Jun Xie immediately jumped from the carriage and ran straight towards the corpse hanging on the cross.
As he came closer, his breathing quickened.
He wanted to confirm if this really was Shu Xian!?
Behind him, the others had also jumped off from the carriages and were coming closer to the cross.
Their eyes were filled with shock and uncertainty.
They stopped a few feet away, and only Jun Xie went on to examine the corpse.
After a few minutes, Kai Yang asked, "Is it really Shu Xian?"
The corpse was badly mutilated. Thus it was hard to confirm who it was just from a look.
It was only due to the clothes worn by the corpse that they knew that this person could be their ally.
And it was most probably Shu Xian.
Jun Xie pursed his lips and nodded.
"This…"
Others were surprised by the confirmation.
Even though they knew this was most probably Shu Xian in their hearts, the confirmation still shook them.
They had lost another member.
Half of them were now dead, and they hadn't even reached the destination.
Yuan Shuchun frowned and moved forward to have a look personally.
It didn't take her long to confirm.
This was indeed Shu Xian.
"Who did this?" She asked.
Jun Xie looked around and saw the corpses. "Most probably those bandits."
Yuan Shuchun frowned, "These people are already dead… don't tell me there were a lot of them?"
The corpses they had seen in the past two days could have amounted to more than a few hundred.
It was hard to believe that there were even more bandits!
"He killed a lot of them." Xiao Ming said as he walked towards the cross.
Looking at it from up to down, he added, "The massacre that he had ensued must have angered all the bandits within the province. I am sure the news of this massacre had already spread through the region. It's just we didn't stop anywhere, so we're unaware of this."
Kai Yang shook his head, "We didn't stop anywhere. This means we should be the first ones to come across this massacre."
Jun Xie replied, "You're underestimating the bandits. They will know about this within a few minutes. We don't know when this massacre even happened."
"Where's Shu Xian's horse?" Qing Shen suddenly asked.
Everyone looked around, and yes, indeed, there was no horse.
"We should search for it." Xiao Ming suddenly said.
Jun Xie nodded, and everyone spread in all directions.
This area was an open ground within the jungle, with long grass.
It wasn't hard to miss a horse corpse. Thus everyone only took a few minutes before returning.
"It's not here."
Jun Xie declared his findings.
"Guys, come!"
Just then, Fu Kai, who was last to arrive, called out.
Everyone moved towards him and saw him pointing at something on the ground.
It was the footprints from the hooves of a horse.
Jun Xie looked in the direction in which the hooves were heading.
This was sideways into the jungle. Not on the path towards the Silver Mist City.
"Is it really Shu Xian's horse?" Xiao Ming asked.
Fu Kai shook his head, "I am no expert in identifying the horse from its footprint, but I can assure you that this is a fresh hoofprint of a Ferghana horse."
Xiao Ming frowned, "Bandits too could have Ferghana Horses. After all, they need to be always on the run."
Yuan Shuchun nodded her head, "Yes, I have seen bandits with Ferghana Horses. They are very few and rare in number."
Qing Shen kneeled near the hoof print and examined it, "Indeed it's a Ferghana Horse, and it's most likely the one by Shu Xian."
"He could be alive?" Xiao Ming asked.
"Shu Xian? Didn't we see his corpse just now?"
"Ah, yes."
Jun Xie turned towards the corpse, "Let's see if we can find any more clues. Or at least give Shu Xian a proper burial. That is more important than this horse."
Everyone gave a slight nod and went back to the cross.
"This is weird." Suddenly Jun Xie said.
"What?"
Everyone turned to him in confusion and curiosity.
Jun Xie pursed his lips and frowned at the corpse.
"This…"
"Oh, it's nothing." After a while, he just shook his head.
"What is it?" Yuan Shuchun asked.
"They beheaded him." Jun Xie said, "His head is just not lying on his neck. It's not attached."
Xiao Ming slightly smiled and thought of something.
Then moving forward, he slightly flicked his head.
*puck!*
The head of Shu Xian fell down from the body.
"Dude!" Jun Xie looked at him in shock.
"It is indeed unattached." Xiao Ming nodded as if he had verified a big mystery.
"Wha-t!" Jun Xie looked at him like he was an idiot.
Xiao Ming just shrugged and said, "Let's give him a proper burial and resume the journey. We still have a long way to cross."
Jun Xie rolled his eyes at him and started to remove the corpse from the cross.
After a few minutes, they had carefully placed the body in a small pit and then covered him back with sand.
"There were about sixteen cuts on his body, but his Fu Clan robes were blood-red, so I couldn't identify more injuries."
Jun Xie said as they headed back towards the carriage.
"Well, it was the beheading that killed him. So other cuts don't matter." Xiao Ming shrugged.
Jun Xie gave a slight nod and glanced for one last time at the burial place of his friend.
Letting out a sigh, he jumped back on the carriage, and the rest of the group followed him.
As they resumed their journey, Fu Kai, who was driving the carriage, said, "Jun Xie, I don't know how you feel, but I am here to help in any way I can."
Jun Xie gave a slight smile and shook his head, "It's alright."
'I am not grieving… it's just… Shu Xian's corpse wasn't fresh. It was definitely a few days old!'
