Chapter 816: Farewell with Regret (I)

"Brother Liu, you have just recovered some strength. It won't be too late to do the big things tomorrow. Why do you have to come out at night?"

"That's right! It's cold at night, and you're already weak. If you catch a cold, wouldn't that make things worse?"

"Master Liu, listen to the advice of Brother Li and Miss Pan, and go back to rest first!"

Late at night, on the boundless grassland, Liu Xunyi, ignoring the strong dissuasion of Pan Yuyin, Li Haitang, Feng Tianba and Wuchan, dragged his weak body out of Hu Lie's camp and walked towards Saihan's "tavern" with one step deep and one step shallow.

Pan Yuyin and the others were worried that he would get too angry and his injuries would get worse, so they didn't dare to stop him. They could only stay by Liu Xunyi's side and persuade him earnestly.

It's a pity that Liu Xunyi seemed to be possessed tonight. He ignored the concerns of Li Haitang and others, and insisted on moving forward. No matter how much they talked, he refused to stop.

"Brother Liu, we know you are worried about Hero Su, but since he is not in the camp, maybe... he has returned to Red Wind Ridge." Li Haitang spoke again unwillingly, "The grassland is so vast and boundless. If he hides on purpose, how can you find him?"

"My eldest brother and I have become brothers for life and death. Now that he is in trouble because of me, I cannot stand by and watch!" Panting, Liu Xunyi hunched over, gritted his teeth and insisted on moving forward. "My eldest brother is a man of honor, why is he hiding?"

"Maybe he's worried about Hu Lie's revenge, or maybe he thinks it's embarrassing to lose to you..."

"Nonsense!" Liu Xunyi's face darkened, and he sternly stopped Feng Tianba's suspicion of Su He, "Brother is upright and honest, and you should not judge him by your own standards!"

"Don't blame me, sir. I was just saying it casually..."

"That won't work either... cough cough..."

Before Liu Xunyi finished speaking, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest and couldn't help coughing violently a few times.

Seeing this, the worried Pan Yuyin hurriedly handed over the water bag. At the same time, she glared at Feng Tianba and rolled her eyes, blaming him for saying the wrong thing at this time.

"Brother Liu, actually..."

"Don't try to persuade me anymore. I must find my elder brother tonight." Before Li Haitang could carefully test him, Liu Xunyi waved his hand impatiently to interrupt, "That's enough! Don't follow me anymore. Go back to sleep! After I see my elder brother, I will come back to the camp to find you."

"No! Absolutely not!" Pan Yuyin said stubbornly, "If you want to find Hero Su, we will help you find him. It is absolutely impossible for us to leave you here alone."

"That's right! That's right!" Feng Tianba, who had just been scolded, was not angry. Instead, he changed his words with a thick face and said, "I won't persuade you anymore! No one will persuade you anymore! No matter where Lord Liu goes, we will risk our lives to accompany him."

Feng Tianba was overjoyed and in a very good mood after winning a great victory in the "Nadam" today and saving the territory of the Song Dynasty. Therefore, he would not care even if Liu Xunyi scolded him or beat him up.

"Oh, right! I sent a pigeon to Lin'an in the evening to deliver the letter that Lord Liu asked me to deliver. I believe that it won't be long before the court will prepare 100,000 dan of rice, and the arrested people in Yunya Town will be released without charge." Seeing Liu Xunyi's hesitation, Feng Tianba hurriedly changed the subject, "In any case, we finally sent the princess to Helin smoothly, and the accident in Yunya Town was considered safe. Fortunately, the emperor has great fortune and blessed us to survive the desperate situation."

"To this day, you're still thinking about the emperor?" Li Haitang pouted, "Rather than saying that the emperor is blessed with great fortune, it's better to say that we are blessed with great fortune."

"You..." Seeing Li Haitang's disrespectful words, Feng Tianba wanted to scold him, but then he thought about how Li Haitang had tried his best to compete with Hu Lie in archery today, so he swallowed the words back and said with a nonchalant smile, "Forget it! Forget it! I'm in a good mood today, so I won't bother with you."

Pan Yuyin and Wuchan never participated in the bickering between Li Haitang and Feng Tianba. They just stayed by Liu Xunyi's side silently, and when they saw that he was exhausted, they were the first to lend a hand.

"Master Liu, where are we going now?"

"There!"

Before Wu Chan finished speaking, Liu Xunyi, who had struggled to climb up the grass slope, immediately showed joy on his face. He pointed to a flock of sheep not far away and said excitedly: "Those are Saihan and Bayin's sheep. We have entered their pasture. Big brother must be here."

"Could this be the place where Brother Liu and Hero Su had their duel three days ago?"

"Exactly!"

After hastily agreeing, Liu Xunyi no longer cared about his weak body and ran impatiently towards the yurt next to the sheep.

"Brother, Senior Saihan, Bayin, are you here?"

With his heart pounding, Liu Xunyi shouted at the top of his lungs, waking up the sleepy sheep one after another. For a moment, the bleating sounds were endless, breaking the tranquility of the grassland.

"Who is shouting and yelling at someone's door in the middle of the night?"

Accompanied by a slightly unpleasant lazy voice, Bayin, panting heavily, rubbed his sleepy eyes and slowly walked out of the yurt.

"Bayin, it's me!"

Under the stunned gazes of Li Haitang and the others, Liu Xunyi stepped forward with a smile on his face. Looking at his friendly appearance, it seemed that he and Bayin were old friends who had known each other for many years, rather than just meeting for the first time.

"Liu..." Bayin was surprised at first after recognizing who was coming. But before he could fully smile, he suddenly tensed up and asked in a weird tone, "Who are you?"

After these words were spoken, Li Haitang and the others were all dumbfounded and extremely embarrassed.

"I..." Liu Xunyi was stunned. "Three days ago, we drank and ate meat together, joking around, in that tavern..."

When Liu Xunyi subconsciously pointed at the "tavern", the voice stopped abruptly. It turned out that the "tavern" had been destroyed in the fierce battle three days ago and now it was gone.

"It's you!" Bayin pouted, looking disdainful and indifferent.

"This..." Feng Tianba stepped forward and asked angrily, "Lord Liu, are you...really friends with them?"

"Bayin, who's here?"

Another question came from the yurt, and Saihan appeared in front of Liu Xunyi and others, leaning on a crutch and limping.

"Grandpa, it's him!" Bayin pointed at Liu Xunyi and said unhappily, "I don't know what he's doing here..."

"Don't be rude!" Saihan glared and scolded, "He and your elder brother Su have paid homage to Anda, so he is also your elder brother. How can you be disrespectful to him?"

"But he hurt Brother Su so badly..."

"Guests are coming, why don't you prepare some milk wine and barbecue?" Saihan interrupted, "What did your grandfather teach you? Have you forgotten the art of hospitality? One of our guests tonight is a monk, remember to prepare some vegetarian dishes."

"no, I'm fine……"

"Don't be polite, just follow the brat!" Before Pan Yuyin and the others could give way, Saihan urged Bayin to prepare wine and meat, and said with a faint smile, "Mobei is not like the Central Plains, there are not so many ways to eat and drink. If I am not a good host, please forgive me!"

"Since the senior has spoken, you should be disrespectful to refuse. Go!"

At Liu Xunyi's eye signal, Li Haitang, Pan Yuyin, Feng Tianba and Wu Chan looked at each other and followed Bayin into the distance.

"Senior, my elder brother..."

"Su He is not here." Saihan led Liu Xunyi into the yurt and explained calmly, "We will accompany him to the Nadam venue this afternoon, and we will go our separate ways after we come out."

"What?" Liu Xunyi was shocked and his eyes became more and more flustered.

"Sit down! Sit down and talk slowly!" Saihan poured a cup of steaming hot milk tea for Liu Xunyi and comforted her, "You are injured, so don't drink alcohol tonight, just tea."

"Thank you, senior!" Liu Xunyi hurriedly took the milk tea and asked anxiously, "Where is my elder brother?"

“I don’t know.” Saihan smiled bitterly, “Maybe I’ll go back to Red Wind Ridge, maybe home, maybe… go somewhere else.”

"This..." Liu Xunyi was confused and didn't know where to start for a moment.

"Su He asked me to tell you before he left that he is doing fine and you don't have to worry about him." Sai Han looked at the absent-minded Liu Xunyi with relief and said with emotion, "Su He vowed before he left that you would come here to find him within three days. I didn't expect that it would take less than three days. You came here in just three hours."

"Senior, why did my elder brother leave?"

"At the 'Nadam' conference, he personally admitted in front of almost all the Mongolian dignitaries that he was defeated by you. The 'fastest swordsman in Mobei' was defeated by a Han Chinese who was worthless on the grassland. This kind of thing... not everyone has the courage to admit it. Since then, Su He's reputation in Mobei has been ruined, and his status in the hearts of the Khan and the prince has plummeted. If he doesn't leave on his own... is he waiting for someone to drive him away?"

"This..." Liu Xunyi was entangled, "Since it is a martial arts competition, there will be winners and losers. How can I be criticized by thousands of people just because of losing?"

"Others can lose, but Su He cannot, especially to a Han Chinese who is younger than him." Saihan sighed, "In a sense, Su He no longer represents himself, but the leader and role model of the young and strong generation of the grassland. A man like him shoulders the honor and disgrace of the entire grassland, and even concerns the rise and fall of the future generation of the grassland. How can he lose? And he admitted defeat in public, in full view of everyone. Do you know that if Su He admits defeat today, rumors that Mongolia has no successors may spread like wildfire tomorrow, and everyone in the world will know about it and make a big fuss."

"This..." It was not until this moment that Liu Xunyi truly realized how huge the impact this matter had brought to Su He.

"But you can rest assured. Although the Khan and the prince are dissatisfied with Su He, they will never make things difficult for him, let alone send people to hunt him down." Saihan said confidently, "Su He is, after all, a proud son of the grassland and the descendant of a meritorious official. The Khan and the prince are both wise and righteous rulers who uphold the bright and upright path and will never do anything mean."

"There is one thing... I have been feeling depressed and frustrated for a long time. Seeing that you are so frank with me tonight, I can't bear the torment in my heart and I have to express it." After hesitating for a long time, Liu Xunyi finally expressed his worries.

"Please tell me and listen."

"Three days ago, in the contest between me and my eldest brother, in the end... was it really me who won?"

……

(End of this chapter)