Chapter 89: Night of Frightened Souls

Mu Nan Zhao looked behind the tree, finding it empty, and in an instant imagined countless terrible possibilities.

Until he noticed the unusual rustling of the dry grass…

Mu Nan Zhao approached and saw Gu Xixi lying face down, stiff on the ground.

He saw clearly that her outstretched hand was moving, as if she were counting on her fingers.

His heart, never before so tense, suddenly relaxed; his body went limp, and he barely stayed upright by grabbing the tree trunk.

Gu Xixi sensed something amiss beside her, lifted a corner of her forehead to look, and said, "Chen Fang?"

At that moment, the rustling in the grass completely stopped.

Gu Xixi sprang up and said, "You're done over there."

Mu Nan Zhao nodded wearily, holding his soft sword as he walked toward the grass.

He pushed aside the dry grass, glanced once, and intentionally blocked Gu Xixi's curious gaze.

"Don't look; he's dead, nothing to see."

Gu Xixi could also imagine that the man's death wasn't pretty.

Especially in the middle of the night, the visual and psychological impact would be too much for an ordinary person to bear.

Gu Xixi accepted Mu Nan Zhao's kindness, didn't look that way again, and said, "Let's just hurry on."

"It's best to find General Meng and his group as soon as possible."

The two left the poplar forest and headed southeast.

On the way here, Meng Chengping pointed to a dead giant poplar tree and said, if anything happened and we got separated, we should meet here.

After walking about half an hour, it was already the time when the moon was high in the sky, yet we still hadn't seen that poplar tree.

The northwestern wilderness grew colder in the deep night.

The two could clearly see their own breath puffing out in large white clouds.

Mu Nan Zhao asked, "Are you sure this is the way?"

Gu Xixi often gathered herbs in the wild, honing an excellent sense of direction.

She replied, "I'm sure."

"When we came we rode in a cart; this stretch seems short, but walking back would probably take about an hour."

Mu Nan Zhao said nothing more.

He could clearly feel his body heat draining away.

At this moment his legs felt as heavy as if filled with lead, and each extra word would overload his heart.

Yet he continued to support himself, appearing no different from usual.

Gu Xixi kept pushing forward, cheering herself and Mu Nan Zhao on.

"Let's hold on a bit longer; it's too cold to stop."

The wilderness terrain was rugged; a ditch appeared ahead, which a big stride should easily clear.

Mu Nan Zhao suddenly grabbed Gu Xixi, his expression instantly turning grim and cold.

This time Gu Xixi also heard, "Someone, footsteps, and not just one person."

Someone was coming across the snow, with the sound of metal scraping opposite them.

And they were actually flanking them from the front.

The remaining Northern Li troops should be with General Meng over there.

Could they have sent others as well?

Mu Nan Zhao made a snap decision, shoved Gu Xixi, and said, "Go! Head back!"

"As long as you hold out until dawn, Meng Chengping will find you."

Gu Xixi whispered in protest, "No way! We go together or not at all!"

Mu Nan Zhao panted, "What if they're here just to kill me this time?"

"Gu Xixi, you care most about your own life and death, don't you? Don't you still want to accomplish many things?"

Gu Xixi urgently grabbed Mu Nan Zhao's arm, "But if I leave, what will happen to you?"

Mu Nan Zhao furrowed his brows and said, "You can handle a few people with ease; you being here would only get in the way."

Seeing Gu Xixi still unwilling to leave, his face darkened and he coldly barked, "I'm just like you—I care only about my own life and death; I won't die, so don't drag me down—get lost!"

Since entering the book, Gu Xixi had never been shouted at by one of her own before.

She was also a bit angry, and she stormed off in a fury.

"It's just that when disaster strikes we each fly off—fly if you want, who's afraid of whom!"

However, after she had taken just five steps, her pace slowed.

She felt that the hand she had just touched Mu Nan Zhao's was wet and sticky, something felt off.

Gu Xixi lowered her gaze; under the moonlight, her hand was covered in fresh red…

Meanwhile, as soon as Gu Xixi walked away, Mu Nan Zhao could no longer support himself and sank to his knees on the ground.

He lifted his eyes to look ahead, and his vision gradually blurred.

Has it really come to this?

I hope that after his death, he won't implicate any innocent people…

At that moment, a pair of soft, warm hands wrapped around his shoulders.

By his ear came Gu Xixi's voice, "If you want me to exert less effort, don't move."

……

The voices of the Northern Li people echoed back and forth near the moat.

Finally, they cursed a few times in their tribal language, mounted their horses, and rode away.

At this moment the eastern sky had already turned pale, and all around only the sound of wind remained.

Under the moat, a patch of snow trembled a few times, revealing a black cloak.

Immediately a bare hand reached out and flung the cloak open with force.

Gu Xixi pulled the hood over Mu Nan Zhao's body, patted his face, and said, "Mu Nan Zhao! Those people have left—hey, if you hear me speaking, give some response!"

After a while, Mu Nan Zhao let out a faint sigh, "Don't pat—if you pat again I'll really die."

The last two hours of last night.

Gu Xixi exerted all her strength and dragged Mu Nan Zhao to the edge of the moat, and they both rolled down together.

She quickly dug a hole in the snow, and the two huddled against one side of the moat wall.

Then she propped up Mu Nan Zhao's cloak to create a small triangular space for warmth, covering the cloak with snow piled nearby.

This trick indeed worked; the Bei Li soldiers came and went, never noticing that the two were hiding right beneath their feet.

Mu Nan Zhao's most severe wound was on his left shoulder blade, the knife slash having severed a blood vessel.

With limited conditions, Gu Xixi could only apply pressure to stop the bleeding.

The hemostasis worked well; Gu Xixi even freed a hand midway to take out two pills and feed them to Mu Nan Zhao.

The medicine was given by Lao Langzhong before he left.

Lao Langzhong said that a full bottle of the pills were what Mu Nan Zhao had been taking recently, able to suppress the poison.

Another kind, which could save a life at a critical moment—but there was only one.

Lao Langzhong's original words: "This pill is extremely precious; do not use it lightly. Whoever suffers a serious injury or illness, after taking it can at least last five or six hours, long enough to find a doctor for rescue."

At present they had not yet truly escaped danger, but Gu Xixi gave Mu Nan Zhao the medicine without hesitation, not considering herself at all.

When the sky began to lighten, Meng Chengping indeed returned with troops.

Hearing the familiar horse signal, Gu Xixi exclaimed in joyful surprise, "General Meng has come—we're saved!"

Hearing Gu Xixi's response, Meng Chengping jumped off his horse, stumbled a few times, and scrambled up to the edge of the moat.

His face was smeared with black-red blood, making it impossible to tell whose it was.

It was evident they too had endured a bitter battle the previous night.

Meng Chengping spoke with a trembling voice, "Boss Gu?! How are you and Brother Mu?!"

Gu Xixi stood at the bottom of the moat, looked up, and replied, "I'm fine; it's just that he's injured—hurry and pull us up."

Meng Chengping hastily wiped his eyes and called to the soldiers to lower the rope.

He himself then jumped down into the moat and carried Mu Nan Zhao up.

When Mu Nan Zhao reached the top, he glanced at Gu Xixi, the corner of his mouth just beginning to curl into a smile before he lost consciousness…