Chapter 9#

The Broken Arrow#

A-Kula ordered two men to carry the black bear’s carcass back to Yetai while the rest pressed onward.

Helan Feng’s hair was stained a different color by the blood, clumping into stiff, reddish-brown icy spikes that made him shiver from the cold.

Du Ze offered a hat, and Hun Da’er cut half of his outer garment to give Helan Feng as a rag to wipe the blood. The way both men looked at Helan Feng was unusual, tinged with a hint of reverence.

Helan Feng couldn’t stand their solicitude. He snatched the rag from Hun Da’er’s hand and quickened his steps to catch up with A-Kula.

A-Kula turned back to look at him: “You’ve got some nerve.”

Helan Feng respected A-Kula deeply, and when he replied, he instinctively straightened his back: “Grandfather, could you teach me that strike you used on the bear earlier?”

“There’s nothing to teach.” A-Kula stepped over a thick, fallen tree trunk. The group was following the bear’s escape path deeper into the forest. “Find the right moment, and act decisively.”

Seeing Helan Feng’s disappointment, A-Kula added, “I don’t need to teach you. You’ve already learned it.”

Helan Feng was confused.

“The courage to save a friend in danger – that’s the most important thing in that move.” A-Kula rubbed his head, then flinched as the ice spikes pricked his hand, making it cold. “Du Ze! The hat!”

A-Kula took the hat from Du Ze, grabbed the rag, and roughly wiped Helan Feng’s head a few times.

Both Helan Feng and Hun Da’er were startled: with his hair frozen into spikes, wiping it like that would not only tear out his hair but also scrape away half of his scalp.

But Helan Feng only felt a continuous stream of heat from A-Kula’s hand. The heat melted the icy spikes formed from blood, and the bloody water was immediately absorbed by the rag. In just a moment, his head was clean and warm, as if nothing had happened.

A-Kula put the hat on his head and continued walking. Du Ze followed A-Kula, whispering an apology, and A-Kula began to scold him without any mercy.

Bringing up the rear once again were Helan Feng and Hun Da’er. Helan Feng immediately pounced on him with questions: “Did you really see her go to Chiwang Plains with my eldest brother the night Bai Ni disappeared?”

“Absolutely,” Hun Da’er replied hurriedly. “It was very cold that night. I was huddled in the stable with my A-Lu. No one could see me.”

Helan Feng thought for a moment and asked, “You saw the Dayu caravan?”

Hun Da’er recalled, “The Dayu caravan was still there then. I remember two of their horses had sprained ankles, resting right next to A-Lu.”

Helan Feng: “And the horses?”

Hun Da’er: “Naturally, they disappeared. The next day, along with the Dayu caravan and that female general, they were all gone.”

As he said this, he also felt many things were strange, so he smiled and asked again: “Could it really be your eldest brother, who killed so many people and horses in one go?”

The bonfire blazed fiercely. Yue Lianlou wore only an outer robe, yet showed no sign of feeling cold. He waved his hand by the bonfire, and the flames burned even more intensely.

“… After Helan Jinying returned to Yetai, everything became unusual. My identity, the disappearance of Bai Ni and the caravan – I believe they are all related to him.” Jin Yao sat beside the bonfire and said.

“Makes sense,” Yue Lianlou said, “but Helan Jinying alone wouldn’t have the power to force Bai Ni to submit.”

Jin Yao agreed with Yue Lianlou’s assessment.

Bai Ni was Dayu’s first female general. She was not only skilled in commanding troops but also formidable in one-on-one combat. Female heroes often appeared on the martial arts rankings, and Bai Ni had once been among them. However, because she served the court, her name was eventually removed. An unknown minor centurion from the Northern Rong tribe would be no match for Bai Ni.

But Bai Ni had vanished without a trace. Jin Yao stared intently at Yue Lianlou. He dared not think of the worst possibility.

“Bai Ni was always loyal to General Zhongzhao and to you,” Yue Lianlou said softly. “Little general, you must learn to judge people.”

Jin Yao sighed in relief. “… I’m sorry, Hero Yue. I still can’t fully trust you.”

The wind was too strong, causing the bonfire to flicker as if it might be extinguished. Yue Lianlou had to repeatedly sweep his hand over the flames to keep them burning. Jin Yao could tell he possessed unparalleled martial arts, but he was so young, and in the jianghu, no one with such extraordinary skills and appearance had ever been heard of.

“Alright, don’t call me ‘Hero.’ Just use my name. Besides, if you didn’t trust me, you wouldn’t have sat so close.” Yue Lianlou’s smile was warm and gentle. Jin Yao found his attire and actions quite peculiar and couldn’t help but keep looking at him, only to blush after glancing away.

Seeing his shyness, Yue Lianlou became even more amused. “Little general, if you don’t trust me, you should at least trust your mother, right?”

He was the person her mother had entrusted. Jin Yao closed his eyes, knowing that in this time and place, he had no choice but to believe in Yue Lianlou.

“… Alright, I’ll stay here,” he said in a low voice. “I will try every possible way to find Bai Ni, whether she is dead or alive, human or ghost.”

In the end, his tone turned somewhat fierce and grim.

Yue Lianlou opened his arms to hug him again, and Jin Yao quickly dodged. Yue Lianlou picked up a strand of his hair and began braiding it while saying, “Everything must start from investigating Yetai and Helan Jinying. Although I usually live in the Northern Capital, I occasionally come to Yetai. I will find you, so don’t worry.”

Jin Yao’s thoughts were entirely led by Yue Lianlou. The great misfortune that had befallen his mother and family was forcibly pushed into his heart by him. But the panic and desolation of having no one to rely on could not be shaken off. “Helan Jinying and General Tiger have left Yetai and gone south. I have no family or friends in Yetai. I’m a slave, and no one talks to me. Finding out Bai Ni’s whereabouts, I’m afraid, won’t be easy.”

Yue Lianlou undid the braid he had just made on Jin Yao’s hair. Jin Yao remained motionless, letting him do as he pleased.

“Haven’t you made a few friends?” Yue Lianlou said casually. “There are plenty of children in Yetai around your age.”

Jin Yao was about to deny it when a face suddenly popped into his mind. Helan Feng on horseback, head slightly bowed, the snow of Chiwang Plains making his skin glow like honey, his eyes bright as if holding a pool of azure water.

“… One,” Jin Yao said. “He’s a child of both Gaoxin and Dayu parents, and he’s lived in Yetai all his life. He’s been quite kind to me.”

Yue Lianlou: “Then use him.”

Jin Yao: “…”

Yue Lianlou patted his cheek: “Your primary task right now is to find Bai Ni and return to Dayu, not to make friends, isn’t that right?”

Jin Yao: “… I don’t want to hurt him.”

Yue Lianlou: “How would that hurt him? You become close to him, befriend him, you’ll get help, and he’ll be happy too. When you part, you can wave openly. As long as he doesn’t know your true intentions, how could that be considered hurting him?”

Jin Yao still felt uncomfortable. At this moment, he remembered that Helan Feng had slipped him a small knife when they parted, and he had placed it in his robe. But now, his inner pocket was empty; the knife had vanished.

He stood up abruptly: “Did you see the small knife I had on me?”

Yue Lianlou shook his head. Jin Yao panicked: he couldn’t lose the knife Helan Feng had given him. It was Helan Feng’s, and when he saw Helan Feng again, he had to return it.

Jin Yao dove into the canyon. The snow was deep, and he could no longer determine the direction from which he had fallen. He could only search frantically in the snow.

“What did you lose?” Yue Lianlou walked into the snow and smiled. “Let me help you.”

At this moment, the wind and snow were fierce, but not a single snowflake could land on him. They all melted into a misty vapor inches away from his body. For a moment, Yue Lianlou seemed enveloped in a light fog, like an ethereal immortal amidst the snow and dust.

Jin Yao stared in shock at his feet.

Yue Lianlou had stepped barefoot into the snow. Wherever his feet stepped, the snow melted, revealing the withered yellow grass beneath.

“… Spring-Melting Six Transformations,” Jin Yao murmured. “You are from the Ming Tang.”

“So do you believe me now?” Yue Lianlou crouched before him, smiling.

The wariness and doubt Jin Yao had felt towards him – seven or eight parts – vanished instantly. The Ming Tang had deep connections with Jin Mingzhao. He now completely understood why his mother had insisted on meeting Yue Lianlou before leaving Liang Jing: he was from the Ming Tang, the jianghu sect in all the world least likely to harm the bloodline of the Jin family.

Yue Lianlou observed his expression and spread his arms slightly, awaiting the expected surprise and embrace. But Jin Yao pushed him aside, brushed away the snow at his feet, and picked up a small knife.

The knife was only seven or eight inches long, wrapped in a rough bear-hide sheath, utterly ordinary; however, the hilt was inlaid with several gold beads. With a casual glance, Yue Lianlou couldn’t identify their origin.

Jin Yao carefully placed it back in his robe, clutching it tightly and not letting go.

“Is Jin Yao really your slave or your friend?” Hun Da’er suddenly turned back and asked Helan Feng a question. “You’re so interested in the female general and the caravan – are you really going to help him find them?”

Helan Feng didn’t want to answer him. He took a light step and jumped onto a rock. They had already fallen behind. Not far away, the bear-hunting party had found the black bear’s hibernation den.

Inside the den were traces of two black bears sleeping, along with some human clothing and bones.

“A bear that has eaten people becomes a demon,” A-Kula said as he gathered the bones. An elder in the party knelt at the cave entrance, drawing complex incantations on the ground with wine, murmuring prayers.

Two black bears had lived here. They had eaten the hunters who awakened them and still roamed the forest. A-Kula had killed one; one remained.

“After tidying up, we’ll return first,” A-Kula commanded. “The bear is wounded and won’t return here for the time being.”

Helan Feng and Hun Da’er also helped tidy up. The two discovered axes, bows and arrows, and other weapons inside the den – all belonging to the Yetai hunters. Hun Da’er cursed under his breath, but Helan Feng found a broken, bloodstained arrow in a corner among the stones.

He pulled out the broken arrow and found a piece of cloth entangled behind it.

Hun Da’er saw the broken arrow, picked it up, and frowned: “How can one hunt bears with only bows and arrows…”

He suddenly fell silent and quickly handed the sword to Helan Feng.

Helan Feng tucked the blood-stained cloth into his robe.

“That arrow belongs to that female general. I recognize it.” Hun Da’er had a deep impression of the wooden arrow that had once defeated him. He rotated it to let Helan Feng see a cloud pattern on the arrowhead. “Father said these are the standard-issue arrows of Dayu’s Mangyun Riders.”

Helan Feng snatched the broken arrow and said in a low voice, “Don’t tell anyone when we get back.”

Hun Da’er glanced back at A-Kula and the others; no one had noticed their small actions. “What are you going to do?”

Helan Feng put away the broken arrow and the cloth. The arrow belonged to Bai Ni, and the cloth to a Dayu soldier – he recognized both.

He would take these back and give them to Jin Yao.

Author’s Note:

Tomorrow is the first time Helan Feng and Jin Yao will have an honest chat. The secret base everyone has been looking forward to will finally come into use (OK hand gesture)