Junwu bit her lip with a complicated expression, her slender hands clenching into fists unconsciously.
Seeing her reaction, Jiayi knitted her brows and asked in a measured voice, "Were the words that madman shouted a secret code meant for you?"
"..."
Li Junwu did not reply immediately. Stepping forward, she sat down on the edge of the bed beside the Great Desert Divine Maiden, her eyelids cast down, thick, curling lashes trembling slightly.
As if sensing the shift in the human woman's mood, the dog rolled over and quietly crept off to lie down in a corner.
Jiayi studied her profile, stayed silent for a brief moment, and said softly, "It seems I guessed right."
Li Junwu took a deep breath and murmured, "Yeah."
"Then why didn't you respond?"
"Because he's dead."
"If he's dead, then it's a trap."
The Great Desert Divine Maiden pursed her red lips. Looking at the woman beside her, she drew a deep breath. "There is no need for us to take this risk right now."
Li Junwu clasped her hands together tightly.
"But... only he and I know about this."
"..."
Silence stretched between them.
Li Junwu rubbed her brow in mild frustration. Then, as if reaching an epiphany, she suddenly let out a soft laugh and smiled.
"Scoundrels live forever. I knew that guy wouldn't die so easily. Made me worry for nothing all this time."
Jiayi scraped her slender feet gently against the rough floorboards and said slowly, "You trust him?"
"Of course."
Li Junwu took it for granted, glancing back with a gentle smile. "I plan to send Cangbei to check out the bait he threw out."
Cangbei was Li Junwu's only surviving personal guard.
Jiayi's toes dug lightly into the floor as she said in a low voice, "What I mean is, even if you make contact with him, will it change our current predicament? You know your Zhenxi Manor has been thoroughly infiltrated."
As she spoke,
Jiayi reached out and caught Li Junwu's fair wrist, whispering hurriedly, "If it can't, you might as well consider my earlier proposal."
Li Junwu raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the hand holding her wrist. "Which proposal?"
"As long as your Zhenxi Manor is willing to help me seize control of the Dachao Royal Court, I swear in the name of the Great Desert Divine Maiden that no war will arise in the Western Desert for a hundred years."
"And in return, I first have to escort you out of the city to find Linlang's true body?"
"..." Jiayi fell silent.
With a chuckle, Li Junwu pulled her wrist free from Jiayi's grip and said mildly, "Stop joking. Do you really think that's realistic? Neither my old man nor I have any habit of nursing bandits to magnify our own importance. Besides, our Zhenxi Army shares a blood feud with you Dachao folk."
Saying this,
Li Junwu stood up crisply and walked to the window. Looking out toward where the shouting madman had passed earlier, a tender warmth flitted across her spirited brows.
"Hmph. That guy may usually act completely unreliable, but on matters of fundamental principle, I trust him.
"Besides, the fact that he guessed I'm here in Zhenxi Prefectural City already speaks volumes. With his status, there's plenty he can do."
Staring at her back, Jiayi pressed, "Could that person you speak of not be an accomplice to those trying to kill us?"
Hearing this, Li Junwu looked back immediately, her eyes laced with wry amusement. Drawing out her words with a suppressed smile, she said, "Him? Even if you betrayed your own Dachao people, he would never compromise with those sect people."
After her words fell, silence enveloped the guest room.
The yellow dog lay at the Great Desert Divine Maiden's feet, looking up at the two women with innocent curiosity, its wagging tail brushing occasionally against the Divine Maiden's exposed bronze calf.
*Thump.*
Jiayi gave the wretched dog a light kick, driving it further away, then suddenly smiled at Li Junwu. "If that person is truly as you say, then perhaps we really can break this deadlock."
Li Junwu curved her eyes and shrugged. Summoning a robe, she draped it over herself to cover her exposed skin, then tossed another to the Great Desert Divine Maiden, murmuring, "Put some clothes on. Cangbei should be returning soon."
***
The night in Zhenxi Prefectural City was remarkably quiet.
Sitting on the threshold and gazing up at the starry sky, Xu Yuan heard the sudden rumble of galloping hooves outside the courtyard gate. He reflexively extended his intent soul, but to his disappointment, the party outside was not the one he was waiting for, but a neatly equipped patrol of mounted guards.
In practical terms, the curfew in Zhenxi Manor was even stricter than in Beifeng City.
Setting aside the authority to execute first and report later if pedestrians were encountered at night, in times of war, they even possessed the right to break down doors and conduct searches without justification.
In addition,
The cavalry commanders patrolling outside carried authority tokens capable of manipulating portions of the city-protecting array.
The civilian government handling civil administration and the City Defense Bureau in charge of the city-protecting array were mere figureheads here.
Yet perhaps this was a common ailment shared by all frontier garrison towns in Great Yan:
The military governed the civil administration.
No matter an official's rank, once here, they had to obey the military's orders.
Everything yielded to war.
Summer in the desert lacked the chirping of cicadas; there was only boundless stillness.
Hearing the silence return beyond the gate, Xu Yuan drew his gaze back from the starry sky and closed his eyes to rest his mind.
Scenery that had been a rare wonder in his past life had become so familiar in this life that he was almost numb to it.
Time ticked by. Right up until midnight, Xu Yuan had yet to hear the knock he was waiting for. Instead, the mounted patrols strolled past his courtyard gate several more times.
The clatter of hooves was neither fast nor slow, clicking against the bluestone pavement and carrying far into the night.
*Again.*
Listening to the stir outside, Xu Yuan habitually cast his spiritual vision past the gate, only to find the same result as before.
Watching the conscientious cavalry patrol move off into the distance, he was about to withdraw his spiritual vision when he suddenly spotted two figures appearing at the end of the alley.
Neither figure was weak in cultivation. Covering the span of some ten zhang in a single leap, they landed right outside his courtyard gate.
Both wore black robes of different styles, though both appeared to be artifact garments with properties that masked perception—yet they were virtually useless against Xu Yuan's spiritual vision.
Zhou Chen and an unfamiliar young man.
As the thought crossed his mind, Xu Yuan saw the unfamiliar young man attempt to vault directly over the wall, only to be yanked down by Zhou Chen, who pointed at the door knocker.
*To see my young master, you have to knock.*
The young man looked on in astonishment.
*What time do you think it is? Still knocking?*
Zhou Chen looked entirely matter-of-fact as he raised a hand to knock.
"..."
*This Grandmaster Zhou sure knows how to make his presence felt.*
Amused, Xu Yuan opened his eyes, and his voice sounded simultaneously in both men's ears outside the gate:
"Just come straight in."
*Whoosh—*
With an almost imperceptible rustle of robes, the two outside landed in the square courtyard nearly at the same time.
The unfamiliar young man's eyes were full of scrutiny.
The moment Zhou Chen landed, he dropped to his knees in salute. "Young Master, I've brought him."
"..."
Still seated on the threshold, Xu Yuan ignored Zhou Chen and looked at the unfamiliar young man. "Are you a confidant of Li Junwu?"
The young man slowly pulled back his cowl, revealing a resolute, handsome face with eyes bright as stars. Cupping his hands, he bowed. "By order of the Commandery Princess, I have come to meet with you, Young Master."
Rising, Xu Yuan dusted off his soiled robes and gave a faint smile. "Now that you've seen me, can you tell me where she is?"
The resolute youth's hands, clasped in a Great Yan military salute, tightened slightly. He said in a low voice, "Before that, I must confirm one question with you."
"Your Commandery Princess truly is rather suspicious. Ask away."
"..."
The youth pondered for a moment, fixed his eyes on Xu Yuan, and asked gravely, "The Commandery Princess asks: who is she stronger than?"
"Huh?"
Hearing this question, Xu Yuan froze momentarily. The cascading moonlight fell upon his handsome disguise, his expression turning somewhat bizarre. "What did you say she asked?"
"..."
The youth did not answer. His starry eyes grew instantly alert, his gaze sweeping rapidly across the courtyard.
Noticing the change in his posture, Xu Yuan immediately chuckled. "Don't be nervous, brother. I'm just a little surprised, not unable to answer."
"..." The youth remained silent.
Sensing the youth treating him like a formidable enemy, Xu Yuan stopped joking. Recalling briefly, he answered in a steady voice:
"Li Qingyan. Or rather, Wuyuan."
"Correct."
"Heh... how childish."
With the secret code verified, Xu Yuan couldn't help letting out a laugh.
Seeing the touch of hostility creep into the youth's eyes, however, he reined in his smile and asked:
"How should I address you, brother?"
The youth took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "The Young Master may simply call me Cangbei."
*Cangbei...*
He recalled that this seemed to be the designation of a garrison division in the Zhenxi Army.
Sizing up the young man, Xu Yuan showed no intention of prying further into his real name and returned to the main point:
"Cangbei, now that our identities are confirmed, could you tell me where she is?"
Chapter 619