A Promise

As her words fell, no tsunami of fervent cheers erupted across the drill ground. There was only a deathly silence, accompanied by the complicated, skeptical gazes of the soldiers below. Stepping down from the martial platform in silence, the expression on Li Junwu's clean, lovely face remained as cold and stern as before, though her grip on the hilt of her waist saber tightened hard. The surrounding soundlessness—like plunging into the depths of the sea—wove an invisible hand that clutched violently at her heart. The gazes across the field seemed to mock her powerless struggle, deriding how useless her best efforts were. Li Junwu walked very slowly. Even as the meridians inside her body sent searing spasms of pain through her, she still walked slowly. She longed for someone to break the silence around her ears, even if with only a few scattered shouts. Yet to her dismay, even as she walked the long length of the military phalanxes, even as she passed out through the drill ground gates, the soldiers of the Second Town inside remained completely silent. Rumble— As the heavy gates of the drill ground swung shut with a dull boom, Li Junwu came to a halt. A trickle of fresh blood finally seeped from the corner of her lips. Raising a hand to wipe the blood from her lips, she lowered her eyes and stared at the crimson on her fingertips for several seconds. A flicker of self-mockery crossed her cool, lovely face, and she looked up at the blue sky beyond the protective canopy. "That really was a failed pre-battle speech, wasn't it?" "Fairly speaking, it wasn't a total failure." "..." Li Junwu immediately turned toward the source of the voice. A fleeting trace of reliance flashed through her narrow eyes, but suppressing the sentiment, she said in a low voice, "Are you trying to comfort me?" "No." Leaning against the courtyard wall, Xu Yuan pushed himself forward and walked over to her. Handing her a silk handkerchief, he smiled faintly. "Just stating a fact. A commander saying a few words on stage and the soldiers below howling like they've been pumped full of adrenaline—that happens, but it doesn't apply to you." Li Junwu took the handkerchief to dab away the blood on her lips and asked, "Why doesn't it apply?" "How can a profligate princess like you possibly compare to commanders who have won the army's hearts and minds? Their prestige was built victory by victory." "It seems you really didn't come to comfort me." "I, Xu Changtian, never lie to women." "Hmph." "..." Xu Yuan shifted his gaze away from the handkerchief stained with red and began walking toward the Military Hub Hall. "Still, your speech wasn't useless. At least it stabilized the army's morale—stabilized it until your vow is broken. For now, no one will step forward to question the legitimacy of this profligate princess's actions." Li Junwu quickened her pace to walk alongside him amidst the lush summer greenery and scorching heat. "What about the traitors who might be lurking among them?" "They wouldn't dare cause trouble right now." Xu Yuan thought for a moment and glanced back at her. "No matter how profligate you are, you are still the princess of Zhenxi Manor. Now that you've staked your life on an oath like that, anyone who dared to mock you at a time like this would instantly become a target of universal condemnation." With a sigh, Xu Yuan added, "The ranks stayed dead silent just now probably because the vow you made was so outrageous that they couldn't process it in time. After all, an oath like that is something even your father or Marquis Wucheng would hardly dare promise." "Heh." Li Junwu grinned slyly. "So that means this young lady really is impressive, doesn't it?" Smack! Xu Yuan slapped the back of the woman's armor, sending her stumbling forward, and scolded exasperatedly, "I was mocking you! You're actually taking it as a compliment?!" Stumbling a few steps, Li Junwu dropped to one knee on the lawn ahead. Her delicate features twisted in pain, and she gritted her teeth, glaring back over her shoulder. "Xu Changtian! I'm wounded right now! Besides, tell me—aside from saying that, what other way did I have to stabilize the army's morale?!" Xu Yuan cast a glance at her, paid her no heed, and walked right past her. Gritting her teeth, Li Junwu endured the pain and pushed herself up from the grass, her armor clinking and scraping. She hurried up behind him and, with a sneer, swung a palm straight toward the back of his head. Without even looking, Xu Yuan ducked beneath the strike, his hand flashing out to catch her armored wrist. With a firm twist, he pinned her arm behind her back. Stabbing pain pulsed continuously through the meridians inside her body. Li Junwu gritted her teeth, preparing to curse and struggle, but the voice that came from behind cut her short. "Li Junwu, if you die, the sects will have achieved half their objective right then and there. Understand?" With that, Xu Yuan gave her a light shove. Li Junwu lurched forward a few steps before steadying herself, then turned around to glare at the man behind her, teeth clenched. Beneath the cascading sunlight, the young man met her gaze placidly, his eyes as still as a deep pool. After a moment, Li Junwu pursed her lips and grumbled, "The words are already out there. What's the point of obsessing over it now?" Arriving outside the courtyard gate of the Military Hub Hall, Xu Yuan ignored her concession and said from behind her, "A promise is made so that others will believe and you can achieve your goal. As for whether the promise can actually be fulfilled, that doesn't really matter." Hearing this, Li Junwu's steps faltered for an instant. Xu Yuan noticed this tiny movement, but he did not pause in his speech, stepping past her into the Military Hub Hall. The upturned eaves cut off half the sunlight slanting into the hall, leaving Xu Yuan's upper body enveloped in shadow. Turning his head, he instructed, "Now that morale is settled, the matters concerning the military array will be left entirely to Commander Jin. You need only stay here quietly in the Military Hub Hall and operate the city defense formation to support them. Leave everything else to me." Bathed in the sunlight outside, Li Junwu raised a hand to toy with the short hair by her ear and said sidelong, "But this young lady was planning to use this opportunity to establish my authority. Think about it, Changtian—if I can actually fulfill this promise, my past reputation will be completely reversed." "..." Xu Yuan stared at her for several seconds. Suddenly, with a flicker of motion, he vanished and reappeared right in front of her. Before Li Junwu could react, Xu Yuan slipped his hand directly through a gap in her armor. Feeling his palm make contact with her bare skin, Li Junwu's eyes widened instantly. But when Xu Yuan drew out a bloodstained hand from beneath her armor and held it before her eyes, her gaze involuntarily darted away. Life-Defying Blood Healing. "Keep up." Xu Yuan let out a soft huff and flicked the blood from his fingers. Stepping toward the inner hall, he murmured, "From the very beginning, I've only treated the military array and the city defense formation as auxiliary support. Having Commander Jin gather the 'array soldiers' to hold the flanks is more than enough. The key to breaking this deadlock lies in the internal contradictions among the six Saints outside. If they dare appear together, I am seventy percent certain I can provoke a civil war among them. "So for now, stop brooding over all this nonsense." As he spoke, Xu Yuan noticed Li Junwu was still standing outside. Looking back at her with a helpless sigh, he offered a promise: "If possible, this young master will do his best to ensure your promise is fulfilled. After all, if you can smoothly inherit Zhenxi Manor, it will save me a great deal of trouble." "..." Hearing those words, Li Junwu let out a soft scoffing chuckle and began walking forward. Yet as he turned away with a faint smile, the look with which she watched his departing back grew indescribably complicated. "A promise is made so that others will believe and you can achieve your goal. As for whether the promise can actually be fulfilled, that doesn't really matter." Had he already forgotten what he just said? And besides... It was one thing to deceive others, but to think he could fool her. If he truly had that much confidence in dealing with six Saints, he never would have explained this much to her in the first place.