Chapter 208: So That Was It (2)

The slightly younger soldier felt it was still inappropriate and asked in a low voice, "The General hasn't returned yet. Should we report this to the Commander?"

The older-looking soldier thought for a moment and replied, "We should!"

The young soldier nodded and ran quickly into the mansion.

No one noticed a dark figure following closely behind Gu Yun as she left.

On the street in the middle of the night, there were no streetlights, and the moonlight couldn't reach the alley. The pure black steed and the person on its back almost blended into the night, and only the sound of hooves could be heard approaching from afar, not in a hurry. Su Ling held the reins, his mind still on the battle report from the East Sea that had arrived today.

Pirates often caused trouble in the eastern territorial waters, but because Qiongyue goods basically didn't travel by sea, and the Emperor had no intention of interacting with nearby island nations, there was little contact with pirates. However, in the past month, pirates had actually landed multiple times, burning, killing, and looting in small towns along the coast. Their naval forces were weak, and multiple pursuits had allowed them to escape. He had discussed it with the Minister of War all night and decided to draft a memorial asking the Emperor to send more troops to garrison the East Sea.

Su Ling was still pondering which unit to send to the East Sea when the Chi Xue at his waist suddenly grew hot, emitting a strange white light that looked dazzling and eerie in the pitch-black night. At the same time, the sword body shook violently, and even through his clothes, he felt it burning hot.

Chi Xue rarely showed such intense behavior, and that white light made Su Ling feel even more alarmed. What had happened to Bing Lian? Thinking of what Su Ren had said that day, Su Ling's already tense heart tightened. Were the people from Juling Island truly that powerful, that even Bing Lian and the Shadow Guards couldn't protect her? Gripping the reins, Su Ling spurred the horse, and the steed, as if sensing its master's urgency, let out a long neigh, and the dark figure flew out like a sharp sword, traveling through the alleyways.

The urgent sound of hooves caught the attention of the guards at the gate. Looking up, a black shadow was galloping toward them extremely fast. In a short while, it was before them. The person on the horse pulled the reins sharply, the steed neighed, and stopped in front of the General's Mansion. Seeing who it was, the guards immediately went up to meet him. "General!" The General's expression was solemn. The guard was hesitating about how to tell him that Miss Qing had left the mansion, but Su Ling had already dismounted nimbly, threw the reins to him, and ran hurriedly into the mansion.

Su Ling had just entered the main gate when he met Han Shu, who was also in a hurry. Han Shu let out a long sigh of relief and said, "General, you're finally back."

Su Ling feared his guess might come true and his tone was somewhat impatient. "What happened?"

Han Shu said with a strange expression, "Something has happened at Yitian Courtyard; you should go take a look quickly."

Something had indeed happened! Su Ling's mind automatically recalled the scene of a sword piercing the heart. His body went cold, and his face turned very ugly. Han Shu looked strangely at Su Ling's difficulty in breathing and said hurriedly, "General, what's wrong with you?"

Han Shu's loud voice pulled Su Ling back to his senses. He saw that Han Shu, apart from having a somewhat strange expression, was otherwise normal. Given his personality, if Qing Mo had been attacked in the mansion, he shouldn't have had such an expression. Su Ling suppressed his panic and unease, walking rapidly toward Yitian Courtyard while asking, "What exactly happened?"

Following closely behind Su Ling, Han Shu frowned, his face full of confusion. "For some reason, Yitian Courtyard is suddenly surrounded by a cold aura, exceptionally icy. I originally wanted to go in and take a look, but when I walked to the courtyard, my whole body almost froze, and I had to come out first. I don't know if Miss Qing is in the room; if she is, it's going to be trouble!"

Cold aura? Although Bing Lian was cold, it wasn't to the extent that one couldn't stand walking into the courtyard. Su Ling was also puzzled, but hearing that it wasn't a night raid, half of his tense heart relaxed, though his pace didn't slow down at all.

The older guard returned after tying the horse, but the two were already gone. At this moment, the young soldier who had gone to report the news came running back. Before he could stand steady, the guard asked hurriedly, "Did you see the General just now?"

The young soldier shook his head and replied, "No."

"What about Commander Su?"

The young soldier replied in frustration, "I couldn't find him either. He's not in his courtyard." He had even gone to the study to look, but hadn't seen the Commander. He clearly hadn't left the mansion, so where had he gone?

On the chilly night, the guard broke out in a sweat. "I just heard Forward General Han say that something happened at Yitian Courtyard. Isn't that where Miss Qing lives?"

"What should we do now?" The young soldier also grew nervous. If he had known this was the situation, he wouldn't have let Miss Qing leave the mansion no matter what!

Clenching his fists, the guard made a decision. "You stay here and guard. I'll go to Yitian Courtyard and report to the General that Miss Qing has left the mansion." Knowing and not reporting was an even greater crime!

"Yes!" The young soldier broke out in a cold sweat and nodded hurriedly. The guard ran toward Yitian Courtyard. The further he went, the more he felt an icy chill piercing his heart, and he couldn't help but shiver.

When Han Shu and Su Ling arrived at Yitian Courtyard, they were also stunned by the scene and unable to move for a moment.

On the courtyard wall, which was over a person's height, a thin layer of ice had formed. On the tiles, ice pillars over two inches long hung down. The dense leaves swayed stiffly in the night wind. What should have been the rustling sound of leaves rubbing against each other now emitted a strange sound like small stones knocking together because the leaves had also frozen. The entire Yitian Courtyard was shrouded in ice, emitting a glistening light under the moonlight.

Outside Yitian Courtyard, the night-patrolling soldiers looked at this wonder, all frozen in front of the courtyard, shivering uncontrollably.

Su Ling was the first to recover and walked toward the courtyard gate. Han Shu stared straight at the ice pillars on the wall and couldn't help but exclaim strangely, "My god! When I went in just now, there weren't any ice pillars? It's only November, how can there be such a strange thing!" Qiongyue was located in the south, and the capital was chosen in a warm and comfortable place. Throughout the year, only on the few days of the New Year would some snowflakes drift down. When had they ever seen such a scene?

Su Ling walked to the gate, and the courtyard door suddenly opened from the inside. An extremely cold aura immediately surged out, and everyone standing by the door couldn't help but shiver! A tall, sturdy figure walked out while patting the broken ice off his body, cursing, "Freezing me to death!"

Looking from outside the gate, the dazzling white light from the room illuminated the courtyard brightly. The grass was frozen with a layer of ice half a foot thick, and the window lattices and eaves were covered in icicles. Standing outside the courtyard, one could already feel the bone-chilling cold; if one were inside, the feeling could be imagined. Su Ling asked hurriedly, "Uncle Yan, is she inside?"

Su Yan hurriedly closed the courtyard gate, rubbing his stiff fingers while shivering, "That girl isn't there. Bing Lian doesn't know what kind of madness it's having. Anything within a zhang of it has been frozen into ice, and the white light is blindingly dazzling." He hadn't expected Bing Lian's ability to be so strong. If he hadn't had over forty years of internal energy to protect him, he feared he wouldn't have been able to get out once he got in!

"She's not there?" Then where had she gone? Su Ling pushed open the courtyard gate to investigate. Bing Lian wouldn't be acting so abnormally unless it knew something had happened to her.

As soon as the courtyard gate opened, the surging cold air was even more bone-piercing. Su Yan shrank his neck. Grabbing Su Ling's sleeve, he said hurriedly, "Ling, don't go in. Bing Lian is very abnormal tonight!" For many years, although Bing Lian had always been cold, it would restrain its cold aura when the Su family touched it. Even if it remained cold, it wouldn't freeze them. Tonight, when he went in, not only did Bing Lian not restrain its cold aura, but the cold grew even more intense as he approached. If he hadn't leaped away nimbly, he would have been frozen inside.

Su Ling frowned, a bad premonition growing in his heart. Something must have happened to her, otherwise Bing Lian wouldn't be like this. Gripping the Chi Xue in his hand, Su Ling replied, "I have Chi Xue, it's fine!" The more this was the case, the more he had to go in. Glancing at the dark red long sword in his hand, Su Yan felt a little more at ease and finally let go.

Su Ling stepped into the courtyard and closed the courtyard gate behind him. Bing Lian in the room seemed to sense their arrival, and the already dazzling white light became even more blinding. At this moment, the always quiet Chi Xue also began to shake uneasily, and a warm current surged from his palm, blocking much of the cold air for him, helping him successfully approach the small house that was almost completely frozen.

Su Ling pushed the door open forcefully. The large room showed no signs of a struggle. Bing Lian was suspended in mid-air, and just as Su Yan had said, everything within a zhang of it had been frozen into ice, turning into hollow large pillars. And reflecting off the dazzling white light of the solid ice, it was blinding.

Su Ling endured the sharp, knife-like cold wind, stepped into the room, and asked anxiously, "Bing Lian, where is she?"

It would have been better if he hadn't asked. As soon as he did, it immediately angered Bing Lian. Through the layer of solid ice over a zhang thick, Bing Lian suddenly attacked him. As it moved, the solid ice moved with it. In an instant, the solid ice, carrying an extremely cold aura and merciless force, bore down on him. Su Ling was startled, leaped back a step, and slashed horizontally with the Chi Xue in his hand. The scarlet sword energy collided with the cold solid ice with a loud boom, and the solid ice was split in two. Unfortunately, Su Ling and Chi Xue didn't gain any advantage. The dull pain in his chest reminded him that the backlash from that sword strike had almost caused him internal injury, and Chi Xue was still shaking after that strike!

Su Ling's eagle eyes narrowed slightly. He wanted to go in again, but the Chi Xue in his hand blocked his path, not letting him take another step forward. Through the shattered solid ice, Bing Lian seemed unconvinced, crazily releasing its cold aura, and the shattered ice actually began to freeze together again bit by bit. It seemed Bing Lian didn't intend to let him be. Su Ling pondered for a moment, stopped moving forward, and turned to exit the courtyard.

As soon as the door was pulled open, he was immediately dragged out by a large hand. When Su Ling came out, not only was his whole body covered in ice chips, but even his hair and eyebrows were covered in ice flowers. As he breathed, white mist rose, showing how frozen he had been inside! Just looking at his disheveled appearance, one knew that Chi Xue hadn't been able to help much! Su Yan hurriedly helped him pat the ice off his body and asked anxiously, "How is it?"

Su Ling's face was black as he replied, "Bing Lian is in a rage, and I can't get close to it."

Su Yan asked inexplicably, "What on earth is going on?"

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 209 =====