Skies of boundless yellow, difficult to make out whether it is sand or soil, the entire space expansively open and empty, half of the sunset seems to be of another side of the sky with a defeated sun red like blood, a vast array of colours rendering the entire sky, looking like a piece of great landscape painting, everything before her eyes seems to be a grand and heroic piece of writing, calligraphed by the heavens, revealing the boldly unconstrained heroic spirit of the wilderness, here, there is no graceful restraints of Jiang Nan, no dazzling glory of the Capital City, here, is a scene of wilderness without any artificiality of manmade developments.
Stunned by what she has seen, Gui Wan could not help but to softly mutter the words: “So beautiful……” Such astonishing view of nature, makes one feel infinitely small.
Speechlessly watching Gui Wan with a smile, Ye Li also sighs, the many women of the Celestial Empire who had come here before, if not crying then they would be throwing a tantrum, because the desolation of this place frightens them, only the woman before his eyes, is able to see the beauty of this place at one glance, sensing the magnificence and power of this remote place, he silently sighs in praising, as he looks at her side profile in captivation, Mo Na’s skilful hands may have camouflaged her elegant face, but it cannot possibly cover up the clear magnificence of her peerless temperament and grace.
Absently letting go of the curtain, Gui Wan feels hundreds of feelings gather in her heart, although moved by such beautiful scenery before her, the dilemma she is in also instantly shrouds her heart, the last time she saw Ru Qing, Ru Ming was outside Ru Shui City, after around twenty days of travelling, she has already far left her homeland, all on her own, coming to this unfamiliar nation, what is she to do? And how is she to return?
“Suo Ge Ta,” Lightly calling back Gui Wan’s empty consciousness, Ye Li says with a rare show of gentleness, “Do not worry, just give it one or two days, and your body will be able to restore its comfort, the aching pains will also disappear.” Perhaps he has thought of how overbearing his actions has been, he speaks apologetically.
Looking at Ye Li, and once again looking at the wonderful scenery outside, she slightly calms herself down, Gui Wan reminds herself that she cannot panic no matter what, she must think of a way to let news of her reach the Celestial Empire, this is her most urgent priority. Thinking how, along the way, Ye Li’s ingenious arrangements of all sorts and every flawlessly[2] planned out steps taken, coupled with a great possibility of someone playing dirty tricks from behind the scenes, she definitely must not panic right now, with one wrong step, all the following steps will be wrong, right now, she cannot afford to take a single wrong step at all.
Her movements are free now, her thoughts process has also started to turn exceedingly fast, Gui Wan half leans to the side of carriage, resting to attain mental tranquillity, and at the same time, entering her deep thoughts. A melodic tone suddenly drifts past her ears, she lightly moves her body, once again glancing outside, in this open space of wilderness she sees no other human figures, puzzled, she has no idea where the singing has flowed along from, upon closer listening, the singing seems to be of the Nu Tribe’s native folk song, not only is such melody and rhythm distinctively different from that of the Celestial Empire’s songs, it is also sung in the Nu language, but the words “Suo Ge Ta” can be vaguely heard in the lyrics, Gui Wan is greatly surprised, although she has already heard those words numerous times, she does not know of the actual meaning behind it.
Seeing her ear to the side to listen, Ye Li lowly laughs, saying: “Are you listening to the song? This is a song that all us Nu people knows how to sing, do you like it?”
Turning her head to look at him, she originally didn’t want to pay any attention, but this singing is indeed comfortable and nice to listen to, it strikes a deep chord, thinking how her acupoint channels have already been unblocked, she is able to speak again, Gui Wan asks: “It’s sounds nice, what song is this?” Upon speaking, she finds that her voice sounds as light as mosquitoes, incomparable frail.
Slightly knitting his brows, Ye Li says: “To explain in your Han language, this song is an ode to the goddess, it is also a song we Nu people sing to express our love to the one we love.”
A faint expression of realisation appears on Gui Wan’s disguised face, Ye Li is amused upon seeing this, gently asking: “Do you want to know what the lyrics are? I’ll sing it for you.”