Chapter 61

Fan Changyu’s sleep was far from peaceful.

That night, her fever returned once more.

Half-conscious, she was trapped inside a nightmare.

Before her stretched an endless white snowfield. Great flakes of snow drifted down from the sky.

Dressed in thin clothing and barefoot, she ran desperately across the snow. Her feet were nearly numb from the cold, yet she dared not stop.

At first, Fan Changyu did not know what she was chasing.

Then she saw a married couple walking hand in hand through the distant snow.

Only then did she understand why she was so anxious.

It was her father and mother!

She ran harder.

Her chest tightened painfully, her eyes instantly growing hot.

“Father! Mother!”

The two figures ahead did not seem to be walking quickly, yet no matter how hard she ran, she could not catch up.

She was so desperate she nearly cried.

At last, the woman in the snow turned around.

Her face still carried the same gentle expression Fan Changyu remembered.

“Be good, Changyu. Go back.”

Fan Changyu did not understand why she felt so heartbroken.

The moment tears began to fall, her chest ached with every breath.

Helplessly, she asked,

“Where are you going?”

The woman did not answer.

She simply turned back and continued walking alongside the man.

Fan Changyu stood frozen in place.

It felt as though she had forgotten something.

Her chest hurt so badly she could barely breathe.

Drawing breath through her nose and mouth became increasingly difficult, as if she were drowning beneath water.

When Xie Zheng entered carrying a basin of warm water to help reduce her fever, he discovered she had fallen into a nightmare.

Her body convulsed uncontrollably.

Sweat soaked her hair and underclothes.

The unnatural flush of fever stained her pale face.

She mumbled incoherently in her sleep, while tears slowly dampened the corners of her eyes.

“A nightmare?”

It was the first time Xie Zheng had ever seen her look so miserable.

And so fragile.

Something soft and suffocating seemed to block his chest.

He reached out and shook her lightly.

“Wake up.”

But she was trapped too deeply.

There was no sign of her waking.

Seeing her unconscious struggles nearly press against her injured arm, he carefully avoided her wound and pinned one hand against her shoulder to stop her movements.

Then he coldly ordered the guard outside,

“Fetch the physician.”

The doctor had already examined her during the day.

Since her condition had seemed stable, Xie Zheng had sent him home. There were no spare rooms in the old woman’s house anyway.

Who would have expected her to suddenly suffer convulsions during the night?

What kind of nightmare was she having?

Xie Zheng unconsciously frowned.

When he noticed that she had bitten her lips so hard they were bleeding, he reached over to pry open her jaw.

Instead, she accidentally bit down on his finger.

He tried to pull away.

But Fan Changyu only bit harder.

Her teeth immediately broke the skin, leaving a bloody ring of bite marks.

Xie Zheng merely frowned slightly.

Then he simply allowed her to continue biting his finger.

Feeling her trembling throughout his arms, seeing her curled-up body, awakened memories long buried within him.

He had never comforted anyone in his life.

Yet now, after a brief hesitation, he softened his voice.

“It’s only a nightmare.”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

When he was young, the image of that woman hanging from the beam had once haunted his own dreams.

Whenever he woke screaming from nightmares, he would either find himself alone in endless darkness—

Or beneath bright lights, with Wei Yan standing beside his bed, watching him with the same indifference one reserved for a dead dog.

Wei Xuan would gather the younger members of the Wei Clan and mock him.

They would imitate his frightened convulsions and laugh at him.

Later, he stopped fearing nightmares altogether.

After clawing his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, he had spilled more blood than any demon lurking in dreams.

At that moment, Fan Changyu’s trembling form seemed to overlap with the boy he once was.

The darkness in Xie Zheng’s eyes deepened.

While waiting for the physician, he allowed her to continue biting his finger.

Half-embracing her, he awkwardly patted her back again and again.

The words he repeated most often were:

“Don’t be afraid.”

Don’t be afraid.

Every nightmare eventually ends.

By the time the guard dragged the physician from his bed and rushed him back on horseback, Fan Changyu had already calmed down.

Exhaustion had carried her into deep sleep once more.

Xie Zheng sat casually on a wooden chair nearby.

The index finger of his left hand bore a row of bloody bite marks.

His gaze drifted into space.

His eyes were lowered, loose strands of hair hanging before them.

No one knew what he was thinking.

After the trembling physician was practically carried through the door, Xie Zheng finally looked over.

“She had a nightmare.”

The physician was speechless.

Dragged from bed in the middle of the night and hauled all the way here…

For a nightmare?

His chest nearly burst with frustration.

Yet under the pressure of the man’s gaze, cold sweat had already soaked his back.

Resigned to his fate, he nervously examined Fan Changyu’s pulse.

To his surprise, the pulse that had been so weak that afternoon had stabilized considerably.

Sneaking a glance at the handsome yet intimidating man nearby, the physician decided against saying outright that the patient was actually improving.

After much thought, he prescribed a calming remedy.

“Your wife likely suffered a fright. This medicine will calm her spirit and help her sleep peacefully.”

The guard looked toward Xie Zheng.

Only after receiving a nod did he escort the physician to the kitchen to prepare the medicine.

When it was ready, Xie Zheng once again pried open Fan Changyu’s jaw and patiently fed her one spoonful at a time.

Only then did the bite marks on his finger begin to throb.

He glanced at them but said nothing.

A guard offered some wound ointment.

“My Lord, perhaps you should apply medicine to your hand?”

Xie Zheng barely regarded such an injury as worth mentioning.

“It’s nothing.”

As the guard carried away the bowl, he secretly glanced at the sleeping Fan Changyu.

His heart churned with shock.

The young woman was certainly beautiful.

But not so breathtakingly beautiful as to leave men unable to think.

How, then, had she captured their lord’s attention to such an extent?

Then he remembered watching her casually grab a grown man and hurl him several yards away.

A shiver immediately ran down his spine.

That kind of strength…

She was probably not much weaker than their lord himself.

—

After drinking the calming medicine, Fan Changyu slept much more soundly for the remainder of the night.

The fever did not return.

Xie Zheng rested lightly beside her bed for two hours.

Just after dawn, an extremely soft knock sounded outside the door.

He first checked on Fan Changyu.

Seeing that she remained deeply asleep, he picked up the cloak from a nearby stool and slipped outside without making a sound.

The guard waiting outside immediately lowered his voice.

“My Lord, we’ve found Sui Yuanqing. He was indeed hiding in Qingfeng Stronghold. When the stronghold was destroyed, he escaped with part of the survivors through a trail behind the mountain. Our men have now driven them onto Yansong Mountain.”

Coldness filled Xie Zheng’s eyes.

“Seal every route down the mountain.”

“Release the hunting dogs.”

“Let’s see how long he can continue hiding.”

Excitement flashed across the guard’s face.

“This subordinate will carry out the order immediately!”

A cold wind swept past.

Xie Zheng looked at a frost-covered dead leaf that had drifted to his feet.

Then he suddenly said,

“The wind today is blowing from the southwest.”

The guard did not understand.

Xie Zheng continued,

“Light thick smoke at the windward side.”

“And bring the bandit chief’s corpse there as well.”

“Flog it.”

The guard’s eyes widened before excitement flooded his face.

“This subordinate obeys!”

Flogging the corpse of Qingfeng Stronghold’s chief beneath Yansong Mountain would terrify the surviving bandits hiding above.

The smoke would drive them from hiding.

The hunting dogs would finish the rest.

Once they fled, the soldiers guarding every route down the mountain would trap them like turtles in a jar.

—

Although heavy snow continued to fall, Yansong Mountain was engulfed in smoke.

Several huge piles of pine branches burned continuously.

The wind carried thick smoke deep into the forest.

Hunting dogs raced through the woods.

Their barking echoed everywhere like wolves pursuing prey.

The hidden bandits fled in every direction.

The moment they emerged onto any mountain path, they were immediately surrounded by waiting soldiers.

However, when the smoke finally dispersed and the captured bandits were counted, neither Sui Yuanqing nor the female bandit from Qingfeng Stronghold could be found.

A young officer pressed his blade against a bandit’s throat.

“Where are Qin Yuan and the woman surnamed Yan?”

The bandit immediately begged for mercy.

“I don’t know! Once the smoke started, everyone was choking. Then the dogs came after us. We got separated in the forest!”

Unable to extract anything useful, the officer sent soldiers to search.

Instead, they found two soldiers whose throats had been slit.

Their armor had been stripped away.

The officer cursed.

“This is bad!”

“Quick! Pursue them downhill!”

—

At the foot of a mountain, beside a gently flowing stream, two figures dressed as soldiers finally reined in their horses after riding dozens of miles at full speed.

The moment they dismounted, both rushed to the riverbank.

Ignoring the snow entirely, they dropped to the ground and drank greedily from the icy water.

One of them suddenly began sobbing.

The voice was unmistakably female.

The man beside her drank several mouthfuls before collapsing onto the snow and catching his breath.

He showed no intention of comforting her.

Once recovered, he removed his armor and tossed it into the river before striding toward the horses.

Seeing that he seemed prepared to leave alone, the crying woman panicked.

“Brother Qin, where are you going?!”

The pair were none other than Sui Yuanqing and Yan Thirteenth Lady, who had escaped Yansong Mountain after killing two soldiers and stealing their armor.

Sui Yuanqing was about to mount his horse when a hand desperately seized his arm.

He lowered his eyes to examine the tearful woman.

Among women, she was considered tall.

Her features were ordinary.

Years of wind and sun had left a reddish hue on her face.

In the Prince of Changxin’s residence, she would qualify only as a rough servant.

He had once thought he liked women who possessed martial skills and a wild, untamed nature.

But now, it seemed that was not true.

The only woman who truly occupied his thoughts…

Was that one.

His peach blossom eyes naturally appeared affectionate when he smiled.

Yet at this moment, his smile was terribly cold.

Patiently, he pried Yan Thirteenth Lady’s fingers from his arm.

“The world is vast. I have my own road to walk.”

“This is where we part.”

Though his smile was heartlessly indifferent, it remained undeniably handsome.

Yan Thirteenth Lady froze.

Then she abruptly grabbed him again, her fingernails nearly piercing through his clothes.

Almost hysterically, she demanded,

“What do you mean?”

“You plan to leave me behind?”

Sui Yuanqing raised an eyebrow as if she had asked a foolish question.

He laughed.

“Why not?”

Her nails dug painfully into his arm.

Frowning, he finally lost patience.

He tore her hands away and swung onto the horse.

Tearfully, she shouted,

“Qin Yuan! You have no conscience!”

“My brother lured away the soldiers so we could escape! How can you face him?”

Sui Yuanqing snorted.

“Escaping government troops depends on one’s own abilities.”

“Otherwise, how do you think all those people on Yansong Mountain died?”

Yan Thirteenth Lady broke down completely.

“You’ve forgotten that I was the one who saved you from the river!”

“You can’t treat me like this…”

Sui Yuanqing suddenly smiled.

Leaning down from horseback until their eyes met, he said softly,

“You saved me.”

“But didn’t I save you from Yansong Mountain too?”

“Why can’t I treat you this way?”

The moment he finished speaking, he straightened and spurred his horse forward.

Yan Thirteenth Lady collapsed into hysterical sobs.

“Qin Yuan!”

“You’ll die a miserable death!”

Sui Yuanqing paid no attention to her curses.

After riding some distance, he finally pulled a painting from his robes.

It was the portrait he had later found while searching the Fan residence.

The painting depicted what appeared to be a family of three.

The man was exceptionally handsome.

The woman wore a bright, lively smile full of vitality.

The little girl, who strongly resembled the woman, looked clever and mischievous.

The wound Fan Changyu had left in his shoulder still throbbed painfully.

Yet Sui Yuanqing’s mood suddenly became excellent.

The moment he obtained the painting, he had already guessed that the masked man who had injured him was Xie Zheng.

As for the woman in the painting…

What exactly was her relationship with him?

Perhaps she was a woman Xie Zheng kept outside his residence.

And the child…

Their daughter?

Sui Yuanqing studied the painting several more times.

The woman looked no older than a young maiden.

If she already had such a grown daughter, she would have to be at least in her twenties.

Then again, he remembered his elder brother’s favored concubine.

After giving birth to a son, she still looked like a young girl.

Slowly, he became convinced of his theory.

No wonder that woman had protected the well so desperately.

Xie Zheng must have left Qingping County because of the war.

Knowing she could not escape with a child, she had hidden the girl in the well.

The thought that she had already borne Xie Zheng a daughter darkened his expression.

Stuffing the painting back into his robes, he urged his horse onward.

No matter what, the trip to Qingping County had not been a total loss.

At the very least, he had discovered the weak point of the Marquis of Wuan.