Qi Hao had been standing quietly behind Chu Fengning, but the moment he heard Shen Ning allocating personnel and realized Qi Yunxuan was about to leave the safety of the estate for a perilous journey, his composed little face instantly crumbled. He stepped forward quickly, his small hand instinctively gripping Qi Yunxuan's sleeve as if terrified that the moment he let go, his only remaining kin would vanish into the howling desert sands.
"Sister, where... where are you all going? Can Hao'er come with you?" Qi Hao's voice still carried the soft innocence of a child, yet it cut with absolute clarity through the stark, oppressive air of the council chamber.
Looking down at the boy, Qi Yunxuan's heart softened completely. She slowly knelt down until she was at eye level with him, reaching out to straighten his slightly rumpled collar. Her voice was incredibly tender. "Be good, Hao'er. Your sister has a very important task to fulfill and must go on a journey. The path ahead is fraught with danger, so I truly cannot bring you along. You will be perfectly safe here in the Prince's manor. With your older brothers and so many others watching over you, I can focus entirely on completing my mission without worrying. Do you understand?"
Hearing her words, the bright light in Qi Hao's eyes dimmed slightly. He pursed his lips, stubbornly clenching his tiny fists, his voice quiet yet carrying an unyielding resolve.
"But I don't want to be separated from you... I'm already eight years old, I'm not a little kid anymore." He hurriedly tacked on another sentence, desperate to be believed. "And during this past weeks, I've learned a lot of martial arts from Master. Just now, Brother Fengning even praised me, saying my horse stance was incredibly steady!"
At this point, he squared his small chest, a fierce, competitive spark reigniting in his eyes.
"I can protect myself. I promise I won't cause any trouble for you."
Eight years old.
In that distant modern world, an eight-year-old was merely a lower-primary school child. A child of that age should be wearing a colorful backpack, whining about what they wanted for dinner, or running carefree through a park. It was an age meant to be treated with absolute gentleness by the world—the most innocent and romantic period of life.
Yet the boy standing before them, a mere eight years of age, was already talking about "self-preservation," learning how to wrap his fragile hands around a lethal blade. His maturity was startling, his precociousness utterly heartbreaking.
Shen Ning, Qi Yunxuan, and Si Jingyu simultaneously lapsed into silence. They exchanged a look, each seeing the profound sorrow and heartache reflected in the others' eyes. This was the most visceral friction and sorrow a modern, civilized soul could experience when colliding with the brutal survival laws of antiquity.
Shen Ning rested her chin in her hand, her fingertips trembling slightly. Staring into Qi Hao's eyes—eyes that burned with a desperate desire to protect his family—her revulsion toward this ancient era, where clans were annihilated at a whim and the strong devoured the weak, intensified. In the modern era, she had been a top operative, cold-blooded and unfeeling; yet at this precise moment, she felt a profound surge of what could only be described as grief and compassion tearing through her chest.
Even Si Jingyu, whose eyes usually danced with mischief and viewed the world through a cynical lens, found the rims of her eyes turning a rare crimson. She let out a muffled murmur, her voice thick with unshed tears. "This godforsaken era..."
Qi Yunxuan took a deep breath, swallowing the bitterness in her throat. Reclining her grip around Qi Hao's cold little hand, she said softly, "Sister knows you are very capable. But I need you to stay behind, not just for your safety, but because the Zhan Manor needs you to keep an eye on things for me. When I return, I expect to see an even stronger Hao'er, agreed?"
Looking into the absolute seriousness of his sister's eyes, Qi Hao, despite the overwhelming reluctance in his heart, ultimately puffed out his chest and nodded with mature resolve.
Standing to the side, the Chu brothers and Xiao Zhan witnessed this display, a profound tremor shaking their hearts. They were entirely accustomed to the ruthless elimination of the weak under imperial rule, yet they had never imagined that these three women—usually so decisive in action and iron-handed in execution—harbored such a pure, heavy reservoir of mercy for a child.
At that moment, as Xiao Zhan looked at the slight crimson rimming Shen Ning's eyes, the desire to sweep across the empire and forge a peaceful, golden age for her burned more fiercely than ever before.
With the strategic deployment in the council chamber concluded, the crowd received their orders and dispersed.
The cold silence of the Zhan Manor was instantly replaced by a flurry of activity. The thundering of hooves, the metallic clatter of armor being secured, and the hurried footsteps of servants rushing to and forth intertwined, all making final preparations for the unknown journey at dawn.
Chu Yuning stood within the shadows of the long veranda, his palms sweating slightly.
Tucked securely within his robes was a small object wrapped tightly in a silk handkerchief—a pair of "Longing Fish" he had hand-carved stroke by stroke under the guttering candlelight during countless lonely nights when his yearning for Si Jingyu drove him to the brink of madness.
Born into a military lineage, he was naturally bold and heroic. Yet when facing Si Jingyu, that fierce, fiery courage invariably transformed into the bashfulness of a young boy. Taking a deep breath, he watched her stride confidently from the other side of the path, her steps swift and her bearing magnificent. His heart instantly skipped a beat.
Chu Yuning had made up his mind: utilizing this moment of privacy before departure, he would present these wooden fish to her and completely lay bare the adoration he had harbored in his chest for so long—a fire that threatened to burn him to ashes.
"Jingyu..."
Chu Yuning took a single step forward, his right foot just meeting the bluestone tile, his voice barely formed, when a small figure shot past like a sudden gale, intercepting him and sliding right to Si Jingyu's side.
"Sister Jingyu!"
Qi Hao extended his small hand, precisely snagging Si Jingyu's sleeve. The heavy sorrow on his upturned face had vanished, replaced entirely by pure adoration and pleading. "Sister Jingyu, you're leaving tomorrow. Can you tell me more of those stories you told on the way from the Southern Tang? The one about the 'Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Sun Wukong,' the monkey who has seventy-two transformations and can slay demons with a single strike of his staff—it's amazing! Hao'er wants to hear what happened to the Great Sage after he wreaked havoc in heaven and was pinned beneath the mountain..."
Chu Yuning's advancing step froze mid-air. The confession he had prepared and rehearsed a thousand times was instantly blasted by lightning, choking entirely in his throat.
Staring at Qi Hao's bright, inquisitive eyes, a wave of sheer vexation washed over him. He wanted nothing more than to hoist this meddling brat up and hurl him into the back pond, yet he couldn't bring himself to unleash his fury on a child he had been aching for just moments prior. He could only watch helplessly as the perfect opportunity for confession, which he had awaited for months, was entirely hijacked by an eight-year-old child.
Pulled along by Qi Hao, Si Jingyu beamed radiantly, her eyes reflecting the open, indulgent warmth unique to a modern woman.
She reached out to ruffle the boy's head, her tone light and cheerful. "Sure thing! Who knew Hao'er was such a Journey to the West fan? Come on, let's head back to my room. I have a few folk stories from my hometown that I wrote down from memory when I had some downtime. Though the writing style is basic, I guarantee you'll love the plot—it'll definitely leave you wanting more!"
"Really? That's awesome! Sister Jingyu, you're amazing!" Overjoyed, Qi Hao practically leaped into the air, pulling Si Jingyu toward the rear courtyard without a single backward glance.
As she was dragged away, Si Jingyu casually tossed a glance over her shoulder at Chu Yuning, who remained frozen on the spot, his face shifting between shades of green and white. She waved a hand with an easygoing attitude that made him want to spit blood. "Yuning, I'm going to keep Hao'er company for a bit. This kid is incredibly curious about things from my hometown! If you have something to say, we can talk later!"
Chu Yuning watched the two departing figures, the setting sun stretching their silhouettes long across the ground. He tightly gripped the cold pair of wooden fish within his palm, ultimately letting out a massive, defeated sigh.
"The Great Sage Equaling Heaven... Sun Wukong..."
He looked down at the silk handkerchief within his robes, letting out a self-deprecating, bitter chuckle, his voice echoing with profound isolation through the empty corridor. "I, a magnificent General of the Chu clan who has slaughtered countless enemies, actually lost today... to a monkey capable of seventy-two transformations."
Yet, he quickly lifted his head, his gaze snapping back to a resolute focus.
At this moment, he had no way of knowing that within the impending evaluation of the 'Po' echelon, the depths of the desert held perilous dangers. Out there, there would be no Qi Hao, and no Journey to the West. Out there, he would have ample opportunity to demonstrate a sincerity more intense than battlefield smoke, and a devotion hotter than gunpowder.