279. Ran out.

The little princess watched as the carriage owner said goodbye to the palace guards, then turned and walked towards the carriage.

She seized the opportunity and, just as the carriage owner lifted the curtain to get in, quickly slipped into the carriage.

Unaware of anything amiss, the carriage owner got into the carriage and ordered, "Let's go, out of the city, to the village."

The coachman responded, cracked his whip, and the carriage slowly started moving, heading towards the city gate.

The little princess huddled in the corner of the carriage, barely daring to breathe, clinging tightly to the carriage wall, afraid that she might bump into the carriage owner if she moved.

Fortunately, the carriage was quite spacious, and the carriage owner seemed a bit tired. After getting in, he leaned against the cushions and closed his eyes to rest, not noticing that there was another person in the carriage.

Upon reaching the city gate, the carriage passed through the guards' inspection without incident.

The guards simply checked the carriage owner's token, asked a few questions, and then let them pass.

Hearing the city gate slowly closing behind her, the little princess finally felt a sense of relief.

She really came out!

We've left that strictly governed palace!

The carriage left the city and traveled for some distance.

Then, the carriage owner got off, seemingly to run errands.

The little princess quietly slipped off the carriage.

Now, she stood by the unfamiliar official road outside the city, looking somewhat bewildered at the pedestrians and carriages coming and going.

Where to go next?

She only knew she was going south, but she didn't actually know exactly where.

Anyway, let's figure out a way to get to the south first.

A burst of cheerful laughter and barking dogs caught her attention.

She turned her head and saw a sled parked on the open ground next to her, with several large, furry, and spirited dogs harnessed to it.

A young man wearing a thick fur coat, his face flushed red from the wind, was feeding water to a pack of dogs.

"Brother, are we going south to find Uncle today? Can we really go there with this sled?" a child standing next to him asked.

The boy said confidently, "Don't worry, I just came from my uncle's yesterday, there won't be any problems!"

The little princess's eyes lit up, and she had another idea.

While the boy was doing his final check of the ropes and packing, she scrambled onto the sled, carefully squeezing herself into the narrow space between the pile of luggage and the seat in front, curling herself into a small ball.

"Hold on tight! Let's go!" the boy shouted, cracking the reins.

The strong sled dogs immediately barked excitedly, pulling the sleds and speeding southward.

A biting wind brushed against the little princess's cheeks as the sled sped forward, bumping along.

She gripped the fur beneath her tightly, feeling a mix of nervousness, excitement, and, most of all, triumph.

She really is a genius! She can do it all on her own!

She's off to save Little Moon again!

-

The makeshift sled bounced and slid along the snowy road.

At first, the little princess peeked out and felt the speed of the wind rushing past her ears.

But as time went on, the rhythmic swaying, combined with the tension of sneaking out of the palace and the fatigue from running, made her a little sleepy.

Her little head began to nod, and her eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

Finally, his head tilted to the side, and he fell asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, the sled gradually slowed down.

The young man in charge of driving the dog asked in confusion, "Strange. Why does the dog seem a bit more tired today than last time?"

Sitting next to him, the slightly younger child nodded upon hearing this and looked around curiously.

He hadn't looked, but the sight made his eyes widen instantly, his mouth gape open, and his finger trembled as he pointed behind the boy, screaming, "Ah—! A ghost! A ghost!!!"

The boy was startled and shuddered, turning around abruptly.

Suddenly, a head appeared out of nowhere in the gap between the seat and his luggage behind him!

The invisibility potion was starting to wear off, and for some reason, the little princess's head was the first thing to be revealed.

The child had her hair styled in two buns, her little face was flushed from sleep, and she was drooling while leaning against the chair.

"My God!" The boy was terrified, leaping off the sled and nearly falling off. "Where did she...where did she come from?!"

The two children's piercing screams woke up the little princess who was sleeping soundly.

She groggily opened her eyes, rubbed them, and mumbled, "What's all the noise... Are we there yet?"

Her sudden speaking terrified the two already frightened children even more.

The child burst into tears, crying, "It's talking! The ghost is talking! Bro! What do we do?!"

The young man was also pale. As he looked at the little princess's suddenly appearing head, countless strange tales and legends flashed through his mind.

Flying zombies, human-headed barbarians, Lu Pan from Liaozhai...

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. His teeth chattered, and he pointed at the little princess, shouting, "What...what are you?! Are you a mountain spirit or a wild ghost?! Don't...don't come any closer!"

The little princess then fully regained her senses and realized that she had been exposed, which made her panic.

She tried to explain, "I'm not a ghost! I'm..."

"She must have been disturbed by us! Run!" The child shouted, crying, ignoring her explanation.

The boy looked at the little princess's face, which appeared excessively white and delicate against the snow, and the more he looked, the more unsettling it seemed.

He steeled his resolve, mustered his courage, and disregarded everything else. Before the sled had completely stopped, he reached out and pushed hard!

"ah!"

Caught off guard, the little princess was pushed off the slowly moving sled and landed hard on her bottom in the cold snow, wincing in pain.

"Hurry! Hurry!" the boy urged the sled dog in a panic, and the children scrambled to sit up.

The pack of sled dogs immediately took off, pulling the sleds at an even faster pace than they had come, galloping away without looking back, kicking up a cloud of snow.

"Hey! Wait a minute! You bastards! How dare you push me, the princess!" The little princess angrily waved her little fists in the snow and shouted in the direction where the sled had disappeared.

The sled ran even faster.

"How awful!" The little princess scrambled up from the snow, brushing the snow off her body, her little mouth pouting.

Only then did her figure become fully visible.

She looked around and saw only a vast expanse of white, with only a few bare trees and small earthen slopes covered in snow, making it impossible to distinguish east from west.

Where is this place?

How far is it from the palace?

Where is the little moon now?

The little princess stood there, suddenly feeling a little lost and helpless.

I was so excited about successfully escaping that I didn't think about what to do next.

She was all alone in this desolate wilderness...

A cold snowflake landed on the tip of her nose.

The little princess looked up and saw that more and denser snowflakes were beginning to fall from the gray sky.

At first, it was just a light, scattered snowflake, but it quickly turned into large, fluffy flakes, falling thick and fast, covering the sky and the earth.

It's snowing.

And it looks like this snowfall is quite heavy.

The surrounding temperature seemed to drop significantly in an instant.

The cold wind, carrying snowflakes, lashed against her palace dress.

The little princess was wearing the finest snow fox fur, a material sent as tribute from the north, enough to make only one adult garment.

Wei Xiuming didn't keep any for himself, but instead divided it in two, making one for her and one for the young prince.

The fox fur was thick and warm, and she huddled inside it, sleeping on the sled for so long, without feeling cold at all.

But now, she shuddered.

Watching the snow fall heavier and heavier, and the wilderness quickly covered in white, becoming even more indistinguishable.

The little princess's pride and courage were quickly extinguished, like a small flame put out by snowmelt.

She started to panic.

"Is...is anyone there?" she tried to call out softly, her voice trembling with tears.

The sound was so faint in the open snow that it was immediately swallowed up by the wind.

No one responded.

Only snowflakes fell silently.

The little princess became even more frightened, and she started to walk in one direction.

But the snow quickly rose above her ankles, making it very difficult for her to walk, as she trudged along.

The cold made her little face and hands start to go numb.

"Help!" she raised her voice, "Is anyone there?! Help me!"

Only the sound of wind and snow remained.

The little princess sniffed.

She thought of the warm palace, the little prince she hated but missed terribly at the moment, her doting father and mother, and even those stern-faced nannies...

Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Someone, someone help me!" she cried out with all her might as she trudged through the snow, "I'm a princess! There's a great reward for saving me! Help me—!"

The wind and snow intensified, and her cries faded into the vast white expanse of the world.

The only response she received was an endless silence that seemed to want to devour her.

The little princess felt despair.