A Lonesome Fragrance Waiting to be Appreciated 1

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His speed was indeed amazing, attacking several hours earlier than expected. She hadn't remembered this when she first saw him because back then she was torn between misery and happiness.

Such a simple reason had caused her to lose.

Having said that, does that mean Chu Beijie has no idea that Ze Yin was on the other side of the route. Chasing after his disappearing soldiers?

The horse reached the Cloud Valley route's rope bridge yet Pingting's brain could barely work as she's still in a trance-like state from meeting Chu Beijie. Keeping the Dong Lin army's speed, they would have long crossed the rope bridge and hidden themselves in the forest before Ruohan damaged it.

No, Ruohan didn't know that Chu Beijie had already crossed the bridge, meaning that he'd damage it according to the plan.

But...why did the rope bridge look perfectly fine?

During this puzzling moment, there was a nasty cracking sound and the bridge began to sway.

The truth dawned on Pingting like a strike of lightning. Ruohan had indeed followed the plan as he didn't know that Chu Beijie and his soldiers had already crossed. It was damaged all right and it was still waiting for the enemy to cross it.

Chu Beijie didn't fall in the trap as he came, but fell into the trap as he returned. It was just like a joke from the Gods.

Crack...crack...the snapping rope bridge gave off ear-splitting noises.

Pingting snapped out of her trance and yelled fiercely at Chu Beijie, "Go back! The bridge has been tamp—" She hadn't finished before the rope bridge broke in half with a bang and Pingting's body lost all support and her words plummeted with her body.

"Ahh!"

She was still in the air when she felt her waist being grabbed by Chu Beijie.

The wind whipped against their faces as he held tight.

The two squeezed their eyes and plunged towards the darkness, the dangerous valley that had yet to be recorded onto maps.

The sound of wind strongly whipped in their ears. Pingting's eyes were tightly squeezed shot and could feel Chu Beijie's strong arms tightly clutching onto her. Although Chu Beijie fell later, he had flipped Pingting in midair so that his back was facing towards the ground.

There were several cracking sounds as the two fell through the canopy of dense forest. Snapped branches fell messily alongside them.

In the midst of the dense forest of tall, centuries-old trees, the cracking sound continued, although the two's plunge seemed to have been softened by the branches a little. Pingting and Chu Beijie tightened their grips, refusing to let go, as they knew they were approaching the ground rapidly and survival was unlikely.

Even if they died, at least they were together.

Thump! Thump! Two muffled sounds came from within the quiet, ancient forest. There was no predicted sound of bones shattering as they hit the ground, only two strange sounds. It seemed that the ground was soft like cotton and had significantly reduced the momentum of the two's fall.

Pingting and Chu Beijie opened their eyes, not daring to think that they were still alive. The two looked around and suddenly yelled, "Ahh!", in both delight and shock. The surrounding trees grew an unknown type of berry. Due to its remoteness, its flowers bloomed of their own accord and no one picked its berries, leaving them to fall onto the ground. Year by year, the layer of wild berry and leaves has increased in size. At this time of the year, the wild berries had just ripened and fell once more, so the layer had been thick enough to save their fall.

The foliage that lay peacefully on the ground was like a landing cushion and had saved them as if fate decided so.

Pingting flashed Chu Beijie a sweet smile, they were in a place where no one had ventured before. The corners of Chu Beijie's mouth had not quite lifted, when they froze, revealing a strange expression instead.

Seeing his state, Pingting's face couldn't help harden as her eyes quietly studied Chu Beijie.

It was as if Chu Beijie had thought of his something and his expression darkened every passing second. Then, as if covered in a layer of frost, he spun out of the "fruit mix" and chose a less fruit-covered place to rest.

Pingting gaped as he walked away, staring dazedly ahead for a while. She saw that Chu Beijie had taken off his war bag and that fresh blood was trickling out of his right arm, towards the ground. Realisation shocked her as she approached him, head bowed in shame. "I'll help you," she whispered.

"Go away." Chu Beijie grunted, cold and ruthless. He heard Pingting stiffen and take a step back, eyes fixed on himself. Chu Beijie ignored her and took out some expensive ointment, that he always kept nearby in cases of emergency, out of his battle bag. He spread it over his wound, grinding his teeth in pain and wrapped it up in a bandage.

"Cloud Valley route..." Pingting knew that he was angry and softened her voice, "I was the one who ordered to stop you from reaching our command tent, sorry for forgetting to tell you."

Chu Beijie didn't seem to be listening. His head was bowed too, as he continued to wrap up his wound on his right arm.

"Back then, the two armies were clashing and as the main military advisor, I had to decide on a tactic. I...who knew that you'd return that way too..."

Chu Beijie jerked his head, his sharp eyes piercing Pingting. In a cold voice, he said, "Coming or returning, I would've gone on that route either way. So your original...original plan was to kill me. Nice, nice." He stared at her even harder. How could he not be angry, first feeling delighted then realising that he might've just been killed by the very same person, his sweetheart?

He was no longer grinding his teeth as he said this, only smiling coldly. "Let's swear to the moon, never turn against each other..."

"Hah..." He repeated it twice, then tossed his head and laughed loudly, yet mournfully. "Geez geez, Chu Beijie, you're such an idiot!"

Pingting's heart froze at his words. Even back in the palanquin, facing the several thousand enemy troops alone, she hadn't felt cold. Her face was drained of colour beyond measure as she stammered, "I...I..." She had commanded Ruohan to break the Cloud Valley route, but hadn't expected him to still make it look untampered so that the enemy troops would plunge to their deaths without suspicion. However, if you stood from Ruohan's perspective, killing or injuring as much of the enemy troops was much needed in war, so it was understandable.

Pingting continued to say, "I...", for a long time. Looking at Chu Beijie, tears slid down her cheeks, yet she couldn't say a single word.

The moon hung high in the sky, the forest was a deathly quiet. Pingting's knees were shaky. Leaning on a tree for support, she slowly pulled herself to sit down, whispering, "You mustn't get a cold while you're injured. Is it okay if I light a fire?"

Chu Beijie sat cross-legged at another tree. He gazed far into the distance, expressionless. "When you light the fire, I wonder who'll find us first, mine or the Bei Mo army."

It was as if Pingting had been punched in the chest. It hurt so much that she could no longer talk. Her eyes blurred once more and she held them back with great difficulty. Her heart felt like it was melted, yet he thought she was more like the poison of a snake and scorpion than anything. She wiped her tears with her sleeve and stood up against the trunk, turning to leave.

"Where are you going?" Chu Beijie heard her moving, though he still refused to look at her and his voice was still cold.

Pingting's sighed, "Of course I'm going to find the Bei Mo army." Not waiting to see Chu Beijie's reaction, she walked away unhesitatingly.

Chu Beijie harrumphed once and only looked back after waiting for her to leave.