Chapter 346: Fan Fan Will Think of Me

The next morning, the Royal City was still shrouded in thin mist.

A heart-rending scream shattered the silence.

"White Deer! A white deer has died!"

A herdsman stumbled and crawled into the Royal City, his face full of terror, having lost one of his leather boots.

He staggered through the streets of the Royal City, his voice hoarse and trembling: "It's on the road up the mountain!"

"The White Deer is dead! Our divine beast has lost its life!"

Someone grabbed him: "The White Deer died? Did you see it yourself? How did it die?"

He trembled as he spoke: "I, I saw it myself!"

"That white deer is lying on the road up the mountain! Not a drop of blood on its body!"

"It just died like that!"

The crowd erupted in an uproar.

"What? The White Deer died?"

"No blood? How did it die then?"

The news spread like wildfire, instantly engulfing the entire Royal City.

Men seized their sabers and rushed out of the felt tents, women huddled close to their children whispering prayers, and elders knelt before the tents, kowtowing without cease.

The herdsmen gathered before the Grand Shaman's tent, demanding that the Grand Shaman go inspect the dead White Deer to find out why it died.

The Grand Shaman followed the person who first discovered the White Deer's corpse, with countless herdsmen trailing behind, as they entered the Holy Mountain.

No one dared to get too close, stopping several dozen paces away from the White Deer.

Everyone personally witnessed the White Deer lying still on the ground, utterly silent.

A great panic enveloped everyone.

The Grand Shaman furrowed his brow: "The White Deer died without injury; this is a message to the entire steppe that it died due to misfortune."

"The White Deer is warning us!"

"Disaster will befall the steppe! A great disaster!"

The herdsmen looked panicked: "Who! Who brought this disaster upon us?"

"What is the White Deer trying to tell us?"

"Grand Shaman! You must show us the way!"

"Exactly! Whoever brings disaster to the steppe, Grand Shaman, tell us! We'll go kill them!"

The Grand Shaman shook his head: "It's the visitors from afar; you must not kill them. I will go see the Great Khan and ask him to decide."

"Visitors from afar?"

"Could it be those few Fierce Kingdom people?"

The Grand Shaman said nothing, turned back to the Royal City, came before the Golden Tent, and requested an audience with Menggen.

Menggen listened, pondered for a long time, then said: "Bring the Fierce Kingdom people to the Golden Tent."

Tuan Tuan was chasing Fan Fan all around inside the tent.

Though small, Fan Fan was very agile; as Tuan Tuan pursued, climbing up and down, several people nearby watched with smiles on their faces.

From outside the tent came Tie He's voice: "Honored guests of the Fierce Kingdom, the Great Khan invites you to the Golden Tent."

Their faces changed: "The Great Khan? What's the matter?"

Xiao Ningxun instructed: "Qing Qing, you stay in the tent to watch Fan Fan; we're leaving."

Tuan Tuan panted, glaring at Fan Fan who had darted under the low table: "Wait till I get back, then I'll chase you again!"

Taking his brother's hand, he walked out of the large tent.

Tie He led a detachment of guards, lining up outside the tent; seeing the few people emerge, he made a gesturing invitation.

Xiao Ningxun's expression remained calm: "Thank you for leading the way."

The guards quickly split to either side, escorting the group to the Golden Tent.

From the felt tent to the Golden Tent it was only a hundred or so steps, yet along the way many herdsmen had already gathered.

They stood silently, watching the few enter the Golden Tent; some spat softly, some turned away, while many more clenched their fists, faces filled with anger and fear.

Inside the Golden Tent.

Menggen sat alone on the throne, the Grand Shaman standing silently at his side, his bone staff resting on the ground.

"Everyone," Menggen said expressionlessly, "a white deer on the Holy Mountain suddenly died without injury this morning."

He paused, then turned his gaze to the Grand Shaman: "Grand Shaman, what does this omen signify?"

The Grand Shaman slowly lifted his head; the paint on his face was vividly bright, as if still slightly wriggling, making him look exceptionally grim: "The White Deer died without injury—this is a manifestation of misfortune."

"The divine beast warns with its death; disaster will befall the steppe."

He paused, then lifted his bone staff slightly, pointing at Xiao Ningxun's group: "Those who bring misfortune to the steppe are precisely these visitors from afar."

"As expected, they've come!"

"They actually killed a white deer? Their methods are ruthless."

Xiao Ningxun curled his lip: "The Grand Shaman means that we, these Fierce Kingdom people who have only been on the steppe for three days, could actually cause a divine beast dwelling deep in the Holy Mountain to die without injury?"

"It's not human power," the Grand Shaman shook his head, "but fate, a clash of cosmic fortune."

"Your misfortune has clashed with the steppe's divinity, causing the White Deer to warn with its death."

"What a fine clash of fortunes," Xiao Ran sneered, "if the Grand Shaman is right, then from now on whenever any livestock dies or any object is lost on the steppe, are we to be blamed for it all?"

"Ninth Prince, please calm down," Xiao Ningxun said softly, then turned to Menggen, clasped his hands, and said: "Great Khan, I, as a foreign official, have a request."

Menggen lifted his eyes: "Speak."

Xiao Ningxun spoke calmly: "Please allow us to go personally to the Holy Mountain to view the White Deer's corpse."

If it is truly heavenly disaster and misfortune, we will leave the grasslands immediately and not stay another day.

He paused: "But if this is someone with ulterior motives, using the death of the divine beast to plot chaos on the grasslands, to sabotage relations between the two states, this humble official is willing to exert my modest strength to ferret out the wicked."

He looked toward Menggen, earnestly: "Great Khan, this concerns the peace of the grasslands. If we cannot get to the bottom of it, today it is the white deer; tomorrow it could be something else."

"Suspicion spreading, with people's hearts unsettled, that is the true calamity."

The Great Shaman snorted: "Great Khan, this is already known throughout the city. If they go up the mountain now and still find nothing, that would only confirm their misfortune."

"By then, I may not be able to protect them."

Menggen remained silent for a long time before finally saying: "Approved."

He paused: "Tie He!"

"Present!" Tie He stepped forward and saluted, "Great Khan."

"Take people with you and make sure they return safely."

"Great Shaman, you lead them up the mountain."

"Yes."

Tuan Tuan lifted her head to look at Xiao Ningxun: "Third Brother, I want to bring Fan Fan along."

Xiao Ningxun lowered his hand to pat her head: "Be good, Tuan Tuan—who holds a wolf to go see deer? You'll scare the little fawns away."

Tuan Tuan thought: "All right, then we'll hurry back; Fan Fan will miss me."

Menggen watched the brother and sister, the corners of his mouth slightly rising.

The party walked out of the Golden Tent and headed toward Holy Mountain.

The Great Shaman led four assistant sacrificers at the front, Xiao Ningxun's group followed behind, and Tie He with twenty guards brought up the rear, separating them from the herders behind.

Thousands of herders followed silently behind, no one raising their voices, only the rustle of footsteps on grass leaves filling the air.

The atmosphere was oppressive and gloomy.

In the crowd, a herder in an indigo-blue worn robe lowered his head and leaned close to a sturdy-looking Han beside him, lowering his voice: "These Central Plains people sure are bold."

"They killed the divine beast and dare to enter our Holy Mountain."

That Han man lifted his head resentfully and glanced ahead: "That's right!"

The blue-robed herder slowly moved to the side and sighed to the angry-faced elder beside him: "Father, look—the divine beast died for no clear reason, and those people act as if nothing happened."

"The hearts of Central Plains people are truly hard."

"They don't stay put in Zhongyuan, come running here, bring misfortune, and still refuse to admit it!"

The elder hoarsely said: "Yes! The white deer is the god of our grasslands! The Great Shaman said they die to warn us when misfortune descends."

The blue-robed herder's voice grew softer: "We cannot let the white deer die in vain."

"When we get there, everyone must keep a close watch; if they show the slightest disrespect to the white deer, we'll all rush them together!"

"Right!"

"Exactly! That's how we should treat them!"

These words spread like poisonous vines through the crowd in an instant.