Chapter Thirty-Five: Boating

The city of Songzhou had been tightly encircled by the rebel army.

However, surrounding a city was not the same as storming it, and the majority of the soldiers actually had nothing to do within their camps.

Meng Kai could leave his subordinates behind to hunt down water bandits in Haizhou to the east, while Zhu Wen and the junior martial sister could slip out of the camp at night, riding horses to go boating on the Mengzhu Marsh.

A crescent moon peeked halfway out from a pile of clouds, and tiny, glittering stars dotted the dark satin-like night sky. Both stars and moon rippled within the sparkling lake waters.

Duan Hongyan took off her military boots and silk socks, dipping her bare feet into the crystal-clear lake water. With a slight kick and splash, she shattered the stars scattered across the sky.

She had wanted Zhu Wen to accompany her on a boat ride and talk. This was what Duan Hongyan had told him the previous night during a banquet, flushed with about thirty percent drunkenness, as she tugged on his sleeve and lowered her voice.

At this very moment, a gentle breeze was also rocking this small flat-bottomed boat leisurely. Beneath the galaxy of stars, the wandering wind drifted by, turning into a boatful of lucid dreams.

Zhu Wen wiped away the water droplets she had splashed onto his face. "Hey, junior martial sister, you splashed water right on my face."

"Is that so?"

Duan Hongyan turned her face toward him. The faint starlight illuminated her delicate features, and the drifting breeze gently fluttered the edges of her garments, making her look just like "Xiangjun," the goddess of the marsh summoned from an ethereal dream.

"Looking closely, this face of yours isn't bad-looking either, not much worse than this young lady's." Duan Hongyan’s watery eyes sized up Zhu Wen’s refined face, which still had traces of water droplets. "If you were to die prematurely, it would be such a pity."

"Good people don't live long, while scourges last for a millennium. Good people like Commander Kou are the ones prone to dying early; how could I?" Zhu Wen gave a playful smile, mocking himself.

Duan Hongyan’s gaze tightened. "Don't try to brush me off with vague words. Do you really think of yourself as the senior martial brother, taking an enemy general's head from among a million troops as easily as reaching into your pocket? From fighting Song Jue, challenging Kou Qianzhi, to almost falling victim to Wang Jian's poisonous scheme, when haven't you put yourself on the line between life and death?"

Suddenly, she rested her chin in her hands and let out a faint sigh. "When we raided the Taining Army camp, you once told me that people are meant to support one another, and sometimes relying on others isn't a bad thing."

"Since that's the case, why do you always insist on pushing yourself so hard?"

Zhu Wen was momentarily stunned; he had truly never considered this question.

"You junior martial brother, you live life way too exhaustedly."

Duan Hongyan patted Zhu Wen’s shoulder like an elder sister, her hazy gaze seemingly trying to see straight into the depths of his heart.

"Look, with this evening breeze blowing and sitting here in the boat, it feels just like being in Mother's cradle when I was a child."

Duan Hongyan traced the lake water with her milk-white, cheese-like soles. "When I was little, Mother told me that when people pass away, they turn into stars in the sky. Yet tonight, with stars filling the entire sky, I wonder which one of them is Mother..."

Her hand grasped Zhu Wen's sleeve. "Really, if one day you also turned into a star and left, and I couldn't find you, I would be so lonely."

Her eyes were desolate, tinged with a faint sorrow.

When they first met, Zhu Wen had thought the junior martial sister would be the same kind of person as Senior Martial Brother Meng Kai—riding the fastest horses, climbing the highest mountains, drinking the fiercest liquor, wielding the sharpest blades, and killing the most ruthless enemies.

Yet he quickly discovered that deep within Duan Hongyan's heart, there was also a young girl's vulnerable side.

At this moment, the figure of his martial sister in Zhu Wen's eyes appeared so slender and frail, bearing no resemblance to her usual capable and decisive self.

He understood that the reason his martial sister suffered from "soul-wandering sickness" was undoubtedly because she used a seemingly hardened shell to protect her vulnerable self, enabling her to endure the pain of losing loved ones.

Everything she was saying at this moment came straight from the heart.

Yet Zhu Wen did not know how to respond, feeling only a massive, tangled knot tying up his heart.

Those tangled threads suddenly transformed into a pure white ferocious tiger, scrutinizing him with a mocking gaze. That expression was identical to the one he wore when mocking others.

Zhu Wen did not find it unfamiliar, for this tiger had already appeared multiple times when he wielded the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow precious saber to kill enemies. The only strange thing was that this creature had actually appeared outside of the battlefield.

"You feel deeply ashamed. Because she cares about you and pours out her inner thoughts to you, you ought to feel grateful," the tiger spoke within his heart.

"Yet, in truth, you are quite a self-centered person. The type of girl you like most is probably one who appears fragile on the outside, but is actually stronger inside than you are? Because that way, she won't cause you trouble."

"What a pity, though. Back then, in the wrong age, you met someone you wanted to spend your life with. She is long gone from Songzhou, and you have no idea where she is. Perhaps by now she is already married, and even though scars remain in your heart, you can never truly let go of the past..."

Zhu Wen felt a strong sense of suffocation and replied mentally, "I don't have the emotional energy to consider matters of romance right now..."

"No, you are running away. I am you, so no one understands you better than I do." The tiger scrutinized him with brilliant, glowing eyes. "You are obsessed with yourself, and outside of your own ambitions, you simply don't want to be bothered. When you appear smooth and worldly, you merely think it's more convenient that way, hoping to avoid further trouble."

"I am not selfish and self-serving! I also want to make this world a better place!" Zhu Wen retorted angrily. "How could I possibly have time to dwell on children's affections!"

"Every person who fancies themselves extraordinary says the exact same thing," the tiger sneered. "If you claim to wish for the common people to live well, it's only because the books of sages your father taught you were written that way. But you, in truth, are not a person prone to deep empathy."

"Why did you tell Commander Kou that his life was not a play? Because you too are afraid of denying yourself, afraid of facing your own hypocrisy!"

"In this world, whose face wears no mask?" Zhu Wen asked loudly.

"Master Brother Juehai has shown me great kindness," Zhu Wen answered. "Things are fine just as they are now. The relationship among the three of us doesn't need to change."

"Heh, heh, heh," the tiger let out a shrill laugh. "If this is your answer, then you truly still hold yourself in too high an esteem. Until we meet again next time, but I will forever remain with you..."

The tiger's figure dissipated like mist, and Zhu Wen's gaze refocused on his martial sister's delicate face, fresh and dewy like a flower at dawn.

"Hey, you little daze, why have you zoned out!" Duan Hongyan called out. "Could it be that this young lady's beauty was so overwhelming it made you lose your soul?"

With a feigned scowl, she pinched Zhu Wen sharply in the waist, causing a shudder to run down his spine. At this moment, not a trace of the earlier girlish vulnerability could be seen on his martial sister's face.

Zhu Wen sighed inwardly and said, "Junior Martial Sister Hongyan, I understand that you and Senior Brother care about my well-being. I have indeed been overly greedy for merit upon newly joining the rebel army, and I deserve to be punished! When we return, three cups of wine will be my punishment."

"Three cups is hardly enough!" Duan Hongyan snorted. "Once this battle is won, Master won't be keeping such strict watch anymore. If you're truly not afraid of death, I'll pour you three entire jars of Xinfeng fine wine directly and see if it doesn't drink you to death!"

Zhu Wen hurriedly begged for mercy, "Have mercy in your greatness, Junior Martial Sister, and spare me. Putting aside whether it kills me by intoxication, my... my stomach and intestines would burst."

"We'll see how you perform from now on. If you ever disregard your life like that again, I might as well just have you drowned in wine by this young lady—at least that would be much more painless than dying by swords and blades."

Zhu Wen offered an awkward smile in response, using the oar to steer the small boat back toward the lake shore, while his mind and spirit completely relaxed.

Such a conversation made him feel much more at ease.

In the past, he and that girl—no matter how good or how important they were as friends—ultimately remained only friends.

Yet today, he felt that his relationship with his martial sister was that of friends who could entrust each other with life and death, and that was quite enough.