Day Fifteen. Clear.
Lu Chen woke before dawn. Someone was moving outside the tent—Zhao Tieying's footsteps, lighter than usual. Morning drills on the parade ground had been canceled today, and Zhao Tieying had ordered the soldiers to remain on standby in their barracks. The Ironblood Horse Grounds, nine thousand eight hundred strong, were abnormally silent. Even the warhorses in the stables did not neigh.
Yun Qingyue entered carrying a bowl of medicine. It was not that bottle of golden medicinal liquid, but an ordinary blood-replenishing brew. Steam rose from the dark-brown decoction, its bitterness threaded with the lingering sweetness of licorice.
"Drink it one incense stick early. Don't forget."
"I won't."
He drank the blood-replenishing medicine. Yun Qingyue took the empty bowl but did not leave. She pulled out a roll of bandages from the medicine case and began wrapping his right arm. There was no wound—it was a precaution. The bandages wound from his wrist to the crook of his elbow, each layer pressing over the last, snug against his skin. Once she was done, she lowered his sleeve. The bandages were completely hidden beneath his official robes.
"The bandages have been soaked in Dragon Blood Ointment. If death energy invades your right arm, they'll absorb part of it for you. Once they're saturated, the bandages will heat up. Tear them off when they do."
She closed the medicine case, then took out that piece of golden rune bone and placed it on the table.
"Don't bring the medicine case today. Bring this."
Lu Chen tucked the bone into his robes. It was slightly warmer than usual; even through his clothes, he could feel its faint heat. The golden rune bone resonated with the Third Councilor's death energy. The closer the death energy was, the hotter the bone would