It was where she had first met Pang Yu.
At this moment, Nanyi felt somewhat dazed. The scene of Pang Yu’s death was vivid before her eyes. Time had only moved forward by a month or so, yet Nanyi felt it was like a lifetime ago.
Fate was like an exquisitely crafted circle, with beginning and end echoing each other. She had no doubt that she was within fate’s game, but at this moment she was quite composed.
What damned fate—at worst, it can just kill me.
Nanyi strode into the cave. Through a narrow passage, they reached the suddenly spacious underground river channel, more than sufficient to accommodate a hundred people.
Ying Huai sent several men to set up traps and obstacles outside, ordering everyone to rest in place. Then he looked worriedly at Nanyi, who was sitting on the ground. How could she be so familiar with the mountain terrain?
Was this reasonable?
If there was an ambush here, they would truly be walking into a trap. But it was too late for regrets now. He could only choose to trust this woman.
Nanyi sat in a corner, chin propped on her hand, pondering. Hiding here wasn’t a long-term solution either… She remembered that when General Gusha was searching the mountains day and night for Prince Ling’an, he must have become familiar with the terrain. Finding this place was only a matter of time.
She wondered… whether Song Muchuan had received the token she sent.
Wanyan Jun thought this surprise attack was seamlessly executed and was in quite a good mood, waiting in the Bureau of Waterways for news of great victory. Unexpectedly, his men came back empty-handed.
The night before, the Yucheng Army had still been in their original position. He had only decided on the afternoon attack time, telling no one except his trusted generals, and had sealed off the waterways. He had kept the news tightly sealed—this should have been a matter of catching turtles in a jar. How could the Yucheng Army have such divine foresight, escaping before they struck?
Unless someone was interfering, passing information to help them.
Who exactly had such vast abilities?!
Wanyan Jun felt this was becoming troublesome. Not only was there the leak of information, but once a surprise strategy failed, it would alert the enemy and lead to deadlock.
He couldn’t deploy all soldiers to pursue the Yucheng Army in Hukui Mountain, as that would leave Li Du Mansion’s defenses hollow. So he could only grit his teeth and send people to search, sparing no cost to annihilate the Yucheng Army.
Though he didn’t show thunderous rage, Xu Kouyue had already sensed the sudden drop in atmospheric pressure around him.
She didn’t know what had happened, but anything that could make Wanyan Jun angry should be good news for her. It seemed Xie Queshan hadn’t deceived her—had Song Muchuan’s side taken some action?
At this time, Song Muchuan was calculating with a man dressed as a hunter before a terrain model of Hukui Mountain. The hunter was also a hidden agent of Bingzhu Division, extremely familiar with Hukui Mountain’s terrain. Previously, he had helped Prince Ling’an hide in the mountains.
Song Muchuan was planning to see if he could dispatch some personnel to use the terrain to help the Yucheng Army break through.
At this moment, the scouting agent returned, bringing news that the Yucheng Army had already fled. Song Muchuan was somewhat astonished.
Recent events all had good outcomes, but the processes far exceeded his control. He had no idea who was operating behind the scenes, or whether this person was friend or foe.
The agent added: “By the way, sir, we’ve discovered that the man who delivered the clothing to you is a boatman who travels between Hukui Mountain and Li Du Mansion. The clothes were brought from the mountains by him.”
Song Muchuan’s gaze fell on the clothing set aside. He shook out the cloak again and examined it carefully. This time, a strange feeling arose.
This garment… seemed to be conveying some message.
It was dirty all over, with burn marks on the hem. Judging by the length, it should be a woman’s robe. After looking at it repeatedly, he always felt the patterns and colors looked somewhat familiar.
—Finally he remembered. This seemed to be the outfit Nanyi wore before leaving. At the spring banquet and Lantern Festival, she had worn this same outfit. It was very beautiful, making her radiant. Even he, someone who never paid attention to women’s clothing, had unconsciously looked at it several times.
That’s right, it was this cloak.
His heart jumped in alarm. Was she hinting to him that she hadn’t left but was in Hukui Mountain? But why didn’t she return to the city to find him, instead sending back a robe?