Chapter 145: A Comprehensive Sweep

Ouyang Ke’s eyes lit up, his mind surging. Paying Tuli no further mind, he smiled charmingly, "What kind of person am I, Young Master Ouyang? Once a word leaves my mouth, how could I ever go back on it? However, while he may leave, you, Princess Huazheng, must stay behind..."

"Very well."

Cheng Lingsu had long anticipated that he wouldn't let the matter drop so easily, but this outcome was acceptable. Dealing with Ouyang Ke alone would allow her some maneuvering room to seek an opportunity for escape. With Tuli present, she would inevitably have reservations. Thus, before he could utter any more nonsense, she cut him off and agreed directly.

Ouyang Ke hadn't expected her to concede so readily. He laughed heartily, "That's more like it. With the eyesore out of the way, the two of us can have a proper chat."

Ignoring him, Cheng Lingsu turned her back, retrieved a headscarf wrapped around the blue flowers from her bosom, shook it slightly in the air, and tied it around Tuli's lacerated web of the thumb. She then tucked the two blue flowers back into her tunic. Afterward, she briefly explained the situation to Tuli and urged him to leave first.

Tuli’s face turned ashen. He took two steps back, suddenly hoisted the single-edged saber stuck into the ground beside his feet, glared in the direction of Ouyang Ke, raised his blade, and slashed fiercely into the empty air before him. "Your martial arts are formidable, and I am no match for you. But today, in the name of Temujin Khan's son, I swear to the Prairie Sky God: once I annihilate those who conspired to harm my father, I will surely settle this score with you to the end! I will avenge my sister and show you what true heroes of the grassland are made of!"

Though he was the son of a Mongol tribal leader, Tuli was amiable and deeply loyal, completely unlike Tolui—who remained perpetually arrogant—yet his inner pride was no less than Tolui's. As Temujin’s favorite son, he was well aware of his father’s vast ambitions and grand vision. He was determined to help his father turn every land covered by the blue sky into pasturelands for the Mongols!

For this goal, he had trained in military camps since childhood without missing a single day. Who could have imagined that after years of bitter cultivation, not only would he fall into enemy hands, but today he was even unable to safely take back the sister who had come to rescue him? Tuli knew in his heart that Cheng Lingsu was right; his primary concern should be Temujin's safety, and he needed to return quickly to mobilize troops to support his ambushed father. Yet the thought of his own sister being forcibly detained here choked him with such humiliation that even breathing became difficult.

Mongols prized keeping one's word above all else, let alone an oath sworn to the Sky God whom everyone on the grassland revered. Knowing full well that his martial prowess was inferior, Tuli still made this solemn oath with absolute conviction. His expression was pious and awe-inspiring, and his words soared with heroic spirit. Although not a grandmaster of martial arts, the broad shoulders tempered by years in military camps naturally carried the same royal aura as Temujin—commanding and peerless, causing even Ouyang Ke, who did not fully grasp the specifics of his words, to feel a secret jolt of awe.

A warm sensation bloomed in Cheng Lingsu’s heart. The hot-blooded spirit unique to Temujin's daughter seemed to awaken, stirred by Tuli's unwillingness and resolve, surging forward like a torrent and making her eye sockets heat up faintly. Calmly sidestepping to block any potential angle of attack from Ouyang Ke, she whispered softly, "Hurry and leave. Go back quickly; I have my own way to get out."

Tuli nodded, stepped forward, opened his arms to give her a brief embrace, and without casting another glance at Ouyang Ke, turned and sprinted toward the camp gates.

Along the way, several guards left behind saw him dash out from the camp and tried to step forward to intercept him, but he felled them to the ground one by one with single strokes of his blade.

***

Not until she saw with her own eyes that Tuli had seized a horse at the edge of the camp and galloped far away did Cheng Lingsu finally relax, letting out a soft sigh.

In her previous life, her master, the Medicine King of Toxic Hands, used poisons to make medicines and cure the sick, yet he stubbornly believed in the cycle of karmic retribution. In his twilight years, he converted to Buddhism, cultivated his mind, and ultimately reached a state of utter serenity devoid of anger or joy. Cheng Lingsu was the youngest disciple he took in his later years and was deeply influenced by him. Following this cycle of transmigration, even though she had clearly died, she had somehow been sent here. She had no choice but to believe that perhaps, in the vast unseen realm, there was some other purpose at work.

Originally, she had no desire to become overly entangled with the people and events of this world. She had even constantly thought of finding an opportunity to flee far away, return to the shores of Lake Dongting, and see what the White Horse Temple of several centuries later looked like nowadays. She could open a small medical clinic there, heal the sick and save the dying, and spend the rest of her life guarding the longing and deep affection she held for that person in her past life.

Moreover, once Temujin fell into peril, the Mongol tribe where she had lived for a decade would also face disaster. Her mother and brother, who had truly cared for her and raised her, along with all the kinsfolk she saw and lived among every day, would be plunged into crisis. Having spent ten years with them, how could she possibly stand by with folded arms?

Thinking of this, Cheng Lingsu let out another melancholic sigh.

Noticing that Cheng Lingsu had been lost in thought, staring in the direction Tuli had departed and constantly sighing, Ouyang Ke lifted his chin and sneered, "What? Are you really that reluctant to part with him?"

Catching the underlying implication in his words, Cheng Lingsu frowned, snapped back to reality, and blurted out, "I'm worried about my brother. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Oh? He is your brother?" Ouyang Ke raised an eyebrow, a flash of fleeting joy dancing across the corners of his eyes. "Then... the fellow before him must be your sweetheart?"

"What nonsense are you..." Cheng Lingsu suddenly paused as realization dawned. "You mean Guo Jing? You were already there before... You knew the moment we arrived?"

"Not 'you'—just you! The moment you arrived, I knew." Ouyang Ke looked quite pleased, evidently relishing her reaction.

Though Cheng Lingsu had dismounted far away, his internal energy was profound, and how could his hearing compare to that of ordinary Mongol soldiers? He had discovered her almost the exact moment she sneaked into the main camp. Just as he was about to reveal himself, he saw Ma Yu step forward and take both her and Guo Jing away.

Years ago, his uncle Ouyang Feng had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Quanzhen Sect, leaving the Western Poison lineage with a lingering resentment and wariness toward Quanzhen Taoists. Recognizing Ma Yu's Taoist robes and recalling his uncle's past warnings, Ouyang Ke had dismissed the idea of showing himself. Instead, he concealed himself in the shadows, watching their back-and-forth exchanges.

***

He had originally expected Cheng Lingsu to persuade Ma Yu to charge into the camp together to rescue people. Unaware that Ma Yu was the Quanzhen Sect's supreme leader, he merely figured that besides the thousands of troops in the camp, Wanyan Honglie also had several martial arts experts with him, which would be more than enough to entangle Ma Yu—and perhaps even provide an opportunity to eliminate him, depriving the Quanzhen Sect of one of its commanding experts. To his surprise, not only did the Taoist refuse to storm the camp, but he actually took Guo Jing away with him while leaving Cheng Lingsu behind entirely alone.

By this point, Cheng Lingsu was gradually sorting out the threads of the situation. "Wanyan Honglie came here in secret, likely to take the opportunity to provoke strife between Jamukha and my father, causing the Mongol tribes to fight endlessly among themselves so that his Great Jin Empire can eliminate threats from the north."

Ouyang Ke had no interest whatsoever in such political struggles, but seeing Cheng Lingsu speak so earnestly, he nodded along and offered a compliment, "Drawing inferences from one instance—you truly are remarkably clever."

Reaching up to brush aside a strand of hair blown loose by the wind, Cheng Lingsu gazed at him with eyes as clear as the cold waters of the Onon River on the grassland, "You are one of Wanyan Honglie's men, yet you let Guo Jing return to report the news and give a warning, and now you've let Tuli go back to mobilize troops. Aren't you afraid of ruining his grand scheme?"

Ouyang Ke laughed heartily, reached out, and gently touched the tip of her chin with his folded fan. "Afraid? What do his schemes have to do with me? If I can win a beauty's smile, what does all that matter?"

Far from smiling, Cheng Lingsu’s brow furrowed slightly. She took half a step back to evade the frivolous folding fan angling toward her chin, reached out, and neatly grasped the pitch-black tip of the fan in the palm of her hand. An icy chill immediately pierced straight through her skin and into her bones, nearly compelling her to let go on the spot. Only then did she realize that the ribs of his fan were forged from dark iron, as cold as ice.

"What? Do you like this fan?" Ouyang Ke flicked his wrist with apparent nonchalance, gently disengaging Cheng Lingsu's hand to retract the folding fan. With a swift snap, he flicked it open and began to gently fan himself. "If you've taken a fancy to something else, I'd gladly give it to you, but this fan..." He paused briefly in thought, then chuckled softly again. "If you like it so much, as long as you follow me step-for-step from now on, you'll naturally be able to look at it all the time..."

***

*Author's Notes:*

*I must say, little Ke-tongxue, Miss Lingsu merely took a fancy to your fan, and you can't even bear to part with it? How stingy~*

*Ouyang Ke: That was given to me by my father... ahem... my uncle...*