Meeting
Quite contrary to what one might expect from a ferocious general who lost his King, Beussent never changed ever since he turned seventeen, always remaining composed and gangly. Even so, the man who knew he was from Heisina Tribe always took him serious. “Revive Xiacang Anxi,” he’d plead all the time, peering across the vast, ignorant, war-laden land of lies from atop the city wall.
Thinking back on it, the King who dreamt of uniting the Sun’s lands and reviving Beussent, clearly didn’t care about the “sin” of Heisina Tribe or believe the rumours surrounding them. There was no better proof he didn’t believe the terrifying rumours than the fact that he moved into Nieyao. Alas, it led to his and his state’s undoing.
Ever since Morcher’s end, other states constantly ridiculed them for proving their own foolishness. Regardless of how frequent he heard ridicule, though, only “Revive Xiacang Anxi” stayed in Beussent’s mind. It took another twenty years for the jeering that echoed in his head to finally stop.
“H-Her Highness’ whereabouts? Y-y”
Although still ticked off he was called a spirit summoner, Emperor Yuansheng lowered his guard slightly when he saw Beussent go red in the face, prompting him to step back.
Beussent dismounted as if his life depended on it but didn’t dare to be too pushy. “Please wait! I apologise! Please tell me where Her Highness is! Wait! Please do not close the door!”
Once Beussent grabbed his sleeve, Emperor Yuansheng quietly said, “This is not the place to talk. Bring your horse in with you. Now!”
***
Baimu didn’t wear his heavy armour today; one, there was no way he could conduct a stealth mission in it; two, it wasn’t suitable for an assassination mission.
Baimu infiltrated Yizhen Company when he heard Beussent was there, and he immediately questioned who the owner was owing to the massive size of the manor. Baimu couldn’t coast his way to a victory against Beussent, let alone his wraiths. Accordingly, he had the ten of them search for Beussent and report back once they found him. Thing was, Baimu had been left waiting on the roof for a long time… a little too long to be reasonable.
Little did Baimu know that there were ten times as many sentries lying in ambush throughout the company grounds, two of whom could crush his wraiths. His wraiths fell into one trap each, turning into punching bags for ten Qilin Guards at each spot before they were dragged off to Xia’er, who interrogated them in a dark room. Hence, the only thing Baimu was actually waiting for was his own capture.
Finally! Wait, there are three people, no four, no it’s definitely three, no…
Unable to determine the real number, Baimu carefully took a peek. Among the woman and three men, one of them had to be far above average for Baimu to have not heard his footsteps.
As much as Baimu wanted to investigate the company – even more so square up against the adept – his mission took precedence. If only. If only he listened to the voice in the head and sneaked away instead of listening to his ego’s voice when he caught a glimpse of them through his peripherals. The dazzling woman, strong man and tall zombie weren’t important – Baimu’s evaluation. What was important was that Beussent was with them!
Baimu swiftly returned to his cover, inwardly celebrating as the quartet strolled into the room he hid in. He softened his breathing whilst concentrating his energy in his right hand.
Like his Xiacang Anxi cohorts, Baimu was well-versed in fighting man to man rather than assassination. His willingness to assassinate Beussent was irrelevant compared to whether he could pull it off or not. Therefore, he believed Beussent was making his job easier. It was hard to believe the Sun wasn’t blessing him when Beussent looked on edge and walked on shaky legs. What he failed to notice was the maiden’s sonorous heartbeats.
Emperor Yuansheng could understand the excitement of two people searching for each other finally meeting up. If A-Lan wasn’t in the presence of outsiders, she wouldn’t be bottling up her feelings. Beussent had been searching for A-Lan for years, while she had been waiting for years of her life.
Once the door blocked a fifth person from disturbing them, Beussent dropped to his knees and quavered. A-Lan’s tears burst from her eyes as she replied with something that broke down Beussent’s tear dam.
Baimu was shocked to hear the conversation, but Emperor Yuansheng, who didn’t understand their language, was even more shocked. “What in the freaking hell is you two sayin’?!” Emperor Yuansheng exclaimed.
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