Chapter 101: The Meeting

On Snow Mountain, the eye met nothing but a vast expanse of white, dotted here and there with grey-brown trees, bare and reduced to naked trunks.

The moment the video connected and she saw this, An Luo closed her eyes in discomfort.

After a long while, her eyes finally adjusted to the dazzling, crystalline pure white.

Noticing her reaction, Cheng Chengxuan asked with worry and a touch of nervousness.

"What's wrong?"

An Luo shook her head.

"Nothing, it's just a bit glaring. My eyes couldn't adjust at first, but I'm fine now."

Having said that, she began swiping the screen with great interest, looking around.

Hearing her words, Cheng Chengxuan finally set his mind at ease and continued on his way.

"Where are you headed?"

Cheng Chengxuan answered in a low voice.

"To meet Situ Kuo, Shang Gu's maternal uncle."

Glancing ahead at Chu Yuan, who was looking around alertly not far off, he added in a slightly apologetic whisper.

"There will be outsiders present shortly, so it won't be convenient for me to keep responding to you, miss. I hope you'll understand."

An Luo waved her hand dismissively.

"It's fine, it's fine. You go about your business; I'll just look around on my own."

The fingers inside Cheng Chengxuan's sleeve curled slightly twice, and his breathing quickened a little.

He had just said "outsider," and she had neither denied nor corrected him.

So did that mean she considered him one of her own people?

Chu Yuan, waiting up ahead, lit up at the sight of him, waved a hand, and called out in a lowered voice.

"Chengxuan, over here!"

Then he walked a few steps toward him and pointed ahead.

"General Situ is waiting under a big tree less than a hundred meters ahead. I'll keep watch for you here and won't go over. Be careful."

"Alright, thank you."

After Cheng Chengxuan had walked forward a stretch, he spotted a middle-aged man in a grey cloak with a sword at his waist.

At first glance, his features did bear some resemblance to Shang Gu's.

"General Situ."

Situ Kuo turned at the sound, scrutinizing him.

"You are Cheng Chengxuan, the adopted son of Cheng Song of the Cheng Family?"

"It seems the fates of this world are indeed rather curious."

A puzzled look crossed Cheng Chengxuan's face.

"What do you mean by that, General Situ?"

Situ Kuo smiled.

"I've met the Pingnan Marquis a few times. What I mean is, you really do resemble the Cheng Family quite a bit."

Hearing this, Cheng Chengxuan gave a faint smile.

Situ Kuo was not the first person to say so.

Over the years, many people had said he looked very much like his eldest uncle and his father.

"Enough, let's not waste time on idle chatter."

Situ Kuo's expression grew exceedingly grave, his sharp hawk-like eyes fixed intently on Cheng Chengxuan.

"Your companion brought A Gu's token and said you have news of his whereabouts."

"So where is he now, and what is his situation?"

Cheng Chengxuan's face, too, grew solemn.

"He's serving as a guard at the City Lord's Manor in Beihuang City. He's safe for now."

"What?!"

"A guard?!"

Situ Kuo's hawk eyes blazed with fury, his chest seething with rage.

"Beihuang City, is it? This general will send men at once to bring A Gu back!"

How could the Crown Prince of Muyuan Kingdom possibly serve as a guard under some minor Border Guard Commander of another nation?!

Absolutely intolerable!

Seeing this, An Luo pursed her lips.

"A guard is already the better end of it. If he hadn't saved Xiao Yijiang, his situation right now would be only a tiny bit better than that of an ordinary exile in Beihuang City."

"General Situ, wait!"

Cheng Chengxuan quickly spoke up to stop him.

"You mean to stop me?!"

Situ Kuo narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze turning cold. His right hand rested on the hilt of his sword, a dangerous edge creeping into his tone.

"Does the General mean to expose Shang Gu once again and bring assassins down upon him?!"

At these words, Situ Kuo's momentum was instantly cut in half.

"I can go in person and bring A Gu back!"

Cheng Chengxuan curved his lips slightly, his expression bland, but his words carried a chill that cut to the bone.

"A Border Guard Commander leaving his post to enter another country uninvited—does General Situ think his own position isn't precarious enough, and mean to hand his enemies a weapon against him?!"

At that point, the little anger Situ Kuo had left was hacked straight down to his ankles.

"I—I'm already investigating. I've got a lead—just give me a little more time, and I'll definitely root out the spy in the army!"

"But what we lack most right now is time!"

Cheng Chengxuan raised his voice and cut him off.

"The Old Lord of Muyuan is unlikely to live past next year. The Second Prince and the Fifth Prince are each making their own preparations—two tigers fighting means one will lose and one will be hurt. This is Shang Gu's best chance."

"If the traitor in the army isn't removed, everything General Situ does will be exposed right under the old National Lord's nose—how then can he help Shang Gu?"

Cheng Chengxuan glanced at his expression, then went on.

"You must understand, the only one he can rely on now is the Situ Family."

Situ Kuo's brows knit tightly; he lowered his eyes and thought for a moment.

"Three days. Within three days, I will definitely drag that turncoat out!"

Having said that, he turned and strode away in great strides.

"What's going on? I was watching just now—how did a chat turn into a brawl?"

Chu Yuan glanced at Situ Kuo, already far away, and asked in a low voice.

"Nothing—just heard that Shang Gu became a guard, and couldn't accept it for the moment."

What Cheng Chengxuan was more concerned about now was how the plan was going.

"How are the preparations?"

Chu Yuan raised his brow smugly.

"Don't worry. Everything's been arranged as you said—wound but don't kill, stir up a wave of panic, then leave."

Suddenly, his foot stepped on empty air, and his whole body pitched forward violently.

"Ah!"

Luckily, a force yanked him back, or he would have fallen right into the pit.

Looking at the big pit beneath his feet, and the densely packed sharpened branches at the bottom, Chu Yuan patted his chest, still shaken.

This was a hunter's Beast Trapping Pit!

"Phew!"

"That scared me to death."

"Thanks, brother—you saved my life again."

If he'd fallen in, even if he wasn't pierced clean through, he'd still be hurt.

Hearing that, Cheng Chengxuan's brow furrowed slightly.

He had clearly done nothing just now.

Could it be…

Meanwhile, outside the screen, An Luo smilingly withdrew her finger, hiding her merit and fame.

Realizing it was An Luo who had pulled Chu Yuan back just now, Cheng Chengxuan's mood turned inexplicably irritable.

They'd known each other so long, yet he had never been touched.

Noticing his gaze, Chu Yuan instinctively shrank his neck.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Cheng Chengxuan's gaze fell on the bird just startled up from his head; he glanced at the trembling branch, then calmly looked away.

He gauged the time, and only said,

"Nothing. Let's go."

The moment he stepped forward, Chu Yuan was about to follow.

Suddenly, with a creak, a branch snapped under the snow's weight, and a great clump of snow tumbled down, landing squarely on Chu Yuan's head. Scattered flakes slipped down his collar into his clothes—ice-cold through and through, freezing him until he shivered nonstop.

"So cold, so cold!"

The icy snow made Chu Yuan gasp and hop about on the spot.

"Haha, could Chu Yuan be some kind of jinx?"

"First he stepped into a pit, then got buried in snow—how unlucky can one person be!"

Watching the girl on the screen laughing until she shook, Cheng Chengxuan curved his lips slightly.

He looked up at the sun in the sky.

It was about time.

Things over there should be starting too, right?