A cry for help drifted with the wind.
"Hm?" Xue Qiming’s ears twitched as he turned his head in puzzlement.
"What’s wrong?" Tang Jinnian asked, fanning himself with Rao Shuang’s fan.
"There was sound..." Xue Qiming scratched the back of his head and looked around but he didn't see anyone. "I thought I heard someone shouting for help..."
Tang Jinnian shielded his eyes with the fan and squinted as he looked around.
Xue Qiming shook his head and was about to continue on his way.
Xue Niang suddenly grabbed Xue Qiming’s sleeve with her little hand and pointed to a spot in the distance. "There's someone over there."
"Oh? Where?" Tang Jinnian looked in the direction Xue Niang was pointing.
Xue Qiming raised an eyebrow and looked over as well.
With a direction to focus on, they looked more carefully, and indeed, the two noticed something unusual. At the edge of their vision in the desert, there was an inconspicuous black dot that, upon closer inspection, faintly resembled a person lying flat on the ground.
"Well well!" Tang Jinnian patted Xue Niang’s head in surprise. "The girl’s got sharp eyes! She’s got the makings of a martial artist!"
Xue Niang pouted and turned her back to Tang Jinnian.
Tang Jinnian chuckled awkwardly.
Behind him, Rao Shuang stifled a laugh and said, "She’s definitely still holding a grudge against you."
"Let’s save them first," Xue Qiming said gravely. He picked up Xue Niang and strided toward the figure.
Among the group, Rao Shuang had the best agility. She swiftly maneuvered through the air, reaching the person’s side in a few breaths. Tang Jinnian and Xue Qiming, following behind, noticed her pause upon seeing the person.
Xue Qiming took a few steps forward and, upon seeing the person’s clothing, also stopped in surprise.
"Uh... a Northern Qiang soldier?"
The blood on the unconscious person's armor had dried to a dark brown, his armor definitely belonged to Northern Qiang. Considering their recent encounters, Xue Qiming’s group instinctively assumed he was a Northern Qiang soldier.
"No, that’s not right."
Xue Qiming frowned, flipping the person over onto his back.
"It’s the person we saw at the North Watching Pass as we left."
Tang Jinnian whistled sharply. "Looks like something happened."
Rao Shuang twirled a strand of hair, frowning slightly. "When we left, the North Watching Pass was fine, and this person was there too... Could he be a spy the Northern Qiang planted in the North Watching Pass?"
"That doesn’t make sense." Xue Qiming shook his head. "If he were a Northern Qiang spy, why would he be here, in such a miserable state? Could it be that the Northern Qiang army has lost? That an army over a million strong couldn’t take down a single North Watching Pass? I just don’t believe it."
Xue Qiming glanced at Tang Jinnian, only to find him staring intently at the person on the ground.
Xue Qiming nudged Tang Jinnian. "Have you fallen in love?"
"No..." Tang Jinnian shook his head slightly, pointing to the twin blades at the man’s waist. "I think... I remember who he is."
Slowly, Tang Jinnian recounted the story of how he had previously encountered Ye Beizhi, explaining everything clearly to the others.
"You mean... he’s an armed escort guard?" Rao Shuang guessed, staring at Fang Dingwu for a long moment.
Tang Jinnian nodded. "From what I saw the day I met Mute Ye... that should be correct."
Rao Shuang bit her lip, her expression somewhat complex, and said, "Now that you mention it... I think... I think I remember him, too."
"You’ve met him too?" Tang Jinnian asked in surprise.
"Mm..." Rao Shuang nodded. "In Meizhou."
Tang Jinnian’s face lit up in realization. "Then that’s right! They were escorting a shipment to Meizhou at the time."
"I don’t know what you’re talking about, but... Mute Ye is still alive?" Xue Qiming said with obviously feigned surprise. His expression showed little shock as he smirked. "I thought he’d been caught and was just waiting for his head to roll."
As they talked, Fang Dingwu had been given some water and was carried on Xue Qiming’s back as they continued on their way.
"Caught?" Tang Jinnian fanned himself. "With his kill-first, ask questions later personality, who would dare catch him?"
"But I’m curious..." Tang Jinnian rubbed his chin. "Why would he go around and kill people at that branch of the Ghostbane Association? And cause such a commotion too... That doesn't seem like he’d do something with his personality, right?"
Xue Niang looked up at Xue Qiming with wide, bright eyes and asked, "Could he be that man with a blade who—"
Before she could finish, Xue Qiming quickly covered her mouth. Rao Shuang cast a sidelong glance at him, half-smiling.
"Heh... heh heh..." Xue Qiming chuckled nervously. "Maybe someone with no common sense provoked him... possibly?"
Tang Jinnian kept musing on the matter. "It’s unlikely the whole branch provoked him..."
Rao Shuang’s face wore a faint smile as she suddenly interjected, "Though I don’t know this Mute Ye you speak of, he must be the man I saw at the inn, sitting with this armed escort guard. From what I observed... he doesn’t seem like a killer. If he did wipe out a branch, there must be some other reason." With that, Rao Shuang gave Xue Qiming a meaningful glance.
Xue Qiming felt uneasy under her gaze, suspecting that she knew something.
Thankfully, Tang Jinnian eased his discomfort. He took Fang Dingwu from Xue Qiming and hoisted him onto his own back.
"What’s done is done, let’s move faster and get to Liangzhou to find a doctor. Once we save this man, we’ll ask him what happened and know the truth."
Tang Jinnian walked some distance, then suddenly looked back to see that Xue Qiming was still standing there, looking back in the direction they had come from. The blood-red sunset casting a long, long shadow of him.
Rao Shuang parted her red lips to speak. "He—"
Tang Jinnian raised a hand to interrupt her. "It’s fine, let’s go," he said, continuing forward.
Little Xue Niang stood by Xue Qiming’s side. She looked in the direction he was staring, then up at the tall man beside her, and softly asked, "Xue Qiming... are you unhappy?"
"Heh heh..." Xue Qiming’s eyes crinkled into two crescent moons as he smiled, patting Xue Niang’s head. "Not at all... and you should be calling me Master."
Xue Niang shook her head forcefully, tossing his hand away and pouting.
Xue Qiming chuckled, unfazed. He took the gourd from his waist and shook it... it was empty; the wine had run out without him noticing once again. He looked down at Xue Niang and held out his hand. "Do you have any wine left?"
Xue Niang glanced at him reluctantly, then took out her small flask from her chest. "I don’t have much left... just a little."
Xue Qiming took it, shook it, and sure enough, only a sip remained. He opened the lid, bringing the flask to his nose to inhale the familiar aroma of the homebrewed wine.
With a splash, he poured the remaining wine onto the ground, letting it seep into the sand.
Xue Qiming tilted his head back to catch the last drop from the flask, licked his lips, and whispered in a voice only he could hear, "Farewell, Brother Qi."