Lu Dantao tumbled downward with a series of rolls. Fortunately, the forest was dense with thick grass, and the slope provided some cushioning. She protected her head with both hands, and after rolling several times, she finally braced against the ground to stop herself, staggering to her feet.
“There’s movement.”
From above came the harsh, grating sound of a blade scraping against stone. That overly aggressive killer who had smashed the rock with his knife earlier had clearly reached the place where she had originally been hiding.
Lu Dantao’s breathing abruptly halted. She did not dare care about the grass tangled in her hair or the mud smeared across her face. Using both hands and feet, she scrambled backward, half crawling and half rolling, shrinking into a hollow in the rock wall behind her.
“No one, right?” another voice approached from afar.
“Who knows? That brat surnamed Xue inherited the blood of the Defender Duke. He’s slippery as can be.”
The conversation above drilled clearly into Lu Dantao’s ears. In just two short sentences, the amount of information was so overwhelming it nearly blew her mind apart.
In a daze, she even began to suspect that she had not transmigrated into a male-oriented novel at all, but into Luojia Village.
Otherwise, why did she always end up overhearing things that completely overturned her understanding?
Last time, the old physician had been a mountain bandit.
This time, Yan Yun, the male lead, did not even bear the surname Yan. He was actually surnamed Xue, and had inherited the blood of the Defender Duke.
The Defender Duke… if she remembered correctly, that was a power entrenched in the capital, just like Pei Di.
But in the book, the male lead was clearly surnamed Yan. Before his fall from grace, he had been a minor second-generation heir in the northwest. The story had even emphasized that his first time going to the capital was when he led troops southward.
Lu Dantao only felt her entire mind buzzing. ‘Did I save the wrong person?’
‘Impossible! Absolutely impossible!’
But then again, the other party had been sent by Pei Di. The great villain would not falsely report his name, would he?
But if his name was Xue Yao, then why had he said his name was Yan Yun?
When she had asked him what his name was back then, she had even been cautious and deliberately made him state his name first. He had indeed said Yan Yun, that was correct.
Xue Yao, Xue… Yan Yun, Xue Yan Yun… Xue Yan Yun!
Lu Dantao’s eyes flew wide open. She remembered now, she remembered everything!
Not Xue Yao, but Xue Yao! And not Yan Yun, but Xue Yan Yun!!
That analysis post version 8.0 had introduced a new subject of analysis, an NPC who had slightly more page presence than her in the original work.
Back when this character first appeared, he had caused a huge stir on a certain site. The post pointed out that this NPC named Xue Yao had once been a prodigy famous throughout the capital, the white moonlight in the hearts of countless young maidens, a youth like a white crane, with cold jade for bones and blazing blood for a soul, dressed in fine clothes and riding a spirited horse.
However, after the entire Defender Duke Residence was massacred, he had vanished without a trace, neither seen alive nor found dead. It was not until three years later, when the Northern Barbarians sought peace talks with the Yong Dynasty, that his corpse was hung from the border city tower. They claimed it was to whip the corpse of a traitor to the Yong Dynasty day and night, as a show of sincerity to the emperor of the Yong Dynasty.
Of course, that alone would not have been enough to cause such a sensation. The real breaking point was this—
The analysis post pointed out that the male lead Yan Yun was merely a stand-in for this Young Master Xue. It was precisely because their names were similar that he had obtained that stroke of fortune.
The moment this outrageous claim came out, it immediately infuriated Yan Yun’s fans. In less than half an hour, the post had been wiped clean without a trace.
She had only managed to skim through it in a hurry back then, which was why she had not recalled it at once.
“Whoosh, bang!” A sharp explosive sound suddenly burst across the night sky above, like fireworks.
Lu Dantao stared blankly upward. The sky was still pitch black, though there were quite a lot of stars.
She could not tell whether it was truly the sound of fireworks, or the sound of her brain’s CPU overloading. She only felt as if her whole person had crashed.
‘No wonder.’
‘No wonder he cared so much about the movements of the Xue Family Army. No wonder when he heard the old physician say he would report the Xue family’s heir, he killed him on the spot. Back then, I had thought the male lead was simply acting out of a sense of justice.’
‘No wonder he asked where Pei Di was the moment he woke up, and even said I was making things up.’
‘So he’s not the male lead?’
‘Not the chosen one?’
‘Then what have all these days of rushing around been for?’
‘Does it just mean I have good stamina?’
She had run all the way from the capital to Shouzhou, eating in the wind and sleeping in the open, spending more than a month hurrying here and there. In the end, not only had she failed to save the male lead, she had instead saved an NPC?
The more Lu Dantao thought about it, the worse she felt.
This feeling was like winning the jackpot with all six numbers, quitting her job in wild joy, cursing out her boss, then rushing to the lottery shop only to be told that the ticket she held was from the previous draw.
Lu Dantao’s face was filled with anguish as the back of her head thudded lightly against the rock wall again and again.
Suddenly, something cold pressed lightly against her cheek. Irritated, Lu Dantao raised her hand and brushed it away.
“Hey, don’t bother me.”
“You little bastard, so you were hiding down here after all.”
Lu Dantao jolted back to her senses, her gaze snapping toward that fleeting flash of silver. They had not left?!
Above, the tall man in black felt the force that had pushed his blade aside and let out a sinister chuckle.
He had thought that if he failed to catch Xue Yao, he would surely face severe punishment from his master upon returning. He had not expected such an unexpected gain. Perhaps that brat was already injured and too weak to resist, otherwise he would not have merely pushed the blade away.
With a flick of his wrist, he turned the blade inward and slashed down viciously.
Lu Dantao dodged to the side. The blade sliced through the air right in front of her, cutting off a few loose strands of her hair.
Still shaken, she clamped a hand tightly over her mouth as tears of fear slipped uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes.
The man in black withdrew his blade. Seeing that no blood stained its edge, he clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.
“You’re still dawdling? Xiong Da.” Another tall and thin man in black returned. “Head south.”
Xiong Da pulled down his face covering and silently gestured downward with the tip of his blade. “Hiding below.”
The tall, thin man understood at once and nodded. The two of them moved side by side toward the edge.
Lu Dantao held her breath, carefully counting the footsteps above. Being below them, even the slightest movement sounded like thunder pounding against her nerves.
These two… why did it feel like they were about to jump down?
Her heart pounded wildly, as if gripped tightly in someone’s hand. Her eyes darted left and right, finally locking onto a large stone on the ground.
Xiong Da shot the tall, thin man a look, then leaped down. Midair, he twisted and landed, raising his blade to strike. But before the blade could fall, his forehead was smashed hard by a heavy object, and his entire body crashed to the ground.
Before he could even see who had attacked him, another heavy blow landed squarely on his face, sending him completely into darkness.
The tall, thin man stood above. He only heard the dull thud of a heavy body hitting the ground below, yet saw no movement from Xiong Da. He leaned forward to look down, but the forest was dense with thick grass, shadows overlapping, making it impossible to see clearly.
Clutching the blood-stained stone, Lu Dantao shrank back into the hollow, holding her breath as she listened to the footsteps above. Only one remained.
If she took care of this one as well, she would be safe.
The tall, thin man waited and waited, but no response came from Xiong Da. His eyelids drooped. Could it be that fool was trying to hog the credit, taking Xue Yao’s corpse back alone to report?
Xiong Da had always been greedy for merit and reckless. Now that they were partners, he still wanted to claim all the credit for himself. That was going too far!
He leaped down as well, twisting midair, landing on one knee. In the next instant, a sharp pain exploded in his forehead, and his body swayed backward. Before he could even raise his head, another heavy blow struck him, knocking him completely to the ground.
Still shaken, Lu Dantao panted as she confirmed that both men had fully collapsed unconscious. Only then did she take a few steps back. She did not dare throw the stone away at once, instead gripping it even tighter as she cautiously moved toward one of them.
These two were only unconscious. If they woke up, the one who would die would be her.
If they died, then she lived. Otherwise, she would be the one to die.
She raised the stone high, shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and smashed it down hard—
Yet her arm froze midair.
She inhaled again and brought it down—
A few seconds passed.
She could not do it.
Lu Dantao let the stone fall dejectedly. This was killing.
Having grown up under the red flag, she simply could not bring herself to do it.
But leaving them without finishing them off was also out of the question.
Her gaze swept over the two men before finally settling on the rope loops at their waists.
She crouched down and removed the rope loop. The end of the rope had a hook, which looked like it was used for climbing walls. Out of curiosity, she reached out and touched the assassin’s clothing. The fabric felt cool to the touch.
Such good quality. No wonder people said that even if one became a maid, it was best to serve in a wealthy household.
She continued searching and pulled out two pouches, one large and one small, from the man’s chest.
Opening them—
Good heavens, they actually contained silver and medicine!
Lu Dantao’s eyes lit up. She clapped her hands together. She knew exactly how to deal with these two now.
No sooner thought than done!
She quickly stripped both men bare, then dragged them to two trees far apart, binding them tightly to the trunks with the rope that had iron hooks.
After checking the ropes back and forth to make sure the knots were impossible to undo, she kicked away any sharp stones nearby that could be used to cut the ropes. Finally, she made sure the two were far enough apart that there was absolutely no way they could make contact with each other.
Only then did Lu Dantao relax. She sat back and collapsed onto the ground.
A summer night breeze passed through the forest. Lu Dantao shivered, only then realizing that her back was already soaked through with cold sweat.
As the wind blew over her, her mind cleared by more than half—
She had to go find Xue Yao!
Right now. No waiting until she got out of the forest.
These assassins were too terrifying. This time she had been lucky enough to escape, but next time might not be the same. She might run into them again before even leaving the forest.
Xue Yao was so capable in a fight, he looked like he could take on ten people alone. Staying with him could not go wrong.
Who cared whether he was the male lead or not!
She, Lu Dantao, was a woman who had thoroughly read analysis posts. In this world, no one understood the plot better than she did.
Lu Dantao clenched her small fists, silently encouraging herself. ‘Whoever I want to be the male lead will be the male lead!’
Pei Di already knew she was not dead. He would definitely come after her with the intent to kill.
Only by cooperating with Xue Yao and bringing down Pei Di could she have a stable future.
And now, it was clear that she and Xue Yao had already forged a revolutionary bond.
He had risked his life to bring her out of the dungeon, even willingly exposing his own whereabouts, pulling her into the deep mountains right in front of Pei Di. He had even drawn away the pursuers for her, and told her to wait until the forest quieted down before coming out.
Was that not proof that he wholeheartedly regarded her as an ally?
She had to find Xue Yao as soon as possible. If he ran too far away, or worse, got killed, then she would be finished as well.
The more Lu Dantao thought about it, the more anxious she became. She immediately scooped up the scattered clothes from the ground, stuffed the money pouch and medicine into her chest, and turned to leave.
Just now, one of the assassins had said “head south,” which meant Xue Yao was very likely somewhere to the south.
It should be this way… right?
Lu Dantao stared at the dense forest ahead, shrouded in mist and impossible to see through, and stopped in her tracks.
But this “south”… which direction even was it?
Lu Dantao’s brows knitted tightly together. She was truly fed up with these ancient people, always talking about east, west, south, and north.
She took a deep breath. ‘Don’t rush, don’t rush. Think. How did the geography teacher teach us to find directions in the wild back then?’
Right!
Lu Dantao suddenly raised her head and looked toward the vast night sky. The stars shimmered brilliantly, a boundless galaxy completely different from the one above modern cities.
At a glance, she found that familiar “big dipper,” the Big Dipper. Her gaze followed the handle of the ladle upward, finally locking onto the brightest star.
The North Star!
Then, the opposite direction must be… south!
*
Under the same sky, in the direction opposite the North Star.
Xue Yao leaned weakly against a tree trunk, looking up at the sky filled with stars.
How long had it been since he had seen a night sky like this?
Three years. More than a thousand days and nights.
The night wind brushed past, carrying with it the heavy, lingering stench of blood from the corpses scattered across the ground.
He slowly closed his eyes. The exhaustion that had built up over so long surged over him like a tidal wave. Only then did he realize just how unbearable the pain from the wound at his waist and abdomen had become.
Thinking back over everything that had happened these past few days, a strong sense of absurdity rose from the depths of his heart.
Absurd at Lu Dantao’s unbelievable actions, and even more at his own self-assumed cleverness.
For three years, he had unknowingly been deeply influenced by that villain Pei. Even after escaping the dungeon and sneaking his way to the northwest, he had still misstepped at every turn under the shadow of that man. He had failed to locate the whereabouts of his former subordinates, and instead exposed his own movements, attracting a large-scale manhunt by the Eagle Guard.
He had wasted the painstaking efforts of the person behind him, and had only made the situation of his former subordinates even more difficult.
He truly was… foolish beyond redemption.
Xue Yao took several deep breaths, forcing down the surging turmoil in his chest.
Things had already come to this. No matter how much he drowned in regret, it would be useless. Fortunately, he had also learned from that villain Pei that there was indeed something unusual about Xiaomao Mountain, and that his former subordinates had not been completely wiped out.
Now that Lu Dantao, that troublesome nuisance, had already been shaken off by him, he could proceed to make careful plans and conduct a covert investigation.
Rustle—
The bushes nearby suddenly shook violently!
Xue Yao’s eyes sharpened instantly. He grabbed a damaged long blade beside him, narrowed his eyes, and stared at the frantically trembling bushes.
Amid the chaotic rustling of branches and leaves, a head topped with messy grass poked out, followed by a thin figure.
She lifted her head, revealing the distinct mole at the center of her brow. Her small face was smeared with dirt, and her voice carried a hint of grievance. “Yan Yun.”
Xue Yao felt as if struck by lightning. “……”
Why was it her again.
Lu Dantao tilted her head, her dirt-smudged little face full of confusion. “What kind of expression is that?”