Mist and glowing clouds filled the sky; the earth was cloaked in silver. The mountain forests and open wilderness were silent, save for the whistling cold wind.
In this still-life world, however, a caravan approached from the distance, traveling southeast along the official road.
The rumbling of carriage wheels, the chatter of voices, and the neighing of horses shattered the silence between heaven and earth.
Willow spurred her horse toward a large carriage and rapped on the cabin wall. "Boss, wake up! We're almost there!"
A few breaths later, the curtain lifted to reveal a sleepy, bleary-eyed face.
It was He Lingchuan.
"Huh? Where's Master Sun?" He only recalled playing chess with Sun Fuling, and then—
And then Willow had woken him up.
"She rode up front on horseback and left the carriage for you to sleep in." Willow looked at him with sheer pity. "Boss, you're something else."
He had finally gotten a rare chance to travel with a beauty, only to fall asleep. Ha, served him right to stay alone his entire life.
He Lingchuan hopped down from the carriage and stretched lazily, still longing for more rest.
After experiencing the battle at Mount Xu, entering Panlong City once more gave him the feeling of a lifetime having passed.
Perhaps because he was genuinely exhausted after that massive struggle in the real world, he had actually fallen asleep inside the dream.
He had promised Sun Fuling that he would accompany her on a trip to Yuheng City. Since he could not abandon his post without authorization, he had gone to General Red to ask for an eastward assignment so he could fulfill his pledge.
Seeing him so proactive, Zhong Shengguang discussed it with General Red and handed him a major task.
So major that He Lingchuan had felt a twinge of regret.
Yet military orders were absolute, and there was no medicine for regret, so he could only cheerfully set out on the road with Master Sun.
Naturally, they traveled in plain clothes. He and his squad members disguised themselves as caravan guards.
The caravan consisted of more than three hundred people. Setting off from the trading post in Panlong City, they headed south along the newly forged trade route, bound for the southern free port of Baisha Bay.
The snowy plain beneath their feet had originally been the territory of Xiji. After Panlong City destroyed Xiji, it had finally cleared an access route to the sea, allowing free trade with the outside world.
From that moment on, Panlong City was no longer isolated and gained the opportunity to seek new paths forward. This was the goal Zhong Shengguang had pursued untiringly for years.
Therefore, the immense significance of this Xiji trade route to Panlong City was beyond question.
Pure white snow blanketed both sides of the official road. He Lingchuan had seen this scenery on his first day, on his second day... and on the fourth day, all he saw was still the same snowscape. He was thoroughly sick of it.
A world after snowfall was beautiful, to be sure, but after staring at it for so long, it grew monotonous.
The children in the caravan, however, were having a wonderful time, chasing, tumbling, and having snowball fights to their hearts' content.
The wind blew from ahead, carrying the brisk notes of a flute.
In this unchanging expanse of ice and snow, the flute melody was like a squirrel leaping through the woods or an ermine skimming the ground without a shadow—nimble and swift, refreshing the spirit.
He Lingchuan called for a horse and rode off in the direction of the music.
After ten-odd zhang, he spotted the flute player.
Master Sun was also on horseback, wearing a white cloak. Hearing the approaching hooves, she turned around and glanced at him with bright, lustrous eyes that seemed almost capable of speaking. "You're awake? Did you sleep well?"
Feeling sheepish like a schoolboy caught sleeping in class, He Lingchuan replied, "Quite well, quite well."
All that talk about how covering one's face meant no one could recognize them—what a joke! With eyes like Master Sun's, even if she wore night-stalker garb, she could never fool him.
He lowered his gaze, shifting naturally toward the flute in her hand.
He couldn't tell whether the celestial centipede bone flute was whiter, or Master's hand.
This flute...
He remembered National Preceptor Qingyang's cold sneer on the sandbar.
She had said that the flute's owner died a miserable death.
To a discerning listener, those words carried an enormous amount of information for He Lingchuan.
Facing the woman now, his feelings were subtle and complicated.
Truth be told, the moment he entered Panlong City and saw Sun Fuling again, a flood of emotions had overcome him; he had dearly wanted to pull her into an embrace, but with so many people around, well... ahem.
"What are you thinking about?" Master Sun took a bright red apple from her saddlebag. "Given to me by my students. It's already washed."
Her cheeks were flushed from the cold. From He Lingchuan's vantage point, the apple matched her rosy complexion.
"Just how many students does Master Sun have? That has to be one of Panlong City's top three unsolved mysteries." He took the apple and snapped it in two with a crisp crunch. "Half for each of us."
Sun Fuling smiled and reached out to take her half.
The apple was wonderfully sweet! Having just woken up, He Lingchuan was thirsty too; he finished his half in two or three bites and tossed the core aside, only to turn and see Master Sun eating with delicate manners, having taken just two small bites.
"At the rate you're eating, the apple's going to freeze over in a blink." The temperature had to be at least seven or eight degrees below zero.
Sun Fuling said leisurely, "I can gnaw on ice too."
He Lingchuan chuckled, not believing her.
"You don't believe me?"
"I believe you. Whatever Master says, I believe." He tossed all those tangled thoughts to the back of his mind.
The world was vast, and everything else was fleeting as clouds; he might as well just enjoy this moment.
Traveling alongside a beauty, this freezing journey hardly felt bitter at all.
Just then, a peregrine falcon swooped down from the sky and landed on the carriage roof:
"Hey, hey! Two grosbeaks have been tailing you. I drove them off twice, but after flying off, they circled back around and returned."
He Lingchuan stroked its head. "Looks like someone has their eyes on us."
Right at that moment, a shrill whistle sounded up ahead—three short, sharp blasts.
Military whistles had standardized signals; this sequence meant an unexpected discovery had been made ahead.
Putting aside his relaxed mood, He Lingchuan rushed forward alongside Sun Fuling.
Seventy zhang ahead, a sprawling swath of ruins lay beside the road, with some buildings still smoking.
He Lingchuan recognized that they had originally been guest rooms, stables, fodder sheds... but now hardly any structure was left intact.
Dingzi, the Broken Saber squad's new scout, had just emerged from the ruins. Upon seeing He Lingchuan, he reported immediately, "This was supposed to be Qinglang Courier Station where we'd stay the night, but now it's ended up like this."
"Any casualties?"
"Two station attendants were killed. Word is the others fled into the mountains; we've already dispatched people to look for them."
"Word is?" Word from whom?
Dingzi pointed to the side, just as two injured individuals were being helped out and placed onto a carriage. "We treated two of them. They should survive."
The two injured appeared quite lucid. He Lingchuan jerked his chin in their direction. "Go squeeze some information out of them."
"Yes, sir."
A merchant came up from behind and gasped in shock upon seeing the scene: "Good grief! When I traveled to Panlong City, this Qinglang Courier Station was perfectly fine! It's been half a month at most—how did it..."
After the Xiji trade route opened, many merchants took short hauls, bringing goods from Baisha Bay to Panlong City, purchasing local specialties in Panlong City, and then returning to Baisha Bay or elsewhere to make a quick profit.
This merchant had even rested at Qinglang Courier Station on his way in, but on the return trip, it had been reduced to ruins.
Others in the caravan came over to look and fell into hushed, anxious discussions.
Dusk was falling. Under normal circumstances, Qinglang Courier Station was supposed to be their stop for the night, where everyone could eat, drink, and soak their feet in hot water to wash away fatigue—a comforting thought all around.
Yet now the station was gone, the hot water was gone, and everyone was left standing in the freezing wilderness.
Seeing the situation, the caravan leader immediately called out to the crowd, "Don't panic, don't panic! We'll rest at the next station! It's only another thirty li!"
Chapter 713