Chapter 142: Affairs

"Were you two together last night?" Yexue asked, eyes flickering between Qingyue and Ru Yi. The two didn’t hesitate to shake their heads.

"Then where were you?" The question was directed to Ru Yi who cast her gaze down, like the ground under her feet was the most magnificent thing ever.

"I was—" Ru Yi couldn’t find an excuse fast enough.

Yexue wrapped her hands around Ru Yi. "It doesn’t matter, as long as you came back to me." She held her tighter, as though afraid that if she let go Ru Yi would disappear again...just as easily as she had the night before.

"I thought you got tired of being with me and left," Yexue continued despite the audience they had. "It felt like I did something to upset you and..." she sighed, her voice softer but still edged with the remnants of a restless sleep.

"I could never leave you," Ru Yi said despite herself. She put an arm around Yexue, all the pain and guilt suddenly rushing back.

"How could I not think that?" Yexue asked with a pout. "You vanished the entire night without a word." Then she pulled away and looked at Ru Yi with big round reddish brown eyes. "Can you not leave me?"

For a brief moment Ru Yi froze, caught off guard by the sudden vulnerability. It felt like she was truly seeing Shen Yexue for the first time.

Right now she wasn’t the wolf that everyone feared, or the mischievous princess that had everyone eating from the palm of her hand.

What Ru Yi saw was the little girl who was afraid of being abandoned by the people she loved the most.

Ru Yi wanted to tell that Yexue had abandoned her first when she chose the throne over her. But was she allowed to be selfish? Especially when she would be the reason for her downfall.

"Okay." The word was whispered with tears gathering at the corner of Ru Yi’s eyes. "I will never leave you."

Yexue pulled back enough just to look at Ru Yi, her brows still drawn with concern. Her gaze searched Ru Yi’s face as though trying to reassure herself that everything was truly alright and she would keep her word.

That was until her eyes caught on a mark just at the edge of Ru Yi’s collar. It was faint and already darkening, enough to raise quiet suspicion.

Yexue blinked, her gaze narrowing. "What is that?"

Ru Yi reacted instantly, her hand lifting to tug her robe higher. She covered the mark with practiced ease that went unnoticed.

She offered a light, almost dismissive smile that did not reach her eyes. "Probably an insect," she answered casually. She brushed it off with a small shrug, though the tension in her posture suggested otherwise.

But it was not the explanation that caught Yexue’s attention—it was the way Ru Yi’s gaze shifted, just for a second, betraying her composure as it flickered towards Qingyue before she could stop herself.

That brief glance did not go unnoticed, especially by Lieyin.

Before the silence could stretch too far, Qingyue cleared her throat. The sound drew their attention back to her.

"I wasn’t able to meet the boy." Qingyue said, her tone even and efficient. It revealed nothing about the turmoil that was currently going on inside her. "The one rumoured to have the complete map leading to Ashen Fortress."

The mention of their destination redirected the room as intended.

"What about the map General Sheng gave you?" Ru Yi asked. She hadn’t been aware of the existence of another map, or the triplets’ intention to find it. She had been kept out of the loop.

Qingyue shook her head. "It only shows the main routes. Anyone following those paths directly would be walking to their death."

"The mountain leading to Ashen Fortress isn’t something that can be navigated blindly," Qingyue continued. "There are hidden paths, narrow passes, routes that don’t appear on any map. Without someone that knows them..."

She paused briefly, waiting for the weight of her words to settle. "We won’t make it through alive."

The group fell quiet again with the realization that whatever path they were walking was far more dangerous than what any of them had faced in the past.

Lieyin finally spoke. "The peaks of the mountains are layered with shifting mist and old formations that don’t remain the same for long. Paths collapse, others appear where there was none before. It’s not just terrain and bandits, the mountain itself makes it hard to cross over."

"Even experienced cultivators avoid the region unless they have no other choice," Qingyue finished.

"It makes me wonder if General Sheng is trying to help us, or send us to our early grave." There was a bite in Lieyin’s voice.

Qingyue gave her a disapproving look. "It’s more than anyone is willing to do for us. We should be grateful."

Lieyin rolled her eyes. "Right."

Ru Yi couldn’t shake off an uneasy feeling that was beginning to take root. "How did you hear about the boy with the map?"

"Back at the winehouse. One of the men in the table close to us was a merchant passing through southern routes," Qingyue explained, looking everywhere but at Ru Yi. "He claimed there’s someone who knows hidden paths through the mountain. A guide who has made the journey more than once and lived."

Ru Yi was impressed. "Someone has actually gone through the mountains and come out?"

Qingyue nodded. "I intended to meet him myself, until a little distraction was thrown in my path."

"Tell me about it," Lieyin muttered, eyes never leaving Ru Yi. "Why are the two of you coming back together anyway?"

Ru Yi beat Qingyue to it. "We met outside the inn and came in together. It’s not like we’re coming from the same place."

The corner of Lieyin’s mouth lifted in a wicked grin. "I didn’t say you were."

Yexue was about to grab Ru Yi’s hand and pull her to their room when her gaze zeroed in on Qingyue’s finger. "Where did you get that ring?"