After what felt like thirty minutes of galloping, Anji could no longer hear the shouting of the bandits behind them. She had no idea what was happening, but as soon as Gu Ying sheathed her sword and slowed the horse down to a trot, she asked if it was safe to open her eyes. Crouching against the horse, the mane tickling her nose, was uncomfortable.
"You can open your eyes now, it’s safe."
After opening her eyes, Anji realised the grass was greener and shorter here. They must have travelled quite far. However, she did not see her brother or Bai Dajin.
"Where is my brother and Sect Leader Bai?" she peered up at Gu Ying, who was preparing to dismount. "Are they ok?"
Nodding, Gu Ying got off the horse and extended her hand to help Anji climb down. Once the girl was down on her feet, the Manchurian bodyguard let the horse graze for a little while. No river or stream was in sight, so they could only spare the good horse a little water.
Spreading the mat on the ground, Anji sat down and waited for Gu Ying to explain what was happening. She wasn’t worried about her brother because Bai Dajin was with him. However, how would they know where to find Anji? Gu Ying had travelled very far.
Once the horse was happily munching grass, GU Ying returned and handed Anji some food.
"They will meet us when they are done with the bandits," she finally explained. "We agreed to travel in the east direction, so if they follow the only path in this direction, they will find us."
If Gu Ying was unworried, Anji should have more faith in the adults. However, without seeing her brother and Bai Dajin in person, she had little appetite. The bun in her hand tasted like dry sandpaper.
After ten minutes, Anji heard the faint sound of galloping from a distance. The little cloud of dust gave her hope, and Anji wanted to greet who she thought would be her brother, but Gu Ying stopped her, remaining vigilant.
"It might not be him," she warned. "If any bandits escaped them, you must remain hidden until the danger is over."
The possibility was slim, but one could never be too careful. Reminded of the possibility, Anji quickly polished the rest of the bun and crawled into the tall grass, crouching while Gu Ying stood beside the horse.
As the rider approached, Gu Ying recognised her young master’s scholarly robes and build. However, she waited to confirm his face before telling Anji it was her second brother.
Crawling out from the grass, Anji grinned happily. However, many strands of dried grass were stuck on her clothes and hair from hiding in it. Gu Ying helped her pick them out and continued until Mingshen arrived.
"I made it out," he laughed and greeted Anji with a twinkle in his eye. "Bai Dajin should be here soon. I waited for him to clean up before going ahead. He needs a bath as soon as we find water."
Puzzled, Anji wondered what her older brother meant. Mingshen dismounted and let his horse graze while grabbing some lunch from Gu Ying’s bundle. As they waited for the dirty Bai Dajin to regroup, Anji asked about the bandits.
Mingshen hummed mysteriously. He did not want to scare and taint his sister with all the gory details. Bai Dajin had way too much fun and was even shocked by the warrior’s appearance when he finally returned to the crime scene. They took longer than expected to meet up with Anji, not because the bandits were strong but because it was almost impossible to eliminate all the blood stains on Bai Dajin. Bai Dajin could change into a new set if it were only clothes. However, the blood got all over his skin and into his hair. With limited water, they managed to get most of it out, but the rusty smell clung onto him like a second skin. To hide the evidence of a violent fight, Mingshen suggested that Bai Dajin rolled in the dust a little more to hide the blood and disguise the scent a little. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on NovelHub(.)net
When the White Tiger Sect Leader appeared from the same path Mingshen came from, Anji’s expression was priceless. She couldn’t believe the man had reverted to the same state she found him in when they first met at the Golden Halo Hotel. With unkempt hair, dust and dirt everywhere, he smelled just as bad as he did back then. Were all men ? Her brother was right. Bai Dajin desperately needed a bath.
"I’m here!" Bai Dajin grinned proudly. He rolled in a lot of dust and grass, and even the leaves were stuck in his hair. He was looking closer to a street beggar than a proud martial artist. On the bright side, Anji could never tell he had killed over twenty men less than an hour ago. He decided to discard his bloodstained clothes instead because they reeked.
Wrinkling her nose a little, Anji tried to keep her expression polite. However, the micro-expressions betrayed her. Bai Dajin’s appearance was bad. However, his stench was worse. What did he do to return to this state? Compared to her elegant brother, Bai Dajin was a completely different species of man.
Thinking about it, Anji realised that this might be her third brother’s ideal self if her mother and older sister did not intervene. Unlike Mingshen, Yihao hated taking baths. Maybe there were two types of men in the world, and one of them hated baths. Anji decided that if she were to marry a man, she would want to find one who would willingly take baths every day.
Anji’s attitude made Bai Dajin feel proud of his work. It was better to have Anji think of him as dirty than scary. If possible, they wanted to keep all the children away from the horrors of war. However, as a direct descendant of the previous war hero, none of Zhao Mingfeng’s children could be entirely spared. Hence, sending Anji to the Mystical Qilin Sect was important, where her shifu would shelter her from the harshness of war. Life with Yan Ping might be difficult, but it was better than seeing blood and having to kill people.
"We should leave after eating lunch and find some water," Mingshen exchanged a glance with Bai Dajin. "Someone could use a bath, and the horses could use more water."
Agreeing, Anji swore that she would conjure some for him if they did not find water for Bai Dajin by tonight. There was no way she could sleep with that smell right beside her.