Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 121

“Yanu, help Miss Xiao pack. Untie the rope around her ankles.”

A woman entered with her head bowed and briskly began folding the bedding.

Xiao Yaqing thought she looked familiar.

“You are…?”

Yanu trembled at the sound of her voice.

“The maid from the training grounds that day?”

Xiao Yaqing finally remembered her. This seemed to be the other maid who had held up an archery target at the training grounds.

Yanu did not raise her head. She merely continued carrying out Huyan Lie’s instructions with practiced efficiency.

Once the bedding was packed, she stepped over and began untying the rope around Xiao Yaqing’s ankles.

The knot lay behind her feet, and Xiao Yaqing had exhausted every ounce of strength the day before without managing to undo it.

After Yanu freed her ankles, Xiao Yaqing tentatively held out her bound hands.

Yanu acted as though she had seen nothing. She walked straight to the edge of the tent and began rolling up the carpet.

Fine. It appeared she had no intention of untying Xiao Yaqing’s hands.

Yanu soon began dismantling the tent, and Xiao Yaqing was driven outside.

Two different guards had been posted at the entrance to watch her.

Pasang sat beside a nearby fire, drinking salted milk tea and warming herself. When she saw Xiao Yaqing emerge, she rolled her eyes.

She did not know what her brother was thinking. Why did he insist on taking this woman with him? Had he truly fallen for that face of hers?

Pretending not to smell the food wafting over from the fire, Xiao Yaqing made small movements to loosen her body, preparing herself to run later.

Moving only made her hungrier. Damn that Huyan Lie! He was actually refusing to feed her!

She wondered how close Ah Heng and the others were. If they did not arrive soon, she would be setting out again…

“General! That’s Miss Xiao!”

Mo Bai spotted the familiar figure from afar and spoke in excitement.

Cang Chuli had naturally seen Xiao Yaqing as well. Since she could hop about freely, she appeared to be unharmed.

What concerned him more now was Huyan Lie.

Huyan Lie had delayed an extra day and even taken a minor path over the mountain to abduct Xiao Yaqing. Was it for the alcohol?

His gaze swept toward Xia Heng beside him. Too short to see Xiao Yaqing, she was anxiously scanning the tents.

How had she known Xiao Yaqing was here? And there was that map she had drawn freehand…

Could she truly possess some supernatural ability?

Cang Chuli did not believe in such things, but he had heard tales of strange people and stranger events.

Since ancient times, those with supernatural abilities either read the signs in the heavens or practiced divination.

What about her? What was her ability?

He certainly did not believe that, as Chuqing claimed, Xia Heng found her way by… doing that.

Every time she said she needed to answer nature’s call, it sounded more like an excuse.

Did she need to avoid other people before she could use her ability?

Thinking of the map she had just taken out…

She was already meticulous in ordinary matters, but she still was not cautious enough.

That made sense. Without training on a battlefield, it was difficult to be as vigilant as they were.

He would simply have to protect her more closely. Fortunately, his General’s Mansion was more than capable of protecting her!

Even after turning his eyes back to the Tujue encampment, he continued thinking, *When I bring down the Xia family, I should personally see them off. I really must thank them for being too blind to recognize her worth.*

“General, the group at the front is ready!” Mo Qing returned to report.

Cang Chuli turned to Xia Heng. “Did you bring a weapon?”

Before Xia Heng could react, he pressed the dagger he had previously confiscated from her into her hand.

“You don’t know martial arts. You are not allowed to go in and make trouble. Wait here.”

Holding the dagger, Xia Heng nodded obediently.

Cang Chuli inclined his head toward Deputy General Zhang, who was concealed in a tree.

Deputy General Zhang loosed an arrow, signaling the hundred men at the front.

Huyan Lie was watching the servants load their belongings onto the carriages.

“Who’s there?”

The servants loading the carts had heard nothing. They exchanged bewildered looks.

“On guard! On guard!”

“Attack!”

“Kill them!”

Huyan Lie had only enough time to shout his warning before over a hundred men surged out directly in front of the tents and charged.

“There aren’t many of them! Don’t panic! Get your weapons!” Huyan Lie shouted to his guards.

Only then did the Tujue guards recover their senses. They hurriedly drew their scimitars and plunged into battle with the Personal Guards.

Terrified, Pasang retreated. Deputy General Zhang, lying in ambush at the rear, seized the opportunity. He ordered his men to tie her up, then led the group into the heart of the camp from behind.

Seeing everyone locked in fierce combat, Xiao Yaqing tried to use the chaos to escape. Unfortunately, people surrounded her on every side and blades flashed everywhere. She could not decide which way to run.

From the rear, Xia Heng was so frantic she practically clawed at her ears and cheeks. Yet she dared not shout, afraid of drawing the Tujue soldiers’ attention and causing Xiao Yaqing to be captured again.

All she could do was hold up a handkerchief and wave with all her might, hoping her dear sister would see her.

Xiao Yaqing searched anxiously in every direction. At last, she spotted Xia Heng at the rear, waving for her to hurry over.

Her eyes instantly filled with tears. It was as though she had finally found her own people. She carefully ran in that direction, already imagining a historic embrace with her best friend.

Someone seized her arm and yanked her away from her original path. She watched Xia Heng’s eyes widen, her face filled with horror.

Huh? What was going on?

“Miss Xiao, you shouldn’t run so quickly. You might hurt yourself!”

Huyan Lie!

His hand clamped around Xiao Yaqing like iron pincers and refused to let go.

He brandished a scimitar with his other hand, fending off attacks from Cang Chuli’s Personal Guards. He barked out a string of commands in Tujue. The surrounding guards attacked even more fiercely, their ring contracting as they worked their way toward the horses.

Cang Chuli quickly broke through the Tujue guards’ defensive line and fought his way to Huyan Lie.

Huyan Lie immediately dragged Xiao Yaqing in front of him as a shield and laid the blade of his scimitar against her neck.

“A fine diversion, General Cang. You truly deserve your reputation as Huaxia’s God of War.”

Cang Chuli’s voice remained steady. “Release her.”

“Hahahaha! What a hero you are, Cang Chuli! Do you truly think this handful of men can easily defeat my force of over five hundred?” Huyan Lie blustered.

“Why don’t you turn around and look?”

In truth, Huyan Lie had no need to turn around. When the Personal Guards first stormed the camp, they had caught his men completely unprepared and killed many Tujue soldiers in a matter of moments.

Then the second wave attacked from the rear, almost completely shattering their formation. All that remained now was a cornered, desperate resistance.

Huyan Lie had known the situation was turning against him, which was why he had hurriedly seized Xiao Yaqing as a talisman to preserve his life. He simply could not show weakness yet.

Instead, he began spouting filth.

“Miss Xiao’s charms truly are impressive. She can make Huaxia’s God of War travel so many kilometers through the night in pursuit of her.

“There is one thing I’m rather curious about, though. How did the General know we were here?”

Huyan Lie prided himself on the care he had taken this time.

He had dumped the driver beside the main road. After a night in the cold, the man would be as good as dead even if he had not frozen already. Besides, the driver had no idea where they had gone.

Even if someone found him, no one would imagine that after intercepting the carriage, Huyan Lie’s party had fled up a mountain. They would naturally pursue them along the main road.

By the time they realized their mistake, he and his people would be long gone.

He had even checked Xiao Yaqing after drugging her unconscious, making certain she was truly insensible and had no way to leave marks along the route.

Not even Xiao Yaqing herself knew where she was. So how had Cang Chuli found them?