AUBTN -Chapter 395 Sleep, I’ll Stay With You

The night deepened, and the embers of the campfire flickered in the wind, occasionally giving off soft crackling sounds.

At the camp, most of the exhausted people had already fallen into a deep sleep. Only the mournful howl of the wind passing through the valley remained, adding an air of grim solemnity to the night.

Shen Jue leaned against a sturdy ancient tree, his slightly furrowed brows betraying the turmoil churning endlessly within his heart.

The late-autumn night wind carried a bone-chilling cold, yet he seemed completely oblivious to it.

A snow-white cloak carrying a faint medicinal fragrance suddenly settled gently over his shoulders.

Shen Jue’s eyes snapped open. The moment he saw who had come, the murderous aura surrounding him instantly receded like a retreating tide, transforming into helpless, tender softness.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?” he asked in a lowered voice.

He reached out and caught Su He Wan’s wrist, which was slightly cool to the touch, and smoothly pulled her down to sit beside him on the dry grass.

Su He Wan obediently leaned against him, her gaze falling on the pile of embers flickering between light and darkness not far away. Her voice was gentle yet certain.

“If you can sleep peacefully, then naturally I can sleep too. It’s the middle of the night, and you’re sitting here staring blankly at a pile of ashes…”

She turned her head, her clear, limpid gaze seeming capable of seeing straight through his soul.

“Worried about Zhao Zhou?”

The corners of Shen Jue’s lips lifted into a faint, bitter smile. His long fingers curled around her hand from the other side, gently rubbing it.

“You truly understand me, Wanwan.”

His voice sounded especially hoarse in the night wind, carrying a trace of fatigue that was difficult to detect.

For half his life, he had schemed against people’s hearts and proceeded cautiously at every step. He had never thought that abandoning anyone would be something he could not bear.

Yet, of all things, leaving Zhao Zhou behind to serve as his decoy had become the thorn lodged deep in his heart—one he could not pull out.

What kind of place was the Ministry of Justice prison?

It was a very Hell itself, a place that devoured people without leaving even their bones behind!

Zhao Zhou had remained there. Once his identity was exposed, who knew whether he would even have a chance to escape?

Su He Wan turned her hand around and clasped his cold fingers, trying to pass her own warmth into them.

“Can you tell me about your story with Zhao Zhou?” she asked gently.

“All I know is that he’s the Chief Executioner of the Eastern Depot, and your most capable right-hand man. But I don’t know how the two of you met.”

Shen Jue fell silent for a moment, his gaze growing deep and shadowed.

“Zhao Zhou… I picked him up from an underground slave market.”

His voice was calm, yet it carried an unmistakable, lingering scent of blood.

“He was only ten years old back then. He was locked inside an iron cage filled with mud and excrement, like a wild dog fighting for scraps. Those slave traders threw a moldy, spoiled steamed bun into the cage for their own amusement, forcing more than a dozen half-grown children to fight each other for it.”

Shen Jue let out a cold laugh, a trace of mockery flashing through his eyes.

“He was the smallest and thinnest of them all, yet he was the most vicious. He bit clean through the finger of a boy twice his size, then swallowed that spoiled steamed bun with his mouth covered in blood. There wasn’t a trace of humanity left in his eyes back then. He trusted no one. Anyone who came near him, he would bite.”

Su He Wan’s heart tightened, and she instinctively squeezed his hand more firmly.

“What happened afterward?”

“Afterward, I spent one tael of silver and bought him,” Shen Jue said indifferently.

“I threw him into the Secret Guard Camp.”

At the mention of the words “Secret Guard Camp,” Shen Jue’s eyes instantly darkened.

“Wanwan, you’ve never seen true hell. The rule of the Secret Guard Camp was that out of a hundred children who entered, only three would ultimately walk out alive. They didn’t just have to learn the techniques of killing. They also had to test poisons, fight beasts, and climb over the bones of their own companions through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.”

Shen Jue closed his eyes.

Because he had come from there too.

“Five years later, he crawled out from a pile of corpses and came to me. He told me that I was the one who had given him his life, and that for the rest of his life, he would be the sharpest blade in my hand.”

The night wind grew colder.

Su He’wan listened with her heart pounding, yet she continued to maintain a calm expression.

She knew all too well how lonely someone like Shen Jue, who had been wandering alone through the darkness, must be without such a loyal and devoted subordinate by his side.

“He’ll definitely come back.” Su He’wan’s tone was firm, without the slightest hesitation. “Since he said he would be the blade in your hand, how could a blade that hasn’t broken abandon its master?”

After a pause, she suggested, “Tomorrow, let’s wait here for another day. The terrain here is secluded, and there’s also a stream…”

“No.”

Shen Jue interrupted her without the slightest hesitation. He abruptly opened his eyes, and the softness in them was replaced by absolute rationality.

“Tianji Pavilion isn’t to be underestimated. The longer we stay, the more danger you’ll be in. I absolutely cannot gamble with your life.”

He turned to look at Su He’wan, his gaze burning with determination.

“Tomorrow morning, we’ll follow the original plan and take the water route down to Jiangnan. I’ll have the hidden guards leave marks in secluded places along the way—marks that only Zhao Zhou can understand. If he manages to escape, he’ll naturally follow the trail and catch up with us.”

Su He’wan looked at his stern profile and knew that this was the most rational decision he could make as a man in a position of authority.

【This man is so rational that it hurts. He’s clearly frantic with worry inside, yet he still has to force himself to consider the bigger picture.】

Su He’wan’s inner voice rang clearly in Shen Jue’s ears.

Shen Jue’s body stiffened slightly. Then, helplessly, the corners of his lips curved upward. He reached out and pulled her into his arms, resting his chin against the crown of her head.

“Sleep. I’ll stay with you.”

The next morning, thick fog blanketed the land.

A somewhat weathered black-canopied boat broke through the mist on the ancient Ling Mountain Canal, drifting downstream with the current.

However, the tranquility on the river did not last long.

“Whoosh—!”

A cold arrow tore through the dense fog with a sharp whistle, shooting straight toward Yu Qing’s face as she dozed against the cabin door at the bow of the boat!

“Clang!”

Sparks flew in all directions!

Just as the arrow was barely an inch away from Yu Qing’s brow, a gleaming Xiuchun Saber struck it with perfect precision, splitting the arrow cleanly in two!

Lu Yan, dressed in dark, close-fitting combat attire, stood in front of Yu Qing. His pair of cold, fierce black eyes stared intently into the depths of the dense fog along both banks.

“Into the cabin!” Lu Yan shouted sternly!

“My god!” Yu Qing jolted violently in fright, instantly wide awake. She scrambled into the cabin on all fours.

【That scared the hell out of me! Do assassins in ancient times never sleep? Are they clocking in for work first thing in the morning?! I almost got scared into having a heart attack!】

Lu Yan’s hand gripping the saber paused slightly, and he found it amusing.

Before anyone could catch their breath, deafening cries of slaughter suddenly erupted from the reed beds on both banks.

Dozens of black-clad assassins leaped out of the mist like ghosts. Their toes skimmed the surface of the water as they charged toward the black-canopied boat, long blades in hand gleaming with poison coating their edges!

“They’re assassins from Tianji Pavilion!” Tang Lingyue drew her soft sword from the stern, her eyes sharp. “Everyone, be careful! Their blades are coated with deadly poison!”

“Courting death.”

Inside the cabin, Shen Jue let out a cold snort.

Although he was injured, the killing intent in his eyes was even more chilling than ice. His long fingers lightly tapped against the side of the boat.

With several splashes of water, five Dongchang hidden guards, drenched from head to toe, vaulted up from beneath the boat onto the deck. Their short blades flashed and whirled as they instantly engaged the Tianji Pavilion assassins in a fierce battle!

For a moment, the narrow deck was filled with flashing blades and swords, while blood and flesh flew in every direction.