Chapter 3 (1/2)

Chapter 3: The Eccentric Old Man in the Mountains

“Leave?!” The old man widened his eyes, bawling incredulously, “You’re my test subject and you dare think of leaving!”

“The call of vengeance for my family and nation must be answered!”

“Fine! Go! Go right now then!” The old man was literally hopping mad, “With that kind of a rare poison in your body, you’ll be dead in three days if you step foot outside this house. Hurry up and leave then!”

Jun Huang started, vaguely recalling that the concealed weapon that the Eastern Wu emperor had thrown at her on the cliff had been poisoned. The heavens had left her alive, but only given her a few days to live. Since she couldn’t take revenge, what was the point of living? Her mood quickly plummeted as grief threatened to overtake her mind.

“Haha, feeling scared now, aren’t you!” The white-haired old man was quite proud of himself. “I’ll tell you something else. Other than me, those who can cure your poison in this world are few and far in between! You’d best be a good test subject if you don’t want to die! I might cure your poison if I’m in a good mood.”

Jun Huang caught the key points of the old man’s proud speech, and her eyes lit up. “You can cure my poison?”

“Of course! There’s no poison in this world that I, Ole Cragfiend, can’t cure!” The old man crowed proudly, “I’ll cure your poison if you be my test subject!”

“I can’t. I can’t stay, I have things to do!” Jun Huang grit her teeth, “Cure my poison and I’ll come back to be your test subject when I’m done with what I need to do.”

“No way! What if you don’t come back after I cure your poison?” Ole Cragfiend was obviously no fool. “You be my test subject and I’ll cure your poison. You’re not allowed to go anywhere!”

“I’ll be your test subject for a month and then leave for my business afterwards. If I’m still alive once that’s completed, I will surely return,” Jun Huang was forced to compromise. She had yet to recover from her grave injuries, and she still didn’t know what the situation was out there. It would indeed be dangerous if she recklessly charged out. It wasn’t necessarily a bad idea to spend a month beneath the foot of the cliff.

Ole Cragfiend scratched his head and finally made up his mind, “I don’t know how long you’ll take to settle your matters. A year, that’s all I’m giving you! If you don’t come back after a year, you’ll die!”

“Alright,” Jun Huang heard herself agree.

The moon was very clear and bright as the shadows of the trees danced on the ground. Jun Huang was curled up at the head of the bed, her gaze deep as she looked outside the window. She seemed to glimpse her mother’s gentle face in the rocky reaches of the far mountains. Her world and nation had changed drastically overnight. She’d fallen from a princess of Western Que, recipient of the adoration of thousands to an orphan with no home to return to. “Royal father, royal mother,” she murmured, an emotional tear slowly sliding down her face. “Huang’er will always be a princess of Western Que. Huang’er will find Hao’er and avenge Western Que!”

The bottom of the cliff.

A man was holding a torch, personally leading his men in a search pattern in the dead of the night.

“General, over here!” a soldier suddenly cried out with surprise.

The man instantly flashed over to the speaker when he heard this, suppressed agitation in his cold voice, “Found her?”

“In response to the general, just this…” The soldier hesitantly offered up the item in his hand. It was a blood-dyed white s.h.i.+rt made of extremely fine material. The man immediately recognized it as cloth found only in Western Que’s royal palace. He took the s.h.i.+rt and was silent for a while before asking softly, “Where did you find it?”

“In response to the general, over there,” the soldier pointed at the tree over his head. The man hoisted the torch up high and inspected the scene closely. The branches and ground were spattered with blood traces, the deep crimson of fresh blood particularly eye-catching beneath the moonlight.

“General, many wild animals pa.s.s through the depths of the mountains. It’s most likely that the Western Que princess is…” The soldier hesitated when he saw the man’s ugly expression, and swallowed the second part of his words.