Chapter 6: The Weiyuan Fort

That night, the middle-aged man’s condition worsened.

His head was tilted to the side, pressed against his shoulder, as if he were afflicted with a strange illness. Just a few days ago, he hadn’t been like this.

In the middle of the night, he woke with a start, looking around the pitch-black surroundings in panic.

After calming down, he exchanged a glance with the young girl across the fire. Suddenly, he knelt before her and kowtowed with difficulty.

“Immortal, save me!” His voice trembled.

Still kneeling, he lifted his head and met the girl’s golden eyes.

Those eyes suddenly moved, shifting a tiny bit to the side. That tiny movement alone made the man break out in a cold sweat.

He recalled the first time he had met the girl. It turned out she had warned him even then.

Then the middle-aged man began to recount the strange events of the past few days.

Before meeting the girl, he had passed through a Jurchen village and stopped there briefly to rest.

At the time, they were holding some kind of ceremony, as if to drive away bad luck and pray for the villagers.

He had traveled this route many times for business and knew some of their customs. Usually, they performed this ceremony only at a fixed time each year.

That day was naturally not the fixed time. It was a special session.

Curious, the middle-aged man asked some people about it.

It turned out that strange things were happening in the village. As punishment for those who left, Heaven had sent down a curse: death.

That was what he had heard from the Jurchen themselves. It seemed like baseless speculation.

That was what the man thought at the time.

People had to go out to work; they couldn’t stay cooped up in the village forever. If going out to work meant death, wouldn’t staying in the village eventually lead to starvation?

What kind of punishment was that? What kind of Heaven?

Still, the middle-aged man remembered what the Jurchen had said: more than half of those who left the village for more than a day died shortly after returning.

He had happened to glance at the burned corpses. Their heads were tilted to one side, resting against their shoulders.

He only took a quick look and didn’t think much of it.

After resting for a night, the middle-aged man bid farewell to the village and set off on his journey.

Many days passed without incident, so he forgot about it, until he met the girl later.

He also hadn’t given much thought to the soreness in his shoulder along the way.

Not until today, when he discovered the corpses of other merchants at the bottom of a deeper slope.

The bodies had been gnawed on, making it impossible to see the details of how they died.

At that moment, he remembered the corpses he had seen in the Jurchen village and suddenly connected it to his own current appearance.

Wasn’t his head tilted, exactly the same as the corpses in the village?

After finishing his story, the middle-aged man remained kneeling, trying to straighten his head, but he couldn’t. It was as if something was pressing down on his neck.

It had already started to affect his breathing.

Soon, he feared, the pressure would make it hard to breathe. He might even be suffocated to death.

The girl looked at him, then raised her axe and made a few gestures toward his neck, as if measuring an angle.

“Immortal?!” The man grew even more panicked. “At that angle… I might die too.”

It wasn’t that he doubted the immortal’s ability, but rather her common sense.

He was afraid she thought a human neck was tougher than an axe.

Seeing that she had withdrawn the axe and apparently had no intention of acting for now, the man stammered, “Immortal, is there… really… something on my shoulder?”

The girl nodded again.

The middle-aged man fell silent. He looked calm.

He patted his knees, then sat back down by the fire. With trembling hands, he picked up the warmed wine and downed it in one gulp.

Then, suddenly, he stood up and bolted.

As he fled, he wildly struck at the air above his shoulder, swinging his fists even though he hit nothing.

In no time, he had vanished into the night. His cries, running footsteps, and heavy breathing could be heard.

The girl remained by the fire, looking at the sky.

The faint moon above was the only familiar sight she could see. Whether here, in the icy wooden cabin, or in the place from her childhood memories, only the moon was familiar.

She added some firewood, then curled up in a corner of the shelter, closing her eyes to rest.

She held the axe in her arms, never letting it go.

The middle-aged man came running back. Perhaps because he was tired from running; perhaps because the effect of the alcohol had worn off; perhaps because he realized that no matter how he fled, he couldn’t escape.

Back at the shelter, he began to kowtow to the girl again. But she shook her head, indicating that she couldn’t solve his problem, for now.

Then when could it be solved?

The girl gave no answer.

The man spent the night in fear and trembling.

After dawn, he still felt exhausted. Besides not sleeping well, he felt as if he had done something very energy-draining. His body felt hollowed out.

The girl frowned at him from time to time. The man also realized his problem was very serious.

He quickened his pace, hoping to reach the relay station earlier.

By afternoon, he finally arrived.

“That’s Weiyuan Fort.” The man patted his cheeks, forcing himself to stay alert.

There was a low wall and a soldier guarding the gate.

The man was thrilled. Seeing a human gave him a sense of security.

The girl was also thrilled. This was the first time she had seen a large human structure, the first time she had seen a city, if it could be called a city.

For the first time, more than three living humans appeared in her field of view.

Besides the soldier at the gate and the middle-aged man, there was also a merchant driving a cart away.

This was so novel!

The departing merchant exchanged a glance with the girl. For some reason, he suddenly averted his eyes and sat up straight until he disappeared from her sight.

A girl with white hair and golden eyes?

Then she looked at the soldier guarding the gate. He also straightened up a lot. But with more courage, he kept staring at her.

The soldier was dressed in thick clothing and wore a knife at his waist.

Why a knife instead of a spear? Because it was cold.

He wrapped his hands, not daring to let his skin touch the cold air. If he carried a spear, he would have to hold the shaft with one hand all the time.

His superior’s regulations said he should stand guard with a spear. So why a knife? Because it was cold.

Why did soldiers in the south use spears, while he used a knife? Because it was cold.

Anyway, he did whatever was most convenient and comfortable.

The carriage had already reached the gate. The soldier glanced at the middle-aged man and was immediately startled, really startled.

There was a rule for entering the city: remove hats and scarves, and the face could not be covered, so that the soldier could see their features, perhaps to spot a fugitive.

Without needing the soldier to ask, the man knew the rule.

After revealing his face, the middle-aged man was… somewhat terrifying.

His head was tilted to the extreme, his eye sockets deeply sunken with dark, thick circles. His entire appearance was haggard. Even an amateur could see he was already gravely ill, as if he might die at any moment.

Had he been bewitched by a fox spirit?

Then he looked at the girl with white hair and golden eyes. She didn’t seem seductive, but rather sacred and dignified, not like an evil spirit.

The middle-aged man took out a rolled paper and handed it to the soldier.

It was his travel permit.

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