Liu Yinyin quietly stayed where she was as she waited for Su Xi-er to arrive, only whispering when she saw the latter close in. “Fairy Elder Sister, where do we go from here?”
“We’ll go through the forest. There’s usually another route on the other side of these groves, and we can look for a village afterwards.” Su Xi-er patted Liu Yinyin on the shoulder and took her hand as they left.
Among those captured by Yun Ruofeng, Liu Yinyin was the youngest and least able to protect themself. As such, Su Xi-er felt that it would be best to remove the girl from the crossfire as soon as she could.
The guard who was waiting for them grew suspicious after waiting for some time, and ended up taking a signal flare with him to alert the anwei in the area if needed.
The guard yelled into the forest as he entered, shouting, “You won’t get away!” When he heard a disturbance in the nearby bushes, he moved to release the signal flare.
Su Xi-er reacted quickly, appearing behind the guard and knocking him out before the flare could be released.
Su Xi-er took Liu Yinyin’s hand in hers again and said, “Let’s go.” Seeing the signal torch confirmed her suspicions that there were indeed anwei stationed around the area.
Liu Yinyin nodded and followed Su Xi-er’s lead. They had arrived at a road on the other side of the grove when they heard a disturbance from behind them.
“You go first.” Su Xi-er pushed Liu Yinyin forwards onto the road before she turned back and walked towards the source of the disturbance.
Though worried, Liu Yinyin knew that it was not wise for her to return. All their effort would be wasted if the two of them were caught. She thus ran towards another nearby grove and hid in a dark area, not making a sound.
Meanwhile, Su Xi-er was met with a group of guards covered in black clothes. The one who seemed to be the leader of the group spoke as he signalled to one of his men with a quick gaze. “We’re under Prince Yun’s orders, so please don’t make things difficult for us, Miss.”
One of the men then walked up with a thick rope and said, “Miss, raise your hands.”
What Yun Ruofeng said replayed itself in Su Xi-er’s mind: he wouldn’t be merciful if he found out that she escaped. The anwei had also appeared rather quickly despite the signal flare not being released.
“I’ll go back with you. There’s no need to tie me up,” Su Xi-er flatly said.
The leader of the group looked towards the grove on the other side and instructed his men, “Go look for the girl in the woods and capture her.”
Upon hearing that they wanted to capture Liu Yinyin, Su Xi-er held her stomach and pretended to be in pain.
Yun Ruofeng had instructed his men to take good care of Su Xi-er, and all of them knew that he cared about her a lot. They were not supposed to tie her up too tightly, and she could not be injured. Seeing that Su Xi-er seemed unwell, the leader of the group instructed the others, “Take her back to Prince Yun, quickly.”
Su Xi-er then yelled out in pain, hoping to be able to stall for time, as well as signal to Liu Yinyin to run further away. The less hostages Yun Ruofeng had, the better.
What Su Xi-er did not expect was for her stomach to really start aching after putting on that act. She continuously felt it cramp up, and sharp pains began assaulting her.
Yun Ruofeng’s men quickened their pace when they saw her face crumpled up in pain, bringing her back to Yun Ruofeng as quickly as they could.
Su Xi-er’s forehead was drenched with sweat when Yun Ruofeng saw her. He took her hand and asked, “Lan-er, what’s wrong?”
