Chapter 173 The Wild and the Water
Hua raised his folding fan and waved away some of the stench drifting from the corpse.
"Look at what he's wearing."
I glanced over—and nearly threw up again.
"...His boots?"
"Official boots," Hua said, pointing at the pair on the corpse's feet, now darkened by soaked-in bodily fluids. "I can't tell which prefecture they're from, but the design is unmistakably government issue."
Mu Cangli shook his head.
"They don't belong to the Eighth Prince's men."
Lian looked at him.
"How can you tell?"
Mu Cangli pointed to the stitching along the top of the boot.
"That arrow pattern is unique to Beichuan City. The Eighth Prince's soldiers wear military boots, not a civil official's."
My head was already spinning.
"So... why would an official from Beichuan come all the way into the depths of North Ridge? And end up dead in this ruined temple? Someone even covered him with hay. Was he murdered? Or did the array kill him?"
No one answered.
Just then—
Creak—
The rafters groaned sharply overhead.
Everyone looked up.
The next instant—
Thump.
Something fell from the ceiling beams, bounced twice on the floor, and rolled to a stop.
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
"Don't tell me it's another—!"
Lian blurred into motion.
With one light leap, he was already on the rafters.
He reached out—
—and caught a gray-furred monkey.
The creature shrieked wildly, flailing all four limbs in panic. It struggled so violently that it slipped through Lian's fingers, hit the floor with a thud, then limped straight out of the temple and disappeared at remarkable speed.
I pressed a hand against my chest.
"So it was just a monkey... You scared me half to death. I thought this place had turned into a haunted temple..."
Hua calmly added,
"Who's to say it hasn't?"
"..."
Could you not?
Lian dropped lightly back to the floor. His expression remained calm, but there was a deeper concern in his eyes.
"This monkey is soaked through. It must have passed through cold water not long ago."
Mu Cangli frowned.
"There's water nearby?"
Hua Xiang answered coolly,
"North Ridge is riddled with underground streams. Hidden waterways beneath the mountain aren't unusual."
I drew a slow breath, staring at the corpse lying rigidly on the floor.
The longer I stayed, the less I wanted to remain here.
I turned to the others.
"Whatever happened to him has nothing to do with us. Mu Cangli's pouch has been recovered, and we still have more important things to do. We shouldn't waste any more time here."
To my surprise, Hua Xiang nodded.
For someone who usually contradicted me on principle, agreeing so readily felt almost unsettling.
He looked toward the endless mountain ridges ahead.
"If we circle around that mountain, we should reach the southern foothills of Falling Star Ridge. The Eighth Prince's men are still behind us. Whatever happened here can wait."
His calm assessment eased my nerves.
I quickly nodded.
We packed up and prepared to leave.
Just before we set off, though, I noticed Mu Cangli still crouching beside the corpse, quietly doing something.
He had always been a man of few words, methodical in everything he did. Somehow, that only made him more unnerving.
I walked over.
"Brother Mu... what are you doing?"
He looked up, his face almost unnaturally composed.
"I can't bear to leave him exposed to the wilderness. I'm simply covering him."
With that, he gently spread another bundle of hay over the body.
The careful way he did it reminded me of someone tucking a blanket over a sleeping person.
It sent a chill down my spine.
I studied his unreadable face.
Something about him felt... hidden.
I couldn't put my finger on it.
In the end, I merely nodded and pretended I hadn't noticed anything.
When we resumed our journey, the monkey appeared again.
It perched on the temple roof, its long limbs folded beneath it, its tail dangling lazily over the edge. The tip swayed back and forth in the mountain breeze, almost like an impatient signal.
We stared at each other for quite a while.
It never looked away.
Instead, it simply watched us from afar, calm and unblinking, as though we were the intruders in its territory.
I couldn't help muttering,
"That monkey almost looks... intelligent. Too bad it can't talk. Otherwise we could ask it what happened to that corpse."
Lian shot me a sidelong glance.
"Enough nonsense. Let's go."
I immediately shut my mouth.
The farther we ventured into the mountains, the steeper the terrain became.
Hidden streams crisscrossed beneath the cliffs.
By late afternoon we found a narrow brook, crystal clear and ice-cold, trickling from cracks in a wall of jagged rock.
The place was remote, secluded, and close to fresh water.
Perfect for spending the night.
Truth be told, my stomach had begun aching not long after we'd set out that morning.
The pain came in waves.
I knew exactly what it meant.
Monthly Red was acting up again.
But we were racing against time, and I didn't want to slow everyone down. I figured I'd endure it until nightfall.
Unexpectedly, halfway through the march, Lian walked over carrying a waterskin and a medicinal pill.
Without a word, he pressed both into my hand.
"For you."
He spoke flatly.
"Medicine to suppress Monthly Red."
I blinked.
"How did you know I—"
He let out a quiet snort.
"It's written all over your face."
Well... I wasn't doing it on purpose.
Yet hearing him express concern in that cold, matter-of-fact way somehow struck deeper than open kindness.
A strange warmth tightened in my chest.
I quickly lowered my head and swallowed the pill, pretending to busy myself before he could keep looking at me.
By the time darkness settled, we had built a campfire.
The flames cast flickering shadows over the towering rocks and twisted trees, making everything around us seem strangely alive.
Then—
A long, mournful howl echoed somewhere in the distance.
It sounded neither like a wolf nor a dog.
The eerie cry rose and fell, making the hairs on my neck stand up.
I hugged my arms.
"...There aren't wolves around here, are there? This place doesn't exactly look like somewhere ordinary people visit."
Hua Xiang glanced at me.
"If there are wolves, you're making more noise than they are."
"..."
Fine.
I shut up.
Still, I quietly scooted a little closer to the fire.
After eating our dried rations, everyone settled down to rest.
Tonight, Hua and I were responsible for the second half of the night watch.
Hua Xiang and the others fell asleep quickly.
Lian simply lay down fully clothed, looking like the sort of person who could wake up and stab anyone foolish enough to come within three feet of him.
The fire crackled in the night breeze.
Hua and I had little to do, so I started telling him ghost stories I'd heard from the servants back when I lived in the Nangong Residence.
Stories about doors knocking by themselves at midnight.
About hanging ghosts beneath old stone bridges grabbing people's ankles.
As I spoke, Hua's expression gradually stiffened.
By the end, he looked thoroughly regretful.
"I should never have agreed to stand watch with you."
I was just getting to the best part when—
Splash.
Water.
From the stream not far away.
I stopped immediately.
Hua and I exchanged a glance.
His hand had already tightened around the hilt of his blade.
Moonlight shimmered across the surface of the water.
Something beneath it had disturbed the current.
"You heard that too?" I whispered.
He nodded.
"Let's check."
We approached the stream in silence.
Beyond the reach of the campfire, the darkness swallowed everything whole.
I leaned forward, trying to see—
Suddenly—
Splash!
A fountain of water erupted.
A shaggy head burst out of the stream.
I exploded into a scream.
"AAAAAAAH!!"
Its long, dripping hair hid its face completely.
Before I could even make out its features, it vanished beneath the water again.
Gone.
My legs gave out.
I collapsed onto the ground, pointing frantically at the stream.
"Th-there's something in there!"
Hua shouted and sprang across the water.
His feet skimmed the surface as he searched the stream from above.
When he returned, however, his face had grown grave.
"I didn't see anything."
I slapped his arm.
"Of course you didn't! You never went underwater! How were you supposed to see anything from the surface?"
A shiver ran through me.
"But... the water's freezing. It couldn't actually be a person... could it? It looked more like some kind of water monkey."
The moment the words left my mouth, Hua frowned.
"Don't talk nonsense."
Yet even he looked uneasy.
The commotion had awakened everyone.
Lian was the first to arrive.
The others followed moments later.
Hua Xiang walked to the stream and studied the water thoughtfully.
Then something brushed against his foot.
He bent down and hooked it out.
It was a long, hollow reed.
He held it up for everyone to see.
"Why would there be a reed in this stream?"
I looked around.
The banks were nothing but rocks and barren slopes.
There wasn't enough vegetation nearby to grow reeds.
Lian took the reed from him and examined it carefully.
He squeezed the stalk gently.
The outer surface gave way slightly beneath his fingers.
Along the rim were unmistakable bite marks.
He looked up.
"My guess..."
"Someone was hiding underwater."
"They used this reed to breathe from beneath the surface."
Silence settled over us.
Only the fire continued to crackle behind us, sending sparks drifting into the night.
I swallowed.
Someone had been hiding here.
Watching us.
Who?
And why?
And that shaggy head...
Had it really been a head at all?
The night wind stirred the flowing stream.
The water murmured softly through the darkness.
But to me, it sounded like countless unseen voices whispering just beyond sight.