Chapter 8: Saved

“General, what’s happened to you?” Meng Yao’s eyes reddened with anger when he saw Nan Xun’s body covered with wounds. “Who did this! I heard you were ambushed, who’s the bastard who dared to do such a thing?! My surname isn’t Meng if I don’t find the snake and take his skin off!”

“Forget that, hurry and help me find someone.” Nan Xun halted Meng Yao’s chatter with a rasp. “A girl’s wearing my cloak, but she’s dressed as a man. She should’ve headed north. Send people north. You have to find her!”

“Eh?” It was a rare sight to see Nan Xun so anxious, so Meng Yao froze for a moment.

“Why aren’t you moving yet!” Nan Xun raised his foot to kick Meng Yao, but the movement tugged at the wound on his leg, making him hiss with pain.

“Alright alright alright, I’ll go right now. There’s a carriage below the mountain, I’ll have someone escort you there. Your wounds need to be tended to…” Meng Yao quickly shut his mouth when he saw Nan Xun’s gaze turn increasingly unfriendly. He swiftly scuttled off to carry out his orders.

Below the mountain, in a horse carriage.

Meng Yao had just come back with his search party. He didn’t even have time to catch his breath before Nan Xun asked anxiously, “Where is the person? Did you find them?”

“I found them, I found them! They’re right here, aren’t they?” Meng Yao rolled his eyes and waved at his soldiers to carry a body forward. Jun Huang was covered in blood and had long since passed out. Her pale face made her seem all the more fragile.

Nan Xun’s face blanched when he saw the large patches of fresh blood. He whispered, “Is she… dead?”

“She’s alive, don’t worry.” Meng Yao yanked the cloak off without another thought. “Even though she’s practically dripping in blood, most of it isn’t hers. As far as I can tell, she’s only got a few scrapes and a twisted ankle. She’s running a bit of a fever from lying out in the rain all night long, but that’s the only reason she’s still unconscious.” He tsk’ed with amazement as he looked down at her figure. “This woman is something else alright. She took out a dozen elites! General, where did you find such an amazing woman? She’s practically…”

Meng Yao’s heart spasmed with shock when he glimpsed Nan Xun’s expression. He hastily clamped his mouth shut.

“Bring her up to my carriage. We return to Saddletown.” Nan Xun kept his eyes fixed on Jun Huang’s small, pale face as he enunciated each word very clearly.

“Oh, understood…” Meng Yao only reacted halfway through his response, surprise coloring his voice, “What?Nan Xun cast a complicated look at the unconscious Jun Huang. He recalled how serious her tone had been when discussing the debt of gratitude, and when she said “You’re a good person”. He gently tugged down her pant leg and arranged the blankets around her again, covering the phoenix about to soar into flight. He could now guess at Jun Huang’s mission to Northern Qi. He could protect her from one danger, but could he protect her forever? He took another deep look at her before turning to leave the room.