Xue Yan’s horse was a fine steed from beyond the frontier, one that would be difficult to find anywhere in all of Chang’an.
The horse was tall and powerfully built, with sturdy limbs and eyes bright as stars. Its smooth mane fluttered in the cool morning breeze.
As for Xue Yan atop the horse, he wore a dark black riding outfit with no unnecessary decorations, yet he naturally carried an air of solemn nobility.
Man and horse stood tall in the morning mist. Even from a distance, they both gave off an imposing presence.
Yet Jun Huailang’s mind inexplicably drifted back to the warm breath that had fallen against his neck inside the carriage the previous night.
Somewhat flustered, he turned his gaze away and seemingly casually looked up at Shen Liufeng beside him. He smiled and nodded in greeting.
“Liufeng, you’re here?”
He failed to notice that Xue Yan, who had seemed as though he hadn’t been looking at him at all, had suddenly darkened his gaze.
Meanwhile, Shen Liufeng looked as though he had just seen his savior.
He had excitedly fed his horse this morning and arrived outside the courier station early to wait for Jun Huailang, never expecting that what awaited him would be this black-faced demon king.
He had been sitting on his horse, and when he greeted Xue Yan, the man had merely given him the slightest nod before standing silently in the morning mist. His expression was so cold that Shen Liufeng hadn’t even dared speak to him.
Shen Liufeng felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles. At long last, Jun Huailang had arrived.
“Huailang, I prepared a horse for you. I’ll have someone bring it over right away!” he said happily.
Just then, Jinbao came trotting over, leading a horse.
“Your Highness, you’re here!” Jinbao greeted Jun Huailang with a beaming smile, his face full of cheer. “Getting up this early must have been quite a hardship for you!”
Jun Huailang smiled when he saw him.
“Eunuch Jinbao.”
Jinbao led the white horse he was holding over to Jun Huailang.
“I’ve already prepared your horse! It’s one of the horses belonging to His Highness’s Embroidered Uniform Guards. This one is the most obedient, so you can rest assured. The Embroidered Uniform Guards and I are all staying in Yangzhou today, so fortunately, we can spare this horse for you.”
Jun Huailang was puzzled.
“You’re not going?”
Jinbao cautiously glanced at Xue Yan.
Naturally not. There was important business at the government office, and the Eastern Depot’s messenger pigeons were due to arrive as well. With their master absent at precisely this critical moment, naturally all of it had to be left to servants like them.
Jinbao merely smiled brightly.
“The road into the mountains is narrow. With such a large, noisy group of us going along, we’d only spoil the fun.”
As he spoke, he reached out to help Jun Huailang onto the horse.
Although Jun Huailang did not particularly enjoy riding, he was certainly capable of it. He declined Jinbao’s help, grasped the saddle, and swung himself onto the horse.
He usually wore loose, wide-sleeved robes, but today he had changed into a fitted riding outfit for the journey. His long hair was also tied into a high ponytail.
As he mounted the horse, his long legs and lean waist were outlined in clear, graceful lines, making for a pleasing sight.
For a moment, Xue Yan felt his throat go dry.
He steadied himself, gathered the reins, and rode over to Jun Huailang’s side.
“Shall we go?” he asked flatly.
Jun Huailang looked up at him and smiled, nodding.
At this moment, Xue Yan looked no different from usual.
But only he knew that his hangover had not yet faded. His forehead was throbbing, and his head felt somewhat dizzy.
He had been irritable from the moment he opened his eyes that morning.
Yet at precisely this moment, he saw Jun Huailang smile at him, like a clear spring flowing through a barren desert, miraculously soothing him.
Xue Yan turned his horse around and gave a quiet hum.
But then Jun Huailang turned around again and called out to Shen Liufeng.
“Let’s go, Liufeng!”
He had always been considerate and knew that Xue Yan did not like speaking much with other people. The three of them were traveling together today, and Xue Yan was hardly the sort to strike up a conversation with Shen Liufeng, so Jun Huailang could only mediate between them and make sure neither was left out.
Shen Liufeng answered with an “Eh!” and rode after them.
Thus, when Xue Yan turned his head, he saw Jun Huailang smiling at Shen Liufeng.
His brows were relaxed, and his tone was gentle.
For no reason at all, Xue Yan’s temple began throbbing again.
He had always known that this was simply Jun Huailang’s personality.
Although his temperament was cool and aloof, he had been born with a pair of beautiful peach-blossom eyes. Whenever he smiled, there was always a hint of warmth in them.
He suddenly remembered the first time he had stepped into Mingluan Palace more than a year ago.
Jun Huailang had been playing the qin, smiling at his younger sister exactly like this.
At the time, a thought that was difficult for him to admit had arisen in his mind—
He wanted this person to smile at him like that too.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Jun Huailang took this notorious harbinger of disaster and brought him to his side, treating him no differently from anyone else.
By all rights, he should have been happy.
But the desires of the human heart had always been base. Once they obtained a little, they always wanted more.
He began to hope that he could be different.
Whether it was making Jun Huailang never look at anyone else again, or making him treat him especially well, whatever the case, he wanted to be different from everyone else in Jun Huailang’s eyes.
This desire spread and grew within him, gradually becoming a ferocious beast that was difficult to control.
He used his reason to lock that beast inside a cage, attempting to imprison it so that Jun Huailang would never catch a glimpse of it.
But whenever moments like this came, that beast would recklessly slam itself against the cage, gradually loosening its bars.
Even Xue Yan had realized that he might no longer be able to keep it contained.
He painfully turned his head away and stopped looking at him.
But that bright smile from moments ago had already been burned into his heart, making the beast roar at him.
What’s the use of keeping me locked up? He’s the same with everyone else as he is with you.
——
Traveling north from Yangzhou City, they passed through a stretch of rolling hills, followed by mountains farther in the distance.
After passing the villages, they could gradually see the mountains.
Along the way, Shen Liufeng continued enthusiastically telling Jun Huailang all sorts of legendary stories about the divine physician.
Of course, once the stories reached his mouth, they acquired a few exaggerated embellishments.
One moment he claimed that the divine physician was a famous martial arts master in the jianghu; the next, he said the man could resurrect the dead and restore flesh to bare bones, and that any difficult or incurable illness would become easy to treat in his hands.
Jun Huailang merely smiled and nodded along as though humoring a child, while Xue Yan silently followed beside them, hearing only the rhythmic clopping of his horse’s hooves beneath him.
The three of them continued deeper into the mountains, gradually reaching the entrance to the mountain range.
The mountains on both sides grew increasingly high, layer upon layer. Between them was only an unpaved road, barely wide enough for a small carriage to pass through.
Shen Liufeng couldn’t help becoming excited.
“I heard that divine physician is somewhere in these mountains,” he said. “There’s only one road here now, and it leads straight inside. Doesn’t that mean we’ll definitely find him?”
As he spoke, he was already growing impatient.
They had traveled slowly the entire way, and with a black-faced Buddha beside him, Shen Liufeng had long since run out of patience.
He raised his whip and gave his horse a sharp lash.
The horse shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.
“Catch up! I’ll go ahead and take a look first!” Shen Liufeng called before galloping into the mountains.
Jun Huailang, however, slowly pulled on the reins.
“What is it?” Xue Yan asked when he noticed Jun Huailang slowing down. He drew his reins and turned back.
Jun Huailang looked up and surveyed the surroundings.
The mountains on the outskirts of Yangzhou were covered by layers upon layers of verdant hills and green cypresses in the distance. But this area at the entrance consisted of rocky mountains, so there was not much vegetation on either side of them, only sparse grass and trees.
At the foot of the mountains was a deep and treacherous stream running right alongside the mountain road.
“This mountain is steep, and there is little vegetation,” Jun Huailang murmured after a moment’s thought. “The terrain is somewhat dangerous.”
In his previous life, he had read extensively about geography and local terrain while studying methods of flood control, so he had a fairly good understanding of terrain and landforms.
This stretch of mountains was rarely visited by people.
There were not even any cart tracks, hoofprints, or footprints on the ground, much less signs of travelers passing through.
For a reclusive master, it was indeed an excellent place.
But Jun Huailang couldn’t shake a sense of unease.
Xue Yan heard this and asked, “Dangerous?”
Jun Huailang nodded and looked around once more.
Xue Yan did not think much of it.
“Then let’s go back.”
He hadn’t wanted to come in the first place. It was all because of that foolish young master of the Shen family, who had insisted on looking for some divine physician.
If they really wanted to find someone, they could simply bring more servants and soldiers, surround the mountain, and search it from top to bottom. What person could they fail to find?
Yet this fellow had insisted on coming personally.
Not only did he want to come himself, he had insisted on dragging Jun Huailang along as well.
The surroundings were completely quiet now, with only the rushing sound of the stream and the chirping of birds from the mountains.
Jun Huailang had already been somewhat uneasy, so upon hearing this, he was about to nod in agreement.
But Shen Liufeng had already ridden far ahead.
Not only could they no longer see him, even the sound of his horse’s hooves was gradually fading into the distance.
…They couldn’t possibly leave him here alone.
Jun Huailang looked around once more.
The terrain here was indeed steep.
There was a risk of falling into the stream or being struck by falling rocks from the mountains, but as long as they were careful, there should not be any serious danger.
Besides, the mountains farther ahead gradually became lush and green again. It seemed that this dangerous stretch was limited to this section.
As long as they were careful and passed through it quickly, nothing should happen.
“Let’s go on for now.” Jun Huailang paused, then shook his head. “Liufeng has already gone far ahead. We can’t leave him alone. Besides, this mountain is so deep. I’ll accompany him for a while, then persuade him to turn back early.”
After all, although they claimed to be searching for some divine physician, Jun Huailang knew that this was merely an excuse for Shen Liufeng to invite him out for an excursion.
With that, Jun Huailang raised his whip and urged his horse into a light trot.
Xue Yan frowned and followed behind him.
He didn’t care when Shen Liufeng would turn back.
He simply couldn’t stand hearing Jun Huailang call him “Liufeng” so intimately. Even hearing it once made his ears uncomfortable.
“You two are close?” He urged his horse forward until he was beside Jun Huailang and asked seemingly casually.
“Hm?” Jun Huailang hadn’t expected him to suddenly ask this.
After a brief pause, he smiled.
“Liufeng has a pure heart. He’s a good friend.”
Xue Yan lowered his eyes.
A good friend.
That, he firmly believed.
But he wanted to know—
What about himself?
Although he knew that Jun Huailang called him “Prince” because of the distinction between ruler and subject, he still wanted to ask what kind of friend he was compared with that good friend.
And deep down, he didn’t want to be a friend.
As for what he wanted to be instead…
That thought had been locked inside the same cage as the ferocious beast in his heart.
He knew perfectly well what it was, yet he didn’t dare think about it too deeply.
The two of them rode on for a while before hearing the sound of hoofbeats gradually approaching from ahead.
Jun Huailang felt slightly relieved.
The terrain here was dangerous, and Shen Liufeng had become excited and was riding his horse freely through the area.
To Jun Huailang, that seemed somewhat unsafe.
Since he had come out with him, he ought to bring him back in one piece.
So he had to keep up with him at all times, lest something happen without him noticing.
Jun Huailang knew very well that this young master was nowhere near as skilled in martial arts as he was.
Just then, he heard Shen Liufeng’s voice faintly from ahead.
“Huailang, there’s really a little path here!” he called excitedly. “I can see a house on the mountain ahead. It must be there!”
Hearing this, Jun Huailang also felt somewhat relieved.
“Coming!” he called back.
But at that moment, a faint rumbling sound suddenly came from above their heads.
Jun Huailang looked up.
His pupils abruptly contracted.
There had been a great deal of rain in Jiangnan this year.
If the mountains were covered in lush vegetation, the roots could hold the soil and rocks firmly in place, making the mountains much more stable and preventing them from collapsing easily.
But above their heads was a huge section of rock covered in vegetation, stretching several zhang from end to end, and it was collapsing away from the mountainside.
A landslide.
A mountain collapse happened in the blink of an eye.
Huge rocks and chunks of earth came crashing down the steep mountainside with a deafening rumble.
In less than the time it took to blink, the boulders had already fallen directly in front of them.
The road was blocked by the collapsing mountainside both ahead and behind, while beside the road was a deep ravine whose bottom could not be seen.
Jun Huailang’s mind went completely blank.
“Jun Huailang!”
He heard Xue Yan’s voice.
Before he could react, a powerful gust of wind suddenly erupted.
A tremendous force swept him up.
With a single tap of his toe against the saddle, Xue Yan carried him into the air.
Amid the thunderous roar of the collapsing mountain, Jun Huailang fell into a firm embrace filled with the lingering scent of sandalwood.