Lu Zhidao pulled Chu Ning along without a word, quickly leaving the noodle stall. They encountered a few plainclothes pursuers head-on, but the men didn’t pay much attention to them, allowing the two to brush past safely.
However, after only a few steps, Lu Zhidao sensed a pair of sharp eyes fixed upon them. With a sweep of her peripheral vision, she spotted a man wearing official government boots. He was leaning casually against an inconspicuous corner with his arms crossed, mindlessly chewing on a blade of wild grass.
The street was crowded, but the man’s gaze was clearly tracking them.
Using force now was not a wise move, especially with Chu Ning by her side; it wouldn’t be easy to escape. They had to act as the situation developed. Lu Zhidao calculated her options and glanced back at Chu Ning.
Seeing that Chu Ning was keeping her head down and following silently, Lu Zhidao didn’t think much of it, simply feeling that she was being quite cooperative. To be safe, Lu Zhidao grabbed Chu Ning’s wrist and led her forward as if nothing were wrong.
“Pah.” The man spat the grass onto the ground, clapped his hands, and walked toward them.
Lu Zhidao’s right hand rested on her sword hilt, ready to slit his throat at any moment. The man walked up and spread his arms wide from a distance to block their path, smiling as he said, “You two don’t look like locals.”
“Neither do you,” Lu Zhidao replied flatly.
Chu Ning realized then that the situation was dire and looked up at the man. He appeared considerably older than her, sporting a pair of rather suspicious-looking mustaches and a tone that lacked decency.
“Where do you live? Judging by your clothes, you’re a young lady from a wealthy family—why are you eating noodles at a roadside stall?”
“Experiencing life.”
“That doesn’t seem right, does it?” The man stroked his mustache, squinting at Chu Ning. “What is your honorable surname, Miss?”
“Don’t ask what shouldn’t be asked.”
Lu Zhidao was already a woman of few words, and her cold tone now only made them more suspicious. Chu Ning had no choice but to gently break free from Lu Zhidao’s grip and made up a story for the Mustache. “My surname is Zhao.”
“Miss Zhao, where is your home?”
“You look very unfamiliar, sir. Are you also from our prefecture?” Chu Ning looked at the Mustache, feigning a look of confusion.
“Well, no.”
Chu Ning spoke with righteous indignation, “Then what does it have to do with you if I sneak out of my father’s house to play!”
“Out of the way.” Chu Ning glared at him crossly, grabbed the wooden Lu Zhidao, and marched forward.
The Mustache scratched his head, thinking she was likely a local lady who had run out to have some fun. Not knowing her background and fearing she might be someone difficult to offend, he stepped aside and let them pass.
Chu Ning walked past him with a facade of calm, but her palms were sweating so much she wiped it all onto Lu Zhidao’s wrist.
They had only walked a few steps when she felt someone rushing up from behind. Fear gripped Chu Ning’s heart; she frowned and looked at Lu Zhidao imploringly, wanting nothing more than to bolt.
Seeing this, Lu Zhidao quickly flipped her hand to clasp Chu Ning’s palm, pulling her back slightly and shaking her head.
The two pretended to be calm as they walked forward, their ears alert to any movement behind them. The person didn’t catch up but stopped beside the Mustache.
Chu Ning’s tensed nerves suddenly relaxed, and she let out a long sigh. She felt lucky she hadn’t run, otherwise, she would have exposed herself.
The conversation between the two men behind them drifted over clearly. First was the Mustache’s voice: “Any news from the pier?”
“Not yet, sir. Centurion Jia ordered us to send a few men to watch the main official road.”
“Then take a few brothers over there.”
As the two walked further away, the rest of the conversation became inaudible. They now knew that both the pier and the official road were blocked; they had to find another way.
Not daring to linger for a second, they left the border market immediately. They didn’t go far, however, turning through a few streets into a quiet alley before stopping.
Lu Zhidao looked around to ensure there were no pursuers and that the area had clear escape routes before asking, “Do you need to rest?”
Chu Ning nodded, and the two sat down in the shade of a tree. Chu Ning felt discouraged. She stared blankly at the ground, realizing she was back to running for her life, unable to even finish a bowl of noodles. Her heart felt heavy.
On top of that, she had been scolded for no reason, told to “shut up,” and forced to deal with the annoying Mustache. She thought she had prepared herself mentally, but when faced with reality, she couldn’t help but feel heartbroken. And everything was only just beginning.
She stole a glance at Lu Zhidao and saw her focusing intently on the map, seemingly having already forgotten about what just happened.
After a long while, Lu Zhidao looked up and said, “We can take the mountain paths.”
Chu Ning was lost in thought and didn’t react immediately. After a long silence, she noticed Lu Zhidao staring at her and hurriedly asked, “What?”
“We can take the mountain paths.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Or we can wait near the pier for a few days. We might have a chance to board a ship, but it’s more dangerous.”
Chu Ning leaned in to look at the map. Taking a boat was the most convenient and least exhausting way, but currently, it was also the most dangerous.
She was torn and couldn’t decide. Looking up, she saw Lu Zhidao holding out a scallion pancake wrapped in oil paper.
“What for?”
“You didn’t finish your noodles,” Lu Zhidao mentioned awkwardly.
Chu Ning took the pancake, which had long since gone cold. Feeling a surge of emotion, she suddenly became even more upset and cried out:
“I didn’t get to eat a single bite of that egg!”
Lu Zhidao scratched her head, unsure of how to comfort her.
“And you were mean to me!” Chu Ning took a bite of the pancake. Even though it was cold, it was still flavorful. She asked, “When did you buy this?”
“Back at the market. There are many more; I prepared them as dry rations.”
“You are quite thoughtful,” Chu Ning sighed. The one who detected the pursuers was her, and the one who prepared rations was also her. She had to admit that Lu Zhidao had indeed been a great help. “Otherwise, they definitely would have found me.”
“They wouldn’t,” Lu Zhidao said seriously.
Seeing Chu Ning’s cheeks bulging as she chewed the pancake while looking up in confusion, Lu Zhidao added:
“You are very good at lying.”
The scallion pancake suddenly lost its flavor. Chu Ning forced herself to swallow and explained hurriedly, “I… I’ve never lied before. Just now, I was just making things up on the spot…”
Then she felt that wasn’t right either—making things up was still lying. She added awkwardly, “Actually, it doesn’t count as… it’s just… at that time…”
Chu Ning hung her head in discouragement, feeling that any explanation was useless. She hadn’t said a single true word just now. She said dejectedly, “A man who does not keep his word will not succeed in his actions. I know that. I won’t do it again…”
Realizing how quickly she had “fallen,” Chu Ning’s eyes turned red again. She lowered her head and bit her lip, refusing to explain further.
Lu Zhidao became flustered. This wasn’t her intention. She had meant that Chu Ning was clever and wouldn’t be easily caught. She explained hurriedly,
“I was complimenting you.”
“How could you tell them the truth? I just didn’t know what to say.” Lu Zhidao rubbed her sword hilt and leaned down slightly to peek at Chu Ning.
“Is that how you compliment people!!” Chu Ning suddenly felt emboldened; acting out of necessity was the best excuse she could give herself.
Lu Zhidao stood there like a block of wood. She knew that “being good at lying” wasn’t a compliment, but she didn’t know how else to explain.
Chu Ning stood up, tossed the half-eaten pancake back to her, and stared down at her to settle the score.
“Also, I’m not as sharp as you. If you sense danger, you can tell me, and we can figure it out together instead of you being mean to me for no reason!”
Lu Zhidao saw her eyes were still red and was even more at a loss for words, fearing that one wrong sentence would make her cry again. She rubbed her hilt and stared at her toes in silence.
“Did you hear me?” Chu Ning asked again.
“I heard you,” Lu Zhidao answered obediently. But after thinking about it, she still didn’t quite understand, so she cautiously raised her hand to ask a question: “When was I mean to you?”
Her tone was flat, which sounded like a challenge to Chu Ning’s ears.
“Shut up!” Chu Ning mimicked Lu Zhidao’s manner, glaring at her fiercely.
She looked at Lu Zhidao with a bit of triumph, but saw that she remained expressionless, seemingly unaffected and still waiting seriously for an answer.
Chu Ning shook her head and gave up helplessly, explaining, “Doing that is being mean. You can’t do that.”
“Okay,” Lu Zhidao noted it down seriously.
Discovering that Lu Zhidao really didn’t know how to socialize but took every word of hers to heart, Chu Ning found her somewhat cute and couldn’t bring herself to be harsh anymore.
She sighed and sat down beside her. “Mumu, I don’t want to be a burden to you. I will learn to be better, too. There are many things you need to teach me.”
Lu Zhidao was overwhelmed by the unexpected favor. She opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say, freezing on the spot.
Chu Ning looked at her helplessly and stopped dwelling on the matter. She took the map and changed the subject. “Are there no pursuers if we take the mountain path?”
Lu Zhidao suddenly snapped out of it. “I don’t know! I can go scout.”
Just then, they saw an old man dressed as a hunter carrying several pieces of wild game, appearing to be headed to the market to sell them.
“I’ll go ask.” As soon as she finished speaking, Chu Ning went to meet him. Lu Zhidao followed closely, staying alert by her side.
“Elder, did you come from the mountains?”
“Of course. Do you want a wild rabbit, young lady?” The hunter patted a rabbit with his rough, large hand.
Chu Ning hurriedly waved her hand, her eyes deliberately avoiding the rabbit that looked exactly like Little Grey.
“If we cross this mountain, we’ll be out of Zhejiang Province, right?”
“Yes, but the mountain path is difficult. Don’t go into the mountains lately; there are bandits about. I won’t be going back after I finish this trip.” The old hunter finished and carried his game toward the market.
Chu Ning turned back to Lu Zhidao and teased softly, “Pursuers or bandits—which do you choose?”
“Either is fine.”
“Then we’ll wait until dark. If the pursuers withdraw, we’ll take the boat. If they don’t leave, we’ll have to go into the mountains.”
“Okay,” Lu Zhidao nodded.
With very little money left and needing to save for boat fare, they found a remote, run-down inn to stay in. The price was indeed much cheaper than others.
However, the room looked like it hadn’t been occupied in a long time; it was dusty and not very clean. The waiter gave the surfaces a casual swipe with a rag before leaving.
Lu Zhidao didn’t mind and plopped down on a chair.
“I’ll find a chance to change these clothes; they draw too much attention and aren’t very convenient.” As Chu Ning spoke, she took out her handkerchief and carefully wiped the table and chairs. Seeing this, Lu Zhidao stood up sheepishly, searched her person for her own handkerchief, and mimicked Chu Ning, wiping things for show.
After wiping back and forth twice, she felt it was clean enough. But looking up at Chu Ning, who hadn’t even finished one chair, she thought about helping with the table.
Chu Ning stopped her, picking up a corner of Lu Zhidao’s handkerchief with a look of disgust and holding it in front of her. “This handkerchief of yours makes things dirtier the more you wipe.”
“Sit here.” Chu Ning moved the chair she had cleaned in front of Lu Zhidao.
“I’ll go wash it.”
“If you could wash it clean, it wouldn’t have so many stains. Leave it; I’ll help you wash it later.”
“No need.” Lu Zhidao reached out to take back her handkerchief, but Chu Ning pulled it away. She could only rub her fingers awkwardly.
The two settled in the inn for the time being, deciding to check again at night. If the pursuers were still searching strictly, they would rest for the night and enter the mountains the next day.
Meanwhile, the runners from the Provincial Surveillance Commission had searched every person boarding ships at the pier, but to no avail. The leader, Centurion Jia, called over his deputy the Mustache.
Centurion Jia arranged for the Mustache to take men and continue watching the various intersections.
“Keep a tight watch on every single road. She’s just a little girl; where could she possibly run to!”
He then took a few men into the mountains to guard the final path leading out of the province.
“We must not let her walk out of Zhejiang Province alive.”