Chapter 72

Morning on the grassland was always bright, the sunlight blazing so fiercely it was hard to keep one’s eyes open. The air was rich with the fresh scent of grass and the earthy smell of soil; the Phoenix Army’s banners cracked in the wind, standing like an unmistakable force amid the vast, boundless plains.

The sounds of drills in camp were neat and disciplined. Blades, spears, swords, and halberds clashed with a sharp metallic clang; near the training grounds, even speaking felt difficult.

Ye Rui had already said “Huh?” for the third time. She really could not hear what Lu Yihua was saying. In the end, Lu Yihua could not take it anymore and dragged Ye Rui away from the training grounds before her words finally became somewhat clear.

“I said there’s a large group of bandits causing trouble in the Black Devil Forest. They’ve already raided a village near Qingzhou City, killed quite a few people, and Captain Li asked whether we’re willing to go suppress them.”

After Lu Yihua finished, Ye Rui frowned.

The Black Devil Forest had miasma, complicated terrain, and rose along the edge of cliffs. On top of that, many fierce beasts nested there; no one should have been living there. However, last summer, a huge forest fire had blown the miasma away. After the strong winds passed, the long-standing haze in the woods dispersed, leaving only the smell of charred wood and burnt earth.

Probably because so many trees had been burned down and the miasma had been scattered, the wind could pass through the forest and carry away the dampness, so the miasma no longer gathered. That was how the place had also become a gathering ground for those bandits.

The terrain there was just right to serve as their shield.

Still, those people were truly tired of living to dare make trouble near Qingzhou City.

“Go. We have to go. I’ll report to Captain Li, and once the troops are assembled, we’ll head for the Black Devil Forest.”

Truthfully, Ye Rui hated the Black Devil Forest very much. Even the name sounded as if some terrifying magic and monsters were hidden inside. Luckily, this was not some immortal-cultivation world; otherwise, she really would not have gone in there. She was afraid of dying.

Hu Tu: [Perfect, I have a side quest for you.]

Ye Rui: [What? You haven’t given me a side quest in ages. I’m touched.]

Hu Tu: [...You really are a chosen laborer.]

Ye Rui: [...]

Ye Rui and Lu Yihua listened to Hu Tu issue the quest on the way to find Li Yan.

Hu Tu: [Capture the bandit leader alive; I’ll add ten points to your strength stat.]

Ye Rui raised a brow in surprise. [A side quest gives that much?]

Hu Tu: [Yes. This side quest seems rather difficult. If you fail, thirty strength points will be deducted.]

Ye Rui drew in a breath. Beside her, Lu Yihua noticed and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ye Rui waved it off to show she was fine, then accepted Hu Tu’s side quest. It had been a long time since she’d done a side quest. Even if Hu Tu had given her one before, she might not have had the time to do it. Military life was simply too full; full to the point that the moment her head hit the pillow, she was asleep.

Hu Tu: [I’ve even heard you snore.]

Ye Rui: [Shut up!]

I don’t have any dignity left, do I!

The Black Devil Forest had always been a place without a trace of human habitation, a place the army had never set foot in either; in other words, all intelligence about it was unknown. Since the bandits were harming the people there, and the Phoenix Army was the force closest to the Black Devil Forest, the responsibility naturally fell to them.

Li Yan knew that with insufficient intelligence, accidents and danger were very likely, so after thinking for a long while, she still decided to send out Ye Rui, whom she trusted most, and let her take another squad to suppress the bandits.

Inside the council tent, Li Yan recounted the intelligence given by the surviving villagers. It was a band of horse bandits, very skilled at fighting from horseback, armed with curved sabers, equipped like barbarians, yet their faces were those of Great Yan people. They burned, killed, and looted; they did not even spare women, children, or the elderly, like a pack of primitive savages who ate raw flesh and drank blood.

Their leader was a tall man who looked very young, around twenty-five. He knew martial arts and could scale walls and roofs; the men in the village simply could not stop him.

Lightness skill!

The moment Ye Rui heard that, she knew the leader could use lightness skill. She, however, could not.

No matter how strong her martial arts were, she would still be at a disadvantage.

“How is it? Is there some difficulty?”

Seeing Ye Rui’s dark expression, Li Yan thought something troubling must be weighing on her. But Ye Rui only shook her head and postponed the deployment by one day, hoping Li Yan would first send people to protect the nearby villages.

She needed a little time to learn lightness skill!

Last-minute cramming was not ideal, but if she didn’t cram now, she had no choice!

After leaving the council tent, Ye Rui headed toward Xie Tinglan’s quarters. Thinking back to last night, after Xie Tinglan had spoken of missing her, Ye Rui’s eyes had also turned red. At that instant, she had decided to turn and leave; she was afraid.

Afraid that if she stayed, she would repeat the same mistakes.

She did not know what expression Xie Tinglan had worn after she turned away, but merely imagining her disappointed face made Ye Rui’s chest ache. Better not to think about it at all. So she got up early and trained on her own; she still had not seen the three of them today.

She had not wanted to see them, yet in the end she still had to. To learn lightness skill, she needed to seek guidance from Gong Yinzhi and Yin Yue.

Just as she stepped into the quarters area, she saw Xie Tinglan and the other two coming out. Xie Tinglan was speaking in a low voice, as if giving instructions on something important, and Yin Yue kept nodding.

When she raised her head and saw Ye Rui, her stern expression softened. Ye Rui noticed that Xie Tinglan’s eyes were a little swollen and red, as if she had cried, yet she still gave Ye Rui a faint smile.

Ye Rui’s breathing went uneven. Her eyes stung faintly, but she still walked over and forced herself to speak in a steady, serious tone. “I... want to ask you for a favor.”

“What is it?”

Xie Tinglan asked, but the next moment it seemed she remembered something. She lifted a hand to touch the corner of her eye; her rounded fingertip pressed against the reddened skin and gently rubbed it, then she looked away guiltily.

Seeing that gesture, Ye Rui fell silent for two breaths before speaking. “The day after tomorrow, I’m going out to suppress the bandits. I want you to teach me lightness skill.”

Yin Yue and Gong Yinzhi exchanged a glance, then both looked at Xie Tinglan, who was rubbing the corner of her eyes.

“Can you learn it in one day?”

Xie Tinglan could hear the urgency in Ye Rui’s tone. Since the matter of suppressing the bandits could not be delayed, how could she possibly learn such a thing in just one day?

Did she really think she was some martial arts prodigy?

“I can agree to that. If you need it, then I can let Gong... ”

Xie Tinglan had not finished when Ye Rui shook her head. “No need. This is my Phoenix Army’s business; Miss Gong should stay by your side.”

Seeing Xie Tinglan’s gaze grow dim, Ye Rui seemed possessed as she added, “This is, after all, a battlefield. It’s full of danger; you should put your own safety first.”

After saying that, Ye Rui saw Xie Tinglan brighten up again, and she also let out a breath of relief. Why had she never realized before that this person was so easy to appease?

Wait, why am I trying to appease her?

Hu Tu: [Because of love~ you won’t easily feel hurt~]

Ye Rui: [Get lost!!]

Xie Tinglan was still worried, but she did not try to persuade her any further. She should let Ye Rui grow, just as she herself had grown to this point by relying on her own efforts.

“Yinzhi, you go.”

If it was lightness skill, then naturally Huan Jing would be best. It was just that Huan Jing was not here, so her teacher Gong Yinzhi would instruct Ye Rui in her place.

Gong Yinzhi mainly cultivated inner strength, but her lightness skill was not weak either. Teaching Ye Rui was more than enough.

“Yes, my lord.”

Gong Yinzhi stepped forward and said, “Find a good place before I teach you.”

With that, she left. Ye Rui immediately followed behind her. For a brief moment, she had the urge to turn back and look at Xie Tinglan, just as she always had.

But she held back. They were no longer that kind of relationship.

Xie Tinglan watched Ye Rui leave. Only when she could no longer see her did she close her slightly sore, swollen eyes. Yesterday, Ye Rui had left so decisively; her own words of longing had seemed to be casually discarded, sinking into the sea without any response.

That was the first time she had felt the helplessness and disappointment of not being answered. And every time Ye Rui’s feelings were met by her own evasions, how much pain must that have caused?

At that moment, Xie Tinglan could no longer restrain herself. It was as if a gap had been torn open; the emotions she had been forcibly suppressing instantly surged out, and she could not stop her tears no matter how hard she tried.

She was not feeling sorry for herself; she was feeling sorry for Ye Rui, and blaming herself.

Seeing Xie Tinglan absent-minded and red-eyed, Yin Yue wanted to change the subject and shift her attention. “I’ve never heard of bandits around Qingzhou City before. Why are they suddenly being suppressed?”

Yin Yue was not entirely just trying to distract Xie Tinglan either; this matter truly was strange, especially the sudden appearance of bandits.

“Two months ago, famine broke out in the villages south of Qingzhou City. Even though Qingzhou City sent grain to help, it was still useless in the end. Nearly all the villagers in several villages died.”

Sun Zhong had mentioned this casually back then. Qingzhou City’s affairs were already enough to leave him overwhelmed; now that those small villages had run into trouble, he simply had no spare capacity. He could only send people to investigate and burn the bodies of the villagers who had starved to death. After asking monks to perform a ritual, that was the end of it.

“In borderland regions, grain is especially important. Everyone governs their own patch; naturally, they would not take in the surviving villagers. I suppose they then took to the wild and became bandits, burning, killing, and robbing; part survival, part revenge.”

After Xie Tinglan said this, she felt vaguely worried. Those people might harbor resentment toward the Qingzhou Army; if they did make a move, they would probably strike without mercy.

“But seeing how guarded Ye Rui was just now, it seems those bandits know martial arts?”

After Yin Yue asked this, Xie Tinglan shook her head and gave a bitter smile. “Of course they do. This is border territory; everyone has a skill or two to rely on. They cannot be underestimated. And when such people gather together, if they choose good, they become soldiers; if they choose evil, they become bandits.”

“Then why don’t they join the army?”

Yin Yue did not understand. The Qingzhou Army was right here. If they were willing to enlist, perhaps they could at least secure food and clothing for their families.

“The Qingzhou Army is a force abandoned by the court. Some people would naturally think even farming has more prospects than joining it. Besides, in order to prevent the emperor’s hidden agents from infiltrating, the army’s recruitment is very cautious and strict. The soldiers under Nan Zhenchuan are all selected after multiple screenings; their backgrounds must be spotless. It is not somewhere just anyone can enter.”

Xie Tinglan paused, worry in her expression. “However, this prime minister has another guess. They might be fugitives from the Chaoyang Sect.”

Yin Yue said nothing at that. Some younger disciples from the Chaoyang Sect had been expelled earlier and placed under an open pursuit order by the sect, forcing them into hiding. It was not impossible for them to have come near Qingzhou City.

Xie Tinglan was wearing a dark green long robe today. When sunlight fell on her, it reflected a faint sheen from the fabric; her black-and-white hair fluttered in the wind, blending beautifully with heaven and earth.

“You’re talking more than usual today.”

Hearing that, Yin Yue’s face went pale. She immediately lowered her head. “Please forgive me, my lord. This subordinate saw that my lord was... in low spirits, so I dared to say a few extra words.”

“It’s fine. You’re like this now, and it’s good.”

Being too taciturn and saying nothing would make one miss out on many things. This... was good.

**

From not far away in the military camp, the nonstop sound of drills still drifted over. The horses in the stables had also been let out for exercise, and a squad of female soldiers rode out to train; their laughter could even be heard on the grassland.

It seemed the Phoenix Army’s morale was currently very high; even the hard training carried laughter.

On the other side of the camp, Gong Yinzhi and Ye Rui came to a relatively open area behind the quarters. Not far away was the weapons storehouse, heavily guarded by troops.

“Before I teach you lightness skill, let me see how much your martial arts have improved.”

As soon as the words fell, before Ye Rui could react at all, Gong Yinzhi’s five fingers became claws, and with a twist of her body she went straight for Ye Rui’s throat. A burst of inner force as sharp as a blade struck from Gong Yinzhi’s palm. Ye Rui hurriedly dodged backward, barely avoiding it, her heart pounding with lingering fear.

Gong Yinzhi withdrew her hand. Beneath her mask, her red lips curved slightly. “Good reaction.”

Ye Rui clutched her neck like she had narrowly survived disaster, grumbling inwardly: If I hadn’t reacted fast enough, I really might have died. Damn it, she was seriously going for the kill!

“Again!”

Gong Yinzhi’s steps were ghostly. She had clearly only taken one step forward, yet in an instant she was already in front of Ye Rui, who had been five paces away. Her five fingers turned into claws; the claw strikes came like blades, every move aimed at vital points. This time Ye Rui was prepared. After retreating several steps, she counterattacked with the Diming Fist.

Her inner force was fierce. She slipped sideways past Gong Yinzhi’s claw technique, then drove a punch into Gong Yinzhi’s chest. Gong Yinzhi recoiled to avoid it at the last moment, yet the force of the blow still sent her back two steps. Ye Rui pressed in. Gong Yinzhi gave a low laugh, her claws turning into fists. She met Ye Rui blow for blow, and both of them retreated several steps. Neither had won.

Gong Yinzhi was not skilled at hand-to-hand combat, and Ye Rui had not gone all out either. They held back as they sparred; the result was a draw, which was fair enough.

The sisters guarding the weapons storehouse saw the commotion and immediately came running with spears in hand. Ye Rui only lifted a hand to signal that it was fine before they stopped.

“How is it? Is Miss Gong satisfied?”

Ye Rui was very confident in her martial arts now. She also often honed herself on the battlefield; when she gave it her all, that was when she could best bring out her strength. Still, letting Gong Yinzhi inspect the results, the earlier fifty percent of her effort had already been enough.

“Very satisfied.”

Gong Yinzhi had practiced the improved version of the Fire-Turning Technique Ye Rui had left behind; it had been for regulating Xie Tinglan’s body. On ordinary days she would not use that inner force, because it was somewhat incompatible with the techniques she had learned since childhood.

“Looks like you haven’t slackened off even once.”

Gong Yinzhi was a very strict teacher. At the beginning, whenever Ye Rui showed signs of laziness, she would coldly reprimand her and punish her to copy the inner cultivation manual twice. Ye Rui learned quickly. Now that Gong Yinzhi saw how much Ye Rui’s martial arts had improved, she knew the answer and was naturally very satisfied.

Ye Rui bowed to Gong Yinzhi with clasped fists. “I don’t want to copy any more manuals.”

Gong Yinzhi could not help but chuckle, then waved a hand and stopped wasting words. “You don’t have much time to study. I’ll teach you now how to circulate inner force to use lightness skill as quickly as possible.”

At this moment, Gong Yinzhi was thankful that Ye Rui had such solid fundamentals. She’d heard that back then, Yin Yue had nearly bullied her to tears; fortunately, all that effort had not been wasted.

“Gather your inner force into the soles of your feet... ”

The grassland was bright and beautiful. The sisters who had come over to watch the excitement also tried to follow what Gong Yinzhi said, but in the end they could not figure it out and gave up. Everything Gong Yinzhi taught was extracted from the Fire-Turning Technique, so she did not mind others listening in.

They would not be able to learn it anyway.

By dusk, Ye Rui could be considered to have learned the full set, but how to actually apply it would depend on herself. Gong Yinzhi had said that becoming fully proficient right away was impossible; she could only rely on Ye Rui’s on-the-spot reactions.

To thank Gong Yinzhi, Ye Rui took her to the mess hall for dinner and specifically asked the cook, Sister Rong, to add a chicken leg to Gong Yinzhi’s meal, deducting it from her military pay. Gong Yinzhi had wanted to refuse, but seeing Ye Rui’s sincere enthusiasm, she accepted.

But Ye Rui had her own little scheme... when eating, one couldn’t just leave the mask on, right? Then would she have a chance to see Gong Yinzhi’s true face?

It was not yet mealtime, so there were not many people in the mess hall. Today Ye Rui had asked Li Yan for leave, so her time was free. She also got along well with the cook, Sister Rong, so their meals had been prepared first.

Gong Yinzhi had not realized Ye Rui’s motive at first, but when the two sat down, straightened their clothes, and placed their hands on the table, she saw Ye Rui staring at her without blinking and immediately understood.

“You’re still so sly.”

The camp food was simple. Ye Rui’s bowl had only tofu, greens, and minced meat, while Gong Yinzhi’s had a big chicken leg. By rights, that big chicken leg should have been even more appealing to Ye Rui than Gong Yinzhi herself, so Gong Yinzhi quickly figured it out.

Gong Yinzhi touched her mask but did not remove it right away. She sighed. “Ye Rui, I know it’s not my place to interfere in matters between you and my lord, but if possible, I hope you’ll give my lord a chance.”

After she said that, Ye Rui’s good mood sank as well. However, when Gong Yinzhi removed her mask, Ye Rui’s heart immediately lifted again.

It was coming into view. She was about to see it—!

The gilded fox mask slowly came off, revealing a face as elegant and cool as the wind and moon. Gong Yinzhi had a quiet, refined temperament, as clear and refreshing as the wind after rain; her brows and eyes were cool, and the slightly upturned corners of her lips made her seem warm and approachable, like an immortal.

Ye Rui could only gape soundlessly. Who would have thought that this woman, who looked so harmless, had nearly torn open her throat with one claw just now?

Still, thinking about it, when Gong Yinzhi had roamed the jianghu, she had originally been known as the “Qin Fairy.” Later, when the world misunderstood the truth and knew nothing of it, Gong Yinzhi had instead been given the name “Qin Demon.” All this nonsense about fairies and demons was just the world’s prejudice. Gong Yinzhi looked wonderful like this.

Gong Yinzhi’s expression was a little unnatural. Just as she was about to speak, Ye Rui said first, “You’re so pretty like this. Why care how the world sees you? I think Ri Xi would also really like you in this kind of appearance.”

It was the first time Ye Rui had seen such a vivid expression from Gong Yinzhi. Right now, she seemed torn between speaking and not speaking, her ears reddening, shy as a young woman who had never left the inner chambers; all of it was because of the words “Ri Xi.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Eat.”

Gong Yinzhi did not take Ye Rui’s teasing and instead began eating. After a while, she finally said, “Ye Rui, what I said just now; will you think it over?”

Ye Rui’s eating motion paused. She gave a wry smile. “I understand Miss Gong’s kindness, but right now all I can think about is the Qingzhou Army.”

“As for matters of love, I have no time to concern myself with them.”

Though it was an excuse, Ye Rui felt it was a very noble one. For the sake of the country and the people, sacrificing small personal affections could always be made into a reason; just like how Xie Tinglan had once, for the sake of her own path, also hurt herself until she was left battered and bruised.

It was not revenge. Ye Rui knew she was avoiding.

Hu Tu: [Avoidance is shameful, and now it doesn’t even work.]

Ye Rui: [Why doesn’t it work?]

Hu Tu: [Trust me, Hu the half-immortal; your fate isn’t over, and even if you avoid it, your heart can’t escape it.]

Ye Rui: [You make yourself sound so knowledgeable.]

Hu Tu: [Heh-heh, after all, I’ve upgraded. I’m very, very powerful now!]

Ye Rui: [But last time, when you were guiding me through Fire-Phoenix Forest to chop firewood, your navigation almost led me onto wild boar shit. Do you have a grudge against me, or do you have a grudge against wild boar shit?]

Hu Tu: [...Could it be that you’re the one with fate tied to wild boar shit?]

Ye Rui: [...Witch doctor, get lost!]