Yang Ruoning had her own guesses about A Jing's true identity. Initially, she thought that the person capable of replacing Luo Yuan and persuading King A Qi to send troops must be the person closest to Luo Yuan. Given A Jing's physique, it was most likely the young general by the Bian River whom she had seen following Luo Yuan. However, after spending recent days and nights together in You Zhou City, she began to doubt her earlier assumptions.
"You are not allowed to drink when I'm not around!" A Jing had yelled at her angrily that day. It was the first time she had seen him angry.
Why would he say that? It was as if he had seen her drunk and out of control more than once. She rarely lost her composure when drunk in front of others, except for... Luo Yuan. If A Jing were indeed Luo Yuan, then his words and actions in the oasis of the outer desert would make sense.
She was startled by her own deduction and immediately dismissed it.
No, A Jing could not be Luo Yuan. A Jing could only be A Jing. He could be anyone, but he absolutely could not be Luo Yuan.
From then on, Yang Ruoning began to feel that the atmosphere around her had become extremely delicate.
She felt that since her confession that night, A Jing's gaze towards her had become increasingly profound. The myriad of complex emotions swirling in that deep gaze made Yang Ruoning feel very uneasy. Her confession was not to gain his sympathy, nor to let him fall into a mistaken fantasy. Her confession was simply to state a fact, to convey her sincere apology to Luo Yuan.
"Ruoning, we need to talk."
"No, no, no, we don't need to talk about anything."
"I want to tell you..."
Yang Ruoning immediately interrupted him. She was afraid of what he might say. "No, please don't say anything. I really feel... so much pressure right now. A Jing, I don't want to have any deeper relationships with anyone here anymore, because I'm truly tired of goodbyes. I hate it... Let's just be friends like this, okay?"
A Jing looked at her, the light in his eyes making Yang Ruoning turn away, unable to bear looking any further. She picked up the horsewhip from the table and said, "A Jing, I'll be leaving soon. Everything here is over for me. I'm sorry."
Yang Ruoning led Black toward the city gate. Everyone said Black was a rare and excellent steed, but Yang Ruoning felt that was because they didn't know how picky it was.
She didn't know if all good horses were picky eaters, but Black was probably the best among picky horses. It merely sniffed and took a couple of bites of the premium fodder A Jing bought for it before refusing to eat any more. Helpless, Yang Ruoning had to lead it to find food further away. She took Black to many places, and a few days ago, it finally found a lakeside meadow it liked. According to Yang Ruoning's observation, it was deserted and close to a water source, hence the grass grew extremely fresh and lush.
"You can't come here," a childish voice came from behind.
Yang Ruoning turned around and saw a little boy. He looked about ten years old, holding a small twig, with two little sheep behind him.
The boy herding sheep said again, "Grandpa said we can't come here."
"Why can't we come?" Yang Ruoning asked. Was this someone's land?
"Grandpa said there are water spirits here, and they drag people into the water and drown them in the lake."
Yang Ruoning chuckled, "Heh heh, really? But I don't believe in ghosts."
"I saw it with my own eyes. A woman in white floated in this lake, and then I fell seriously ill. The villagers said I encountered a female ghost and was poisoned by evil spirits."
"You know, where I come from, people have made many, many attempts to prove the existence of ghosts, but none have ever succeeded," Yang Ruoning said with a smile. "Little friend, there are no ghosts in this world. I think you can safely let your sheep graze here. I guarantee your sheep will be the fattest in the village in a few months."
Yang Ruoning pointed to Black, who was happily grazing in the distance. "See that black horse? It's gotten much fatter these past few days."
The little boy pouted, clearly thinking Yang Ruoning was a bit eccentric. "I've warned you." With that, he herded his sheep and left.
After dinner, she told them about the incident. Han Dan Chun was not surprised, saying that Yang Ruoning must be a reincarnated powerful immortal, whom even ghosts and spirits respected. Yang Ruoning was speechless, thinking how could she be a fated-to-suffer immortal.
Meanwhile, A Jing asked her for the location of the lake. After Yang Ruoning told him, A Jing said that there were indeed legends of water spirits appearing there and advised her not to go there in the future.
"Hey, hey, you two are going to do great things in the future. How can you believe such silly ghost stories?!"
"Nothing comes from nothing. You should still be careful," A Jing said.
Yang Ruoning didn't want to argue with them about the pseudo-issue of whether ghosts existed. She said to them, "You know, if there really is a female ghost there, I'll find a way to capture her and make her perform in the market for money."
Yang Ruoning suddenly remembered something and asked Han Dan Chun, "Did you look for Luo Yuan?"
Han Dan Chun glanced quickly at A Jing and said, "I've already asked A Jing to go tell him."
"Oh, that's great..." Yang Ruoning asked. "Oh, right, A Jing, you know King A Qi is dead, and Han Dan Chun is the king now, right?"
Han Dan Chun spat out his rice, "Why did you have to say it?"
Yang Ruoning disgusted wiped the rice grains from her face, suppressing her discomfort, and said, "You asked A Jing to go see Luo Yuan, but you didn't even tell him this?"
"I wanted to tell him at an opportune moment... uh, as a... surprise..." Han Dan Chun stammered.
"Alright, my apologies. I've told him as soon as I could," Yang Ruoning said. She saw A Jing put down the book in his hand, clearly surprised by the news.
"A Qi is dead?" he asked, frowning.
"Yes," Han Dan Chun replied.
"How did he die so suddenly?" A Jing asked.
"You'll have to ask her," Han Dan Chun pointed at Yang Ruoning.
Yang Ruoning shrugged, "I don't know. He just... died of illness."
A Jing's gaze was sharp, as if it could pierce through her. Yang Ruoning felt that he definitely didn't believe her. She feigned a yawn and walked towards the guest room, saying, "It's very late. Goodnight, everyone."
"Oh, by the way, Yang Ruoning, I haven't told you yet, you have to accompany me to see Luo Yuan tomorrow."
"Huh? Han Dan Chun, can't you tell me something so important earlier?!"
Han Dan Chun looked innocent, "So I'm telling you now..."
"Can I not go?"
"No, this is all because of you. You must go with me!"
"Ugh!" Yang Ruoning grunted, half in anger and half in regret.