Song Chuyi pushed through the soldiers in front and walked forward.
Under the light of the torches, Song Chuyi could see a thick layer of dead leaves on the ground, strewn about in disorder, soaked through with rain and blood. The veins were all red, and a pungent, bloody smell emanated from beneath the leaves. Clearly, a life-and-death struggle had taken place here not long ago.
“The blood has even seeped under the leaves.” Ji Yu half-knelt on the ground and used a bronze sword to push the leaves aside. Sure enough, beneath them was all bloody water, and one could even see scraps of flesh.
Song Chuyi’s hand, gripping the handle of the umbrella, tightened slightly. She raised her eyes and looked around. Most of the nearby tree trunks had fresh marks of friction on their bark. Recalling the earlier situation of being chased by the wolf pack, Song Chuyi was certain that among the performers’ convoy there were other carriages that had experienced the same encounter as they had. Since there were no carriage wreckage here, then the people who had been torn apart and devoured by the wolves in this place were most likely guards.
Her gaze fell on a patch of muddy ground not covered by leaves, where there were chaotic wheel ruts. She bent down and used her finger to measure the depth.
It was not deep.
In the convoy, aside from the carriage she and Zhang Yi were riding in, only Qiao and another manager’s carriage had few people on board. The rest of the performers’ carriages all carried at least five or six people, not to mention the supply carriages. To leave behind ruts like this…
Song Chuyi drew in a deep breath, and her whole nasal cavity was filled with the smell of blood.
Ji Yu turned his head and glanced at Song Chuyi. Earlier, when she had been sitting in the carriage, he could only see a somewhat pale face half-hidden by hair and concealed in the darkness.
When she stood out, Ji Yu was somewhat surprised. Her height did not even reach his chest, and judging by her overall appearance, she was clearly a youth.
But in this kind of environment, the only emotion Ji Yu could sense from her was calm. This inevitably stirred in people a desire to probe further.
“I have a favor to ask of you.” Song Chuyi suddenly tossed away the umbrella in her hand and bowed to Ji Yu.
“If you have something to say, please speak frankly.” Ji Yu reached out to help her up and agreed without the slightest hesitation. His current situation was already close to a death ground. Apart from going out to fight and seeking a quick end, or becoming a prisoner of war, there was no better way out. Now that heaven had given him an opportunity, how could he not seize it firmly?
“I have a friend still in the performers’ convoy. After the wolf pack attack, I lost contact with them. I beg you to help search within a radius of two or three miles. I would be endlessly grateful.” Song Chuyi bowed all the way down, her tone exceedingly earnest.
Ji Yu frowned almost imperceptibly, then immediately said, “Since it is your friend, I will certainly not fail to fulfill this trust.”
In the army, life and death were truly commonplace matters. How could Song Chuyi not know that making over two thousand trapped people search for one person was forcing others to do something difficult? But at present, this was the only path available to her. The wolf pack might be all around, and she could not possibly go search for someone alone.
“Thank you, Marshal Ji.” Song Chuyi bowed again.
Ji Yu made a gesture of helping her up without touching her. “There is no need for you to be so formal. We still must rely on you to save us.”
It was precisely because of this that Song Chuyi had made her request. She said, “I will certainly do my utmost,” and then retreated back to her original position, keeping the entire troop still in its original formation.
Zhang Yi glanced at Song Chuyi in surprise. Through their interactions over the past days, the impression Song Chuyi had given him was one of extreme laxity. The back she presented when she had just walked forward had been calm and composed, making him feel as though she were a complete stranger.
“Huaijin, be honest with me. How old are you really?” Zhang Yi felt that he and Song Chuyi got along very well, with a strong sense of having met too late. But judging by appearances, they were at least seven or eight years apart in age.
Song Chuyi mysteriously leaned closer to him. Zhang Yi became greatly interested and put on a look of listening with rapt attention.
Song Chuyi lowered her voice and said, “Seventy.”
“Absurd.” Zhang Yi felt rather as though he had been tricked.
“Our Daoists have always been indifferent and uncontending, cultivating body and nature, and most of us are well versed in medical principles and skilled at preserving youth. How is that absurd?” Song Chuyi’s expression was perfectly calm, and one could not tell whether her words were true or false.
Zhang Yi could not be bothered to distinguish either. “Huaijin, when traveling abroad, you had best not reveal your origins. It truly brings disgrace upon your school.”
“Excellent.” Song Chuyi grinned at him and said, “From now on, I shall claim to be a disciple of Guiguzi.”
“Actually, I have always been quite curious.” Zhang Yi did not pick up on her words and looked at her with a faint smile. “I do not seem to have ever said that I am a disciple of Guiguzi. How did you know, Huaijin?”
“Mm.” Song Chuyi paused her steps and raised a hand to touch her brow. “So I let it slip.”
But Song Chuyi had always been thick-skinned, and this level of embarrassment was truly nothing to her. Beyond that, her skill at spinning nonsense was unmatched. “Do you really want to hear the truth?”
“Of course.” Zhang Yi had been holding it in for a long time. But because he had a habit of not remembering people well, he feared that he might have forgotten an old acquaintance and caused offense. Yet after thinking carefully for many days, he felt that he truly had never met Song Chuyi, because if he had known someone as wildly unconventional and utterly undisciplined as her, it would have been impossible for him to have no impression at all.
The atmosphere all around was exceedingly oppressive. Because they were within the borders of the State of Song and were surrounded by enemies, they could not shout loudly. So after Ji Yu issued his orders, those on the outer perimeter all began searching with their eyes.
Those on the inner side could not see outside, so they turned their attention to the conversation between Song Chuyi and Zhang Yi. In such a situation, their posture and language were both very relaxed, which inspired admiration. Moreover, listening to people of knowledge speak was also a fortunate thing. The soldiers nearby swept away the gloom in their hearts and prepared to listen quietly.
Song Chuyi cleared her throat and said, “To my shame, when I first entered my school, I heard the great name of Guiguzi and admired him deeply. Therefore I paid particular attention to your school, especially Sun Bin and Pang Juan. Ahem, your two senior brothers spent their whole lives entangled with each other, locked in a struggle to the death. When I had just learned divination back then, I cast a hexagram for them. It was the Great Image hexagram, and the judgment read: Sorrow ever locks both brows, a thousand threads and ten thousand tangles hang in the heart; from now on guard against forming ranks, act as you please without mutual interference. At the time, I privately thought it meant that so long as they let go of the secret feelings in their hearts for each other and ceased clinging to a love they could not obtain, they could remain at peace.”
Zhang Yi’s mouth fell open, his expression extraordinarily vivid, and he was so shocked that it took him quite a while to react. “That is not how the hexagram should be interpreted, is it?”
“It was merely a amusing interpretation from back then. Just take it as something to listen to.” Although she said this, at the time Song Chuyi had only a vague understanding of human nature and the great trends of the world. She did not understand why Pang Juan always targeted Sun Bin, hating him yet neither killing him nor letting him go. And so, at that time, she truly believed that between Sun Bin and Pang Juan there were unspeakable secrets of feeling that could not be told to outsiders.
Song Chuyi continued, “Because of this, I also paid special attention to your school. Later I heard my master say that Guiguzi had taken you and Su Qin as disciples as well… so I cast another hexagram…”
Zhang Yi noticed that occasionally soldiers were looking at him with considerable interest, and he immediately interrupted Song Chuyi with a look of panic. “I understand, I understand. But Su Qin and I absolutely do not have secret feelings. Nor did my two senior brothers. The way you interpret hexagrams is really too… too earth-shaking and ghost-and-god-startling.”
“You flatter me, you flatter me. I was only five years old back then, and my master also praised me thus.” Song Chuyi said with a smile.
Zhang Yi was speechless. He raised his eyes to look at the rain dangling on the edge of the umbrella, about to drip. Sensing that Song Chuyi showed signs of speaking again, he hurriedly said, “I can grasp your meaning, Huaijin. There is truly no need for further words.”
At this moment, he deeply felt that talking with Song Chuyi was far too dangerous. If they chatted to their hearts’ content, he feared that everyone in his school would end up bearing “secret feelings,” and thereafter they would have no face to mix among the various states.
