Tu Gou couldn't go to the Four Truths Blue Lotus, but he didn't want to head straight back to the Dragon King's camp either. He sat astride his horse for a long while, gazing out at the snow-covered wilderness and the distant mountains, and suddenly felt that the trip hadn't been in vain.
The legends of the martial world were destined to belong to only a handful of people. Strip away the exaggerations, and there were even fewer true legends.
The Dragon King was one of them, Tu Gou thought. But the Dragon King had to face tremendous pressure for it and pay a price beyond imagining. Thinking of that, Tu Gou felt that everything was fair.
The sound of hoofbeats reached him. Tu Gou assumed it was a patrol from one of the armies, but when he turned, he saw an empty horse. Looking more closely, he realized Old Man Mu was riding it.
Old Man Mu was a legend of sorts, too. Back in the day, he had been notorious across Beiting and the Western Regions for slaughtering innocents without rhyme or reason. Tu Gou was even less inclined to imitate him.
"Hey, old dog, what're you still doing out here?"
"N-nothing." Tu Gou brushed him off. If he voiced his thoughts, he'd be laughed at for days.
Old Man Mu reined in his horse, swung his right leg over to the left, and sat sideways on the saddle. "Good. I actually came back to find you."
"Does the Dragon King need my help?" A flicker of excitement rose in Tu Gou.
"Heh, of course not. The Dragon King was born under a solitary, baleful star. Even if he needed your help, he'd have to arrange it so it looked like it was your own business. But my