s.h.i.+ Qingxue moved forward to dodge, but Mo Junhao's hand followed her closely. She didn't have a chance to resist before going into a coma.

Her slim body fell forward, and Mo Junhao reached out, trying to pull her into his arms, but a long arrow came after breaking through the air and forced him to lean back.

When he steadied himself on horseback, s.h.i.+ Qingxue was in the hands of a man in black.

“d.a.m.n it. If you dare to hurt her, I will make you and your master die a graveless death!” Mo Junhao unsheathed his sword and stared coldly at this man who came to rob halfway.

Mo Junhao showed the killing intent for the first time, and anybody else would have trembled with fear at the sight of it.

But that was anybody else.

The man in black held s.h.i.+ Qingxue and sat on the horse's back. He glanced at Mo Junhao silently and tried to ride away.

It was the first time for Mo Junhao to be totally ignored, and he got furious. He waved his sword, trying to stab the man, but the latter took out a long whip from nowhere. Before Mo Junhao saw clearly, the whip had taken away his sword.

The man in black had ridden a few steps away and increased the distance between the two.

“Mo Junyang!”

Mo Junhao suddenly realized and shouted.

The man in front of him finally had some reactions. He stopped for a while and even looked back at Mo Junhao, but soon turned to leave.

Mo Junhao heaved a sigh of relief and refused to let him go. He strode to the front of the man's horse and asked, “Where will you take Qingxue to?”

“It's none of your business,” the man in black, Mo Junyang said coldly and didn't change his att.i.tude after Junhao had recognized him.

“I have saved her life. I won't let you steal her away!” Mo Junhao had protected her all the way and almost lost his life. No matter who the comer was, he wouldn't allow anybody else to get her.

Mo Junhao started to attack Mo Junyang with his bare hands. Mo Junyang jumped off the horse and went farther away from Mo Junhao step by step, without fighting back.

“Huh, you don't fight with me, so you would never take Qingxue away.”

Mo Junyang still didn't take action but said indifferently, “She wouldn't want to return to the capital city.”

Mo Junhao was stunned and stopped his hands. “Then where are you going with her?”

Mo Junyang didn't reply, but the answer was self-evident.

“Are you out of your mind?” Mo Junhao's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't believe that Mo Junyang had no idea what was happening on the Qingluo Mountain.

Anybody who went there would court death!

Mo Junyang remained silent and got on the horse's back again since Mo Junhao stopped attacking, showing a cold expression to indicate, “Are you done? If you are, I am going.”

Mo Junhao was in a rage and stopped him again. “I know you secretly love Qingxue and want to cotton up to her, but I would never allow you to joke about her life.”

He condemned justly and severely, as if he was the one who truly cared for Qingxue.

Who had tried every means to marry Qingxue but made her live in h.e.l.l in the previous life?

Mo Junyang finally focused his inquiring eyes on Mo Junhao's face but at last sneered. “You are not capable to die with her or go back with her. You don't deserve her.”

Mo Junhao was petrified.

When he came back to himself, Mo Junhao had ridden to the south with s.h.i.+ Qingxue in his arms, even if it seemed to be a way of no return.

Mo Junhao smiled bitterly. Maybe it was because of Mo Junyang's words “you don't deserve her”, or it was his tacit approval.

Far away on the Qingluo Mountain, Wenren Chi led an elite team of thirty soldiers to attack and was defeated again. More than a half of the elite soldiers were injured or dead, and he was seriously wounded and bedridden.

But it couldn't prevent him from secretly telling some people to look for s.h.i.+ Qingxue on the way to the capital city. However, they got nothing.

“Chi, don't worry. Qingxue will be fine. Maybe she has something to do on the way and delayed.” s.h.i.+ Junhe saw everything and couldn't help but comfort him gently.

Compared to Wenren Chi's worry, he was more confident in his daughter, but n.o.body knew how helpless he was when he looked relaxed.

Three days had pa.s.sed since they sent letters to Fan City, but there was no reply.

Shang Ping was unwilling to come, or somebody did something and the letters weren't sent to Shang Ping.

Either result meant that the battle to attack the mountain would depend on their own power.

“General, bad news!” The deputy general Liu Caishu rushed in hurriedly and didn't look calm as usual.

s.h.i.+ Junhe got nervous and asked immediately, “What happened?”

Liu Caishu lifted the tent's curtain and led s.h.i.+ Junhe out, pointing to the mountaintop. “This morning, the patrolling soldiers found there was mist on the mountain, but it rained yesterday, and it has been wet in the forests, so we didn't care.

But it's noon now, the mist didn't scatter but became thicker and enveloped the entire camp. We can't see anything 20 meters away. It's not like the ordinary fog.”

s.h.i.+ Junhe looked up, and as expected, he saw the dense fog covering the camp. He could hardly see the barrier outside the camp clearly. It was really weird.

“General, do you think it is another trap of the monsters on the mountain?” Liu Caishu was a tall and big man but was scared by the strange skills. While speaking, he couldn't help trembling.

“Maybe. Where are the investigating soldiers? What information did they get? Have they found a new way to attack?” s.h.i.+ Junhe frowned and looked solemn.

At the mention of this, Liu Caishu's face turned paler, and he faltered, unable to make a sentence.

s.h.i.+ Junhe glared at him impatiently. “Say it now if you want to.”

Liu Caishu showed a sad face. “We have sent investigating soldiers three times, but none of them came back alive. We didn't even find a dead body.”

“What?”

s.h.i.+ Junhe believed that the soldiers of the top elites trained by himself wouldn't be defeated unless the situation was too terrible to resist.

If all of them were really destroyed, would it mean that…

Liu Caishu was anxious. “General, there is an ancient saying, the soldiers should act according to the ability. How about we retreat to Qingluo County first and discuss with the magistrate before making the plan? We can't afford to suffer any more losses.”

s.h.i.+ Junhe pondered for a while. “His Majesty ordered us to attack. If we retreat now, we are disobeying him openly.”

But Fu Chuan said, “His Majesty doesn't care about our soldiers. Don't you care? It is better to be killed by the enemies from Liang Country on the northwest battlefield. We came to suppress the bandits, but we have lost nearly thirty percent of soldiers even before we can make a bandit lose one hair. It is so strange.

What's more, what if we succeed in suppressing the bandits? We will kill the people of our country. What can make us proud?”

Many military officers were from poor families. The miserable life made them understand what was called “being compelled to” and “being forced by hard life”, and they were not pa.s.sionate about suppressing the bandits.

s.h.i.+ Junhe was clear about what his subordinates were thinking and didn't criticize them. “Both of you go back now. I will discuss with Chi.”

Liu Caishu and Fu Chuan looked at each other and then replied in unison, “Yes, sir!”

Although Wenren Chi joined the s.h.i.+ Army not long ago, his courage and talent had won everybody's approbation. They thought it was fine if s.h.i.+ Junhe discussed with him and left after taking a glance at the inside of the tent.

s.h.i.+ Junhe stood at the door for a while and watched the dense fog getting thicker. Then he sighed and walked back into the tent.

At the same time, Wenren Chi put on a coat and was about to sit up. s.h.i.+ Junhe quickly walked up to help him and reproached in a low voice, “You haven't fully recovered. Why do you sit up? Lie down…”

“I am fine.” Wenren Chi insisted on sitting up.

s.h.i.+ Junhe could do nothing but help him up and then told him what had happened.

“Chi, what do you think about it?”

Wenren Chi lowered his head and his expression couldn't be seen.

After a long time, s.h.i.+ Junhe thought the young man didn't hear the question and planned to ask again when Wenren Chi looked up and asked, “We haven't found Qingxue yet?”

s.h.i.+ Junhe was speechless and helpless. He was able neither to cry nor to laugh.

He stared at Wenren Chi for quite a while and joked, “Chi, since we knew that Qingxue came to the Qingluo Mountain, do you know how many times you would ask me this question every day?”

Wenren Chi lowered his head and remained quiet. He seemed to be guilty, or rather protest silently.

s.h.i.+ Junhe could do nothing to Wenren Chi who behaved like this. He just sighed deeply and stopped joking, saying seriously, “There are no outsiders here. Let's have a heart-to-heart talk, son.”

At this crucial time?

Wenren Chi raised his head in astonishment, seeming to say, “Are you kidding me?”

With the internal and external problems, how could they have a heart-to-heart talk?

s.h.i.+ Junhe pretended not to see Wenren Chi's expression and said casually, “I heard from Qingxue that she once said to you that she would marry you?”

Wenren Chi didn't know what s.h.i.+ Junhe planned to do and hesitated for a short time before responding, “Yes.”

“You refused her?”

The young man nodded.

“Why?”

Wenren Chi was stunned and then smiled bitterly. His answer had been prepared. “No why. Of course because I…”

“Perhaps others can't see that, but I know the one you love is Qingxue.” s.h.i.+ Junhe forcefully interrupted Wenren Chi and spoke out the truth.

Wenren Chi denied anxiously, “No, Father. You get me wrong! I…”

But s.h.i.+ Junhe told the stories one by one. “Before leaving for the battlefield, the last place you went was the Luotong Boudoir. Even if Qingxue stayed with the Fourth Prince every day, you waited in the Luotong Boudoir for a whole day yet she didn't come back.

I employed teachers to teach all of you about the poem, writing, chess and painting. You are good at nothing but painting, but you never painted characters. I saw the only paint of a girl you finished, which was a portrait of Qingxue. Am I right?”

Every piece of evidence made Wenren Chi flush. He scratched his head and ear at a loss and shouted, “Father.”

s.h.i.+ Junhe smiled. “Not to mention the details in life. Since I brought you to my mansion when you were five years old and Qingxue was just born, the focus of your life is her from your childhood, teen years and even youth. Even Baoning can't be compared with her.

After my father pa.s.sed away, I was busy with military affairs, and your mother had to take care of Baoning who was sick. Then none of us found that Qingxue was on the verge of collapsing because of your grandpa's death. It was you who tried every means to make her get out of the shadow of death. You never left her and grew up with her. Everyone thought you just loved your little sister, but…”

He sighed and looked at Wenren Chi deeply, telling the truth, “Chi, you didn't love her as your sister. You tried your best to bring up your lover.”