"Heh, don't underestimate me."
Wei Liuying smiled. "But I have a condition before I can do what you want me to do, Strategist Yang."
"What is it?"
"You have to trust me."
Yang Xian looked at Wei Liuying and sighed. Since they would be pulled into the battle for the throne, he knew for sure that there wouldn't be any peace anymore in the future. But for now, their focus would be more to the north since the battle was still ongoing.
However, they needed the preparation because there might be some inevitable battle.
"Fine. I'll trust you," Yang Xian replied. "This time, this is just a short visit. But we wouldn't know whether it'll be the same in the future or not."
Wei Liuying nodded. There was a high chance that they would have to return back to the capital city once more because of many things. It was not something that they would like to do, but they have to.
"By the way, what actually happened after I go unconscious?" Wei Liuying asked. After all, the report stated that she only went unconscious when the reinforcement came, which was not true at all.
"Oh, the wolves come," Yang Xian replied. He proceeded to tell everything that Gao Ling and Shi Lu Wen shared to him not long ago. The story sounded so fascinating and hard to believe. After all, who would have thought that there was actually a human who was capable of commanding wolves?
Well, not really commanding. She was simply being protected.
Wei Liuying looked at the wolf's leader beside her. The distinctive scar on his face was very apparent. She still could remember the hungry wolf back then in the mountain. It was only because she wanted to keep her life that she left her hunt behind for him to eat while she herself kept her distance.
That small encounter was what changed the course of everything.
It was very unexpected.
"Thank you," Wei Liuying said to the wolf's leader. She smiled. "You saved my life this time."
The wolf's leader wagged his tail. He seemed glad that Wei Liuying was awake. Afterwards, he turned his body around and walked out.
AWOOOOOOOO!
The wolf howled to the sky as the others in his pack also did the same. After he had finished, he rushed to the forest and headed to the north, disappearing in the midst of the darkness once more.
"He's very active," Wei Liuying said with a giggle.
Yang Xian looked at the north with curiosity. "I have to say, I'm impressed that you can make friends with a wolf."
"Well, I kind of saving his life when I first met with the wolf," Wei Liuying replied. "Even though I'm not totally sure, I guess he felt indebted to me for saving him back then, so he come to help me."
"You save a wolf's leader?"
"He's a stray wolf back then."
Hearing that, Yang Xian nodded. He had the feeling that he started to understand how this bizarre situation could happen in the first place. It was all because Wei Liuying saved a stray wolf that she could be alive now. If not because of that, Yang Xian knew that he might not be able to see her alive and well like this.
"You should rest for now. I'll take care of everything here."
"Ok. Don't exert yourself too much, Strategist Yang."
Yang Xian poked Wei Liuying's forehead. "You should start calling me with my real name rather than my title. It's not that comfortable to have you call me that way over and over."
Wei Liuying simply laughed and didn't reply. She shifted her body position slightly before she fell into deep slumber once more. Her body was still tired and added with the wounds that have only started to heal, she was not in a good condition to move around.
'It's good that you're awake.'
Yang Xian walked out of the tent and met with Shan Yi, who was waiting with his arms crossed. "So, what happened?"
"She's awake."
"And the wolves left?"
"Yes. It seems that the wolf's leader only waited for Liu Ying to wake up," Yang Xian replied. He pointed to the tent. "Now, you don't mind if I ask you to help guarding, right?"
"You black bellied…."
"It's already good enough that I didn't detain you here, Shan Yi. You better make yourself useful before I change my mind and push you to the authorities," Yang Xian said with a dark smile.
Shan Yi resisted the urge to sigh and nodded. He knew that Yang Xian wished for him to help guarding Wei Liuying. After all, in this condition Wei Liuying was still very vulnerable and needed to be guarded all the time.
Just as he was going closer, he noticed that the wolf pack had returned.
AWOOOOOOOOOOO!
"Xian, are you sure that you need me?" Shan Yi asked as he pointed to the wolf pack. From their mouths, he could see traces of blood. It seemed that the wolf only left to hunt for a while before they returned back to Wei Liuying.
Yang Xian sighed and nodded. "If there's anything that happened, call me."
"You should rest. I barely see you rest for the past two days. Even if you're a powerful martial artist, it's not good if you continue to deprive your body from sleeping."
"I'll rest soon."
"You…" Shan Yi looked at the soldiers waiting for orders and sighed. "Fine, but don't let your body collapsed. You're the leader in this place."
"Yes."
Yang Xian walked to the soldiers and began to give his instruction. There were only a portion of them who would be able to enter the Capital City. Even then, he also needed to prepare an escape route in case things turned bad. There were too many of their enemies in the capital city.
He was so busy.
Time passed swiftly.
By the morning, Wei Liuying woke up and managed to eat by herself. She was not joking when she said that she healed fast because she had been facing a lot more situation when she was forced to endure the harsh situation yet still have to survive. Her wounds were already mostly healed, and she could move around.
Even Shi Lu Wen was stunned when she saw Wei Liuying walked out of the tent to join the lunch.
"You can already move your body?" Shi Lu Wen asked with surprise.
Wei Liuying nodded. "I'm fine, Lu Wen. Though, I'll need to trouble you to change my bandage later."
"You have good constitution."
"I'd rather say that I'm quite lucky to be able to heal faster," Wei Liuying replied. "If I didn't get well soon, he won't be able to rest too, right?"
Shi Lu Wen followed Wei Liuying's gaze and noticed that she was looking at Yang Xian. She nodded. "He's pushing himself because he wants to make sure that there's no danger when you all visit the capital city."
"We'll be fine," Wei Liuying said unhurriedly. Her eyes glinted with determination and ruthlessness. It was clear that she was also brewing plan inside her head in case the situation turned bad.
Shi Lu Wen looked at Wei Liuying and sighed. This was not the first time she saw this, but she felt that Wei Liuying truly used her brain too much. She kept on thinking of every possibilities and the method to overcome it in case it truly happened.
"You should learn how to relax a bit."
Wei Liuying smiled. "I'm fine."
"Also, I would like to thank you formally for helping me out in the temple. Without you, I would have died numerous times."
In fire, in facing the enemies, Shi Lu Wen couldn't count the time she was saved by Wei Liuying's action. Without Wei Liuying protecting her with all she got, Shi Lu Wen might have been the first one to leave this world because she was incapable to fight properly.
"It's just my task."
"Is that all?"
Wei Liuying raised her head and looked at Shi Lu Wen's smiling face. Her smile grew bigger. "Yes."
"You're a liar," Shi Lu Wen joked and stood up. "I'll leave the group after lunch since Shan Yi's men are here. We shall meet again when you return back to the north and this time, let me treat you with my cooking."
Wei Liuying recalled that Shi Yan often said that Shi Lu Wen's cooking was really good. When she came to their house in the past, she had tasted it, so she had to admit that it was really good. "I'll look forward to it."
"I'll do my best!"
The two of them chatted a bit more before Shi Lu Wen departed with Shan Yi. Of course, she changed Wei Liuying's bandage first because they couldn't possibly leave it to other doctors who didn't know Wei Liuying's real gender.
Just like what Wei Liuying said, most of her wounds have started to heal but many left scars.