Facts proved that Captain Meng Wan’s words held true. After He Simu and Chen Ying woke up and had breakfast, and were examined by the physician and pronounced healthy, they were politely asked to leave the governor’s residence. The reason given was that this was an important military site, and unauthorized personnel were forbidden from entering.
Chen Ying tugged at the hem of He Simu’s dress and asked anxiously, “Sister Xiaoxiao, will we still be able to eat later?”
This child never separated food from his every word; it seemed he had truly starved in the past.
He Simu patted his head, smiled, and said, “Of course we’ll eat, and the food will be much more delicious than anything you’ve ever had before.”
She grabbed Chen Ying’s hand and went to find his father’s corpse first. The young general had ordered the corpses in the city to be gathered and moved to several abandoned large mansions, and asked every family to come and identify the bodies of their family members. Unidentified corpses would be buried together after three days.
Looking at the rows of corpses in the mansion, so numerous that it made one dizzy, He Simu secretly used a spell and followed its guidance to find Chen Ying’s father’s body.
Seeing his father’s body, Chen Ying cried again. While wiping his tears, he said, “Father was hurt so badly, I didn’t even recognize him anymore… How could you spot him from far away right away…”
“Because I’m an adult, an adult’s eyesight is better than yours.” He Simu said without changing her expression.
Chen Ying cried for a while over his father’s body, then awkwardly but earnestly tidied up his father’s clothes and used a wet cloth to clean his father’s face and limbs. In the middle of this, he discovered the bite mark on the corpse’s neck, pouted, and started crying loudly again, “I came too late, Father’s body has been bitten by a wild beast!”
The “wild beast” He Simu stood to the side, wondering where this little child got so many tears from. She patted Chen Ying’s head and said kindly, “After you’re done crying, pull your father and bury him.”
They registered with the guards, then pulled Chen Ying’s father’s corpse out, dug a hole in the graveyard behind the city, and buried him. In the graveyard behind the city, a few not-so-lush, slanted trees grew, and wild grass thrived. However, at this time, the place was quite crowded. Many commoners were burying their relatives here; the sounds of crying could be heard one after another. Because so many people had died, the place even felt somewhat cramped.
He Simu found a piece of wooden board, sat in front of the small mound of earth belonging to Chen Ying’s father, and helped Chen Ying write a tombstone.
Chen Ying couldn’t read; he could only speak his father’s name. He Simu then found characters that matched Chen Ying’s pronunciation.
When the wooden board in He Simu’s hand was planted on top of the earth mound, it seemed as if everything was final. Chen Ying felt that his father truly could no longer open this wooden board and return before him. His feelings were completely crushed; he stopped speaking, merely shedding tears while scattering paper money over the grave.
“Why are you crying for him? He should be the one crying for you. He has finished this life and will reincarnate as a human again, while you, who are still a child, have to live all alone in this chaotic borderland. Looking at it from any angle, you are the more pitiful one.” He Simu sighed.
The usually chatty child fell silent, merely wiping his tears.
He Simu sighed and squatted beside him, took a stack of paper money, and scattered it into the sky.
The paper money tossed from her hand into the air seemed to be bewitched, spinning and floating in the air for a moment. The thin, pale pieces of paper sparkled under the sunlight, then suddenly transformed into countless white butterflies, flapping their wings and flying up and down.
Chen Ying, a child who hadn’t seen much of the world, was instantly stunned. The people around them, who were burying their families and friends, also clicked their tongues in awe.
He Simu nudged him, “You try throwing some too.”
Chen Ying hesitantly grabbed a handful of paper money and threw it into the air. The paper money flew up, then suddenly turned into butterflies, fluttering down like falling snow.
Chen Ying was startled; he suddenly stood up, staring at his hands in disbelief. “I… this…”
“What are you looking at, it’s just a magic trick.” He Simu burst out laughing.
Chen Ying was stunned, then said happily, “So Sister Xiaoxiao knows magic tricks!”
“You could say that.”
He Simu snapped her fingers, and the butterflies flew away with the north wind. Chen Ying’s mouth gaped wide open as he turned his head to watch the butterflies leave. He Simu also turned her head in the same direction.
Then, at the end of the butterflies’ flight path, stood a young man with a posture as straight as a pine tree, under the slanting sunlight.
He wore a hooded hat with black gauze draping down to his shoulders, a round-collared robe with silver-gray arrow sleeves, the cuffs and chest area embroidered with patterns of the sun, moon, stars, and clouds in black. His hair was neatly tied with a silver crown, and two light white hair ribbons hung outside the hooded hat.
—This was the view in He Simu’s eyes. Honestly, she didn’t know what color the young man’s clothes were either; it could have been red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, or violet, but in her eyes, there was only black, dark gray, light gray, and white.
The world of an evil ghost was just like this; there was no such thing as color.
The butterflies flew by the side of the young man’s head; he leaned his body slightly to dodge, his hair ribbons forming a graceful arc.
The young man looked at He Simu and said with a bright laugh, “A magnificent magic trick.”
He Simu stood up, her gaze stopping briefly on the Powang Sword at his waist, before shifting to his face, faintly visible under the black gauze of the hooded hat.
She had been thinking of a way to get close to this young general again; who would have thought he would come to her on his own?
She smiled sweetly and bowed in greeting. This body originally belonged to a sweet and cute girl; when smiling, it looked even more innocent and charming.
“The General’s kindness in saving us yesterday, we both don’t know how to repay it; we thank you here.”
“I am a general who protects Daliang, saving the people is my duty, Sister does not need to thank me.” He placed his index finger to his lips and said, “Sister, do not call me General, or others might be startled.”
He was wearing a hooded hat, not wearing his official uniform, and didn’t bring any guards; it seemed he didn’t want to be recognized. He Simu rolled her eyes and said, “Are you in disguise?”
He didn’t deny it; his gaze fell on several soldiers guarding the graveyard in the distance.
Because there were too many dead, to avoid disputes over the lack of burial land, some soldiers were assigned here to maintain order. Initially, the rule was first come, first served, but some people who wanted a good plot of land bribed the soldiers and chased away families who had already dug holes to bury their loved ones, then buried their own family members instead. The soldiers also seemed skilled at this, accepting all the bribes that came their way.
Families already struck by tragedy still had to oppress each other at a time like this.
He Simu turned to look at the young man; his expression was unclear.
“But Sister has sharp eyes, we only met briefly yesterday, and today I’m still wearing a hooded hat, yet you could recognize me right away?” He turned his head and said to He Simu.
He Simu said casually, “Of course, this little lady has long admired your great name and valor.”
Hearing that, the young general crossed his arms over his chest and rested his chin in his hand. As if finding it amusing, he said casually, “Really, a great name? Then what is my name?”
“…”
Wasn’t this the question she wanted to ask him?
The young general didn’t drag it out; he looked down, smiled, and said, “Sister doesn’t need to flatter me; if I truly had a great name, I should have been able to prevent Liangzhou City from being massacred. My name is Duan Xu, the ‘Xu’ from ‘Fenglang Juxu’, courtesy name Shunxi.”
Duan Xu, Duan Shunxi.
This young general was still young but already held a high position; he should have had an arrogant and condescending nature, but it turned out he wasn’t haughty at all.
He Simu then smiled and said, “This little lady’s name is He Xiaoxiao, this is my adopted younger brother, his name is Xue Chenying.”
“Miss Xiaoxiao.” Duan Xu repeated; he approached the siblings two steps as if to say something, but through the corner of her eye, He Simu saw someone standing at a high point in the pavilion beside them. She shouted, “Watch out!”
Almost simultaneously as she opened her mouth, Duan Xu swiftly leaned his body. He unsheathed the Powang Sword, twirling it in his palm. A silver flash slashed the arrow shot from the high place. In just a split second, the sword returned to its scabbard.
“There’s a Huqi rebel!”
The guarding soldiers shouted. The black figure on the high point disappeared in an instant, and many soldiers chased after him. However, Duan Xu wasn’t in a hurry; he still smiled and put his sword back on his waist, “It seems it’s not just Miss He who recognizes me, someone else does too.”
He turned around, and Miss He, who had just warned him, had already grabbed his clothes. Meanwhile, her brother grabbed the girl’s clothes, together hiding behind his back while trembling.
He Xiaoxiao’s eyes were filled with tears, looking pitiful, “This is truly terrifying.”
“…It’s fine now, thank you for your help, Miss.” Duan Xu comforted her.
He Simu clutched the hem of his clothes and said, “Although I also want to be like the General, saying no thanks are needed. But my brother and I have no family left; yesterday we were chased out of the governor’s residence, we have no place to seek shelter, I’m worried we’ll become beggars, starving and sleeping outside. Besides, it’s going to snow soon; we haven’t even found a place to stay for tonight.”
Chen Ying clutched the hem of He Simu’s dress, realizing that this was the key point to whether they would get to eat today, so he nodded his head with all his might.
This young general looked like an upright, highly educated person; perhaps he wouldn’t refuse this poor little girl and her orphaned brother. Duan Xu looked at He Simu and then at Chen Ying, and sure enough, he said, “Alright, a kindness as small as a drop of water should be repaid like a spring; I will certainly help Miss and your brother find a place to stay.”
After pausing for a moment, he looked at the sky, seemingly a bit confused, “Miss He just said, it’s going to snow soon?”
“The weather this year is strange; the Guan River even froze, so it’s not weird for it to suddenly snow on a sunny day. It looks very bright and sunny now, but the weather will change soon.” Having secured Duan Xu’s promise, He Simu let go of his clothes in satisfaction and pointed to her own eyes, “These eyes of mine are always sharp.”
It truly required no effort to obtain this. If it weren’t for Duan Xu’s presence, she definitely would have applauded the assassin’s murder attempt, and she truly had repaid the favor.
Actually, it was as if Duan Xu had eyes in the back of his head; he had dodged before He Simu even warned him. Initially, the arrow wouldn’t have hit him. But He Simu used magic to deflect the arrow’s trajectory in mid-air, forcing it to head straight for Duan Xu. This forced him to draw his Powang Sword.
He Simu grabbed Chen Ying’s hand and happily returned to the city with Duan Xu.
The Powang Sword was a twin sword, made of ebony coated in silver, and engraved with silver incantations. Usually, the hilts of the two swords acted as a scabbard for each other; when put together, they looked like one sword. A two-handed weapon is inherently harder to master than a one-handed weapon. Yet Duan Xu used it with extreme proficiency, even using his left sword to slash the incoming arrow. This showcased his extraordinary martial arts skills.
When the Powang Sword was unsheathed, she could see it clearly; the sword emitted a cold light and was exceedingly sharp. The sword was usually blunt and unsharpened; only when it recognized its master would it become sharp.
He Simu observed Duan Xu from head to toe without changing her expression.
Having no spiritual power yet able to control the Powang Sword; it seemed this young general possessed a very strong destiny and was highly favored by the Powang Sword.
Strange, why would this young general be favored by the Powang Sword?
The initially bright sky suddenly turned dark, dark clouds gathered, and then heavy snow began to fall. The snow fell on the deserted streets, adding to the sense of desolation in the Liangzhou provincial capital.
He Simu pulled up her sleeve to cover Chen Ying’s head and said, “You just fainted for a day and a night; if you catch a cold, I can’t take care of you.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she felt something heavy on her head, and then her vision was blocked by black gauze. Duan Xu’s hooded hat had been placed on her head.
She turned her head and saw Duan Xu holding the brim of the hat. Through the black gauze and the falling snow, he smiled, “Miss He also just fainted for a day, be careful not to catch a cold.”
His eyes were round and bright, as if containing a layer of light; when he smiled, his neat white teeth showed. He exuded a natural youthful spirit.
He Simu held the hooded hat and smiled slightly, “Thank you, General.”
Duan Xu let go of the hat’s brim, turned around, and walked forward braving the wind and snow. His back was straight, his steps light, as if nothing in this world was worth worrying about.
Truly like a bright moon on a mountain, white snow on a sunny day, a young man in this world.
