Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 519 - Three Hundred and Thirty-Six: Southward_2

Chapter 519: Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Six: Southward_2

Taking a deep breath, Xu Yuan suddenly asked:

"Is this trip very urgent?"

Li Qingyan responded with a hint of uncertainty in her voice:

"Do you need time?"

Xu Yuan was silent for a moment before replying with a low chuckle:

"When I first arrived at the Northern Border, I said I would erect a monument for the soldiers. Have you forgotten?"

Li Qingyan’s red pupils widened slightly with surprise, ripples of emotion spreading through her heart as she shook her head:

"This palace thought you had forgotten, but it’s no longer necessary."

"...."

Confused, Xu Yuan glanced towards the ruined Northern Border City and heard Li Qingyan’s voice, distant and steady:

"This task, my Second Elder Brother has already completed it. Just south of the city, after the defeat of the Barbarian Army, he spent ten days and nights engraving the names of all the recorded deceased soldiers onto the southern wall.

"By now, word of this deed has likely spread throughout the entire land. His reputation among the troops is quite high at the moment."

Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes and then sighed:

"If that’s the case, then let it be."

"This palace thought you would be angry," Li Qingyan said, looking into his eyes. "After all, this glory should have been yours."

When the party of four first arrived at the Northern Border, it was this man who first suggested erecting a monument, so that those who had died could leave their mark in this world.

"Glory... such a glory would seem rather false atop my head."

Xu Yuan chuckled softly and then shook his head gently:

"No matter who did it, the purpose was to have future generations remember the soldiers who died in the war against the Barbarian Tribes. Since Li Zhaoyuan has done it, let’s leave it to him."

Li Qingyan looked at him intently:

"The common soldiers and officers don’t understand the power struggles within the palace walls; they will only see the Second Brother as a noble of the highest heavens..."

"I know," Xu Yuan interrupted softly.

To the common people, the Imperial Family was supreme.

In a previous life, there was Wu Qi who sucked pus from sores, let alone in this extraordinary world with an insurmountable gap.

In the eyes of the ordinary soldiers, after this deed, Li Zhaoyuan would be seen as their benevolent king, perhaps even a future wise ruler.

However...

Xu Yuan looked towards the direction of the southern wall as if he could see Li Zhaoyuan’s vigorous calligraphy upon it, and he whispered with a smile:

"It’s too late.

"If one wanted to get involved in the military, erecting this monument indeed would have been a good starting point, but it’s too late. If it were ten years earlier, with Li Zhaoyuan’s character and means, he might have indeed made some achievements in the military. But now, the situation does not afford him the time to lay out his plans."

"But since the monument has already been erected by Li Zhaoyuan, there’s no longer a reason for us to stay in the Northern Border. Let’s go."

With that, Xu Yuan walked into the snow curtain without looking back.

Watching his retreating figure, Li Qingyan’s eyes narrowed, her lips pressing together in a complex mood.

The golden pupils of Tianyan, peering through the screen, captured her expression and sighed softly, almost like the faint hum of a mosquito:

"Again like this..."

...

...

...

The vast sky, the snow-covered mountains stretching endlessly, a dead stillness amidst the endless flying snow.

A giant lion-eagle, with a wingspan of over thirty yards, tore through the blizzard, descending towards the ground; amidst the white snowy mountains, forests sprang up, and as its wings flapped, the air pressure bent treetops, and the snow on the ground fluttered chaotically, momentarily creating a scene resembling a fairyland of jade towers.

Once the dust settled, the lion-eagle creature lay prostrate on the ground, and the snowstorm continued.

A soft "creak" of a door opening, accompanied by the teasing of a soothing male voice, broke the silence on the mountainside:

"This Grade B military Demonic Beast really struggles; it can’t stand even this bit of cold."

Stepping out the door, bracing against the biting cold wind that felt like it could slice through him, Xu Yuan quickly activated his cultivation technique to ward off the cold. As warmth suffused his body, he surveyed his surroundings and let out a long sigh:

"At this rate, I wonder when we will be able to make it back to Guangyang Prefecture."

"Slow?"

A crisp and pleasant female voice joined the conversation, and a young girl in palace attire, floating in the air, accompanied the man in the brocade robe to the pavilion platform, softly saying:

"If it weren’t for someone’s low cultivation level, not needing a Demonic Beast for travel, we would have arrived by now, would we not, Third Young Master?"

"....." Xu Yuan.

Elegant yet contradictory.

Xu Yuan glanced at the expressionless girl beside him and smiled,

"You can go first, since our destinations are different anyway."

"....." Tianyan snorted coldly without saying anything more.

Upon seeing this, Xu Yuan stretched out his hand, wanting to gently smooth the disheveled strands of hair by her temples. Tianyan sensed it, hmphed in her heart, but did not dodge, nevertheless, another voice, raspy and low from a female, interrupted this action:

"Let’s find a place to stay. Although this lion-eagle beast can handle the cold, it lacks stamina. We should rest for the night before continuing on our journey."

Xu Yuan subtly withdrew his hand and looked back at the tall and elegant figure that appeared at the wooden door.

She had changed into plain clothes, her jade-like legs long and straight, no longer wrapped chest, her curves enchanting.

The palace-dressed girl, suspended in mid-air at the same height, coldly glanced at this Wrapped Chest Princess who deliberately no longer wrapped her chest:

"Rest in this loft?"

Li Qingyan did not respond, instead looking at Xu Yuan, signaling him to decide.

After contemplating, Xu Yuan said softly with a laugh,

"Let’s go down for a walk. Staying in this shabby loft every day makes my back sore."

Tianyan’s pupils constricted as if she had thought of something; a hint of flush that was hard to notice appeared on her pale cheeks.

Li Qingyan said with a smile brimming in her eyes,

"Changtian, you should take good care of your back. Have you taken the Elixir Medicine I sent you in the Imperial Capital?"

Xu Yuan’s eyes fixed, as he replied with a smile,

"Heh... smooth talk is no substitute for real skill. I have indeed experienced Your Highness’s ability to keep your word."

Hearing the conversation between the two, Tianyan snorted coldly, interrupting them,

"So, Third Young Master, where shall we wander to? As a Soul Condensation practitioner, you need sleep, are you planning to sleep on the ground covered by the sky in this snowy weather?"

Almost gnashing her teeth, she uttered the last four words.

Meeting eyes for a moment, Xu Yuan said without blushing or skipping a beat,

"Sleeping under the sky is not bad, but it lacks decency. Sleep requires a sense of ceremony; let’s find a place to stay."

Upon hearing this, Tianyan’s golden pupils scanned the mountain waist, piercing through the flying snow:

"Three miles to the west, there’s a mountain village, and two miles to the east, a cave, but there’s a bear Demonic Beast inside. Which way?"

"Caves inhabited by Demonic Beasts usually stink,"

Xu Yuan murmured, then asked with some curiosity, "With such heavy snowfall, is there actually a mountain village still in existence?"

Tianyan replied expressionlessly, "A mountain village with no living souls."

"....."

Silence fell suddenly after these words.

"In such heavy snow, even Cultivators struggle to survive, let alone ordinary people."

Li Qingyan spoke softly, "I would like to go check out the mountain village. This lion-eagle beast can stay here; it will find its own food."

Xu Yuan sighed and nodded.

He called for Xiao Bai, who was cultivating in the corner of the loft with the Origin Qi ’Six Routines of Prime Yuan,’ and together with the Soul Condensation expert, the four of them swiftly headed towards the west along the mountain waist.

After dozens of breaths, they arrived, but what Xu Yuan saw was not a mountain village, but a hollow completely covered by white snow.

Standing in the void, Tianyan’s lips parted slightly,

"Wind."

As the word faded, a gust of wind surged, snow from the hollow danced in the air, revealing the dilapidated stone houses beneath.

The houses of the mountain village were not clustered together; groups of two or three houses stretched for miles, forming a village.

Descending into the courtyard enclosed by the stone fence, Xu Yuan extended his Will-spirit and swept it through the houses, softly laughing,

"No one’s here; it seems they evacuated early to escape the snow disaster. I remember at the beginning of the snow disaster, the Imperial Court had issued an evacuation decree..."

"Are you serious?"

Li Qingyan interrupted Xu Yuan with her tranquil voice and sighed softly, "Imperial decrees don’t reach remote villages, let alone such a mountain village. Judging by the household layout, this must’ve been a hunter’s home. Most likely, they couldn’t survive and fled on their own."

"Their family’s corpses are in that bear Demonic Beast’s cave," Tianyan interjected abruptly, "Given the natural disasters, these mountain people are very unlikely to survive."

Xu Yuan fell silent for a moment before speaking somberly,

"The people in the city are not faring well either. A large portion of the disaster relief grain distributed by the Imperial Court are disguised military supplies, and the common people can’t even ensure food for three meals a day."

Tianyan glanced at both of them and stated clearly,

"Xu Yuan, Your Highness, as senior members of the Imperial Court, you must be well aware of what mobilizing troops means for the common people at this time."