Her vision grew blurry. Meng Ling'er dared not blink, afraid the hot tears welling in her eyes would fall.
For some inexplicable reason, she did not want to show weakness in front of this man.
After all she had experienced these past few days, she wanted to tell him that, though she was still young, she was no longer as naive and ignorant as before.
Chen Yuan stepped forward. He took hold of the girl's hand, which was tightly bound with a thin strip of cloth securing the short knife, and slowly began to untie the knot.
No one spoke. The atmosphere was like a soft quilt warmed by the sun, or a room where some faintly sweet pastry had just been baked.
The man's eyes were lowered, his emotions within them unclear, but a rare furrow appeared between his brows, betraying that his heart was not as calm as his surface.
His movements were exceedingly gentle, as if afraid of hurting the person before him. As the strip of cloth was unwound coil by coil, the girl's hand was gradually revealed.
These hands, once pampered and fair, now bore small cuts from grass and leaves on their backs and fingers. It seemed she had also clawed desperately at the earth, leaving her fingernails filthy with grime.
Meng Ling'er trembled slightly, instinctively wanting to pull her hand back and hide it from his sight.
Chen Yuan did not let go. He gently removed the tattered strip of her skirt from her hand, then took the short knife, its bloodstains still un-wiped. "You have suffered these past days, miss."
"It was... manageable," Meng Ling'er said, averting her gaze. "Lord Chen, there are people chasing me..."
Chen Yuan bent down, placing the short knife back into the sheath at her boot. He then gave her all the dried meat he had on him. "Leave the rest to me. You should go and wait in the back for now."
Pang Xuan urged his horse to the edge of the woods and quickly dismounted with his men to begin searching. A certain intuition told him the young girl from moments ago was very likely the one Grand Marshal Ji wanted.
That fool Chang Mingyuan was truly useless, to let a young lady escape like that.
After advancing a stretch into the woods, Pang Xuan suddenly felt something was amiss.
Why couldn't he hear the sound of leaves being pushed aside anymore? Had the girl stopped running and hidden herself?
But what good would hiding do? It was broad daylight; a simple search would make her impossible to conceal.
Yet in the next instant, a rushing sound came from above, like cloth whipped by the wind, followed immediately by a scream from within his ranks.
Pang Xuan whirled around in shock to see a group of men, appearing from nowhere, attacking his party. One man, wielding a blade, was charging straight at him. A leaf drifted down at that moment, only to be instantly torn at its edge by the fierce wind from the man's saber.
Pang Xuan hastily drew his own blade to block. He hadn't expected the force behind this strike to be so immense—whether from innate strength or surging fury, it nearly jarred the sword from his grip, making his wrist go numb.
Terror gripped Pang Xuan's heart, and he dared not let his guard down any further.
After that heavy slash, the man somehow produced another blade from somewhere. Now wielding a long and a short sword, he whirled the dual blades in his left and right hands with blinding speed, an onslaught hard to keep up with.
Cuts from the opponent's blades appeared on Pang Xuan's arms and cheeks, blood flowing freely. Knowing he was outmatched, Pang Xuan thought to flee, but a glance around showed his subordinates being cut down one after another.
"You are from the Youzhou Army!" This was no longer a question.
Chen Yuan wasted no words on him, pressing the attack once more. Their martial skills were not on the same level, and soon Pang Xuan was run through the chest by a blade.
The Youzhou soldiers who had come with Chen Yuan to search were all Black Armored Cavalry, each highly skilled. The numbers on both sides were not vastly different, with the Youzhou side holding a slight advantage. They quickly finished off Pang Xuan's men.
Meng Ling'er watched from not far away, munching on dried meat as she did. She saw men pierced through the chest, men with their throats slit, men beheaded.
Blood sprayed, severed heads rolled with a sickening thud, staining the grass and mud beneath a glaring, vivid red.
In the past, such a scene would have likely left her face pale with horror, and she would have quickly turned away, let alone consider eating.
But now, the young girl not only found it satisfying, but her appetite also surged.
They should all be killed, every last one of them!
Chen Yuan sheathed his blade and walked back. He saw her cheeks stuffed full, the dried meat in her hand completely gone. Her little face, smudged with mud, was slightly flushed, probably from choking. He took out his waterskin. "Miss, if you don't mind..."
Before he could finish, the waterskin was taken from him.
The girl drank half the waterskin's contents in one go before she felt she had truly come back to life.
Now sated and with the pursuers dealt with, a terrifying wave of exhaustion washed over her. Meng Ling'er's feet ached, her hands and legs felt as if weighted down with heavy sandbags. She staggered slightly as she tried to rise from the ground.
Chen Yuan swiftly reached out to steady her. "Careful."
She steadied herself with his support. Summer clothing was thin to begin with, and she had discarded some of her outer garments earlier for various reasons. Now, the sleeve of her outer robe was left with only a thin layer.
The warmth from his palm transferred over, and she stiffened slightly before murmuring a quiet thank you.
Once she was steady, Chen Yuan withdrew his hand. "Miss, we must turn back."
That earlier mounted party had served as a warning to Chen Yuan. The enemy now knew she was heading north towards Sizhou, so there would undoubtedly be more forces lying in wait in that direction.
They needed to avoid the brunt of their strength.
Meng Ling'er didn't mind. "Whatever you decide, Lord Chen."
...
They retraced their path, and during the journey, Meng Ling'er returned to the site of the previous night's incident.
Corpses lay haphazardly in the forest, and on the ground was the massive, lifeless form of a creature. It was likely the male bear had fought fiercely with the assailants, resulting in mutual destruction.
Meng Ling'er counted the bodies. Including Chang Mingyuan, whom she had killed, there were five corpses in total.
"Seems like there are fewer," the young girl murmured to herself. Far more than just these few had come to capture her initially.
Chen Yuan recalled what the boatman had said that night about seven or eight men borrowing the boat. "It seems a few escaped."
"Old Niu!" exclaimed the hunter traveling with them. He hurried to one of the corpses, his face etched with grief.
Meng Ling'er's heart skipped a beat.
So that one was a hunter. That meant only four of her pursuers had actually died here... the rest had gotten away.
Where had they escaped to? Were they eaten by beasts elsewhere, or were they hiding in the shadows?
She wasn't sure.
But from the corner of her eye, she glimpsed the figure beside her, and her anxious heart gradually settled.
It didn't matter. She wasn't alone anymore.
The sky gradually darkened, heralding the approach of their fifth night, yet they still hadn't left this forest.
After seeing the male bear's corpse, the hunter thought for a moment and suggested, "Sir, night is coming. Perhaps we should find a cave to rest in. This area is the black bear's territory, and since it died less than a day ago, no other beasts will have moved in yet. But if we keep going forward, beyond this area, it's uncertain."
Chen Yuan glanced at the person beside him.
Concerned about the young girl's waning stamina, their journey had been slow with frequent stops. Even so, likely due to her previous extreme exhaustion, her small face remained deathly pale.
Chen Yuan adopted the hunter's suggestion.
Splitting up to search, they indeed found a large cave, likely the den of that male bear. Inside were clumps of dark fur and the bones of other animals.
The guards cleaned out the cave. The hunter gathered some wormwood and mint to repel insects, crushed them, and scattered them inside.
Just then, a guard who had gone hunting returned with a cleaned roe deer, while another produced a fire starter. With a gentle blow, a flame sprang to life, much to the hunter's amazement and admiration.
The food was soon roasted. Though lightly seasoned, it smelled quite good. Chen Yuan turned to call Meng Ling'er for the evening meal, only to see the young girl inside the cave, asleep against the earthen wall.
A sliver of light from the fire outside slipped in, revealing deep shadows beneath her thick lashes. Chen Yuan wrapped a deer leg in freshly picked leaves and entered the cave.
"Miss," he said, crouching beside her.
She was in a deep sleep and didn't respond.
Chen Yuan called again, softly. Still no response.
The man hesitated, then finally reached out and gently touched her shoulder. Unexpectedly, with that touch, she slumped sideways.
Chen Yuan swiftly caught her shoulder to support her, but her head hanging in mid-air made her frown in discomfort. He paused briefly, then finally sat down in the spot beside her.
Thus finding support, the furrow in her brow smoothed away.
The Acting Regional Inspector's Residence.
It was the sixth day, and there was still no news of her daughter. Pei Ying was sick with worry, eating less and less, her frame noticeably thinner because of it.
Huo Tingshan lightly tapped his jade chopsticks against the ceramic bowl, producing a crisp ting to draw the beautiful lady's attention. "My lady, please eat."
Pei Ying hummed in acknowledgment and continued staring down, counting the grains of rice in her bowl.
Huo Tingshan took another bowl and filled it with meat and vegetables for her. "Finish this bowl."
"I can't finish that," Pei Ying said softly. This bowl of meat and veggies was as big as her current rice bowl.
Huo Tingshan said, "You can. This was your usual portion before."
Pei Ying pressed her red lips together and remained silent.
The man said calmly, "A message arrived a moment ago."
Pei Ying's almond eyes instantly widened. "What did it say?"
The man didn't speak, merely pointing at the small bowl with his chopsticks. Pei Ying looked down, then picked up her own chopsticks and began to eat slowly.
These past few days, the kitchen had exhausted their ingenuity trying to get their mistress to eat a few more bites. Just stir-fried meat was prepared in several different ways—sliced meat with pepper or ginger and pepper powder, the meat marinated in sauce before cooking to make it more tender and flavorful.
Not to mention, after hearing that the mistress was fond of various soups, there was stewed soup every day. Made by simmering lamb bones or pork marrow bones with red dates and cordyceps flowers, it was rich and fragrant with a hint of sweet freshness.
Pei Ying took a couple of sips of the soup and looked up at Huo Tingshan. "Can we talk while we eat?"
The man said leisurely, "The sages have said, one should not speak during meals."
Pei Ying: "...Why don't you say 'no talking after bedtime' at night then?"
He had a logical reason. "Now is during a daytime meal. We'll talk about other things in the evening."
Seeing no shortcut, Pei Ying could only bury her head in her meal.
A little over half an hour later, Pei Ying had finished everything in her small bowl. She put down her jade chopsticks and looked at the man across from her, silently urging him on.
Huo Tingshan: "This morning, scouts reported that several counties to the west have successively entered a state of heightened alert. It's likely that suspicious troops have been spotted within or around those counties."
Pei Ying stared at him blankly.
Huo Tingshan saw disbelief in her clear almond-shaped eyes, as if questioning: That's it? What does this have to do with Nannan?
He couldn't help but smile. "Madam, the neighboring counties are currently under Jingzhou's control. If it were Jingzhou's own troops arriving, they wouldn't enforce such strict alerts. I also haven't sent anyone to attack them, so the suspicious troops cannot be from Youzhou either."
Pei Ying furrowed her delicate brows. "But you sent people to look for Nannan. Could the troops they deem suspicious be your men?"
The Youzhou army indeed hadn't attacked any cities, but they had dispatched considerable forces to search for the person. As far as she knew, Lord Chen had led a team out and had not yet returned.
Huo Tingshan smiled. "Although the nearby counties still belong to Jingzhou, that doesn't mean Yongzhou doesn't suspect my Youzhou scouts might be among them. So, for safety's sake, before truly venturing far, they would mostly skirt around the outskirts of towns and villages."
Pei Ying's brow twitched slightly. "Not Jingzhou, nor Youzhou. That leaves Yongzhou and Yizhou. It should be the Yongzhou forces from the imperial court's side."
The Shenyuan Path was some distance from Huaigu Pass to the west. The Yizhou army had already been ordered to Huaigu Pass and had no reason to be loitering around here.
"Madam is clever," Huo Tingshan said with a smile.
Pei Ying fired off three anxious questions in a row: "What are they doing there? Are they providing support? Is Nannan in those neighboring counties then?"
Huo Tingshan: "Most likely not."
Just as Pei Ying's heart sank, she heard him continue, "If they had successfully abducted her and the journey was smooth, they absolutely would not create such a conspicuous stir."
Pei Ying's emotions swung wildly again. "Are you saying their abduction wasn't successful?"
Huo Tingshan didn't answer. Instead, he picked up the soup ladle and served her another bowl of hot soup.
Pei Ying was nearly driven mad by his suspense. This man always spoke in half-measures. "Huo Tingshan, the guards haven't sent back any news of finding her."
"Don't be anxious, Madam. This time, the other side has made the first suspicious move, while we have yet to receive any news. This is also a kind of good news in its own way," Huo Tingshan said. "Come, drink your soup."
The golden crow was about to set, and a heavy dusk began to envelop the sky.
Outside the village, Zheng Yu, who was herding sheep, saw a group of people emerging from the woods from afar. The vast majority were tall, sturdy men, and one petite figure stood out among them like a single red blossom in a sea of green.
Zheng Yu looked closer and recognized her.
Although he and that young lady were merely passing acquaintances, his family had later received kindness from her family. Now, he was very happy to see that she had been reunited with her kin.
"Miss Chen, congratulations on finding your family!" the young man called out happily.
In his joy, his voice was rather loud.
That false name was originally only for contact purposes. Yet now, it was being shouted with such vigor by someone else, and the person whose surname she had borrowed was right beside her.
Meng Ling'er was suddenly wrapped in a wave of immense embarrassment and shyness. She didn't need a bronze mirror to know her face was definitely flushed bright red.
Unfortunately, Zheng Yu in the distance didn't notice and, while walking over, continued, "Miss Chen..."
"Stop calling me that," the young girl interrupted him.
Zheng Yu was startled. "Why, Miss Chen?"
Meng Ling'er: "..."
At that moment, a soft, low chuckle sounded beside her.
