Chapter 8: On the Way of North Mountain, an Arrow Flew from the South

“Even for finding people to back up, the choice of place was also

really important, if it were for me to decide, I would rather let the

reinforcement be place to be on some road, instead of Pine Cone

Hill.”

Ning Que looked at the marked point on the hand-drawn map. “They

chose to go from the north mountain, yet forgot to think that even

though this is a single road, the two sides of the road are covered by

forest, which is easy for ambush.”

After finish this sentence, he remained silent for a while. He put the

hand-drawn map into his clothes and shook his hand. He sneered at

himself, “The so called ‘guide,’besides leading them into the way of

north mountain, was more of a target to confuse the enemies by

grabbing their attention. That stupid princess had not trusted

General Ma at all, and therefore she won’t trust me either.”

“One idiot is leading a group of idiots.” Ning Que thought about the

possible incoming ambush on the way of north mountain, the

possible nonexistence of the reinforcement troop, his feeling became

heavier and lost. He lowered his voice and said harshly, “Stayed

about a year on the Great Plain, yet still did not become any

smarter, I don’t understand where did she get her reputation from.”

“Kang!” Ning Que took out the three slightly rusty swords and

opened up a water bag. He poured water on the grindstone and

began to grind silently. After entering the path of north mountain,there may be several continuous fights. While it’s too late to grind

right before the fights, he could at least calm himself down by doing

so.

“If we separate from them as soon as we entered the way of north

mountain, how can you get any chance to ask that elder?” Sang

Sang asked.

“Staying alive is the most important thing.” Ning Que looked down to

grind his knife, slowly but determinedly,”As long as we can arrive

Chang An alive, we can always find opportunities to learn those

things. Yet if we our lives in the hands of that group of idiots, we

won’t have any more chances.”

……..

The more they went South, the higher the temperature rose. In

theory the landscape outside was supposed to become fresher, But

because this group went onto the higher altitudes of Mian Mountain,

the green grasses around the carriage lessened little by little

becoming tall trees on the sides. The leaves were not yet green,

keeping the sternness from last year’s fall and winter.

As the temperature lowered, a tense and depressive aura covered

the entire carriage. Everyone understood, the big figure in Chang An

who dared to plot to murder the princess, if he wanted to prevent

the princess from peacefully returning to the Capital, the Mian

Mountain between the frontier and the inner provinces would be his

last chance.

During the tense caution and search, the carriage travelled for days

and eventually arrived at the entry of the path of the north mountain.

Looking at the gloomy dense forest, most people in the team did not

feel worried like Ning Que did, but became much more relieved.

That pretty maid had chat with Sang Sang for much less time in

these days. Most of the time she remained on the second wagon.

When she got off in the evening, she even had a little smile.

When she decided to leave the Great Plain, she had already sent messengers into the territory of the empire. Although it was difficult

to gather a large army to escort the princess home, the messenger

had enough time to contact some loyal subordinates of the princess.

Ten days ago when she received the emergency report from Gu

Shan state, she did not hesitate for a moment and went straight into

the North Mountain road. Her determination was cause by her trust

in the young commandery of the Gu Shan state. She believed that he

already lead his troops into the south opening of the North Mountain.

Although she left Tang empire for a year already, but she still believe

that her subordinates were still loyal to her. Some people might be

bribed by that woman in the Royal Palace and turned against her,

but Hua Shan Yue definitely would not, because……his eyes were

always so gentle when looking at her.

When the group was thirty miles from the meeting point, it started to

set up camps and rest in the dusk. Traveling through the forest in

midnight seemed like a risky choice from all angles. Some guards

even suggested her to wait outside of North Mountain and wait for

Hua Shan Yue’s troop to aid the party.

As for this suggestion, she was still thinking. But whatever the

situation, she and the child were very safe for now, gentle smiles

once again crawled back onto her soft cheeks. Happiness once

again seemed to return to the entire carriage.

In the light of dusk, a simple camp was set right outside of the

circular formation of the carriage. The guards asked one time, but

the owner of camp stayed there and just wouldn’t join the formation

created by the five carriages and supply carts.

“If we don’t set the camp further away from the formation, how are

we going to run away when emergencies happen?” Ning Que

explained, he tied the big black umbrella up with grass string and

made a pretty flower knot, then put it on Sang Sang’s back.

Sang Sang raised her head, looking at his chin with a hint of

mustache and asked, “If we ran away, what are they going to do?” Ning Que was checking if the bowstrings were damped. When he

heard the question, he turned around and looked at the little dark

face of the maid. After a period of silence he said earnestly, “You

might have forgotten what happened when you were young, but I did

not.”

“I dug you out of a corpse pile. Since I survived when I was young, I

endured some struggles that normal people would not even

imagine.”

“Sang Sang, you should always remember that we struggled really,

really hard….. even gambled our lives to stay alive in this world. If

we struggle so much to live, then we should not die so easily.”

After saying this sentence, Ning Que did not explain any further. He

put the freshly sharpened swords into their sheaths, used some

grass string to wrap around them and coordinated the sheaths to a

perfect distance, then put them onto his back.

Sang Sang did not ask any further and started packing silently. She

used her small hands to test the straightness of each arrows.

Because she know when darkness of night fell upon the earth, it will

be the moment she and Ning Que would ran off into the vast and

open Mt. Min. She was not afraid, because when she was younger,

they had travelled through the mountain and forest countless times

during the night.

Right at this moment, the hand of Ning Que that was holding the

sheaths stiffened.

The curtain of the simple camp was lifted by a single hand. The maid

walked in, but the smile on her delicate face turned into frozen ice.

Her original purpose was to come chat with Sang Sang, but she did

not expect to see the two packing their belongings. It was easy to

guess that they wanted to leave.

“What are you guys doing?” She stared coldly at Ning Que’s face

and said, “At a time like this, your action is hard to not be considered

as suspicious.” Ning Que did not speak a word at first, but smiled a moment later.

He was ready to explain. Suddenly his ears moved a little, the

dimples on his face disappeared and his expression became heavy

and serious. Quickly he carried the three swords onto his back and

pushed the maid aside impolitely and walked out the camp.

The camps were located right outside of the opening into North

Mountain. There was no dense forest covering them. The formation

was comfortably warm, and showered under the last light of dusk.

But at this moment the light seemed to turn to a layer of crimson

red.

The wind travelled through the newly awakened forest and whistled

lowly, almost like crying of ghosts. Ning Que wrinkled his eyebrows

and observed the depths of the forest closely. He listened to the

details of the whistles carefully, and suddenly yelled, “Ambush!”

The silent noise in the low-pitched whistle of the wind finally showed

its true identity. An arrow shot from the forest and flew straight into

the fancy carriage like a thunder strike!

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***