Chapter 149: Combat 2

Ouyang Ke’s eyes lit down, his heart shaken. Ignoring Tolui, he smiled and said, "What kind of man is Young Master Ouyang? Since I have given my word, how could I go back on it? However, he may leave, but you, Princess Huazhen, must stay..."

"Very well."

Cheng Lingsu had anticipated that he would not let the matter rest so easily. Yet, this was not entirely bad; alone, she could at least spar with Ouyang Ke and look for a chance to escape. With Tolui still here, she would inevitably have reservations in her heart. Therefore, before he could utter any more nonsense, she cut him off and agreed directly.

Ouyang Ke had not expected her to agree 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 cloth pouch embroidered with blue flowers from her bosom, shook it slightly in the air, and bound it around Tolui's split web between thumb and forefinger. She then placed the two blue flowers back into her bosom, briefly explained the situation to Tolui, and urged him to leave first.

Tolui's face turned ashen. He took two steps back, abruptly yanked up the single saber planted in the ground beside his feet, glared in Ouyang Ke's direction, and brought his hand down in a fierce, sweeping slash through 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, I swear to the God of the Steppes: once I have exterminated the wretches who plotted against my father, I shall certainly fight you to the death! I will avenge my sister and show you what the true heroes and heroines of the grasslands are made of!"

Though he was also the son of a Mongol tribal leader, Tolui was amiable and possessed a deep sense of loyalty, quite unlike the blindly arrogant Wanyan Wushi (Tulai). Yet, his inner pride was no less than Wushi's. He was Temujin's favorite son, deeply understanding his father's broad vision and grand ambitions. He wanted to help his father transform every place covered by the blue sky into pasturelands for the Mongols!

For this goal, he had trained hard in the military camps since childhood without a single day of slack. Little did he expect that after years of arduous training, not only would he fall into enemy hands, but today he was even unable to bring his sister, who had come to rescue him, back safely! Tolui knew in his heart that Cheng Lingsu was right; at this moment, he should prioritize Temujin's safety and return as quickly as possible 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 it made it difficult for him to breathe.

Mongols placed the utmost importance on keeping their word, let alone oaths sworn to the God revered by everyone on the steppes. Knowing full well that his martial arts were inferior, Tolui had still sworn this oath with absolute decisiveness. His expression was devout and solemn, and his words soared with heroic spirit. Although he was not a master of martial arts, the broad shoulders that had long weathered the military camps possessed a royal aura identical to Temujin's—overbearing and peerless, causing even Ouyang Ke, who did not fully understand the specific words, to feel a secret jolt of awe.

A warm glow filled Cheng Lingsu's heart. The hot blood unique to Temujin's daughter seemed to surge upward like a torrent, sensing Tolui's unwillingness and determination, making her eye sockets grow faintly warm. Outwardly calm, she stepped sideways to block any direction from which Ouyang Ke might strike, and said softly, "Go quickly, go back. I have my own ways of escaping."

Tolui nodded, took two more steps forward, opened his arms to give her a brief embrace, and without casting another glance at Ouyang Ke, turned and ran toward the camp gate.

Along the way, several remaining guards who saw him running out of the camp attempted to step forward to block him, but he cut them down one by one with his saber, leaving them sprawled on the ground.

***

Not until she saw with her own eyes that Tolui 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 Divine Physician of Toxic Arts, used poisons to make medicines and cured the sick to save lives. Yet, he deeply believed in the doctrine of karmic retribution, to the extent that in his later years he converted to Buddhism, cultivating his character and calming his mind until he finally attained a state free from anger or joy. Cheng Lingsu was his youngest disciple, taken in during his twilight years, and she was deeply influenced by him. Through this worldly reincarnation—clearly having died once—she had still been sent here. She had to believe that perhaps, in the unfathomable depths of fate, there was another purpose at hand.

Originally, she had no intention of becoming overly entangled with the people and affairs of this world. She had even 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. Then she would open a small medical clinic, treat the sick and save lives, and spend the rest of her days guarding the longing and deep affection she held for that person from her previous life.

What is more, once Temujin fell into mortal danger, the Mongol tribe where she had lived for ten years would also suffer disaster. Her mother and brother, who had genuinely cared for her and raised her, along with the clansmen she saw and lived among day after day, would all face catastrophe. After a decade of living together, how could she stand by with folded arms?

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

Seeing that Cheng Lingsu had been lost in thought, staring in the direction where Tolui had left, and sighing repeatedly, 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, pulled her thoughts back, and blurted out, "I am worried about my brother. Is there anything wrong with that?"

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

"What are you talking ab—" Cheng Lingsu abruptly paused as realization dawned. "You mean Guo Jing? You were already there... You knew the moment we arrived?"

"Not 'you all', just you! The moment you arrived, I knew." Ouyang Ke looked rather pleased, clearly enjoying her reaction.

Although 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 show 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, so the lineage of the Western Poison always harbored a degree of resentment and wariness toward Quanzhen Taoists. Recognizing Ma Yu's Taoist robe and recalling his uncle's past warnings, Ouyang Ke had dismissed the idea of revealing himself. Instead, he hid in the shadows, watching them exchange several rounds of conversation back and forth.

***

She had originally assumed that Cheng Lingsu would try to persuade Ma Yu to charge into the camp together to rescue people. Not knowing that Ma Yu was the leader of the Quanzhen Sect, Ouyang Ke had simply figured that aside from millions of troops in the camp, there were also several martial arts experts brought by Wanyan Honglie, which would be more than enough to entangle Ma Yu—and perhaps even give him a chance to eliminate the Taoist, depriving the Quanzhen Sect of a master who anchored their faction. To his surprise, not only did the Taoist refuse to storm the camp, but he even took Guo Jing away with him, leaving Cheng Lingsu behind all by herself.

By now, Cheng Lingsu was gradually sorting out the clues. "Wanyan Honglie came here in secret, most likely to take the opportunity to provoke Samqa and my father into conflict, causing the Mongol tribes to fight endlessly among themselves so that his Great Jin Dynasty would have no troubles from the north."

Ouyang Ke had no interest whatsoever in such struggles, but seeing that Cheng Lingsu spoke with such earnestness, he went along with it and nodded, offering a compliment: "Drawing inferences from one instance—you are truly exceptionally clever."

Reaching out to smooth a stray lock of hair blown loose by the wind, Cheng Lingsu's gaze was as clear and piercing as the water of the Onon River on the steppes. "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 have let Tolui return to mobilize troops. Aren't you afraid of ruining his grand strategy?"

Ouyang Ke laughed heartily, reached out, and gently tapped her chin with his folding 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 instead furrowed her brows and took half a step back to avoid the frivolous folding fan aiming for her chin. Reaching out with one hand, she caught the pitch-black tip of the fan right in her palm with a sharp *snap*. A wave of icy coldness pierced straight through the skin of her palm into her bones, startling her so much that she almost let go immediately. Only then did she realize that the ribs of his fan were actually forged from black iron, as cold as ice.

"What? Do you like this fan?" Ouyang Ke flicked his wrist with seeming casualness, brushed Cheng Lingsu's hand away, and withdrew the folding fan. With another *swish*, he snapped it open and lightly fluttered it before his chest. "If you've taken a fancy to something else, I'd gladly give it to you as a gift, but this fan..." He paused slightly, then suddenly chuckled softly again. "If you like it, 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 Note:
I must say, Ke-er my boy, Little Lingsu just took a liking to your fan, and you're already reluctant to part with it? How stingy~
Ouyang Ke: That was given to me by my father... ahem... my uncle...