"What?" The moment Yalixian heard this, all other emotions flew out of her mind. She hurriedly ran toward her family's tent.
Song Qingshu had no choice but to follow, asking the herdsmen at the same time, "Where is Usun now?"
The herdsmen had been somewhat afraid of him, since he had arrived with that group from the Mongol Empire. But seeing him beside Yalixian, they answered, "He has already returned to Karakorum City."
By then, Yalixian had reached her tent. Quite a few people were gathered outside, and when they saw her arrive, they cried out in low voices, "Yalixian is back! Yalixian is back!"
The crowd quickly made way, revealing Che'erku lying inside the tent.
The usually boisterous Che'erku now lay silently on the bed, covered in bloodstains. His face was ghastly pale, and if not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, one might have thought he was already dead.
"Che'erku..." Yalixian wailed and rushed over. Though she had resented her husband for misunderstanding her before, they had still been husband and wife for many years. Memories of their former love surfaced in her mind, making her all the more grief-stricken.
"Yalixian, try to accept it. Che'erku has answered the True Lord's summons and gone to serve the True Lord," several women of the Tieyan Tribe consoled her. Their tribe had no physicians. Whenever someone fell ill, they merely prayed to the True Lord and relied on their bodies to endure it.
There had once been an old man named Ji who knew a little medicine, but because of those Han Chinese bandit escorts years ago, the tribe had come to despise Han Chinese. Everyone avoided going to him whenever possible. Later, no one knew where he had gone, whether he had left or died. No