Careless!
It was the man she had kicked down!
But her strength should have been enough to break his neck.
Could it be that after three years of neglecting training, her strength had diminished, leading to this oversight?!
The man gripped the knife handle, twisting it viciously with deadly intent!
Lin Ruochu instantly pulled a hairpin from her head and, using her peripheral vision, thrust it diagonally into the man's throat.
The embedded hairpin twisted through flesh and blood downward, and the man immediately lost all strength, standing dead on the spot.
"Heroine!"
Wu Minmin supported her mother, crying out in sorrow.
The three remaining young girls hurried over to help steady her.
Lin Ruochu felt the world spinning and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam.
The knife hadn't struck her heart's vital point but had pierced her lung—she couldn't breathe.
But she hadn't yet rescued Tao Yuan, hadn't apologized to her parents and elder brother, and there was still Li Xuan…
She had finally regained control of her body, with so much left undone! How could she die so easily?!
The Female Ghost flusteredly cursed in panic:
【It hurts, it hurts! How could this foolish Native Woman kill without confirming the death??】
【We're done for, truly done for this time. She got counter-killed, and I'll die too. I can't die—I still need to return home!】
【System, I want to use Points! Quickly exchange a life-saving medicine for me! Hurry, hurry, hurry!】
【Ten points it is—I still have over sixty! That's enough! Exchange it now!】
As she muttered, a round pill suddenly appeared in Lin Ruochu's hand.
She was stunned, suspecting she was hallucinating before death.
Wu Minmin and the three children were equally shocked.
"Heroine sister, are you truly an immortal? How did you conjure a pill out of thin air?"
The Female Ghost shouted again:
【Wait, wait, wait! Native Woman, pull out the knife first before taking it! Otherwise, taking medicine with it still in won't work! I'll have to waste more Points saving you!】
Lin Ruochu's numb mind pondered briefly, then she scraped off a small piece with her nail and handed it to Wu Minmin. "Give this to your mother."
This item came from the Female Ghost. Though it was a matter of life and death, she still dared not recklessly consume something given by her.
She would rather die than be controlled again.
Wu Minmin immediately cupped it and fed it to her mother.
As the woman swallowed, her previously pale face gained a hint of color, and her tightly furrowed brow relaxed slightly.
It seemed genuinely effective.
【You? Are you insane, Native Woman? You gave my expensive medicine to someone else? If you want to die, don't drag me down with you!!】
The Female Ghost raged.
Lin Ruochu delayed no further. The moment she pulled out the knife, she swallowed the entire pill.
A warm energy surged from within, instantly replacing the sharp pain of the wound.
In mere moments, she could breathe again!
She hurriedly tore open her collar to check her chest, only to see the mangled flesh visibly healing before her eyes.
Could the medicine from the Female Ghost truly be a life-saving miracle?
Did the Female Ghost possess such abilities?
But if she had such power, why would she willingly remain confined to a corner of the inner quarters as a concubine for Shao Mu's amusement?
Lin Ruochu didn't understand. She closed her collar and let out a soft sigh.
This matter was finally resolved.
As she prepared to bid farewell to the women she had saved, an idea surfaced in her mind, and she shifted her words to ask:
"Miss, might you know of Ge Village?"
Wu Minmin had not yet recovered from the shock and nodded blankly: "My maternal grandmother's home is in Ge Village, thirty miles from here."
Lin Ruochu felt a surge of delight but first fabricated a story to conceal her identity: "Our meeting today is fate. I hope you will keep tonight's events strictly confidential. If word gets out, the medicine that saved your mother's life will lose its potency, and her life may be in danger again."
Having witnessed the miraculous scene earlier, Wu Minmin and the three children had no doubts. They immediately knelt and kowtowed.
"Immortal sister, rest assured. For such great kindness, we will absolutely keep silent. We will regard today's events as divine intervention and won't breathe a word to anyone."
Lin Ruochu nodded, then carefully described the timeframe mentioned by Steward Qian regarding the butcher purchasing a wife, asking them to help investigate the butcher's whereabouts.
"Once you have information, write it on a note and place it under the roots of the thickest locust tree behind the main hall of White Cloud Temple. I will know."
After Lin Ruochu finished instructing them, Wu Minmin respectfully kowtowed to her again.
"Immortal sister, don't worry! We will definitely get it done!"
…
When Lin Ruochu emerged from the house, she felt indescribably exhausted.
The medicinal pill seemed capable of healing her fatal injuries but couldn't counteract the physical toll of the damage. She was so tired she could barely lift her legs.
But now wasn't the time to rest. Dawn was approaching, and she needed to return to White Cloud Temple quickly.
She walked toward where the horse was tethered.
Suddenly, an unusual presence approached from her side.
Unlike the heavy footsteps of the bandits, this person possessed inner strength and lightness skill. They approached so stealthily that she didn't notice until a large hand clamped over her mouth and hoisted her onto a shoulder.
[You've got to be kidding? Again? Can't we catch a break?]
The Female Ghost accurately voiced what Lin Ruochu was thinking.
Her chest and stomach slammed against the person's shoulder, leaving her disoriented as she was carried onto a horse and galloped away into the night.
Not only did this person not speak, they were even riding her horse!
Were they allied with the earlier bandits?
Despite her exhaustion and lack of strength, Lin Ruochu still moved her hand toward the hairpin in her bun.
But the person seemed to anticipate her movement. The moment she touched the hairpin, they gripped her wrist, applying pressure to drain her strength, then flipped her around on the horse.
Her back collided with a broad chest.
The scent of cedar and grass filled her nostrils.
Lin Ruochu's heart skipped a beat as a deep voice murmured by her ear: "Shh, don't move. The Military Patrol Office is coming."
She looked back and indeed saw dense clusters of torchlights rushing from the city gate.
The person behind her held the reins, guiding the horse in several circles to disrupt the hoofprints on the ground. Then, with one hand, they tossed a cloth bundle while clamping their legs against the horse's sides, urging it toward the mountains.
Dust from the bundle scattered with the wind, perfectly covering the hoofprints.
This was a Lin Family Army technique – a method invented by her father to conceal troop movements.
Lin Ruochu stared at the horse's flying mane, her eyes gradually darkening.
It was Li Xuan.
Seeing she had stopped struggling, the Female Ghost panicked: [Native Woman, why aren't you resisting? Where's that fierce determination you had when cutting people down with your blade? Where are your martial skills? Quickly kill this person and escape!]
Lin Ruochu remained motionless, quietly taking several deep breaths in an attempt to steady her nerves.
But it was futile.
As the galloping horse jolted along, Li Xuan faced the moonlight and saw a glistening tear, swept by the fierce wind, fall from the corner of her eye onto his face.
His brow slightly furrowed, he tightened his grip on the reins, urging the horse to leap over the roadside shrubs and into the woods.
Both the moonlight and the roadside firelight were instantly obscured.
In the moment the surroundings darkened, the horse came to a halt.
Of the two riders, one had a figure as thin as paper, a disheveled bun, and was covered in bloodstains, her eyes lowered as if trying to conceal something.
The other had broad shoulders and a sturdy chest, a high ponytail tied back, and was clad in black that blended into the night. Even his face was covered by a black cloth, leaving only a pair of narrow, deep eyes like bottomless pools, their expression unreadable.
After a moment, he asked her:
"Why are you crying?"