Xin Zhui led Jiang Xingyan around the courtyard where Xiao Zhenhuai was staying, and all they could see ahead were broken walls and ruins.
This place had once been a village.
Jiang Xingyan was puzzled. “Why did the entire village relocate?”
Xin Zhui’s expression was grim. “General, they didn’t relocate. The village was massacred.”
Jiang Xingyan:?!
It felt like a heavy punch to her chest.
She stood frozen in place, a dull ache spreading through her entire body.
Xin Zhui’s tone was filled with bone-deep hatred. “Four years ago, Bei Luo suddenly launched an attack.”
“That newly emerged general, Tuoba Hongxue, caught us off guard and fought his way all to Gan Zhou.”
“Those Bei Luo scoundrels are utterly vicious and brutal. They leave nothing alive in their wake.”
“If it weren’t for the General, I’m afraid—” He abruptly cut himself off.
Although he was stating facts, it risked sounding like he was pleading the General’s case.
Jiang Xingyan, of course, knew of Huo Ci’s great achievements.
He was the War God of the entire Western Zhou, protecting millions of common people, yet he was the only one who didn’t protect her.
It was almost laughable; for a moment there, she had actually felt like forgiving him.
After all, she was also a part of Western Zhou.
If the nation fell and homes were destroyed, everyone would become refugees.
By then, even simple greens and tofu would become rare delicacies.
She understood the logic perfectly well.
But she still couldn’t calm the resentment in her heart.
“General’s Lady, I really don’t mean to sound like I’m advocating for the General, not at all.”
“It’s just… one word led to another, and we ended up on this topic.”
Jiang Xingyan was speechless.
“I’m not so unreasonable as to not tell good from bad.”
“Your General is a great hero to all under heaven, but merits and faults cannot cancel each other out. You and he should both understand that.”
Xin Zhui, looking ashamed and embarrassed, hung his head and gave a muffled grunt of acknowledgment.
Jiang Xingyan paused, then changed the subject. “At the third watch [3:45-4:00 AM], select twenty skilled brothers to scout the mountains.”
Having said that, she turned and entered a dilapidated house, found an unoccupied corner, and fell asleep almost immediately.
If the Second Prince hadn’t kept her talking for so long, she would have been asleep much earlier.
After such a long, forced march, who wasn’t exhausted?
——-
Huo Ci’s muscle memory made Jiang Xingyan bolt upright from the ground right on time.
Looking outside, she saw Xin Zhui running around gathering the brothers.
She removed her armor, changed into a full set of dark clothes, and swapped her bow, arrows, and prized sword for hidden weapons and daggers.
Once everything was ready, she walked out of the broken house. Twenty figures clad in black were waiting neatly in the courtyard.
Jiang Xingyan lowered her voice to issue orders: “The purpose of entering the mountains this time is to find out when they come down for supplies. Do not complicate matters unnecessarily.”
“No matter what you hear or see, do not reveal your whereabouts. You must all return safely.”
“This is a military order!”
“Aye!”
The twenty men dispersed in pairs, entering Kan Mountain and Hou Mountain from various directions.
Xin Zhui stuck close to Jiang Xingyan, refusing to leave even when shooed.
Jiang Xingyan simply let him be. Utilizing Huo Ci’s superb Qinggong, they quickly reached the foot of Hou Mountain.
She wanted to see for herself the situation at the ambush spots she had selected.
Following the route from the map in her memory, Jiang Xingyan soon felt her way to the first shrubbery.
She gently parted the grass, about to lean in and gauge how many people could hide there.
“Careful!”
Xin Zhui behind her suddenly yanked her aside.
Just as Jiang Xingyan was about to get angry, she heard the lingering fear in his voice: “There seems to be a trap inside.”
No sooner had he spoken than they saw several clusters of torchlight speeding towards them from the distance.
Xin Zhui’s heart tightened. Disregarding propriety between men and women, he clamped a hand over Jiang Xingyan’s mouth, held her, and flew up into a tree.
Jiang Xingyan knew now was not the time to argue. She quickly held her breath and stared intently at the scene below.
“No one? I could have sworn I heard movement.”
“You’re going crazy wanting to earn merit, aren’t you? Who would come to this remote, deep mountain forest?”
The two men, speaking with thick Bei Luo accents, stopped right below them.
The thick smoke from the torches rose straight up, stinging Jiang Xingyan’s eyes. Tears streamed down uncontrollably.
Flustered, Xin Zhui wiped them away for her a couple of times before finally letting go.
The awkwardness between them was beyond description.
The two men below used sticks to part the grass. Illuminated by the torchlight, Jiang Xingyan clearly saw a huge animal trap hidden inside.
Forget a person; even a wild boar covered in hardened pine resin armor would be skewered right through.
A chill ran down her spine.
If Xin Zhui hadn’t stopped her in time, she would have already been impaled on that thing.
Just thinking about that gruesome scene made her heartbeat double.
Xin Zhui was equally shaken.
The forest was pitch black; even the brightest moonlight couldn’t penetrate it.
He had only stopped Jiang Xingyan based on his perception of danger.
The two men below were greatly disappointed. They spat towards the grass.
“Didn’t even catch a rabbit, and they make us stand guard here every day. What damn bad luck.”
“Don’t complain. Doesn’t every possible hiding spot have someone guarding it? It’s not just us two.”
“Ha. It’s easy to talk standing up. You’re not married, of course you can be casual about it.”
“How long has it been since I’ve had any ‘meat’ stuck out here? The one at home has probably already run off with someone.”
“How about this: tomorrow the squad leader goes down the mountain for supplies. I’ll slip him some silver, have him bring a prostitute up for you?”
“Whoa, good brother! You’re my true brother!”
Their voices faded into the distance.
Jiang Xingyan had no time to bother with their vulgar talk. She felt as if the sky had fallen.
Thank goodness she hadn’t yet told the soldiers her plan. Otherwise, this scouting mission would have been completely wiped out.
Just who is ambushing whom here?
Is waging war really this difficult?