"The old man at the ferry said a group of people asked to borrow his boat yesterday at the hour of Hai (9-11 PM). He was reluctant, but they drew their blades, and the old man had no choice but to comply," reported the guard.
Chen Yuan spurred his horse towards the ferry while asking, "Was there a young woman among the party?"
The guard replied, "There was not."
Those two words alone made Chen Yuan's hand, holding the reins, pause. He pondered the words carefully, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.
They soon reached the ferry. Chen Yuan dismounted. The old boatman from before was being guarded by another soldier. Seeing another group arrive, all tall and robust with blades at their waists, the old man trembled like a little quail.
"Sirs, this old man has committed no crime. I beg you, be merciful and spare an old man's life."
Chen Yuan got straight to the point. "Last night at the hour of Hai, how many people came to borrow your boat? Are you certain there was no young woman among them?"
"About seven or eight," the old man recalled. "I'm quite sure they were all men, every one of them tall, with blades at their waists."
Chen Yuan asked further, "Did this party carry any large luggage?"
The old man shook his head. "No, they traveled light."
"Where did they ask you to take them?" Chen Yuan continued.
At this, the old man grew vexed. "They only said, 'We will return the boat downstream,' and then sailed off. Later, I had to borrow Old Gao's boat to chase after them and finally retrieve my own."
"Where did they disembark?" Chen Yuan heard the quickening beat of his own heart.
The old man said, "Strangely enough, though they seemed to be together, they disembarked in separate groups, in several batches. Some went to the east side of the river, some to the west."
Chen Yuan led his men a short distance away and began assigning tasks. "Ding Ran, take a team and continue the search on land from that direction. Han Yuan, Hong Guangsheng..."
Chen Yuan named many men. "...you will come with me by boat downstream."
Their journey had been fraught with countless obstacles. They kept encountering small bands of various forces, much like scouts from other provinces, or perhaps troops sent from the Jingzhou faction.
Between engaging enemies and continuously dispersing forces to search along the way, a day had passed. From the original five hundred men, fewer than fifty now remained by his side.
And even these remaining men had to be split up further.
They had no choice. They did not know the exact route the target had taken; they could only scatter manpower along the way, searching for any trace.
Now, they had finally found a clue.
But Chen Yuan couldn't be sure if this was a deliberate misdirection by the other side. He dared not send everyone downstream.
The golden crow in the sky slowly sank westward. Meng Ling'er looked at the sky through the forest leaves, thinking to herself that another day was about to end.
It had been three days since she left home.
"Awooo." A wolf's howl rose from the woods.
Remembering the young man's warning that the forest held not only wolves but also black bears, a chill crept up Meng Ling'er's spine.
She had seen a black bear before, during last winter's hunt. Her father had bagged a great tiger, and her eldest brother later hunted a black bear. One paw of that bear was nearly as big as half her head; a single swipe could surely crush an adult's skull.
Whether it was the thought of the black bear or something else, Meng Ling'er suddenly caught a faint, elusive whiff of rot. She quickly scanned her surroundings, but the forest appeared unchanged, no different from moments before.
The young girl sniffed the air.
It wasn't her imagination. There really seemed to be a smell of decay.
She recalled her teacher's words: some large carnivores carry a distinct odor. If you smell it, it means the beast is not far away.
Meng Ling'er's scalp prickled. Instinctively, she tightened her grip on her newly woven vine backpack. She looked left and right again, quickly selected a tall, straight tree, and nimbly began to climb.
Having climbed trees frequently over the past two days, the girl's skill had improved rapidly. She was soon aloft.
Once in the tree, Meng Ling'er began fiddling with her pack. It was woven from vines, with two longer straps to slip over her arms. The bag wasn't large, containing some edible wild fruits she had gathered along the way.
After a full meal yesterday at dusk, today she had only eaten a wild rabbit and some berries—none very filling—and now she was hungry again.
Meng Ling'er used her dagger to peel two fruits and ate them. After finishing, she settled down to sleep.
The jungle at night was a different level of danger compared to daytime. Traveling recklessly in the dark might be even more perilous. Moreover, that faint, lingering stench of decay lay heavy on her heart like a massive stone.
A sense of foreboding grew stronger.
She felt she had likely entered the territory of some large beast, and perhaps that very beast was watching her from the shadows even now.
Elsewhere.
The sky was pitch black, but the moonlight tonight was bright. Chang Mingyuan led his men onward.
That afternoon, he had acquired two hunting dogs from a small village. To better control them, he had half-threatened, half-persuaded a villager to come along.
He had the Pei girl's scent pouch. Using hounds to track her would save them much wasted effort. It was no exaggeration to say that the path they were now following was exactly the one that girl had taken.
"Commandant Chang, ahead is dense forest. It's already dark; entering now might be unsafe," Zhuang Xiang said, eyeing the dark mass ahead with concern.
The owner of the hunting dogs also chimed in, "Sir, that forest has wolves, tigers, and black bears. Traveling at night is very dangerous. Could we wait until daylight tomorrow?"
Others voiced their agreement.
But Chang Mingyuan insisted, "After tracking for two days, haven't you realized? She's been heading north the whole time, trying to return to Sizhou. You think it's dangerous at night, but do you suppose she doesn't? That girl must have found a place to hide. We're already only half a day behind her at most. Given that we travel faster during the day, she might be just a mile or so ahead right now. While she's stopped to rest is the perfect time to capture her."
As the Commandant, he was the leader of this group. The men could offer suggestions, but the final decision was his.
Since Chang Mingyuan was determined to enter the forest, the others could only follow. They lit torches, held the dogs on leashes, and entered in a single file.
Meng Ling'er slept high in a tree. Deep in the night, she thought she heard barking. The girl jolted awake from her dream, initially wondering if the sound was from her dream and not reality.
"Woof! Woof!"
Two more barks came from the distance.
She froze completely. Though it was a temperate summer night, she felt as if she had plunged into deep winter. Not only was there barking, but she also saw torchlight in the distance.
"H-how can this be?" Meng Ling'er murmured in terror. She had considered the possibility of being pursued, but never imagined they would be this fast.
They had dogs. They had her scent pouch. They would definitely find her.
What should she do...
A massive wave of fear crashed over her, making her curl into a trembling ball, shaking uncontrollably. "Escape, they haven't found me yet, just escape..."
After muttering to herself for a moment, Meng Ling'er seemed to gather some strength. Just as she was about to climb down from the tree, her sharp ears caught another sound.
Something was moving through the undergrowth; a branch snapped. This was no small creature like a rabbit or pheasant.
Meng Ling'er froze, then widened her eyes to peer down. But she had specifically chosen a tree with dense foliage for cover, and now that very canopy blocked the moonlight, making the scene below indistinct.
She stared for a long while, barely making out a fleeting flash of white that might have been an illusion.
Nothing else.
Meng Ling'er took two deep, forceful sniffs.
That putrid smell again, much stronger now, confirming her earlier suspicion.
There really was a beast down there.
Perhaps it was lying in wait, biding its time beneath her tree.
Tigers can climb trees, but whatever was below wasn't a tiger. If not a tiger, could it be a wolf? Or a black bear...
Meng Ling'er wasn't sure.
But she knew one thing: with a beast below, if she went down now, she might be devoured long before those men ever found her.
The young girl sat on the tree branch and turned to look at the distant firelight, a glint of something calculating in her eyes.
...
Chang Mingyuan had been following the hound deep into the woods, but at one point, the dog, which had been barking intermittently, began to whimper and tucked its tail between its hind legs.
The hunter's face changed. "Sir, we can't go further. There might be a fierce beast ahead."
Chang Mingyuan also saw the hound's strange behavior and felt a twinge of hesitation.
Earlier, to search for the girl's trail, his team had split up considerably. Although he had immediately notified his colleagues stationed along the route after she escaped, they hadn't arrived yet. Now, his group numbered less than ten.
If they encountered a beast attack in these woods, whether they could escape unscathed was a real concern...
As his resolve wavered, Chang Mingyuan suddenly saw a light flare up in a high place not far away, likely in a tree.
His pupils contracted slightly.
The others also exclaimed in shock, "She's there!"
"What's the meaning of this? A provocation?"
It was indeed a provocation, for the next moment, a shout came from the direction of the firelight, "I advise you cowards to stop following me and scatter now! Otherwise, when I return home, I'll have my father chop you into eighteen pieces and feed you to the wild dogs."
Chang Mingyuan's eyes nearly bulged with rage. "How audacious. Let's go, capture that little wench. I'd like to see how she runs her mouth then."
"Chief Chang, this could be a deliberate trap," Zhuang Xiang cautioned hesitantly.
Chang Mingyuan sneered, "If you're afraid of this and that, how will you ever get promoted?"
The last four words struck a chord with the others. They exchanged glances, their resolve hardening. They had numbers, all carried blades, why fear a mere beast?
"Follow me," Chang Mingyuan ordered.
Not far away, Meng Ling'er watched the approaching firelight. When they were halfway, she quickly extinguished the small torch made from a branch in her hand.
She slowly clenched her fists, praying incessantly that the big creature under her tree would leave.
Yes, she had seen it now.
Beneath her tree was a black bear, massive in size, not only fully grown but likely a male.
Terrified as she was, Meng Ling'er couldn't help but feel a surge of relief. Thank goodness she hadn't climbed down earlier, or she would have become this male bear's dinner.
The sound of snapping branches came from below. The colossal creature began moving slowly towards Chang Mingyuan's group. Meng Ling'er let out a heavy sigh of relief.
She gazed into the distance at the firelight. Moments later, sudden shouts erupted from that direction, followed by the swift sound of blades being drawn.
Dog barks, beastly roars, and human screams—chaos erupted.
Though not on the battlefield herself, she felt as if she were right there. Meng Ling'er rubbed her ice-cold hands vigorously, then began shakily climbing down the tree.
While they were fighting, she had to slip away. Once a victor emerged over there, she'd be the one in trouble.
She started running the moment her feet touched the ground, but she hadn't gone far when an immense sense of crisis suddenly descended, dark and oppressive like a storm cloud.
Meng Ling'er couldn't help but glance back. That one look locked her eyes with Chang Mingyuan's in the distance.
He had broken away and was chasing her.
"Stop running. Do you really think you can escape?" Chang Mingyuan snarled.
Meng Ling'er didn't reply, turning her head forward to keep running.
Chang Mingyuan was tall and a trained soldier. The distance between them quickly closed. Deeming it close enough, this Yongzhou chief lunged forward like a starving tiger pouncing on its prey, pinning the young girl to the ground.
"Weren't you so arrogant just now? And yet here you are, obediently in my hands," Chang Mingyuan laughed.
He had initially pinned her with both hands, but as he released one to fumble for rope, he didn't expect the girl beneath him to suddenly erupt with strength far beyond that of an ordinary maiden.
Chang Mingyuan failed to control her with one hand.
Seizing this moment of his slackened grip, Meng Ling'er swiftly grabbed a handful of dirt and sand and flung it backwards, right into Chang Mingyuan's face.
As he cursed, blinded, the young girl quickly grabbed a thick vine in front of her and pulled hard, using the strength of her arms to slide forward a short distance, slipping out from under him.
Meng Ling'er scrambled to her feet.
By the time she completed this maneuver, Chang Mingyuan had wiped his face clean. "These petty tricks only serve to anger me, nothing more."
The canopy above this spot was sparser, allowing moonlight to filter through. Meng Ling'er looked at the tall man half-veiled in the silvery light and tried desperately to steady her nerves.
Echoes of words once spoken to her seemed to ring in her ears: "Most men in this world look down on women. If your opponent is a tall, strong grown man, you can initially use fear to make him underestimate you."
Meng Ling'er paused, letting fear flood her features. "My father is Huo Youzhou. If you dare capture me, he will never let you go."
Chang Mingyuan laughed uproariously at this. "Huo Youzhou? You can only say his name. You'll probably never see him again in this lifetime."
With that, Chang Mingyuan moved to seize her again.
Meng Ling'er hastily dodged to the side.
That deep, low voice seemed to whisper beside her ear again, "If you must take a life, it's best to strike lethally when they least expect it. If necessary, reveal your weapon later."
Chang Mingyuan hadn't expected the girl to be so nimble. After several failed attempts to grab her, his anger flared further, and he finally drew his blade.
The Grand Marshal only said to bring her back alive. In these extraordinary circumstances, taking some extraordinary measures was understandable, right? He'd leave her with a breath of life in the end, anyway.
Seeing him draw his blade, Meng Ling'er felt her eyelid twitch.
When her opponent attacked again, she dodged to his left side, where he held no weapon. She first blocked his bare-handed strike with her arm, then used a protruding branch from a nearby tree to kick off and leap upward, instantly shifting from his side to his back.
Sensing a chilling gust of wind behind him, Chang Mingyuan immediately flipped his blade and delivered a vicious backhand slash. However, because of his tall stature, the blade only swept over Meng Ling'er's head as she abruptly crouched to dodge.
As Meng Ling'er crouched, her gaze landed on Chang Mingyuan's lower body.
"A man's groin is extremely vulnerable; you can gather your strength and strike it. There is no right or wrong when it comes to saving your life. In such moments, there is no need to be bound by etiquette, much less be shy." That steady voice seemed to echo in her mind once more.
Having missed his strike, Chang Mingyuan was about to turn around. But just then, a terrifying, agonizing pain shot up from his lower body. The pain caused his expression to change drastically; his straight back instantly hunched over, and his face scrunched up in agony.
Chang Mingyuan vaguely heard the sound of a blade being unsheathed. His heart skipped a beat, and he wanted to dodge immediately. However, due to the intense pain, his body could not keep up with his thoughts.
Slash.
A bloodstained dagger pierced through the front of his neck.
Chang Mingyuan's eyes widened sharply.
Panting heavily, Meng Ling'er cleanly pulled out the blade, then viciously stabbed him again right in the center of his back.
Unable to stand any longer, Chang Mingyuan fell straight forward to his knees. "Kill... kill me, but there are others. You will not escape either..."
Meng Ling'er kicked him hard into the dirt.
Having killed a man, the young girl continued to run forward. This time, no one chased her. Perhaps because this entire area was the territory of that male bear, she did not encounter any other large beasts for the rest of the way.
She traveled in the dark for two hours until she heard the howling of wolves again, prompting her to climb back up a tree.
The moment she relaxed, her entire body went limp. The young girl wiped her hands. A faint, indescribable scalding sensation lingered on the back of her hand, as if the man's blood had not been entirely wiped away.
Outside the village.
Chen Yuan flicked his sword, and drops of blood rolled down the blade.
Several bodies lay haphazardly in front of him. Although the corpses were dressed in casual clothes, looking no different from commoners, the blades at their waists were identical to those of the men who had cornered Meng Ling'er.
"Lord Chen, we are on the right path," Han Yuan, a soldier from Youzhou, said excitedly.
This was the first group of men they had encountered since straying from the official road who were hurrying along their journey, rather than actively trying to intercept them.
This meant they had chosen the right direction!
A rooster's crow rang out loud and clear, and the sky began to turn the pale color of a fish's belly. In the distance, smoke from cooking fires faintly rose. "There is a village ahead."
Chen Yuan said, "Let us go take a look."
Today was the fourth day since the young girl went missing. After searching aimlessly for four days, they finally had some concrete leads.
The village was awakened by the rooster's crow. The Zheng siblings had woken up early and were about to go out to herd their sheep. However, just as they drove the sheep out of the pen, people arrived from outside the village.
Strangers again.
There were not many of them, only about a dozen.
The man leading them had a cold, stern face and a long sword at his waist. Even before he fully approached, an overwhelming aura of deadly intent washed over them.
Zheng Yu's scalp instantly went numb.
Why did another batch arrive right after the previous one left?
"Old man, has a young lady visited your village recently?" Chen Yuan asked an elderly villager.
The old man was still traumatized by yesterday's violent search that seemed intent on turning the village upside down. For a moment, he could not speak.
Seeing this, Chen Yuan dug out a handful of copper coins from his pocket and pressed them into the old man's hand. "Do not panic. We are not bad people; we just want to ask for some information."
Not far away, Zheng Yu pursed his lips and walked over. "Are you Chen Xuehuo's family?"
Chen Yuan paused. "What?"
"Chen Xuehuo, that young lady. Are you her family?" Remembering how she had written the characters stroke by stroke on the ground with a branch, Zheng Yu casually picked up a branch as well and slowly wrote out those three characters. "I have never been to school, but she seemed to write it like this at the time."
The boy had a good memory; he wrote out all three characters perfectly.
Chen Yuan looked at the words on the ground, his pupils slightly contracting.
Xue and Huo, the top and bottom halves, when combined formed the character Ling.
The man's Adam's apple bobbed. "She said her surname is Chen?"
Zheng Yu nodded and said yes. "You are her family, right? If so, you need to hurry and find her. A group of men came to the village yesterday looking for her too. They even went out of their way to borrow Uncle Niu's two hunting dogs for it."
Chen Yuan's expression changed slightly. "What time did this happen yesterday?"
Zheng Yu said, "Early afternoon, around the start of the Hour of the Ram."
"Lord Chen, let us hurry and find the young lady," the other soldiers urged.
Chen Yuan did not reply to them. Instead, he took out a piece of silver and tossed it to Zheng Yu. "Boy, I need you to do me a favor..."
About fifteen minutes later, a villager leading two hunting dogs joined Chen Yuan and his party.
Zheng Yu watched their rapidly receding backs until they disappeared from sight before lowering his head. In his hand lay a heavy silver ingot.
For a poor village like theirs, one tael of silver was enough to cover the living expenses of a family of four for over two years. With this silver ingot in hand, his family could live comfortably for many years...
Meng Ling'er stumbled unevenly through the forest. She did not know how much time had passed, but just as her stomach was rumbling with hunger, she finally emerged from the woods.
The red sun was now hanging high in the sky. The official road was bustling with carriages and horses. Meng Ling'er took a quick glance and saw many carriages transporting goods; they were likely traveling merchants.
Suddenly, a gaze pierced through the distance and landed directly on her.
Meng Ling'er instinctively turned her head and saw a group of men on horseback. They were dressed as armed escorts, with swords strapped to their waists. There were about a dozen of them, all riding horses, and surprisingly, they had no carriages or cargo following behind them.
Upon seeing this group, her temples began to throb uncontrollably.
The feeling they gave her was all too familiar...
Just as she thought this, the man in the lead pulled out a small scroll portrait from who-knows-where and unfurled it with a sharp snap.
He looked at the portrait, then looked at the young girl standing not far away.
The ominous premonition in Meng Ling'er's heart reached its peak. She wondered if she could truly be this unlucky, but her feet honestly retreated back into the forest.
When she was just standing there, the man in the distance was merely observing her. However, the moment she stepped back, the leader immediately ordered, "Capture her."
This young girl was suspicious. It was better to capture the wrong person than to let her slip away. Whether it was her or not, they would find out once they wiped her face clean.
Meng Ling'er immediately turned and bolted back the way she came, an unspeakable despair washing over her.
Since yesterday, the only meat she had eaten was a single rabbit, and that energy had long been exhausted. Now, with an empty, starving stomach and running so frantically, she felt a faint urge to heave sour bile in her throat.
She was simply too tired.
That group of men was full of energy and had the advantage of numbers. Moreover, the distance between them was not very large; they would definitely catch her.
Heaven had truly forsaken her.
It seemed she was destined to become a burden to her father and mother...
Her pessimistic thoughts intensified, and her footsteps grew heavier and heavier. Meng Ling'er felt as though she could not run another step. But right at that moment, she heard the barking of dogs up ahead.
The men who pursued her last night had also been accompanied by hounds. Hearing the barking now, she knew they must have tracked her down.
There was no way forward, and no way back.
Meng Ling'er slowly came to a halt. Trembling, she drew a dagger from her boot and sliced a strip of cloth from her skirt. She then bound the hilt tightly to her right hand, ensuring the blade would not fly out of her grasp in the impending fight.
She would take down at least one or two of them with her.
Pulling the cloth strip tight with her teeth, Meng Ling'er gripped her dagger and prepared to charge. Just then, the tall grass ahead parted, and a familiar, tall figure appeared before her eyes.
"I am sorry, I am late."
The young girl froze, her vision gradually blurring as she gazed at his silhouette.
