Legend of Fu Yao

Meng Fuyao’s mouth twitched. She knew that Zhan Beiye wanted to drape his robe over her but was afraid that she would reject him. To omit the trouble of pushing back and forth, he wanted to do that after she was asleep. She contemplated for a moment before reaching out her hand. “Lend me your robe to cover myself.” She nudged Zhan Beiye and said, “Go sleep, go sleep.”

The two of them laid down one by one. Though they were tired, they did not dare to fall into a deep slumber. Meng Fuyao had her eyes shut, but she vaguely heard a soldier getting up and secretly walking away. The soldier was stopped by a friend, who asked, “Where are you off to?”

“Nature’s call.”

The friend laughed and asked, “Can’t you do it anywhere? Where will you find a toilet in this thick forest?”

“Miss Meng is here…” The soldier whispered, “If the smell diffuses over, it’ll be disrespectful.”

There was silence for a moment. The friend who stopped him gave a wave of his hand and chuckled. “You must have eaten too much of the hedgehog meat, resulting in indigestion. Go and come back quickly.”

The sound of footsteps faded into the distance. With her eyes still closed, Meng Fuyao smiled to herself, and there was a warm fuzzy feeling in her heart. In her mind, the soldier’s face appeared. Was it the one with the big eyes and a scar on his forehead? He was still young, but he had already experienced many battles. She did not know that these soldiers actually had such a meticulous side to them.

She slowly fell asleep.

Meng Fuyao woke up before dawn. The moment she opened her eyes, she happily thought, ‘Fortunately, it was a peaceful night.’

Then, she heard Ji Yu commanding in a low voice, “Go and search for him again in teams of two. Do not fall behind the group!”

Meng Fuyao immediately sat up and asked, “What happened?”

“We’re missing a brother,” replied Zhan Beiye, who sat cross-legged as before, as though he did not sleep. “He never came back after relieving himself.”

Startled, Meng Fuyao questioned, “The one who went out to relieve himself yesterday night? He disappeared right after that? Then why are we searching for him only now?”

“Last night, he had a stomachache, and it never subsided. The first few times he went out, nothing happened. The last time he went was before dawn, and he went missing after that.”

Frowning, Zhan Beiye looked at the white smog floating in the forest. In this endless forest, there were simply too many factors that could cause death. Any hidden danger could easily swallow up a healthy life.

The soldiers who went on the second search came back, yet there was still no sign of the missing one. Ji Yu thought for a moment and said, “Stop searching. We will continue on our way.”

Zhan Beiye didn’t speak a word. A few moments later, he stood up and left a marking on the floor. “Let’s go,” he said.

Meng Fuyao took a deep breath. She knew that Zhan Beiye would not easily give up on a subordinate. However, a leader must know how to give and take in times of emergency. The longer they stayed in this forest, the likelier it was that more would die.

Meng Fuyao looked at the departing figure. Zhan Beiye kept his back straightened, and as he moved, pieces of crimson red clothing appeared from the sides of his black robe, swaying in the wind like balls of fire burning into the forest. Such a man seemed to have never had a moment of weakness; it was as though the painful stories that faded into history had never undermined his innate pride and self-confidence.

Yet she knew that this man always slept on his sword. Every quarter-hour, he would touch his sword and every hour, he would instinctively move – was it because he had never had a good night’s sleep?

His dreams as well – were they all filled with the dark and bloody memories? The family of the turncoat-official, son of the berserk consort, the youth who was exiled, whose grandfather was poisoned to death…

Meng Fuyao looked up and sighed.

This look made her eyes freeze.

Above her, amongst the drooping branches of a towering tree, emerged a familiar face that was staring expressionlessly at her.

The young and ghostly-white face, with big eyes and a scar on the forehead.

It was the soldier who went missing after relieving himself last night.

In her stunned state, Meng Fuyao felt a sense of joy, but before she could rejoice, she felt that something was not quite right. The pale skin complexion, the green eyes, the lifeless eyes, the stiff posture… that person was dead!

Her breathing became uneven. Zhan Beiye immediately noticed it, and as he turned back, he spotted the corpse of the soldier. Seeing that Meng Fuyao wanted to reach out to grab the soldier, he ran over and said, “Let me do it.”

Zhan Beiye came very quickly. In the speed of lighting, he swatted away Meng Fuyao’s hands, carefully took out his sword and wanted to cut away the vine that tied the soldier.

That vine suddenly contracted and avoided the sword, resembling a living matter that met with danger.

Zhan Beiye was momentarily stunned. That vine suddenly swung over, heading in the direction of Meng Fuyao’s face.

Meng Fuyao took out her knife and chopped towards the vine. The vine immediately broke apart upon contact and a pungent grey-green liquid splattered. Zhan Beiye pulled Meng Fuyao with him and quickly retreated while Ji Yu and the other soldiers flew over to protect them. Meanwhile, the corpse fell towards the ground, dragging along with it a huge bunch of vines that dropped down like a huge net.

The vines were full of red thorns that one could tell were poisonous at first glance. Furthermore, the pungent liquid splashed in all directions, so no one dared to chop the vines, for fear of coming into contact with the liquid. Everyone’s instinct was to retreat, and retreat, and retreat…

Meng Fuyao was originally fended off by everyone and ended up being the most front in the direction that they were retreating in. Zhan Beiye, seeing such a situation, pulled her forward to protect her in his arms. Beside him, a soldier saw that the Prince’s back was now exposed to unknown dangers in the forest, and rushed over to position himself behind Zhan Beiye.

Then there was a sound of “pu chi.”

The sound was extremely low, like a blister being stepped on. Both the soldier and Zhan Beiye suddenly stumbled.

Meng Fuyao, who was third last in the group, also felt the ground beneath her heel giving away, and she uncontrollably fell backward. There and then, she felt a strong push on her back, and she flew forward and was caught by Ji Yu who came rushing over.

Meng Fuyao tuned back right after landing on the ground and drew in a sharp breath.

Behind her was a swamp that had no special characteristic. The soldier and Zhan Beiye sank into it and were instantly pulled down. Zhan Beiye’s situation was worse. He had just stepped into the swamp and could have removed himself out of it but for some reason, he sunk even deeper than the soldier and mud had already reached his chest.

Meng Fuyao bit her lips. She knew that she was supposed to be the one to be in there. Out of those who were forced to flee because of the vines, she was the one nearest to the swamp. It was Zhan Beiye who suffered on behalf of her and at that moment when she was about to fall into the edge of the swamp, used his inner energy to send her to safe ground, without any thought of danger. That was why he was about to be drowned in the swamp.

To make matters worse, the swamp was flowing and continuously sending the soldier and Zhan Beiye towards the center, causing them to be farther and farther away from Meng Fuyao.

There was no point in reprimanding herself at that time. Meng Fuyao could only save them. “Ji Yu, block those damned vines!” She commanded, while she flipped onto a stone and pulled out her whip, ready to lash it out.

Yet her hand froze.

Who to save?

On the one hand, the soldier was closer to the center than Zhan Beiye, and he fell into the swamp for Zhan Beiye and Meng Fuyao. Though he was in a better situation, he probably could only last as long as Zhan Beiye would. If she saved Zhan Beiye before saving him, he would definitely be dead by then.

On the other hand, Zhan Beiye used his inner energy after falling into the swamp, and he was sinking at an astonishing speed. Getting drowned was only a matter of seconds.

Personally, Meng Fuyao would want to save Zhan Beiye, but her consciousness held her back. She had no idea who she should save.

It was all fate, the fate of having to get into danger for protecting her!

She was about to go crazy – this was not a normal swamp, with such a huge suction power. She had no time to hesitate!

Zhan Beiye raised his head, and at that moment, he sank down even deeper. The mud passed his chest, but he still shouted without any hesitation, “Save him! I can hang on!”

The soldier painstakingly looked back at Zhan Beiye. The ordinary-looking young man was full of tears, creating two paths of ditches down his mud-filled face.

He slowly spoke, “Your Highness, with your words, Wang Hu would be able to die without any regrets… ”

Zhan Beiye immediately scolded, “What are you trying to do! I order you- ”

Splash!

Blood splattered in all directions, reaching the height of half a human before falling on Zhan Beiye’s face.

Half a tongue fell out from Wang Hu’s mouth and splashed into the swamp, quickly getting caught in the silent swirl of the swamp. Within a half-meter radius, the mud was dyed bright red. The greasy red color was just like that of Wang Hu’s blood-covered face.

He opened his mouth and left with half of his tongue, he muttered, “… In my next life, I will still become your subordinate… ”

Zhan Beiye stared at him ferociously. After what seemed like an eternity, he closed his eyes. Among those tightly-shut lids, tears emerged, mixing with the blood on his face. They fell down, resembling that of bloody tears.

Whoosh!

The whip appeared.

When Wang Hu committed suicide, Meng Fuyao became teary as well, but she would definitely not give up on this opportunity that the soldier sacrificed himself for. Almost right after the blood splattered out, she lashed out her whip.

The whip accurately fell on Zhan Beiye’s wrist. Meng Fuyao gave a strong pull, but it was to no avail. The suction was enormously strong, and it was still gradually revolving. Meng Fuyao did not dare to use too much strength in case her whip broke, so she could only pull Zhan Beiye out slowly.

She had only pulled him out a little when there was suddenly a sound of eruption coming from the center of the swamp. A withered branch that lay on the swamp exploded without any warning and out crawled a huge group of enormous redhead and black-bodied ants with iron-like teeth, which looked disgusting at first glance. They were like a continuous flow of poisonous sand coming out from the devil’s bottle, and they approached with the fiery of a black whirlwind. In an instant, they had crossed the mud in the swamp and were right behind Zhan Beiye!

“Sh*t!” Meng Fuyao cursed. “Bastards that are taking advantage of our misfortune!”

However, it was not the right time for cursing. She was fighting against the suction of the swamp, and there was so much tension in the whip that it looked like it would break at any moment. It was impossible for her to suddenly pull out Zhan Beiye. As for those ants, Meng Fuyao had seen them before in the forests of Taiyuan. Wherever they appeared, there were only skeletons left, be it humans or animals.

Just thinking about Zhan Beiye turning into a skeleton made Meng Fuyao shiver.

Even so, Meng Fuyao knew that she could not be impatient. Her palm just needed to be slightly unstable and her whip would break. Furthermore, the vines nearby were poisonous so they could not be used. She was very anxious but could only hold herself back. Holding her breath, and in the fastest and most stable speed that she could handle, Meng Fuyao tried to pull Zhan Beiye out of the swamp with all her strength.