Ch. 247 She's Gone
"Where is she?!" The leader of the group hadn't expected to see his comrades' corpses upon entering the tent. He kicked the owner to the ground.
The owner was scared silly. His whole body trembled as he knelt.
There were dead bodies in that tent! Bodies of people, not livestock!
The leader stared at the corpses with a grave expression. He immediately summoned his subordinates. "Ten, Thirteen, chase after her! The rest of you, follow me back to Su City."
Meanwhile, He Changdi was trudging his way back with the supply group. Even with the snowboat, they couldn't go any faster.
The horses needed to rest and the snow hadn't stopped. The weather in the north was actively trying to kill them.
Xiao Hongyu jumped into the warm pen of the snowboat. He frantically rubbed his numb body all over, warming himself at the brazier for a long time before he finally managed to come back to life.
Xiao Hongyu flattened his hands over his reddened, frozen ears and complained, "It's so cold outside. Brother He, how many more days before we reach our camp?"
He Changdi had slid his gloves back on upon seeing Xiao Hongyu enter the pen. "Hongyu, rest here with Brother Zhang. I'll go take a look outside. If my guess is right, we should be able to reach camp in two days at most if we maintain this speed."
Xiao Hongyu heaved a sigh of relief. He never wanted to do this again. It was like he was passing his days as a popsicle out here!
Zhang Mai was grilling some beef slices over the fire. While cooking the meat, he shook his head with regret. "Although we used the same beef, how is it that the ones I grilled are so different from Sister-in-Law's?"
He Changdi had been about to step out of the warm pen. When he heard Zhang Mai's mumbling, he froze stiff for an instant.
Xiao Hongyu shot a disdainful look at the beef slices that Zhang Mai was grilling. When he saw that half of every slice was already completely charred black, he rolled his eyes.
He would rather starve to death than eat Brother Zhang's cooking. It was too scary.
He Sanlang sat on his horse's back and stared out into the pure white horizon that stretched as far as the eye could see. There was a black veil attached to his hood that slightly obscured his vision.
When travelling over a snow-covered surface, if a person continued to look at the blank white expanse of snow for too long, the ultraviolet rays reflecting off the snow would hurt their eyes. This was the cause of snow blindness, and those living in the grasslands of the north were particularly prone to it, as everything turned white the moment it snowed. The thin black veil He Changdi was wearing acted as a rather effective shield for his eyes so he wouldn't become snow-blind.
The veil was similar to the modern protective snow goggles.
Ever since he had given each soldier in his group a single piece of black muslin, not a single one of them had suffered from snow blindness.
This simple solution had been something that Chu Lian had mentioned to him offhandedly.
He Changdi tightly gripped his horse's reins and felt the tension from the leather gloves covering his hands. These gloves were different from the standard gloves issued by the army.
Each finger was sewn separately, and there was an extra tough layer of leather added to the palm. The whole glove was not only waterproof, it was also extra warm inside thanks to a thin layer of fleece. Compared to the simple gloves given by the army, which only had two parts for the thumb and four fingers, it was much more convenient and practical for use. Xiao Hongyu had been drooling over his gloves for a long time.
He Changdi looked down at them and recalled what Chu Lian had told him when she had given them to him. "Keep these," she had said. "They're better than what they issue in the army."
They weren't just better. He didn't even have to take them off when he was fighting in close quarters.
He Changdi stiffened at the memory.
He shut his eyes, as if trying to pull himself out of this sweet dreamscape.
What was going on? Why was Chu Lian like a constant shadow by his side?
The most disgraceful part of it was that he didn't hate that kind of feeling at all. He even continuously replayed memories in his mind as if he was addicted to them. For some reason, he still remembered every single word that the Chu Lian of this lifetime had said to him, down to the simplest greeting.
He Sanlang's thin lips pressed together as the depths of his eyes turned into a fathomless sea. His emotions crashed against the walls of his heart like the fierce waves of the azure ocean.
A crack appeared in his blank mask. He Changdi smiled bitterly. He had really been 'poisoned' by Chu Lian's drug.
That woman must be happily eating and drinking in the main camp while he was out fighting for the lives of the fifty thousand border troops. That seemed to be Chu Lian's superpower; somehow, no matter where she ended up, she would always manage to live well.
He Changdi felt a swell of dissatisfaction at the thought. It was almost like he had completely fallen for her tricks and had half of his heart stolen away as a result.
Just as his thoughts were about to meander back into daydreams, a few black dots appeared on the horizon.
As the dots grew bigger and bigger, He Sanlang's brows drew together slightly. He waved at the troops behind him and a small group broke off to scope out their incoming company.
Soon enough, they returned, toting three additional people with them.
Once the newcomers had drawn close enough, He Changdi recognised the leader straight away. He was one of the guards that Princess Wei had sent to keep Chu Lian safe.
For no reason at all, He Sanlang felt his heart sink. He had a bad feeling about this.
Li Xing ran up to He Changdi and immediately raised his hands in a cupped first greeting. Without giving himself time to catch his breath, he panted as he reported, "Third Young Master He, Honoured Lady has an urgent message for you. One day ago, the Tuhuns launched a major offensive against the northern army."
What?!
He Changdi's expression turned stormy. He quickly took the message from Li Xing's hands and opened it up.
Chu Lian's letter was short, but it explained all the necessary details he had to know about the situation in a concise and succinct manner.
She told He Changdi to return as fast as he could to the main camp once he read the letter. The stores of the northern army had already run empty. The Tuhuns might really defeat them if the supplies didn't reach in time.
Although both of them knew what was going to happen from their previous lives, there had been too many changes in this world. Neither of them could guarantee that events would happen exactly the same as they had in the past life. They weren't as silly as to leave the decision up to fate. That would be completely brainless.
He Changdi slipped the letter into his clothes once he was done reading.
The crease between his sharp brows deepened. He sent out orders to cancel the scheduled break for tonight and to rush back to camp at the fastest speed they could manage.
He Changdi and his party sprinted back to the border camp without any break for a whole day and night.
The original two day journey was shortened to a single day and they managed to reach just as the border army had reached breaking point. The secretary of the northern army personally led a group of men out to welcome them back to camp, before ordering the cooks to prepare a full meal for all of the soldiers on the frontlines.
Now that they were well fed, the troops under Great General Qian's command turned into ruthless warriors. They quickly took back the upper hand and mounted a counterattack against the Tuhun army. Their equipment was a few magnitudes better than the Tuhuns' in the first place. They had only been held back by their supply problem earlier. Now that they didn't have to worry about their rations, the morale of the army swelled.
After getting their well deserved fill of food, all of the northern border troops revealed their fighting strength, fiercely attempting to make up for their lack of performance in the earlier clashes.
Now that the border troops' morale had been stoked, there was no longer any uncertainty about their victory.
General Qian admired He Changdi even more now. He hadn't expected this junior noble from House Jing'an to have shown off such capability.
Needless to say, He Changdi's timely delivery of supplies was one of the most important factors that had brought about their victory.
The Tuhun army was in decline now. The strict and inflexible General Qian bent his own rules and decided to sent He Changdi out to the battlefield right this moment.
There was close to no danger now in heading to the battlefields. He Changdi might even be able to add another achievement to his belt if he went out with the last wave of soldiers to clean up the Tuhuns. Furthermore, he had already earned plenty of merit from contributing the snowboat blueprints and delivering supplies. The person who made the most contribution to the northern war efforts would likely be none other than him.
This was going to be an easy task. Anyone else would probably have agreed to it on the spot.
However, He Sanlang rejected General Qian's rare good intentions.
It wasn't because he was stupid, but because Chu Lian had gone missing!
In a certain tent in the main camp, a group of people were kneeling on the ground.
The ones in the front were Wenqing, Wenlan and Manager Qin.
He Changdi sat at the head of the tent with a stormy expression and looked down upon the kneeling servants, holding back the urge to slap each and every one of them.
"What happened! How was Third Young Madam taken away?!"
Anger flooded his chest, overwhelming him as he choked on his frustration.
Wasn't that wicked woman usually infallible? She even had guards by her side this time! Where was the quick wit that she always turned against him? She had actually let herself get kidnapped!
Wenqing and Wenlan had been serving He Sanlang ever since they were young girls. Although they didn't get to meet him much, they had never seen him looking so fearsome before. The pressure he exuded was like a mountain pressing over their heads. None of them dared to look up at their master at all.
If they even glanced at him, they might be sent down to hell immediately.
The servants were all extremely worried about their mistress, so they didn't hide any bit of what had happened. They reported the whole chain of events that had led to Chu Lian getting abducted.
He Changdi gripped the arms of his chair hard. His eyes narrowed dangerously. Although his gaze seemed to be focused on the tent flap, it didn't seem like it either.
No one dared to say a word. They tried to make their breaths as silent as possible.
He Sanlang suddenly thought of the snowboat. He remembered how Xiao Bojian had been so desperate to get the blueprints for the snowboat and the jealous and begrudging look that Xiao Bojian had given him when he had left Su City with the supplies. Then the Tuhuns had suddenly attacked...
In his previous life, even though he had been hurt by the wicked Chu Lian, he had been one of Xiao Bojian and Chu Lian's closest friends. Later on, he had found out in one way or another that Xiao Bojian had some sort of power hidden behind the scenes. He had more people backing him than the one Old Duke Ying that everyone else could see.
He had also been able to get a foothold in court so quickly, due to that mysterious power he had behind him.
He Changdi hadn't touched Xiao Bojian at all after reviving in this life because he knew that Xiao Bojian was more than he seemed on the surface and that he was going to be a tough nut to crack.
As for Chu Lian's sudden disappearance, he didn't even have to guess to know who the mastermind was.
He Sanlang clenched his fists. Xiao Bojian... Did he really think that he would be just as easy to bully as he had been in his past life?
The Chu Lian of this lifetime was his wife! No one else would be able to take her away from him!
He Changdi already had some plans formed in his mind.
He summoned Laiyue with a cold expression on his face, then sent a message to Prince Jin via Tang Yan about searching for Chu Lian in Liangzhou.
After he had returned to the main camp, he hadn't even changed into a fresh set of clothes before setting off to lead the investigation personally.
Even though he kept his cool on the outside and seemed almost heartless about his wife's disappearance, no one could see the mix of anxiety, upset and heartache in his heart right now.
He kept himself busy and numb so that his thoughts wouldn't wander in bad directions...
Ch. 248 Hanging on to Life
Once General Qian heard that He Sanlang had rejected his mission, his first reaction was disappointment. After a moment, his next reaction was to grin with frustration from the brat's actions.
No matter what, He Sanlang was an upstanding man who followed his own moral compass. He hadn't been tempted by the easy chance to gain merit and had instead chosen to save his own wife first. Great General Qian only respected him even more for that choice.
It was more human to be carried away by one's emotions. If a man could abandon his wife and children for the sake of chasing achievement or merit, then even if he had great talent, General Qian would prefer that he simply vanish without having those talents recognised.
He Changdi personally led his men in the investigation. After half a day of searching, they finally got some leads.
He Sanlang's tense, statue-like face finally loosened and warmed up a little.
He took the men under him who were the most skilled in martial arts and rushed all the way through the night to the place the leads pointed to.
The harsh winds were accompanied by icy snowflakes, cutting like razors and jagged stones across his face. However, He Changdi acted as if he couldn't feel any of it and urged his mount onwards across the snow-white plains fading into twilight.
He realised that he couldn't think of Chu Lian at all. The moment she appeared in his thoughts, it felt as if someone had stabbed him in the heart. It hurt a lot.
He Changdi suddenly felt that he had turned into something beyond his control, something scary and fearsome. If anything happened to that wicked woman, even killing every single person wouldn't be able to ease the hatred in his heart.
The mix of emotions in his chest made him uneasy. Ever since his reincarnation, he had thought that there would only be hatred left for him in this lifetime, that he would be able to remain calm and detached towards anything. However, in these mere six months, he had experienced a greater swath of emotions than he had ever felt in his previous life. And now the person who had brought all that to him was possibly in danger.
He Changdi raised the whip in his hands and directed it at his horse's rump. He had to go faster, even faster!
He wanted to fly right to Chu Lian's side and pull her into his embrace and comfort her.
Xiao Hongyu, Li Yue, Li Xing, and the rest of the party behind him could only grit their teeth and do their best to follow upon watching him whip his horse on faster and faster.
A hill finally came into sight before them, surrounded by darkness and the swirling snowy winds.
By the time He Changdi and his party had reached the two tents in the middle of the hill, night had fallen.
The owner of the tents had already been frightened half to death by the sudden visitors earlier that day. Now that another party brimming with a ferocious aura had come, he was overcome with misery.
He scrambled over to welcome them in a panic and tried his best to show them an accommodating smile. He raised his arm, prepared to welcome the icy-looking man in front with a proper Han salute. However, before he could, the owner was immediately pushed over onto the snow by that same handsome man.
He Changdi couldn't wait for the man to speak. He strode forward with great urgency and quickly pulled aside the tent flap of one of the tents.
There were more than ten makeshift beds on the floor, with people of varying ages. He looked at face after face, but the woman he wanted to find wasn't there!
A pang of disappointment flooded his chest. He quickly walked over to the other tent. His hand trembled as it reached out for the tent flap, but he finally found his determination in the next second.
The tent flap flew up and He Changdi stared into the tent.
The sight of it empty was like a dagger piercing into his chest. His heart had been emptied of all hope in the blink of an eye.
He Changdi stared at the emptiness in a daze, his mind completely blank. The sourness and bitterness in his heart was overwhelming.
Xiao Hongyu, who had followed in behind He Changdi, was a little stunned by the scene. However, he was just an observer to this and thus was able to keep his reason.
He reached out to pat He Sanlang's shoulder and slid past Sanlang to enter the tent first. When he looked around, he quickly realised that something was not quite right.
Xiao Hongyu squatted down in a corner and felt around. His hands were immediately met with a layer of dark red earth. When he lifted his hand to his nose and took a sniff, Xiao Hongyu was met with a familiar rusty smell. Anyone who had been on a battlefield would recognise it as the smell of fresh blood.
Xiao Hongyu's heart sank. With a grave expression, he said, "Brother He, come and take a look over here."
He Changdi immediately strode over to Xiao Hongyu's side. When he noticed the bloodstains in the corner of the tent, his entire body stiffened up.
His lips were pressed so tightly together that he couldn't speak. Xiao Hongyu sighed inwardly. It looked like Brother He really cared a lot about Honoured Lady Jinyi.
"Brother He, don't think too much for now. We'll go and question the owner of this place. Maybe it's someone else's blood."
It was at this moment that the owner of the tents was dragged inside.
After a round of questioning which revealed that Chu Lian had escaped, the cloud of despair over He Changdi finally lifted.
The owner of the tents could tell that he couldn't afford to offend these people. He personally brought He Changdi and the rest to where he had buried the three men and one woman.
He Changdi examined the kidnappers' clothing closely. When he found a tattoo inked in the same spot on all of the kidnappers, his brows furrowed. Now he was certain that Xiao Bojian was the one behind this incident.
As careful as Chu Lian had been, because she had left in such a rush, she had still left some traces behind.
He Changdi had brought one of the scouts skilled in reconnaissance from the northern border troops. They followed the traces and continued on their journey.
Even with the thick fox fur cloak around her, the icy northern winds battered her body with snow and stole away whatever warmth she originally had. Her face and hands were already numb from the cold.
Chu Lian looked up at the darkening sky, face worn with worry. Although they were able to bear with the low temperatures during the day, if they didn't find a place to rest for the night soon, they would surely freeze to death out here in the open.
She couldn't determine any sense of direction in the middle of this white plain. Furthermore, she didn't know if there were any pursuers on their tail.
Chu Lian panted for breath as she turned to Myeryen. "Myeryen, could you ask your Ah-ma if she can find a place to sleep for the night? If we continue like this, we'll freeze to death."
The teen nodded and turned to Urihan. Chu Lian listened as he spoke to her in the barbarian language.
Myeryen nodded at his mother before turning back to Chu Lian and reporting what he had found out with a frown. "Sister Chu, Ah-ma said that there's no place suitable to rest nearby. We have to walk for another five kilometres before we can find a place to rest."
Chu Lian sucked in a gasp of air upon getting such an answer.
Five kilometres!
In the army, when soldiers were forced to march at their fastest on a normal road surface, they would cover about fifty kilometres or so in a day. For a normal person, they would be able to walk twenty five to thirty kilometres at the most.
Although they had horses right now, they were in the middle of the icy north in knee deep snow. Their horses could go fifteen or twenty kilometres in a day without food or water.
Now that the sky was already starting to turn dark, the closest place they could make camp at was still five kilometres away!
It was impossible to reach there before night fell and the temperatures dropped.
Chu Lian turned to look at the middle-aged Urihan and discovered that she had a similar expression of anxiety.
However, they had no other choice but to try their best to survive out on the grasslands.
They didn't have any fire, and the ground was covered in a thick layer of snow. Any firewood they might be able to find was likely already damp and moldy. The white horizon spread out before them without an end. There wasn't even an outcrop where they could take shelter, so the experienced Urihan was also helpless in the face of the cruel reality of nature.
Their whole group seemed to have understood the danger they were in. Death was like a silent shadow slowly creeping over them.
The atmosphere between the four of them turned dead and tense. Urihan was starting to regret bringing Chu Lian out.
She hadn't expected the snow-covered grasslands to be this hard to traverse. A place they could normally reach in a day of travel now took twice as long. This was under the assumption that they didn't lose their way.
Chu Lian's wide eyes stared out into the falling snow around them. Her dry lips pressed together as a spark of resolution lit up in her eyes. She didn't realise that this subtle action she took in the face of emergency was actually rather similar to He Changdi's.
The sky darkened abruptly, and the limited warmth of the day went along with the light.
Chu Lian could now feel that her body was slowly trembling.
She suddenly patted Urihan's shoulder and said, "Ah-ma, we can't continue going on like this. Even if we keep going for the whole night, we won't be able to reach a place where we can safely pass the night."
Chu Lian's simple words had obviously gotten through to Urihan.
Urihan lowered her head and started sobbing lowly. She spoke in the barbarian language with a tone full of regret.
Myeryen was also upset. He hugged his brother's thin frame tightly and translated his Ah-ma's words. "Sister Chu, Ah-ma says that she has let you down. She shouldn't have been so reckless."
Chu Lian focused her gaze on the mother and sons before her, the gears in her head turning.
She had learned all sorts of survival knowledge in the modern world. Surely there was something that could help get them through this emergency. There must be something! She just hadn't remembered it yet!
Chu Lian gripped the reins in her hands tightly and sunk into deep thought.
When Myeryen didn't hear any reply from her and noticed the blank expression on her face, he thought that she was blaming Ah-ma. He lowered his head in guilt.
The northern wind howled in her ears, accompanied by the steady beat of the horses' hooves landing on the snow. The horse under her suddenly snorted. It wavered, as if it could no longer endure the burden on its back.
Chu Lian's attention was drawn by the horse- an idea flashed in her mind.
She had a way for them to survive the night!
Chu Lian's eyes lit up like the glittering stars in the expanse of night sky above them.
"Ah-ma, Myeryen, I know how we can survive the night!"
Myeryen had already accepted his fate. When he heard Chu Lian's words, his eyes widened in shock. "Sister Chu, are... are you serious?"
Even Urihan turned to Chu Lian with eyes full of hope.
As long as there was a way to survive, who would really let themselves die? Urihan was no exception. Furthermore, she had two young sons. If there really was hope for survival, she would even sacrifice her own life in exchange for a fighting chance for her sons.
Chu Lian nodded with certainty. Although her voice was soft and pleasant, the composure she held was able to calm the others and left no room for doubt or mistrust.
"We can't go on any further. It's about to turn even darker and the temperature is only going to drop further. Let's stop here first and use the horses as a shield against the winds. We have to eat something and recover our strength."
Her solution for their survival was going to require a lot of their energy. They had to rest and conserve their energy now. The horses had been carrying the weight of two people each for some time, and they likely wouldn't be able to last much longer.