Chapter 66: Sha Sha Boqi

Sha Sha saw Hong Li Yu still alive, overjoyed to the point of wanting to cry, she rushed out of the forest quickly, just wanting to throw herself into his embrace.

She thought Hong Li Yu would be delighted to see her too, but she didn't expect him to draw a dagger and assume an attacking pose.

"It's me, Hong Li Yu!" she cried out, she knew her face might still have blood, but she had already wiped it off as best she could with snow.

Hong Li Yu put away his dagger dubiously, at a loss as he watched her leap into his arms.

In his embrace there was a scent she had never smelled before, like incense soaked through.

"Oh!" he replied.

"Hong Li Yu, are you alive? What about Father and the others?" Sha Sha asked anxiously.

"They're all dead, only someone survived."

After hearing that, Sha Sha only wanted to wail loudly, but as Bo Qi's daughter she would not shed tears lightly; dying in battle returns one to the gods.

She dried her eyes with her sleeve, then held back her tears, blew a whistle, and the little unicorn immediately stepped out of the forest, looking puzzled.

"What's wrong, unicorn?" Sha Sha stepped forward and put her arms around its neck.

Hong Li Yu looked at the unicorn, somewhat surprised. Sha Sha looked and smiled, saying, "Yesterday, I and it together killed two barbarians in the forest! One escaped, but because the unicorn was injured I didn't pursue."

"Moo..." the unicorn made a strange cry.

"It's wounded on the forehead, even the bone is scarred. I was worried, but this morning the wound healed, though its spirit isn't quite right yet." Sha Sha said happily.

"What's wrong, Hong Li Yu, are you injured too?" Sha Sha quickly looked left and right, but he didn't look injured. "Your complexion is a bit pale."

"Hehe," he laughed, this smile Sha Sha was unfamiliar with, found awkward, and even a little unpleasant, "Someone is not injured."

He stroked Sha Sha's head; she struggled a bit and pulled away, "Do you know why we came to the Northern Border?"

He seemed to be testing her.

Sha Sha shook her head, "I heard Father and them want to open the city gate for someone, I'm not sure. Otherwise, let's return to Sikasges Island; I don't want to go to Winter City."

After saying that, Sha Sha could no longer hold back her tears.

The little unicorn beside her lowed and rubbed against her.

"That won't do. Someone still has business in Winter City, right?"

"Why? Father and them are dead, I want to go home. We two will definitely be able to return."

He merely smiled, making Sha Sha feel somewhat worried and anxious.

"What are you laughing at?"

"If we go back, we'll surely run into barbarians again. We can't survive; the only option is to go to Winter City first." After thinking for a long time, he gave that bland reply.

"But I don't know where Winter City is; Father said just follow the road and you'll get there, but can we really? The road's sides are either mountains or forest."

"Someone knows. As long as we keep going down the road, sooner or later we'll see that huge castle, and then we can leave the King's Road and walk to the castle."

"But what are we going there for? Father's already dead." Sha Sha asked.

"Open the city gate!" he still chuckled lightly. He acted like he was joking, which Sha Sha was not used to.

"Why? I don't understand."

"This is the gods' arrangement. My… little princess."

"My name is Sha Sha! Hong Li Yu, tell me, which god's arrangement is this?" Red God, Snow God, or Sea God, Mountain God?

"Sha Sha, that's a good name." He looked at her, "The gods have many different faces, but also many different names."

She didn't understand what he said.

But the two of them together are better than being alone.

Only after two days did Sha Sha feel the unicorn had returned to normal.

Sha Sha insisted on walking in the forest beside the road to avoid passersby on the King's Road, which Hong Li Yu also agreed. During that time, she saw soldiers riding horses hurrying south, and also saw lone travelers walking the road in tattered clothes, barbarians.

Just as she saw them, Sha Sha almost drew her dagger, but Hong Li Yu snatched it away.

"He's not a barbarian?" he said.

"How do you know? They look just like barbarians." Over these two days, Sha Sha felt Hong Li Yu understood a lot, even more than her father and Shanmao Shushu understood things. She had never noticed before.

After feeling Hong Li Yu understood more, she became indifferent to him, so these two days she had countless thoughts of leaving Hong Li Yu alone to return to the seaside, looking for a ship back to Statges Island. But being alone with just a unicorn made a safe return impossible.

She thought of the sheepskin bag still tucked in her bosom. Perhaps the little wolves of Winter City, seeing the contents of the sheepskin bag, would take her in and even arrange a ship to send her back to Sikasges Island.

Perhaps so; such an important thing, Father giving it to me must surely be useful.

"He's a mountain person, not a barbarian." He said firmly.

"Why aren't mountain people barbarians?" she asked.

"Barbarians are those outside the Great Wall; mountain people are those living in the mountainous areas inside the Great Wall."

"Does the Great Wall make mountain people less wild?"

"Just a different name." He smiled mysteriously, "Guess how I know he's a mountain person? Sha Sha?"

Sha Sha shook her head. Hong Li Yu has always been clever.

"His clothes may be ragged, but the shield he carries bears an emblem, which is the family crest of a certain mountain person clan in the Northern Border."

"When did you learn about emblems?" "I thought you only knew how to swim!" she said dejectedly.

"Hehe, speaking of which, I do have a bit of an itch in my hands and feet now; when we get to Winter City, someone will satisfy him."

Since Sha Sha could ride the unicorn again, she has had to often stop somewhere ahead to wait.

He has grown taller now; the little unicorn can't bear the weight of two people, and moreover the unicorn has started to dislike him, and Hong Li Yu is also unwilling to share a ride with her.

Before he used to blush, but now he refuses casually; Sha Sha knows he definitely won't ride.

During these stops, Sha Sha often felt they might have to wait a very long time before reaching Winter City; perhaps on the day they arrive, her unicorn will have grown up, larger than her father's, and she herself will become like an old witch; thinking of that scene, Sha Sha feels worried.

She couldn't help but stroke the little unicorn. It responded with lowing sounds.

If we get to Winter City, what name should I give you? The animals on the island have no names, but in the Northern Border it's different.

Old geezer? Old lightning? Gray grandpa? Then I'll have the little wolves of Winter City give you a name, how about that?

People say, Xiao Lang lives inside the high walls, surrounded by river water; inside the castle, before each meal, the rising smoke flies very high, very high, so that everyone in the North can see it.

Exactly how high is it?

How high are the walls, and how high are the towers inside? Can I climb the tower to see the whole North, or has Xiao Lang now climbed the tower and is looking at me? Look…

Father is dead, Mountain Cat Uncle is also dead; he originally could have used the wheat from Approach-winter City to make cakes.

Perhaps she shouldn't have thrown away the remaining half of the wheat cake that day, she thought.

Two days later, she rode the unicorn along the gurgling flow to a small pool shrouded in mist; she took water from the upstream brook of the pool, the stream water icy cold, but drinking it was extremely refreshing; she filled her waterskin and then looked at the person's reflection in the water.

The person's hair was a mess, face dirty, unlike Hongliyu, who was clean and tidy.

If Xiao Lang saw her like this, he would surely think she was a savage, right?

Thinking this, she stripped off her clothes, endured the icy wind, and jumped into the deep pool scoured by the stream. When she shrank into the deep pool shivering, she actually found the water not that cold; on the contrary, it was somewhat warm, she felt it somewhat like the hot springs on the island, just not as hot……No wonder there is no snow accumulated nearby.

She happily began swimming in the pool.

The center of the pool glowed a dark green; at first she always swam around it, fearing something horrible might suddenly dart out, but gradually she felt there was no danger in the middle, so she treated the whole pool as a bathtub, and finally dove down quite a bit into the deep part of the center.

After several breaths, she returned, not because she couldn't continue diving, but because the water below made her feel somewhat hot.

She opened her mouth wide; the unicorn beside her gave two dissatisfied lows, then began chewing the rhizomes that Shasha had found for it.

Had I known, I wouldn't have washed these things in the upstream stream; it froze her hands until they hurt.

When she got tired from swimming, she sat down beside a green stone at the pool's edge, avoiding the half where the cold water flowed. She half-crouched in the water, reluctant to come ashore and put on her clothes, as if leaving the water would make her think of her deceased companions.

Hongliyu is always leisurely; this time she had already rushed out for a long time in one breath, and she still had plenty of time.

When she noticed her hands and feet skin had become somewhat abnormal from soaking, she only then slowly walked out of the pool, enduring the slight chill of the forest wind, and put on her clothes.

"I didn't expect there to be such a nice pool here." Not knowing when Hongliyu had appeared before her, she spoke slowly, "Now look, you really are like a princess!"

Shasha felt her face flush. "It's a hot spring I discovered. Do you want to go down and swim?"

"No need. We'll be at Approach-winter City soon."

"Why? Isn't it already not far?" Shasha exclaimed delightedly.

"Someone picked up a horse." At that moment, Shasha noticed the gray, saddleless horse tethered to the roadside by him.

Shasha didn't believe his words. "Father already said, in the North we are not allowed to pillage at will!"

"Someone never lies. This is the horse picked up." He smiled, "Look, isn't this horse pretty, gray, huh? Look at the mane, how long! With this horse, I guess we'll reach Approach-winter City in just a few days."

Shasha felt a bit unsure. "Not taken by force?"

"No."

"Hongliyu, you're really lucky. How did you pick up a horse? Did someone deliberately leave it here?"

"I don't know, there's no brand on its hindquarters. It looks like it darted out from some mountain forest; poor horse, without an owner for a while it must have worried and gone hungry a lot—I just waved at it and it came over. Maybe it also wants to follow the King's Great Road to find home."

"Maybe it's from Approach-winter City." Shasha happily guessed, "If they see their lost horse, they'll surely thank us."

"Maybe they're blaming us, blaming us for stealing their horse." He laughed loudly, "Someone heard that the Stark family is always stern; horse thieves either choose to be hanged or to become Night's Watch."

"You didn't steal, right?" Hongliyu shook her head, and so Shasha happily said, "Then it's fine. The people of Skagos Island say wolves are easy to deceive, but we Boqi do not deceive people."

With the horse's help, two days later they saw Approach-winter City rising where the mountains and forest meet on the King's Great Road. So beautiful a city, she almost instantly determined it was their destination.

Legend says this castle is the oldest on the continent, its walls built of stone, higher than the watchtowers of the Kelaoer family.

Seeing Approach-winter City right before her eyes, Shasha couldn't help riding the unicorn toward the castle. But Hongliyu grabbed her, telling her that the people of the North had never seen a unicorn, so riding it like that would draw a crowd and cause trouble.

Shasha didn't understand; wasn't being watched and noticed a good thing? Isn't riding a unicorn impressive enough?

To make him shut up, Shasha took off her cloak, covered the unicorn's long horn, leaving only its eyes visible, making it look like a long-haired horse.

After doing all that, she sped up, getting as close as possible to Approach-winter City. The people coming and going past Approach-winter City were obviously more numerous than on other stretches of the King's Great Road, but she pretended not to notice.

When the unicorn began to pant from running, she then let it slow down and slowly observe the castle:

Its walls weren't as high as she imagined, but at least twice as high as the Kelaoer family's; along the walls, at intervals, stood pointed turrets, between them continuous crenellations. From outside the castle, one could still see high towers stretching into the skyline, their shape exactly like that of Skagos Island—sharp cones, looking both mysterious and ancient.

Only when she got closer did she realize that, standing outside the city, she shouldn't even be concerned about the walls. For behind the walls there was yet a higher wall, behind that higher wall stood ever higher bastions, and beyond those bastions lay even higher stone citadels and massive towers; the tallest of those lacked a spire, appearing already ruined.

Besides, the tops of all the towers were dull gray cones; this shape lets snow slide off quickly so it doesn't crush the towers, but Shasha knew that if the snow were really heavy, this design would let the snow pile up faster and bury all the rooms' entrances.

Only when she got even closer did she notice the wooden huts huddled against the wall below; the huts were joined together, each little hut almost as large as her family's hall.

The wooden huts were built against the wall, stretching from where she could see to where the wall disappeared, from the wall's corner to the forest's edge.

Outside the walls, aside from the main road leading in and out of the gate, both sides were endless forest; as the terrain rose and fell, it was clear the forest had been freshly logged in many places, but Shasha believed these trees were plentiful enough to last another thousand years of cutting.

Who could possibly capture such a castle? She couldn't imagine.

"What is that flashing over there?" she shouted loudly at Hongliyu.

There were three elevated transparent structures; riding on the unicorn, she could just see their tops, and Hongliyu should be able to see them more clearly. They were arranged neatly, with many identical symmetrical edges, looking like jewels, exquisitely beautiful, giving a feeling completely different from the stone walls. She didn't know why the castle could have two such contrasting features.

"That should be a glass-made dome."

"Made of glass, why wouldn't it be crushed by heavy snow?"

"Perhaps we can go in and ask the owner."

Shasha had long been impatient, so she sped up along the road toward the gate; but when she arrived, she found the gate tightly shut.

She was somewhat puzzled; it was still daytime.

After a long while, passersby told them that only the hunter's gate on the west side was still open; other gates were not allowed entry.

So she and Hongliyu quickly circled the connected wooden huts, drifting past various curious onlookers to the so-called hunter's gate; just as she was about to lead the beast inside, she was directly stopped by the guards on duty.

"According to the lord's order, no outsiders, no strangers may enter!" said a chubby guard with a big beard.

"Why, then where should we wait?" Shasha grew anxious.

"You may stay however you like at the winter market, but no strangers are allowed inside the castle." He repeated.

"What kind of acquaintance can get in?" Hongliyu asked, not at all anxious, smiling.

"I said, castle personnel." He began to drive the two of them away.

"Haha, what does 'castle personnel' even mean!"

"My eyes, what my eyes recognize, are the people inside the castle; what I don't recognize are strangers—don't even think of entering! Do you understand, you two strangers? Hurry up and leave, hurry up and leave!"

Hongliyu glanced at her, smiling, and turned the horse's head.

"I am Shasa boqi, this is something my dad asked me to give to the Little Wolf of Winterfort." She took out a leather pouch from her chest, made a motion to hand it over, but the guard had no intention of taking it.

Then she opened the windbreaker covering the little unicorn's face.

"Moo..." the unicorn happily called out with all its might.

After the guard's amused shocked expression, Shasa boqi heard a wolf howl that made her feel a bone-chilling cold.