Return of the Swallow c1-644

by Edited by Deyna up to chapter ~100.

  Bingtang snuck a look at Li Qitian then and changed the topic. “Her Highness and we were traveling along just fine when we ran into a group of bandits. They were even dressed like Dragon Riders! They took Her Highness and her guards swore to fight to the death, but they were outnumbered in the end. We don't know if the princess consort is alive or dead…”

  When he heard that Qin Yining had taken a blow and bled profusely, terror-stricken panic filled Pang Xiao’s heart. He had no mind to spare for considering which of Bingtang’s words were real and which were fake. Is my wife alive or dead? She had Bingtang hide, but she didn’t hide herself. Bingtang and Jiyun are my darling’s shadows in normal times, so where is she if the two of them hid in that hole?

  Had his darling been killed or buried here?

  When his thoughts travelled here, Pang Xiao had nothing to spare for anything else. He hopped in frantically and continued digging out the cave-in. Huzi arranged for men to take care of Bingtang and Jiyun and went off to find doctors and medicine for them.

  Chapter 467: Clues

  At this point, those excavating the hole had been working in the rain for the entire afternoon. Everyone was tired to the bone, cold and famished.

  Yet Pang Xiao refused to stop, diligently clearing away muddy water with pursed lips. He hunted for any clues he could find in the dim candlelight, leaving no stone unturned. Seeing him suddenly hone in on the ground, the Elite Tigers knelt down to join his investigation.

  “Your Highness, are we no longer searching for survivors?”

  “I’m trying to confirm whether any pieces of my wife’s jewelry is here,” the prince replied hoarsely. “Search carefully as well—not only must we look for the person, but anything that will give us clues to go off of, no matter how small.”

  “Understood.” The four Elite Tigers followed their orders to the letter, rifling through muck with critical eyes.

  After listening to Pang Xiao’s conversation with Li Qitian and witnessing the prince’s absolute devotion, the previously exhausted Dragon Riders suddenly felt rejuvenated and warmed up. They came forth to help out of their own volition.

  Meanwhile, Li Qitian watched as his men counted the silver stored inside the large chests they’d just lifted out, deflating considerably when he learned they were entirely empty save for one upper shelf.

  There was no treasure to be found here!

  He had no qualms about sacrificing such a great number of Elite Tigers if it meant finding it, yet his search proved to be in vain. Not only did he expose his true intentions, he’d likely earned Pang Xiao’s animosity!

  The spectacle of Pang Xiao turning the cavern inside out with a one track mind had Li Qitian clenching his teeth, apprehension washing over him in waves.

  They’d once fought side by side; Li Qitian very much understood the kind of man Pang Xiao was. Losing the princess consort might mean nothing in terms of affection and feelings, but he wouldn’t forgive anything that marred his dignity and reputation.

  Finding Qin Yining was the favorable outcome, as Li Qitian could then take her in for thorough questioning. However, if she really was dead, dead men told no tales—what’s more, it would mean he had caused the death of his subject’s wife in search of the treasure.

  Additionally, Qin Yining’s father was Qin Huaiyuan—a man whose abilities he’d long desired to make use of. If bad blood arose between him and these two men—such an outcome would be catastrophic!

  Regret overwhelmed as he considered this. If only he had investigated more thoroughly before making his move! The cavern collapsing meant there was no one alive to testify, leaving him without any excuse for what he had done and open to condemnation.

  However, he noticed that these silver sycees were indeed made by Great Yan upon closer inspection, which improved his mood. The silver did come from that stash of treasure! Perhaps the true stash was close by. Hesitating no further, Li Qitian waved his hand and ordered the Dragon Riders to spread out and search the surrounding area instead of focusing on the cavern.

  After two hours of tireless and meticulous labor, the cavern was fully cleared out. There was no treasure, only bodies clothed in Dragon Riders uniforms and peasant clothing.

  A headcount showed Li Qitian he’d lost all of the Dragon Riders he had sent!

  Not only were they unable to locate the silver, he’d lost so. many. men!

  Li Qitian found himself breathless with disappointment and rage, and slapped the fake treasure chests next to him. Such a dismal amount of silver was of little use for the ailing national deficit. It was like trying to put out a cart of burning firewood with a cup of water!

  From what he’d heard, Pang Xiao had contributed fifty thousand taels to the disaster relief efforts. A prince had donated such a great sum while the emperor neglected to send provisions and funds—how would this look to outsiders!

  Pang Xiao hadn’t found Qin Yining’s body when clearing the cavern, which alleviated his anxiety somewhat. At least, this proved his wife was possibly still alive.

  He immediately issued new commands to his Elite Tigers and Huzi. “Deploy more men to surround the perimeter. Leave no stone unturned—we must find the princess consort!”

  “Understood!” Huzi and the Elite Tigers answered in a low voice, then went off to execute their orders.

  Li Qitian finally couldn’t stand the sight of Pang Xiao covered in muck with a bare chest . “Come up and take a break. Warm yourself with some hot tea. You have yet to find née Qin, no? Maybe she’s still alive and occupied with some urgent business. If you want to find her, you must look after your own wellbeing first and foremost.”

  The emperor came to his own conclusions before Pang Xiao had a chance to respond. Qin Yining might have gone off in search of the treasure!

  Pang Xiao required close supervision after all!

  Not having the heart to rest, the prince politely declined and continued searching around the cavern with his men. He even inspected the hole where Bingtang and Jiyun had hidden themselves, but to no avail.

  Pang Xiao expanded the search area to conduct a blanket search with a few men borrowed from the Dragon Riders. They inspected every blade of grass and tree they came across in hopes of gleaning any sort of clue from them.

  An entire day had passed when Pang Xiao found the gravely injured Jingzhe, Xiaoxue, Xiaoman and Dahan.

  The four unconscious men had evidently been moved inside the cavern by another party, their wounds also looked like they’d been cursorily tended to.

  Pang Xiao’s heart pounded with the desire to know what events had transpired, but Bingtang and Jiyun had yet to awaken, while these four Silver Masks remained comatose.

  Then, the disaster relief supplies finally arrived.

  They weren’t much, but many of the refugees had already died, so there was enough to support those who had survived. From then on, Pang Xiao removed himself from the disaster relief efforts to focus entirely on finding Qin Yining.

  But when Bingtang and Jiyun came to and recounted what had happened in the cavern, Pang Xiao felt his heart drop and fear overtake his senses. “She was slashed by a sword?”

  “Yes. To protect me, Her Highness had me hide behind the chests. She said since she had no way of escaping, I had to survive and find you to warn you.”

  Pang Xiao closed his eyes, feeling as someone had plunged a knife into his heart and was twisting it.

  The frail Jiyun recalled the events that had transpired in great detail. “They were fiercer than even the Lu second master’s deathsworn,” she concluded. “We were all injured, and because of the cave-in, it was too dark to see anything. I wanted to rush over to where the fight had broken out, but the ceiling had collapsed and everything was blocked off.

  “Bingtang called out to me then and pulled me over to hide behind the chests. When the ground gave way, we had no choice but to crawl into the adjoining cavern. There was air and water inside, but we had no way of getting out until Your Highness arrived to rescue
us.”

  By now, Jiyun’s tears poured down her cheeks. “This useless servant was unable to protect Her Highness. I have let Your Highness down.” She knelt on the floor and kowtowed again and again, deeply ashamed of herself.

  Chapter 468: Defying Orders

  Pang Xiao shook his head and gestured for Jiyun and Bingtang to rise. “My darling shouldn’t be under this rubble,” he deduced. “We can safely assume she’s been abducted along with Azure Justice and Lu Heng. Your four Silver Mask escorts are still unconscious, but Guard Captain Cao is nowhere to be seen. Knowing her, she must be doing all she can to catch up with the kidnappers.”

  “Indeed. The guard captain remained next to Her Highness and never backed down even once. Together, the two of us shielded the princess consort behind us, but my fighting skills are less than the guard captain’s. She charged forward with utmost ferocity and should be more heavily injured by the skirmish than myself,” Jiyun asserted.

  Pang Xiao nodded. “In other words, those four unconscious Silver Masks were most likely rescued by Guard Captain Cao, and she may very well be chasing after the kidnappers as we speak, in spite of her wounds.”

  Jiyun and Bingtang’s eyes brightened. “So that means Her Highness should be alright!”

  The prince breathed out a small sigh. “At least she was still alive when the earth dragon turned over again. As for what happened to her after she left, I can’t say.” He frowned once more out of worry. “After all, she was injured and had taken ill not too long ago. She must’ve lost quite a lot of blood once again from her wounds. I don’t know if...”

  He found himself unable to continue speaking.

  A bloody, kidnapped Qin Yining was an impossible thing to imagine. The thought of her in such straits left him wanting to visit death and slaughter upon everyone who had allowed such suffering to befall her, including himself!

  Not only was he mired in self doubt, but also regret.

  If only he hadn’t clung onto Qin Yining so persistently! Even if she was wed to a lowly peddler, she still could’ve lived a happy and fulfilling life. It wouldn’t have been difficult for someone of her abilities to run a successful business. A peaceful life would wrap itself around her, and not one inundated with all these disasters and suffering!

  Back then, he had thought he should live his life to the fullest—if there was something he wanted, he shouldn’t give up on it. He never fathomed that would ensnare her in the filth of politics and cause her so much pain.

  Jiyun and Bingtang could understand Pang Xiao’s inner turmoil and how harshly he was chastising himself. However, there was nothing they could do other than offer a few words of comfort. After all, they blamed themselves with aching hearts as much as he did. They had been unable to do anything to save her.

  If the worst had befallen Qin Yining at long last, there was nothing left for them but to follow her in death.

  ……

  Even as Li Qitian oversaw the disaster relief efforts, he continued sending out men to search for the treasure, but to no avail. It was as if all that gold and silver had vanished into thin air.

  He couldn’t prolong his stay in Yang County—someone might capitalize on his absence to stir up trouble. Therefore, he elected to return to the capital and ordered his men to keep searching.

  Before he left, he summoned Pang Xiao. “Come back to the capital with Us. You have been away for so long, surely you’ve accumulated many duties that require your attention. You won’t be of much assistance here, and affairs of the nation are of greater importance. We have already ordered some of my men to search for née Qin. You need not worry.”

  Pang Xiao only smiled wryly at this. “Return if you must, Your Majesty. Your men can’t even find inanimate objects—how is this subject to entrust them with finding the living? I will search for my wife myself. As for government affairs, Your Majesty is more than capable. Seeing how you have so many competent subjects at your disposal, my absence will not be missed.”

  Li Qitian’s face flushed beet red, his blood boiling at Pang Xiao’s words. “Pang Zhixi, who do you think you are addressing?! Your impertinence is toeing the line of treason!”

  “This servant is unworthy of such high praise.” Pang Xiao’s smile was laced with disdain, his words dripping with sarcasm. “If I had even the slightest heart for treason, I would not be in these shoes, lacking even the manpower to search for my own wife!”

  If he still had command of the Valiant Tigers, never mind searching for a person—he could’ve tracked down even an ant nest. Now, he had neither manpower nor military power. Even if he disregarded Li Qitian’s disapproval and surveillance and summoned every one of the Elite Tigers, that still meant only one hundred of them.

  Li Qitian’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “You dare place the blame for your grudges upon Us!”

  Pang Xiao raised his voice in turn. “This subject has not the energy nor the heart to blame anyone. I only wish to find my wife. If I can find her, then all the better. I trust Your Majesty has questions for her as well. However, if I cannot find her, who knows what I will do?

  “What has she done wrong? She only wished to return to the capital to recover from her illness. Not only was she kidnapped on her way back, every one we have dug up was one of Your Majesty’s Dragon Riders!”

  “Enough with such baseless speculation.” A twinge of guilt pulled at Li Qitian.

  “This subject is not grasping at straws, merely restating the evidence before us! I have put even my life down on the line for Your Majesty, yet Your Majesty would have my wife die!”

  “You! Pang Zhixi, how dare you! Do you really think We wouldn’t dare kill you?!”

  “Everything beneath the heavens belongs to Your Majesty—is there anything you wouldn’t do?!” Pang Xiao seethed, his usual calm and intellectual demeanor replaced by tyrannical violence.

  Something had sucked his soul out of his body when harm had befallen Qin Yining. He felt incomplete. Unless he found her, he really didn’t know what acts of lunacy he would commit. His desire to protect his nation was gone—in its place was the desire to destroy this empire. Human lives meant nothing to him.

  The prince was one who’d drawn actual blood from his enemies on the battlefield; he needed only to steel himself for the air around him to freeze. Superiority always wrapped around Li Qitian when Pang Xiao displayed subservience, and he found himself truly afraid of provoking an incensed Pang Xiao.

  “Fine, have it your way!” Li Qitian knew better than to fight when the odds were against him—it was best not to have Pang Xiao snap and injure him in the process.

  Pang Xiao saw right through the emperor’s reservations and couldn’t help but snort inwardly. When Qin Yining was with him, all was right with the world. Come what may, the future was something to look forward to.

  With her gone, he was left in agony as he searched for her. Now he understood his blissful days of peace were all tied to a single person. If that person no longer existed, what use did he have for bliss or peace?

  He might as well destroy everything!

  After Li Qitian returned to the capital, he sent Pang Xiao a letter every four or five days urging him to return. However, the prince pretended not to see them and continued his tireless search around the old capital for clues, covering more ground with every passing day.

  Three months had passed in the blink of an eye. The old capital was already blanketed in snow.

  Pang Xiao defied twenty-three royal decrees and was censured for misconduct by other officials over fifty times, yet Li Qitian never spoke a word. It was a gesture of endless indulgence that never seemed to end.

  This was the first for such a thing since the founding of the nation.

  As Pang Xiao fervently searched for Qin Yining, a caravan was threading their way with great difficulty through a vast Tatar desert in the borderlands north of Great Zhou.

  Chapter 469: Desert

  The smoothest part of the road from Great Zhou to the Tatar ca
pital wasn’t as harsh as this. However, trouble was inevitable along the way, what with all the thieves and bandits that sprouted out of nowhere. They were left with no other choice but to proceed through the desert.

  The coarse fabric of Qin Yining’s clothes were so covered in filth that its original colors were indiscernible. Her head wrapped in thick cloth and a thick, curved branch in hand, she arduously trudged along with the group.

  Her wounds were fully healed, but she was still considerably weakened. It had been ten days since they entered the desert. If they hadn’t had the misfortune of running into a sandstorm, their circumstances wouldn’t have become so dire. At least they’d brought enough food and water with them.

  Sadly, the heavens seemed to love toying with them. Never did Qin Yining expect the Tatars to trek thousands of miles to Great Zhou in search of treasure, and it seemed they’d been at it for quite some time.

  When the world itself shook from the earthquake, she and her group had almost reached the entrance of the cavern, only to be stopped by Siqin, consort to the Tatar khan.

  Siqin had the appearance of a handsome scholar and a genteel bearing that seemed to set him apart from the typical Tartar. Yet beneath that sophisticated façade was a merciless man who killed without a thought.

  He hadn’t spared a single Dragon Rider. Afterwards, he had Lu Heng and his men dragged into the desert, along with Qin Yining and Madame Liao’s remaining group of three. After they entered the desert and encountered the sandstorm, he promptly left all of Lu Heng’s men behind.

  They weren’t killed—instead, they were driven into the yellow haze of sand and abandoned there to perish.

  Their current merry band consisted of Tatar khan consort Siqin, twenty of his deathsworn, Madame Liao, her two Azure Justice subordinates, Lu Heng, and Qin Yining.

  Qin Yining’s legs felt like lead, her parched lips cracked beyond repair. She was so thirsty that she couldn’t utter a single word.