Battle on a Snowy Night

Zijin withdrew her gaze. "So you've dumped my stupid little brother, Weiaoyasi?"

"No, I'm playing both sides," Katharine replied, though a hint of fear crept onto her face.

Zijin immediately rolled up her sleeves; she felt that the person in front of her still needed to be taught a lesson.

Su Ming quickly stopped her, "Don't interrupt him—continue with Chloe's part."

"That's easy. Chloe was the former queen of Xialike, and she faked her death."

"If you can tell Chloe is faking her death, how could King Xialike not know?" Su Ming couldn't understand. How could an emperor let his wife run away like that?

"Queen Chloe ran off with the egg," Katharine added.

"The word 'egg' means—" Su Ming didn't quite understand the word "egg," "Running away with a baby?"

Katharine shook her head. "Literally, she laid an egg and then ran away with it."

This sentence contained so much information that even Su Ming's not-too-slow-witted mind was stuck for quite a while.

Queen Chloe should be a member of the Taya native race, that is, the Feather Race. She and Xialike couldn't possibly have an egg; it must be an extramarital affair— Su Ming analyzed bit by bit with her fingers, but in that case, the two "people" shouldn't have gotten married!

"No way, all of you combined wouldn't even make a normal person with a romantic mindset!" Su Ming felt this otherworldly gossip was unbearable to listen to; there wasn't a single thing worth talking about.

"The imperial court, you know," Zijin said, "Is so chaotic that even novels can't imagine it."

****

Hansite restarted the Youth Civilization, and the carriages began to shake again.

Katharine was thirsty, so she got out of bed to pour herself some tea. As she passed by, she reached out to grab the peanuts in front of the scholar, but was stopped by Zijin.

After shooing Katharine away, Zijin patiently peeled a peanut. She crushed it into powder with her fingers and then held it to the little Tuanzi's mouth.

Su Ming grabbed her fingers, "What are you doing?"

"Feed him!" Zijin asked, puzzled. "Can this child get enough to eat just by drinking milk?"

"No, no, no, a one-month-old baby only drinks milk!" Su Ming confirmed. "You've experienced growing up from a human infant, haven't you?"

"Yes," Zijin recalled for a moment, "I used a spoon to eat the dry milk powder myself, and then I drank water from a cup. I like to eat peanuts."

Since I don't have teeth, I just crushed it up and ate it.

Su Ming's eyes widened in shock. "How does Atiya take care of a baby?"

"She was very busy," Zijin replied. "Back then, I could barely control two forms at the same time, and I raised Ailisha using the Bone Dragon."

Su Ming had no idea what he was feeling; before he even realized it, his hand was already stroking the girl's head.

The scholar, holding a peanut, gave me a questioning look. "Is there something on my head?"

Su Ming quickly withdrew his hand without saying a word, which only made Zijin more confused.

Katharine, who had just returned, witnessed this scene and scratched her head in confusion.

"Can I wash my hair here?" she asked Zijin. "My hair is all tangled."

"May I use my bathroom?" The girl summoned her skeletal servant and had it take Katharine there.

When Katharine entered Zijin's room, she saw a large bed placed side by side, along with personal belongings that clearly belonged to two people.

They still won't admit they're a couple?! She cursed inwardly, "This is ridiculous."

****

Katharine washed her hair and dried herself off. Zijin lent her one of her own pajamas, but unsurprisingly, she couldn't fit into it.

"Human women who are breastfeeding often have much larger breasts," a scholar pointed out, explaining the reason for this discrepancy.

"What about your academic ethics!" Katharine corrected, "The reason the clothes are too small is because you didn't—that's not right." She suddenly poked the girl's chest, "But you've improved quite a bit, haven't you?"

Zijin slapped her hand away and had the skeleton servant bring over a set of Su Ming's pajamas, a neutral bluish-gray.

"You've changed so much since school." Katharine took the pajamas and changed into them, rolling up the long sleeves and pant legs. "You look so much better, and your personality is more human now."

"You're still as irresistible as ever, making people want to pick you up just by looking at you," Zijin replied.

Katharine rummaged through the Zijin dressing case for hair clips, but couldn't find any suitable ones. She soon spotted a small box on the shelf containing a silk hair tie with a crystal orchid pendant, its exquisite craftsmanship surpassing even her current royal possessions.

"You actually have something like this!" Katharine was very surprised. Zijin now uses a bone staff to style her hair, whereas before she would just use tree branches and chopsticks haphazardly.

"If you touch it, your hand will be gone," Zijin stated calmly.

Katharine stopped her hand, which was halfway outstretched.

****

After taking a shower, Katharine felt much better and returned to her hospital bed.

Looking out the car window at the still-bitter snowstorm, a sense of worry welled up inside her. She asked Su Ming, "Could you send a contact message to the Northern Lands Church? My daughter must be looking for me."

"We can't do that, we don't have any communication towers," Su Ming replied.

Long-distance communication requires a communication array, along with a specialized alchemical amplification device. The White Triangle had one, but Su Ming did not bring it ashore.

"Your train is so big, why doesn't it have a communications tower?" Katharine asked, puzzled. This was an essential piece of equipment for both home and travel.

Zijin said irritably, "Who are we, all alone, supposed to contact with using a communications tower?"

"..." Katharine was speechless, especially since the cause of this situation was the Temple of Light, to which she belonged.

She thought for a moment, then changed her request, "Could you send Yise a letter when you get to the next town?"

Yise must be desperately searching for her right now. The enemy's exact identity is still unclear, and the weather is so terrible; Katharine has no idea what she might encounter.

"Don't worry, I've already left a message for your daughter," Su Ming said.

Katharine looked at Su Ming with a very strange expression, "Are you two in contact?"

"Yes," Su Ming honestly recounted their relationship, "A few days ago, when we were alone, I confessed my love to Miss Yise, and she reciprocated by giving me a hairpin."

"My daughter isn't—" Katharine suddenly realized something halfway through her sentence, narrowing her eyes as she sized up Su Ming, "The young man looks quite dashing. If you're willing to abandon Ailisha, I'll approve of you two being together."

Su Ming feigned a troubled expression, "Can't we have both? Besides, Yise's best friend, the priestess Jielusi, is quite pretty and cute."

"You're interested in that little poisonous milk too? Not bad, I'm rooting for you!" Katharine laughed.

****

Exhaustion gradually overwhelmed her; after all, Katharine was still recovering from serious injuries, and getting out of bed to move around had been somewhat of a strain. She quickly fell asleep again.

Zijin also came to the workshop. Su Ming looked up and noticed that her hair was slightly damp and she had changed her clothes.

The two exchanged a glance, then looked at the baby in the crib.

"We need to switch shifts." Realizing this wasn't something that could be done overnight, Zijin suddenly complained, "Saving Katharine is one thing, but why did we have to get a baby as a bonus?"

"What time did you get up?" Su Ming asked the girl.

"Around noon," she replied, "The Tuanzi was crying very loudly, but you didn't wake up."

Su Ming considered for a moment, "I'll take him until midnight, then I'll hand him over to you."

"Okay," Zijin agreed.

She took out a book and started reading. Su Ming was somewhat envious of Zijin's spirit; his disrupted routine had left him feeling unwell and he wanted to rest.

Zijin suddenly asked Su Ming via text message, "[You just said, Yise?]"

Su Ming didn't understand, "[What's wrong with Yise?]"

[What happened, the thing you told Katharine?]

Su Ming was confused. [Didn't I tell you? Because I didn't understand the Church of the God of Light, I almost gave myself away in front of Yise. I managed to cover it up then.]

[cover up?]

Su Ming had no choice but to recount the events in detail. Usually, Zijin wasn't interested in the intricacies of the process, so he had only briefly mentioned it before.

"[That's quite quick-witted of you,'" Zijin commented. She thought for a moment, then added, "[You do lack common sense, but that's not your fault.]"

[Yes, I shouldn't have talked so much.] Su Ming also reflected. He had only been in this other world for three months, and common sense issues couldn't be easily caught up on.

"[That dew—] "Zijin began, then suddenly stopped.

She closed the book, tapped her head with the spine, and said, "I need to take a shower too." She then got up and left, heading towards the workshop.

Did she just wash her hair? Su Ming looked at the girl's back and couldn't help but wonder.

No sooner had Zijin left than Hansite arrived at the workshop, carrying flour, lotus root, meat, and other items he had taken from the warehouse.

"Miss Sacred Beast is watching from the cockpit," he told Su Ming, "But she keeps nagging you about not keeping your word."

Su Ming glanced at Tuanzi; the little one had fallen asleep again without him noticing. He pushed the crib next to Katharine and then started making lotus root cakes with Hansite.

****

In the blizzard, two young girls, Yise and Jielusi, are making their way through the snow.

They followed the tracks from Galloping Horse Slope, without resting for a day and a half. The snow deer, exhausted, could no longer proceed and was sent away by the two.

Night had fallen; this was the fourth night since Katharine had been attacked and fled. Knowing she was carrying her newborn brother and the weather was so terrible, Yise's worry was overwhelming.

Jielusi wanted to offer comfort, but didn't know how to begin.

They heard a noise ahead, exchanged a glance, and then ran towards it.

It was a small squad of soldiers, busy on a collapsed snow slope, lighting magic lamps. "The Northern Lands Noble Army?" Yise recognized them by their clothing.

An officer, clearly the leader, spotted the newcomers. "Your Excellency the Watcher, Your Excellency the Priest."

"What happened here?" Yise asked.

"I am Granville, the captain of the local garrison. We learned of the attack on Princess Dafulin and Empress of the Stars and were ordered to conduct a search," Granville recounted. "But our several squads were ambushed here and almost all were wiped out."

Jielusi cast a luminous spell into the sky and surveyed the scene. It was a large-scale avalanche, with hundreds of bodies already laid out nearby, and soldiers still digging in the snow.

Yise sighed and drew his longsword.

"Lord Watcher?" Granville took a step back, his expression confused and flustered. "Why are you doing this?"

"Coming here on orders? You noble army must have flown from your camp to here in such a short time!" Yise sneered. "I think you've been chasing after Queen Katharine the whole time!"

Upon seeing the commotion, the surrounding soldiers drew their weapons and surrounded them. Yise glanced around and saw that there were more than twenty of them, several of whom were quite skilled.

Granville stopped them and explained earnestly, "We just happened to be nearby."

Yise stepped back, Jielusi stepped forward, raising her scepter. The aura of "Judgment of Truth" enveloped everyone.

"Please repeat what you just said, with God as your witness," the priestess said.

Granville got stuck; lying under this divine spell would cause him considerable harm.

"Then let me rephrase my question. Lady Katharine's assassination is related to you, right?" Jielusi continued.

Granville, seeing that he could no longer conceal the truth, stopped pretending. He drew his long sword from his waist, shouting, "You're asking for it!"

Jielusi withdrew her Judgment Aura, and several defensive spells enveloped her. "God will hear the repentance of sinners!"

In such terrible weather, the fact that two young girls could track them all the way here is definitely not indicative of weakness. Granville didn't want to lose any of his men, so he wanted to gain their trust before launching his attack.

But even though things had already broken down, he wasn't afraid. The team he led was made up of top-notch, hand-picked fighters!

One soldier, with a lewd expression, said, "Boss, the avalanche really got me into a bad mood. These two girls are pretty, let the brothers cool off!"

The soldiers burst into laughter.

Behind the priest, Yise discarded her cloak and backpack, quietly activating her equipment; her armor and longsword turned white. A hazy light flashed, and she vanished into the snowstorm.

Several elite soldiers noticed and quickly raised the alarm. But it was too late. The soldier who had spoken lewdly had his neck slashed open, and he lay on the snow, clutching his throat in bewilderment.

"Form ranks!" Granville commanded quickly. The wind was too strong to locate the enemy by sound. "Watch out for footprints on the ground!" he roared.

Everyone quickly formed ranks. In the midst of the movement, another soldier was hit. But after a short while, these soldiers gathered back to back into a group. Those on the outer circle held swords and shields on guard, while those in the inner circle held long spears, and some even took out bows and began to draw their bowstrings.

Yise frowned. This army was unexpectedly elite, and its quality was far superior to that of the usual noble army.

"The light and shadow are hazy!"

Jielusi cast a spell, bathing everything in an ethereal glow. Already illuminated only by magical lamps, the scene became even more indistinct, obscuring the snow-covered ground completely.

In the interplay of light and shadow, dark energy also subtly spreads.

Granville charged at Jielusi, knife in hand, intending to disrupt her spellcasting. Jielusi gracefully retreated, creating distance, her eyes tinged with a calm, black depth.

"Shadow Priest!" Granville recognized the aura. Suddenly realizing something, he shouted behind him, "Watch out!"

But it was too late. The energy that had just been planted exploded in the crowd, and a sense of dread washed over all the soldiers.

Fear spell!

The weakest soldiers, their minds thrown into disarray, frantically pushed past their comrades and fled. This disrupted everyone's formation, and the once-orderly ranks crumbled instantly. Yise rushed forward and struck with his sword, felling two soldiers to the ground.