Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was the height of summer when we arrived in Shuofang.

Summer in the borderlands comes late and leaves quickly, like a fire that flares up and is snuffed out just as fast.

Xie Changgeng’s stronghold for his old subordinates was called Huangquan Pass. It was an ominous name, but the terrain was incredibly treacherous-surrounded by mountains on three sides and a river on the fourth, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

He had more old subordinates than I had imagined-over three thousand men in total.

Most were veterans who had followed him for years, while the rest were those who had come to join him over the past three years. When they saw Xie Changgeng, some knelt on the spot, some grew red-eyed, and some stood silently, merely tightening their grip on their blades.

Xie Changgeng helped them up one by one, calling each by name.

He truly remembered every single one of them.

That night, he gathered his core commanders to discuss matters.

The main tent at Huangquan Pass was rudimentary. A map was spread out on the ground, its four corners weighted down by stones.

There were seven people present in total.

Qin Mu, the Deputy General in command of the troops, was a man built like a bear with a horizontal scar across his face. He was a man of few words but possessed a heavy murderous aura.

Du Shuangniang, a widow in her early thirties, was in charge of supplies. She was efficient, and her fingers moved across an abacus faster than any professional accountant.

Han Xi, the scout leader, was lean and agile, resembling a fox forever peering out from the shadows.

There were also several battalion commanders whose names I couldn’t quite remember, but I could see that their loyalty to Xie Changgeng was etched into their very bones.

And then there was me.

Xie Changgeng pushed me forward. “This is Shen He. From today onward, he is my Military Advisor.”

The tent fell silent.

Qin Mu was the first to speak. “Young Master, this person… how old is he?”

“Twenty,” Xie Changgeng replied.

Qin Mu frowned. He likely wanted to say “too young,” but when Xie Changgeng’s gaze swept over him, he swallowed his words.

Du Shuangniang, however, took a few extra looks at me. Her gaze lingered for a moment on my Adam’s apple-or rather, my neck, which lacked one.

She said nothing, only offering a faint smile.

I felt a pang of unease.

It is easy for a woman to deceive a man, but difficult to deceive another woman.

Sure enough, Du Shuangniang came to find me that night.

Carrying a bowl of hot soup, she sat on a rock in front of my tent. She drank slowly, neither entering nor speaking.

I stayed inside for fifteen minutes before I finally couldn’t help but lift the flap and step out. “Is something the matter, Sister Du?”

She smiled. “Advisor Shen calling me ‘Sister’ sounds much more intimate than calling me ‘Manager Du.'”

I smiled back. “That depends on how intimate Sister Du wants to be with me.”

She patted the rock beside her, signaling for me to sit.

I sat.

“Don’t be nervous, I won’t tell anyone,” she whispered. “Does the Young Master know?”

“He knows.”

“That’s good then.” Du Shuangniang let out a sigh of relief. “As long as he knows, I’m at ease. Otherwise, if the truth comes out later, you’d be the one in trouble.”

“Aren’t you curious why I’m cross-dressing as a man, Sister Du?”

“I’m not.” She shook her head. “In these times, if a woman wants to survive, no disguise is too strange.”

She paused, then added, “Besides, if you stood before that pack of killers in your true form and said you were their Military Advisor, they’d probably hack you down before you could finish your sentence.”

I nodded. That was the truth.

Du Shuangniang stood up and handed the bowl to me. “The soup is for you. The borderlands are cold; a bowl at night will warm your stomach.”

I took it. “Thank you, Sister Du.”

She turned and walked a few paces before stopping, though she didn’t look back. “Advisor Shen-”

“Yes?”

“The Young Master… he is worth it.”

Her voice was very soft, scattered by the night wind almost instantly.

But I heard her clearly.

Worth what? Worth dying for? Worth following? Worth-

I didn’t let my thoughts go any further.

I lowered my head and drank the soup. It was scalding hot, burning back all those thoughts that shouldn’t have surfaced.