I am invincible, that's why I lie down. You're using your entire clan to rebel?

She spoke very slowly.

Each word seemed to be squeezed out of the throat and then pieced back together before it could fall into the air.

She said the first one was last autumn, a merchant on his way with a few companions, who said they were coming from the North to do business.

They seized the goods and locked the people in the backyard cellar.

But those men got sick, so she told Tuoba Yan to get rid of them, because sick meat can't be eaten and will rot if left for too long.

She said the second one was a mother and daughter who were captured south of Fenglingdu after winter.

The mother was in her early thirties, and her daughter was not yet of marriageable age.

She said that the mother and daughter were raised for almost a month and were the most well-behaved among the batches. They didn't shout or struggle; they just waited quietly.

She said that on the night they were used up, she added a handful of dried osmanthus flowers to the copper basin to make the soup smell less fishy.

She said the third, the fourth, the fifth...

She spoke faster and faster, the names and faces lining up in her mind, forming a line she could walk through with her eyes closed.

She remembered some things, but not others; she only remembered the approximate time and number of people.

As she spoke these things, her voice grew softer and softer.

Tuoba Yan did not interrupt her.

He knelt beside him. The blood from the broken leg was no longer gushing out as much as before, but that didn't mean it had stopped; it was just seeping out more slowly than before.

His face was even paler than before, and his lips were completely bloodless.

His gaze remained fixed on the ground, watching the blood that had seeped into the sand slowly spread.

His wife finally stopped.

She kept her head down, her shoulders heaving slightly.

She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something more, but she had nothing more to say.

Qin Mu remained standing in the wind, neither urging nor interrupting.

After a moment, he spoke: "Have you finished your confession?"

Tuoba Yan's wife didn't look up: "...It's over."

Tuoba Yan nodded slightly without saying a word.

Qin Mu looked at them, his gaze unchanged: "Alright. Then you may set off."

As soon as she finished speaking, Tuoba Yan's wife suddenly raised her head, her eyes looking as if she were searching for something she could grasp.

But when her gaze swept past Qin Mu's unchanging face and landed on Yun Luan, she saw that his hand was already on the hilt of his sword.

Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but before the words could form, Yunluan's sword moved.

The dark silver blade slid out of its sheath, drawing a very short arc in the air before lightly and precisely grazing the kneeling figure.

She remained in the same position, but her head slipped off her shoulder and landed on the sand with a dull thud.

Tuoba Yan did not turn around to look.

He remained kneeling in that position, blood still seeping from his broken leg.

He looked at the sandy land in front of him, as if waiting for something.

But all he got was a second, extremely light arc; Yunluan's sword sliced ​​into his neck and slid out the other side.

Tuoba Yan's body did not collapse immediately.

He knelt there, paused for a moment, then slowly tilted to one side and fell to the ground with a dull thud.

A small cloud of dust rose beside him, then slowly settled back down.

The wind blew in from outside the village gate, dispersing some of the dust that was getting cold.

The firewood in the bonfire was still burning, occasionally emitting a very faint crackling sound.

Qin Mu didn't look at them again, turned around, and walked towards the camp gate.

Yunluan sheathed her sword and quietly followed behind him.

She didn't stop walking as she crossed that threshold.

Behind me, the fire was still burning, and the withered branches of the pomegranate tree were still swaying gently in the wind.

The motionless figures in the camp were covered at the boundary between the firelight and the night.

They will remain here until someone finds them, until someone takes care of them.

The wind blew the camp down to just a few crooked wooden stakes, which stood alone in the gray-white wilderness for a long time.

The wind blew from behind Qin Mu, covering the path he had walked once again.

By the time he returned to the carriage, the night was already several degrees darker than before.

The night wind at Fenglingdu was still dry, carrying the scent of dust and ash.

But the closer you get to the carriage, the fainter the smell becomes.

The carriage stopped beside a dead old poplar tree by the roadside, the curtains hanging down, and the horses grazing with their heads down.

Only Yunluan's horse remained standing in front of the carriage shaft.

Jiang Zhaoyue sat on the carriage shaft, holding neither a book nor a map.

She just sat there, gazing in the direction of the camp.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up, her gaze lingering on Qin Mu for a moment before sweeping over the night behind him to make sure no one else was following.

Her voice was softer than the night itself: "Is it all taken care of?"

"Let's go." Qin Mu didn't explain further.

When he stepped onto the carriage shaft and lifted the curtain, everyone inside woke up.

No one asked, "What happened?"

He sat in the innermost seat, leaning against the car wall, his posture returning to its relaxed state.

Jiang Zhaoyue lowered the carriage curtain and said to Yun Luan, "Let's go."

The horses' hooves trod the sandy ground again, and the wheels rolled over gravel and dry mud, making a rhythmic sound.

There was a moment of silence inside the carriage.

No one spoke, and no one asked what had happened in the past half hour.

Only the occasional gust of wind slipped in through the gaps in the carriage curtains, carrying a dry scent mixed with the smell of grass and wood ash.

Lin Xiaolu sat by the window, turned her head, and glanced at the receding night sky through the gap in the curtain.

She saw nothing; the camp had already blended into the night.

She lowered the carriage curtain without asking any questions.

Han Xin'er lowered her head, holding a new blade of grass in her hand, and was twirling it around something that had not yet taken shape.

Her movements were a beat slower than usual.

She didn't look up or say anything, but after circling around once, she gently placed the grass stem on her knee.

Xu Fenghua leaned against the car wall, one hand resting on her knee, her gaze fixed on a spot inside the car that seemed unfocused.

She gently rubbed her fingers together inside her sleeve.

Yin Sutang sat near the door and peeked out from behind a corner of the carriage curtain.

She was more familiar with the terrain of Fenglingdu than others, knew the location of the camp they had just seen, and also knew who usually operated in that area.

She watched for a while, then lowered the carriage curtain without saying anything.

Zhao Alan sat in the corner, still holding the half-empty food bag in her hand.

Her gaze fell on Qin Mu, as if she were looking at something she was slowly coming to understand.

She didn't ask, but simply retied the food bag and placed it beside her knees.

The car traveled a while longer, and the wind outside the window gradually subsided.

No one looked back, and the carriage continued along the moonlit dirt road.

Occasionally, the wind would lift a corner of the carriage curtain, revealing the slowly receding, gray-brown wilderness outside, and the outline of the dark mountain range stretching between heaven and earth in the distance.

The carriage traveled for about an hour, and the terrain ahead gradually opened up.

The low mounds on both sides began to recede, revealing a relatively flat open space.

In the center of the open space stood an old poplar tree, its branches twisted and reaching towards the sky.

Beneath the tree canopy lies a patch of sandy land flattened by the wind, with several stones, rounded by the sand, scattered around it.

Qin Mu lifted the curtain and looked out for a moment, then lowered the curtain, knocked on the carriage wall, and made the carriage stop.

"We'll stay here tonight."

He said it very casually.

But after he finished speaking, he got out of the car first, walked to the shade of the old poplar tree, bent down and picked up a few stones, then walked to the relatively flat area at the edge of the open space and arranged the stones in a circle.

Jiang Zhaoyue got out of the car, holding the map in her hand. She walked to the edge of the open space and scanned the surrounding terrain with her eyes.

Make sure there are no blind spots obstructing your view, and confirm that both the approach and exit routes are within the observable range.

Then she looked away, said nothing more, and simply turned around to take a cloth bag from the carriage. The bag contained dry food and a small bag of salt.

Lin Xiaolu also jumped out of the car, walked to the pile of stones, squatted down, picked up a dry twig, weighed it in her hand, put it down, and picked up a thicker one instead.

She began to gather the withered branches and dry grass together and pile them in a circle made of stones. Although her movements were not very skillful, she was very serious.

Han Xin'er collected some dry, thin branches at the edge of the open space, carried a small bundle back, placed it next to the fire, and stacked some thicker branches aside.

Then he took two steps back and looked at the pile of firewood.

Yin Sutang stood by the carriage without moving, her gaze fixed on the distant part of the open space.

After a moment, she spoke, her voice low: "The wolf packs of the Northern Wilderness are more active at night, and if the fire isn't strong enough, they might come closer. However, there shouldn't be any large herds around here, but the wind will be strong at night and carry the scent far, so I suggest we smother the smoke."

Qin Mu nodded without replying. He simply squatted down, took out a tinderbox from his pocket, opened the lid, blew on it, and directed the flame onto the dry grass.

The flame was small at first, then it spread along the veins of the dry grass, licking the twigs and making a soft crackling sound.

The firelight illuminated the hem of his gray robe and also his eyes, which shone with warmth in the firelight.

Jiang Zhaoyue placed the cloth bag next to the fire, took out a piece of cured meat wrapped in oil paper, and then took out a small iron pot, placing it between the stones.

Lin Xiaolu had already poured some water from her water bag into the pot and was breaking the dry food into small pieces and putting them into the pot.

Han Xin'er added a few more pieces of firewood, making the fire burn brighter and baking a warm, thin layer of heat into the surrounding air.

Xu Fenghua also got out of the car and found a flat stone to sit on by the fire.

She didn't speak, but sat quietly, the firelight casting a warm glow on the outline of her dark dress.

The meat simmered slowly in the iron pot, and the aroma seeped out from the edge of the lid, starting faintly and then growing stronger.

The fragrance spread in the night breeze.

Yunluan sat beside the carriage, leaning against one of the shafts, her head bowed as if she were resting with her eyes closed.

However, her fingers gripping the sword hilt did not loosen completely; they would only twitch slightly occasionally when she heard the sound of wind.

Zhao Alan sat on a log at the edge of the fire, holding a rough earthenware bowl in her hand. The bowl was half full of soup, and the soup noodles swayed slightly, reflecting the firelight.

She lowered her head, blew on the steam, took a small sip, and then slowly swallowed it.

Chen Ruoyao also sat by the fire, not holding a bowl like the others, but just sitting quietly without anything in her hands.

Chen Wanqing leaned against the horse-drawn carriage, holding a bowl in her hand, her gaze fixed on the fire.

Su Wan sat quietly next to her.

Mingyue sat by the fire, holding a leaf in her hand, repeatedly folding the edges of the leaf.

Qin Mu sat on the other side of the fire, leaning against the roots of the old poplar tree, holding a bowl of soup in his hand.

He lowered his head, took a sip, put down the bowl, and his gaze fell on the fire.

Suddenly, he put down his bowl.

His movements were slow and barely varied, but the moment he put down the bowl, Yunluan opened her eyes.

She didn't turn her head or get up; she just slightly shifted her gaze.

Qin Mu's gaze didn't leave the fire, but he spoke, his voice low: "Can you smell it?"

Yunluan was silent for a moment, then her gaze shifted from the fire to the darkness shrouded in night at the edge of the clearing: "There's something over there."

Her voice wasn't loud, but the people drinking soup by the fire were a beat slower than usual.

Lin Xiaolu put down the bowl in her hand and looked in the direction Yun Luan was looking.

The night was dark, and she couldn't see anything, but her fingers had already touched the hilt of the short knife at her waist.

Han Xin'er also stopped rubbing the grass stems. She didn't look up, but her gaze shifted from the edge of the fire to the shadows.

Xu Fenghua paused in mid-air with the bowl in her hand, then slowly put it down without making a sound.

Chen Ruoyao's gaze also shifted slightly in that direction.

Yin Sutang stood up. Unlike the others, she wasn't tense. She simply walked to the edge of the open space and stood there, her gaze sweeping over the wilderness shrouded in night.

After a moment of silence, she spoke: "It's not a wolf."

She paused for a moment, then said, "When the wolf pack gets close, the scent dissipates, and there's no different weight in the wind. Something is watching us."

Qin Mu smiled.

He gripped the branch, stood up, took two steps toward the edge of the clearing, and held it up in front of him to illuminate the night.

Where the firelight reaches, at the boundary between light and darkness, something is slowly moving.

It is neither wind nor shadow.

It was a giant wolf, entirely jet black, standing at the edge of the clearing in a patch of withered grass shrouded in shadow.

It was much larger than an ordinary wolf, with its shoulder height almost reaching an adult's waist, and its four paws firmly planted on the sandy ground.

Its fur is a deep black that absorbs almost all light, with only a very light dark blue sheen at the edges illuminated by the firelight.

Its ears were erect and tilted slightly forward.

But it didn't bare its teeth, lower its body, or growl.

Its eyes were a ghostly green, gleaming coldly in the firelight.

But those eyes lacked the wariness that a wild beast would show when approaching a fire, and showed no hesitation toward the fire.

There is only a quiet focus.

It neither retreated nor advanced; it simply stood there quietly.

Lin Xiaolu did not loosen her grip on the dagger, but she suddenly noticed that the wolf's gaze was not on anyone.

It always landed on that iron pot.

She opened her mouth, intending to speak, but Qin Mu spoke first.

Qin Mu held up the burning branch and stared into those eerie green eyes for a moment.

He wasn't nervous, didn't back down, and didn't lower his voice.

He turned his head, his voice neither too loud nor too soft: "You want some too?"

Those eerie green eyes twitched slightly.

Then it took a step forward.

The step was very light, landing on the sandy ground with almost no sound.

It walked to the edge illuminated by the firelight, stopped at the boundary between light and darkness, and did not cross that line.

Qin Mu smiled.

He turned and walked back to the fire, picked up the lid of the iron pot, and poked at the churning meat inside with a stick.

The aroma became even stronger the moment it was turned over.

He put the lid back on, turned around, still holding the burning branch: "Wait a minute. It's not ready yet."