The Battle Beneath the Crimson Willows

Leaving Yingzhong, I headed east.
Keep walking, they said, and eventually, you’ll find your way back to Mount Mei Forest.

I hadn’t gone far before I heard the latest gossip carried by the merchants’ caravans—
That Gu Yi, that damn scoundrel, had reached a whole new level of “cultivation.”

Half a month.
Just half a month—and he’d managed to conquer both men and women, leaving a trail of broken hearts behind him.

And now, rumor had it, he’d even made a man pregnant.

Truly, the world never ceases to astonish me.

Since the dawn of time, it’s always been women who bore children.
But trust Gu Yi to rewrite the rules of nature itself.
A man who could make another man pregnant—surely this was one for the history books.

If I ever saw him again, I swore I’d dig out all my erotic paintings from the past twenty-odd years and have a good scholarly discussion with him about… techniques.

Somewhere along the road, mist began to gather, curling around my ankles like living silk.
And before I realized it, I had wandered into a sea of flowers.

It was breathtaking—petals in every shade of crimson, violet, and gold stretching as far as I could see.

Gu Yi would have loved this place.

That sissy never met a flower he didn’t like.
Not only did he look like a girl, but even his hobbies leaned that way—he adored flowers and delicate plants.

I’d heard he had a massive flower field back in the Eastern Empire, filled with rare species collected from every corner of the world.

So I plunged straight into the sea of blossoms.

In an instant, stalks snapped beneath my feet. Soon, I’d flattened an entire patch.

I plucked a blade of grass, chewed it thoughtfully—
A bitter taste filled my mouth. I spat it out.

Not the flavor of blue gentian, that’s for sure.
And yet, there was no way back.

I stared at the half-bitten stem between my fingers.

Then, a voice echoed faintly in my head:

“Blue gentian looks ugly, doesn’t it? But when it blooms, the whole mountain turns purple.
You’ll come back with me to see it, won’t you?”

A sharp pain snapped me out of it—a thorn had pricked my finger.

Lately, I’d been seeing memories that didn’t belong to me.

At first, I was just a bystander, watching some immortal maiden fall hopelessly in love, only to be betrayed and destroyed by the man she adored.
But over time, I stopped being the spectator.

I became her.

Each time the visions came, I relived her agony—
the flaying, the sealing of her soul, the final sword through her heart.

Sometimes it happened several times a day.

One moment I was in love; the next, a blade was buried in my chest.

Over and over again.

If that doesn’t drive a fox spirit insane, nothing will.

I shook my head hard to clear it and kept walking.

Ahead lay a grove of red willows.
Spring had only just begun—tiny new leaves sprouted on the branches, not yet thick enough to cast shade.

A gust of wind rushed through, making the branches slap and crackle.

And beneath that sound—came the clash of steel.

I peered through the gaps between the trees.
Far ahead, a group of people the size of sesame seeds were locked in combat, blades flashing, blood flying.

A robbery, perhaps?

Tsk, tsk. Seems I’ve run into colleagues.

Truly, this was the perfect place for ambushes and murder.
The last time I’d been attacked by assassins, it was here, too.
That time, I hadn’t escaped.

Funny how fate brings one back to old haunts.

I sighed, chewing the stem in my mouth, and decided to take a detour.

I’d only taken two steps when something sharp thudded into the ground beside my foot.

A throwing dart—diamond-shaped, quivering slightly in the dirt.

I frowned.
It looked… familiar.

I picked it up, turning it between my fingers.

Then I walked a little farther and froze.

Bodies.
Dozens of them.

Each wore the same blue armor and gray helmet. Each had their throat slit cleanly open.

That was when I remembered.

Of course it looked familiar.

It was Gu Yi’s dart.

The same kind he’d used to shoot me in the leg the last time I’d tried to escape, sending me tumbling into a pit trap.

And those blue-gray uniforms—they were the soldiers of the Eastern Empire.

My stomach sank.

Through the mist, I saw them—two figures locked in deadly combat.

Gu Yi and a middle-aged man.

They were evenly matched—or rather, Gu Yi seemed at a disadvantage. His moves looked slow, weakened, his balance faltering.

The man struck him in the back with a palm strike.
Gu Yi flew backward, blood spraying through the air.

The man sneered.

“Impressive, Your Highness. No wonder Her Grace warned me not to underestimate you. If not for my death-servants, I’d be a corpse by now.”

Gu Yi spat blood and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Shut up, eunuch.”

Then he pulled out his battered twelve-ribbed iron fan, the one he never went anywhere without.

“There are only two kinds of people I can’t stand,” he said coldly. “Monks—and eunuchs. Pity for you, you’re both. So today, you die.”

The man smiled faintly.

“Then please, Your Highness, take my life if you can.”

They clashed again, so fast their figures blurred.

For the first time, I realized Gu Yi wasn’t just good with a bow—he actually fought well.

If he’d ever wanted me dead, a flick of his little finger would’ve been enough.

Thinking back on the months I’d spent as his “pet,” I realized how many times I’d provoked him—and yet he’d never truly punished me.

Perhaps it was only because I was a pet.

And pets… no matter how troublesome, are never taken seriously.

The thought sent a chill down my spine.

I turned to leave—

—and came face-to-face with a masked man swinging a machete.

I barely dodged.
The blade whistled past, slicing the air where my head had been.

He came at me again and again, his strikes relentless.

Then a second masked man joined him.

Oh, great. They must’ve thought I was Gu Yi’s ally.

I ducked and weaved between the blows, shouting,

“Hey, hey! Wrong person! I’m not with him!”

A blade grazed my back.

“I don’t even like Gu Yi! I swear I don’t know him!”

Another strike nearly took off my nose.

Apparently, the more I explained, the worse it got.

Thankfully, I’d picked up enough fighting skills in my wasted years to dodge most of their hits.
When I realized I couldn’t outtalk them, I decided to act.

I let one blade slice my shoulder, gritted my teeth through the pain, and caught it with both hands—
then yanked the man forward.

My iron chain snapped out like a whip, coiling around his neck.

I was just about to choke him when the second man lunged, blade aimed for my throat.

Too late to dodge.

I clenched my teeth, ready to take the hit—

—but then, a flash of brown darted through the air.

Something small and furry leapt straight into the man’s collar.

He froze, flailing, clawing at his neck.

I seized the chance, twisted the chain, and broke the first man’s neck.

Then I turned and drove his fallen blade into the second man’s throat.

Silence.

Panting, I dropped to the ground.

Then the first man’s corpse twitched.

Something bulged under his chest and wriggled forward—

A tiny brown mouse popped out and ran straight to my feet.

“A-Bao!”

He chirped happily and waved his little paws.

I picked him up, holding him in my palm. Together, we looked toward the fight ahead.

Gu Yi was still battling, blood pouring from his shoulder.

A-Bao squeaked mournfully, covering his eyes with one paw, then bit my boot and tugged hard, dragging me toward the fight.

I knew what he wanted.

He wanted me to save Gu Yi.

But honestly—after everything that bastard had done to me?

He could bleed out for all I cared.

If anything, I should’ve gone over there to stab him myself.

I patted A-Bao’s ear.

“You underestimate your master, little one. He might act like a sissy, but look—he’s fighting like a real man now. Guess that settles my doubts.”

Up ahead, Gu Yi staggered mid-swing.

“See?” I went on. “His opponent’s a eunuch. Even if he wins, there’s no danger of anyone stealing his virtue. So relax—his chastity’s safe.”

A-Bao trembled pitifully.

Then, from the clearing, came Gu Yi’s enraged shout:

“What nonsense are you spouting?!”

He turned his head just long enough to get stabbed in the chest.

Fortunately, the sword didn’t go all the way through.

The eunuch sneered.

“The noble prince still finds time for flirting while dueling? How very impressive.”

Gu Yi gritted his teeth, blood running down his chin.

“You remember your place, dog. When your master speaks, you shut your mouth.”

I nudged A-Bao.

“See? Still lively. Won’t die that easily.”

Satisfied, I turned to leave.

Then I heard it—
a low, choked groan behind me.

Gu Yi was kneeling, blood gushing from a deep wound in his chest.
His opponent was headless, his body collapsing to the ground.

Gu Yi’s fan clattered from his hand.

A-Bao rushed to his side, squeaking in distress.

I took a step back. My feet felt heavy.

I had to run now—before it was too late.

But then his voice called out, hoarse and broken:

“If you want to go… you should.”

My foot froze mid-step.

“I know I’ve wronged you,” he said, his tone soft but trembling.
“I took you from your home, kept you chained by my side, tried to control every part of you. You have every reason to leave.”

“Good. You finally understand.”

He smiled weakly, blood glistening on his lips.

“When you escaped, I searched for you everywhere. I feared for you—so innocent, so naive about how cruel people can be. I dug up half of Yingzhong looking for you. Someone tricked me, said they’d seen you here. I came… and walked right into a trap.”

He coughed violently, blood staining the ground.

“Now I’m dying. I can’t protect you anymore. Go home—to Mount Mei Forest. It’s where you belong.”

“Only… pity that iron chain on your wrist.”

“It’ll never come off now.”

He spat another mouthful of blood for emphasis.

Both my feet froze solid.

Well then.

It seemed I wasn’t going anywhere today.