Heading North

After the height of summer in Beiyang Prefecture, the greenery thinned out.

In the hottest part of the afternoon, a shadow suddenly fell across the Gobi Desert.

"Bang!"

Dust flew high, scaring away several lizards.

Zhaoyue fell flat on her back in the sand, her eyes staring straight up at the sky, her mouth agape, unable to close for a long time.

Shen Gui landed to the side, his clothes slightly dirty.

"Are you alright?"

"It's alright, everything's fine."

As Zhaoyue said this, her words were firm, but her body was trembling.

After leaving the territory of the Zhaoye Sect yesterday, Senior Shen walked ahead and suddenly asked if he was afraid of heights.

Zhaoyue had just finished a bowl of plain noodles. Feeling lightheaded, she thought the world had expanded, and her courage grew. She asked:

"Why are you saying this, senior?"

"There might be flies following us, let's go somewhere else."

"I'm not afraid of heights; I've never been afraid of anything."

Zhaoyue still remembers how arrogant she was at the time, but as soon as she finished speaking, she was grabbed by the back of her neck.

Then, everything turned upside down.

The shadows of trees, people, and mountains all flashed past behind it, so fast that it couldn't even croak.

At first, it gritted its teeth and pretended to be tough.

Three breaths later, it began to close its eyes.

Ten breaths later, it began to regret why it had said it wasn't afraid. Now that it had landed, its stomach was still empty, as if it had been emptied by the wind.

"Senior Shen, is this how all experts travel?"

"Occasionally."

"Then I hope you can do it less often in the future."

Shen Gui glanced at it.

Zhaoyue immediately shut up, brushed the dust off her body, and looked around again, her eyes brightening up once more.

This place is completely different from Beiyang Prefecture.

The summer wind rippled the parched earth, and the rolling hills stretched out before us, distorted by the heat.

Zhaoyue jumped onto a rock:

"Senior, this isn't Beiyang Prefecture anymore, is it?"

No, it's not.

"So, senior, where do we go next?"

This time, Shen Gui didn't say to go forward. He looked at the desolate mountain path in the distance and asked:

"What I'm looking for isn't ready yet. Where do you want to go?"

"Me?"

"Um."

"I'm the one who decides?"

"You can tell me about it."

These words left Zhaoyue frozen on the rock for quite a while.

It hadn't been asked where it was going much before.

When it's in the mud, it doesn't really matter where it goes—ditches, field ridges, hiding from people, dogs, or Taoist priests.

Later, he went to the Teruno Sect to obtain the certificate of a good demon.

Now that it has the certificate, the name, has been to the city, and eaten Yangchun noodles, it really doesn't know where to go next. After thinking for a long time, Zhaoyue whispered:

"I want to find a place where I can eat noodles."

"Didn't we just eat?"

"That's different."

Zhaoyue said very seriously, "Yesterday's bowl was the first bowl, which was of great significance. Today's bowl is to celebrate that we were still alive and put to the test, which is also of great significance."

"Okay." Shen Gui nodded and turned to walk away.

Zhaoyue's eyes lit up, and it hopped along quickly. Just as it caught up, it heard the elder in front say:

"Don't call me senior anymore."

Why?

"Looks old."

"Quack?"

Zhao Yue looked up at Shen Gui for a long time.

The senior has loose black hair, looks young, and walks like an old man. Why is he afraid of getting old?

"Then what should I call you?" Zhaoyue asked tentatively. "Young Master? Sir?"

Shen Gui didn't stop walking. "Anything is fine."

"Then I'll call you Young Master! It makes you sound younger!" Zhaoyue immediately exclaimed.

Shen Gui agreed, and Zhao Yue walked behind him, laughing for a while. Then she started muttering to herself again, talking about how it reigned supreme in the fields, and how, despite its small size, an average adult couldn't match its strength...

They continued like this until dusk.

The sunset glow, as if it had stolen Grandpa Sun's wine, burned its face crimson.

Human activity gradually appeared on the Gobi Desert.

The most conspicuous were a dozen or so grain carts. Their wheels creaked as they rolled along the official road. The border guards escorting the carts wore old armor, their waist knives still sheathed, but their eyes kept glancing northward.

Some people were pushing wheelbarrows loaded with sacks and two pots, clearly bringing all their belongings.

Zhao Yue glanced at them a few times, then lowered her voice: "Young Master Shen, they don't seem to be going to the market."

"Go ask them," Shen Gui said.

Upon hearing that he was useful, Zhao Yue immediately perked up. He jumped in front of a man pushing a cart, cupped his short arms, and said, "Brother, can I ask you something? Where is this place?"

The man heard this, turned around and saw that it was a demon. He was startled at first, but when he saw the Zhaoye Sect token that Shen Gui took out, he barely managed to suppress his panic.

"This is the outskirts of the Northern Military Garrison County."

"The Northern Frontier?! This is the border region?!"

"yes!"

The man was puzzled; was there even a need to ask?

Zhao Yue was even more puzzled, turning back to look at the young master beside her, her eyes filled with disbelief.

If the territory of Yan Kingdom is divided into three rings, Beiyang Prefecture is located between the second and third rings. Although this area is not the core area, it is definitely not desolate. The closest line between Beiyang Prefecture and the border is two prefectural cities.

So you managed to get to the border in just one day?

Zhaoyue couldn't help but think how much silver she could earn by delivering messages if she had that speed.

While Zhaoyue was lost in thought, Shen Guizheng was talking to the man.

Are you moving?

"Sigh, there's nothing we can do. The border is unstable. Three military camps stationed in the north have run into trouble one after another."

The man exhaled a breath of stale air. "My village is close to the border. If we can't hold it, we'll be the first to suffer. Yan has been at war for years, and in the end, it's always us ordinary people who suffer."

The man started talking: "Young master, are you also going to the city?"

Shen Gui nodded.

"The patrols have been tight these past few days. Don't peek out if you hear horses' hooves at night, and don't go out if you hear drums," the man warned.

"The sound of drums?" Zhaoyue interjected.

The man nodded and said "yes," then told him to be careful before pushing the cart away, seemingly not wanting to say much more.

Shen Gui continued walking with Zhao Yue. As more and more people appeared on the road, a city wall gradually rose on the horizon.

The city walls were not as neat as those of the prefectural city; they were of varying heights, constructed of a mixture of earth and stone, with flags planted on top, their surfaces rustling in the wind.

Two couriers stood at the gate, one holding a gun and the other a knife, both with tense expressions.

When they saw grain trucks, they immediately made way; when they saw people moving, they simply urged them to hurry up.

When it was Zhaoyue's turn, the courier with his spear raised his hand to stop her: "A demon?"

Shen Gui raised Zhaoyue's token, and the courier's expression softened when he saw the token.

Just then, someone inside the post station shouted, "Let them in. It's getting dark, so there shouldn't be too many people standing outside."

The courier blocking the way then stepped aside.

As soon as the human and the demon entered the city, the city gate was slammed shut by the courier. The sky outside gradually darkened, and only a black shadow remained of the flag on the city wall.

The man and his family also entered the city and squatted down to drink water at the foot of the wall of the post station at the city gate.

Unable to contain her earlier curiosity, Zhao Yue slowly moved closer: "Brother, you just mentioned drum sounds, what kind of drum sounds?"

Seeing that it was still persistent, the man lowered his voice and said, "There are war drums at Guifeng Camp. They are only sounded when the enemy attacks, and they can be heard for thirty miles."

"Isn't beating the drum a good thing? It can bring news."

"But everyone in the camp is dead!"

The man gripped the water bag tightly, his fingers tightening unconsciously. "They all died three days ago. It's been ringing every night for the past few days!"

Zhaoyue said, "Could it be that the wind hit the drum stand?"

The man looked up at it: "You believe me?"

Just then, a sound suddenly came from the north wind.

It's very far.

Separated by sand, by city walls, by the sky that was not yet dark.

"Thump."

The second sound followed.

"Thump."

The man tensed up immediately, and the postman at the city gate turned pale.

As the third note faded, the herd of horses outside the post station suddenly became agitated, their hooves stamping wildly, as if they had smelled something ominous.

"Thump."

Shen Gui gazed northwards, his brows furrowing slightly.