Chapter 210 Arrival in Southern Xinjiang

His stubborn, mouthy attitude even when facing death made Lu Yan’s teeth itch with frustration.

Su Hewan finally snapped out of her CP-fangirling frenzy.

She immediately grabbed the medical kit and rushed down from the carriage, moving swiftly to hold Shen Jue’s arm in place.

She began treating the poisoned wound.

“Don’t move! If the poison reaches your heart, you’ll really be meeting the King of Hell!”

While treating him with a mixture of worry and care, Su Hewan frowned and complained.

“Didn’t you say these were just ordinary bandits claiming territory?”

“How could a proud Eastern Depot Chief get injured by this? If this news spreads, what’ll happen to your dignity?”

Hearing her mix of scolding and concern, Lu Yan let out a cold snort.

He kicked over the corpse of one of the bandits.

“Ordinary bandits?”

His voice was icy, dripping with killing intent.

“Wan Wan, have you ever seen a bandit use a repeating heavy crossbow?”

“And which brainless thug would poison their cold arrows?”

Lu Yan suddenly lifted his head, his gaze fixed on the depths of the forest.

“These people… are not bandits at all!”

“They are trained killers!”

Su Hewan skillfully removed the blackened, necrotic tissue around Shen Jue’s wound.

Crimson blood finally flowed out, covering the horrifying black.

Leaning against the carriage wall, Shen Jue’s temples were slick with cold sweat, soaking the few strands of hair falling over his pale face, which now looked utterly drained of color.

Yet in his narrow, fox-like eyes, there was still a hint of casual mischief.

“If Lord Lu keeps staring at me like that, I might start thinking you have ulterior motives,” he said with a teasing tone.

He even leisurely raised his uninjured hand and lightly tapped the window frame with his knuckles.

Lu Yan’s cold, rigid jaw clenched tightly.

“Stop flattering yourself.”

“I was just thinking… if a dignified Eastern Depot Chief dies in the wilderness, and the Emperor asks for accountability, how would I even write this memorial?”

His voice remained icy, but the tight fists and slightly strained tone betrayed his inner turmoil.

He had never imagined that one day Shen Jue would risk his life to save him!

Ever since they met, they had considered each other mortal enemies!

If not for Su Hewan and Yu Qing, they’d probably be fighting to the death by now!

“I’m just thinking… who would’ve thought we’d end up protecting each other with our lives?” Lu Yan suddenly sighed and spoke solemnly.

“Yes… I never expected it either,” Shen Jue murmured, his tone tinged with emotion.

Su Hewan sprinkled the premium wound medicine carefully over the injury, then wrapped it tightly with clean cotton cloth in neat circles.

These two are the hardest-mouthed people alive! she thought.

Even though they’ve long considered each other brothers worth dying for, they insist on acting like they want to kill one another.

Just now, when Shen Jue leapt to block the arrow, Lu Yan’s eyes even turned red, you know!

Tsk tsk tsk… could this be the legendary tsundere-for-a-moment, chase-your-wife-inferno version of brotherhood?

While Su Hewan mentally ranted, her hands worked efficiently and cleanly.

Standing nearby, Yu Qing’s eyes sparkled, hands clasped to her chest, excited like a cat caught stealing.

Ahhh!

One is cold outside but warm inside, the other a scheming, sickly type!

【This sense of destiny!】

【No way, my imagination has already written a million-word hit fanfic!】

【The title will be “The Commander of the Embroidered Guards and His Sickly Overseer”!】

These deafening thoughts crashed into the minds of the two men in the silent canyon without holding anything back.

Lu Yan’s complexion instantly shifted from pale to blue, and then from blue to black—a dramatic spectacle!

He almost wished he could draw his Embroidered Spring Knife on the spot and pry open the girl’s skull just to see what kind of nonsense was inside!

Even Shen Jue’s normally weak face flushed with an unusual red tinge.

He coughed violently, nearly spitting out a mouthful of old blood in anger.

This woman!

A damn “chase-your-wife” disaster!

A damn sickly overseer!

To cover his extreme embarrassment, Shen Jue abruptly turned his head and bared his teeth, growling at Lu Yan.

“Why aren’t you cleaning up the scene? Staying here just makes it look messy!”

Lu Yan snorted coldly, and like someone fleeing, strode toward the corpses of the dead warriors.

Yet no matter how one looked at his back, it radiated panic and awkwardness.

After this perilous arrow-blocking incident, the atmosphere in the group shifted in a subtle way.

Although Shen Jue and Lu Yan still teased each other every day—

Sometimes Shen Jue mocked Lu Yan as an emotionless killing machine.

Sometimes Lu Yan mocked Shen Jue as a fragile, highborn woman of sorrow.

Yet whenever they faced dangerous terrain, Lu Yan would, intentionally or not, walk on Shen Jue’s side, shielding him from possible hidden arrows.

And when Shen Jue prepared medicine, he would seemingly carelessly toss a few extra jujubes with healing properties, then slyly push them toward Lu Yan.

This inexplicable, unspoken tacit understanding played out between them day after day.

Even Su Hewan and Yu Qing noticed it, smiling secretly in their hearts.

After half a month of traveling day and night, the group finally crossed the towering mountains and fully entered the southern frontier.

The climate of the southern frontier was hot and humid, with the air thick with the scent of spices and the peculiar aroma of vegetation.

Dongzhou City was the most bustling hub of the southern frontier.

Along the streets, merchants wore brightly colored, exotic ethnic clothing in strange styles.

Clinking silver jewelry sparkled brilliantly under the sunlight.

It was a stark contrast to the solemn, orderly style of the Central Plains’ capital.

As soon as she entered, Yu Qing felt like a wild horse let loose, completely letting herself go.

“Wanwan, look! This silver Miao crown is so beautiful! It even has red and blue gemstones!”

Yu Qing, wearing a headpiece weighing several kilograms, excitedly spun in circles in front of a stall.

Su Hewan followed behind her helplessly, hands already full of packages of all sizes.

As a top student in history, her gaze was more drawn to the exotic architecture and ancient totems.

“The patterns on these silver ornaments are probably evolved branches of the ancient Baiyue totems, extremely valuable for research…”

Before she could finish her little lecture, Yu Qing tugged her over to a snack stall.

“Wow! It smells amazing! Boss, what’s this delicious food?”

Yu Qing sniffed the air and pointed at the unknown items frying in the oil.

The stall owner was a dark-skinned man from the southern frontier, speaking slightly broken Mandarin, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

“You’ve got a good eye, miss! This is our most famous snack, Gābēng Cuì: deep-fried black gold beetles, very nutritious!”

He scooped up a pile of shiny black beetles, each about the size of a thumb, and sprinkled them with a special chili powder.

The moment Su Hewan saw what they were, her hair stood on end.