Murong Hao had Xiao Changning bound tightly, gagging her mouth with a handkerchief.
“Capturing you this time isn’t a loss.”
Xiao Changning struggled with muffled cries, but unfortunately, the ropes showed no signs of breaking.
Not far away, a group of people came galloping on horseback.
The light in her eyes brightened, then dimmed—it wasn’t rescue, but assassins!
“Master, your subordinate is late!” The assassins knelt and cupped their hands toward the man before them.
Murong Hao pointed to the cave entrance behind him. “Block the entrance.”
After speaking, he glanced sideways, tauntingly staring at Xiao Changning. Xiao Changning turned her head and snorted.
Her heart pounded with anxiety. She didn’t know how her Empress sister was faring. If the entrance was blocked, what would happen?
The assassins obeyed, hastily moving stones to seal the opening.
“Let’s go.”
Murong Hao lifted Xiao Changning onto the horse, spurred it, and the horse instantly galloped away.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yuzhou managed to light a torch by striking stones together.
The flickering flame illuminated the pitch-black cave. She stared ahead, gritting her teeth and stamping her feet.
“I must dig a way out. Guifei, wait for me!”
At this moment, she wasn’t sure whether her determination to rescue came from Murong Yao’s request or from her own heart.
Murong Hao traversed the mountain forest until deep within the pine grove, stopping at a narrow cave entrance.
After a bumpy journey, the handkerchief in Xiao Changning’s mouth had completely fallen out.
She looked at the “dead end” before her. “Where exactly is your doghouse hidden?”
Murong Hao was infuriated by her words. Gripping her arm, he snarled, “Can’t you speak properly? This is called concealment!”
“Move!” He shoved Xiao Changning.
“Wait, wait, wait!”
Xiao Changning resisted. “How do we get in here?”
Seeing her annoyance, Murong Hao directly drew a dagger. “Guifei, stop stalling. No one is coming to save you. Do you believe I’ll carve a few marks on your face?”
“Let’s see if Murong Yao will still dote on you as before once your face is ruined?”
Pressing down on Xiao Changning, his sinister voice whispered in her ear, “Don’t provoke me.”
Xiao Changning tightly shut her mouth.
Murong Hao forced Xiao Changning toward the cave entrance. “Go, inside.”
Xiao Changning looked at him in disbelief. “A cave entrance less than two feet wide? Are you sure this isn’t a den for birds and beasts?”
The entrance was heavily overgrown with weeds. Without a guide, it would be impossible to find.
Murong Hao spat in disdain. “Shut up!”
Fearing she might escape, he tied Xiao Changning to himself.
Dragging her along, Murong Hao crawled through the narrow cave for over ten meters.
At the end, he knocked on a stone door. The guard inside, confirming it was his master, opened it.
The cave suddenly opened up, revealing that half the mountain had been hollowed out!
Guards were stationed everywhere, and oil lamps brightly illuminated the cave.
In the center stood a tall tower equipped with a lookout post.
From this vantage point, every corner was clearly visible. Escape was nothing short of a fantasy.
Murong Hao grabbed Xiao Changning and ascended the steps along the wall, opening a hidden stone door.
“Villain, release me!”
Murong Hao glanced disdainfully at her mud-covered face and tattered dress. “Find someone to clean up and dress Guifei properly.”
“This grimy, disheveled appearance is truly nauseating.”
Xiao Changning frowned, casting a disdainful glance at him. Isn’t this all thanks to you?
Murong Hao threw Xiao Changning onto the bed in the cave.
He turned and pointed at the three people opposite, baring his fierce fangs. “You three, clean her up.”
“Keep an eye on her. If she escapes, I’ll beat you to death and throw you out to feed the wolves.”
Xiaodie, Caiping, and Fangping trembled, nodding repeatedly.
Was she a girl he had abducted?
The three of them cautiously approached Xiao Changning.
Xiaodie, who hadn’t yet been broken in spirit, was the first to ask, “Are you also a girl he kidnapped?”
“Yes!” Xiao Changning had a sudden idea and nodded in agreement.
The three nodded in unison. “We are too.”
Xiaodie’s voice was filled with a longing for freedom. “Let’s think of a way to escape.”
“Escape?”
Xiao Changning looked around the cave. “I just got here and I’m not familiar with the place. The guards outside are tight. Have you found a way out?”
Xiaodie shook her head dejectedly. “Ever since he blindfolded me and locked me in here, I haven’t been out.”
“Ah.”
Xiao Changning pondered, wondering if her Empress sister had managed to get out. Would anyone be able to find this place?
Caiping took out a clean set of light blue clothes.
Fangping said in a trembling voice, “Miss, let’s get cleaned up first before we talk.”
Xiao Changning looked at her own dirty appearance. Was this little beggar really her?
The three of them took her to a nearby cave.
After what felt like an eternity, Jiang Yuzhou finally dug out a small path. By now, her fingernails had been torn off, and her fingers were covered in blood mixed with mud.
“Great.”
Jiang Yuzhou followed the hoofprints, searching all the way until nightfall.
She was certain that this was the assassins’ hideout. She drew a map for Murong Yao and began searching for the entrance herself.
Upon receiving the news, Murong Yao immediately led the Imperial Forest Army to quietly approach.
Jiang Yuzhou searched outside the mountain for a long time. “How strange, could they have flown away?”
“I must have been careless. Let me search again.”
Jiang Yuzhou continued her search until she saw white smoke rising from the pine forest.
“Someone is cooking.”
At this thought, she suddenly knocked on her own head. “How foolish of me. During the day, the mist in the pine forest must have hidden the smoke.”
Jiang Yuzhou found the kitchen and slipped in through a small window.
She changed her clothes and began searching everywhere for traces of Xiao Changning.
Meanwhile, in Murong Hao’s room, he reached out and pinched Xiao Changning’s chin. The firelight reflected the cruel smile at the corner of his mouth.
He leaned in, lowering his voice, and bit her earlobe. “Murong Yao stole my throne!”
“It’s not too much to ask for some interest, is it? You can repay it for him.”
He mixed a bit of white powder into the water and approached her with the chipped medicine bowl. “Here, drink this.”
“What is this? I won’t drink it! Stay away from me!”
Her resistance was useless. Murong Hao tied her hands and feet, pinched her neck, and forced the liquid down her throat.
“You have no choice!”
Immediately after, Xiao Changning’s body felt as if struck by lightning. All her strength drained away, and a burning sensation spread through her, as if thousands of ants were crawling and gnawing at her bones.
“You… you gave me poison? Or some mind-controlling parasite?”
In her dazed state, she watched as Murong Hao, wearing a lecherous grin, rubbed his hands together and approached her step by step.
“Neither. Just endure it for a moment and it’ll pass.”