Chapter 720: Su Zhao!

The abandoned farmstead stood plainly beside the road. It was impossible for the riders not to glance at it, and the collapsed remnants of the walls drew their attention. But only for a moment. Such destruction was commonplace in a region ravaged by war. They did not stop and continued galloping along the road.

"Are you certain there is only this one road through the area?" someone asked from horseback as they raced onward.

"At the very least, this is the shortest route. Madam is anxious to see the Grand Commander-in-Chief. She should have come this way."

"A woman actually dared sneak away from home and run into a war zone. This is sheer nonsense. All she does is make trouble! If anything happens to her, we won't be able to answer to the sect, much less to the Grand Commander-in-Chief!"

"Ah, her feelings are understandable. The two-million-man river-defense army was wiped out, another six hundred thousand Song troops were buried alive, the Grand Commander-in-Chief is coming back from Yan empty-handed, and now we've learned Meng Shanming may very well prevent him from returning safely. Of course she's worried. She's afraid something will happen to him."

"Women. There's no reasoning with them. What use is there in her coming here? You shouldn't have let her hear that the war was going badly in the first place. Otherwise, how could she have slipped away?"

"Martial Uncle, there was no way to keep the news from her. We could hardly place her under house arrest. The people she associates with are either rich or powerful, all of them well informed. If she truly wanted to ask around, how could we stop her from learning that the war was going badly? Her husband is away campaigning. Of course she has been watching the war closely. There was no way to hide it from her. Besides, if we'd really tried, she might only have assumed something even worse had happened. Senior Brother, forgive me for saying this, but the reason she slipped away was precisely because we kept stopping her from coming. That was why she found a way to shake us off and run by herself."

"There's no point explaining all that to me. You had better pray nothing happens to her, or I'd like to see how you plan to answer for it!"

...

"Monkey, can this one be eaten?"

In the mountain forest, Yin'er blinked suspiciously when she saw Yuan Gang return with a person tucked beneath one arm. Yuan Gang froze. Uncle Chen and the others nearby were stunned as well, truly looking at Yin'er with new eyes, almost as though they were beholding some wondrous being.

A living human being this big, and she couldn't tell what it was? The glutton did not look like she was joking either. Everyone knew perfectly well that she was not someone who made jokes.

Had anyone else said such a thing, they would have taken it as a joke. Coming from Yin'er, however, the words sent a chill through them. If someone told her it could be eaten, would this glutton truly start eating a living person? What sort of problem was this?

Truthfully, even Yuan Gang was somewhat frightened by what she had said. He had a faint sense that this demon king was not at all opposed to eating people. After knowing her for so long, this was the first time he realized Yin'er might actually have man-eating potential.

He did not say much. He loosened his arm and dropped the woman he had brought onto the ground. Yin'er bent down and peered closely at her. Yuan Gang suddenly struck, chopping a hard palm against the back of Yin'er's neck.

Yin'er's eyes rolled up and she passed out, collapsing directly onto the woman.

"You..." Uncle Chen looked at Yuan Gang in bewilderment.

"Remember this," Yuan Gang told everyone. "If you see her wake up, knock her unconscious again immediately. Keep doing it until Master Dao gets back."

He had no other choice. He had failed to find the seasonings he needed, and neither Niu Youdao nor Shang Shuqing was present. No one here could soothe this demon king, and Yuan Gang had no idea when Niu Youdao would return. For now, all he could do was keep Yin'er unconscious. If she was truly provoked into revealing her demon-king form and stopped recognizing friend from foe, then probably no one here would escape.

The problem was that the others did not know Yin'er's true identity, and Yuan Gang had no way to explain it. Everyone looked at one another, baffled. They could not understand why he was treating Yin'er this way. She was only a glutton. Was this really necessary?

"Hm?" Uncle Chen suddenly pointed at the unconscious woman. "Why does this woman look familiar?"

Several people gathered around for a closer look. Old Eighth Zhu exclaimed, "Su Zhao, the proprietress of Among the White Clouds?"

"No. She resembles her, that's all." Old Six Xu shook his head. "She's prettier than Su Zhao. It isn't her."

These old hands from Fufang Garden had spent many years in the Qi capital and had all seen Su Zhao of Among the White Clouds.

"I heard Among the White Clouds changed proprietresses. Su Zhao's whereabouts are unknown. No one knows where she went."

The group began discussing Su Zhao. Yuan Gang, who knew where Su Zhao had gone, remained silent, staring down at the unconscious woman.

After the discussion died down, Uncle Chen asked, "Monkey, who is this woman?"

Yuan Gang said, "I don't know."

Everyone looked at one another in speechless disbelief. He did not even know who she was, yet he had dragged her back here. What exactly was he planning to do with her?

They certainly did not believe Yuan Gang would abduct a woman because he coveted her beauty. But Yuan Gang clearly had no desire to explain, and they could not pry anything more out of him.

Fortunately, they did not have to wait long. A large flying mount descended into the forest, and Niu Youdao and Guan Fangyi returned. The moment they saw two women lying on the ground, both froze briefly.

The faint silver markings flickering across Yin'er's face made Niu Youdao frown. As for the other woman, she merely struck him as familiar. He felt as though he had seen her somewhere before, but could not remember where.

Guan Fangyi, however, exclaimed in surprise, "Su Zhao? Why is she here? Hm, no, it's not her. This one is even prettier than Su Zhao!" She looked up at the others. "Where did this woman come from?"

Everyone turned toward the silent Yuan Gang standing off to one side. Old Six Xu said, "He left for a while and brought her back from outside. We don't know where she's from either."

Su Zhao? Hearing Guan Fangyi say the name, Niu Youdao was startled. At last, he remembered why the face looked familiar. Strictly speaking, he had never seen Su Zhao. He had only drawn her once, back when Guan Fangyi described her appearance at Fufang Garden and he put the description onto paper. Although he had spent quite some time in the Qi capital afterward, he truly had never seen Su Zhao herself.

And precisely because a portrait could never perfectly match the living person, the resemblance looked even stronger to Niu Youdao.

A woman who looked like Su Zhao, brought back by Yuan Gang. Niu Youdao's gaze slowly shifted toward Yuan Gang. Others might not know what had passed between Yuan Gang and Su Zhao, but Niu Youdao did. It was a pain buried deep in Yuan Gang's heart.

He also knew Su Zhao was already dead. Yuan Gang had told him that he had buried her with his own hands in the desert.

"What's going on?" Niu Youdao asked hesitantly. "Don't tell me you grabbed her just because she looks like Su Zhao."

Even he did not dare vouch for Yuan Gang on this matter. Anything else was one thing. When it came to feelings like these, Niu Youdao truly did not dare make judgments on Yuan Gang's behalf.

Yuan Gang said, "You're overthinking it."

The exchange made Guan Fangyi suspicious. Doubt flashed through the eyes of the others as well. Why did it sound as though something had once happened between Yuan Gang and the proprietress of Among the White Clouds?

Niu Youdao asked, "Then what happened?"

"This woman is suspicious," Yuan Gang said. "She actually apologized to two farmers on behalf of the Song army. Her identity may not be ordinary..." He swept a glance over the group. Seeing everyone still confused, he recounted what had happened.

After listening, the others nodded. If that was how it happened, then the woman's background truly was suspicious. She had disguised herself as a man and spoken to commoners as though she represented the Song army.

Out of the corner of his eye, Niu Youdao studied Yuan Gang's expression. Then he suddenly said, "Whatever her background is, we need to keep our movements as secret as possible. Taking along someone of unknown origins is inappropriate. Old Six, drag her away and deal with her. Clean it up properly."

Old Six Xu nodded and bent down to seize the woman.

A hand landed on his shoulder. Old Six Xu looked back and saw that Yuan Gang had stopped him.

Yuan Gang said, "Master Dao, I think we should first determine who she is. She may be useful to us."

Guan Fangyi agreed. "He's right. Anyone who can speak as though she represents the Song army shouldn't be ordinary. If she has an important background, she really could be useful. Master Dao, Monkey is right. We should find out who she is first. She's only a mortal woman. She can't make trouble for us. And if there's nothing else behind it, there's no need for us to kill an innocent person."

Again, Niu Youdao's peripheral gaze swept over Yuan Gang. Then he nodded. "Fine."

At his gesture, Guan Fangyi immediately crouched and searched the woman's body. She found nothing that could prove her identity, only concealed weapons such as sleeve bolts and some money. Finally, Guan Fangyi used spiritual power to smooth out the woman's disordered breathing and qi.

Before long, the woman slowly exhaled and woke. Opening her eyes to find a crowd surrounding her, she immediately sat up and scrambled backward until she struck a tree. The earlier injury made her grunt in pain. In the end, she braced herself against the trunk and slowly stood, bright eyes fixing first on Yuan Gang, who had injured her. Biting her lip, she asked, "Who are you people?"

Niu Youdao watched her expression closely. Then, without warning, he said, "I am... Niu Youdao."

"You're Niu Youdao?" the woman blurted in surprise. She immediately looked him up and down where he stood leaning on his sword, then quickly swept her eyes over everyone else.

Niu Youdao smiled. The woman realized at once that she had exposed something, and annoyance flashed across her face. Everyone exchanged glances as well. With a single sentence, Niu Youdao had tested her depth. She truly was no ordinary person.

The logic was simple. An ordinary person might not even know who Niu Youdao was, but at the very least would not have reacted this strongly.

Niu Youdao smiled and said, "That's right. Who are you?"

The woman's gaze darted rapidly. Now that she knew the man before her was Niu Youdao, she was even less willing to reveal her identity. Suddenly she gave a name.

"Su Zhao!"

The words made Yuan Gang's heartstrings tremble.

Everyone, Niu Youdao included, stared at her in dumbfounded silence. Of all the names she could have chosen, she had given the name of the very woman she resembled. For a moment, everyone's thoughts were thrown into confusion.

Niu Youdao quickly sorted through it and turned to the others. "Did any of you mention that name in front of her?"

They looked at one another. They had mentioned it, yes, but hadn't the woman been unconscious at the time? She should not have been able to hear them.

Yuan Gang spoke. "When I took her down earlier and tore off her disguise, I mistook her for Su Zhao and said the name aloud."

So that was it.

Niu Youdao gave him a sidelong look. "She's yours. Get her to talk."

Yuan Gang nodded.

Niu Youdao waved for someone to take away the woman calling herself "Su Zhao." Only then did he look down at Yin'er. "What's wrong with Yin'er?"

Yuan Gang briefly explained how Yin'er had lost her temper because she wanted something good to eat. The others remained confused, but Niu Youdao and Guan Fangyi immediately understood.

Guan Fangyi instinctively pressed a hand to her chest. She knew perfectly well what happened when this demon king became angry and felt enormously relieved that Yin'er had not erupted.

Niu Youdao crouched beside her, still holding his sword. He placed one hand on Yin'er's body and circulated spiritual power, dissolving the aberrant demon qi that had begun forming within her.

[End of Chapter 720]