Chapter 791: Meeting at the Blind Mountain
The young officer walked over to the man whose life or death was unknown.
That man's face was covered in blood and grime, but it was still clear that he was very young.
The young officer caught a very faint, yet hard-to-describe smell, and couldn't help but frown. He crouched down beside the man and began to examine his injuries. He found that the man's body was covered in wounds everywhere, especially his right arm, which was broken in over a dozen places.
Seeing such severe injuries, his frown deepened. He looked upward and saw two clear marks on the cliff face, which was full of broken stones and frost-covered grass. It was easy to deduce that these two people must have fallen from a great height.
The young officer knew that higher up on the cliff there was an old military road from long ago that led to the prosperous towns on the eastern side of the Cold Mountain. It had been abandoned for many years, but was still passable. Occasionally, some bandits and smugglers would take the risk. Could this man have fallen from there? Falling from such a height, no wonder he was so badly injured. It was already quite lucky that he hadn't died on the spot.
Taking the clean water and tools handed over by his subordinate, the young officer began to clean the wounds of the unconscious young injured man and treat his injuries, ensuring that his condition was temporarily stabilized and wouldn't worsen. After finishing these tasks, he stood up, washed and dried his hands, and walked over to the little girl.
He crouched down again, looked at the little girl, and said, "Hello."
The little girl didn't speak. She hugged her knees, her vacant gaze fixed on the young injured man. Her face was pale, and she looked extremely fragile.
The young officer reached his hand in front of her eyes and snapped his fingers. He continued to ask, "Who are you people?"
The little girl shuffled backward, looking a bit scared.
Seeing the flicker of terror in her eyes, he couldn't help but recall the pitiful eyes from the Unicorn Cave many years ago.
"We've asked many questions, but this little girl has never responded. It seems she's either mute or deaf."
A subordinate thought for a moment and said, "Of course, it's also possible that she's scared stupid."
"If you know she might be scared, why keep asking questions?"
The young officer said irritably, then got up and walked toward the camp.
Just then, a faint but clear voice sounded behind him.
"Hungry."
The young officer turned around to look.
The little girl stared blankly at him.
"I want to eat meat."
Hearing this, the young officer was stunned for a moment, then laughed. He snapped his fingers again in the cold mountain wind.
"She can talk, and she knows how to make a request. That's good."
……
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Autumn and winter in the north weren't much different. The Banya Horse Ranch was deep in the mountains, and the climate was relatively warm, but after a night of north wind, it still turned cold. Fortunately, the heated brick beds in the camp had been warmed up in advance, so no soldiers suffered from frostbite. Instead, there were several cases of burns.
"You're all so stupid, no wonder you were sent here to raise horses."
The young officer scolded his subordinates, chased them out, and then looked toward the corner of the room.
There, at the foot of the heated brick bed, it was extremely cold. Especially near the northern wall, the blue bricks were no different from blocks of ice.
The little girl, however, refused to leave that spot. Perhaps it was because the young injured man was lying on the brick bed, or perhaps because it was closest to the coal stove, where a clay pot was always simmering meat, bubbling away in the broth.
She held a bowl and chopsticks in her hands, staring intently at the meat stewing on the stove. Her gaze was so focused that it made her look even more dazed.
"She knows to be afraid of getting burned, so she's not really stupid."
The young officer shook his head as he looked at her, then walked over and sat down by the brick bed.
As time passed, the little girl relaxed her guard a bit, but the young injured man remained unconscious.
He began to go through the man's belongings, hoping to find some clues, but in the end, he found nothing.
The young injured man had no money on him, no travel permits, no household registration, not even a scrap of paper. His clothes were made of the most ordinary fabric, and there were no accessories that could provide information, except for a string of stone beads tied around his wrist.
Those stone beads looked quite crude, with nothing special about them at all.
Remembering the smell he had detected under the cliff earlier, the young officer bent down and carefully sniffed the young injured man's neck and body. Although he couldn't be sure if it was the same smell he had detected before, he was now certain that the young injured man's body carried many medicinal scents.
He could identify at least seventeen distinct herbal smells.
"So he's a medicine merchant. No wonder he was taking risks traveling at night."
He looked at the young injured man and said with emotion, "Men die for wealth, so I suppose he got what he deserved."
The war had been raging for two years now. Even with the full support of the various prefectures and the Southern Lands, many resources had become strained, especially medicinal herbs. It was no secret that the military commands on the front lines were short of medicine. For many medicine merchants who hadn't obtained government permits, as long as they could deliver the herbs to the front lines, they could sell them off and reap huge profits. As for the risks along the way or the strict laws of the court, those were simply not within their considerations.
A personal guard brought in hot water and said to him, "Sir, we can handle the rest from here."
The young officer was about to agree, but then he looked at the little girl in the corner and shook his head.
The little girl held her bowl and chopsticks, her vacant eyes filled with indifference, or perhaps numbness. Only when she looked at the meat stewing in the pot did they warm up a little. She looked like a small beast that had endured countless cruel torments, evoking sympathy.
"I'll do it. Since we're saving people, we should see it through."
When the young officer made this decision, he had no idea that this dazed little girl, who so easily reminded him of events from years past, was the Demon Princess. Nor did he imagine the connection between himself and the unconscious young injured man.
He simply thought the little girl looked very pitiful. At the same time, he felt that although the young injured man had been unconscious with his eyes closed, for some reason, he gave off a very calm and refreshing feeling. In short, he seemed somewhat agreeable.
And so, this young man and woman who had fallen from the mountain stayed at the Banya Horse Ranch, receiving meticulous care from the soldiers.
The young officer put the most effort into this, because cooking meat and treating illnesses were, after all, matters of great importance.
A few days later, the young injured man finally woke up.
He didn't open his eyes immediately. Instead, he spent five breaths calming his mind, then sat in meditation and examined himself, confirming his injuries.
Only after assessing the severity of his wounds did he open his eyes.
The first thing that came into his view was the young officer.
He thought to himself, although this man had a thick beard and didn't look like a vicious brute, for some reason, he seemed somewhat agreeable.
Much later, when Zhe Xiu, Tang Thirty-Six, Gou Hanshi, and Guan Feibai learned about the situation, both the National Academy and the people of Li Mountain Sword Sect were silent for a long time, thinking, "Were your eyes both blind?"
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(In Osaka, though tired, it's really good. If you have the chance, traveling around is truly wonderful—just as long as you don't end up falling and getting concussed like Chen Changsheng and Nanke... I've been on the road the whole time and won't be home until the 6th. The updates over the next few days might be a bit erratic, but I'll do my best. Wishing you happiness every day.)