Chapter 258: The Wolf Maiden Who Wipes Her Sword

After shaking off Bolton's army, Mei Yi led the cavalry forward at a full gallop.

The cold wind hissed, hoofbeats like drums, sound waves echoing across the endless plains' black marsh, making the sky seem higher and the earth wider.

Her cavalry, following her mood, began to sing loudly, seeming not like they were entering enemy territory but like young masters returning from a hunting trip: ahead awaited their kind mother, brothers and sisters welcoming them home, the cook had prepared a feast, and the servants had readied the beds.

They laughed and sang all the way, not knowing where the pursuers had been thrown.

When she was sure Bolton could not catch up tonight, she ordered a halt.

At this moment the evening clouds sank westward, and a purple mist shrouded the black marsh.

The marsh withdrew the day's distant, ineffable tranquility, and began to lower an inviolable dark curtain.

They immediately chose the high ground beside the stream to set up camp.

The attendants huddled the logs they had picked up nearby, driving them into the soil as hitching posts. The gathered dry firewood was piled haphazardly in the center of the camp, then lit as a night fire.

If a freezing rain could extinguish all their enthusiasm. It was a rare night, barely counting as clear.

After the fire was lit, someone soon drove a long stake of huge branches into the ground beside it and hung up gutted pigs, dozens of them big and small. They were an unfortunate family of wild boars. Before the dozens of brave and skilled cavalry, they were so fragile that they were easily wiped out on the wilderness, becoming the cavalry's food.

These game were quickly processed at the stream, and the enthusiastic soldiers busied themselves repeatedly.

When the western glow had completely sunk into the earth, the smoke of firewood and meat perfume filled the camp, completely masking the marsh's distinctive rot‑leaf scent and the biting cold of deep winter.

The soldiers were affected by this relaxed, cheerful atmosphere; had Mei Yi not been present, they might have burst into song and dance.

"Your Highness?" As she walked away from the fire, Ha'erluo inadvertently squeezed past Shasha and Huode, drew near her, and whispered, "Will the enemy not come?"

"The enemy is too far from us."

He said nothing.

"What, are you afraid?" Mei Yi chuckled lightly.

His face flushed instantly, then he shook his head.

"I'm just a little worried. We are on enemy land." He lowered his head. "My father told me that when hunting, a hunter should stay hidden and avoid being spotted by the prey as much as possible, but..." He glanced at the bustling camp, at the teenage soldiers horsing around, "The night fire will reveal our position, and we... I am somewhat worried."

"Cautious people indeed often live longer, for they can sense danger in time and evade it, though sometimes not." Mei Yi smiled at him, facing the firelight; his beard looked golden and gleamed, his eyes deep as water. "Lord Hulun was a good man, and Lord Ade died together with him in Junlin; if your brother hadn't met with a fluke of fate, he would probably have died too. They were all cautious people."

He looked a little sad, so Mei Yi patted his shoulder and laughed, "We are all young and will certainly not die easily. I promise you. In the wolf's den... oh, in dangerous places staying relaxed and optimistic is more important; otherwise a gust of wind will make you think the enemy has come, and you'll be anxious and fearful, which won't do—I want warriors."

"Have you sensed that there is no danger?"

"I rarely feel danger." That was the truth.

Mei Yi gripped the long sword at her waist; at this moment Passion glowed slowly with a faint light, and her mood seemed as relaxed as the nearby soldiers.

"I understand, Your Highness."

"Hurry up!" Mei Yi pushed him. "Those little pigs can't feed the bellies of several hundred people. If you want the best, you can't be late."

The soldiers nearby had already started shouting to divide the pork, while the other soldiers beside them grinned broadly.

"And you?"

"I'm not hungry." The smell of meat reminded her of the charred corpses on the battlefield. She turned to Huode and Shasha beside her and said, "You go too!"

"Hey, okay!" Shasha hurriedly laughed, pulling Huode away.

"When you're full, you ought to sing a song for everyone. I know your brother's song 'Swift Horse' is quite good." Mei Yi laughed, "You hear my horse's hooves thundering... like rolling thunder across the plains..."

"Me?" He blushed again.

Mei Yi patted his shoulder again, turned and left; after a few steps she looked back, but he still stood there foolishly.

"Your father is quite right. As a hunter, one should stay as hidden as possible and not be noticed by the prey. But if one is to be bait, one must absolutely be fragrant and visible." Mei Yi looked at him with a smile, "Tonight I will stand watch for everyone," and then she struck a joking military pose, "My commander."

The firelight gleamed behind her, illuminating her as she walked alone into the dark depths.

Pulling away from the fierce flames, the breastplate on her back quickly cooled, and the residual heat on her body was swiftly carried off by the cold wind piercing her; she felt she finally harmonized with the faint, cold moonlight at the edge.

Away from the campfire, the musty scent of the wild grass rose again. Under the moonlight, the black marsh shore lay in layers of gray shadow, like shifting, unpredictable waves of clouds.

She sat cross‑legged on a patch of dry grass and drew Passion.

Passion's blade flashed with the clear light of the crescent moon, and she continually wiped it with the wrapped cloth.

The grass tips lightly touched the edge, producing a faint buzzing, as if swirling between the swords; she wanted to hear it more clearly, but all that reached her ears was a long lament.

"Ah," "ah," "ah!" as if the wind were speaking.

The grass too was chanting along.

"What do you want?" the wind said.

"Hmm..." the grass rubbed together, making a rustling sound, "Listen to her, listen to her."

"Splash!" a lone night bird broke from the water, sending up spray, "Queen! Queen!"

A meteor flashed across the southeast, drawing a long tail, falling into the edge of darkness, then another followed the same path and streaked across again.

She could not tell what it meant, she lifted her gaze to the crescent moon and smiled silently.

"Pop!" a cold frog leapt into the mire, "puff‑puff!" insects were startled awake, "woman, woman!"

The stream water quietly seeped into the marsh, drip‑drip, "a hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years..."

"Alas, alas," the wind said, "Queen! Queen! Queen of living beings, Queen of all things!"

"Hmm..." a beast's roar sounded, accompanied by a dragging tearing noise.

She rose and went toward the sound.

A black shape emerged from the dark mist, its dark‑green eyes glowing with a faint light.

The Furry Dog dragged a crocodile that looked twice its size, struggling to pull the prey from the marsh onto the bank. In the dark night its fur shone, and the mud on its head, in the moonlight, looked like a golden crown.

"Hah, what have you been up to? I was just saying, I haven't seen you in ages." Mei Yi ran over to get closer.

On the huge crocodile's neck appeared a row of holes, clearly the marks left by wolf fangs.

Northern Border, crocodile, winter—nothing could be more miraculous.

Up close, the Furry Dog's eyes were even greener.

Hearing Mei Yi's voice, it shuddered. Mei Yi felt it trembling.

"What happened?" she said, moving closer.

Maomao Gou retreated two steps. Then, using the faint light, she saw that Maomao Gou's foreleg was bleeding, as if cut by a sharp object, exposing flesh and blood beneath its black fur.

"It?" Mei Yi pointed at its wound, then pointed at the giant crocodile.

Maomao Gou retreated another half step. She did not find the answer.

She carefully examined Maomao Gou's wound; several leeches, each about two or three inches long, were sucking blood from the wound. She quickly pried them off with a dagger and then did a simple bandage.

Maomao Gou strongly resisted this. When she was about to proceed further, it immediately leapt away and ran, disappearing into the night, even abandoning its prey.

Mei Yi stopped and looked at the crocodile on the ground, sheathed her dagger and long sword, then grabbed the crocodile's tail and dragged it back to the camp.

The camp was filled with cheers and laughter; Sasha danced in the firelight for the boys. Unfortunately, she wasn't wearing a skirt, otherwise her posture would be even more lovely. Yet, clad in armor, she still earned the soldiers' rounds of cheers and applause.

When she dragged the crocodile into view before the soldiers, the soldiers first fell silent, then began to loudly cheer.