Kuang Youzhi leaned over and whispered in Baili Ziyi"s ears. "Tonight"s security has been tightened. Later, I"ll cover for you, you should be more careful when you"re getting into action!"
Just as he stopped talking, a ray of light flashed over to their side. Kuang Youzhi hurriedly covered Baili Ziyi with his arms, bent down, and hid behind a big stone.
They were so close to each other. Even though they had been together for 30 years, Baili Ziyi"s heart still beat fast. Her heartbeats sounded so loud, in such a quiet night.
Kuang Youzhi bent and nibbled Baili Ziyi"s earlobe. His breath was especially warm, in such a cold night, and it was tickling her heart.
Baili Ziyi wanted to push Kuang Youzhi aside. She moved her hands slightly, but they were immediately grasped by Kuang Youzhi, by the palms. Baili Ziyi"s hands were a little cold, but they turned warm within Kuang Youzhi"s grasp. Her heart was also getting warmer.
"Don"t move, be careful not to expose ourselves!" Kuang Youzhi"s deep voice seemed so magical, at the moment.
Baili Ziyi could not move, nor did she dare to scold him. She knew that Kuang Youzhi was just teasing her. She could do nothing, but let him be, although she felt extremely uncomfortable.
Though she felt very angry, there was nothing Baili Ziyi could do, except to restrain herself. Kuang Youzhi felt she was like a small lion in a cage. He thought of more wicked ideas.
But the reality was that he did not have the opportunity. A group of soldiers came over to their side; he could hear the sound of their approaching footsteps. Baili Ziyi"s heart beat faster, but this time it was not due to Kuang Youzhi, but because she was nervous and worried.
The sound of the approaching footsteps seemed like a prediction of their death, which made Baili Ziyi feel that her time was up. She seemed to see herself hanging high on a bamboo pole, being dried out by the sun. But this season was so cold, her body would not be dried. It would only freeze. And when the weather was warm, it would slowly decay and finally turn into a skeleton...
Thinking of this, Baili Ziyi could not help shuddering. She felt the weather had turned colder. She wonderd if it was due to the late night, or because of her imagination.
Kuang Youzhi whispered to Baili Ziyi, his low voice nearly inaudible, "Stop those wandering thoughts!"
Kuang Youzhi hands tightened a little around Baili Ziyi.
The footsteps almost came up to the big stone. Kuang Youzhi held his soft sword tightly in one hand, concentrating and keeping all his senses on high alert.
Several soldiers stopped in front of the big stone and one of them leaned against the stone. He said to the others, "Major General was killed in the camp during the day. Who do you think did it?"
A man"s muted voice answered, "Who knows? This person must be bold enough to intrude without anyone noticing."
One soldier yawned and said, "Ah, but I think maybe this man might be one of ours, otherwise how could he avoid detection so easily, and was able to commit murder in broad daylight?"
"You might be right! In fact, I have heard that our Major General was into men. Once he fancied a man, he might try to force himself upon the man. The man didn"t agree, so he tried to kill him! "
"Who told you that? How could Major General like men? However, if this is the case, what are we doing right now? There is no use adding more sentries and patrols. Major General is dead, and the murderer got what he wanted already, and he will never appear again!"
"We have no choice, the people above, are afraid of death! A Major General just died. They are afraid that they may be the next one to die."
"Well, let"s go patrol and stop chatting here. In case something does happen later."
"Mouse, you should admit that you are so timid. Nothing could possibly happen, so we can rest for a while. Don"t make a fuss about it. Major General just died during the day. Even if someone is thinking of doing something in the night, he would not choose this night. Because it is the most dangerous time right now, so no one would dare to take the risk to spring into action today!"
"But... "
"Well, say nothing more! However, I think it is inevitable that this Major General would get into an accident. He was so arrogant and did whatever he liked, just because his position was higher. He must have many enemies. So I"m not surprised that he died."
"Oh, don"t talk nonsense. Major General was the son of the Senior General. You may lose your life, if some superior heard you."
"The general"s son is a good for nothing; he was just an illegitimate son that n.o.body cared about. I heard that his mother was a prost.i.tute in a brothel. She gave her virginity to the senior general, and she was so lucky to be pregnant after that night. With the child in her belly, the mother became valuable. The Senior General had to bail her out of the brothel. After all, she was a prost.i.tute, so she did not even get a wedding and a t.i.tle. Her son was naturally not favored. Otherwise, how could the son be only a Major General?"
"You are right!"
"Moreover, I also heard that Major General"s mother was not actually from Zhongxi Country Country. She was originally from the country of Mu Xia. She was kidnapped by a merchant. She was rather strong willed, so she was sold to the brothel."
"How come there are such things happening?"
"Of course, and I heard that before the woman was abducted, she was a lady from some n.o.ble family, in the country of Mu Xia. Some said that her father was a prime minister, some said that her father was a rich man, or a General. Anyway, after being kidnapped, no natter who her father is, he couldn"t help her!"
These people were still gossiping, but Kuang Youzhi"s face was getting gloomier and colder.
Baili Ziyi felt the change in Kuang Youzhi, and turned to look at Kuang Youzhi"s black eyes, which were as dark as ink, in the night, a sharp cold light was reflected in them.
Baili Ziyi"s small hands grasped Kuang Youzhi"s big hands. Although they were cold, she intended to pa.s.s on all the strength to him.
Kuang Youzhi held her small hands, and gently rubbed his head against Baili Ziyi"s forehead.
Those soldiers seemed to have had enough of chatting, and at last, they walked away.
After the soldiers had gone away, Kuang Youzhi raised his head slightly, and observed the surroundings over the big stone.
"We should try to get out of this place first. This site has just been patrolled, so it would be safer here. It will be easier for us to leave right now." Kuang Youzhi whispered to Baili Ziyi, while trying to pull her up, to get her to move.
"Hiss..." Baili Ziyi gulped and fell directly into Kuang Youzhi"s arms.
As a result of squatting for too long, Baili Ziyi"s legs were now numb, and she was completely unable to stand up. Both her legs were wrecked with painful cramps.
"What"s wrong?" Kuang Youzhi frowned and looked down. His eyes were full of worry.
"My legs are numb! Maybe it"s too cold and I have been squatting for too long!"
"Why on earth did you come to this terrible place? If only we were still staying in the country of Mu Xia. It"s like spring all the year round. You don"t have to suffer this right now!"
"Hey! You just keep on talking and talking about it. You just won"t drop it, will you?"
Kuang Youzhi kept quiet immediately. If he answered back at this moment, they would certainly quarrel again. This was not the right time for them to quarrel.
He lowered his head, and his fingers moved over Baili Ziyi"s legs. After a while, her legs could move freely, again.
"You are good." Baili Ziyi laughed and patted him on the shoulder. The exaggeration and grat.i.tude in her words were obvious, but Kuang Youzhi did not find it pleasant.
This was also one of the reasons why Baili Ziyi and Kuang Youzhi were always having arguments. Baili Ziyi always spoke harshly, and her words were always laden with barbs. But in fact, she had a kind heart. It was as if, even though she knew the art of poisoning, she rarely used it, let alone hurt others.
Baili Lanyi once said to her, "Why on earth did you learn about using poison? What a waste!"
But she replied confidently that she could use what she learned as a defense weapon, not as a killing instrument.
This was also the difference between Baili Lanyi and Baili Ziyi, as Lanyi kept mocking her about this. Although they were sisters, they had different views. They had parted from each other since then. In their world, both of them were famous for being disciples of "b.u.t.terfly Posion", but Ziyi was much weaker than Lanyi, in comparison.
Everyone was afraid of her poison, but they rarely heard of someone dying from it. Naturally people would take her as a paper tiger, one they should not provoke, or was afraid of.
Kuang Youzhi also knew her disposition, and he usually found it interesting to quarrel with her, and was used to their quarrels. But right now, he was not in the mood to argue with her.
"Come on, let"s leave, they"ll be back any minute!"
They disappeared into the night and headed for the camp. The first place they had to find was the kitchen.
There were so many guards tonight, but many of them shared the same idea as the group that had just left. They all thought since there was already a murder committed during the day, the killer would definitely choose not to come back at this time. Moreover, it seemed that Major General had a bad reputation. Everyone agreed that since he had too many enemies, they must surely have come for him. Thus, it would naturally have no effect on the others.
As the guards were all relaxed, Kuang Youzhi and Baili Ziyi"s actions worked out well.
It took them only an hour to find the kitchen. By then, it was already late in the night. Many soldiers had already fallen asleep, and even those still on patrol, had begun to doze off.
Kuang Youzhi and Baili Ziyi flipped directly into the kitchen from the window. It was dark inside. It was not easy to find their target, which was the water tank.
Just as Kuang Youzhi lit a small candle, footsteps could be heard from outside.