Chapter 13 Ambush at Black Wind Pass
The road back was more dangerous than the way there.
General Wang seemed to have sensed something. He sent his personal troops to set an ambush at Black Wind Pass.
I spurred the horse with the Terrain Map. An arrowhead grazed past my ear and sank into the trunk behind me, the fletching still humming.
When I reached the ferry, the horse’s hooves sank into the mire. The shouts of the pursuers behind me drew closer and closer.
I swung down from the saddle, stuffed the Terrain Map into the brocade pouch against my chest, and fished out that silver whistle.
The whistle had barely sounded when I heard something tear the air behind me. A poisoned crossbow bolt flew straight at the center of my back.
I jerked sideways. The tip grazed my ribs and drew a string of blood beads.
The second arrow that followed punched through my left shoulder.
When the pain exploded, I saw a dark bluish gleam on the arrowhead.
“Seize him!” In the pursuers’ roar, someone lunged and pressed down on my shoulder.
In the blur of my consciousness, I saw the secret guards Xiao Huai An had sent cutting their way in. Their silver armor flashed cold under the sunset.
When they lifted me onto the boat, I clutched the brocade pouch against my chest. Blood seeped between my fingers and dyed the silk red.
“Hold on, Young Master Wen!” the leader of the secret guards shouted by my ear. His voice grew farther and farther away.
I suddenly remembered Xiao Huai An saying that the peach blossoms in Jiangnan bloomed brighter than rouge.
When the boat reached mid-river, the poison took hold.
The poison tore through my insides, and a chill reached my bones.
I curled in the corner of the cabin and watched my fingers begin to twist. Bluish-black patches rose on my skin.
“Give this to the Crown Prince.” I held out the pouch. My fingertips were already stiff and beyond my command. “Tell Your Highness the Terrain Map is in hand. Wen Yan… did not fail the mission.”
The secret guard still seemed about to speak. I closed my eyes.
Outside the gunwale, river water slapped the hull, so much like the iron chimes at the eaves of the cold palace in my last life.