Chapter : 84
“Hoo… hoo.”
Wei Gangqing’s face was pale blue as he gasped for breath.
“Was he possessed by a ghost or something?”
It made no sense otherwise.
A person might lose their mind and strike in a moment of extreme danger.
But even when injured and pushed to the brink, to stay completely silent and swing weapons wildly in all directions…
That could not be considered a normal state.
“Then he must be a cultist.”
At the words of the deputy accompanying him, Wei Gangqing nodded with an “Ahh.”
That was correct.
“He’s not in his right mind, so of course he became a cultist.”
Spitting in frustration at his own words, Wei Gangqing immediately turned to manage the situation around him.
He had spent half a day fighting and the other half gathering the surviving cultists and checking on the state of the warriors of the Martial Alliance.
By then, the government troops sent from Hanning County and Zhibi County had arrived.
Although both sides had known that trouble had broken out in the Hanbi Mountain between their two counties, they had delayed taking responsibility, pushing it back on each other, and only appeared after things had been somewhat settled.
Wei Gangqing still carried the momentum of the battle from the frontline, so the government soldiers did not dare speak, but the responsible county commanders could not simply retreat.
After sharing the situation with the two county commanders sent from Hanning and Zhibi, Wei Gangqing explained that they too had arrived late and that the Martial Alliance would send someone to handle the matter, and asked them to wait.
Once reassured that the incident had been temporarily resolved and that the opposing party was communicable, the county commanders returned to their respective posts.
Scratching his head, Wei Gangqing muttered to himself…
“Is it all over now?”
Just then, the deputy approached and asked,
“But… where is the young lady?”
“Huh?”
Wei Gangqing blinked.
Seeing the blank expression on his superior’s face, the deputy calmly reminded him,
“Didn’t we come here to rescue her?”
“Ahh!”
Startled, Wei Gangqing looked up at Hanbi Mountain.
It felt as if a bizarre, almost grotesque energy was rising from the entire mountain.
Swallowing his dry saliva, he finally began to climb.
“What should I do?”
Wei Gangqing stood at the empty mountaintop, scanning the area.
There was no sign of the young lady—not even a trace.
“Something incredible must have happened here…”
The lower slopes, except the peak, were completely devastated.
The effort to climb here was arguably greater than fighting the insane cultists rushing from the foot of the mountain.
And then there was this aura.
“Can you feel it?” Wei Gangqing asked, and the deputy shook his head.
Perhaps only a peak-level master or higher could sense even the remnants of the tremendous power left near the summit.
“How many people in the world could leave such a mark?”
And could that person have taken the young lady from this very peak?
As Wei Gangqing pondered, clutching his head, he noticed something and his eyes lit up.
“What’s this?”
It was a broken earring.
From the remains, it seemed to have been set with a precious red gem, but the shape was already unrecognizable.
Still, it was evidence.
Wei Gangqing carefully took a cloth from his robe and collected the fragments.
After gathering all the shattered pieces and checking the surroundings once more, he descended the mountain.
At the foot of the mountain, exhausted, Wei Gangqing tried to sit down, claiming he had no strength left.
“Move out of the way!”
Startled by the shout, he looked up.
Eehee-hin! Eehin!
With a shrill neigh, a red horse came charging from afar.
“Eeek!”
Surprised, Wei Gangqing stumbled back, landing on his rear.
Even in his weakened state, he could not comprehend the speed of a horse charging at a peak-level master.
By the time he realized the danger, the horse was already right in front of him.
He squeezed his eyes shut and raised his arms over his head, trying to lessen the impact of the collision…
But the horse stopped just before him, glaring with wide eyes.
Shivering!
Peeking through his lashes, Wei Gangqing saw the horse snort right in front of him, as if mocking him.
Angrily, he raised a hand to strike the horse, but it blinked with moist, expressive eyes, and he could not bring himself to move.
“What could a horse possibly understand?”
Clicking his tongue in frustration, Wei Gangqing stood, only for the red horse to poke his chest with its long muzzle.
“Why, are you apologizing?”
When he tried to soothe it, the horse squinted and snorted again.
Clearly, it was irritated.
Just as Wei Gangqing, now spattered with saliva, was about to lose his temper, the deputy intervened.
“This is a fine horse. Why would it be here without an owner?”
“…Indeed.”
Looking around, Wei Gangqing wondered if the owner was nearby, when the horse poked him again.
“What’s going on?”
At Wei Gangqing’s muttering, the deputy suddenly clapped his hands, as if recalling something.
“Now that I think about it, the young lady’s favorite horse was red.”
“I heard that too. Its name… was it Zhelai?”
That was the name given in the information they had received to rescue her.
When Wei Gangqing called the name, the horse lifted its front hooves lightly, as if acknowledging him.
This time, there was no threat or mockery.
Wei Gangqing unconsciously admired it, but then sighed again at the thought of a horse without its owner.
“She must have let it loose elsewhere when she climbed the mountain. Intelligent horses know to avoid strangers and graze until called by their owner.”
Nodding at the deputy’s words, Wei Gangqing felt the horse rub its muzzle against his chest again.
Recalling the object he had picked up earlier on the mountain, he took out the cloth and revealed the broken earring.
Tears fell from the horse’s eyes.
“They say clever animals are almost like spirit beings… seems it’s true.”
The deputy marveled, and Wei Gangqing felt the same.
When he tried to put the earring back into his robe out of pity, the horse bit the edge of the cloth and refused to let go.
Eventually, he tied the cloth pouch with the earring securely around the horse’s neck and said,
“This incident seems serious. I’ll go to the Alliance myself. I’ll take you along too.”
The young lady’s betrothed was at the Alliance. He could leave Zhelai with him.
Perhaps pleased by Wei Gangqing’s thoughtfulness, Zhelai pressed its nose forward as if inviting a gentle stroke.
“So proud,” Wei Gangqing muttered, carefully patting the horse’s nose.
Having been trapped in the mountain while chased by cultists, Nangong Yanhua disappeared!
The rumor quickly spread across the land.
She had been chased before, but this time was different.
Previously, even if her location was unknown, the traces she left behind could give clues about her direction and condition.
This time, however, it was completely different.
She had vanished without a trace, leaving no clue where to start searching.
The Martial Alliance was in uproar, and the blame on the cult grew fierce.
The Daejeong Pavilion locked its main gate, and traffic came to a halt, while the Nangong clan anxiously feared missing this rare opportunity for transformation.
Meanwhile, the rescued Nangong family desperately pleaded to the head of the clan for leniency.
Nangong Cheok also wished to help, but there was no one around who could listen.
He gritted his teeth, thinking that if the unfilial girl who had made herself sub-head of the family never returned, he would see if they would treat him with such disdain again.
And… the Mu Alliance’s Moonlight Pavilion, one of the hottest places, remained quiet.
Yet this silence did not necessarily mean they had no stance.
Amid countless interests and calculations, speculations about Yanhua’s whereabouts ran rampant.
Only one person reacted with a ridiculous emotion rather than worry upon hearing the news:
“Ha! I told you! Mureong, that wolf bastard took our little Yanhua!”
Fuming, Gu Hiliang stomped his foot, regretting letting that kid go.
