Chapter 45: Who Exactly Are You All

Chapter 45: Who the Hell Are All of You?

The wind whistled sharply through the gaps in the pine forest, making it even quieter on Wu Mang's end.

Wu Mang: "Not making a fuss anymore, huh?"

Wu Mang dutifully crouched down again, but before his legs were even halfway bent, a pinecone went "thwack" and hit him right on the forehead, then bounced off and went "clatter-clatter" as it rolled twice on the ground.

Wu Mang clenched his fists so hard his knuckles popped, and the pinecone was still wobbling on the ground, as if it were blatantly mocking him.

Xiao Die's breath hitched, his skin crawling from the scene. His voice trailed off with a tremble as he said, "Captain Wu... how about we just get out of here? Maybe once we get past this stretch, things will be fine."

He gripped Ruan Ciyu tighter and tried taking a step forward, but his foot caught on a branch, and he nearly took Ruan Ciyu down with him.

"Ah." Xiao Die yelped. "A ghost! A ghost is coming!"

Ruan Ciyu was still faking unconsciousness, unable to use his legs to steady himself, and only felt a sudden loss of gravity. Just as he thought he was about to hit the ground, Xiao Die managed to steady him at the last moment.

He hadn't figured Xiao Die for the type to be this unreliable, despite looking so steady.

Ruan Ciyu's heart sank.

This must be what they meant by "kick a man when he's down." Now that he couldn't dock their pay, they were getting sloppier and sloppier.

Xiao Die used to make sure his robes didn't drag on the ground and get dirty. But now, wearing white clothes, he'd been manhandled back and forth by him and Wu Mang, and no one even cared if he ended up rolling in the mud.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and the angrier he got, the harder it was to keep faking it. What started as a lazy excuse to skip the climb by faking a faint had turned into pure torture.

Whatever gods or ghosts are out there, just leave. Stop torturing me.

Wu Mang shot Xiao Die a contemptuous look. He really wasn't impressed with Xiao Die's build, and figured he should've brought four or five more imperial guards along.

With only Xiao Die to help, it wasn't much different from doing it all himself.

"How could there be ghosts at a divine official's doorstep? Quit being so jumpy and get the prince on my back."

"O-okay!" Xiao Die shivered, breaking out in a cold sweat as he handed Ruan Ciyu over to Wu Mang, being extra careful the whole time, terrified the same creepy thing would happen again.

Just then, another strange noise came from the woods. A rustling sound started coming from all around, and Xiao Die started shaking again. Even Wu Mang, brave as he was, couldn't help the goosebumps crawling up his back.

Wu Mang held up one hand to stop Xiao Die while gripping the sword hilt behind his back with the other.

He thought he might be losing it, but a wild suspicion surfaced in his mind.

Wu Mang: "Quit with the theatrics. This is a shrine to the divine official. Aren't you afraid of heavenly punishment?"

From Wu Mang's words, it sounded like there was an assassin at the Sun-Moon Altar. Ruan Ciyu perked up his ears, curious who was bold enough to pick this day to defy the emperor.

Wu Mang slowly drew his sword, pointing it at the empty air. He knew how tough the person he suspected could be, and in an instant, every ounce of his reflexes was on high alert.

He called out in a clear voice, testing the waters: "Come out, Lan Suzhou."

Another pinecone fell, and Wu Mang's skin crawled. He drew his sword and held it up horizontally to guard himself.

The branches nearby rustled, and Ruan Ciyu bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, trying to suppress the racing of his heart at the sound of that familiar name.

He barely managed to steady his heartbeat, but he couldn't control his curiosity. He quietly cracked his eyes open just a sliver.

But instead of a person, he only saw a scruffy squirrel with its tail puffed up burst out of the woods, chattering "squeak squeak" as it ran off with a pinecone.

Ruan Ciyu was instantly crestfallen, going completely limp in Xiao Die's grip.

"Captain Wu, quit being so paranoid. You personally escorted General Lan out of the city." Xiao Die swallowed hard, still shaken, and recalling Wu Mang's suspicious behavior along the way, couldn't help but point out: "The priority is getting the prince up the mountain. Or... are you stalling on purpose?"

"No, little bro. I've been busting my back escorting you and the prince up this mountain, and now it's somehow my fault?" Wu Mang's eye twitched, and he was about to start cussing.

"Fine then! I won't do anything extra. You carry the prince up yourself. I'll just tag along and stay out of your way."

"You—" Xiao Die was at a loss. He was nearly a head shorter than Ruan Ciyu and knew his own arms and legs were too weak. If he tried to carry Ruan Ciyu up, they'd probably both end up tumbling down.

Xiao Die gritted his teeth, looked at Ruan Ciyu with a dark, deep gaze, and slowly moved his right hand up to pinch Ruan Ciyu's philtrum.

Wu Mang was quick, blocking Xiao Die's hand with his scabbard, frowning. "What are you doing?"

Xiao Die said seriously, "If I wake the prince up, we can go up."

Wu Mang studied him for a few moments, then used his scabbard to brush Xiao Die's hand away and moved to stand in front of Ruan Ciyu instead.

This time, Wu Mang managed to get Ruan Ciyu onto his back. The rest of the journey was silent, with only the occasional glance back at the several zhang of mountain they'd climbed and the dark sea of civil and military officials below, before they quickened their pace and continued upward.

For the Qiuqiu Festival's mountain worship at the shrine of the divine official, you had to enter through the mountain gate. That was why they had to climb the stone steps from the Sun-Moon Altar at the foot of Guo Mountain.

The imperial guards at the mountain gate saw Wu Mang and quickly swung the gates open.

Wu Mang was just about to step over the threshold when he saw someone already standing behind the gate.

The person wore a black robe, a hood covering most of their hair, making the crimson mask on their face stand out even more starkly.

The mask looked archaic and mysterious at first glance, but here in the shrine of the divine official, its colors and design complemented the shrine perfectly, making it look remarkably harmonious.

"Greetings, Your Excellency, National Preceptor." Wu Mang set Ruan Ciyu down from his back, intending to have Xiao Die support him, but the National Preceptor took him first, pulling him into his arms.

Ruan Ciyu could feel that the hand supporting him was slender but very strong. The way he was being held was also very careful—neither hurting him nor overstepping any bounds in the slightest.

But the National Preceptor's voice sounded a bit surprised. "How did he pass out? And how did you get him so dirty?"

Wu Mang frowned and glanced at Xiao Die, but he wasn't one to tattle, so he only said, "The prince is frail. We hit a small snag on the way, but it's been handled."

"Oh? Then how come the two of you look relatively clean, and only he got so dirty?"

Wu Mang was speechless, thinking, of course it's because the prince is wearing white, which gets dirty easily.

But he also wasn't one to talk back, so he kept his mouth shut.

"I've delivered His Royal Highness Prince Cheng'an. I'll go take care of the imperial guards now."

The National Preceptor made no comment, but when Xiao Die tried to follow too, he waved his hand to dismiss him.

"The shrine of the divine official is a place of purity, with no room for too many distractions. Young friend, please stay here."

Xiao Die was momentarily stunned, then found himself shut out outside the mountain gate.

"Alright, there's no one else here now. You don't need to pretend anymore."

Ruan Ciyu's heart clenched. He hadn't expected his little scheme to be seen through so completely. He could only pretend to be just waking up, with a headache and blurred vision, "struggling" to open his eyes.

"National Preceptor, sometimes being too perceptive isn't necessarily a good thing."

Behind the mask, the National Preceptor seemed to chuckle softly.

"Child, there's no need to harbor such hostility toward me."

If Ruan Ciyu had merely felt a twinge of annoyance at being seen through, hearing this made him intensely uncomfortable. He'd never been called anyone's "child" in his entire life, let alone this National Preceptor's—the very person who had orchestrated the fate-swapping that happened to him today.

Ruan Ciyu shook off his hand in disgust, but the next moment, his eyes widened in shock.

The National Preceptor let out a soft sigh, raised one hand to the back of his head, and removed the mask from his face.

"Author's Note"

This chapter's a bit short (twiddling my fingers), I could only manage this much today, ughhh.