The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 40

Yanyan, Be Good, Don’t Look Back (Separation)

At midday, three days into their stay with the hunter and his wife, Ming Qin finally smiled with relief, seeing the color return to Murong Yan’s face.

Half-reclined on the wooden bed board, Murong Yan was teasing the tiger cub, lightly poking its soft paw pads, making it roll over and expose its belly like a kitten.

            

“Ah.”

Perhaps too excited, the little tiger suddenly cocked its tail and bared its teeth, nipping at the hand before it. Not knowing its own strength, it caused the woman a jolt of pain.

The instant Murong Yan made a sound, Ming Qin looked up, scooped up the cub with one hand, and pulled it off the bed. Paying no mind to the furball rolling twice across the floor, she anxiously took the woman’s hand and examined it closely.

            

“Ah Qin, I’m fine.” It was just a scrape from the teeth that stung a little — no blood. Murong Yan smiled and clasped Ming Qin’s hand in return, soothing the worried face before her.

Ming Qin looked at the conspicuous red scratches on the woman’s fair hand. The corners of her mouth, which had been raised, fell. With an expression of utmost gravity, she seized the cub by the scruff of its neck and stared directly into its eyes.

“You can’t behave like this!” One person and one tiger, staring at each other big eyes to small eyes — quite a comical sight. “Barging about without knowing your strength against someone so noble — I truly don’t know who you take after.”

            

(It takes after you, you blockhead…)

Whether the little tiger understood or not, it opened its small mouth and let out a sharp little squeal, as if indignant.

Lifting the cub before Murong Yan, Ming Qin lectured sternly, “This is my most important person. You ought to cherish her like a treasure. If she’s cold, be her hand warmer. If she’s bullied, tear those bad people apart. Understand?”

            

Ming Qin held the cub’s paw, gesturing with its still-forming claws.

“If you hurt her, I’ll teach you a lesson!” Ming Qin threatened.

Murong Yan watched Ming Qin speaking so earnestly to a young beast and couldn’t help but smile. She patted the Shadow Guard’s leg and said, “Ah Qin, are you sure he understands human speech?”

            

Setting down the now-settled cub, Ming Qin nodded confidently. “He understands. If he doesn’t, a scolding will sort it out.” She glanced at the young tiger, which had burrowed into the bedding in fright.

Just as she was about to let the person on the bed continue resting, Ming Qin suddenly felt faint vibrations through the ground. Her expression turned instantly grave, and she dropped flat, pressing her ear to the floor.

“Trouble!”

            

A few breaths later, Ming Qin rose and swiftly fitted the prosthetic to the barefoot woman on the bed and put on her shoes and stockings.

Murong Yan’s expression remained calm. She simply cooperated, lifting her legs as needed, holding the cub that had been about to take its midday nap. In a steady voice, she asked, “How many?”

“About ten. Lightly equipped. From the hoofbeats, they should be Capital cavalry.” Ming Qin spoke rapidly, fastening the fox-fur coat around the woman before bending down to lift her. “The numbers aren’t large — likely just advance pursuers.”

            

“Let’s go.” Murong Yan’s tone was still even. She simply buried her face in Ming Qin’s shoulder and breathed in deeply.

Hurrying toward the stable, they encountered the hunter’s wife outside feeding chickens. Seeing the two of them in such urgent haste, the pregnant woman was startled.

Leading the horse out, Ming Qin mounted with the woman and cub in her arms in one fluid motion. Sitting straight-backed, she called out to the stunned woman, “This humble one¹ is deeply grateful for your care these past few days. If anyone comes looking for trouble, just say this humble one took you and your husband hostage at knifepoint.”

            

With that, without waiting for a reply, Ming Qin spurred the horse and rode off through the snow.

Along the narrow trail through the mountain forest, her black cloak streamed behind her.

Cold wind carrying snow lashed fiercely at her face, but Ming Qin dared not stop. She could only let the horse gallop relentlessly northward.

            

Watching the tracks in the snow ahead, Ming Qin’s eyes darkened.

Seven or eight men in military attire with swords at their waists appeared in view. The fine fabric and cloaks embroidered with dark patterns clearly marked them as from the Capital.

Ignoring their shouts to halt, Ming Qin not only failed to slow down but squeezed the horse’s flanks and flew past them even faster.

            

In the same motion, she reached back with a reverse slash and severed the reins of the horses tethered nearby.

Faster! Even faster!

The horse galloped on. Ming Qin’s arm around Murong Yan tightened.

            

But even the finest steed couldn’t gallop day and night without rest. After about an hour, the sound of iron hooves on snow noticeably slowed.

Ming Qin studied the map in her hand while keeping her ears trained on the movements behind her.

“Don’t be afraid,” Ming Qin whispered close to the woman’s ear. “I’ll protect you.”

            

『Xiu!』

Murong Yan was about to speak when Ming Qin suddenly turned and caught the incoming arrow in her bare hand.

But more arrows followed, raining down densely. Some with poorer aim struck the treetops. Ming Qin spun, sword flashing, deflecting every projectile aimed at her one by one.

            

Sensing they were out of range, Ming Qin exhaled and urged the horse to widen the gap. But as she looked down to speak to Murong Yan again, a sharper, entirely different sound — unlike any of the previous arrows — tore through the air.

『Dong!』

Murong Yan felt the person pressed against her back go rigid, then suddenly lurch forward as if shoved hard.

            

“Ah Qin? Ah Qin? What’s wrong?”

The woman tried to turn her head, but Ming Qin’s arm clamped her tightly in place. The always composed Murong Yan was now frantic, her voice nearly scattered by the fierce wind.

“It’s nothing,” Ming Qin murmured close to Murong Yan’s ear.

            

“Don’t be afraid.”

A rough voice carrying deep internal energy rang out from behind them. Xiao He rode forward, longbow in hand, and shouted, “Your servant Xiao He, by order of the new Emperor, has come to pursue the criminal who abducted Commandery Princess Chongwen. Halt your horse and surrender at once!”

Hearing who had come, Ming Qin’s face went deathly pale. She reached back and yanked the arrow from her right shoulder. The iron arrowhead, tainted with poison, gleamed an eerie purple. Barbs jutted from its tip, and as she pulled, they tore through flesh. Bright red blood gushed from the wound.

            

As if completely indifferent, Ming Qin didn’t make a sound. She tossed the arrow aside and drew her long blade, hacking at the surroundings. Severed tree trunks fell across the path, an attempt to slow the pursuers.

Gritting her teeth, Ming Qin’s mind raced.

The horse beneath her was already exhausted and couldn’t sustain a high-speed gallop. Moreover, the snow would leave tracks that couldn’t be erased.

            

Beyond the forest lay an open plain. Behind them, Xiao He led the pursuit.

Setting aside the danger of letting Xiao He close the distance — if he ordered his men to loose a volley of arrows, without tree cover, even someone as highly skilled as herself couldn’t guarantee Murong Yan’s safety.

That wouldn’t do.

            

Looking at the pursuers — nearly fifty of them — Ming Qin thought to herself.

She had promised His Majesty the Emperor, her Master, and her shijie² that she would deliver Murong Yan safely to the Northern Borders.

Most importantly, she had promised herself.

            

She had to stop the pursuers here.

Even if it tore her apart.

But.

            

So be it.

Reckless and careless as she was, she’d caused Murong Yan no small amount of suffering along the way. Truly, compared to guard duty that required careful attention, pure combat and slaughter were what she — as a Shadow Guard — excelled at.

Ming Qin made her decision.

            

She looked back at the pursuers, stuffed the cloth bundle from her belt into the woman’s arms, and spoke quickly and clearly: “In a moment, follow this path out of the forest and keep going straight. Don’t ever look back.”

Hearing Ming Qin speak as if making final arrangements, Murong Yan — who had been forcing herself to stay composed — suddenly panicked. “Ah Qin? Ah Qin, what are you saying?”

She reached back frantically, groping for the person behind her, and felt dampness on the clothes. She pulled her hand back — her pale palm was smeared with startling blood.

            

“Ah Qin, you’re hurt!” Murong Yan’s usually cool voice now faltered, going off-key.

As if to soothe her, Ming Qin brushed her lips against the woman’s temple. She didn’t answer the question, only continued in a low voice: “After you cross the plains, the local Prefect will send men to receive you. At this horse’s pace, you’ll arrive in less than half a day. It’s quick. I won’t let anyone catch up to you.”

“No, I won’t!” Murong Yan gripped the iron chain in her hand, refusing to let go, her voice breaking as she cried out, “I won’t go, Ah Qin! I won’t go alone.”

            

Ming Qin glanced back and saw Xiao He drawing his bow, aiming for another shot.

She raised her sword, ready. Her voice was calm as she said, “It’s only half a day. You can do it.”

With a sweep of her arm, she deflected the arrow flying straight at her. Her wrist went slightly numb.

            

“No, I can’t do it alone, Ah Qin.” Murong Yan’s trembling voice was quiet, yet it seemed to carry a pain that tore at the heart and lungs. “I can’t ride. I don’t know how to ride at all. I can’t do it without you beside me.”

Ming Qin thought of how Murong Yan had looked when they first met — dressed in red, commanding a horse — and a faint smile touched her lips. “You can do it.”

She untied the hair band binding the woman’s hair, then bent over the horse’s back, fumbling with something.

            

“No! I forbid it!” Murong Yan shouted hysterically, her eyes already red. Her hand gripping the chain reached back frantically, trying to seize the warm person behind her. “This palace³ forbids it! This palace orders you not to leave me alone, do you hear? Ming Qin, this palace will not let you go! This palace forbids you to leave — that is this palace’s command!”

She wrenched the iron chain taut, her fingers white from the strain.

“Yanyan.”

            

The roles reversed. Ming Qin whispered gently in the woman’s ear, her tone warmer and more tender than ever before.

“Yanyan. Yanyan.”

She murmured, lowering her head to press a kiss on the woman’s earlobe, where the earring hung.

            

“Yanyan promised to listen to Ah Qin, didn’t she?”

Warm breath brushed against her ear, making Murong Yan tremble.

Too cunning.

            

To only now call her so proactively, to bring up that old promise at a time like this.

Ah Qin really was.

Too cunning.

            

Murong Yan’s eyes brimmed with moisture. She bit her lower lip hard, unable to speak.

Ming Qin gathered the chain hanging between them and flicked her wrist. The iron links shattered easily — as if chains and shackles had never been a constraint for the young Shadow Guard.

“I won’t die.”

            

Seeing the woman’s silence, Ming Qin seemed to understand her fear. She clasped the back of the woman’s hand and said in a low, hoarse voice, “Yanyan knows Ah Qin isn’t lying, right?” She pressed the reins into her hand.

Ming Qin lowered her head, pressing her warm cheek against Murong Yan’s wind-chilled, flushed face.

Tears had blurred the woman’s vision. Her nose burned with the effort of holding back a sob.

            

“Ah Qin…”

“Yanyan, be good. Don’t ever look back.”

The forest had reached its end. Ming Qin said nothing more, only stroked Murong Yan’s loosened hair with tenderness, then leapt off the horse and struck the horse’s leg hard.

            

The horse jolted in pain and broke into a gallop. Murong Yan’s trembling hands clutched the reins, her mind blank, her slender figure alone and prone on the horse’s back.

The warmth behind her vanished. Cold wind struck her body. Only then did Murong Yan come to her senses — but by then the horse was racing fast, and in a few breaths, it had covered dozens of zhang⁴ beyond the forest.

She obediently didn’t look back.

            

Nor did she dare to look back.

Watching the horse disappear into the distance, Ming Qin drew her long sword with satisfaction and turned to face the nearly fifty pursuers bearing down with killing intent. Dark red blood dripped from the tip of the blade in her right hand, staining the white snow drop by drop.

Even alone, she showed not the slightest fear. A towering killing intent erupted from her — as if she were one against a hundred.

            

She wound cloth tightly around her right hand and the sword hilt, tying it off with her teeth, then dragged the blade steadily across the ground, carving a long line.

Ming Qin looked at Xiao He leading the riders and said mildly, “If you wish to continue forward, you will have to step over my corpse.”

It was a stance that would not yield even if it shattered her skull and ground her body to nothing⁵.

            

Her eyes burned like fire, brimming with fighting spirit.

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