Lu Zhidao gripped her long sword and the silk reins, swinging herself into the saddle. She urged her horse forward, searching along the road for any sign of Chu Ning.
If what Miss Shen said was true that she had escorted Chu Ning out of the city and gifted her a horse then Chu Ning must be continuing north by land.
Heading north out of Jiahe Prefecture would lead to Suzhou Prefecture in Nanzhili. If Chu Ning was fast enough, it was entirely possible she could shake off her pursuers and switch to a water route there.
With this thought, Lu Zhidao squeezed the horse’s flanks, and the steed bolted forward. The thundering of hooves against the bluestone streets kicked up small clouds of dust.
As for Chu Ning, though she also felt that traveling by land to Suzhou was the better option for now, the journey was far from smooth.
She had only walked a few steps from the inn when she realized she was being followed. Having traveled this far with Lu Zhidao, her alertness had improved significantly, but being unarmed made it difficult to escape.
Strangely, the pursuers had yet to make a move.
Using the corner of her eye, Chu Ning carefully scouted her surroundings. Not far ahead, she spotted a small fortune-telling stall. A canvas sign fluttered in the wind, and a bronze mirror hung high in the center of the stall.
Chu Ning walked over to the stall, using the reflection in the bronze mirror to look at the people behind her.
Sure enough, when she stopped, they stopped as well. However, because of her awkward positioning, she couldn’t see them clearly—only a partial shadow was visible.
“Fortune-telling or character analysis?” the “immortal” behind the stall asked, mysteriously stroking his beard.
“Character analysis,” Chu Ning replied casually. To get a better look at what was happening behind her, she used the excuse of writing a character to subtly adjust her position.
Her mind was entirely on the mirror above. Taking the brush and paper from the man, she instinctively started to write the character for “Chu” (楚). After only two strokes, she realized this would expose her identity. She stopped immediately, thought for a moment, and changed it into the small character “Mu” (木 – wood).
Then she straightened up and peered carefully into the bronze mirror. This time, she saw her pursuer clearly. It was none other than Centurion Jia, the man who had captured her before.
Haunting me like a ghost, she cursed inwardly, her mind racing for a way to escape.
Just as Chu Ning was about to leave the stall, the fortune-teller called her back. “Hey, I haven’t interpreted the character for you yet!”
“No need, thank you.” Chu Ning turned back and placed a few copper coins on the table.
“That’s not how character analysis works!” The man was persistent, sweeping the coins toward himself. “Don’t be in such a hurry. I’ll give you four lines of verse.”
Only then did Chu Ning pause to see how he would interpret the character.
He stroked his beard again before speaking slowly:
“Buying a boat to go down the spring river, Infinite scenery unfolds before your eyes. Rare is it to journey with a true beloved, A graceful and handsome young soul.”
“What does that have to do with the character ‘Mu’?”
Chu Ning felt even more certain that the man was just a mysterious-looking fraud. She tossed back a retort and walked away quickly, giving the words no further thought.
The priority now was to lose Centurion Jia. Chu Ning didn’t dare run toward secluded areas where they could act with impunity, so she headed toward the crowded, bustling market.
Centurion Jia followed closely, becoming increasingly bold. He drew nearer and nearer, looking completely undeterred, as if he might strike at any moment.
Knowing she was no match for him, Chu Ning looked up in desperation and saw a tavern bordering the street. An idea suddenly struck her.
Rather than waiting for death, she would take a gamble.
She hurried into the tavern. It was a large establishment with two floors.
Upon entering, Chu Ning went straight to the second floor. Both sides of the corridor were lined with independent private rooms. One side faced the street she had just been on, while the other overlooked the tavern’s internal courtyard.
A waiter ushered her into a street-facing room. She sat down with feigned composure, ordered a few dishes, and instructed the waiter: “Serve the food slowly. Also, I don’t like to be disturbed; don’t come in unless necessary.” The waiter bowed and withdrew.
As she spoke, Chu Ning kept a close watch on the street. She saw Centurion Jia and two of his subordinates pause at the entrance before heading inside.
Chu Ning stood up immediately and slipped into an empty room across the hall. She heard the sound of three sets of footsteps climbing the stairs—disorganized but rapid.
With no time to think, she patted the “Book of Documents” inside her bundle to ensure it was safe, then tightened the knot.
She pushed open the window and jumped directly from the second floor…
She had never lived a life of rough-and-tumble physical exertion and had no idea how to land safely. She heard a faint crack, and then she was sprawled on the ground.
Pain surged through her instantly. For a moment, her mind went blank, leaving nothing but the sensation of agony.
She gritted her teeth, not daring to make a sound. Cold sweat poured down her body, her heart hammered, and she felt dizzy enough to faint at any second.
Chu Ning took a deep breath, but the pain only became more rampant.
She thought bitterly to herself: No wonder they say scholars are useless, if I had learned even a single move of martial arts, I wouldn’t have fallen to this state.
But Centurion Jia would catch up soon. Having managed to slip out of their sight momentarily, she refused to be caught without a fight.
She forced herself to stand, only to find her right foot couldn’t bear any weight. Looking around, she saw high stacks of firewood and dry hay in the corner of the yard. Realizing she couldn’t run far in her condition, she decided to hide and wait for them to pass.
Fortunately, the hay was stacked high enough to hide a person easily. Wiping the cold sweat from her forehead, she gritted her teeth and crawled into the pile.
The pain in her ankle was bone deep, but she bit her lip and didn’t make a sound. Even her breathing was cautious.
Slowly, she reached into her bundle and pulled out Lu Zhidao’s dagger, unsheathing it to reveal the sharp blade.
Chu Ning gripped the dagger tight, prepared for the worst. This blade would either be plunged into her enemy or into herself.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhidao had been mindlessly whipping her horse, racing northward.
But the further she went, the more something felt off. Even if Chu Ning knew how to ride, given her physical stamina, there was no way she could have traveled this fast. After half a day of riding, Lu Zhidao hadn’t seen a single sign of her.
Frustrated, she dismounted to ask around. Many people confirmed they hadn’t seen anyone matching Chu Ning’s description riding past.
Lu Zhidao realized she had probably gone the wrong way. The more she thought about it, the more she felt Miss Shen’s words were full of holes. She turned her horse around and hurried back to the prefecture to find Miss Shen.
“Where exactly did you send her?” Lu Zhidao barked as she burst into the Shen villa.
“She left the boundaries of Jiahe long ago.” Seeing her return, Miss Shen felt a secret sense of triumph but put on an innocent face.
“I couldn’t find her.”
Miss Shen didn’t hesitate to twist the knife: “Since she didn’t want to take you along, naturally she wouldn’t let you find her.”
Lu Zhidao froze, a flash of disappointment flickering in her eyes. She blinked hard, then returned to her usual expression, habitually gripping the hilt of her sword.
As they spoke, the maid Zhui’er ran in. Seeing Lu Zhidao in the room, she hesitated, then retreated back to the courtyard without a word, pacing anxiously.
“Forget it. She abandoned you and left. Why bother chasing her? You might as well stay here in peace.” Before Miss Shen finished speaking, she walked out nonchalantly, leaving Lu Zhidao alone in the room.
Outside, Zhui’er hurried forward and whispered to her mistress, “The steward just sent word, they accidentally let her get away.”
“Ran away? Under their very noses?” Miss Shen was incredulous. “They are absolutely useless!”
“They’re searching the whole city now, but there’s no result yet.”
Clang! A long sword was pressed against Miss Shen’s throat. Lu Zhidao had appeared behind her unnoticed.
Lu Zhidao finally realized she had been tricked. Losing her patience, she said, “Where did you last see her?”
“We aren’t talking about her…”
Miss Shen tried to remain stubborn, but the sword pressed in, slicing her skin. Instantly, blood trickled down the blade, dripping faster and faster onto the ground.
Zhui’er rushed forward to stop her but was kicked away by Lu Zhidao.
“You dare kill me?!”
“Once you’re dead, you won’t have to ask that question.” The sword pressed deeper.
Faced with that cold voice and the ruthless hand, no one would dare gamble with their life.
Miss Shen quickly surrendered. “She was seen near that inn. I originally wanted to give her a ride, but she refused to get in the carriage…”
To distance herself from blame, Miss Shen only told half the truth, mentioning only what favored her.
“Now now I don’t know where she is. They lost her.”
Lu Zhidao looked at her coldly, withdrew the sword, and wiped it back and forth on Miss Shen’s expensive clothes. Miss Shen stood frozen, terrified that the blade might slip and stab her again.
Once the blood was wiped clean, Lu Zhidao sheathed her sword and sprinted away.
Back near the inn, she searched everywhere but found nothing. Instead, she noticed the number of searchers on the street had increased significantly.
Lu Zhidao grew worried. If the searchers were closing in, where could she hide? She had no martial arts skills—how could she protect herself?
Standing aimlessly at the intersection as dusk fell, she still had no leads. The longer it took, the more anxious she became. Unable to think clearly, she wandered the streets like a headless fly.
She had to find Chu Ning before the pursuers did. But by her strength alone, how could she be faster than those organized squads?
In desperation, Lu Zhidao pulled out the dark iron waist token engraved with her name. She mounted her horse and galloped out of the city.
Her horse’s hooves were swift as she rode toward the most remote and hidden corner of the outskirts. It was pitch black by the time she reached a camp. The site was nothing more than a large plot of land enclosed by a fence and a gate, with no other identifying information.
A hundred paces from the camp, a cold arrow whistled through the night straight toward Lu Zhidao’s chest. In the darkness, the arrow was invisible; only the sharp sound of the wind gave it away.
Relying on years of trained instinct, Lu Zhidao leaned aside to dodge. A second arrow followed… then a third… Lu Zhidao leapt from her horse, drawing her sword to deflect the projectiles.
During the gap between volleys, she ran forward and threw the black waist token toward the gate.
After a moment, the arrows stopped, and the gate creaked open.
Lu Zhidao was unfazed by this “welcoming ceremony” and walked in as if she knew the way.
She soon met Ling Feng, the leader of this secret guard camp. They had trained together for years—fellow guards who had survived a bloody selection process. Unlike her, he had always been highly favored and now held a high-ranking position in the camp.
This was a training ground for secret guards, and Lu Zhidao had spent many years here. The transition from a “secret slave” to a “secret guard” required years of evaluation. The method was simple: after a period of training, groups of ten would be locked in different arenas. Only the first few to complete the objective would pass.
The instructors cared only for results. There were no rules, no explanations, and any means were allowed. If someone died, the body was simply picked up and thrown out to keep the floor clean. The killer faced no punishment.
This place encouraged internecine struggle.
Stepping into the camp, the miserable past resurfaced before her eyes like it was yesterday. Ling Feng was almost always the first to complete a task. Though he was always smiling, he was more ruthless than anyone, often killing for sport during evaluations. Lu Zhidao was his opposite; she had barely scraped through every time, usually among the last few to pass.
Nevertheless, the skills she had forged here were more than enough to deal with ordinary men.
Lu Zhidao didn’t want to stay a moment longer and went straight to Ling Feng.
“Aha, I wondered who it was. Turns out it’s the ‘tail-ender’…”
“I need to find someone.” Lu Zhidao got straight to the point, unwilling to chat.
She briefly explained the situation.
“As expected of the last-place student—can’t even keep an eye on one person.”
The secret guard camp was not just for training; it had a sophisticated intelligence network. However, the report didn’t come back until late at night.
Once she had the information, Lu Zhidao refused to wait. Ling Feng noticed her urgency and sensed something was unusual. Having nothing better to do, he followed her with a thick-skinned grin.
Along the way, he mocked and ridiculed her, bringing up all the topics she hated most.
Lu Zhidao kept a stoic face and refused to answer.
Soon, they arrived at the backyard of the tavern Chu Ning had visited earlier that day.
The two circled the backyard but found nothing out of the ordinary.
Chu Ning had been hiding in the hayloft for half the day. Seeing that it was dark, she intended to leave quietly. But the injury to her ankle had worsened, and the pain was unbearable.
Several attempts to stand ended in failure.
As night fell, various snakes, insects, rats, and ants emerged. The hayloft was a playground for them.
Even when she was in a cave with Lu Zhidao, she had never seen so many filthy, uninvited guests.
Chu Ning looked around in a daze, not knowing where to go. She couldn’t hide here forever; dawn would break soon. Gritting her teeth, her right foot touched the ground, sending another wave of cold sweat through her. The intense pain made her eyes well up uncontrollably, though she felt no desire to cry.
For some reason, the fortune-teller’s words popped into her head: “Buying a boat to go down the spring river, infinite scenery unfolds before your eyes. Rare is it to journey with a true beloved, a graceful and handsome young soul.” All she could see were rats and insects—where was the “infinite scenery”?
Not to mention “journeying with a beloved” or a “handsome young soul.”
Those fortune-tellers were just liars who told people what they wanted to hear to steal their money.
Chu Ning took a deep breath, endured the pain, and prepared to get up.
Suddenly, she felt someone rummaging through the hay. Panicking, she gripped the dagger. Just as a hand was about to touch her, she swung it forward with all her might!
Unexpectedly, the person was incredibly agile and dodged easily. Then, they grabbed her wrist and roughly pulled her out.
The sudden pull made Chu Ning lose her balance, and her injured right foot slammed into the ground…
The pain radiated through her entire body instantly. It was as if she had been fished out of a water tank; she was drenched in cold sweat. The tears she had held back for so long fell involuntarily purely from the physical agony.
Before she could even see who was in front of her, she heard a voice from not far away.
“If it were me, I would have just snatched the dagger and stabbed back,” Ling Feng said from a distance, arms folded, speaking leisurely. “No wonder you were the tail ender.”