Chapter 48: That Was Not His Moon, Yet Its Light Fell Upon Him

Ji Ci paused and looked at the young boy, wondering for a moment if her heart had grown too cold.

Since ancient times, war has been a game of chess played by politicians—they provide the weapons and food, while ordinary people serve as the sacrifices.

Once the war ends, the politicians shake hands and make peace.

The merchants return home with their ships laden with gold.

Only the poor are left searching for the graves of their children among the scarred, scorched earth.

After a brief silence, Ji Ci suddenly reached out a hand. "Get up here."

The boy stared at her, dumbfounded.

"If you don't want to die, get up," Ji Ci said impatiently. "Or would you rather wait for the pursuers to drag you back for a military execution?"

The boy scrambled hastily onto the horse's back.

At a loss for what to do, he leaned against the young woman's back. The scent of blood drifted to his nostrils, and he cast a worried look at her.

Ji Ci kicked the horse's flanks, and the black steed bolted forward once more.

As the night wind whistled past, Ji Ci's voice carried clearly into the boy's ears: "What's your name?"

"Y-Yan Xiaoqi..."

"Do you know how to raise horses?"

"I do! My family has been grooms for generations!"

The corners of Ji Ci's lips curved upward. "Good. From now on, you'll follow me and tend to the horses."

She calculated in her mind that this time she had not only stolen a horse and picked up a groom, but she might even secure vital military intelligence.

If Dongfang Jibai found out, he would surely praise her for being capable.

At the thought of the smile that might cross that man's face, Ji Ci's mood inexplicably brightened, and she no longer felt the pain of the arrow wound on her shoulder.

A green glow flickered over her shoulder, healing the injury.

In the distance, the morning sun was slowly rising, illuminating the path of her return.

Ji Ci stopped to rest with Yan Xiaoqi just outside the Yanmen Pass.

She had not slept properly for several days; even a body of iron would find it hard to endure.

Inside the roadside tea shack, Yan Xiaoqi sat beside Ji Ci, his head bowed low like a child who had done something wrong.

"Miss, I'm not a Di tribesman, I'm Han. I was captured by them just to tend their horses."

Yan Xiaoqi clutched the hem of his tunic, not daring to raise his head.

"I've already brought you out of there, what are you afraid of?"

Ji Ci picked up a kettle and poured a few gulps down her throat.

The water tasted faintly of dirt and was truly unpleasant.

She set the kettle down and retrieved a waterskin from her horse's back—this one was filled with spiritual spring water.

Taking a few deep draughts, she called A-Qing over and poured a bowl for the hound.

After finishing it, A-Qing wagged its tail. Once it had drunk four or five bowls, the dog finally lay down contentedly at Ji Ci's feet.

"Miss, can I really follow you?"

Yan Xiaoqi was uncertain. In his eyes, someone as capable as her could surely never notice someone as insignificant as the dust beneath her feet.

Ji Ci poured a bowl of water for Yan Xiaoqi and pushed it toward him. "I'll take you back, but you have to tell me where the rest of the Di horses are kept."

Yan Xiaoqi's eyes shone with a startling brilliance, revealing a look of pure, innocent foolishness.

"I can tell Miss right now."

"Aren't you afraid I might be a bad person?"

"Miss is so pretty, she definitely can't be a bad person."

The words spilled right out of Yan Xiaoqi's mouth.

Immediately afterward, he lowered his head again, not daring to meet Ji Ci's gaze.

His worldview completely followed his aesthetic preferences; this kid definitely needed some proper guidance.

Feigning the action of retrieving them from a cloth pouch on her horse's saddle—while actually taking them from her spatial dimension—Ji Ci tossed a few pieces of jerky to Yan Xiaoqi.

"Eat. Once you're done, we're back on the road."

Yan Xiaoqi caught the jerky and nibbled on it gently.

Ji Ci found an inn and booked two separate rooms for the night.

After Yan Xiaoqi told her the locations of several Di horse pastures and Ji Ci memorized them, she returned to her room to rest, instructing A-Qing to wake her up in the middle of the night.

The night was dark and the wind high—perfect for committing mischief.

Whenever it came to mischief, Ji Ci possessed an inexhaustible surge of boundless energy.

When night fell, Ji Ci dressed in night-walker's black, mounted her black horse, and rode out with A-Qing cradled in her arms.

The Di horse pastures were scattered across vast distances. If Ji Ci wanted to hit all of them in a single night, it would still take a considerable amount of effort.

Tonight, she would only be able to raid one pasture.

Having gained experience from before, Ji Ci didn't bother using sedatives on the patrolling soldiers; she simply put the horses to sleep directly.

Horses lay down to sleep anyway, so whether they were knocked out or not, it wasn't easy to tell from a distance.

Over the course of the night, she stole every single horse from the foul-smelling pasture.

A total of four hundred and seventy-four horses.

Ji Ci was extremely satisfied with this haul. If she kept stealing like this, she could practically steal an entire cavalry battalion of ten thousand men for Dongfang Jibai.

Looking up at the night sky, Ji Ci decided she still had time to hit one more location.

No sooner thought than done; she urged her horse forward. The second pasture was relatively small in scale, holding only a hundred horses.

After sweeping them all away, Ji Ci rode back toward the city through the mountains.

Inside her spatial dimension, the newly relocated horses suddenly found themselves in unfamiliar surroundings and grew restless. But upon catching sight of the spiritual spring, they all surged toward it, drinking deeply of the sweet water.

This smaller pasture was filled primarily with mares.

These pregnant mares had been carefully tended to all along.

Yet, the rough fodder outside could hardly compare to the lush grass nourished by the spiritual spring within the space.

Upon arriving here, the mares showed no signs of discomfort whatsoever; instead, they frolicked joyfully across the meadow.

With the number of horses multiplying, it was inevitable that a few would catch each other's eyes. Many of the mares were already expecting, and before long, the population of horses inside the space would swell even further.

Completely oblivious to these developments, Ji Ci was still outside, daydreaming happily about where to go horse-stealing next.

Stealing horses now meant she would be able to steal gold and silver later on.

As she lay on the inn bed, Ji Ci gazed happily at the vast herds of horses roaming across the hills in her mind.

After spending a month nurtured within the space, these horses would grow extraordinarily robust, every single one of them becoming a prized steed.

I wonder if Dongfang Jibai will be moved when he sees all of this?

He'll definitely reward her with lots of delicious food!

The thought of Dongfang Jibai brought a smile to her eyes and brows.

A-Qing watched Ji Ci's lovestruck expression and let out a soft huff.

The sickening sweetness of romance was even harder to endure than the smell of a dog.

As Ji Ci traveled toward Yanmen Pass with Yan Xiaoqi in tow, she was unable to use her special abilities while accompanying him. Instead, she had to provide him with a horse and let him follow behind her.

"Miss, where are we going?"

Yan Xiaoqi rode with a steady hand, not daring to stray too far behind Ji Ci, yet too intimidated to ride right beside her.

In his eyes, Ji Ci was like a lonely, pristine moon in the heavenly vault; being allowed to follow in her wake was already a supreme blessing, so how could he ever dare to draw close enough to profane the moon?

"Pingcheng."