Fengcheng Flying General

Chapter 91

The setting sun, like a blood-red blob, hung in the boundless desert sky.

Tuosang galloped ahead, leaving everyone else in the dust. In these three days, apart from the occasional sight of the withered corpses of the Crimson Gold Clan soldiers, there was no sign of life.

He would occasionally lie prone on the sand, listening for faint sounds or the direction of water. Junyu had rushed after Zhenmutier, so she certainly hadn't carried much food or water. If Junyu were still alive, she would definitely have searched for water first.

However, no matter how hard they searched, they found no trace of it; the deep sand was completely dry.

The sound of horses' hooves could be heard ahead. Tuosang was delighted and looked over to see Mr. Nongying and his party.

"Still no news of Junyu!"

"There were only some soldiers' corpses along the way."

Some of these corpses were soldiers of the Crimson Gold Clan, and some were soldiers of the Northwest Army. The deeper they went, the fewer corpses there were. It seemed that in the end, only a few people remained.

Tuosang looked around again and suddenly said, "Sir, do you think Junyu might...?"

This was the first time that Young Master Nongying had seen such a look of panic on Tuosang's face. Even when Tuosang was being hunted down, he had never shown such panic and fear.

Looking at the boundless desert, Mr. Nongying recalled the mummies along the way, not yet completely covered by sand. The daytime temperature in this desert was terrifyingly high; without water, no matter how skilled you were, you couldn't survive for more than a few days. Even though he was usually calm, his mind was in turmoil at this moment. He only heard Tuosang calling him and forgot to answer.

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Chapter 333: Zhu Yu's Madness

The caravan and guide, whom they had hired at great expense, had already arrived.

Tuosang steadied himself and immediately said, "Sir, let's continue searching separately."

Mr. Nongying nodded and led his pack caravan: "Tuosang, let's broaden the search area, we'll find it eventually!"

The caravan had ventured deeper into the desert, but after finding a few unburied mummies, they had completely lost track of the direction the men were chasing. By the next morning, there was still no sign of them.

Tuosang remained at the head of the caravan, his eyes wide open, hoping that Junyu would suddenly appear in his field of vision.

"Junyu..." Sometimes he would gather all his inner strength, and his voice would carry very far.

"Junyu..." he sometimes called softly, as if Junyu were standing right behind him.

“Junyu…” he sometimes roared blankly, his vision was completely dark, and that familiar face was slowly blurring in his mind. He tried hard to recall what it looked like but could not remember clearly.

However, no matter how far or near his voice was, the world was deathly still, and there was no reply, nor was there that smiling person.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Under the moonlight, the night was cool and still.

Zhu Yu hadn't gone very far, but each time he reined in his horse and looked back, all he saw was a vast expanse of white space, with no one in sight.

The Akhal-Teke horse had a slight limp in its front hooves, a wound inflicted by a dying Crimson Gold Clan soldier while fighting for water. Fortunately, it wasn't serious, and it could still walk forward.

Zhu Yu didn't rein in the horse, letting it roam freely. He knew it would be difficult to find a way out of this "sea of death" by human effort alone, but fortunately, the horse was originally from the desert, so he confidently let it find its way on its own.

He glanced at his precious water pouch, then patted the horse's head with satisfaction: "Horse, oh horse, once we get out of this desert, when I become emperor, I will surely make you the 'national horse,' and let you enjoy wealth and glory!"

He walked a few more steps, then reined in his horse again. Behind him, all was still deathly silent. He dismounted and looked back, gazing into the distance again and again, but in this world, only his own shadow remained.

Junyu didn't know the way, Junyu had no water, Junyu didn't want to die, Junyu wanted to live happily ever after with Tuosang—yet, she still didn't follow the deep hoofprints to catch up. She had stayed for so long and hadn't gone too far; it should have been easy for her to catch up, but even after the wind had blown away all the hoofprints, she still hadn't left a trace.

Is she waiting to die in place or wandering aimlessly?

The night was cool, a perfect time for travel, but at that moment, something frantic was tearing at his heart, making it impossible to calm down. He glanced at the unobstructed moonlight and simply sat down on the ground. In the moonlight, nothing was clearly visible, but he remained fixed on his blood-stained clothes, though the blood had long since dried, it still faintly smelled of blood. This was the blood of the Crimson Gold Clan's elite soldiers, the soldiers of the Northwest Army, and even some of it was the blood from the deep wound on Jun Yu's left shoulder!

“I am Junyu… Junyu…” He recalled her horrified voice, and the way she had pulled him along in terror as the sandstorm raged! He shook his head violently: “So what if you are Junyu? You are the person I hate most in this world!”

It was already broad daylight.

Having sat for too long, Zhu Yu stood up, his legs feeling numb. He mounted his horse, and before him stretched a stretch of red and white sandstone.

He rode over, and there were many rose-shaped stones of various shapes in the sandstone. These were rose-shaped stones formed by weathering in the desert. He looked closely, and one bright red stone stood out, looking exactly like a real red rose. This was the only bright red one in the pile of stones, and it looked very peculiar. He picked it up and put it in his pocket.

He turned back and looked around in several directions, but there wasn't a single person in sight, not even a bird or a rodent in this lifeless world.

He gazed into the distance, recalling the beautiful and charming face of the daughter of the Little Hui King he had met during the betrothal ceremony, the alluring and seductive nature of Lady Nan Zhao, the attentive and comfortable service of his wives and concubines, and the vast world he was about to conquer!

Beyond this desert lies a world of blooming flowers!

He burst into laughter again: "Junyu, you are indeed the most hypocritical of all! You say you believe me, but in the end you still hold a grudge against that knife and are full of suspicion towards me! You are so stubborn, it would have been better if you hadn't chased after me. It would have been your own fault to die of thirst in this desert!"

The sun was already high in the sky. After sitting all night, riding now, his throat was parched. He glanced at the water pouch beside him, which he considered his lifeline. He hadn't drunk from it, and neither had the horse. The horse neighed under the bright sun, its thirst growing stronger with each step. Eventually, the horse stopped. Zhu Yu dismounted, and the horse's injured front hooves frantically pawed at the sand, as if trying to find some water or damp sand.

As it scratched, the injured foreleg bled.

Zhu Yu watched coldly as it desperately pawed and pawed, its forelegs growing increasingly bloody. The crimson hue assaulted her senses, making her see stars. In a daze, the horse suddenly transformed into that hateful, repulsive face—she was smiling and gracefully walking through the snow at Qiansi Academy, she was playing the zither and singing in the square of Hanjing Garden!

But—she still refused the jade pendant she had left behind by Qinghai Lake; she and Tuosang ran hand in hand out of the secret meditation room in "Bokdo"; she looked at Tuosang with such affection as they exchanged glances on the military exercise platform in Xining Prefecture…

Zhu Yu clenched his fists tightly. The scars on his palms from when the jade shattered still flared up years later, causing excruciating pain!

Why is it that you only have Tuosang in your heart and not me?

"Why would you rather die than chase after me, and refuse to take even a small step closer to me?"

"Why are you so hypocritical? You say you believe me, yet you're full of suspicion towards me?"

"Everyone in the world can doubt me, how can you doubt me?"

"Why? Why?"

……

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Chapter 334: Though Life is Short, Love is Lingering

A slight chill drifted in the evening breeze. Junyu opened his eyes, patted the black horse's head, and smiled, "Are you awake? We should get going."

The black horse neighed softly, as if knowing that a long neigh in the desert would only make it thirstier. Junyu saw that its large eyes had also become misty, sighed, pulled it along, and the two of them left the sand dune and galloped quickly forward.

After three days and three nights of this, when she finally heard a squeaking sound from a rat's groin, Junyu looked in the direction of the sound and, to her surprise, there were two rats, one big and one small. She was overjoyed. Although the rats were quick, they couldn't escape her swift pounce. In almost a flash, she had already caught both rats in her hands.

"Sigh, my kung fu hasn't deteriorated at all! It's even faster than when I was killing enemies on the battlefield!" Junyu smiled bitterly, recalling his skill when catching rats in the groin, his movements were so fast that they almost startled himself.

She picked up two rats, one slightly fatter and the other very thin. The two rats struggled desperately, and Junyu looked closely at their filthy fur, feeling nauseous and almost vomiting. Then she looked at the big black horse, whose large eyes gleamed.

She killed the two rats with a shovel and handed them over, saying, "You eat first. If we can't find anything else, I'm really going to eat raw rats too."

Black Horse practically wolfed down the two rats. After finishing, there was a little blood on the corner of its mouth. It looked at Junyu as if to say: "If only there were a few more!"

Junyu looked around and saw only a deathly stillness. She patted the slightly more lively black horse and said, "When they reappear, I will definitely catch them for you."

Of the two hard biscuits she was wearing, one had already been eaten by the big black horse. She had only one small piece left, and she managed to take a few bites, but the increasingly intense thirst made her unable to eat any more. At this moment, the memory of the rat's groin didn't seem so disgusting anymore. If only she had known, she would have eaten a small rat too; at least some blood could have soothed her throat.

She shook her head, mounted her black horse, and continued forward, her eyes sweeping across the moonlit sand like lightning, hoping to catch another living creature or something else.

They continued their journey until dawn, still finding nothing. The sun rose again, scorching overhead, almost exuding an aura of death. Junyu dismounted, looked at the sun, sighed, and suddenly the big black horse ran a few steps and began frantically pawing the sand.

Junyu caught up and, upon seeing it, was overjoyed; her eyes lit up. It was a root plant buried in the ground. She quickly pulled it up. Although this kind of covered, barren desert root plant had very little sap, it was the best thing she and her black horse had found since they set off.

She quickly split the root in half, gave one half to the black horse, and crushed the other half herself to extract the juice, eating it all without wasting a drop.

The little bit of juice wasn't enough to quench the thirst; on the contrary, eating a little made the craving even stronger, almost to the point that one wished they could collapse into a lake immediately.

She patted the black horse and muttered to herself, "Next time I'm going to die, I'd rather drown!"

The black horse was only focused on chewing its own little bit of root, looking as if it was savoring the taste again and again, seemingly unwilling to die of thirst or drown.

She suddenly remembered the place Mr. Nongying had chosen, a place that happened to be a water town. Now, thinking about it, she wished she could get there immediately. She couldn't help but laugh: "Sigh, I wonder if I'll ever have another chance to choose how to die!"

Beside them was a shady sand dune. Junyu casually dug a pile of sand, and the sand underneath was finally a little cooler. He and the black horse managed to hide inside.

These days, she carefully recalled the "mind-calming technique" that Tuosang had taught her. If she practiced it with a focused mind, she could survive for a month without food or water. However, due to the many chaotic matters in the army at the time, she had no time to practice the "mind-calming technique" that required complete stillness and concealment, so she only learned a few basic steps. Now that she had "free time," however, these few steps were basically ineffective in practice.

Although she knew it wouldn't be effective, she still practiced for a while, and fortunately, it had some hypnotic effect. She looked up at the weather, estimated the time, and then looked at her location. Thinking she was alright for the time being, she went to sleep, hoping to dream of water or fruit. However, when she woke up, her mind was still blank; she hadn't dreamt of anything.

When we set off again, the moon was already high in the sky.

There was a slight breeze sometimes in front of and behind her, and sometimes Junyu thought it was a nocturnal animal, and she was filled with hope to find it to eat, but when she looked carefully, there was nothing there. Every time she heard the slightest sound, her eyes would light up, longing for even a mouse, but as she walked along the way, there wasn't even a mouse.

Thirst and hunger reached their limits, and her senses gradually dulled. Several times, she heard the wind or some rustling sounds, but Junyu neither wanted to nor had the strength to investigate. She was only focused on walking forward, as if she would find a drop of water or a drop of dew if she kept going.

On the sixth day at dusk, just as the person and horse set off to take advantage of the drop in temperature, Junyu suddenly noticed a dark shadow blocking her way. This was the first time in six days that she had seen anything in the desert, and she was overjoyed, so she immediately caught up with it.

A dozen feet away, Junyu stopped, his heart sinking to the bottom. It was the corpse of a Crimson Gold Clan soldier. At this moment, the corpse had been completely dried out by the sun.

Even though he had become a mummified corpse, Junyu could clearly recognize that this soldier was one of Zhenmutier's last two guards, whom he had buried when he left. Perhaps this guard was buried too shallowly and was then blown up by the sandstorm.

After traveling for six whole days, we found ourselves back in the same place.

Junyu dismounted and slumped onto the sand. The night wind whipped up sand, scattering it all over her face and head. Suddenly, she lost all will to go on. She looked up blankly at the darkening night sky, blood dripping from her cracked lips, her throat so dry she could barely speak: "Could it be that fate is against me? Is there no way I can get out of here?"

She reached into her bosom and pulled out a few odds and ends, all gifts from Tuosang: a broken tortoiseshell comb and a brand-new brocade handkerchief inscribed with a poem. She tried to comb her tangled hair with the broken comb, but the dry, tangled hair was impossible to comb. She then took the handkerchief and wiped her forehead, though in this sweltering heat, there was no sweat on her brow; almost all the moisture in her body had evaporated. She looked at the poem: "Our hearts are bound together, our fate severed; though this life is short, our love lingers; may we meet again in the next life, a handsome young man in the wind."

She lay on the sand, almost all her strength gone, her vision blurred with stars, her mind a complete mess. Slowly, the handkerchief felt incredibly heavy, and her hand fell limply to her sides. She murmured, "Tuosang, where are you now? Do you think I'm dead and have given up looking for me?"

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Chapter 335: Tuosang's Search

The scorching sun beat down on the sand. The temperature in the desert was so high that even though these soldiers were well-trained and had exceptional endurance, they could no longer bear it and took a break in the shade of a sand dune, drinking large gulps of water.

Despite his hoarse voice and dusty face from days of searching, Tuosang couldn't rest for a moment. Finding the camels too slow, he mounted his white horse and rode off alone for a long distance. He held a specially made long stick used for searching the desert, scanning every inch of sand, but there was still no trace of him in the world.

Another blood-red setting sun sank into the western sky.

Signal after signal indicated that the army still hadn't found any trace of their commander. Even Mr. Nongying hadn't found anything. With such a large-scale search yielding no results, could Junyu have already died of thirst? Despair and fear filled his heart. Tuosang stood blankly on the sand, looking at the setting sun and then at the distance, his mind utterly empty.

The search party had caught up while the weather was cool. A soldier handed him a water pouch: "Young Master..."

He called out several times, but Tuosang remained unresponsive, staring blankly into the distance, motionless. Since Tuosang appeared in the army, everyone had seen him as consistently calm and collected, especially the few Phoenix Army soldiers who had followed him in the raid on Jincheng and the life-or-death battle at the pass. They had witnessed both his unparalleled martial arts and his rare composure, always effortlessly repelling the enemy with a smile, no matter how dire the situation. In their minds, this man would not even flinch, even if the heavens and earth were to collapse.

However, his composure has vanished, and he is now almost on the verge of madness.

These past few days, he's grown more and more distraught, yet his search is brimming with energy. Whenever he catches a sound or a shadow, he rushes towards it with ecstatic joy, only to find it's often just the sound of wind, the skeleton of some animal that died in the desert, or a few slightly larger pebbles. And behind these sounds and shadows lies endless disappointment and fear.

His mind was filled with hope one moment and despair the next. He tossed and turned like this, sleepless and relentless. His eyes were bloodshot and he was emaciated, yet his spirit remained at its peak, as if he would never close his eyes. Even his once snow-white warhorse was now covered in mud, its coat a completely indistinguishable color.