Chapter 157: A Brief Separation

The hour before dawn is the darkest moment of the day.

Pei Yuan rode his horse through the dense forest. His robes scraped against sharp branches, tearing in several places, and scratches were left on his cheeks. His pale fingers gripped the reins, trembling slightly—half from anxiety over Bao Ning, and half from the cold. It was simply too freezing; his exhaled breath turned into thick white mist, and the wind cut against his face like a knife. Most importantly, a faint ache was beginning to bloom in his legs. The pain spread through his meridians to his entire body. The only reason he hadn’t tumbled off his horse yet was that he was holding on purely by a thread of sheer conviction.

The moment he heard the news that Bao Ning had been abducted, Pei Yuan’s first reaction was disbelief, followed by an uncontrollable wave of panic.

He recalled the sweet smile Bao Ning had given him before his departure. She was soft, someone who needed protection; Pei Yuan could not imagine what it would be like for her to fall into the hands of the Xiongnu. Just thinking about her tears made the situation unbearable. Thus, at that moment, all his rationality vanished. He didn’t stop to think about the logistics, nor did he consider whether this was a trap. Even though those around him tried to dissuade him, he still chose to set out on this path entirely alone, just so he could reach Bao Ning’s side a little faster.

It was also at that moment that Pei Yuan suddenly realized he would likely never become an eternally calm, wise man in this lifetime, because he possessed the most fatal weakness.

He loved Bao Ning far too much—more than glory, more than the common people and all creation, and even more than himself.

He had returned from the dead, breaking his golden idol to reshape himself. He had long since lost everything, and because of that, he feared nothing. Except for Bao Ning.

People always need some sort of conviction to keep them going in this world; otherwise, their souls are dead, and they are nothing but walking corpses. She was his conviction.

Pei Yuan suddenly felt a pang of regret. Should he really have done what Bao Ning had wished for? Should they have gone to a quiet little town to live a peaceful, contented life? They wouldn’t have their current wealth and honor, but they would also be rid of the constant dread and heavy burdens that came hand in hand with it.

To put it bluntly, the reason he had persisted until now was due to his own stubbornness.

He wanted to give Bao Ning the absolute best of everything. He wanted her to stand at the peak of the mountain and look down upon the world. Only by laying all the rare treasures of the world before her did he feel he was taking proper care of her, and only then could the heavy stone in his heart finally drop. When Bao Ning smiled, his heart grew light.

Only now did Pei Yuan understand that these things came with a price. Standing in this position meant bearing the weight of responsibility. He had to be responsible for the people of this region; he needed to protect them just as he protected Bao Ning. This was what he had always done in the past, shedding blood and sweat for it without ever feeling it was bitter or exhausting.

But it wouldn’t do anymore.

Because he no longer had the capacity to love anyone else, or to love the world.

When they parted this morning, he hadn’t even given her a proper embrace.

With bloodshot eyes, Pei Yuan stared fiercely at the path ahead. He gritted his teeth and thought to himself: If anything really happens to Bao Ning, or if anything happens to the child in her belly, then even if I have to risk my life, even if I have to defy imperial edicts and ignore everything else, I will command the three armies to slaughter our way north, and I will not rest until the Xiongnu royal court is razed to the ground!

A journey that would normally take over an hour even on a swift horse took Pei Yuan only a little over half an hour to reach the location known as “A Thread of Sky.”

The warhorse was already utterly exhausted. In the quiet of the deep night, the only sounds were the horse’s hooves crunching through the accumulated snow and its heavy, ragged breathing.

The silence was too absolute. Pei Yuan’s suspicion was aroused. The split second before entering the valley, relying entirely on instinct, he pulled back hard on the reins. The horse threw back its head with a neigh and slowly came to a halt.

Pei Yuan’s eyes locked tightly onto the road ahead.

On both sides of “A Thread of Sky” were towering mountains with cliffs sharp as knife blades. The gap between the two walls was incredibly narrow, barely allowing two people to pass side by side. On a clear day, looking up from within the valley, the sky resembled nothing more than a thin blue thread. Hence, the name.

Right now, “A Thread of Sky” held none of its beautiful daytime scenery. There was only darkness ahead, like the gaping maw of a wild beast; stepping inside felt like stepping into an abyss.

Pei Yuan waited quietly for a moment. Sensing nothing unusual, he manipulated the reins and slowly rode inward.

His right hand, however, reached toward the bow and arrows behind his back.

A warrior’s sharpness is innate. The chilling sensation creeping up his spine told Pei Yuan that something was wrong with this place, and that he needed to be on high alert.

The journey through the canyon passed without incident, and they were about to clear the pass. Ahead lay flat, wide-open road. Pei Yuan shouted a command to spur the horse on. The warhorse ran even faster, and in the blink of an eye, only about ten Zhang of distance remained.

The faint light of dawn was beginning to break; daytime was fast approaching.

Suddenly, Pei Yuan’s pupils contracted. He spotted a low tripwire laid across the mountain pass.

There really was an ambush!

It was too late to rein in the horse. Pei Yuan reacted with lightning speed. He let go of his bow and cleanly drew the long blade from his waist. The instant before his horse, Saifeng, could trip over the wire, he tightened his arms to pull back the reins and clamped his thighs tightly against the horse’s flanks. In perfect synchronization, Saifeng let out a loud neigh, reared its front hooves high, and successfully leapt over the rope. Clenching his teeth, Pei Yuan swung his blade toward the faint silhouette hiding behind the cliffside. As expected, a miserable shriek rang out, followed by the heavy thud of a body hitting the ground.

Pei Yuan did not halt his horse, continuing forward at breakneck speed. From behind came the whistling sound of an arrow slicing through the air. A feathered arrow flew straight toward the center of his back. Pei Yuan bent his body forward to dodge it; the arrowhead scraped against the ribbon binding his hair, causing his long hair to scatter loose. Immediately afterward, two more arrows came flying. Pei Yuan maneuvered his horse to spin around, swinging his blade to deflect one, but the other arrow was unavoidable—it plunged straight into his left shoulder!

A sharp, piercing pain shot from his shoulder. Pei Yuan tightened his grip on the hilt of his blade and looked up toward the pass.

Chunyu Luan was watching him with a smirk. Beside him stood two guards, each holding a taut bow and arrow. Another guard lay dead on the ground.

“What are you running for? You wasted three of my arrows.” Chunyu Luan waved his hand, gesturing for him to come over. “Fourth Prince, why don’t you obediently come over and return with me? That way, your husband and wife can be reunited. I promise you, if you behave, I won’t use force. When the time comes for you to see your wife, you can still look decent. Otherwise, she’ll only be able to see you inside a coffin.”

Chunyu Luan stared at the wound on Pei Yuan’s shoulder. As the scent of blood drifted through the wind, he bared his teeth in excitement. “Don’t harbor any foolish illusions, you can’t escape. The two archers by my side are the finest bowmen; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they can pierce a willow leaf from a hundred paces. No matter how good your skills are, you are no match for the long-range attacks of two archers.”

He waited for Pei Yuan’s response. After a long pause, he received nothing but a sneer.

“You really are a piece of work,” Pei Yuan mocked. “Your name is Chunyu Luan. Is your father’s name Chunyu Cheap? To have sired such a shameless dog-bastard like you.”

The smile froze on Chunyu Luan’s face.

Pei Yuan spoke with a half-smile, “Oh, I forgot you’re a barbarian. I doubt you’ve read many books. When I use a word like ‘cheap’ or ‘shameless,’ do you even comprehend it? Do you even know the characters? If you don’t, let me switch to a different word—’disgusting.’ Do you understand that one? You reek so badly that even the manure water from your horse smells better than you. Is there no water source where your family lives? You look quite pitiful; I wager you haven’t taken a bath since the day you were born, right? No wonder your skin is so thick. If we used the skin on your face to render lard, we could easily fill three large barrels—enough to feed a family of five for ten years…”

As Chunyu Luan listened to him speak, his face turned from green to white. Finally, he roared, “Enough!”

Pei Yuan licked the corner of his lips, glanced down at the arrow still lodged in his shoulder, and fell silent.

Chunyu Luan had no desire to converse with him further. He waved his hand viciously and ordered, “Loose your arrows! I want him alive!”

The two archers received their orders and immediately notched their arrows, drawing their bows. They coordinated seamlessly, and their archery was indeed incredibly precise. After deflecting a few shots, Pei Yuan began to find it taxing. He knew that continuing like this was not a viable solution. He could afford to get hurt, but his horse could not. If his horse was injured, he would truly fall into enemy hands.

Without anyone noticing, snow began to fall once more.

Pei Yuan quickly made his decision. He narrowed his eyes and looked in Chunyu Luan’s direction.

When Chunyu Luan’s gaze met his, he immediately understood Pei Yuan’s intention. He smiled playfully and swung the long halberd in his hand. “What, you want to resist? I am not a man who cares about fairness. If you fight back, it will be one against three. Have you thought this through?”

Pei Yuan said not a word. Because of the sudden change in the atmosphere, the two archers temporarily paused their firing. Seizing this brief interval, Pei Yuan let out a loud shout and spurred his horse forward. When a top-tier warhorse exploded with power, its force was terrifying, charging forward like a localized hurricane. One of the archers failed to dodge in time and was violently sent flying by the horse, slamming into the stone wall before crashing to the ground. The other archer swiftly dodged out of the way, taking a stand behind Pei Yuan, and drew his longbow once more.

Hearing the sound of the bowstring drawing taut, Pei Yuan lunged rapidly toward Chunyu Luan. Chunyu Luan counterattacked with his halberd. After one round of combat, neither had gained the upper hand, but their positions had swapped. Now, Chunyu Luan stood directly in front of the archer. The archer frowned and was forced to abandon his shot.

Chunyu Luan raised his chin. “Stop wasting your energy on these futile efforts. You cannot escape.”

Pei Yuan countered, “How will we know unless we try?”

With that, he urged his horse forward, and the two men locked in combat once more. Chunyu Luan did not underestimate Pei Yuan despite his own numerical advantage and Pei Yuan’s injuries. He had long heard of Pei Yuan’s formidable reputation in the military, and he had been looking forward to dueling him. Chunyu Luan knew very well that one must respect their opponent at all times.

He could see that Pei Yuan’s physical strength was waning, and he carefully searched for a flaw. Finally, when Pei Yuan turned his body and exposed his wounded left shoulder to him, Chunyu Luan knew his chance had come.

With a loud roar, he swung his long halberd toward Pei Yuan’s left shoulder once more. At the same time, the archer behind him was also prepared and loosed his arrow.

Watching with his own eyes as the feathered arrow pierced through the back of Pei Yuan’s heart, Chunyu Luan believed he had already won. Just as a smile began to curve on his lips, a flash of white light suddenly filled his vision. Pei Yuan had spun around, his long blade cleaving down brutally right in front of him.

The blade sliced across the bridge of Chunyu Luan’s nose and lips, tearing a massive gash open across his chin, before finally landing squarely on his chest.

At the cost of sustaining a severe injury to himself, Pei Yuan had exchanged it for a fatal strike against his enemy. A spray of blood erupted into the air.

Clutching his long halberd, Chunyu Luan let out a loud scream and tumbled backward.

“My Lord!” the archer cried out in panic, rushing forward to rescue him. Seizing this opportunity, Pei Yuan turned his horse and retreated.

He didn’t take the path through “A Thread of Sky,” nor did he return to Feng County. Instead, he headed straight up Qilian Mountain.

The snow fell heavier and heavier. Having lost too much blood, Pei Yuan could no longer control the shivering of his body after riding for just fifteen minutes. His warhorse was also exhausted to the absolute limit. After climbing up a steep slope, its front legs buckled, and it collapsed to the ground. Pei Yuan tumbled down right along with it.

He yanked the arrowhead out of his shoulder and hastily bound the wound with some fabric, after which he was completely drained of strength. He could only lie flat on his back in the snow, staring up at the pitch-black sky while gasping heavily for breath.

For a split second, Pei Yuan felt that he might truly not make it this time.

But if he really died here, what would happen to Bao Ning?

He couldn’t die, and he couldn’t bear to die. He still didn’t know if his child was a boy or a girl. He still had so many things left undone, so many words left unsaid to Bao Ning. Most importantly, he still owed Bao Ning a grand wedding.

If he died in these great mountains and lay buried beneath the snow, Bao Ning would be bullied in the days to come.

Suddenly, a thought struck Pei Yuan: Would she remarry?

Somehow, a fresh surge of strength seemed to return to his body.

Using his blade to support himself against the ground, Pei Yuan gritted his teeth and slowly stood up. He absolutely, definitely could not die—at least not for the next sixty years. He had to get well as quickly as possible, bring Bao Ning back to his side, watch her give birth to their child, and then keep them both safely penned by his side, never letting them out of his sight for even a single step.

A person truly needed to have some kind of conviction. Supported by this single thread of thought, Pei Yuan endured the agonizing pain and walked for nearly another hour through the knee-deep snow.

The final thing he saw before losing consciousness was a familiar, white-robed figure standing at the foot of a cliff.

Ever since he was abducted, Chen Jia had been confined to a remote military tent, guarded by several Xiongnu soldiers.

He had nothing to do. Fortunately, no one dared to beat or scold him; they merely poked fun at him, and his food and drink were delivered right on time.

By the third day, Chen Jia realized something was amiss.

They were no longer attacking the city.

This wasn’t entirely surprising. It was now the dead of winter; the wind was howling and the snow was raging. It had been snowing heavily for three consecutive days. The Xiongnu soldiers lacked clothing to protect themselves against the cold, and a few froze to death every day, so they naturally had no way to mount another assault.

What was bizarre was that the man named Chunyu Luan had never come to find him.

By all regular logic, having captured the wife of the enemy’s highest-ranking commander, he should have at least shown his face—whether to deliver some diplomatic pleasantries or to gloat. Yet, Chen Jia never saw a trace of him.

Only later did he find out that Chunyu Luan had been grievously injured. Although he had been dragged back from the gates of the underworld, his vital energy was severely depleted. Not only was he unable to recover anytime soon, but his face had also been disfigured.

The original rumors stated that this Left Wise King of the Xiongnu was incredibly handsome and possessed a dashing, romantic charm, causing many young maidens to secretly give him their hearts. But now, even the men emerging from the central command tent carried looks of lingering fear. Whispers circulated in secret that Chunyu Luan looked like a malevolent ghost, and some even wondered if he had committed too many evil deeds and was being punished by the gods.

Regardless of the reason, learning that Chunyu Luan was having a miserable time made Chen Jia enjoy his meals even more.

By the night of the fifth day, Chunyu Luan had regained consciousness. Though he was still weak, his mind remained sharp, and he issued an order.

He demanded that the Princess of Jibei be sent back to the Xiongnu royal court as a hostage. Simultaneously, he dispatched messengers back to the court to request winter garments from the Old Chanyu, along with an army of one hundred thousand soldiers.

His reasoning was that rather than losing troops and returning empty-handed, it would be better to catch the enemy off guard, deploy a massive army to besiege them, and wipe them out in one fell swoop.

Escorted by a squad of fifty men, Chen Jia set out on the morning of the sixth day, journeying all the way toward the north.

Bao Ning had not slept well for five consecutive days. Today, before dawn had even broken, her eyes snapped open once more.

It was still completely peaceful outside; everything was in a deep slumber, and Yuanzi was sleeping soundly in her embrace. Bao Ning stared at the bed curtains. After about fifteen minutes, she heard the sound of a rooster crowing. A short while later, the estate began to wake from the darkness, accompanied by the sound of servants stepping out to sweep the snow. Bao Ning sat up, quietly slipped out of bed, and pushed open a tiny crack in the window to look outside.

Pei Yuan still hadn’t returned.

Bao Ning closed the window in disappointment.

She understood perfectly well in her heart that doing this was foolish and entirely useless. How could Pei Yuan suddenly appear at the courtyard gate like an immortal descending from the heavens? The enemy’s heavy forces outside the city had not yet withdrawn. Not even a bird could fly out of the city, and not even a bird could fly in… and yet, she still couldn’t stop herself from taking a quiet peek after waking up.

What if Pei Yuan suddenly appeared?

Bao Ning constantly found herself remembering the day he left. He had looked exhausted and burdened with worries, but he had still comforted her very gently.

The moment she recalled his expression and tone from that time, a sour sensation would hit her nose, and she wanted to cry. Yet, she didn’t dare to cry. She regretted it immensely—why did she have to cry when she saw Pei Yuan off back then? Was that a bad omen, a sign that they were meant to separate? If she hadn’t cried back then, would everything have changed? Would Pei Yuan have returned smoothly and safely?

Sitting before the dressing table, Bao Ning looked at her reflection in the mirror, fantasizing that Pei Yuan would suddenly walk through the door and appear behind her, telling her that the enemy had already withdrawn their troops. He would tell her that this had all been a game he played just to tease her; that he hadn’t actually gone far, was living just next door, and was in perfectly good health. He only wanted to see her anxious look and wanted to hear her say something sweet.

…From the time Pei Yuan left until now, she hadn’t received a single piece of news regarding him.

The weather had turned this freezing, yet she had absolutely no idea where he was, whether he lacked food or clothing, or how his old injuries were holding up.

Every day she woke up in anxiety and fell asleep in anxiety. Every day she told herself not to overthink things, that she had to take good care of herself and the child, otherwise Pei Yuan would be angry when he returned. But these self-admonitions were entirely useless.

What brought the greatest terror was that she hadn’t even managed to dream about him a single time.

Where on earth was he?

Bao Ning sat silently in the darkness. She turned her eyes toward the window, watching that patch of window gradually brighten up bit by bit. Letting out a deep breath, she forced a smile onto her face. Hearing footsteps outside the door, Nanny Liu pushed the door open and walked in.

Pretending she had just woken up, Bao Ning smiled and made a shushing gesture toward her. “Yuanzi is still sleeping.”

When she was all alone in the room, no matter how fragile she became, that was her own business. But the moment she appeared before others—even if it was Nanny Liu—she could not display even a shred of vulnerability. Because she was the Princess of Jibei, and everyone’s eyes were fixed on her. If she lost her composure, the entire Prince’s Estate and the whole of Feng County would likely descend into chaos as well.

Before leaving, Pei Yuan had told her that she was the Princess, and that she needed to do him proud.

Bao Ning thought to herself: When Pei Yuan comes back, I must definitely pull him aside to complain and vent my grievances. I’ll also claim credit for my hard work, demand his praise, and make him take out his private savings to buy me delicious food.

He should be returning soon, right?

At almost the exact same time, a hundred miles away in Dai County, inside a bedroom within the General’s Estate, Pei Yuan abruptly snapped his eyes open.

He had just had a dream. He dreamed that Bao Ning was sitting all alone in the darkness, secretly shedding tears. He wanted to go and comfort her, but he couldn’t touch her at all. Anxious beyond measure, he could only watch her cry helplessly. While still in the dream, his heart had clenched in agonizing discomfort, and even now that he was awake, that sensation refused to dissipate for a long time.

Where was Bao Ning right now? Was she still in danger? He had to go save her.

With this thought in mind, Pei Yuan braced himself with one hand against the bed, intending to sit up. But a sharp, piercing pain erupted from the left side of his chest. His vision went black, and he fell back down with a hissed groan, cold sweat breaking out across his forehead.

“You’re awake?” Hearing the commotion in the room, Le Xu lifted the curtain and walked in, holding a lamp in his hand.

He smiled and said, “I advise you to behave yourself. The arrowhead from that shot to your back missed your heart by only half an inch. If you keep moving around so energetically and cause the wound to rip open, I won’t be able to bring you back to life a second time.”

Pei Yuan asked, “Where is this?”

Le Xu replied, “The General’s Estate in Dai County.”

Pei Yuan let out a sigh of relief. The events prior to falling into his long, deep slumber gradually rushed back into his memory. Closing his eyes, he spoke in a deep voice, “Call Su Wei over.”

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