Outside the city of Suining Prefecture.
Inside the carriage, Yao Ying pressed his back tightly against the compartment walls, his face full of conflict.
He pleaded bitterly, "When the County Princess left the government office, she specifically instructed you to stay in the estate and not come out. Can we please go back?"
Song Anhao gave a cold snort in a childish, milky voice. He crossed his arms and lifted his chin high.
"I have been bored to death for a whole month."
As he spoke, he rested his right hand on the head of the white tiger and raised his bow and arrows with his left.
"Even Xuetuan is getting stifled. With so many people protecting me, nothing will happen. Today, I am definitely going to do something big."
Looking at the bow and arrows in the boy's hands, Yao Ying twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile uglier than crying.
He had been trying to persuade him the whole way but failed to change his mind. Now they were completely doomed.
He lifted the carriage curtain and shook his head at the men outside.
The guards sighed helplessly, "If we had known, we shouldn't have come out."
They originally thought they would just play in the inner city, but at the gates, the boy clamored to go to the outer city, claiming he wanted to experience the commoners' living conditions and investigate business opportunities.
In the end, once they reached the outer city, he wanted to go outside the city walls entirely. When they disagreed, he threatened to take the white tiger and leave on his own, truly leaving Yao Ying and the others at their wits' end.
After arriving at the foot of the mountain, Song Anhao spiritedly picked up his bow and arrows and rushed off the carriage, leaving the others with no choice but to follow.
If anything happened to this little ancestor, the County Princess would definitely skin them alive when she returned.
Having been cooped up for a month, Xuetuan started running as soon as it got off the carriage, darting into the woods and quickly disappearing from sight.
Song Anhao chased and shouted, running until he was out of breath. In the end, it was Xuetuan who turned around to come back for him.
With his hands on his hips, he grabbed the tiger's ears. "Don't run around blindly. If you meet a real tiger, you won't be able to beat it."
The tiger tilted its head, its pale blue eyes so adorable that it was impossible to stay mad.
Song Anhao compromised and gave it a kiss, then straightened his back and walked forward, "Let's go, I will take you hunting."
Yao Ying and the group of guards following beside him felt utterly exhausted, their footsteps growing a bit heavier.
Fifteen minutes later, the sound of horse hooves echoed on the official road.
As the distance closed, a man's face that had once appeared on Song Jinzhao's drawing paper came into view.
After a whole day of jolting, Poison Scorpion was already starving. Keeping his back in the same position for so long had long since made it as stiff as an iron plate.
The next second, the horse collapsed to the ground with a loud thud. With a crack, Poison Scorpion was thrown into the bushes, his facial features contorting as he cried out in pain.
The pain in his lower back pierced his bones, and it took him quite a while to recover.
As the pain gradually subsided, Poison Scorpion struggled to get up and check on the horse.
The black horse lying on the ground was foaming at the mouth, its pupils rapidly dilating. It was clearly about to die.
Poison Scorpion kicked it in the ribs. "Useless thing, I should have slaughtered you long ago."
After getting the banknotes, Poison Scorpion did not dare to stay in Yanshan County any longer. Worried about being discovered by Song Jinzhao, he traveled overnight to escape.
Before setting out, he figured that since the government troops of Suining Prefecture were all suppressing bandits in Yanshan County and Qingxia County, Suining City must be poorly defended.
Coupled with the fact that both Song Jinzhao and Song Qiming were absent, he decided to head north, fleeing along the route of Suining City, Yunzhu County, and Songzhou City, until he left the Southwestern Province.
All three places had branches of the Jufeng Bank. After reaching Suining City to exchange money for equipment, his speed would be even faster.
But plans could not keep up with changes. The black horse he brought from the mountain stronghold was of poor quality and collapsed before even reaching Suining City, leaving him with an injured back.
Poison Scorpion took out a map to compare it with the surrounding mountains and forests.
After a long while, he muttered softly, "Fortunately, it is not far from Suining City. I should be able to get there before dark."
He put away the map and, using his sword sheath as a walking stick, slowly walked forward along the official road.
