"My subordinate traced all the way there. Apart from a wolf carcass, there were no other animal remains on the way. However, some traces of a fire were found by the river. It should be that the lady roasted fish and kept warm at night there."
He stood beside Helian Zhen, bowing his head as he spoke. After that, he emphasized the marks on the wolf carcass, then drew out the dagger from his waist and presented it to Helian Zhen.
Helian Zhen's gaze fell on the dagger, which was still stained with blood. There was a ruby embedded in the handle of the dagger.
At that time, Hua Jing had pestered him for the ruby on the dagger when she saw it, saying that she wanted to make it into a bracelet to wear on her hand. Helian Zhen thought the dagger would look ugly if the ruby was dug out, so he simply gave the whole dagger to her.
After that, he never saw her wearing the ruby. He thought she was just fickle and didn't cherish things once she got them. Who would have thought that she had secretly hidden it.
But why did she hide the dagger?
Helian Zhen reached out and picked up the dagger. His eyes darkened. He waved his hand and said, "Go and summon the lady."
A moment later, Hua Jing entered with her hair loose.
The sandstorms were strong here, and she was so delicate that she would wash her hair as soon as there was a bit of dust on it. The people boiling hot water in the kitchen were really annoyed by her.
Helian Zhen snorted with a smile when he saw her like this. "Who did you fight with?"
In his eyes, no matter how spoiled Hua Jing was, she was just like a little kitten sharpening its claws. She was only cute in his eyes, not fierce at all.
Hua Jing gave him a flirtatious look and said in a coquettish voice, "How about I fight with the king in bed?"
Helian Zhen felt a rush of heat in his heart. He hooked her waist and pulled her into his arms. He pinched her chin and his eyes were full of danger. "Stop tempting me."
After saying that, he took out the dagger and held it close to her face. He smiled and asked, "Does it look familiar?"
Hua Jing let out a scream and immediately slapped his hand away. "It's so dirty! Don't stick any dirty things on me. I'm so annoyed with you!"
She suddenly changed her expression and tried to get up from his arms, but Helian Zhen pinched her waist and she slumped back into his arms.
Helian Zhen twirled the dagger in his hand and rubbed the ruby on it with his finger. He asked casually, "Didn't you say you wanted this ruby? Why didn't you pry it off and make it into a bracelet?"
Hua Jing wiped her face hard with a handkerchief and said angrily, "I need to have the skills to do that. All the craftsmen on the grassland are just rough men. The jewelry they make is one rougher than the other. If I gave them the gem to make a bracelet, it would be no different from squandering a precious thing!"
"Don't suspect me anymore. I came here alone!" Hua Jing was extremely frustrated. She threw the handkerchief in her hand away. Still feeling angry, she pounced on him to grab the dagger from his hand.
Helian Zhen was startled and quickly withdrew his hand. However, Hua Jing refused to give up and insisted on getting the dagger.
Afraid of hurting her, he loosened his grip and the dagger ended up in her hand.
Hua Jing sneered and threw the dagger hard on the ground. "You don't need to be sarcastic with me! Ever since I came here yesterday, you've been looking at me as if I'm a nuisance. If you really don't want to see me, just say it directly. I'll leave right away!"
"If you don't want me, there are plenty of men out there who do!"
These words touched Helian Zhen's sore spot. His face suddenly darkened. He grabbed her neck and said, "How dare you!"
"You're my woman. Even if you die, you can only die by my side!"
Hua Jing looked at him. It seemed that she was really heart - broken. She looked at him deeply and slowly closed her eyes.
A tear silently slid down from the corner of her eye. It landed on his hand with a warm touch.
Helian Zhen seemed to be scalded. He quickly withdrew his hand. His face changed several times.
Hua Jing pushed him away and fell to the ground, coughing violently.
Helian Zhen's eyes flickered with a look that even he himself couldn't understand. The room suddenly fell silent, only filled with Hua Jing's rather embarrassed gasps.
After a long while, he got up and hugged Hua Jing. The proud alpha wolf bowed his head for the first time, and it was for a woman he had never thought highly of before.
He stammered to comfort her, "Okay, it's my fault. Don't... don't cry. Be a good girl."
Thinking carefully, apart from being a bit spoiled, Hua Jing had no other flaws since she came to his side. She was extremely kind to him. He had once investigated her background and found that she was just a helpless girl whose parents had died of starvation.
Moreover, he had been with her day and night on the grassland. If she wanted to do something to him, she would have had thousands of opportunities.
But she didn't.
She still waited for him in the tent every day. At first, she didn't even know how to ride a horse. It was he who taught her, and those mediocre fighting skills were also taught by him when he was in the mood.
He lowered his head and looked at Hua Jing, who had calmed down. He reached out and stroked her face, as if in a daze.
He murmured in a low voice, "If you... I will cherish you for a lifetime."
Helian Zhen had never been cherished since childhood. He was born to a Central Plains woman. On the grassland, a weak Central Plains woman could never live long. His mother hated his father for abducting her and then abandoning her like a piece of trash. When she gave birth to him, she almost strangled him to death in a fit of rage.
However, he didn't die. His mother was stabbed to death by his father who rushed over.
Life was even more difficult after he lost his mother. He could hardly remember how he grew up. Anyway, since he could remember, there were always many scars on his body.
He grew up like this, without anyone caring about him.
Later, his father died, and his brothers were all killed by his uncle. Only he was left.
At first, some people thought his uncle cared about him, so he was spared.
Helian Zhen showed a sneering expression. His snake - hearted uncle just wanted to keep someone to take the blame for him.
In order to maintain the superficial peace, his uncle stuffed many women into his arms. He could only accept them with a smile, but his personality became more and more distorted day by day.
He hated, hated all these hypocritical people who were full of false affections.
His first child wasn't his at all.
He later found out that the woman was already pregnant when she came to his side, and the child was his uncle's.
How disgusting.
So after he came to power and killed his uncle, the first one he executed was that child.
A dirty bloodline should never have appeared in this world.
He deserved to be cooked in oil and eaten by dogs. After death, he should go to the eighteenth level of hell and be reborn as a beast in the next life, never to be reincarnated as a human again!
He had never experienced the feeling of being loved. Over the years, there had been countless people around him with false pretenses. He didn't need those fake people who had to smile at him for the sake of power.
But Hua Jing was different. Only she was different.
She was spoiled, liked to throw tantrums, and would play tricks on him.
She wasn't afraid of him. Even when he scared her sometimes, she would only be dazed for a moment and then hug him aggrievedly, whispering that he wasn't allowed to do that again.
He didn't know what love was, and he couldn't learn this delicate emotion.
All he knew was that every time he returned to the tent, Hua Jing was always the first one to greet him. What she cared about was never how many prey he had hunted or how many enemies he had killed that day.
She only cared whether he was injured or not.
He felt the feeling of being cared about for the first time. It was so strange that it made him panic.
So he questioned her sincerity again and again and verified it again and again until today.
Until that tear of hers landed on his hand.
It was so hot that it almost burned into his heart and left a deep scar on it.
He thought that maybe he should believe her.
If he could win this war and if he could conquer the Central Plains... he would never treat her badly.