The man had never been serious; he was too frivolous, and she couldn’t discern how true or false his feelings for her were. It wasn’t until she met Zhi Chen on this mountain, and learned from him about the incidents that had occurred after she left, that she suddenly realized it was she who had made things too complicated.
Seeing her mind was made up, Zhi Chen was silent for a long while before he finally sighed, fastened the iron rings around her limbs, and then followed Dong Huiying’s instructions to feed her all the Gu Pills. He then pulled Yue Ning away, shut the iron cage, and locked it from the outside.
What followed was a long ordeal and the hopeful wait...
At the foot of Qingfeng Mountain, a travel-worn man wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The weather was really too hot, so hot that one would sweat profusely; his thin shirt had long been soaked through with sweat.
This man was Liang Shujun.
Shujun had come from Pingchang Prefecture, running two horses to death, and finally arrived at the foot of Qingfeng Mountain.
His big brother had sent a letter saying that Baobao was on Qingfeng Mountain, and this mountain was famously known as Poisonous Mountain, rife with venomous creatures and with a vast expanse at the top.
Shujun, when younger and hunting, had excelled at tracking. He wandered around the foot of the mountain for a while, then touched the soil and discovered some footprints, along with the traces of wheel ruts.
A smile appeared on his face, and after choosing a direction, he headed straight up the mountain.
On Qingfeng Mountain, one must pay utmost attention to the poisonous creatures, or if bitten by accident, one might lose their life.
Shujun was very cautious. Along the way, although he encountered many poisonous insects, beasts, plants, and herbs, he avoided them all from a distance.
Until he walked into a forest.
At the end of the forest was a waterfall, its sound like a thousand horses galloping.
He had a premonition that he was getting closer to his destination, which also meant that he was coming nearer to the woman he longed for day and night.
"So this Wei City morning rain, Luoyang’s fading glow. Though I don’t sing the original tune of ’Yangguan’, today I come to send off the young to Chang’an. Unwillingly I forsake and abandon, carelessly I discard, only to scatter and crumble! Just as the Chu marsh is deep, the Qin pass distant, Taihua mountain high, I lament that in life, departures are many and reunions few..."
From a corner of the woods, the sound of opera in a lilting, youthful voice drifted over. The girl sang "Charming Lady’s Departure" with a special charm that was unique and unlike any other rendition.
Hearing this, Shujun’s body seemed struck by lightning.
It was almost a reflex, driven purely by instinct, that he latched onto that voice. Following the direction it came from, he stumbled and staggered out of the woods.
Parting the weeds which were more than half a meter tall, he saw a purple-haired girl sitting by the pond under the waterfall, dipping her bare feet into the water. A ferocious White Tiger lay beside the girl, and a colorful butterfly was fluttering around her.
The girl held up her fingers in a dainty pose as if mimicking someone, her voice lingering as she sang, but then she suddenly let out a chuckle.
She was beautiful, with such a lovely profile, that when the breeze brushed through her long hair, she resembled a fairy elf long dwelling in the woods, possessing an ethereal beauty out of this world.
Shujun held his breath and focused intently.
Everything seemed like a surreal dream.
But the girl before him made him hesitate to recognize her.
After the song ended, the girl stood up and called to the White Tiger, "Da Bai, let’s go! It’s noon already, time to head back."
The girl mounted the White Tiger, which roared once, and then shot off like a cannonball into the distance, with the butterfly dancing gracefully, circling the girl from start to end.