Chapter 114: An Ambush

“I…” Tie Cheng stammered, no additional words coming out of his mouth. With Meng Fuyao turning away from him, he eventually admitted defeat. “I’ll go, I’ll go… fine, I’ll go!”

The more he said the angrier he became, resulting in another broken tree.

Princess Lotus kept her smile all the way while giving thanks. “You must be a man of ability. Are you, Sir, an official in Wuji? Could you tell me your name? I will have the prince thank you personally in time.”

‘Have Zhangsun Wuji thank me?’ Meng Fuyao wanted to laugh but couldn’t.

At this time the servant girl cut in, “Which rank do you hold? Want a promotion? If the prince learns of your heroic act he will definitely thank you with anything you want.”

Meng Fuyao looked at her before smirking. “Oh yeah? That’s great. I’d like to become the emperor of Wuji. Can I?”

Ming Ruo’s face turned pale. With trembling lips, she uttered, “You, you… rebel…”

Princess Lotus’s gaze shrank but quickly transformed into a smile. “He is making a joke. Why are you taking it so seriously?” she chided softly.

Meng Fuyao glanced over at the princess, albeit not wanting any more eye contact. Extending a hand, she expressed, “There aren’t many bandits within Wuji region. You were just unlucky. With my guards, you’ll have no problem getting to your destination safely. I’ll take my leave, then.”

“Thank you again, dear Sir,” Princess Lotus bowed. Meng Fuyao, upon taking a few steps forward, turned around once more. “Is it going to be a big wedding? With your honorable status, shouldn’t there be members from Zhongzhou court to receive you? How did you end up in this state?”

“It is embarrassing, Sir,” Princess Lotus lowered her head, abashed, like a gentle lotus flower. “I have been brought up to follow Buddhism. Honor and glory do not matter, and I have sworn to travel to every mountain and old Buddhist temple. I had planned to visit Mingguang Temple, in Xuan Yuan, but while passing by Wuji Nation, I had the sudden thought to… to see an old friend,” she explained, biting her lips as her face turned red.

“My princess is the reincarnation of a sacred being and was born with a lotus flower in her mouth. She is the most pious lady in the whole of Five Region Continent, and hence the name Buddha Lotus. Many would beg to catch a glimpse of her, so it really is your lucky day today,” the servant girl informed proudly, looking askance.

“I think so too,” Meng Fuyao agreed forthrightly. “It’s the blessing of three lifetimes, and this trip has been made worthwhile.”

Then, she bowed slightly before turning to leave.

‘Pious? Sacred? Someone who could sit and chant her sutra so calmly while her guards shed blood outside… yeah, how god d*mn pious indeed. She was someone who could continue chanting before a severed arm that belonged to one of her guards… how god d*mn sacred indeed.’

Meng Fuyao lifted her head and shot Buddha Lotus’s reddened cheeks a quick glance. ‘Aish, the shyness she expressed when talking about a man, was really all shades of flirtatious.’

She walked between the jade-green forest, inwardly thinking, ‘Reincarnation of Buddha Lotus… lotus flower in mouth… the lotus flower on Zhangsun Wuji’s palm…’

‘So that was the secret he had been unwilling to reveal. It was this pious, sacred Buddha Lotus, whose mouth contained a flower at birth and who was living deep in the palace that he had been trying to hide.’

He kept that flower on the hollow of his palm, not willing to bring it up to anyone or to allow anyone to touch it. He probably valued it as the most sacred treasure and wanted to protect it from all contamination of the world.

‘Aye, a lotus born on a palm, another lotus born in a mouth. Aren’t they just a perfect pair?’

Meng Fuyao proceeded down the mountain and upon locating her horse she readied herself, and the horse galloped further and further away from Buddha Lotus.

Meng Fuyao whipped her horse with much urgency, causing it to emit anxious neighs as if being chased by tens of thousands of soldiers.

Amid the rush, there seemed to be a vague singing voice that trailed along with the horse’s movement.

“One’s spiritual, and the other a flawless jade. One’s the moon in a mirror, and the other a flower in the water…”

The sky darkened and layers of clouds accumulated to dim the moonlight. They appeared like frosted glass or a worn-out cloth, ironing itself over the metallic black sky.

Meng Fuyao looked up and around somewhat vacantly…’Where am I?’

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It seemed she had already exited Wuji’s border.

After a long thought, Meng Fuyao had a faint memory of herself being on the road for a whole day and night. She rushed past Qingzhou, Wuji and Tiansha border, and was now in this thick forest that should be sandwiched between both nations.

Meng Fuyao studied the sky color. It was likely to rain, but since she had already passed the lodging area, she had no choice but to find a cave to stay the night. Meng Fuyao rested her horse on the foot of a mountain before making her way up. Fortunately, there was a thatched hut with a courtyard, which she found midway. It was rather old and tattered, and the animal hide hanging on the wall was already rotting. It appeared to be a house previously owned by a hunter family.

Meng Fuyao tidied the place a little and started a fire. It was when she finally sat down that she recalled about Lord Yuan Bao, who had been quiet this whole journey. She hurriedly undid her sleeve button, and upon pulling the little fellow out she saw that his eyes were exceptionally corrugated – the journey had been too stuffy and he had passed out.

Half a day later Lord Yuan Bao woke up, still dizzy. However, upon regaining clarity, he launched into intense verbal action. Unable to get herself to listen to his scolding, Meng Fuyao’s mind turned to the fallen pine fruits she had seen on the way here. She could pick some of those to shut him up, she thought.

As she stood up and left, Lord Yuan Bao followed her to the door, not once closing his mouth. After a few more hurls he stopped abruptly. His whiskers shook a little, and he looked toward the sky in suspicion before turning around and taking a sniff. He jumped.

He squeaked loudly but could no longer spot Meng Fuyao’s silhouette. Despite his continuous squeaks, it was quiet all around. While wanting to look for her, his owner had ordered him not to stray too far away from her side. The mountain was massive, and it wouldn’t be good for them to lose each other, and they shared no telepathic connection.

As such, he could only find a corner to draw his circles while waiting for her return.

Meng Fuyao had actually heard him, but to her, his squeaks were no different from when he was reprimanding her. She proceeded forward, where a steep cliff resided on the opposite side, which she had descended to get here. The rugged terrain on the tip of the cliff appeared like an umbrella, and the escarpment was glossy and almost standing at a right angle. Overall it was wide at the top but narrow at the bottom. Steadying herself, she studied the ravine and remembered the path –’the eye tooth ravine,’ they called it – at which Zhangsun Wuji had “died.” She wondered if it looked similar to what she was seeing.

When Meng Fuyao thought of him, her mind zoomed right into the lotus. Her head, or perhaps her heart, seared in pain. She gave herself a tight slap. ‘Is it not something good? Didn’t you wish so badly to distance yourself from him? Now you have a rightful reason to reject, and the next time he dares to make any vows I’ll bless him with a burning slap. “I’ve seen your wife, you married man. Eating from your bowl but looking into the pot? I’ll destroy you on behalf of all mistresses!” That’s what I’ll say.’

Fantasizing about it refreshed her mind. She let out a soundless laugh. Halfway through the curl on her lips withered and she hugged her tummy, slowly crouching down.

‘But… but… why lie to me…’

Meng Fuyao remained squatted in that ugly position as if trying to free something. Nevertheless, that something had already infiltrated her lungs without warning, making it impossible to do.

Wind rose from the horizon, causing the clouds to gather and scatter. Soon, rain started falling, gently at first but quickly escalating into a downpour. Blisters formed on the ground as she squatted in the rain, lifting her head and slowly wiping the raindrops from her face in a child-like manner.

While doing so, Meng Fuyao suddenly noticed something amiss on the opposite cliff, as if something had moved.

It wasn’t a movement caused by rain hitting down on the trees. In fact, the cliff was practically bald. It was the outline of a person!

Meng Fuyao’s gaze shrank. She eyed the cliff up and now, finally noticing that the whole cliff was filled with hidden soldiers.

Those black rocks were humans, and the contours of the cliffs were humans too. The big blocks that resembled rocks were probably wicker baskets that contained heavy stone weapons, and there was reflective light coming from the hands of those men in black. They were probably holding onto blades, arrows, or other sharp weapons. It was a skillful army, lying in ambush and persevering through the wind and rain at night, in anticipation of a blood hunt.

Who were they waiting for?

They were located in the common boundary shared between Tiansha and Wuji. On the west seated Tiansha land and on the eastern side was land that belonged to Wuji, so anyone who died there would likely cause a verbal tug of war.

Meng Fuyao smiled, entirely not in the mood to poke her nose into this matter. She stood up to leave, only to stop a second later.

‘Let me see who it is first.’

Meng Fuyao jolted, like a night bird extending its body, and leaped onto an escarpment. She looked at the intensifying rain colliding with the rocks all over and rumbling.

In the darkness before her a black, handsome horse emerged, it’s hooves seemingly flying. The rider was dressed in black as well, his sleeves fluttering in the wind. She could vaguely spot flashes of red on them.

Behind the black horse appeared a cloud-like layer of a black army, the soldiers’ faces equally grave and their horses equally in sync. They barged through the rain, and while they were still a distance away, she could clearly feel their deadly aura sweeping over.

Zhan Beiye and Dark Wind Horses!

Meng Fuyao’s heart thumped.

They were after Zhan Beiye!