Like a panther traversing the wilderness, her steps left no trace. She raced toward the mountains, her swift passage stirring the wind. The swelling within her body expanded bit by bit, the stabbing pain at the back of her head still present… She was experiencing the original body’s agony, her eyes rimmed with crimson. The torment drove her to move even faster.
A phantom figure entered the forest, startling scattered leaves. She needed release, she needed to vent…
Today was the tenth day of the eighth month. The Sanyi Escort Agency, escorting a large red sedan chair, had arrived within the borders of Hongjiang a day earlier than expected. Though they were nearing the sphere of influence of Hongdai Valley, they dared not relax in the slightest. This shipment was worth two hundred gold—Shan Hong Yi was no generous patron.
Another ten li ahead, and they would reach Huaishan Valley. Huaishan Valley was not a depression between high mountains but a massive fissure formed by the collapse of flat ground. The crack plunged a hundred zhang underground, and over the years, the valley floor had become lush with greenery, with streams trickling through.
Huaishan Valley was the only route from Yanghuai River to Hongdai Valley. The horses clopped along steadily as nineteen escorts, most with grim expressions, remained vigilant of their surroundings. The large red sedan chair, protected in the center, was carried by four men. All four were of similar height, each with steady, unwavering steps.
From within the sedan chair came intermittent coughs. The escorts seemed to pay no heed. When they were still five li from Huaishan Valley, the escort leader signaled his men to scout ahead. Reining in their horses to slow their pace, the scouts made three round trips before they finally reached Huaishan Valley as the sun began to set.
Huaishan Valley was separated from Tuozi Ridge only by a stretch of prickly catalpa trees. The catalpa trees were thorny, and unless absolutely necessary, no one wanted to pass through the catalpa grove. Keeping a distance from the fissure, the escort leader’s right hand was already resting on the hilt of his sword. The occasional chirp of a bird only accentuated the surrounding silence.
The group urged their horses forward, picking up speed. The Huaishan Valley fissure stretched nearly three hundred zhang in length. After a hundred breaths of swift travel, just past the halfway point, the sudden cry of startled birds prompted the escort leader to draw his blade.
“Protect the goods!”
Before his words faded, a piercing whistle echoed, followed by a chorus of bird calls. Over a dozen black-clad, masked figures brandishing swords burst from the catalpa grove, flying toward them.
Hearing the approaching bird calls, one of the escorts hefted a large hammer and muttered, “A bunch of bird-brained bastards.” Just as he was about to charge forward, his left ear twitched slightly, and from the corner of his eye, he spotted several black-clad figures soaring upward from the depths of the fissure.
A fierce battle erupted instantly. Within ten breaths, all the horses had been slain. The escorts tried to protect the sedan bearers and press forward, but the black-clad figures cut off their path. The attackers showed no intention of leaving survivors, their moves sharp and lethal, repeatedly attempting to kick the sedan chair into the fissure. The bearers fought desperately to block them, but their skills fell slightly short, and the sedan chair was gradually pushed closer to the edge.
After more than three hundred exchanges, a black-clad figure launched a sneak attack, severing the escort leader’s left arm with a single sword stroke. The leader roared, hacking down the assailant entangled with him: “Hangzi… take the brothers and retreat. I won’t be making it back.”
“No, Big Brother, we leave together,” pleaded a pale-faced youth with a tusk hanging from his neck. He slashed a black-clad figure’s throat with his curved blade and tried to rescue his leader, only to be blocked by more attackers.
“Go now…” The escort leader’s eyes bulged wildly as he fought with frenzied abandon, no longer caring about anything else. “Take care of Sanwazi for me.”
“Big Brother…”
“Retreat now…” The leader’s forceful voice carried a plea.
Two more brothers fell. With reddened eyes and a heart full of grief, the pale-faced youth gave the order: “Retreat.” Several of the already injured escorts, however, refused to leave, doing their utmost to hold back the pursuing black-clad figures.
One breath, two breaths… ten breaths. The escort leader exhausted his strength, wildly swinging his broadsword. He seemed to see the Buddha, the fierce light in his bulging eyes gradually fading. He smelled the fragrant oil scent from his wife’s body. So fragrant… he would never smell it again. His dull eyes slowly closed. In the blurred distance, a figure draped in the glow of sunset approached.
Running all the way, Xin Siansi’s hair had become disheveled. The mountain was not far ahead; she needed to hide in the mountains. Her bloodshot eyes caught sight of figures. Were those people fighting? Get out of the way…
No one could hear her thoughts. The two sides were still locked in fierce combat.
When Xin Siansi came within ten zhang, a figure in black noticed her. Seeing it was a woman with red marks on her brows and eyes, he shouted, “Someone from Hongdai Valley is here!” and immediately charged toward her.
Xin Siansi instinctively dodged, but the black-clad figure was relentless, eventually forcing her to stop before a large red sedan chair. Hearing the tearing sound of air from the side, her right hand swiftly gouged a small piece of wood from the sedan chair frame as if it were tofu and hurled it toward the sound.
The wooden block pierced through the air, directly penetrating the throat of the black-clad attacker who was slashing with his sword. The scene froze for an instant. The other black-clad figures, about to advance, retreated, fear in their eyes. “Withdraw…”
Xin Siansi could no longer move her feet. Her body felt numb, as if paralyzed. The back of her head didn’t hurt, but the swelling sensation seemed to be subsiding. The wind blew through her tangled hair. She listened to her own heartbeat, forcing herself to relax her tightly clenched teeth. Her lips trembled for a long time before she could utter a hoarse voice: “Quick… get away.”
The four remaining escorts who hadn’t yet fallen staggered. “Miss… are you from Hongdai Valley…”
“Get lost…” Xin Siansi’s crimson eyes filled with tears.
This time, the escorts dared not linger. They quickly found their still-breathing comrades and helped them leave.
Tears overflowed. Xin Siansi slowly lowered her gaze, looking toward the fissure two steps away. This terrain… Huaishan Valley? In the book, the original body died at the bottom of Huaishan Valley.
“Cough, cough…” The person inside the large red sedan chair couhed repeatedly.
Xin Siansi was lost in her own thoughts. How had she ended up here after all her wandering? Was it the plot driving her? Her body felt as if it had fallen silent…
The person in the sedan stopped coughing. Slender fingers parted the sedan curtain. His eyebrows were long, extending past his eyes and slightly upturned. His eyes were willow-leaf-shaped, which should have been charming and affectionate, but they were deep and cold. His nose was straight, with wings neither too broad nor too narrow—perfect, as if carved by a knife. His lips were slightly thin, pale pink. His face was porcelain white, with a distinct jawline.
The man was exceptionally handsome. The red clothes and golden crown on him showed no trace of vulgarity; his entire being exuded an air of noble elegance. The pervasive smell of blood did not unsettle him in the slightest. He looked expressionlessly at the woman standing still. After two or three breaths, he stepped out of the sedan.
The movement pulled Xin Siansi’s consciousness back. Her gaze shifted.
The man stopped two chi away, his eyes meeting hers directly, as if assessing or scrutinizing her.
Bright as the moon, uniquely splendid in his beauty. Xin Siansi wanted to tell him to leave quickly, but she saw him reach out his hand. When his slightly cool fingers touched her wrist, her body seemed to awaken all at once. Her pupils trembled violently. It felt as if a nail had been hammered into the back of her head, a piercing pain shooting straight down, assaulting her entire body with overwhelming force.
“Ugh…”
Seeing the veins under her skin suddenly bulge like earthworms crawling, the man’s heart tightened involuntarily.
Worse than death, Xin Siansi wished she could tear everything apart. With all her strength, she pushed away the hand gripping her wrist. “Leave quickly…” Unaware that her legs had already lost their stiffness, she couldn’t control her force. Losing her balance, she was pulled by the heavy backpack toward the fissure.
“Be careful.” Seeing her fall into the crevice, the man immediately lunged forward, grabbing her ankle with his right hand. But his strength was insufficient, and he was pulled down along with her.
The basket, hanging upside down, slipped from Xin Siansi’s arm. Her mind went blank as she plummeted downward, her pupils gradually dilating as the green of the valley floor drew nearer. Just before impact, their fall abruptly halted. The man gripping her ankle had dug his left hand into a recess in the cliff wall, his handsome brows tightly furrowed, and his tightly pressed lips already stained crimson. Unable to hold on for long, the two slid down the wall to the valley floor.
The bottom of Huaishan Valley… Xin Siansi was in unbearable pain.
Suppressing the surging energy in his chest, the man crawled over to check on her, his scraped hand grasping her left wrist.
At the peak of pain, her body and mind were especially tense. Xin Siansi instinctively seized his hand, flipped him over, and pinned him beneath her. Her crimson eyes stared blankly at the man.
Had… had he just saved her? She was uncertain, but there seemed to be no one else around.
Closely observing the surging meridians in the woman, the man suppressed the itch in his throat and placed his right hand on her pulse again. After just two breaths, he confirmed, “You have Qi Deviation.”
His voice was clear and melodious—so pleasant to hear! Xin Siansi stared at him, feeling something writhing inside her body. She was going to die; this would be her burial ground. Heaven was being rather generous, letting her die while gazing at this ethereally beautiful face. Enduring the bone-deep pain, she forced a smile and praised, “So handsome!” Her tone was filled with endless self-mockery.
The itch in his throat grew unbearable, and the man coughed heavily twice.
Feeling the vibrations from his chest, Xin Siansi’s gaze shifted from his eyes and brows to the crimson stain on his lips. She… she still had many things left. Her eyes drifted upward again, meeting the man’s gaze. “I… I’ll give them all to you, okay?”
Swallowing the metallic taste in his mouth, the man slowly tightened his grip on her left wrist. In her eyes, he saw sincerity. “Are you willing?”
“I… I can’t take them with me anyway.” Xin Siansi’s right hand, pressed against his shoulder, shifted bit by bit. Her trembling fingers lightly brushed the crimson stain on his lips as she struggled to speak. “You… you must promise that after I die…” Tears fell, splashing onto his nose. “You’ll bury me in a place with good feng shui. It’s… it’s too lonely to be alone. In my next life, I want both parents, a happy family.”
A ripple of emotion stirred in the man’s calm eyes. “What is your name?”
“Xin… Xin Siansi.” His lips were so soft, stained with blood, more tempting than freshly picked cherries. She was about to die… could she indulge just this once? Her body sank lower, and Xin Siansi parted her lips slightly. “I’ll give you everything… I just want a taste, uh…” A sharp pain shot through her spine, nearly unbearable.
The man did not resist. Watching as her features contorted in agony, he saw her draw closer. Slowly, he released his grip on her wrist, his fingers intertwining with hers. Softly, as if confirming, he whispered, “You said… you’d give me everything.”
With a faint hum of agreement, Xin Siansi pressed her lips to his, her teeth gently nibbling, her tongue timidly licking before quickly retreating. True to her word, she took only one taste. As she began to pull away, a sudden surge rushed to her head, stinging her and causing her to collapse back onto him.
Now certain, the man tightened his grip on her hand and kissed her deeply. He was grateful for Bai Shi Nian’s scheming. Originally, he had intended to play along and infiltrate the Hanxuan Cave in Hongdai Valley, using the mysterious ice energy to seal the poison within his thirty-six acupoints. Now, that was unnecessary. The woman atop him, with her reversed True Qi and profound internal energy, was more than enough to help him expel the poison once and for all.