I am invincible, that's why I lie down. You're using your entire clan to rebel?

Chapter 571 Black Wind Gorge

When Xu Longxiang walked out of Zhenyue Hall, the autumn sunlight had moved from the east wall to the center of the corridor pillars, spreading a warm, gentle color on the ground.

He walked through two corridors and stopped in front of a secluded guesthouse.

The courtyard gate was half-open and unlocked, indicating that the people living here were not deliberately avoiding anything.

He didn't have anyone announce his arrival; he simply pushed open the door and went inside.

The courtyard was quiet. Several clumps of bamboo grew in the corner of the wall, most of their leaves had fallen, and the few remaining leaves made a soft rustling sound in the autumn wind.

Bai Yujing sat on a bamboo chair under the eaves, with a low table in front of her, on which sat a pot of tea and two upside-down cups.

He saw Xu Longxiang walk in, but he didn't get up. He just turned his head slightly, as if waiting for someone he already knew would come.

Xu Longxiang walked over and sat down opposite him, his gaze falling on the two overturned cups: "You knew I would come?"

Bai Yujing didn't answer directly, but instead reached for the teapot and filled both cups, letting the tea swirl gently in them: "I don't know. I just have a habit of keeping an extra one."

He spoke calmly, making it impossible to tell whether he was being polite or telling the truth.

Xu Longxiang picked up one of the cups, but didn't drink it. He just held it in his hand, feeling the warmth from the cup. After a while, he spoke: "I came to tell you that Zhao San has already left the Northern Border."

Bai Yujing paused slightly in the hand holding the teacup.

He looked down at the fine shimmering light on the surface of the tea, then looked up after a moment: "Gone? Where to?"

Xu Longxiang looked at him: "Northern Barbarians."

Bai Yujing remained silent.

He looked down at the teacup in his hand; the tea had stopped swirling, and the surface of the cup was as calm as a small mirror.

He was silent for a moment, then put down his teacup, his voice softer than before: "Will he come back?"

Xu Longxiang was silent for a moment, then spoke: "He said he would come back."

Bai Yujing did not react immediately upon hearing this.

He simply picked up the tea, which had cooled down a bit, took a sip, and then put the cup down: "Then I'll wait for him to come back."

Xu Longxiang looked at him: "So you've agreed to stay?"

Bai Yujing turned her head, her gaze falling on the sky outside the courtyard wall, which was slightly brightened by the autumn sun: "I only promised to wait for him to come back. As for staying, we can talk about it when Brother Zhao returns."

Xu Longxiang did not press further.

He knew that Bai Yujing's willingness to stay and wait was already the biggest concession he could make.

He picked up the cup of tea in front of him, which was almost cold, drank it all, and then put the cup down: "Then I will await your good news, sir."

........

When the convoy left the city, the morning mist had not yet dissipated.

The horses' hooves pounded on the dirt road outside the city, raising a thin layer of dust. The chestnut-red horses moved with steady and even steps, and the carriage shaft occasionally made a slight creaking sound, like an old object that had been used repeatedly but was still sturdy.

Jiang Zhaoyue sat in the front of the first carriage, holding the rolled-up map in her hand, occasionally raising her eyes to look at the gradually widening official road ahead.

After leaving the northern city gate, the houses on both sides of the road gradually became sparse. First, the low mud-brick houses became a few scattered rooms, and after walking a while, only fields and withered grass remained.

Autumn comes early in the North. Most of the crops in the fields have already been harvested, and the remaining few stand in the wind, their color grayish-yellow, like rows of old people with their heads drooping.

Occasionally, birds would fly up from between the paddy fields, skim low in the sky, and then land back in a more distant place.

Lin Xiaolu sat in the second carriage, leaning against the side, with the dark blue bundle on her lap.

She lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, glanced outside, then lowered it again, her gaze falling on her knees pressed together, as if she were thinking about something, or perhaps not.

She did not speak.

Han Xin'er sat opposite her, holding a blade of grass in her hand, slowly circling a grasshopper that had not yet fully formed. Her movements were very gentle, and she did not look up.

"Still thinking about Brother Zhao?" she asked casually, but there was a hint of caution in that casualness that she herself might not have realized.

Lin Xiaolu shook her head, then nodded: "I'm not thinking about him. I'm thinking about whether we'll really encounter any danger along the way."

Han Xin'er's fingers didn't stop: "With Brother Zhao here, there shouldn't be any major problems."

When she finished speaking, her tone was softer than before, as if she were stating a fact she had already acquiesced to, but that acquiescence carried a sense of propriety that she had learned.

Lin Xiaolu nodded, neither refuting nor agreeing, but simply sat quietly.

Behind the carriage, Yunluan sat on her horse, her hand on the hilt of her sword, her gaze sweeping over the terrain on both sides.

Her gaze shifted from the distant earthen slope to the nearby bushes, and then from the bushes to the bend in the road ahead, like an eagle that was always on alert.

She neither urged nor spoke, but simply rode her horse steadily, following behind the caravan.

In the carriage at the very front of the convoy, Qin Mu leaned against the side of the carriage, his eyes closed, as if taking a nap.

Even when he was just sitting there quietly, he was like a pillar of strength, drawing everyone's attention to him.

Chen Ruoyao sat opposite him, her head slightly turned, her gaze fixed on him, neither getting close nor looking away.

She didn't speak, as if confirming something.

After a while, Qin Mu opened his eyes and looked at her face: "Have you looked enough?"

Chen Ruoyao didn't look away: "Not enough."

She answered softly, her tone carrying a deliberate sense of relaxation and composure, but beneath that composure lay a hint of testing the boundaries, a sense that she herself might not have fully realized.

Qin Mu glanced at her but didn't ask any further questions.

He looked out the car window again. The fields on both sides of the official road were being replaced by gradually rising hills, and the distant horizon was becoming undulating.

"In another half day, we'll reach Black Wind Gorge," he said.

Chen Ruoyao followed his gaze and asked, "That place where Northern Mang spies are frequently seen?"

Qin Mu nodded: "Yes. Once we get there, we can't travel like we are now."

He didn't say anything more, but simply lowered the curtain and leaned back against the carriage wall.

Chen Ruoyao didn't ask any more questions.

The convoy continued forward.

The dirt road stretched out beneath the wheels, and in the distance, a gray-blue, low-hanging cloud layer stretched across the horizon, like a curtain being slowly drawn closer.

The Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion, Zhenyue Hall.

Xu Longxiang sat at the long table for a long time, with a scroll of documents in front of him that he had been looking at for a long time but was still stuck on the same page.

He didn't turn the page or look up; his gaze remained fixed on the page as if he were looking at something he already knew the contents of.

He wasn't thinking about Bai Yujing, the Moon Goddess, or Zhao San.

He just sat there, holding the cup of tea that had already been refilled three times.

Fan Li stood at the door, not coming in.

He stood there quietly for a long time before speaking, his voice low and deep: "Your Highness, we should prepare."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Although Bai Yujing stayed, this promise is to wait for Zhao San to return. If Zhao San doesn't return, Bai Yujing won't stay."

Xu Longxiang did not look up.

The teacup in his hand was almost cold when he slowly put it down, the bottom of the cup tapping on the table with a soft sound: "I know."

"Therefore, Zhao San must come back."

When he said those words, even he wasn't sure if he was referring to Zhao San as a person or to the thing Zhao San took away.

Fan Li did not press further, but simply bowed slightly: "This old minister will make the arrangements immediately."

Xu Longxiang neither nodded nor shook his head.

He stood up from behind the long table, walked around it, and went to the window.

The sunlight outside the window was already setting in the west, casting a long shadow of the old tree in the courtyard onto the bluestone ground, like a crack that was slowly widening.

The autumn wind blew by, swirling up a few withered leaves, which rolled over on the ground before settling down again.

He gazed in that direction as if looking at something that had long since gone but had not yet completely disappeared from his sight.

After the caravan left the northern city gate, the scenery on both sides of the official road began to change slowly.

At first, you could still see scattered villages and fields. Occasionally, an old farmer driving an oxcart would pass by the roadside, glance at the convoy, and then lower his head to continue on his way.

As you walk further on, the villages gradually thin out, replaced by patches of withered grass and low shrubs. The wind blowing across the open fields carries a dry, earthy coolness.

Jiang Zhaoyue sat in the first carriage, having already flipped through the map in her hand several times.

She glanced at the road ahead, then looked down to confirm the location marked on the map: "After another two hours of walking, we should be able to see Black Wind Gorge."

Qin Mu leaned against the carriage wall, his gaze falling on the tiny markings along the edge of the map: "When we reach Black Wind Gorge, slow down. There's no need to rush."

Jiang Zhaoyue nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

The convoy continued on its way.

The afternoon sun peeked through the gaps in the clouds, spreading a warm, gentle hue across the dirt road and making the tire tracks clearly visible.

As the carriage passed a fork in the road, a boundary marker stood half-buried in the ground beside the road. The inscription on it was blurred and illegible, and only the outline of the character "北" (north) could be vaguely discerned.

Chen Ruoyao glanced at the boundary marker through the gap in the carriage curtain, then lowered the curtain.

She seemed very familiar with the area, but said nothing.

Qin Mu noticed her movements and asked, "Have you been here before?"

Chen Ruoyao shook her head: "No. But I've heard about it."

She paused for a moment: "The Moon Goddess Cult used to have a route heading north, and it was along this road. I heard that some members of the cult went to Northern Mang and came back talking a lot about it. But I haven't seen any of those things with my own eyes."

Her tone was flat, as if she were stating something that had nothing to do with her.

Qin Mu didn't press further, but instead looked away and gazed out the car window again: "It'll be soon. Once we reach Northern Mang, you'll be able to see it for yourself."

Chen Ruoyao did not respond.

The caravan traveled for another hour or so, and the sky began to darken, while the wind gradually picked up.

The mountains in the distance began to narrow, and the originally open plain was narrowed by the gradually rising hills on both sides, making the terrain on both sides of the road less flat.

Jiang Zhaoyue looked up at the road ahead, her voice lower than before: "Black Wind Gorge is just ahead."

She's right.

Ahead on the official road, the mountain walls on both sides are closing in, like a door slowly closing, leaving only a narrow passage in the middle.

The mountain wall wasn't very high, but it was high enough to block out most of the sunlight, shrouding the road in a dark shadow.

Qin Mu stopped the convoy and then got out of the car.

He stood in the middle of the road, looked up at the outlines of the mountain walls on both sides, looked down at the dirt road under his feet, and then nodded to Yunluan.

Yunluan didn't ask any further questions, but simply led the horse to the side of the road and checked the reins and saddle.

Jiang Zhaoyue also got out of the car and walked to Qin Mu's side, her gaze following his line of sight into the depths of the canyon.

"This stretch of road isn't long, maybe three or four miles," she said, "but the mountain walls on both sides are perfect for an ambush. If someone wants to make a move, this is the most suitable place."

Qin Mu did not answer.

He stood quietly for a moment, then got back into the carriage: "Let's go."

The convoy restarted, entering the canyon at a much slower pace than before. The wheels crunched over gravel and coarse sand, producing a soft, rustling sound that was repeatedly refracted by the mountain walls on both sides, creating a dull, rolling echo, as if rolling in a confined space.

The road grew narrower and narrower, and the shadows cast by the mountain walls on both sides deepened, shrouding the convoy in a dim light.

No one spoke; the only sounds in the air were the rolling wheels and the occasional snorting of horses, echoing through the canyon and gradually fading away.

Qin Mu sat in the car, not looking out the window.

He simply leaned against the wall of the car, listening to the sounds distorted by the mountainside, as if waiting for something, or perhaps confirming something.

Suddenly, he spoke: "Yunluan."

Yunluan's voice came from outside the carriage curtain: "Yes."

"Stop at the turn ahead."

"Yes."

The carriage slowly came to a stop before the bend, and the carriages following behind also stopped one after another.

The canyon was quiet for a moment, with only the whistling of the wind passing through the mountain walls.

Qin Mu lifted the carriage curtain, got off the carriage, walked a few steps forward, and stopped at the bend.

He stared at the bend in the road ahead, hidden by the mountain wall, for a while, then looked away as if he hadn't noticed anything, and turned back to the carriage.

"Let's go."

The convoy restarted, rounded the bend, and continued on its way.

The light in the canyon grew dimmer, and the color of the mountain walls on both sides changed from grayish-white to dark brown, eventually blending into a blurry outline in the shadows.

The wind carried a low, rolling sound as it passed through the narrow passage.

By the time the convoy emerged from the canyon, it was completely dark.

The exit was a wide, flat area, with a faint, dark orange glow still lingering on the distant horizon, like a door slowly closing.

Jiang Zhaoyue glanced at the map: "There's an inn ahead; we can stay there tonight."

The caravan traveled along the official road for another half an hour before the outlines of several low houses finally appeared ahead.

The walls of the post station were made of adobe, not high, and somewhat mottled from wind erosion. Clumps of withered wild grass grew in the corners, swaying gently in the night breeze.

An oil lamp hung by the door, its dim light illuminating a small patch of ground in front of it.

Qin Mu got out of the car and glanced at the post station: "I'll stay here tonight."

The inn was small, with only five or six guest rooms. The innkeeper was an elderly man in his sixties, with a slightly hunched back and a slight limp when he walked, as if it were an old injury from his youth.

He saw the convoy parked at the door, but without asking any questions or showing any surprise, he simply took the keys and showed them the room.

The room was simple but clean. The bedding was neatly folded, and a half-burnt candle sat on the windowsill, its edges already melted, indicating it had been replaced recently.

Yunluan walked around the post station to make sure there was nothing amiss before returning to the main hall.

She nodded to Qin Mu, but Qin Mu didn't say anything.