Chapter 82: Chapter Thirty‑Four【Tonight

The little maid finally came to her senses, silent, she gripped the iron chain and carefully made her way over. Hu Xiaotian, panting, turned around and saw Murong Feiyan struggling to climb the inclined suspension bridge, one of its four suspension cables having been cut, making it much harder than before. Having gone through this life-and-death battle, Murong Feiyan actually overcame her fear of heights; it seems only at the brink of life and death can one achieve a self‑breakthrough.

Hu Xiaotian reached out his hand to her, and Murong Feiyan also extended her delicate hand; finally their fingertips touched.

Whoosh! A burning rocket shot through the rain and mist toward the suspension bridge, thud! It lodged in the bridge's planks. Hu Xiaotian sucked in a breath of cold air; the enemy is intent on extermination.

Murong Feiyan exclaimed, 'Hurry up!'

The two ran one after the other toward the bridge's exit; fortunately the rocket that had struck the bridge hadn't ignited and was extinguished by the rain. The bridge's exit was completely sealed by thick smoke, so Hu Xiaotian and Murong Feiyan held their breath and walked along the iron chain; even so they were smoked to tears.

After narrowly crossing the suspension bridge, the mountain fire sparked by lightning had already spread onto the bridge, which then caught fire; the dwindling rain could not put out the blaze, and thick smoke soon spread around them. After Murong Feiyan was the last to cross the bridge, she swung her sword and cut several suspension cables; the already‑burning bridge, with its cables severed, swung toward the opposite cliff, slammed into the rock face, and shattered. She had no choice but to cut the bridge to prevent pursuers from following.

Hu Xiaotian covered his mouth and nose with a wet cloth, then saw Liang Da Zhuang and the little maid hiding behind a big tree, waiting; Shao Yijiao was nowhere to be seen, and after inquiring he learned that Shao Yijiao had gone into the forest to look for the enemy archers.

While they were worrying, they saw Shao Yijiao emerge from the forest, but as soon as he stepped out he collapsed face‑first onto the ground, two feathered arrows deeply embedded in the back of his head.

Hu Xiaotian hurriedly dragged him over, using the tree trunk for cover, felt his carotid pulse, and found that he had already breathed his last.

Murong Feiyan checked his breath, shook her head, and said solemnly, 'The enemy lurks in the dark while we are in the open; venturing deep into the forest is unwise.' Although Shao Yijiao was considered a capable hand in the Minister's residence, he lacked real combat experience and was far from a true expert; his risky foray into the forest to flush out hidden archers was ultimately meant to draw the archers' attention, and without him Hu Xiaotian and Murong Feiyan might not have made it across the bridge.

Although Hu Xiaotian didn't have deep feelings for Shao Yijiao and sometimes despised these timid, useless fellows, seeing the attendant who had followed him all the way die before his eyes still moved him deeply; he clenched his fists, lifted his head, and fixed a cold stare on the little maid's face.

The little girl's face was pallid, yet she showed not a trace of panic or sorrow; her gaze was too lazy to even glance at the corpse on the ground.

Seeing his companion's death, Liang Da Zhuang's eyes turned red; he pointed at the little girl and said, 'It's all because of you! If it weren't for you, Elder Brother Shao wouldn't have died pointlessly!'

The little girl neither denied nor admitted it; she silently picked up her blue‑printed cloth bundle, bit her lip, and walked forward. After a few steps she stopped and asked, 'Do you want to stay here and wait to die?'

Hu Xiaotian ignored her and told Liang Da Zhuang, 'Da Zhuang, find a pit and we'll bury Yijiao.'

The little girl turned around and stared blankly at them.

Murong Feiyan found a depression, and Hu Xiaotian and Liang Da Zhuang together lowered Shao Yijiao's body into it, then covered it with stones to keep beasts from eating it; that's all they could do for now.

Murong Feiyan remained vigilant of their surroundings; there were likely archers hidden deep in the forest, perhaps even now observing their every move, looking for a chance to assassinate them. Her gaze fell on the distant little girl, who was crouched by the roadside, doing who‑knows‑what. Suddenly Murong Feiyan felt a pang of regret; maybe the girl was truly mistaken, and if she had listened to Hu Xiaotian and not meddled in that grandfather‑grandson affair, they wouldn't have so many troubles, and Shao Yijiao wouldn't have died pointlessly in this wilderness.

The smoke from the mountain fire grew thicker, and Hu Xiaotian and Liang Da Zhuang also finished their work. Hu Xiaotian unscrewed his wineskin, poured a circle of liquor before Shao Yijiao's grave, and whispered, 'Yijiao, take care; once we settle down, I'll have someone come to beg for your bones and escort you back to your hometown.'

Liang Da Zhuang knelt before Shao Yijiao's grave, not knowing what to say, and burst into tears like a child; Hu Xiaotian patted his broad shoulder and said, 'Let's go.'

Murong Feiyan also bowed before the grave; the last to approach was the little girl, who gently placed the bunch of wildflowers she had just picked before Shao Yijiao's grave, turned her back on everyone, and in a barely audible voice said, 'I'm sorry…'

The descent went much more smoothly; the rain stopped and the clouds dispersed, but the gloom brought by Shao Yijiao's killing hung over their hearts, unable to disperse in the short term.

Hu Xiaotian and Liang Da Zhuang were both quite cold toward the little girl; even Murong Feiyan felt a strong aversion to this cold‑blooded lass, and that aversion actually began the moment they learned she had moved against Hu Xiaotian.

When night fell, they finally crossed Mount Pengyin; strangely, along the way the archer hidden in the dark never launched an attack.

That night they camped on the mountainside; Murong Feiyan carefully chose a rocky thicket, the campsite lying between several thousand‑jin giant boulders. Standing on a boulder gave a clear view of the surroundings, and resting in the rocky thicket was meant to avoid arrow fire.

Liang Da Zhuang lit a bonfire and began preparing dinner; the little girl seemed to sense the others' coldness toward her, so she didn't join them, instead finding a sheltered corner to sit alone, clutching her blue‑printed bundle as she gazed silently at the night sky as black as velvet, wondering what she was thinking.

Murong Feiyan leapt onto one of the giant boulders, stood there keeping watch, and soon heard a rustling behind her; she turned to see Hu Xiaotian scrambling up using hands and feet, having exerted tremendous effort to climb from below. Seeing his clumsy figure, she couldn't help wanting to laugh, and she reached out to pull him up.

Hu Xiaotian had trekked all day and was utterly exhausted; climbing onto this boulder already left him feeling spent. Although he was also very headstrong, he had to admit his physique could not compare to Captain Murong's; he plopped down on the boulder, braced his hands on either side, panted for a while, and finally caught his breath: 'I'm dead tired!'

Murong Feiyan glanced at him and said, 'You're a pampered rich‑boy, used to luxury—you can't take any hardship.' Though she said that, along the way she had realized Hu Xiaotian was no spoiled noble, nor the good‑for‑nothing she once thought; gradually she discovered he still had many shining qualities.

One stood, the other sat, yet their gazes were fixed on the same patch of night sky. The night was vast; the cliffs and crags blurred into darkness, only the dusky outlines of peaks visible, solitary stars twinkling on jagged mountain tops like canine teeth, a thin crescent moon as pale as thin ice rising silently from the distant mountain ridges, so still that the night seemed to slip down from the treetops like a snake and quietly take over the world.

Murong Feiyan gazed at the beautiful interplay of stars and moonlight, lifted her graceful, curved chin, and left a stunning silhouette in the moon; the moonlight draped over her lovely form, as if cloaking her in a mysterious, holy halo.

Hu Xiaotian was dazzled by her beauty at that moment, unable to take his eyes off her; meanwhile Murong Feiyan's gaze lingered on the rising new moon, and she murmured dreamily, 'In your homeland, have you ever seen such a beautiful moon?'

"My homeland?" If it weren't for Murong Feiyan's question, Hu Xiaotian would have almost forgotten the world he originally lived in. His memories weren't happy; he shook his head: 'Scenery doesn't matter, mood does!'************************************************Please vote for the Dream Cup!

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