Chapter 464: Still Have the Guts to Come? Remember It Until Death

Ji Qingwu was clearly a wolf, too.

She just knew how to play the part of an obedient puppy, but the moment you let your guard down and thought her easy to bully, she would take a vicious bite.

「The next day.」

The morning mist had not yet dispersed, and the camp gate, built of stacked bluestone, radiated a damp chill.

Ji Qingwu went to the camp gate again.

Soldiers shouted in rhythm as they hauled over thick, round logs that smelled faintly of pine resin, repairing the crossbar that the tiger had broken the previous night.

Ji Qingwu paced back and forth before the main gate, watching the eastern horizon fade from indigo to the color of a fish’s pale belly.

’It seems today will be a fine day as well.’

A whimper sounded from behind Ji Qingwu. She turned to see a gray blur limping toward her.

The little wolf’s right forepaw barely touched the ground. She looked it up and down.

"I don’t remember your leg being injured, though?"

But then she saw the little wolf’s ear and couldn’t help but laugh. "Who bandaged you up?"

A bandage, three fingers wide, had been wrapped around a bamboo splint a dozen or more times, forming a crooked triangle on top of its head. It looked like a giant, triangular rice ball, with a few stalks of dry grass stuck to the edges.

The little wolf whimpered pitifully. Ji Qingwu stroked its uninjured ear and said, "Still, it will certainly heal faster this way."

Li Yuzong appeared from around the corner of the barracks, panting. A few dry blades of grass clung to the silver threads of his horsetail whisk.

He scolded the wolf, "You rascal! How can you run so fast with your leg all wrapped up?"

Li Yuzong’s expression changed in a flash. He turned to Qingwu, his face crinkling into a smile.

"My apologies for that display, Miss Ji."

Li Yuzong took a celadon medicine bottle from his sleeve. It was still covered in sand, a testament to the chaotic scene that must have unfolded while he was treating the little wolf.

"This old servant saw that its front paw pad had gravel embedded in it, and all five of its toes were scraped raw. So I applied some golden wound powder."

Ji Qingwu said with an amused smile, "Eunuch Li, your bandaging skills look more like you were papering a lantern for the palace."

As if on cue, the little wolf shook its head, its ears twitching, making the bandage wobble just like a revolving lantern.

Li Yuzong’s face folded into a mass of wrinkles as he laughed. "Naturally, my skills cannot compare to the masterful hands of Miss Ji."

The little wolf pounced playfully on Li Yuzong, using its paw—which was wrapped up like a rice dumpling—to pin the man to the sand.

While the man and the wolf wrestled beside her, Ji Qingwu continued to gaze quietly into the distance.

As the first ray of sunlight struck the sand, Ji Qingwu raised a hand to shade her brow. In the distance, a plume of smoke suddenly rose from a beacon tower.

Ji Qingwu’s heart clenched.

’Urgent military intelligence. Is it good news, or bad...?’

Ji Qingwu didn’t understand the code of the beacon signals; she couldn’t tell what this plume of smoke meant.

Ji Qingwu asked, "Eunuch Li, do you hear anything?"

Unlike last time, when Emperor Wu Su returned to camp, his arrival was preceded by the thunder of hooves. This time, she held her breath and strained to listen, but heard nothing at all.

Li Yuzong hadn’t even had time to retrieve his horsetail whisk. His old face grew grave as he said, "Miss Ji, this old servant hears nothing either. Smoke from the beacon tower most likely means an enemy attack. You must hurry back to the camp and hide."

"Hide?"

Ji Qingwu shook her head.

’She hadn’t come to the Northern Border just to hide away.’

Standing in the morning light, Ji Qingwu’s posture grew even straighter. She looked toward the Northwest.

The light of the rising sun illuminated her face, bathing her in a golden glow. Even the fine, downy hairs on her cheeks were visible.

She was a young woman as gentle as a clear spring. Based on her appearance alone, she seemed utterly out of place amidst the vast, yellow sands of the borderlands.

But a strange feeling rose in Li Yuzong’s heart. Standing beside her, he felt the same sense of calm he did when standing beside the Emperor. His panic subsided.

The soldiers inside the camp received the signal and moved out swiftly to form ranks.

Chi Rui walked over to Ji Qingwu. Seeing the calm expression on her face, he swallowed the words of caution that had been on the tip of his tongue.

After the events of the previous night, Chi Rui no longer saw her as a delicate woman, but respected her from the bottom of his heart.

Chi Rui explained the meaning of the beacon to her. "Miss Ji, that smoke signal means an enemy is approaching. A single fire indicates an enemy force of more than fifty soldiers, but less than five hundred, including cavalry and infantry."

Ji Qingwu’s heart tensed, then eased. "How many soldiers do we have defending the camp?"

Chi Rui replied, "One thousand, two hundred and ten."

Ji Qingwu nodded. "Good."

The sound of hooves grew steadily closer, and Ji Qingwu watched as a group of soldiers and horses appeared before them.

She frowned and said coldly, "You still have the nerve to show your face here?"

Even though the man before her was much thinner and wore a dark cyan mask, Ji Qingwu recognized his gray-blue eyes in an instant.

Yu Wen Tianqing said, "Miss Ji, it’s been a long time."

Ji Qingwu replied, "I would have preferred not to. A pity my archery isn’t better."

A Mystic Iron eagle whistle woven into Yu Wen Tianqing’s hair swayed as he moved. "It’s no fault of your archery, Miss Ji. Rather, my heart is not where it should be. It’s on the opposite side of my chest."

Ji Qingwu’s eyes flickered to his right breast. "Good. I know. I won’t miss this time."

Seeing her resentful expression, Yu Wen Tianqing threw his head back and laughed.

"The Emperor of Beili himself was willing to let me go. Why does Miss Ji still hold such a grudge against me?"

Ji Qingwu replied without expression, "I’m petty. Once I have a grudge, I hold it for life."

Yu Wen Tianqing raised an eyebrow. "To be remembered by you for a lifetime... I should consider myself lucky."

Unmoved by his words, Ji Qingwu turned her head and took a bow and arrow from the soldier standing behind her to her right.

"Good. Then I’ll make sure you remember me until the day you die."

Seeing that she was serious, Yu Wen Tianqing hastily dismounted and raised both hands. "Miss Ji, I have come to sue for peace, not to make another enemy of you."

Ji Qingwu said flatly, "I don’t believe you."

Yu Wen Tianqing spread his hands in a gesture of peace. "I only brought a few of my most trusted men. Surely that is proof enough of my sincerity?"

Ji Qingwu’s eyes darted around. "And who’s to say you don’t have an army waiting a hundred li away for your signal?"

Yu Wen Tianqing’s expression flickered. "Perhaps Miss Ji hasn’t heard. The Xijin Camp has already been destroyed. What army could I possibly have left?"

Ji Qingwu’s attitude was resolute. "I don’t believe a word you say."

Yu Wen Tianqing sighed. "How is my mother?"

Ji Qingwu’s reply was terse. "She’s alive."

Yu Wen Tianqing asked, "What are your conditions for her release?"

Ji Qingwu frowned. "If you want to negotiate terms, you’re talking to the wrong person. You should leave."

Seeing how utterly unyielding she was, Yu Wen Tianqing silently ground his back teeth.

"Let my mother go!"

Ji Qingwu retorted, "I’m not a stable hand."

For a moment, the face beneath Yu Wen Tianqing’s mask twisted. "If there is anything you need from me in the future, I can lend you my aid."

"No deal," Ji Qingwu said.

Yu Wen Tianqing said, "With a temper like that, aren’t you worried the Emperor of Beili will one day cast you aside? I can offer you an escape route."

"What escape route?" a cool voice asked from behind Yu Wen Tianqing.