She thought she was going to die.
She did.
But the next time she opened her eyes , she found out that she was living a whole new life, as a little girl who was going to enter a noble household as a maid.
However, a true pearl can never hide its lus...
After leaving the last village, they already knew of a place they should at least consider to see.
It was based on JingMo's recommendation. When he told them of the place, there was sadness in his somewhat detached voice.
It was his childhood home, which he had left a long time ago.
To his companions, he only narrated his background briefly: his late father was from the Jing tribe, and his late mother was a citizen of Zhang Empire. His father had the tattoo of an eagle as well.
When YuLan first heard about his tattoo, she faintly thought about her own flower marking. She had never been able to see her own marking, but from the description Xiao Hui told her, she had a strong suspicion that she also hailed from the Northern Plains. However, as she had never heard of any relatives looking for her, nor did she feel any attachment to the area, she kept her silence.
Although initially everyone was reserved about the possibility of using JingMo's home as their new house, JingMo urged them to at least visit the place first.
His parents had also been buried in the area - at the foot of a small hill overlooking a deep gorge, just a walking distance away from the house. He wanted to pay his respect, as it had been a while since he last visited their graves.
Truthfully, he had not visited their graves at all, ever since his parents were murdered when he was little. Not only he tried to block that particular night from his memory, his days and years afterwards were busy enough - having followed JingHan and assisted him to regain supremacy in the Northern Plains.
Niu - the eagle - grew robust and healthy. It became a tracker, assisting them greatly in surveying foreign landscapes or finding insurgents' hideouts, much to the opponents' dismay. After all, little could be done to kill a flying spy.
For JingMo, JingHan was the strongest warrior. Thus, where strength was the ultimate measure, JingHan must become king.
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The small hill overlooked a small stream that would ultimately meet a bigger river at the bottom of the gorge. It was mostly untouched by human hands, the gorge was one of natural barriers between the Northern Plains territory and Zhang Empire, extending over several hundred miles from the north to the south.
People usually went to the border town of Hun'ang - a half-a-day horse ride away - to travel between the two territories. The border town was built on a flat natural terrain, with a man-made bridge behind it. The bridge connected Hun'ang to the Northern Plains.
However, since the border town was always busy - and hence the security was tight - JingMo and JingHan, and whoever they sent as spies would usually travel along the gorge to get to Zhang Empire. The same applied to Emperor Zhang when he sent his people up north.
