Pei Ying hadn’t expected leaving the city to be so difficult nowadays. A long queue stretched at the city gate, a stark contrast to the smooth flow of people entering on the other side.
The Youzhou soldiers guarding the gate meticulously inspected every group attempting to depart. They checked travel permits, questioned the reasons for leaving, verified goods, and even separated and interrogated larger traveling parties. Solo travelers were outright denied exit.
Some were let through; others were not.
"Mother, do you think they’re targeting us?" Meng Ling'er asked anxiously.
Pei Ying observed for a moment before shaking her head. "No, we left too recently for them to have caught wind so quickly. This strict exit policy is likely to prevent scouts from slipping out."
After all, Beichuan County was originally part of Ji Province, and Huo Tingshan’s forces had seized control. It made sense they’d want to suppress any leaks.
Meng Ling'er fidgeted nervously as she stared at the sluggish line ahead. "It’s been a quarter-hour already, and we’ve barely moved! How much longer must we wait?"
Pei Ying pressed her lips together, equally anxious. Chen Yuan couldn’t stall for much longer. If their pursuers realized their escape before they got away, slipping out again would be near impossible.
Yet no matter how frantic Pei Ying felt inside, the line crawled forward at a snail’s pace.
The crowd was packed tightly, and occasional whispers of complaint drifted through the air—though no one dared voice their grievances too loudly.
Time dragged on, quarter-hour by quarter-hour, until finally, after nearly an hour, it was Pei Ying’s group’s turn.
The routine questioning began.
Li the Peddler’s goods were thoroughly inspected, down to the smallest box no longer than a forearm.
By sheer coincidence, one of the Youzhou guards recognized him—the man had patrolled South Street earlier and even bought a jar of mixed sauce from Li’s shop. Satisfied that Li was indeed a legitimate merchant, the guard waved them through.
Pei Ying exhaled in relief.
"Wait." Another voice cut in.
Pei Ying’s fingers tightened in her sleeves, and Meng Ling'er clung to her arm in fright.
The one who stopped them was a different guard, eyeing the three women skeptically. "If you’re heading south for trade, why bring so many women? What’s their purpose?"
Pei Ying’s group consisted of three—not an excessive number, but since Li’s own party also had three, the equal gender ratio was unusual for a typical merchant caravan.
Li the Peddler quickly explained, "Sir, they’re my neighbors. A while back, bandits raided the city, and their families’ breadwinners were killed. With no means to survive, they’re traveling south to seek refuge with relatives. Since I was heading that way anyway, and we’ve always been on good terms, I offered to escort them."
His story aligned almost perfectly with what Pei Ying had told him—save for the lie about them being neighbors. In truth, Li had been paid handsomely; this was no act of charity.
The guards were well aware of the recent bandit attacks, which had claimed many lives. Some households had been wiped out entirely, their bodies collected by Youzhou soldiers. It wasn’t uncommon for survivors to seek distant relatives for shelter.
Zhang Zhong studied Pei Ying’s group, his gaze lingering on her. He noted how unnaturally dark her skin was—had she been fairer and without the scattering of moles, she might have been strikingly beautiful. Even so, she was comely enough. No wonder she sought to leave.
"Fine, move along," Zhang Zhong finally said, waving them through.
Li the Peddler thanked him profusely.
As the donkey cart rolled forward, Pei Ying finally released a long breath the moment they cleared Beichuan County’s gates.
They had made it out. She was one step closer to Chang’an.
Beichuan was a small county, its outskirts lined with a single official road flanked by towering trees, lush and vibrant.
Then—
Clop-clop-clop!
The sudden drum of hoofbeats sent Pei Ying’s heart into a frenzy. An inexplicable dread surged through her.
As if confirming her fears, a booming voice echoed from the southern gate not far behind:
"By order of the General, no one is permitted to leave the city—effective immediately!"
The command carried far, and Pei Ying’s face drained of color.
"Mother, have they found us?" Meng Ling'er whispered, equally pale.
Pei Ying squeezed her daughter’s hand, as much to steady herself as to reassure the girl. "Stay calm. We’re already out. The lockdown has nothing to do with us."
Meng Ling'er relaxed slightly at her words.
Once she’d soothed her daughter, Pei Ying urgently addressed Li the Peddler up front. "Li, did you hear that? The city’s been sealed. Something major must have happened, but it’s no concern of ours. We should hurry away before we’re caught in the crossfire."
Li had heard the commotion too and wholeheartedly agreed. With a flick of his whip, the two donkeys pulling the cart picked up speed. They rounded a bend and soon vanished behind the dense foliage, leaving Beichuan County far behind.
When the city was no longer in sight, Pei Ying sat silently for a long moment before speaking up. "Li, there’s something I need to discuss..."
Qin Yang, commander of the East Garrison, was the first to reach the southern gate. After relaying Huo Tingshan’s orders, he instructed Zhang Zhong and the other guards to corral the remaining queue like penned sheep, forbidding anyone from leaving.
No sooner had they secured the crowd than another thunder of hoofbeats approached.
A towering figure clad in black robes rode at the forefront, his steed’s hooves kicking up dust as the wind whipped his cloak. His expression was as icy as the aura he exuded.
It was none other than Huo Tingshan himself.
Reining in his horse at the gate, Huo Tingshan fixed the guards with a piercing stare. Zhang Zhong and the others paled—they hadn’t expected the General to come personally—and hastily bowed. "General!"
Huo Tingshan remained mounted. "How many women have left the city in the last three quarters of an hour?"
Zhang Zhong was puzzled. Why was the General inquiring about women? Could the scout they were hunting be a woman this time?
Fortunately, his memory was sharp, and the timeframe was recent. "Reporting to the General, fifteen women have departed."
Huo Tingshan demanded details—order of departure, circumstances, and descriptions. Zhang Zhong complied meticulously.
Meanwhile, Xiong Mao, who had accompanied Huo Tingshan, swiftly inspected the detained crowd. Though he had never seen Pei Ying before, he scrutinized every face, searching for a beautiful matron or a young maiden.
Finding neither, he returned disappointed. "General, Lady Pei isn’t among them."
Huo Tingshan’s gaze remained fixed on Zhang Zhong as he continued his interrogation, digging deeper into the appearances, companions, and destinations of the women who had left.
Finally, Huo Tingshan’s brow lifted slightly. "This Li the Peddler—two of the three women with him had dark skin?"
Zhang Zhong nodded eagerly.
Huo Tingshan pressed further. "And their looks?"
Zhang Zhong answered truthfully. "One faced inward, so I couldn’t see clearly. The other had about seven or eight moles on her face. She was... rather plain, but not uncomely..."
Zhang Zhong abruptly stopped speaking when he heard Huo Tingshan chuckle softly. The next moment, the man atop the large black horse remarked, "Dark skin, a face full of moles—yet you still called her 'delicate and pretty.'"
Zhang Zhong flushed with embarrassment, assuming Huo Tingshan was mocking his peculiar taste.
Just then, another group approached in the distance, led by Chen Yuan, who had previously reported to Huo Tingshan before being dispatched to search for someone.
Chen Yuan urged his horse forward, dismounting swiftly before Huo Tingshan. "General, witnesses saw three women leaving the alley behind the silk shop, heading toward South Street."
Chen Yuan had rushed to deliver the news as soon as he heard it. The exact location on South Street would require further investigation, but the mention of "South Street" was crucial—it narrowed the search, as Pei Ying’s companions likely hailed from there.
Zhang Zhong looked stunned and was about to gauge the general’s expression when the crack of a whip split the air. The mighty black horse surged forward.
As soon as Huo Tingshan moved, Xiong Mao, Chen Yuan, and the others mounted their steeds and followed in his wake.
A guard beside Zhang Zhong whispered, "Did I see wrong just now? I could’ve sworn the general smiled. Was sealing the city not about catching spies after all?"
Zhang Zhong couldn’t decipher it either, but he had a faint suspicion—the person the general sought might be that mole-covered woman.
A donkey cart was no match for fine steeds, let alone Li the Peddler’s two scrawny donkeys pulling a rickety wagon. Before long, Huo Tingshan spotted the vehicle ahead.
The cart was shabby, its rear canopy riddled with gaping holes.
Huo Tingshan recalled Zhang Zhong’s earlier words.
The last to leave the city was a peddler named Li, residing on South Street. He claimed to be traveling south for goods, accompanied by three women—neighbors who had lost their menfolk to bandits. Out of kindness, he offered them a ride to the south.
Huo Tingshan smirked.
Visiting distant relatives? More like fleeing.
Hearing the thunder of hooves behind him, Li the Peddler panicked, steering his cart to the side of the road to make way.
Only the Youzhou army could muster such a cavalry, and coming from Beichuan County, no less. Commoners like him knew better than to obstruct their path.
But the riders didn’t pass him by. Instead, towering warhorses encircled his cart, their riders formidable and battle-hardened. Li had no doubt any one of them could snap his neck with a single hand. Trembling, he scrambled down from the cart. "M-might I ask what your lordships require?"
Huo Tingshan’s gaze swept over the cart—its rear enclosed, the front open. Yet now, only two men, dressed similarly to Li, sat inside.
From his lofty perch, Huo Tingshan demanded, "Where are the three women who were in your cart earlier?"
"They—they got off along the way. M-my lord, surely you don’t think—" Li stammered, his first thought being that Pei Ying and the others were spies.
"Enough blathering! Answer the general’s question!" Xiong Mao’s scarred face twisted into a fearsome scowl.
Li shrank like a quail, too terrified to speak out of turn.
Huo Tingshan pressed, "When did they leave the cart?"
Li answered cautiously, "About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea ago."
Eager to redeem himself, Chen Yuan interjected, "General, allow me to retrieve Lady Pei and the others."
Li was the last to leave the city, and with no other carts behind them, Lady Pei had no means of transport. A short walk in that time wouldn’t take them far—they had to be nearby.
"No need. Let my wife return on her own," Huo Tingshan declared.
The men gaped in disbelief.
Return on her own?
If she’d been willing, why would she have fled in the first place?
Yet the next moment, Huo Tingshan raised his voice, booming, "If my wife returns within two quarters of an hour, I’ll spare Li the Peddler and his family!"
Li crumpled to his knees, begging for mercy. The two men in the cart tumbled out, equally petrified, pleading ignorance and innocence.
Huo Tingshan remained unmoved.
His voice, loud enough to startle birds from the trees, carried far into the distance. He repeated the ultimatum twice before settling in to wait.
Chen Yuan had guessed right—Pei Ying wasn’t far.
When the order to seal the city had come, Pei Ying had soothed her daughter, but unease gnawed at her. She’d excused herself, claiming to have forgotten her late husband’s keepsakes, and promised partial payment for the ride despite not continuing south. Li had been disappointed but didn’t press the matter.
Pei Ying, her daughter Meng Ling'er, and Shui Su had set off on foot, planning to circle around to Beichuan’s north gate and slip back into the city with merchants from Youzhou—hiding in plain sight.
But she hadn’t anticipated Huo Tingshan tracking Li the Peddler so swiftly, nor his ruthless ultimatum.
Standing amidst the trees, Pei Ying stared in the direction of Huo Tingshan’s voice.
"Mother, should we go back?" Meng Ling'er whispered.
Pei Ying lowered her gaze slowly. "We must. The chance is lost—we’ll try another day."
This wasn’t a choice. Once Huo Tingshan knew their location, escape was impossible. And Li had only struck a small deal with her—why should he and his family pay with their lives?
Picking her way through the tangled undergrowth, Pei Ying trudged forward. The forest floor was uneven, choked with vines, but they hadn’t ventured deep. Two quarters of an hour was enough to reach the road.
Emerging onto the main path, Pei Ying lifted her eyes. A dozen horsemen waited ahead.
They stood at one end, the riders at the other, separated by the long stretch of road. Yet Pei Ying’s gaze locked onto Huo Tingshan instantly—his presence towering like mountains and seas, effortlessly eclipsing the warriors around him.
She saw the moment he spotted her. Without hesitation, he cracked his whip and charged toward her.
Pei Ying braced herself, scrambling for an excuse—but Huo Tingshan didn’t slow his steed. Panicked, she turned to retreat into the woods when something coiled around her waist, yanking her violently. The world spun, and suddenly, she was atop the horse, pressed against the man’s unyielding chest.
