Chapter 23
The Heiyu Luan Mountains were a complex terrain, shrouded in dense morning mist. It was especially thick along the cliff edges, where the fog almost surged to the hems of one’s robes.
Baili Xing, the vice commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, approached Yu Qin. He was among the guard’s elite forces, his skills extraordinary.
Fourteen members had arrived at this location. There were experts in poisons, concealed weapons, and several who were well-versed in various assassination tactics. They privately believed that Yu Qin had underestimated the enemy when he chose to confront Yan Yunhe alone. Some also suspected Yu Qin’s actions may have been an attempt to spare the lord commander.
Just now, they all had seen Yan Yunhe being pushed off the cliff with their own eyes. Though they couldn’t make out how exactly Yu Qin had managed it, whatever he did had caught the battle-hardened young general completely off guard before the end. Still, the undeniable fact was that Yan Yunhe had fallen from the cliff, and the purpose of their journey had been fulfilled.
Baili Xing made a fist salute and bowed his head. “Your Excellency, should we search the base of the cliff?”
If alive, find the man; if dead, find the body.1 It was the only way to prevent any mishaps.
Yu Qin cast him a dismissive glance, one that sent a chill down Baili Xing’s spine; his head immediately went lower.
“Don’t waste time.” With those words, Yu Qin turned and walked away from the cliff’s edge. His body was covered in blood, overflowing with a murderous aura. One by one, the guards present stepped aside, clearing his path.
At first, when Yu Qin took command of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, there were many who refused to accept his authority. However, under his brutal suppression, dissent meant death. No one dared so much as whisper anymore.
Seeing the King of Hell2 now, looking even more terrifying than usual, no member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard took the risk of questioning his decision.
Yu Qin strode to the spot where he had tied his mount. As he untied the reins, the horse tossed its head, the bell around its neck jingling.
Yan Yunhe had bought that bell. At the time, he had smiled and said, “The bells on generals’ warhorses are known as ‘bells of victory.’ I can’t give you mine, but this one should have the same effect.”
Then, he personally fastened the bell on Yu Qin’s horse. As he stroked the horse’s white mane, he leaned close to its ear and whispered, loud enough to be heard: “Little horse, look at your master. I give him such meaningful gifts, yet he still won’t give me so much as a smile.”
Yan Yunhe probably never imagined that when Yu Qin finally smiled at him, it would be under such circumstances.
Mounted on his horse, Baili Xing noticed Yu Qin staring blankly at the bell in his hand. He couldn’t help but ask, “Sir, is something the matter?”
Yu Qin released his grip on the bell, its bronze surface now stained in crimson. Ignoring Baili Xing, he swiftly mounted his horse, and with a jerk of the reins, he galloped away.
Just then, a fellow guard rode up to Baili Xing’s side. “Why did you even bother talking to him? Have you ever seen Yu the King of Hell acknowledge anyone?”
Forget acknowledging them—Yu Qin wouldn’t even glance their way.
Baili Xing gave a nonchalant chuckle. “Enough chatter. Let’s hurry and catch up.”
The troops dispatched from Kaiping swiftly advanced into the Heiyu Luan Mountains. To their surprise, they encountered no resistance upon entering the Qingyi Gang’s stronghold. Aside from their tattered clothing, the stronghold’s inhabitants looked no different from ordinary civilians.
As the soldiers swarmed in, the people huddled together in terror. Ironically, with their broad shoulders and burly frames, it was the soldiers who looked more like bandits, while the actual bandits cowered in fear. They did not resist, let alone have any weapons in sight. If not for the certainty that this was the Qingyi Gang’s settlement, Baili Xing would have thought they had accidentally stumbled upon a shelter. These people were all refugees.
With just one look at the situation, Baili Xing knew something wasn’t right. The empress dowager had specifically ordered them to suppress the bandits. If the Qingyi Gang had put up fierce resistance, they would have had a pretext to kill them all. But in this case, how would it be any different from slaughtering a group of civilians who were too weak to truss a chicken?
Kaiping’s assistant commander, Wen Feng, was the officer cooperating with Yu Qin in this bandit suppression campaign. When he saw the state of the Qingyi Gang, his face turned sickly pale. Years ago, the massacre in Chenzhou Village, where countless civilians were killed and passed off as bandits, had caused such a massive uproar that Wen Feng’s mind started racing.
He hurried forward and said to Yu Qin, “Your Excellency, this humble servant believes it’s best to detain these people first and have the magistrate of Yunzhou interrogate them. We must not carry out any punishments without authorization.”
Losing his hat was a minor matter; if they wrongfully executed innocents, he wasn’t sure if he could keep his head. He had to stop Yu Qin no matter what.
Yu Qin said calmly, “What if I want them dead?”
This commander is truly as bloodthirsty as the rumors claim, Wen Feng thought. However, he remained unmoved under the crushing intensity of Yu Qin’s gaze.
Seeing that Yu Qin and Wen Feng were now in conflict, Baili Xing feared Yu Qin might hack the man to death right then and there. He immediately stepped forward and grabbed Yu Qin’s arm. “Your Excellency, don’t act rashly!”
Even the empress dowager had ordered them to act with utmost discretion. Under the current circumstances, eliminating the Qingyi Gang members here was no longer feasible.
Yu Qin forcefully wrenched his arm free, and Baili Xing instantly felt a pang of regret—he’d completely forgotten Yu Qin hated being touched.
“Take them all into custody!” Yu Qin commanded in a deep voice.
After Yu Qin left, a fellow guard approached Baili Xing, and whispered, “Our lord commander is going to be in deep trouble this time.”
Baili Xing disagreed. “Once the Qingyi Gang members are in our hands, we’ll be the ones who determine their confessions. Lord Yu achieved great merit this time. The empress dowager will be too delighted to even consider punishing him.”
They all knew what Yu Qin’s true accomplishment was: eliminating Yan Yunhe, Emperor Chengjing’s powerful right-hand man. This would please the empress dowager far more than killing ten Qingyi Gang members.
While things on Yu Qin’s end were smooth sailing, the same couldn’t be said for Yan Yunhe.
He leaned against a stone wall, blood dripping down his arm. When he pierced the cliff face with his sword to slow his fall, a withered branch had slashed his flesh open.
The cliff seemed very deep, but there was actually a ledge protruding halfway up the mountainside. With the help of the dense trees on his path, Yan Yunhe managed to land successfully on the ledge. However, it was located lower than Chen Qing had described, hidden deeper within the cliff face. An ordinary person would have died from such a fall, but not Yan Yunhe.
His arm hurt terribly, but at this moment, it felt as if his deeper pain came from somewhere else entirely.
Yan Yunhe tore off a strip of his robe and roughly bandaged the wound to stop the bleeding, trying to distract himself with physical pain. However, when his worst injuries on the battlefield had rendered him bedridden and immobile, he had always passed the time by reminiscing about the past. It had since become an involuntary response, and now he couldn’t help but think of the one person he shouldn’t.
Yan Yunhe stared at his chipped soft sword with a bitter smile. “What the hell is wrong with me? Even at a time like this, I can’t get him out of my head. Yan Yunhe… you’re truly beyond saving.”
But who could blame him when Yu Qin’s smile as he pushed him off the cliff had been so damn beautiful?
When Yu Qin discovered he wasn’t dead, his expression would certainly be a sight to behold. Just imagining his potential reaction was enough for Lord Yan to forget the pain in his wound.
He pulled out the item Chen Qing had given him from his inner pocket and let out a soft sigh.
Falling off the cliff had been part of his plan all along. If he was to get things done, he needed time, and he needed to shake off the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s surveillance. Even Yu Qin killing him had been expected.
The one thing he hadn't foreseen was that kiss.
Yan Yunhe looked toward the direction from which he had fallen, watching as the mist gradually dissipated. He raised a hand to brush his lower lip, where the metallic taste of blood still remained. “Yu Hanchu, if your heart is truly as hard as stone, why make such a move?”
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