A Different Path

by rampantwolfhound

After some of Chu Qiao's Xiulis have been wrongfully executed, she makes the conscious decision to break from Yan Xun before the icy lake scene and walk a different path. Canon divergence from Eng-subbed episode 55.

7. Chapter 7

AN: I know this chapter's long, but I really wanted to wrap up these loose ends and get the Battle of Xiuli Mountain—and thus the icy lake-going. I also ended up adding a XingYue scene at the bottom that I hadn't anticipated writing. Given how slowly Chu Qiao's emotional development can progress, I simply assumed she wouldn't be ready for something like the end of this chapter to happen just yet. She is, as y'all know, a forceful woman, however, and she told me she was ready. So don't thank me—thank her. You should find the legend of Po Yue Jian and Can Hong Jian I use to be familiar; if you don't recognize it, then you need to go read Lilliumscribe's "In-Laws and Outlaws" so you will. (No, seriously. If you haven't read that story yet, what are you even doing here? Go read it now.) Thank you, Lillium, for writing such an excellent story that gives us the satisfaction of seeing our OTP facing the world together.

---

The ruined Meilin Border town that Xia Chong had seen earlier in the daylight still looked pitiful in the scant moonlight that managed to filter through the clouds above. As a former Afterlife Camp assassin, she was skilled in the art of tracking people she needed to find—even those who didn't want to be found. This time, however, she wasn't hunting people to kill them but to save them.

Xia Chong finally found the decrepit structure she was looking for, having spotted it as the main building that her targets had holed up in earlier that day. She climbed up the outside of the building and ran swiftly and silently along the top of the cracked, dilapidated roof, stopping occasionally to listen for any sounds of detection. There were none, so she stopped above the window that she'd chosen to sneak into due to its proximity to the main area of the building where her targets were likely sleeping.

As she dropped into the window, she immediately realized her mistake as she felt the cold metal of a blade bite softly into her neck. She froze, knowing from experience that living to fight another day was more important than trying to do something foolish.

"If you are who I think you are," she said softly, "then I'm not your enemy. I have fresh news for the people of Yuan Song and Yuwen Yue that they need to know—that my master would want them to know."

"I know that voice," a woman said from behind Xia Chong, the sword-wielder's voice triggering Xia Chong's own memory.

"How did you end up here, Meng Feng?" Xia Chong asked her former associate in disbelief.

"I could ask you the same question—except I know how those of our kind normally end up in places like this in the dark of night."

"In the front of my robes, I have a badge that will identify the man I work for, a man you'll hopefully recognize as an ally—at least in regards to our mutual friends."

"How do I know that your badge isn't actually a handful of poison darts?" Meng Feng asked.

"I could just give you the news here and you can decide if you think I'm trustworthy or not," Xia Chong said, conscious of how much time she was wasting.

"Since I can stand like this all night, I guess I may as well hear what you have to say—so talk."

"Earlier tonight, Yan Xun and many of his best generals were assassinated by a group of conspirators."

To Xia Chong's surprise, a masculine gasp came from a corner of the room. Not only had she believed the room to be empty save for the two of them, but given what she knew, she hadn't expected them to be surprised by the details.

"I figured you all knew about the plan and were even in on it," she told the room at large.

"We were, but since we were supposed to handle killing Yan Xun, we didn't think...it was Yuwen Yue, wasn't it?" Meng Feng asked in distress. "We were worried that something must've happened to keep him away from here, but we didn't know that he'd gone through with that part of the plan."

"Well, he did, and he was successful—if most of the citizenry is to be believed, at least. However, given the information I overheard, I know that Yan Xun's killer was Princess Yuan Chun, and that Xiao Yu, the Liang Princess and head spy, knows the truth."

The choked-out "Chun'er?" that came from the dark confirmed Xia Chong's suspicion about the identity of the corner-dweller.

"Yes, Prince Yuan Song," Xia Chong said. "I disguised myself as a serving girl at an inn where Xiao Yu was staying so that I could keep an eye on her, and your sister just happened to spend tonight at that same inn. She was dressed as a commoner, but her looks and bearing stood out in spite of her appearance—to the wrong person, it turned out."

Footsteps sounded from another corner of the room, and a small lantern was lit to provide some light. She knew who this man was, having been given his description by her master.

"Thank you, Yue Qi," she said, impressed when his demeanor didn't change at being identified. "My master told me about you—and that I could trust you if the mission went bad and I couldn't find Yuwen Yue."

"I think it's time you told us who your master was," Yue Qi said, carefully keeping out of the line of sight of Yuan Song, who she could now see was propping up a small crossbow on his left knee with his left finger on the trigger.

She slowly reached into her robes and pulled out Xiao Ce's seal, trusting that the man before her would surely recognize it given his position as Yuwen Yue's right hand and his history with her master. He took it from her and examined it, nodding in approval and acknowledgment. Meng Feng sheathed her sword and gestured towards the door.

Xia Chong followed her former associate's instructions and went into the hallway, following Yue Qi to the room she'd been planning on sneaking into in order to find someone to tell her news. She had to acknowledge that her original plan hadn't been particularly well-crafted, but she'd known that time had been running out and she'd felt its passage keenly.

The three of them sat down and Meng Feng gestured for Xia Chong to do so as well, offering her some wine and bread. She accepted, realizing that this could end up being her last chance to eat for quite some time. When she was finished, she continued delivering her news.

"We need to go to Xiuli Mountain as quickly as we can since that's likely going to be where everything comes to a head."

"Why Xiuli Mountain?" Yue Qi asked. "Wasn't the plan for Xing'er's troops to march on the city?"

"I don't know what the plan was in full, but if part of it was for Yuwen Yue to assassinate Yan Xun and to get out undetected, then that went wrong when someone discovered that Princess Yuan Chun had already killed him. Yuwen Yue had to flee, and ended up getting rescued by Q...Chu Qiao."

Xia Chong narrowly avoided using her master's nickname for his close friend, knowing that she'd likely make no friends here by using it. Xiao Ce had told her that some of them would call Qiao Qiao "Xing'er," so she'd been prepared for that.

"A'Chu?" Yuan Song asked gleefully. "A'Chu saved him?"

The young prince's face lit up with a boyish grin that transformed his appearance from a world-weary survivor into the playful, happy-go-lucky young man that Xiao Ce had described to her.

"How did she do it?" he asked, his face alight with interest.

"From what I've heard, she was riding hard on the road to Xiuli Mountain and he jumped off of the ramparts of the city and flew towards her while wearing a pair of black wings. Some city archers shot the wings, though, and he likely would've fallen to his death had Chu Qiao not kept pace with him on her horse and made a place for him to land behind her."

"Well done, A'Chu," the prince said, grinning manically and slapping his hand on the table. "And now she'll take care of him and keep him safe, and maybe..."

Xia Chong noticed how indulgently Meng Feng was looking at the young prince and filed that information away for future use. Given her plans, that affection could be useful in keeping him alive and ultimately seeing him on the throne as the true ruler of Yanbei—and, more importantly, as a stabilizing force in the region.

"Keeping Yuwen Yue safe is going to be difficult, their combined abilities notwithstanding. Enough people saw them riding towards Xiuli Mountain for word to get around, and most people around here know how dedicated Chu Qiao is to her troops. The remaining powers in Yanbei—which, unfortunately, now includes Xiao Yu, who has tricked the other generals into believing her to be on their side-have already sent troops to surround Xiuli Mountain, which means that the Xiulis at least won't be able to escape. And if the Xiulis can't escape..."

"Then A'Chu won't escape without them," Yuan Song said, his good humor evaporating in a moment.

"And my master won't leave her," Yue Qi said solemnly, taking a final swig of wine before standing up.

"I see you grasp the situation," Xia Chong said, also standing up. "We need to leave for Xiuli Mountain as soon as possible—although we should probably stop near the city first so that I can make contact with the spies I've set up here in Yanbei and get as much fresh news as I can."

"What will we do when we get there?" Meng Feng asked while packing up their supplies. "I'm assuming you have some sort of a plan."

"Did you guys have some sort of a plan when you fled from your first hideout and holed up here?" Xia Chong asked, not wanting to go into great detail about her orders from her master.

"Good point," Yuan Song said, doing as much work as he could with only one arm, which was a considerable amount to Xia Chong's eyes given the circumstances. "Besides, we're guilty of trying to follow A'Chu's plan, so we deserve to end up in chaos anyway."

Yue Qi's lips twitched in response.

"Xing'er's plans do tend to have unintended consequences—especially when the master's involved. But if he's in danger—if they're both in danger—then I want to be at their side no matter the cost."

"Me, too," Meng Feng said solemnly. "He saved me even after I poisoned Chu Qiao, and my life has been his ever since."

"That's more or less how I came to serve Crown Prince Xiao Ce," Xia Chong said. "Xiao Yu captured me; he learned of my existence and location; he rescued me. As you said, my life's been his ever since."

"We were all sent here as punishment by my father—or, in my case, as a means to rid himself of a shameful inconvenience—but Yuwen Yue is one of the few old friends I have left, and A'Chu..." Yuan Song said, pausing in reflection. "A'Chu and I have had our moments of misunderstanding, but with the fate of so much hanging in the balance, I'd rather fight with her than against her."

"I'm glad we're all agreed, then," Xia Chong said, relieved to finally be on the move again. "I take it you'll inform the rest of your people that we'll be heading out soon."

"I'll take care of that," Yue Qi said, striding out the door as if he, too, already wished himself gone from this sad, hopeless place.

"Can I help with anything?" Xia Chong asked Meng Feng and the prince.

"You can carry all of these things that I can't carry," Yuan Song said, not seeming to be bothered by his handicap in the slightest.

She did so without protest, noting again how close Meng Feng stayed to the prince and the way she looked at him. Xia Chong was happy that her former Afterlife Camp associate had found a better life the same way she had and that that life seemed to include the potential of a significant elevation in status through an advantageous marriage. Not that she remembered Meng Feng as someone who cared about status outside of its ability to give you the means to accomplish your goals, but if one could marry well...

As they left the rickety old building, Xia Chong inhaled a breath of crisp, cool air in thanksgiving. She was also glad that she hadn't had to outline her master's instructions to these people in order to get them to trust her. While she figured that they were all smart enough to know that she wasn't helping them just out the goodness of her heart, she hadn't wanted to lay out her master's interests so plainly.

"Miss Chong," Xiao Ce had said during the mission's final briefing, "your primary goal is to ensure that my sister doesn't succeed in doing anything that could endanger the interests of Liang. Destabilizing relations between Wei and Yanbei was beneficial to us at first, but now, we need to proceed with caution-especially with the rumors of the emperor's ill health coupled with the likelihood of Prince Yuan Che ascending the throne."

"I understand, Crown Prince," Xia Chong had said, inclining her head.

"Good. Second..." Xiao Ce had paused, obviously wanting to phrase his next point with delicacy. "Second, I want you to keep an eye on my sister in order to prevent her from doing anything that could endanger our interests even if it won't overtly endanger Liang."

Xia Chong had merely smiled malevolently and nodded once.

"I knew you and I could understand each other, Miss Chong," he'd said in appreciation. "Third, don't get caught."

"Naturally, Crown Prince," she'd said, dipping her head in acknowledgment. "I trust if my cover were to get blown, I'd be on my own."

"As much as I like you, Miss Chong..." Xiao Ce had said, raising his eyebrows meaningfully.

"The interests of your people must come first."

"Just so," Xiao Ce had said before turning his piercing eyes on her in complete seriousness. "Miss Chong, I have a single caveat that overrides all of my previous instructions. If you find yourself in a situation where Qiao Qiao's in danger and you can protect her, then do it regardless of the consequences."

"Even if it endangers Liang?" Xia Chong had asked in surprise.

"Yes," Xiao Ce had said firmly. "Save Qiao Qiao no matter what, and then do your best to protect the interests of Liang. You may leave first."

Xia Chong had clasped her sword in her hands, bowed to the prince, and left with a greater understanding of her new master than when she'd entered the room.

As she rode out of the ransacked Meilin village on one of the horses that some of her other former Afterlife associates had liberated from the countryside, Xia Chong looked up at the cloudy sky, wondering if her master could see the stars in Liang that he was so fond of reading. Did he already know if she would succeed in her mission or fail? Was he even now preparing some contingency plan for if she couldn't stop Xiao Yu's scheme? Such things were beyond Xia Chong, so she simply concentrated on thinking about the things she could do once they got to Yanbei—and how she could get her new and old allies to help her to do them.

---

Chu Qiao had never been so simultaneously pleased and irritated with an interruption in her life. As she positioned herself at one side of the wooden screen while Yuwen Yue readied himself similarly on the other, she did her best to relegate the feelings and emotions still pulsing through her to the back of her mind where they belonged. She might not be experienced in love, but she was no fool; she knew exactly what had almost happened—what she'd wanted to happen.

A platoon of Yanbei soldiers out for vengeance might be about to attack you—so act like it!

The soft crunch of footsteps sounded again on the loose pebbles of the corridor that led to the cave's entrance. Chu Qiao gripped Can Hong Jian tighter in her right hand and pointed its tip towards the wooden screen; Yuwen Yue did the same with Po Yue Jian. She realized that they had automatically stood in a two-person fighting stance, ready to take on together whatever threat might be waiting on the other side of the screen.

All noise ceased except the soft, almost undetectable sounds of breathing. Her stabled horse broke the silence by nickering in welcome, which Chu Qiao considered to be either a really good or really bad thing. A soft tap came on the wooden screen, followed by two harder raps and a scrape. Chu Qiao's shoulders relaxed slightly, but she still maintained her alert posture.

"A'Chu?" a feminine voice said on the other side of the partition. "A'Chu, it's Zhong Yu and Wu Daoya. We're coming home."

Chu Qiao sagged in relief and sheathed her sword, smiling a little as she noticed Yuwen Yue doing the same, trusting her implicitly.

"This is Chu Qiao and...Yuwen Yue. Welcome home."

She heard similar sighs of relief on the other side of the wooden screen and knew that she only had a few moments to explain what was going on.

"That exchange was our code for, 'Everything's fine; nobody's with us,'" Chu Qiao explained as she tugged on a leather strap in the middle of the screen, folding the partition inward. "Had someone forced them to come here, they would've said, 'We're coming in,' instead. Had an enemy been in here with me, I would've just given my name and said, 'Come in,' so they would've known this place wasn't safe."

"I'm glad you've decided I'm not your enemy," Yuwen Yue said, giving her a final intense look that took advantage of their last moments of privacy.

Chu Qiao deliberately slowed her movements, providing them with a few extra seconds alone.

"You'll never be my enemy again," she vowed, meeting his look with one of her own.

Whatever her specific feelings for Yuwen Yue were, she knew that she could never go back to being on a different side from him. No matter what path she ended up walking, she knew that it would be one on which Yuwen Yue was walking with her—even if that path was short and led straight to the afterlife.

Zhong Yu and Wu Daoya came in through the opening she'd made, and they greeted her warmly. Yuwen Yue they regarded more warily, but Chu Qiao could detect no animosity in their bearing. She replaced the wooden screen in its proper place, figuring it could provide them with a bit more protection for the next couple of hours until dawn made its use unnecessary.

"Is he the reason we had to abort the mission midway through?" Zhong Yu asked, inclining her head towards Yuwen Yue.

"Not exactly," Chu Qiao said. "In fact, I'll go ahead and say up front that he didn't kill Yan Xun."

"Is it true, then?" Zhong Yu said, sadness etched on her face. "Is he really gone?"

"Yes," Chu Qiao said softly. "Yuwen Yue saw his body himself—along with the rabbit tail charm his killer left behind."

"Chun'er?" Zhong Yu asked in shock. "Are you saying she actually managed to...If Yuwen Yue didn't kill him, then how was he in a position to see Yan Xun's body?"

"I wasn't helping Chun'er, if that's what you think," Yuwen Yue said speaking for the first time. "I did, however, conclude that this plan didn't have a chance of succeeding without the removal of Yan Xun by force and acted accordingly. I was too late, though, as Chun'er had already exacted her revenge by time I got into the palace."

"And when were you planning on informing us of your plans?" Zhong Yu asked. "When we got to the city the next day and it was in complete upheaval?"

"We have a lot to discuss," Chu Qiao said, not wanting to rehash the argument that she herself had already had with Yuwen Yue. "Come over to our fancy sitting area and have some tea and refreshments—or I can make some beans or rice if you want."

They stood in silence for a few moments, and she didn't know if her old friend was going to drop what Chu Qiao understood to be a valid line of questioning. She felt a surge of protectiveness for Yuwen Yue wash through her, and she realized with shock that she was prepared to put herself between Zhong Yu's potential wrath and the man she would do anything to keep safe.

"Okay," Zhong Yu said, sighing in resignation. "We don't have much time to salvage this plan anyway, and I haven't eaten since early afternoon. In fact, I specifically remember leaving some jars of wine in here yesterday, and something tells me that this story will be much easier to digest with a little assistance."

"You're probably right," Chu Qiao said, retrieving enough bottles and rickety chairs for all of them from one of the corners of the cave.

"Drinking this wine is the best thing that's happened to me since leaving the city," Wu Daoya said, closing his eyes as he took a large gulp of his wine. "Now give us a quick overview of what happened, and we'll see what we can do to make the rest of our plan work."

Chu Qiao sat in silence for a second, trying to figure out where to begin; she noticed that Yuwen Yue was having a similar problem. Their eyes met in silent communication and they reached a decision. She stood up and began the preparations for making rice, all too glad to allow Yuwen Yue to begin their story with his own misadventures instead of hers.

"It all started with an ambush that I missed because I was meeting with my pen friend," Yuwen Yue said into the silence.

Zhong Yu blinked at Yuwen Yue a couple of times before picking up her bottle of wine and drinking deeply from it.

Chu Qiao sympathized with her completely.

---

Xiao Yu had been amazed at how quickly the current leaders of Yanbei had fallen for her ruse, but Yanbei's rulers had never been known for their intelligence. They made good pawns and were often decent fighters, but they rarely amounted to anything more. She and her brother had agreed that the people of Wei were savage and rustic, but the residents of Yanbei made Wei look like a land of philosophers and wise men in comparison.

Even accounting for the sheer stupidity of Yanbei's people, Xiao Yu couldn't believe that she'd actually managed to infiltrate Yanbei's highest levels of military leadership by raiding an old hideout, using outdated clothes and seals found in it, and showing up while looking pretty. They hadn't even recognized the name of her former associate that she'd given as her own. Incredible. Yet here she was in the predawn hours, standing outside in the torchlight with the other generals of Yanbei, all of whom had their most intimidating faces on in order to impress the impressionable Yanbei troops.

The one everyone called A'Jing had seemed only too happy to delegate the speech-making duties to her, so here she was, giving a speech about the glory of Yanbei and the wages of betrayal to a bunch of dumb, rough Yanbei soldiers. As much as she and her brother were often at odds, she knew that he'd be able to appreciate the absurdity of her current circumstances.

She knew better than to speak too long, knowing the short attention span of the creatures standing before her. With a final call to action, Xiao Yu wrapped her speech up, managing to keep a straight face while receiving the accolades of the audience. Sounds of dissent also reached her ears, however, from multiple areas of the army camp in which they were all gathered.

"Why are all of us going to Xiuli Mountain when Wei could attack at any moment?" one faceless voice yelled out.

"Yan Xun never cared about us, so why should we care about him?" another voice supported the first.

"My family still draws breath because Chu Da Ren and her Xiuli troops were willing to lay down their lives for them," a younger voice piped up. "I'll not raise a hand against them no matter what they did."

"I heard they didn't even kill Yan Xun anyway," a female voice from the edge of the crowd said. "A friend of a friend of my sister's husband said that he saw proof that an ex-lover had killed him, not Yuwen Yue or Chu Qiao."

"Ah, nobody believes that bunch of lies, you moron!"

"Shut up, you boot-licker!"

Xiao Yu masked her amusement well, waiting to see if any of the big, tough men surrounding her were going to try to regain control over the soldiers and the civilians that had come in through the city entrance. She was somewhat surprised to realize that there were actually some people in Yanbei with common sense; naturally, she'd have to have them all killed. Mentally rolling her eyes, she stepped up to do what the men wouldn't.

"I know that tough times have put everyone under great stress, but fatigue and distress are not suitable excuses for betrayal. We ride for Xiuli Mountain as soon as possible; all who refuse this order will be punished for their disloyalty."

More dissent reached her ears, and she ran out of patience. She knew that Xiuli Mountain wasn't far, so she wanted to be able to greet Yuwen Yue and his woman properly in the early morning light. Xiao Yu gestured for the archers on the ramparts to nock and aim their arrows and was gratified to hear them doing so. She raised her hand and was about to drop it when A'Jing interrupted her.

"Miss Tao, we really don't have time for this. If we're going to reach Xiuli Mountain by early- to mid-morning, we need to leave now and march hard."

"But what are we supposed to do about these traitors?" Xiao Yu asked sharply.

"Leave them here," A'Jing said, shrugging. "Force them into the city and then tie the doors shut with ropes like we did while we were escaping from Chang'an. We can always kill them after we take care of the other traitors."

"Aren't you worried that they'll kill the townspeople?" Xiao Yu asked, not caring about the peasantry but curious to hear his answer.

"Not really. They're family men, most of them, and would see the city folk as allies rather than enemies. A few archers on the walls should keep them all in line until we can deal with them. They won't even have to be shut up in there that long—a day at most, I'd wager."

Xiao Yu clasped her hands and bowed, inwardly amused at A'Jing's lack of stomach. She would've had the men cut down without a second thought, but what did she care about some Yanbei troops anyway? Besides, their coalition had thousands of men at their disposal, so why should she care about what was surely no more than 500—especially when she knew that the Xiuli Legion had only about 100 men left in it?

"You heard His Highness!" Xiao Yu yelled out to those around her. "Lock the traitors up and then get ready to move out. We have some rebels to kill!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" the rest of the troops chanted back at her.

That was a sentiment with which she could agree entirely. While she knew that she could never kill Yuwen Yue herself, she knew that she would have no problem whatsoever with ordering someone else to do so. Even if Yuwen Yue managed to survive their attack, however, her main goal was to kill that woman. Chu Qiao. Luo He's daughter. The one who had stolen the heart of a man she didn't know and of whom she wasn't worthy.

Even if I don't manage to kill Yuwen Yue, I will make sure that his woman dies—preferably in grisly fashion right in front of him. If he does manage to survive, I want him to live his life knowing what he's lost—and what he could've had.

As they marched for Xiuli Mountain and left the city locked up tight behind them, Xiao Yu lifted her face into the cool breeze blowing into it. She could swear that she smelled vengeance on the wind.

---

"Ah, Xing'er," Yuwen Yue said, dipping his head towards his now-empty rice bowl, "that was the best rice I've had in days."

"Really?" Chu Qiao asked skeptically. "How many days?"

"At least two."

Chu Qiao's friends gave a couple of tired chuckles, and she was glad to realize that the wine had done its work well. They'd talked about strategy and planning, but in the end had decided that their immediate situation was likely too grim to offer them much in the way of options. All of them knew that there was already a large number of troops outside and that more would likely be coming in the light of day.

"We should probably get some rest," Zhong Yu said to Mister Wu, gesturing towards the sleeping area.

"Right," Chu Qiao was quick to agree. "Yuwen Yue and I can stand guard near the door so that you can have that area all to yourselves."

They all pushed back their chairs, being careful to not break them as they did so. Not that they cared about the chairs themselves, but going into battle already injured could turn out to be the kiss of death.

How did you break your sword arm, Chu Da Ren? she could envision He Xiao earnestly asking her. Oh, I tripped over a broken-down chair in our cave hideout, He Xiao.

The corners of her mouth twitched as she imagined the scene. Unfortunately, another scene was unfolding on the other side of the cave where her friends were preparing for bed. Given the nature of their abrupt awakening and the lack of time to clean up after their sparring, all of the bedding was strewn around the sleeping area.

Zhong Yu's eyebrows had climbed all the way up her forehead and she was looking at Chu Qiao and Yuwen Yue in puzzlement. Yuwen Yue looked away in discomfort and began examining the walls of their cave as if the secrets of the world were written on them. Chu Qiao smiled wistfully at Yuwen Yue, remembering another cave wall that had gotten a similarly intense level of study in what sometimes felt like another lifetime.

As if sensing her scrutiny, he turned his head and looked at her, causing her eyes to widen and her breath to shorten. How long they stared at each other, she didn't know, but when the sound of the cave's two other occupants getting into bed reached her ears, she finally managed to look away from Yuwen Yue. Zhong Yu was still studying them with a suspicious expression; Chu Qiao pretended not to notice.

At last, all was quiet inside the cave as its occupants settled down either for rest or for guarding. Chu Qiao didn't dare look at Yuwen Yue, not wanting to end up falling into his eyes again.

Or are you not looking at him because you know that you actually do want to fall into his eyes again?

As before, she almost wished that an enemy would make its way down their little corridor and through the cave's entrance so that she could have something to distract her from the inevitable. This time, however, she wasn't fearing a fight with Yuwen Yue but rather with her own feelings. How had she entered this cave mere hours ago with the resolution to never trust Yuwen Yue again but was now standing guard at its entrance at his side after having recently told him that he'd never again be her enemy?

Chu Qiao knew that she likely had at least a couple of hours to stand here and do nothing but think about the future. She was not introspective by nature, yet what choice did she really have? Her only other options all centered around the amount of enemy troops surrounding them versus the amount of men they had on hand with which to defend Xiuli Mountain.

Or you could look at Yuwen Yue again; maybe he's looking at you and…

She shushed that insidious part of her mind that she'd already allowed to have way too much influence tonight. Not that she could feel any regret over the progress that she and Yuwen Yue had made. If nothing else came of this new path she'd vowed to walk, at least she and Yuwen Yue had cleared up most of the misunderstandings between them.

The problem, however, was that without their misunderstandings, without their status as enemies, and without their necessary separation due to responsibilities, many of her reasons for maintaining distance between herself and Yuwen Yue dissipated like the smoke of their cookfire as it went up the natural chimney in the rock. At this point, all she had to fall back on was her assertion that since she didn't know what love was, she had no way of knowing whether or not she was in love with Yuwen Yue.

Ignorance is often used as an excuse for many things. I didn't know who Yan Xun was or what he was capable of, but my lack of knowledge didn't save me from being hurt by him—and from indirectly participating in the deaths of innocents. Can I truly use my own ignorance of love as proof that I don't love someone?

She risked glancing at Yuwen Yue, almost expecting to find him watching her with that unreadable—or sometimes all-too-readable—expression on his face. He was, however, lost in his own thoughts; whether they were about her, their predicament, or the unknown fate of their mutual friends, she couldn't tell.

Not that her own feelings were any less confusing. She could assert all she wanted that she didn't know what love was, but she knew that what she felt for Yuwen Yue was unlike anything that she'd ever felt for anyone—including Yan Xun. Chu Qiao might not have known anything about love, but she did know that she needed Yuwen Yue in her life, that the thought of a future without him was incomprehensible, and that she was willing to do whatever was necessary to keep him safe—and by her side.

She could no longer deny the truth that she was physically attracted to him, not after their almost-kiss. Not that she hadn't been drawn to him in some capacity since the early days of their relationship; every time he'd stared into her eyes, she'd felt a connection with him as she'd stared back, wide-eyed. Even when he'd faced her over her knife after she'd set that trap for him, she'd felt that pull, that force that had stilled her hand, made her question her anger and rage, and prevented her from taking vengeance for Linxi and everyone else she'd thought Yuwen Yue had wronged.

Chu Qiao's expression grew melancholy as she remembered her sweet, caring brother. While he hadn't been her sibling by blood—and had always believed her to be only a half-sibling-he had always treated her like one of his own. She'd believed herself to have avenged Linxi by indirectly causing the death of Jin Zhu, the one who had given Linxi the poisoned box; the other guilty parties in his death she'd believed to be Yuwen Xi and Yuwen Huai. Yuwen Yue had been the means of Linxi's death, but from the moment she'd figured out the purpose of the flesh-gloves, she'd realized that her brother had been doomed the moment he'd touched that box with his bare hands.

Discovering the truth about Yuwen Zhuo's faked death had upended her reality, however, and had made her question everything she'd ever believed about Yuwen Yue—especially his feelings for her. She realized with a start that she'd somehow come full-circle in her thoughts even while she'd been thinking about her adoptive brother. Chu Qiao hadn't brought Linxi up except in passing during her earlier conversation with Yuwen Yue because she'd believed the matter to be resolved between them due to his thorough explanation of the events leading up to his death. At this point, she had no reason to disbelieve him, so why bother talking about it anymore?

Be honest with yourself, Chu Qiao. Even on top of that tower that night, Linxi was just an excuse. You knew full well the facts of his death hadn't changed. The box had still been poisoned. Jin Zhu had still been the one who'd given him the box. Yuwen Xi and/or Yuwen Huai had still been the ones you'd suspected of having given her the box to give to Linxi. In fact, when you killed Yuwen Xi, you specifically blamed him for Linxi's death in your mind. While you had every right to wonder why Yuwen Zhuo had survived while Linxi had died, that wasn't the main reason you lashed out so viciously at Yuwen Yue, was it?

Chu Qiao almost wanted to go back to pondering her current feelings for Yuwen Yue, but her persistent mind had gotten hold of these memories that she'd thought she'd buried so long ago and wouldn't let them go.

You can't escape the truth, Chu Qiao. Not now. You know exactly why you were so hurt and angry up there on Hong Shan Yuan tower, and it didn't have any more to do with Linxi than your anger earlier tonight truly had to do with Yan Xun. In fact, you lashed out at Yuwen Yue tonight for the same basic reason that you did that night: Because you thought you'd understood his feelings for you and he'd then seemed to prove you wrong—and that broke your heart.

She did her best to ignore the cruel incisiveness of her own mind, but she wasn't any more capable of breaking away from these thoughts than Yuwen Yue had been up to the task of breaking free of his nightmare a few hours ago. Idly she wondered if their fight and reconciliation had triggered his bad dream, perhaps even sending him back to that tower himself in his mind. He had, after all, seemed to believe he'd been fighting her for his life.

Not that that necessarily narrows the incident down…

Chu Qiao lowered her head in shame as she remembered all of the times she'd threatened his life. At this point, she couldn't imagine doing anything less than her best to keep him safe, much less actually trying to harm him.

Of course I can't hurt him. I need him.

She felt the truth of the statement in her bones, being able to firmly grasp the concept of need so much more easily than that of love. Need was basic, intrinsic, sensible. Need was essential, necessary, and indispensable. Need was survival. Chu Qiao needed to protect the people for whom she was responsible. She needed to escape from destructive people who meant her harm. She needed to do whatever was necessary to ensure her continued survival—and, most importantly, the survival of her people.

So is Yuwen Yue one of your people, Chu Qiao? that insidious little voice that had eviscerated her barriers so effectively tonight whispered in her ear.

Of course he is, the other part of her retorted. What of it?

Why is it so easy for you to admit that Yuwen Yue is one of the people that you need but impossible for you admit that he's the man you love?

As before, Chu Qiao's dominant frames of mind locked out that insidious, whispery voice that liked to cause such chaos in her mind and heart. She simply could not afford to think in such terms—especially not with a large battle likely looming in her—in their—future. While she'd succeeded in shutting that voice out, she hadn't succeeded in banishing its question from her mind.

Because if I label Yuwen Yue as someone I love, then he becomes expendable, Chu Qiao couldn't resist replying to that voice. Love is an emotion, a luxury. I can't afford to allow love to influence my decision-making one way or another because it can make a person act foolish and irrational. Need, on the other hand, is vital. If you need something, well, then you need it. Simple as that. So if I need Yuwen Yue, then what can I do but work hard to keep him beside me—to stay beside him? But if I merely love him, then I'll have no choice but to choose necessity and the survival of my people over my own happiness, just like I did at Xiao Ce's palace.

Chu Qiao's eyes widened in the dimness as she realized what she'd just admitted to herself. Just as her mind had done before she'd officially decided to leave Yan Xun during the bout of introspection that had sparked this whole mess, one part of it had jumped ahead of the others and exposed the truth. Her mind could be such a confusing place, but all parts of it seemed to be in accord in terms of the necessity of Yuwen Yue to her life. The thought of leaving him—of losing him-at this point…

She didn't become aware of the tears slowly seeping down her cheeks until she felt the soft, gentle rasp of a familiar piece of cloth. Chu Qiao looked up at Yuwen Yue as he wiped away her tears with their handkerchief, questioning the reason for them with his eyes. She dropped her own, her initial instinct being, as always, concealment—especially in regards to Yuwen Yue. He made no motion to force her to look up at him, waiting as he always had for her to be ready on her own.

Once again, she forced her shields down and lifted her eyes to Yuwen Yue; once again, she was unsure of what he'd be able to see in them in the dim lamp light of the cave. She realized that this lowering of her emotional barriers was something that she needed to get used to doing as she was unlikely to get better at communicating her feelings to Yuwen Yue any time soon. As he looked deeply into her eyes, his own widened in amazement and filled with something else that Chu Qiao didn't understand.

Whatever he'd seen caused him to pull her close to him once again, but not in the desperate vise of need that he'd demonstrated during their confessions. This hold was looser and lighter but no less possessive. She rested her head against one of his shoulders; he rested his head against hers. Yuwen Yue showed no inclination towards letting her go, and she couldn't find anything within herself to complain.

If these are some of the last few moments of peace I have in this world, then there's no other way I'd rather spend them.

No other parts of Chu Qiao's mind put up an argument.

---

He Xiao marveled at the ingenious nature of the entrance to the cave that had apparently been here for years without his knowledge. He felt a pang of sadness as he remembered how the remaining survivors of that group of female fighters had all given their lives at the battle for Hongchuan.

At least they got to die as warriors, fighting for what they believed in. There are worse ways to die-and, to be honest, I've always assumed that that's how I would die, too.

The light of dawn barely penetrated the corridor as he slowly crept along it, not wanting to receive a surprise sword or bolt to the face due to a misunderstanding from those who were hopefully concealed inside. A flash of brown that wasn't rock caught his eye, and he smiled in relief at the sight of the wooden screen that Chu Da Ren had shown him when he'd visited the cave the other day.

He gave all of the right passwords and received their responses in return, carefully wiping the grin off of his face that had formed at the revelation that Yuwen Yue was also within the cave. He Xiao hoped with all his heart that Chu Da Ren had made the most of any time alone she might've had with Young Master Yue—especially given the news that he had to tell them.

The cave was cramped with all of them in there, but they handled the situation gracefully, even to the degree of offering He Xiao some warm food and drink. He accepted since he knew that he was not going to get anything better up on Xiuli Mountain.

Or ever again, if the heavens are not on our side today.

He Xiao set aside such pessimistic thoughts for a few moments more as he watched the way that his general interacted with the young master. Gone were much of the tension and weariness that had been hallmarks of many of their previous interactions; they had been replaced with a tension of a different sort, which made He Xiao smile into his teacup. If nothing else came of this unpleasant situation, maybe his general could finally find a bit of happiness to offset some of the heartbreak she'd experienced in life.

If any of us survive the day...

"I take it you're not just here to sample Xing'er's excellent Yanbei clay pot mint tea," Yuwen Yue said to He Xiao.

"I assure you that the tea is much better than anything you could find on Xiuli Mountain, Young Master Yue," he said, dipping his head at his general, "but my news is anything but good."

"We expected as much," Zhong Yu said. "Mister Wu and I almost got caught several times getting here several hours ago, and I can't imagine that the number of troops outside has lessened in that span of time."

"You should've just kept riding the other way," Chu Da Ren muttered.

"Just like you would've, A'Chu?" Zhong Yu said.

Even Young Master Yue's lips twitched in acknowledgment of Chu Da Ren's protective nature.

"There are already enough Yanbei soldiers outside to keep us bottled up here and to make an escape attempt suicidal," He Xiao said, "but we believe that we'll be able to hold both mountain passes for a decent length of time. We knew what that whistling arrow meant, so we've been working hard to fortify the mountain ever since."

"I'm sorry, He Xiao," Chu Da Ren said sadly. "When I first came up with this part of the plan, I'd hoped that all of you would survive and would finally get to live the peaceful lives you'd always wanted. But now..."

"Now we'll stand and fight like we've always done," He Xiao said, unwilling to let his general feel guilty about what he'd long seen as the inevitable. "This situation is not your fault, Chu Da Ren. Truth be told, the bad choices of many people have led us here, but, as with our need to defend Hongchuan, much of the blame must be laid at the feet of our current leadership."

Awkwardness greeted his words, and he wondered what he'd said wrong. A possibility occurred to him as he replayed his words in his mind.

"Is that what happened to the plan?" he asked, eyes widening. "Did someone go after Yan Xun and succeed? Was it you, Young Master Yue? If it was, then you have the thanks of me and my men."

He Xiao clasped his sword in his hands and bowed in the young master's direction.

"Actually, I did try to remove Yan Xun from power, but Princess Chun'er had already gotten there first," Yuwen Yue said into the uncomfortable silence.

"So that explains the large amount of troops," He Xiao mused. "We knew that Cheng Yuan's Black Eagles would come after us for sure, but the others...I'm assuming that you also didn't manage to kill all of the officers you'd wanted to and had to leave early."

Chu Da Ren and Miss Yu scowled, giving him his answer.

"That complicates things, but I can't say I'm sorry about Yan Xun's death. I know that all of you were close to him to some degree, but my interactions with him were largely negative. He lied to us. He betrayed us. He murdered us. We were the main reason he escaped from Chang'an in the first place, but he was never willing to forgive us for our sins even after he'd gone on to commit worse ones. No, I won't miss him, and I'll enjoy telling my men that the deaths of their brothers were fully avenged last night."

He Xiao took advantage of the silence around him, eating a few more bites of food before continuing his report.

"At any rate, we're about as ready as we can be, and we do not fear death. We figure from the current state of their makeshift camp that the enemy will likely attack sometime mid-morning; they don't seem to be in a hurry to fight, so they're either waiting for a specific time, a specific set of orders, or a larger attack force."

"Well, then I guess we'd best get going," Mister Wu said, moving towards a dark corner of the cave. "I'll change into my battle robes first so that I'll be able to go up with you to help with strategy."

"We don't expect anyone here to help us," He Xiao said, figuring he'd give these people one last chance to survive. "We know that we're too large a force to escape, but one of you—or all of you going in different directions—might be able to reach safety. You could still make peace for Yanbei, still win the war if not this battle."

"Do you really expect me to run away like a coward and leave you all to die?" Chu Qiao asked, her eyes blazing in a somewhat terrifying manner.

"Not really, Chu Da Ren," He Xiao said in resignation. "I figured I'd try to persuade you one last time, though—or at least get the rest of your people to reconsider leaving even if you wouldn't."

"Not a chance," Zhong Yu said, determination in her gaze. "Mister Wu has already committed to help you with directing the battle—and fighting, of course, if and when it comes to that."

"And you?" He Xiao asked with a small, pained smile.

"And I, of course, will be standing guard while he does so," Zhong Yu said matter-of-factly.

He Xiao sighed, knowing that he had one last chance to get someone out of here but that his odds of success were slim.

"What about you, Young Master Yue? You could escape from here; I know you could. You could rejoin your people, protect Prince Yuan Song from danger, and maybe even make peace with Wei somehow. Why should you die here today with the rest of us?"

"Because this is where all of the conflict is happening," Young Master Yue said as placidly as if he were discussing the weather. "All of Yanbei—and some of us from Wei, apparently—is converging on Xiuli Mountain, and the battle here will likely shape the future of both kingdoms in some capacity. Besides, I have no way of knowing if my people are even where they're supposed to be considering that they were ambushed early yesterday morning and had to escape."

"That explains why we had to kill the spies ourselves," He Xiao muttered.

"Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Not at all, Young Master Yue," He Xiao said, smiling fiercely. "None of my men found the task a hardship, I can assure you."

"Glad to hear it."

"So you won't go? I didn't think you would; you have too much at stake here—professionally and personally."

"As you say," Yuwen Yue said, inclining his head.

He Xiao saw Chu Da Ren draw a breath as if to protest, but her eyes met the young master's and whatever she saw there stopped her from speaking for a moment. They looked into each other's eyes as they so often did, two strong wills facing off against one another.

"Out of all of us, you should live, Yuwen Yue," Chu Da Ren finally said softly. "This isn't your fight, not really."

"Isn't it, Xing'er?" he asked. "This was my plan as much as yours. These troops are here in large part because people saw you rescue me. I chose to involve myself in this plan when I snuck inside Yan Xun's palace, so what kind of ally would I be if I ran right before battle?"

"One who gets to live," Chu Da Ren said stubbornly.

"Sorry, Xing'er," Yuwen Yue said softly, "Either both of us fight or both of us flee."

While He Xiao felt sadness at the obvious distress that his general felt over the possibility of the young master's death, her concern for Yuwen Yue's well-being and the young master's unwillingness to leave her warmed his heart.

I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that they both survive this day, He Xiao vowed to himself.

"We don't have much time, so we need to get into position now. I need to take Mister Wu up first so that he can get settled into the command position up on one of the protected ridges and direct our troops in battle."

Mister Wu came forward, having already changed into a pair of simple white robes that He Xiao figured he'd left in the cave ahead of time. He and Zhong Yu had set up the wooden screen in a corner of the cave and were using it for its original purpose since they no longer had to worry about any leaking light giving the location of the cave away. Zhong Yu was currently behind the divider herself, the hurried sounds of changing clothes indicating her desire to accompany the man she loved up the mountain.

"I figured that I would end up in this position if the plan went wrong, so I decided that white robes would make the most sense for staying hidden against the snow and ice," Mister Wu said calmly.

Zhong Yu emerged from behind the screen dressed in the blue robes with black leather shoulder guards she'd been wearing since she'd come to Yanbei.

"This outfit suits my style of fighting and is something I'm used to," she said. "It's as good of an outfit to make a last stand in as any."

"On that cheerful note, I'll go ahead and escort Mister Wu and Miss Yu up the mountain first—if they're ready, of course," He Xiao said.

"Actually, He Xiao, we still have to pack up the rest of the supplies," Mister Wu said, busying himself with the process of gathering the odds and ends that they hadn't used during the night.

"Good," Chu Da Ren said. "He Xiao, I have something I want to give you before you leave since I figure I won't have time to do it once we get up on the mountain."

He Xiao had been expecting to be scolded for his attempts at giving his general some final time alone with Young Master Yue, so he couldn't stop his eyes from widening in surprise at her lack of irritation. Chu Da Ren walked over to the area of the cave where she'd stored her own armor and withdrew something long and dark from within it.

"Is that what you're going to wear today?" He Xiao blurted, both surprised and touched.

"Of course it is, He Xiao," Chu Da Ren said. "What else would you expect me to make a last stand in? You and the men designed and made this outfit because it complements both my fighting style and your own uniforms. The colors are similar, and the leather chest and shoulder guard even somewhat look like Xiuli armor—not to mention the bracers."

"I thought the large beads holding the shoulder guard together were a nice touch, Chu Da Ren," He Xiao said huskily, fighting back his emotions.

"So did I," Chu Da Ren said, giving him a small smile. "There's nothing else I'd even consider wearing today—but I didn't call you over here to show you my armor choices."

She placed the long, dark object in both of her hands and held it out to him. He Xiao gasped in recognition and even a little horror at the long knife that Chu Da Ren was giving him.

"I took this from Cheng Yuan's bedside after I gained vengeance on behalf of you and your men," Chu Da Ren said, her face hardening. "I want you to have it so that you can wield it against the other enemies we'll face today."

As if in a trance, He Xiao reached out and grasped the black scabbard that contained the blade that he knew was likely stained with the blood of untold hundreds of thousands of men. He slowly drew the long knife from its scabbard and examined the dully-gleaming blade that seemed to emanate menace and malice. Could he truly wield such a weapon, even at the request of his beloved general?

"Chu Da Ren, you honor me greatly," He Xiao said nervously. "But this weapon has a bad reputation amongst our people. There's a legend attached to it, you see, that General Bai Qi himself commissioned this weapon to be made with a demon trapped inside that demanded the constant shedding of fresh blood in order to be satisfied. He named it "Dragon Bird," and bloodthirsty men have used it ever since to commit atrocities, seize power, and kill the innocent. Can I truly carry such a blade into battle?"

He Xiao hadn't known what to expect after speaking his reservations aloud, but the gentle, knowing smile Chu Da Ren gave him surprised him.

"He Xiao, the thing I've learned about weapon legends is that they often are what their wielders make of them. A sword or knife can have a good or bad story attached to it, but at the end of the day, the only person who can decide whether to use the weapon for good or evil is the wielder. That knife can no more make you evil than my sword can make me good."

"So your sword has a legend, too, then?" He Xiao asked, feigning innocence.

While he didn't know all of the details of the excellent sword Chu Da Ren carried, he was, after all, a warrior and the son of a man who had been both a blacksmith and a weaponsmaker. He could clearly see the similarities in design between the two swords that were currently propped up together against the main table. They looked perfect together and had clearly been commissioned as a pair—one of which had been designed for a woman, as you could tell by the slimmer handle and slightly shorter blade.

"Not necessarily," Chu Da ren said, scowling. "Maybe it does; maybe it doesn't. But I have had people identify me as a spy of the Eyes of God because of it, and some have recognized it as being similar to the sword that Young Master Yue carries. These people have made...assumptions, even if the assumptions weren't true."

"What kind of assumptions?" He Xiao asked, doing his best to maintain his open, curious expression.

"Oh, nothing much," Chu Da Ren said, and, to his astonishment, mildly blushed.

I've seen this woman bring down skilled warriors several times her size. She's taken on entire armies. She's killed untold numbers of men. Yet here she is, unable to articulate the obvious.

His heart swelled with compassion for his young general, this woman who had so much to live for yet who was willing to sacrifice it all to stand with him—with her men—instead.

"Did they assume that you were his protege? Because that seems pretty accurate to me."

"Yes, that was it," Chu Da Ren agreed quickly. "That and...it's not important. What's important is that these people merely saying that those things were true didn't make them true, and neither did any legend or story. I decided whether they were true or not, and nothing else."

"I see. I thank you for this weapon, Chu Da Ren, and will wield it with honor and courage in your service. I won't let you down."

He Xiao clasped the knife by its scabbard and bowed, honoring this woman who was the only one who had ever given him and his men a chance to redeem themselves after their mistake of several years ago. His eyes strayed to the young master seated at the table who was trying hard not to be obvious about listening in on their conversation.

He could've killed us when we fell into Cheng Yuan's trap, but he didn't. I owe him, too.

Making as if to leave, He Xiao suddenly turned back around as if he had only just remembered something.

"Oh, Chu Da Ren, I just thought of another question."

"Yes?" she asked, clearly distracted by the process of taking her combat robes off of their stand in the corner of the cave.

"Those assumptions that people made—you talked as if they'd happened long ago and that at the time you hadn't wanted them to be true. If someone were to make such assumptions now, would you want them to be true or not?"

He Xiao held his breath as he awaited his general's response, hoping he hadn't pushed her too far. The look on her face was heartbreaking, and he almost regretted his words as he witnessed the war taking place inside of her. Sometimes—like now—her eyes were like an open book, but at other times, he couldn't see past the surface. He could tell that she'd been wrestling with her feelings for the young master for a long time and that she'd finally realized some truths about them.

Come on, Chu Da Ren. Show me that courage I've seen you demonstrate so many times. Have the strength to be honest with battle so near—especially since you might never get another chance.

"Does it really matter?" Chu Da Ren asked in resignation. "We're about to go into battle with the odds stacked heavily against us and there's a decent chance that none of us will survive to see another dawn. Why make any sort of proclamations that will just haunt someone if one lives but the other dies? Wouldn't that be crueler in the end?"

"I think it can matter a great deal—especially if that certain someone would rather live with the knowledge of the truth instead of having it die with the other forever."

He Xiao could see Chu Da Ren's neck muscles clench, and he knew he'd caused her throat to tighten up. He figured he'd made his point, so he bowed once more and made his way to the cave's entrance where Wu Daoya and Zhong Yu were waiting for him.

"He Xiao," Chu Da Ren's voice carried firmly across the cave.

He turned back around to face her, his eyebrows raised in question.

"Yes," she said, her eyes boring into his. "Yes, I'd want their assumptions to be true."

He Xiao gave one of his biggest, fiercest grins as he retired from the field in victory, leaving his general and the young master behind for as much time alone together as he'd be able to give them. The other two had even removed Chu Da Ren's horse from the makeshift stable, taking advantage of its ability to carry some of their supplies. He was glad his general wouldn't be able to use the horse as a distraction and would have to give Young Master Yue her full attention.

Good luck, Chu Da Ren, he thought as he led Mister Wu and Miss Yu out of the cave and into the corridor beyond.

---

As Yue Qi slit the throat of another guard on the wall, he began to think that their plan might actually work. They'd been ambushed by a group of soldiers while they'd been making their way towards where Xia Chong's contacts had been hiding out near the city, but they'd been able to easily defeat the troops and then disguise themselves as soldiers with the uniforms they'd stripped from the dead. One of the officers had even had a dashing cape on his back, so Yuan Song had a convincing cover for his right side.

He picked up the bow that the guard had dropped and pretended to patrol the wall, marveling at how little attention anyone on the city streets below was paying to him and his men. Yue Qi could see other Yue guards and Afterlife Camp assassins already in position, pretending to guard the soldiers and civilians below just as he was. Slowly he crept closer to the top of the sealed gate where his final target was standing guard.

They'd been fortunate in many ways, Yue Qi admitted to himself, knowing that they never could've come this far without Xia Chong's spy network and Meng Feng's knowledge of the secret way in and out of the city that they'd used to sneak in. Both former Afterlife Camp assassins had been invaluable to the mission, but they were currently waiting with Yuan Song in a remote area near the secret path so that they'd be ready to carry out the next phase of the plan.

Yue Qi had no idea how the guard heard him approach; he was sure that he'd made no sound as he'd rested his bow against a portion of the ramparts and pulled his knife from its sheath. His body instinctively reacted the way it had been trained to do, however, and he was able to subdue the guard who'd put up a surprisingly good fight. A few soldiers had taken notice of their conflict but had made no move to intervene; Yue Qi couldn't blame them given the circumstances. He moved in for the kill, knowing that this one man was all that stood between his little group and the successful liberation of the soldiers who had rebelled against the current leadership of Yanbei.

"Wait," the soldier begged. "I know who you are. I can help you. I'm on your side."

Yue Qui paused, figuring that the soldier was lying but deciding to at least hear him out just in case he was telling the truth.

"We're all on your side," he continued, babbling. "Many of us hated Yan Xun and have no sympathy for those in charge now, but we were too cowardly to do anything at the time. I can help you, though. I can open these gates; I know how to work them. Just let me live."

While Yue Qi assumed that figuring out how to open the gates couldn't be too difficult, he also realized that their time was short and that they needed to accomplish their mission as quickly as possible. Killing this man wouldn't bother him, but he'd always done his best to avoid bloodshed whenever he could.

"Alright," he murmured, "but if you try anything, I'll kill you before you'll be able to do anything else."

"Okay. Thank you. Okay. It's real easy, see? But your people—you do have people, right? They'll have to cut the ropes away from the gates first, you see?"

Yue Qi made eye contact with the other members of his team, all of whom had been watching their confrontation anxiously. He nodded once, and the man nearest the set of stairs close to the secret exit nonchalantly strolled down the steps and out of sight. That Yue guard had gone to signal that the next part of the plan was ready to be put into action and that Yuan Song and Meng Feng needed to get in position.

His blade pressed near the small of the guard's back where nobody below could see it, Yue Qi pretended to engage the man in friendly conversation. The soldiers below continued to watch with interest; the fact that nobody else on the ramparts was reacting to the gathered troops seemed to indicate to Yue Qi that they'd killed all of the archers along the wall. Yue Qi felt a moment of pride, glad that they'd been able to put the master's training to use in a way that would hopefully help him.

Three Yanbei soldiers mounted on horseback—including an officer with a particularly stylish burgundy cape draped across his right side—slowly trotted up to the gates. The two ordinary soldiers unsheathed their swords and hacked at the thick ropes that were currently keeping the city locked up tight. As the ropes slid away, the two soldiers were able to remove the wooden frame that had been used as a tie-off for the ropes.

At last, the gate was clear, and Yue Qi glared at the guard he was holding hostage. The man kept his word, though, and slowly opened the gate for those outside. As the gates groaned open, the early-morning sun back-lit the three figures as they rode into the city. Word had obviously spread of Yue Qi's fight with the guard and the opening of the doors as what looked like most of the soldiers who had been imprisoned in the city poured into the large open space near the gate.

"Men of Yanbei!" Yuan Song said in a loud, commanding voice while removing his Yanbei headgear. "For those of you who don't know me, I'm Prince Yuan Song."

A variety of reactions greeted this pronouncement, some of them positive and some of them negative. Most of the soldiers, however, seemed more interested than upset, so Yue Qi figured that he and his men wouldn't have to start using their stolen bows yet.

"I know that you have no reason to trust me; in fact, I'm a little surprised that nobody here's tried to kill me yet. My country—my family—has done terrible things to Yanbei, things for which we can never atone. While I did everything I could to stop the heinous crimes that were committed that day, I was powerless to prevent them from happening. I know what it feels like to be helpless, to know that your fate lies in the hands of those more powerful than you—those you'd once trusted to make good, upright decisions and to rule with wisdom and integrity. I can't change any of those events of several years ago, but I intend to do my best to prevent such things from happening again."

"And how are you going to do that?" a tall, broad-shouldered man dressed in heavy armor asked, brazenly approaching the prince without a trace of fear or respect. "I grew up here in Yanbei. My family is influential and prosperous. This is my home. If I couldn't stop you people from slaughtering tens of thousands of innocents, then why should I trust that you can—or will?"

Yue Qi's hands tightened on the arrow he knew he could draw back and loose in an instant. He was immensely proud of the prince, but he knew that one wrong word could end their mission all too quickly.

"You shouldn't trust me," Yuan Song said matter-of-factly. "In fact, you probably should just go ahead and kill me now and get it over with. Spill some Yuan blood. Get your vengeance. And then my brother will come here, kill you all, and burn this place to the ground. Then anyone who's left may decide to try to invade Wei and kill even more people. Then we won't have to worry about peace because we'll all be dead."

At first, Yue Qi thought that the prince had gone mad, but then he began to understand the method behind the madness. He knew that the tactic could backfire, but it could also lead to a fast resolution of the conflict.

"Or you could ride with me to Xiuli Mountain and gain the chance to direct the future of Yanbei yourselves," Yuan Song said into the stunned silence. "You can stand up to the people who sentenced you to death, who discarded you like you were trash the moment you didn't do what they wanted you to do. I know what that feels like, too. I was sent here by my father because I was a disgrace to him due to this."

Yuan Song used his left hand to deftly pull back the cape over his right, exposing the empty space.

"I lost my arm because I wanted vengeance on Yan Xun. He hurt me and my family, and I wanted him to pay. So I snuck into his camp in disguise and attacked him the first chance I got. I stabbed him in the gut; he cut off my sword arm. In the end, though, he showed mercy by not killing me as he would've had every right to do. Instead of giving up, I adapted. I learned to do things left-handed—even fight."

The prince deftly pulled a blade from a scabbard that had been secured at the side of his horse. He twirled its handle a few times in his hand, giving the impression of competence and capability. Yue Qi knew that Yuan Song was not just showing off. All of them had taken turns training the young prince in combat techniques, working hard to get him decently competent with fighting one-handed using a variety of weapons. While Yuan Song would likely never be a great fighter, he was by no means a weakling, either.

"You've been cut off, cast off, viewed as a disgrace. You've been locked up here, sentenced to die for committing the crime of wanting what was best for your homeland. You desire both peace and revenge, knowing you can't have both. Honestly, I can't promise you either. If you ride to Xiuli Mountain, you'll be fighting primarily against your own countrymen and thus, to some degree, serving the interests of Wei. As for vengeance...well, I guess you can get revenge on those who sentenced you to death—but you'll have to get it once again at the expense of Yanbei itself. If you ride with me, however, I can promise that I'll do my best to make peace with Wei on your behalf once the battle is done and to end this seemingly endless cycle of vengeance."

"Why should we ride with you?" the main general asked. "What's stopping us from killing you, riding to Xiuli Mountain on our own, and killing everyone who sentenced us to death?"

Yuan Song's face broke out into one of those boyish grins that made the years disappear from his countenance.

"Actually, that would be just fine—except for the 'killing me' part, of course. I don't really care if you ride under my command or not. All I care about is that a strong fighting force shows up at the base of Xiuli Mountain to fight the much larger force that will already be attacking my friends."

"Your friends? Are you really trying to convince me that you're not making a power play right now?" the general asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Actually, I don't really care about power or Wei or anything like that at the moment," the prince said candidly. "The main reason I'm going to Xiuli Mountain is because my friends are in danger and I want to do everything I can to help them. Sending a large fighting force that way would definitely qualify, so feel free to leave first."

"Who are your friends?" another man called out, walking forward. His armor wasn't as ornate as the other man's, but it was clearly that of a higher-ranking officer.

"Yuwen Yue has been my friend from boyhood. I know that that won't likely win me any points here, but that's the honest truth. He's a good man, probably the best man I've ever known. And Chu Qiao...I've known her since she was just a slave on Yuwen Yue's estate. We've had our moments, she and I, but I know that she has a core of integrity that will make her do what she feels is right even if it leads to her death. All of us here value them both in one way or another; our main concern is helping our people, not gaining power."

"We're in," a low-ranking officer said, stepping forward. "Me and my men, we broke away from our division because we wouldn't raise a hand against the woman who saved our families from the Wei army. We have nothing to lose, and we want to repay Chu Da Ren for the lives of our loved ones. We'll ride with you."

"So will we," a leader of a similar-looking band of men said, stepping forward.

Support from other such independent groups rang out; even some of the townspeople who had helped Xing'er defend the city were willing to go to Xiuli Mountain and fight. The rest of the soldiers that presumably belonged to the two high-ranking officers also voiced their support. The officers looked at each other in question. The one in charge sighed in resignation.

"I suppose our brave men have made the decision for us, Prince. Very well; we'll ride with you to Xiuli Mountain and let the heavens determine the outcome."

The prince smiled boyishly again.

"Great! Let's go! If we want to get there in time, we need to leave right away."

A roar met his pronouncement as hundreds of men surged into action at once, most of them moving towards the open gates. From his position atop the ramparts, Yue Qi could see townsmen dressed in old armor and carrying well-used swords returning to the throng of men surging out of the city. Yuan Song, Meng Feng, and Xia Chong rode out ahead of all of them, and Yue Qi sighed in relief as he realized that their cobbled-together plan was actually going to succeed.

He handed the guard whose life he'd spared over to the local jailer, making him promise to not mistreat the prisoner. After all, the man had kept his end of the bargain, so Yue Qi wanted to honor his promise to spare his life.

Hold on, Young Master Yue and Xing'er, Yue Qi thought as he and his men ran back through the secret exit to collect the horses they'd left nearby. We're coming—and we're bringing some new friends with us.

---

Chu Qiao emerged from behind the wooden screen, straightening her armor one last time. Her black robes she'd left in a puddle behind the partition, figuring that she likely wouldn't need them again. Yuwen Yue was standing at the entrance to the cave, wearing the only set of black robes he had and staring pensively at the matched swords he held in his hands. She knew that he was thinking of the confession she'd made about wanting people's assumptions of the meaning behind her carrying Can Hong Jian to be true.

While Chu Qiao had berated herself multiple times for being foolish enough to voice her feelings so clearly (for her, at least), she couldn't bring herself to regret doing so. She knew that her desires to protect her feelings and to not contemplate a future that likely didn't exist were not ones that Yuwen Yue shared; the least she could do was to let the man she loved know how much her feelings for him had changed.

Or been made clear to you…

She approached Yuwen Yue slowly, standing at his side and looking out at the short corridor that they would soon be walking in order to reach the back pass into Xiuli Mountain. Chu Qiao expected Yuwen Yue to say something, but he maintained his silence, seeming as if he were far away from the cave—and her.

"I never told you the story and legend surrounding our swords, Xing'er," Yuwen Yue said softly into the brightening light of morning. "My grandfather's right hand, Zhan Mou, told it to me multiple times when I was a boy—back when I thought that my family's history was something to be proud of and that marriage for love was an everyday occurrence in our circles. He wanted me to understand the story behind both the sword I would someday inherit myself and its mate. Eventually my grandfather found out and made him stop; he didn't want my head being filled with such 'romantic nonsense,' as he put it."

"Oh," Chu Qiao said, wanting to encourage him to tell her more but not knowing what else to say.

Yuwen Yue's eyes gentled; she knew he understood the difficulty she had with expressing her feelings verbally.

"Grandfather told me that one of our distant ancestors had two swords commissioned: One for himself, which was Po Yue Jian, and one for his betrothed, which was Can Hong Jian."

Chu Qiao's breath caught in her throat at the reference to betrothal; Yuwen Yue surely heard her but didn't react outwardly.

"He gave Can Hong Jian to his beloved, and she became as proficient with it as he knew she would be. They practiced together every day, honing their abilities until they could fight as a single unit. None could stand against their combined power—until they ended up on a battlefield against a significantly larger force."

Yuwen Yue paused, obviously struggling with what he was going to say next.

"They went into battle together, fighting as they'd always been meant to fight. Individually, none could've taken either one down, but the battle was fierce, and the foes were many. Over the course of the fight, they became separated, drifting farther and farther apart until he finally saw her go down under an entire pile of the enemy."

Chu Qiao's eyes were wide, especially in reaction to the expression on Yuwen Yue's face. She could see the impact the story was having on him given their current situation. Thinking it best to bring the tale to its conclusion for the good of Yuwen Yue's emotional state, she asked the obvious question.

"Did she die?"

"No, Xing'er," Yuwen Yue said softly, staring at her with that intense expression that never failed to draw her in. "She didn't die. He thought that his beloved was dead, however, so he fought like a man with nothing left to lose or to gain. He hoped that death would find him on the battlefield so that he could join his beloved in the afterlife, but the heavens seemed to play a joke on him, allowing him to live while so many others died. As he was stumbling around the piles of corpses in a daze after the battle was done, his eyes caught a flash of gold forged into a distinctive pattern."

"Can Hong Jian," Chu Qiao whispered in wonder.

"Yes, Xing'er," Yuwen Yue said. "He saw the unmistakable form of his beloved's sword sticking out from under a pile of enemies, and he was glad that he'd at least be able to bring her corpse back with him for burial. He pulled her out from beneath the mound of dead, sat down on the muddy, bloody ground, and pulled her body into his lap, weeping bitterly. He placed a hand on the side of her face, caressing her mouth gently with his thumb. To his astonishment, he felt a slight puff of breath against it, and his beloved cracked open her blood-shot eyes and stared up at him in bewilderment. Gently lifting her up and carrying her off the battlefield, he took her to safety and nursed her back to health."

"So the story has a happy ending after all," Chu Qiao said, trying to keep her emotions in check.

"Of course it does," Yuwen Yue said. "I wouldn't tell you a sad story so close to battle; it wouldn't serve my purpose at all."

"And what is your purpose?" Chu Qiao asked.

"Simply to give you back your sword, of course," Yuwen Yue said, making no effort to do so.

"That's a relief," Chu Qiao said. "I'd hate to go into battle without it."

"The problem, Xing'er, is that since I've told you the story behind the swords, now I have to tell you the legend."

"Oh."

"You see, after that battle, my ancestor married his beloved, and they passed the swords down through the Yuwen line all the way to me. The legend became that lovers who wield Po Yue Jian and Can Hong Jian will always be able to find their way back together no matter what forces try to separate them."

Chu Qiao desperately wanted to be able to say anything, but her throat and mouth simply wouldn't work. Yuwen Yue waited patiently, giving her the time she needed to regain her composure.

"You told He Xiao that there's nothing in a sword that can make its wielder do anything he or she doesn't want to do. That in order for a weapon's legend to be true, you have to make it so yourself. When I go into battle with you, Xing'er, I'm going to do everything in my power to make that legend true for me—for us."

Chu Qiao somehow managed to find her voice just in time.

"So will I," she whispered, fire blazing in her eyes.

Yuwen Yue held Can Hong Jian out in his hand just as he'd done before, yet oh, so differently. His eyes were every bit as intense now as they'd been years ago, but they were filled with love and protectiveness now instead of the cool yet fierce aggressiveness he'd displayed then. He made no threats this time, but in his eyes she could see so many promises that she knew he'd never get the chance to keep.

She took the sword from him with both hands, doing her best to show him what was in her heart through her eyes while she still had the chance. While she didn't have a death wish, she knew that her odds of surviving the day were as low as they'd been when she'd fought for Hongchuan—perhaps even lower, since she didn't even have the benefit of well-made walls and ramparts to aid her. Yuwen Yue, however...She wouldn't let him die. Simple as that. Chu Qiao knew she'd take his sword's mate and fight as hard as she could with it, hoping that, even if she ended up dying, he could live.

Suddenly she felt a burning desire to give him something in return. She reached into a small pocket sewn into her armor and withdrew a small cluster of little silver bells, hearing Yuwen Yue's slight intake of breath as he recognized them.

Wordlessly, she looked him in the eye and then attached the bells to Po Yue Jian just as he'd done when he'd thought she'd died. Chu Qiao knew that she'd likely never get the chance to return the bells to Yuwen Yue otherwise, so she relished the chance to give him back something that had meant so much to both of them before it was too late.

"For luck," she whispered, hoping to disguise her true intentions.

She should've known better, for she could tell by Yuwen Yue's agonized expression that he knew exactly what she was saying.

"No, X'er," he rasped, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close, swords and all. "I don't need those bells. I need you, remember?"

He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her tenderly; this time, she had neither the strength nor the desire to hold back. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer to her, Can Hong Jian still gripped in her left hand and digging into the back of his neck. Yuwen Yue didn't seem to mind in the slightest as he deepened the kiss.

An all-too-short time later, they heard the crunch of footsteps sounding slightly up the hill from where their cave was located. Chu Qiao laughed inwardly at the antics of her match-making commander and his subtle way of giving them time to compose themselves if they were doing...exactly what they were doing, in fact. She broke the kiss and tried to pull away, looking at Yuwen Yue in question when he wouldn't let her go.

"Let him have his reward for all of his machinations, Xing'er," he murmured into her ear. "He's worked hard to bring us together, and he should get to see the results of his efforts, don't you think?"

"Mm," Chu Qiao agreed, not protesting when his mouth descended on hers again.

If no other good comes as a result of my choice to break from Yan Xun when I did, at least I got to share this moment with this man—the man that I love.

She couldn't help but grin into the kiss when she heard He Xiao's strangled, embarrassed cough. Yuwen Yue broke things off, looking down at her with a more potent expression than she'd ever seen on his face. Chu Qiao couldn't remember the last time she'd felt the reality of their terrible timing so keenly.

Oh, now I remember, she thought hazily: a few hours ago when he tried to kiss me and then Zhong Yu and Mister Wu showed up. Someday, we're not going to get interrupted, and-

That thought snapped her back to reality as she remembered where they were and why He Xiao was here. She tried to pull herself back together, but only had limited success. The warrior in her was yelling at her for being so stupid as to allow herself to be distracted before going into battle, but the rest of her just shrugged and figured that an extra bit of concentration wasn't going to matter much either way.

"Hello, He Xiao," she said in a businesslike tone that only served to get an enormous grin out of the Xiuli commander.

"Are you ready, Chu Da Ren, Young Master Yue?" he asked, still smiling fiercely.

"Yes, we are," she said after taking a deep breath.

Her feet seemed almost rooted to the spot, however, not wanting to leave the safety of this cave behind. In it, she'd found something she'd never expected to find—especially given how she'd felt when she'd first walked into it. Now she found herself marching off to almost certain death, the man she loved marching right behind her to meet the same…

No. No, I won't let him die. I doubt I'm going to live, but I won't let him die. I swear to the heavens I won't let him die—which means I have to live as long as I can so that I can protect him. I will protect him, even if it costs me everything. I swear it.

Yuwen Yue stepped up close behind her, as always serving as the strong, safe presence at her back. She took that first step forward, and her legs started working again. Walking silently behind He Xiao, she gripped Can Hong Jian tightly in her hand. She stopped as she reached the end of the corridor, turning around and looking up at Yuwen Yue.

"I remember," she said firmly, thinking of the words he'd said to her earlier—and at Xiao Ce's palace. "And I need you, too."

Not waiting to see the reaction of the man she loved, she turned her face and her mind towards the battlefield that awaited them and walked out into the early morning light.

---

AN: I know I've developed a reputation for heartlessness by denying our OTP kisses, but I had to make sure CQ was ready first. Besides, I needed a bridge between the Assassination arc and the Battle of Xiuli Mountain arc; I think this fits nicely, don't you think? Now on to the battle—and, of course, the icy lake.

This chapter was definitely CQ's, so this week's musical recommendation, "Lover. Fighter" by Svrcina, reflects CQ's state of mind pretty well as she puts on her armor and marches to the front lines.

I know that there's a decent bit of interest in the English-speaking fandom about reading novel translations, so I figured that y'all might be interested in regular updates of a group of translators who have organized and are working on translating the entire novel. For this week, I'll simply direct you to this place, which has a stickied list/description of all the different translators and their areas of expertise: sueleesunshine dot com/ Starting next week, I'll list updates at the end of each chapter I post so that those interested can know what's been newly translated. I know some of you are already following all or some of these blogs, but I figured I could update things for those who are not.