Chapter 30

The two of them walked for a while maintaining some distance, the journey so far had been uneventful, and the thick fog was gradually thinning, almost completely dissipated.

The main road was not far ahead. Shen Yao Xing slightly raised her chin, her gaze scrutinizing the cold profile of the man. Just now the fog was so thick they could barely see the surroundings, yet this person was able to find the way so easily in that situation, truly remarkable.

But never mind, remarkable or not, it was none of her business. Shen Yao Xing thought this as she thanked the person in front, then leapt onto a tall tree and quickly jumped away in the opposite direction along the road.

The girl’s figure soon disappeared among the towering trees. Jiang Ming Yue’s cold ink-like eyes stared steadily in the direction the girl had vanished, his thin lips slightly pursed as he glanced down at the Floating Snow in his hand.

A scene from the illusion suddenly flashed in his mind.

His hand gripping the sword sheath tightened slightly. Dark energy flowed in the man’s deep eyes. If it weren’t for the fact that the parasitic insects weren’t ready yet, he would have killed someone who could affect his emotions so quickly.

However, if he could completely control her in his hands, it would naturally be more to his liking than ending her with one sword strike.

The sound of carriage wheels rolling over the ground grew closer behind him. Jiang Ming Yue’s icy gaze lifted once more to sweep over the direction the girl had left, then turned. A faint fragrant breeze stirred the black hair by his cheeks as he boarded the carriage, only then cutting off the scent.

……

When Shen Yao Xing found Meng Xin Yi, she was sitting in a carriage bandaging her bloody wounds. Her pale forehead was beaded with sweat, her complexion as awful as if she had gone through some terrible illness.

Shen Yao Xing was startled. She leapt onto the carriage and crouched beside the woman, asking worriedly: “What happened? How did you get injured?!”

Shen Yao Xing instinctively thought of that cruel man, but then realized that they had been together the whole time, so he shouldn’t have had time to come here.

“It’s nothing…” Meng Xin Yi tightened the cloth wrapped around her left palm, her pale lips exhaling weakly.

Even though her left hand was wrapped in several layers of cloth, it still couldn’t stop the blood seeping from her palm. The light-colored fabric had already been dyed red in just a moment, dripping down her wrist.

Shen Yao Xing frowned deeply: “Did you not apply medicine?” Otherwise it wouldn’t be bleeding like this.

Meng Xin Yi leaned back against the carriage, weariness on her pale face. Hearing the question, she lowered her gaze to look at the hand resting on her thigh. The blood loss made her vision blurry: “I seem to have forgotten…”

Never having seen the woman look so fragile before, even when her shoulder was pierced last time she wasn’t this weak, Shen Yao Xing didn’t know what she had been through, but obviously now was not a good time to ask questions.

She carefully lifted the woman’s injured area, undid the hastily wrapped bandage, took out a medicine bottle from her pocket, sprinkled some hemostatic powder on the wound before re-bandaging it properly.

“You should rest inside, I’ll drive the carriage.”

Shen Yao Xing helped her into the carriage. The space inside was rather narrow, requiring bent knees to lie down. After making sure she was settled, she sat at the front of the carriage, picked up the reins and slowly urged the carriage forward.

Fortunately, the woman’s condition didn’t last long. By the time the sky began to darken, she had regained her spirits.

In the darkening space, Meng Xin Yi slowly opened her eyes. The jostling of the carriage made her more alert. She raised her left hand to look at the wound, then used her right hand to support herself on the wooden board as she sat up and lifted the carriage curtain.

At the same time, hearing the sound, Shen Yao Xing turned back: “You’re up. Are you feeling better?”

Meng Xin Yi nodded, slowly sitting down beside her.

“Where are we?” Though her spirit was better, her throat was painfully dry. As soon as she finished speaking, Meng Xin Yi couldn’t help but cough twice.

Seeing this, Shen Yao Xing took the water pouch from her waist and handed it over, watching the woman take two big gulps before speaking: “How would I know where this is? There’s just one road, so I’ve been following it.”

She looked up at the sky: “It’s getting dark soon. If we can’t find an inn, we’ll have to spend the night in the wilderness.”

“It’s fine, I’m used to it anyway,” the woman said.

Shen Yao Xing held the reins, her gaze shifting to the woman’s injured hand. She hesitated but couldn’t help asking curiously: “How did you get hurt? Were you attacked while waiting for me?”

Meng Xin Yi lowered her eyes to look at her bandaged palm, shaking her head slightly: “No, I did it myself.”

“Huh?” Shen Yao Xing pulled hard on the reins, turning her head with a strange expression, almost reflexively asking: “Why?”

This time Meng Xin Yi didn’t answer her, just lowered her eyes to stare at her wound, lost in thought.

Legend has it that the Candlelight Shadow Tree can magnify the deepest greed in one’s heart before one’s eyes. The more greedy one is, the easier it is to be devoured. If she hadn’t pierced her palm with the last shred of reason, it probably wouldn’t have been as simple as just getting injured.

Seeing that she remained silent, Shen Yao Xing didn’t continue to press. As long as she was alright, that was fine.

The two of them set up a campfire by the roadside in the woods while it was still not completely dark. Strangely, although it had rained during the day, the ground here was very dry, as if the rain had only fallen in that one area.

“It only rains scorching sun rain where there are Candlelight Shadow Trees, it’s normal that there’s none here,” Meng Xin Yi explained, her pupils reflecting the blazing fire in front of her.

“Oh,” Shen Yao Xing was plucking feathers from a pheasant she had just caught nearby. She wasn’t curious about these things, only wondering when they would reach Jiao Huang City. Bouncing around in this crude carriage for several days was truly uncomfortable.

“About when will we arrive?” the girl looked up and asked.

“Probably another three or four days.”

Sitting for another three or four days wouldn’t be easy either. Shen Yao Xing propped her chin on one hand, looking at the sizzling roast pheasant by the campfire with a worried expression.

“By the way,” Meng Xin Yi suddenly raised her head to look at the girl across the fire, somewhat curious: “How did you find your way out after entering that forest?”

Based on her understanding of the girl, finding her way was one of her major difficulties. Ordinary people could remember after walking once or twice, but she might not remember even after four or five times. By rights, she shouldn’t have been able to find her way on her own.

“I couldn’t find the way,” Shen Yao Xing answered very honestly, turning over the half-roasted pheasant, saying nonchalantly: “I followed that whatever young master to the roadside.”

Young master?

Meng Xin Yi was slightly startled, instinctively guessing: “Young Master Ming Yue?”

“Mm, it was him.”

“How could Young Master Ming Yue be in there…” the woman murmured.

“How would I know? That person saw me and just started stabbing at me with his sword, I didn’t even have time to speak. If I hadn’t dodged quickly, I would have been turned into a beehive long ago!”

Just mentioning this made Shen Yao Xing complain incessantly. She didn’t know what bad luck she had, but every time she saw that person she was either nauseated or nearly lost her life. He was like an unlucky star plaguing her.

Meng Xin Yi frowned, her inquiring gaze passing over the fire to land on the girl’s face, her thoughts deepening.

“Here,” Shen Yao Xing split the roasted pheasant in half, passing one half over to her. Seeing her staring at herself without taking it, she urged: “Take it.”

Meng Xin Yi lowered her gaze slightly, reaching out to accept it. Looking at the chicken in her hand, she suddenly said: “Maybe Young Master Ming Yue is returning to Chang Sheng Pavilion.”

Hm?

Shen Yao Xing, who was eating with relish, looked up, her mouth full of chicken, speaking indistinctly: “That Chang Sheng Pavilion is also in this area?”

Meng Xin Yi nodded: “Several major sects of the jianghu are located outside Jiao Huang City, the most eye-catching being Chang Sheng Pavilion. It’s also situated at the border, so that place is even more chaotic than Tai Zhou City.”

As she spoke, she looked at the girl who was engrossed in eating, not knowing if she had taken it in: “Be careful when you get there.”

“What?” Shen Yao Xing looked up uncomprehendingly.

There was not the slightest hint of timidity in the girl’s clear eyes, truly a fearless appearance that made one helpless.

Meng Xin Yi sighed helplessly: “That day when you snatched the Deer Skin Map in Tai Zhou City, although I helped spread some unrealistic rumors, I can’t guarantee there won’t be people who were present that day in Jiao Huang City. If you’re recognized, it’s likely to bring trouble.”

Shen Yao Xing blinked, swallowing the meat in her mouth, but her focus wasn’t on the so-called trouble: “Those rumors about being seven chi tall were spread by you?!”

Well well, she had originally thought she should thank the person who spread the rumors, never imagining the rumor-monger was right in front of her.

Meng Xin Yi tore off a small piece of chicken and put it in her mouth, saying unhurriedly: “How else to confuse the vision of some people with ulterior motives.”

At the moment the girl won, some stories about her spread wildly. Only bigger rumors could cover up those unnecessary troubles.

Shen Yao Xing stretched out her greasy hand to give her a thumbs up: “You really think things through!”

The woman’s lips curled slightly, her brow relaxing.

“Hurry and eat, go to bed early after eating. We need to set out early tomorrow.”

The two of them quickly finished a meal before going to sleep. The next day they set out before dawn, taking a full four days to reach their destination.

The two of them drove their carriage slowly behind several people entering the city, but were stopped by guards at the city gate. A woman in red clothing with light armor glared at the two of them fiercely.

She said harshly: “Pay the entry tax!”

Entry tax? Shen Yao Xing, sitting at the front, frowned slightly: “What entry tax? I didn’t know we had to pay tax to enter the city?”

“I say you have to pay, so you have to pay. If you don’t pay, you can’t enter the city!”

This was not how an official soldier should speak, clearly just a highway robber.

Shen Yao Xing glanced at the few people who had entered the city smoothly earlier: “Then why don’t they have to pay?”

The female soldier glanced back at the backs of those people, impatiently making up an excuse: “They’ve already paid.”

This was clearly a bald-faced lie, they had only stopped their carriage.

Shen Yao Xing naturally didn’t want to pay this money, and was just about to bypass this person to enter the city when Meng Xin Yi, sitting on the other side, spoke up: “Madam officer, how much tax do we two need to pay to enter the city?”

The female soldier’s gaze swept over their faces, then scanned the carriage they were sitting in, raising her hand to show three fingers: “Seeing as you’re so sensible, I’ll only charge you three taels of silver.”

Three taels of silver might not be much for some wealthy families, but for ordinary people that was half a year’s food. How could she just demand it so casually?

Moreover, they had been traveling for some days, and didn’t have much silver left.

Seeing the woman take out her money pouch, Shen Yao Xing couldn’t help but say in a low voice: “Are you really going to give it to her?”

This person was clearly abusing her position to extort money.

Meng Xin Yi glanced at the girl, handing over three taels of silver. The female soldier took it and weighed it in her hand, only then satisfied to let them pass.

As soon as they entered the city, they saw people fighting near the city gate, with others frantically cheering on the two fighters. Looking around, they were all women, almost every one of them bare-chested and covered in sweat.

With such a commotion, how could the people at the city gate not hear? They just didn’t want to deal with it.

“This area is part of the border region. Those who come here are either desperate outlaws or members of large sects. Those gate guards are just bullies who only pick on the weak. They wouldn’t dare provoke those reckless people, only knowing to squeeze the soft persimmons. We’re new here, it’s best to avoid trouble,” Meng Xin Yi glanced at those frenzied people, her expression calm.

The carriage slowly passed by the bustling crowd. Hearing this, Shen Yao Xing reminded her: “We don’t have much silver left.”

The woman’s lips curled: “There are many escaped criminals here. When the officials can’t deal with them, they post bounties one by one. Those fighting just now were probably bounty hunters trying to catch people for the reward.”

“You mean… we should also go catch people for bounties?” That seems too troublesome.

Meng Xin Yi shrugged: “It’s the fastest way to get silver.”

Shen Yao Xing was silent for a moment, her hand gripping the reins tightly to control the horse. After a while, she couldn’t help but ask: “So what are we doing here?”

With such chaos, it didn’t seem like a place for sightseeing.

The woman turned to look at her, saying innocently: “You said you wanted to travel around. Besides Tai Zhou City, I thought this place was quite suitable.”

“Moreover…” Meng Xin Yi smiled mysteriously: “There are quite a few interesting places here.”

Is that so?

Shen Yao Xing looked at the dusty road, her mouth drooping.