Chapter 254 Soul-plundering
The long spear of Leng Changxi was made of dark iron, which was extremely sharp. He poked the long spear deeply into a person’s body and caused a massive hemorrhage. The scout in the front evaded quickly but still got bloody stains on her arm.
Cha rushed to the front first. After he made sure that it was safe around, he checked the poked male adult in coarse brown gown. Leng Changxi had poked his carotid and caused blood splashing. The male adult seemed to still alive. Cha squinted and then trod the face of this man who was almost dead. After a ringing sound, the man died completely.
The dark brown coarse gown was exactly identical to what Leng Changxi saw on the hillside. It could conclude that this man was a member of that mysterious tribe. His hair was tousy and dirty, and there was a middle-sized scar that seemed to be caused by some ferocious animals. It might be the reason why he fell behind and stayed in Yingguang Lake.
“What a pity,” Wanyan Su stepped forward and sighed, “If we let him alive, we would know the right routine next.”
Having heard Wanyan Su’s words, many soldiers complained that Leng Changxi was too arbitrary to kill that man. But only the scout in the front felt grateful to Leng Changxi. The moment Leng Changxi poked the long spear, the scout clearly felt a cold wind behind. And the dead man held a bone dagger made of bovine bone tightly, which could prove his intuition. If Leng Changxi did not save him, he would be dead at such a close distance.
“Not really.” Qin Yunuan stepped forward suddenly and unfolded a silk thread on her wrist. She pinched one end of the silk thread, and the other end hung in the wind, “Look at the direction of the silk threads’ swinging.”
Wanyan Su was about to answer but found that the magnet he brought here suddenly lost its directivity in Yingguang Lake.
“What happened?” Wanyan Su took the magnet from a soldier. The curved-handle spoon made of a magnet in the middle was continually rotating.
“Something weird in the lake.” Somebody answered at once.
“OK.” Wanyan Su put the magnet aside. Everything in Yeren Valley was weird.
“Magnet is not the only way to direct our way.” Qin Yunuan tilted her head slightly. She stood under the moonlight with her jade-like oval face. With the blue light in Yingguang Lake, her face was like a glowing cloud, making people feel warm.
“Changxi, the wind is strong near the lake. Look. Please compare the direction of my silk thread’s swinging and the front and back of the man’s clothes.”
Leng Changxi checked and said, “There are sands in the front but nothing in the back.”
The bank of Yingguang Lake was full of silver sands, which was rare to be found in the woods area. Just by these sands, Qin Yunuan knew much more.
“It’s clear. It can prove that the man was walking against the wind. Prince, you can order the soldiers to march with the wind. It’s the right direction.”
Really?
Wanyan Su seemed not to believe the very decisive judgment of Qin Yunuan.
Qin Yunuan shrugged her shoulder, “Prince, do you have any other choice except my idea?”
Yes. Now the whole troop was trapped here, and they should leave the place as soon as possible.
Wanyan Su made the order immediately to let all soldiers march with the wind along with the bank. And the man’s corpse from the mysterious tribe was buried into sands in a hurry. Cha took the initiative to help Leng Changxi. After Leng Changxi saved him, he changed his attitude toward Leng Changxi totally.
The water of Yingguang Lake was blue, and the ripples with blue plankton were like women whose fingertips were flirting with the tranquil and mysterious lake. The surface of the lake was like a mirror, and the moonlight lighted up all people. Soldiers were exhausted, and many of them walking near the lake could not help but use hands to take water to quench their thirst. And even Wanyan Su walking in the front was bewildered by the lake water. It was as beautiful as a fairyland.
A layer of white gauze covered the eyes of Qin Yunuan. She just felt something blue in the front and thought nothing wrong. But Lu Wuyi suddenly sniffed and said, “Something weird in the water.”
Suddenly, a soldier from the troop rushed into the deepest place of the lake directly and shouted, “My son, papa is here. Papa comes to save you. Don’t feel scared.”
Somebody stopped the running soldier at once. But the soldier suddenly had great strength and got rid of the two people who were grasping his arms, and then ran into the center of the lake unconsciously.
Leng Changxi took a step, and Wanyan Su controlled the situation in a hurry. But Lu Wuyi just said calmly, “The solider is in a trance unconsciously. Apparently, his soul has been plundered by the lake water.”
“What do you mean?” Qin Yunuan asked with her head tilting.
Lu Wuyi glanced at the lake with blue light. He tried his best not to be bewildered by the blue light in the lake, “My father has once treated a patient. He started to believe that his wife, who had passed away for many years, was still alive, and he saw her after a long journey. The local people thought that he was bewitched and kicked him away. But his old mother, who was eighty years old, begged for my father’s treatment. My father made a great effort but still did not find the cause. It was not hysteria or psychiatric disorders. One day, the man told my father the cause. He said he saw a lake in a remote area in the north region. In the lake, he could see the love scenes of his wife and himself. To see his wife at any time, he always went for a long journey and met his wife in the lake each year. But one day, he could not see his wife in the lake any longer. Thus, he believed that his wife had left the lake and went back to meet him.”
“Saw his wife in the lake?” Qin Yunuan frowned, “How?”
“I have no idea,” Lu Wuyi suddenly smiled lightly, “According to his explanation, the lake could expose the deepest secret and desire of people, but conditions differed. Someone could see that his dream was achieved in the lake, and someone could see the secret hidden for a long time. However, all was just a legend.”
Leng Changxi in the front listened to the talk of the two people silently. He turned back until they talked about this topic. He pointed at those soldiers in mental disorder in the water and then said, “Look at them. Is it still a legend?”
In the lake, the solider who shouted that he was looking for his son had moved to the waist-deep level. He constantly yelled at his son’s name. And those soldiers who tried to pull him back behaved weirdly in the lake. They turned happy or sad and totally soaked themselves into the emotions.
In the evening, a bunch of people acted like zombies with strange words. It seemed that the wind turned uncanny.
Wanyan Su dispatched people to correct the troop, but nothing changed.
“Yasu, don’t look at the lake.” Wanyan Su saw that Yasu standing near the lake turned unconscious and seemed to lose her mind.
But to everyone’s surprise, Yasu turned back suddenly and pointed at her inverted image in the lake, “Prince, look. Our baby is back.”
“Yasu!” Wanyan Su shouted.
Qin Yunuan knew that Yasu got pregnant one year ago but for no reason, she miscarried in the third month suddenly. Yasu got upset for a long time after that. The lake was really quirky. It was like a demon that could see clearly the inside desires of people, which was so frightening because it could control the mind of people entirely, just like a gambler who wanted gambling every day.
Wanyan Su was about to pull Yasu back but was dragged to the bank. Yasu forced him to lower his head to see the blue lake.
“Prince, look. Our baby is one year old. Is it cute?”
Wanyan Su wanted to struggle but feared that he would hurt Yasu. Now Leng Changxi strode forward, pulled Wanyan Su from Yasu and then pulled Yasu to the back.
Yasu almost fell down by the heavy force, but luckily, she fell in the arms of Qin Yunuan. Yasu got out of breath and recovered after a long time. A vice general of Wanyan Su was correcting the troop over there. The soldier who shouted his son’s name had entered the center of the lake, and the water almost overflowed his head, but he was still calling the nickname of his son repeatedly.
“Changxi, we shall go.” Qin Yunuan suddenly found that Leng Changxi was still near the lake, like a statue. For no reason, Qin Yunuan felt uneasy.
The lake water had wet out the trouser legs of Leng Changxi. Imperceptibly, Leng Changxi took a more step forward unconsciously. Qin Yunuan could not help but approach Leng Changxi, and the icy-cold lake water stimulated the lower legs of Qin Yunuan. She touched the hands of Leng Changxi but found that his hands were colder than the lake water.
Leng Changxi stared at the lake water dully and saw a legendary image in the wavy lake. He felt that he could touch the image and heard the roar in the battleground.
Suddenly, a big red shadow emerged on the lake. Leng Changxi was frightened and stepped back slightly. Luckily, it was only a lady in a red wedding dress. She was nifty with her bright eyes. She gave a salute to the man in armor opposite. The salute had the style of the royal family. And beside her, there was Prince Ning, the nominal father of Leng Changxi. Prince Ning had guarded the Elder Princess to West Xia for the imperial matrimony for peace. So…
“Thanks for saving me. General Leng.” The Elder Princess treated the general so politely, but he said, “Elder Princess of Qi? I killed many people who wanted to kill you. Should you pay back?”
“What?”
“The cost is very low. You just serve me for the whole night.”