Hua Zhenfeng headed quickly toward the front ranks where General Huo was. Xue Yanluo also kept moving at his pace—he already knew the general would call for him directly, so he might as well keep walking.
Within minutes, a soldier in the distance was scanning left and right until he spotted Xue Yanluo and made straight for him.
Before speaking, he greeted Xue Yanluo with due respect. "Fourth Prince, General Huo requests your presence."
"Mm, I'm on my way." Xue Yanluo waved the soldier off and kept walking without changing his pace.
"You're here," Eunuch Mo nodded as Xue Yanluo approached.
The moment he arrived, General Huo asked, "Is what your guard says true?"
"You called me here to ask me that?"
"No," said General Huo, shaking his head. "Take your attendants and some soldiers and go with the Five Eternal Seals Sect's forces."
Xue Yanluo held General Huo's gaze for a few seconds before answering. "We're mixing our forces?"
"Yes," he nodded immediately. "Since you can carry out the same role there just as well as you have until now."
Xue Yanluo sighed and left without any intention of arguing. The group he put together consisted of his two close attendants and the soldiers who had been protecting him up to that point.
Hua Zhenfeng opened his mouth repeatedly, but words refused to leave it—after many attempts, a few finally gathered the courage to come out. "My lord, why did you allow General Huo to speak to you that way?"
Xue Yanluo turned and looked at him. "Do you really want to know?"
Hua Zhenfeng nodded eagerly, his pupils glowing a faint crimson over their usual color.
"General Huo is a man with a great deal of experience—not only in war, but at court. I don't know what he's planning with this, but let's wait and see what they have in store."
"Just because of that…?" Hua Zhenfeng murmured.
Xue Yanluo laughed and looked away from him. "You'd better learn to navigate these marshes if you want to stay by my side for long."
Hua Zhenfeng nodded several times while his mind wandered freely, and he simply walked, trusting the steps of Xue Yanluo ahead of him.
The group formed in just a few minutes and came to about a dozen people—not many, not few, in Xue Yanluo's estimation. Not knowing what their role or purpose would be, a small group was best.
They gradually angled left until they broke away and found themselves between both sides. From the other side, a group of about twenty people was also peeling away from their formation.
Both parties looked at each other for a moment before continuing their crossing and joining the other group. At first they walked alongside for a time, neither entering nor breaking the formation. Then they drew closer, and the first person slipped in, then the second, and so on until the last.
A middle-aged woman with an eye patch and her hair locked into a bun stood out among the crowd as the only one whose body was turned entirely toward Xue Yanluo's group.
She pressed her hands together in greeting, stepped toward them, and opened the conversation. "Good day—the Lady of Currents sent me to receive you."
"Thank you. Then take the lead—we'll follow," Xue Yanluo replied, returning the greeting.
The group drew plenty of looks from the sect's disciples, and the biggest draw was Xue Yanluo at the front.
As they made their way forward, the people they encountered grew steadily older, until at the very front stood the woman with two braids, flanked by two others.
Xue Yanluo left his group and moved toward the women, offered his greeting, and was about to introduce himself when the woman with two braids cut him off.
"Can you see the change in color in the pillars?"
"Yes."
"You have remarkable eyes—even we can't make it out without focusing completely. Do you think your children would inherit those eyes?"
Xue Yanluo went still and looked around, searching for an answer to that question. "Presumably…?" he said, unsure.
One of the people at her side—an older man with barely four hairs still standing on his head—burst out laughing. "Have you taken a liking to this boy?" he said to the old woman with two braids.
"It would be a good idea to get him out of this place," she answered.
What is wrong with this old woman…? Damn, she's not thinking of marrying me off to one of her daughters or granddaughters, is she? And why do they want to get me out of here—are they afraid I'll run? Xue Yanluo looked at the three people in front of him with no idea what to do.
The third person, who had kept quiet until now, cut through his companions' wandering and then looked at Xue Yanluo. "Your eyes and your attendant's have been useful. Stay with us and learn a thing or two—consider it our thanks."
"When elders make such a proposal, the young have no option but to accept." Xue Yanluo pressed his hands together and thanked all three.
The near-bald man laughed again and said to the old woman with two braids, with his eyes on Xue Yanluo, "He has a silver tongue too—at last you'll have descendants who aren't simpletons."
"Perhaps some of them would like that. My descendants are very straightforward."
The corners of Xue Yanluo's mouth trembled in something close to dread, and he looked around for help from the person who had stepped in for him earlier.
That person felt a gaze boring into him and turned to defend himself against it. Seeing it was Xue Yanluo, a smile spread across his face, and he nodded. He stepped closer to the two elders and said, "Look at the boy—this is no time to be discussing this in front of strangers."
Both elders glanced toward Xue Yanluo, then away, settling their eyes on the group behind him. They nodded and dropped the subject, turning their attention forward.
Xue Yanluo breathed out in relief and said his goodbyes to the elders before nearly running back to his group.
Far enough away, Bao Qingcao dared to open her mouth and tease him about it. "What a shame—we almost had a grand event to plan."
Xue Yanluo fixed her with a sharp look, and she snapped her mouth shut. What in the world is wrong with those elders? Who starts a conversation like that? He would be better off making sure he never crossed paths with them alone, or there was no telling what might happen to him.