When a person is sinking into darkness, they will long to grasp a ray of light. For Song Chuyi, Zhao Yilou was that ray of light.
It was not necessarily that she had to grasp it, but at least she did not want him to disappear just like that.
Song Chuyi got up from the couch, threw on a great cloak, and walked to the outer room.
Ji Yu glanced at her, stirred the firewood with a fire poker, and said nothing.
Song Chuyi poured two cups of water, handed one to Ji Yu, but did not rush to sit down. She drained her cup and asked, “Do you think my martial arts have improved these days?”
Ji Yu took a sip of water.
Improved? Cooped up in the room all day curled up in a ball, only using words to tease beauties, tease Buwang, tease White Blade, not even stretching out a finger – if there had been any improvement, that would be a ghost. Hearing this, Ji Yu thought Song Chuyi simply did not want to answer the previous question and was therefore changing the subject. So he did not even look at her. “Sir, you had better give up any thought of practicing martial arts.”
Song Chuyi raised an eyebrow slightly and moved her wrist. “Geniuses do not need to practice. How about we have a fight and see?”
Ji Yu could not be bothered to pay attention to her, but her sudden mention of this topic made a trace of vigilance rise in his heart. He had just been about to put down the fire poker when Song Chuyi unexpectedly struck down with a knife-hand.
Ji Yu let out a muffled groan, and his body slowed for an instant. Song Chuyi immediately grabbed the wooden screen beside her and smashed it hard against the back of his neck, then threw down the screen and reached out to support his body as he was about to fall.
The movements were clean and sharp. With Ji Yu’s experience, he should have been able to catch it – except that his body had suddenly reacted somewhat slowly just now.
From Ji Yu’s understanding of Song Chuyi, she was someone who liked to use her brain and did not like to use her hands. If she were to run away, she would certainly come up with all kinds of tricks. He had thought of everything, but the one thing he had never expected was that she would dare to attack him so openly. After all, the gap in martial strength between them was too great.
Song Chuyi supported Ji Yu’s body and laid it on the ground. Seeing the red swelling on the back of his neck that seemed to be faintly seeping blood, she could not help clicking her tongue. “I had no choice either. With my little strength, I can’t knock you out with my hand, so I could only grab something handy. You are broad-minded, so you will surely understand and forgive me.”
Having said that, she reached out her claw-like hand and scratched Ji Yu’s chest.
White Blade followed out, his black bean-like eyes staring fixedly at her movements.
Seeing that Ji Yu did not seem to have passed out completely, Song Chuyi did not dare delay any longer. She immediately took an old piece of clothing, cut it into strips with the sleeve sword, tied Ji Yu up, dragged him onto the couch, and finally stuffed his mouth shut.
Ji Yu had only been unconscious for the time it took to drink half a cup of tea before he became aware again. He moved slightly and found that his hands and feet were bound. His ears twitched slightly, and he could still hear the sound of the door closing, and he immediately understood what had happened.
Earlier, the brazier had been moved, and he had thought Song Chuyi merely wanted to read and write, so he had not taken it to heart. Looking back now, it had actually been to make it convenient to grab the screen and smash someone with it. This time he had truly capsized in a ditch. With all his martial arts, he had actually been attacked by a young man with no strength to truss a chicken, and it could not even really be counted as a sneak attack.
In the end, it was still because he had underestimated the enemy. Ji Yu was vexed in his heart and wanted to use his tongue to push against the cloth stuffed in his mouth, but found that his body had not the slightest strength.
She had actually done it quite thoroughly.
Ji Yu thought it over and over and felt that Song Chuyi had probably smeared medicine in the cup beforehand. Otherwise, since she had also drunk from it, how could she have been fine? It was just that she might have been afraid he would notice the taste, so the dose was not large, not enough to make him lose consciousness.
Song Chuyi rushed out with White Blade, found a guard, rewarded him with several pieces of gold, and ordered him to go invite Gongsun Gu over.
Snow was drifting outside, but Song Chuyi, wrapped in a thick great cloak, did not feel cold.
She waited in the corridor for half an hour before Gongsun Gu finally arrived in haste.
Under the reflected light of the snow, Gongsun Gu breathed out puffs of mist. He strode onto the corridor, brushed the snow off his clothes, and asked, “You persuaded Brother Ji?”
“Yes. I must trouble you to escort me out of the city, and while at it, look after these brothers of mine,” Song Chuyi said.
It was a matter of each getting what they needed in the first place, so Gongsun Gu did not beat around the bush. Walking outward with her, he said, “Please remember what you promised me. Do not go back on your word.”
“I will do my utmost, but whether I can succeed, I cannot foresee,” Song Chuyi said.
Gongsun Gu smiled and said, “With those words from you, I am reassured.”
Even if the Wey envoy lost his life because of this, to Gongsun Gu and to the whole state of Zhao, it was no important matter. If it succeeded, he would claim the credit; if it failed, he would find a way to distance himself from it.
Doing this was very heartless toward Song Chuyi, but he and she had no real bond to speak of in the first place. This time it was merely mutual use.
The two walked silently through the snow, which made a crunching sound underfoot, while White Blade, with such a massive body, moved through the snow without a sound.
“How goes the battle?” Once out of the post station, Song Chuyi breathed a sigh of relief.
Gongsun Gu said, “They have attacked the city head-on twice, but neither was a substantive assault. The men stationed at the bridge arch still have not moved. The two sides are locked in a stalemate, as if they only want to pin down most of the city’s garrison troops. I do not know what scheme they have in mind.”
The two shared a single horse and galloped all the way to the foot of a wall in the west of the city.
“On what day do you plan to return?” Gongsun Gu asked after dismounting.
“Four days. If I have not returned by then, it means I have run into trouble,” Song Chuyi said.
“Good. I will wait here in four days.” Gongsun Gu bent down, moved aside the stones at the base of the city wall, and revealed a hole just large enough for a person to crawl through on his belly. “I must wrong you. At this time it is absolutely impossible to leave through the city gate. There is only…”
Song Chuyi smiled and said, “Even you have crawled through it, so what wrong is there to me?”
The city wall was at least three meters thick. If he had not crawled through it himself, how could he be sure it definitely led outside?
Song Chuyi cupped her hands in salute, then lifted her robe and, without hesitation, crawled in.
White Blade had been circling behind Song Chuyi the whole time. After seeing her go in, he peered at the opening for a moment and then followed by crawling in as well. Gongsun Gu watched in amazement as White Blade’s entire body went into the hole, and only after being stunned for a while did he block the opening again.
Only after crawling in did Song Chuyi realize that while the hole looked small from the outside, the middle section was actually quite large, enough for her to sit up straight, and White Blade could even walk normally there. Near the exit, however, it grew narrower and narrower, harder to pass than before.
The person and the wolf shifted about inside for a good while before Song Chuyi finally touched the stones blocking the opening.
Song Chuyi pushed aside the loose stones and crawled out with difficulty. Turning her head, she saw White Blade, covered in dust, squeeze out of the hole, and could not help letting out a low laugh.
White Blade shook his furry ears and crouched to one side, watching Song Chuyi stack the stones.
“The Gongsun family is far too poor. They could have at least made a secret passage or something,” Song Chuyi scoffed. She was only complaining; she knew very well that even if the Gongsun family did have a secret passage, they would not let an outsider like her know about it.
After finishing up, Song Chuyi carefully piled more snow over it, smoothing out her footprints as she retreated. Although it looked different from the snow beside it, it happened to be snowing right then, so after a quarter or two of an hour it would no longer be visible.
Only after walking more than thirty meters did Song Chuyi straighten up and look around, so that she would not fail to find the place when she came back.
“White Blade, this time you have to obediently carry me. When we get back, I will give you a big basin of meat.” Song Chuyi gave it a piece of dried meat.
White Blade was eating happily when he suddenly felt a weight on his back. He simply flopped down into the snow and continued eating.
“Alas.” Song Chuyi let out a long sigh. What was the use of bringing it along? In the end, she still had to walk by herself. After sitting for a moment, covered all over in snow, Song Chuyi finally shook out her great cloak and headed south.
Gongzi Fan was attacking the city from the south and the west, so the command tent was probably set up in those two directions.
However, Song Chuyi did not know the terrain around there very well. At this rate, even by tomorrow she would not be able to find where their camp was pitched.
She thought for a long while, then simply threw herself down in the snow and pretended to be dead.
At first White Blade thought Song Chuyi was playing with him, and happily pawed at the snow. But after frolicking for a while, he found that the person on the ground was not moving at all. He hurriedly nuzzled her face with his head and found that she seemed just like his mother had been, and could not help letting out mournful whining sounds.
This was the first time White Blade had called out with the unique sound of a wolf.
Song Chuyi hurriedly scrambled up from the snow. “Be careful or you will get shot to death by stray arrows.”
White Blade was stunned for a moment, then, seeing that she was alive again, happily shook his ears.
“Alas.” Song Chuyi sighed heavily again. She really was helpless against this little beast; it absolutely refused to carry her on its back.
Was it not said that wolves often carried bei on their backs? Which showed that the back was not such a precious place after all.
The wind and snow howled. On the vast, boundless snowfield, Song Chuyi struggled forward through the accumulated snow, heading south along the city wall.
After about three hours, severed limbs and broken remains appeared in the distance, and bright red blood soaked the white snow.
Seeing that only a thin layer of snow had fallen on those bodies, Song Chuyi felt somewhat relieved and hurriedly looked for footprints on the ground. From the look of it, another assault on the city had just taken place. Following their retreating footprints might lead her to the camp.
The heavy smell of blood stimulated White Blade’s wild nature, and the fur all over his body suddenly stood on end. Song Chuyi hurriedly smoothed his fur and said in a low voice, “What sin have I committed? If I had known, I would not have brought you out.”
After finally soothing him, the person and the wolf began running along the traces on the ground.
Running and stopping, stopping and running, she did not know how long had passed before Song Chuyi finally saw firelight ahead.
She quickly stopped and observed for a good while. In the dusk, military tents could faintly be made out. It really was the camp.
So Song Chuyi boldly led White Blade straight over.
A hundred thousand troops were stationed there. Song Chuyi did not think she and White Blade could sneak in, and even if they had a chance to slip in, if they were discovered, they would absolutely be dealt with as spies, and by then they would not even know how they had died. It was better to go directly and seek an audience.
“Who goes there?” When Song Chuyi was still fifty meters from the gate, the guard shouted in a stern voice.
Song Chuyi cleared her throat, stood where she was, and shouted at the top of her voice, “I am an old friend of Young Master Yilou. Passing through Zhao territory, I heard that Young Master Yilou was here, and have come specially to pay a visit.”
When the guarding soldiers saw that she seemed to be only a youth in plain robes and a black cloak, they had just relaxed when they noticed that beside her there was unexpectedly a wolf, and could not help being greatly alarmed.
Even from so far away, Song Chuyi could feel their vigilance. She hurriedly reached out and rubbed White Blade’s head. This action both soothed White Blade and made those people understand that the wolf was with her.
“I have important business and seek an audience with the young master. Please pass on the message,” Song Chuyi said loudly.
“Wait a moment.” One soldier at the gate ran inside, while the rest held their swords ready in defense.
After a moment the man returned and said, “The young master has already gone to bed. Come again tomorrow.”
Walk back for another three or five hours? Song Chuyi cursed inwardly. She hesitated for a moment. Actually, there was a way to get in; she only needed to mention one urgent matter. But she did not want to drag out so many things, lest it become difficult to extricate herself later. So she led White Blade to find a tree trunk to block the wind and waited for dawn.
