Chapter 1330 - 1006: Land of Auspicious Feng Shui

A day later, the Western Turkic Khan, leading a large army, suddenly left his original station. Contrary to what many expected, he did not head towards Xiazhou to break through the Eastern Turkic’s last line of defense or rush to Luoyang to join forces with Liang Shide to crush Yu Wenye. Instead, he headed south, advancing rapidly towards Sui State.

At the beginning of July, the sun was scorching, and the heat was oppressive.

After being baked by the sun for most of the day, when many were on the verge of heatstroke and nearly falling off their horses, the boundary marker of Sui State finally appeared on the road ahead.

It was noon at this time, and the blazing sun overhead was almost enough to roast the oil out of a person. Even Ashina Zhuxie, accustomed to hard living and not much caring for this toil, still stopped his horse and immediately looked at Lei Yu, who was not far behind him: "How are you?"

Lei Yu said nothing, only reached out to wipe the sweat dripping down her temple.

Indeed, it had been a long time since she had endured the hardships of such a march, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t bear it, so she just gently waved her hand.

Ashina Zhuxie stared at her sunburned face: "Do you want to rest for a while?"

Lei Yu glanced at him, then turned to look at the other rider following closely behind them, who was Wang Shaoqiu. Compared to the Turkic people, who were used to riding and hunting, and the skilled rider Lei Yu, he appeared much more distressed. Although his riding skills were not bad, the blazing sun turned his face pale, initially drenched in sweat, but later, he was too exhausted to even sweat, his mouth parched and cracked, his whole body swaying as if he might fall off his horse at any moment.

Lei Yu turned her head and shook it: "I’m okay, let’s keep going."

Ashina Zhuxie hesitated for a moment, but before he could speak, down the small path behind the grand Sui State boundary marker came a quick-riding horseman, dressed as the scout he had sent out. He came galloping over: "Khan!"

Ashina Zhuxie raised a hand, signaling him not to bow, then asked, "Where are Shang Ruyi and her people now?"

Lei Yu quickly asked, "Are they in the city?"

She had heard that Shang Ruyi left Chang An with some people and seemed to be heading this way, always hoping to meet with her. Later, she was surprised when Shang Ruyi changed direction towards Sui State, apparently unrelated to them. However, Ashina Zhuxie and Wang Shaoqiu decided to follow to see what they were up to, making her apprehensive that they might harm Shang Ruyi. Therefore, she left He Du, who was too young to endure horseback travel, in the camp and followed them herself.

Entering Sui State territory at this point, she was more nervous than anyone.

If Shang Ruyi entered Sui State City, Ashina Zhuxie’s limited troops weren’t enough to siege the city. Entering could also be dangerous; especially as Zuo Chen An couldn’t have built his tomb inside the city. This meant Shang Ruyi and her team might not really be after the Left General’s Tomb, depriving them of a chance to encounter them.

However, that scout cautiously glanced at her before speaking to Ashina Zhuxie: "My Khan, Shang Ruyi and her people haven’t entered the city; they’ve gone to Skytop Mountain."

"Skytop Mountain?"

Upon hearing this somewhat unfamiliar name, Ashina Zhuxie first looked at Lei Yu, then turned back to Wang Shaoqiu, who was pale but striving to remain energetic: "What is this place?"

Although Wang Shaoqiu was nearly fainting in the saddle, hearing the words Skytop Mountain, he revived a bit and said, "It’s a mountain south of Sui State City."

"What is Shang Ruyi doing at that place?"

"Skytop Mountain has nine springs, nurturing an 800-li long dragon pool, with water flowing unstopped for hundreds of years, making it a——a Feng Shui site."

As they spoke the words "Feng Shui site," a gleam flickered in both their eyes.

Ashina Zhuxie immediately asked, "How far is this Skytop Mountain from here?"

"Less than twenty miles; we can reach it before dark."

"Okay, lead the way!"

He had just spoken, but then stopped, looking back at Lei Yu as if checking if she needed rest. Lei Yu had already wiped the sweat off her forehead and said calmly, "If we’re going, let’s go. The road will be hard to navigate once dark."

Then Ashina Zhuxie raised his hand: "Let’s go!"

The group continued to rush along this road, initially believing they could reach Skytop Mountain before dark, but halfway through, it was Wang Shaoqiu who couldn’t hold on. He got heatstroke, and had the attendants behind him not noticed it quickly, he would have nearly fallen off the horse to be trampled by the following ones. Ashina Zhuxie had to let them rest for him to drink water and cool down, taking quite some time for him to barely recover enough strength to get back up, finally seeing Skytop Mountain’s towering outline on the horizon as the sun set.

The scout pointed to the enormous dark shape that had merged with the night in front of them: "Khan, that is Skytop Mountain."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Ashina Zhuxie gently raised his hand, and those behind him immediately pulled up their horses to stop.

Because they were in the wilderness, surrounded by darkness, the rustling of wind brushing through the grass, and the varying howls from the distant valleys, made the night seem even more profound and unknowable.

He shook his reins, slowly trotting ahead. In fact, a few steps weren’t enough to clearly see the enormous silhouette in the darkness, only faintly feeling the towering peaks, treacherous terrain, like a pair of beasts crouched on the earth, ready to pounce with claws poised.

He murmured, "Is that Skytop Mountain? How far are we?"

The scout immediately said: "Just a mile or two."

"Oh,"

Hearing this, Ashina Zhuxie nodded, then said: "No need to advance further, we’ll rest here tonight."

Hearing this, Lei Yu furrowed her brow, and Wang Shaoqiu, close beside them, seemed hesitant to speak.

Just at that moment, a faint light appeared in the pitch of night ahead.

Ashina Zhuxie’s eyes were like torches, intently watching that light. A gust of wind, carrying the moist earthy smell of dew, blew in, and everyone held their breath, watching that flickering light drawing closer, like a firefly striving to fly, but instead of moving up, it was leaping ever closer, gradually coming toward them.

That was—a speck of firelight.

Having lived on the grassland for decades, they were familiar with such nighttime lights; it was precisely someone holding a torch, riding toward them. Instantly, everyone became alert, but Lei Yu’s eyes were tightly fixed on that flickering, ever-approaching light, as if anticipating something.

Finally, as the light neared, a figure appeared in front of everyone.

Upon seeing the person’s appearance clearly, Lei Yu distinctly heard someone beside her take a sharp breath.