Chapter 38 Should I run away after escaping? (First update)...

The night wind howled softly, and the fallen leaves rustled sadly.

As the night deepened and the dew grew heavier, a layer of white fog rose, and only two or three figures could be seen wandering around the city.

Lin Xian took off his outer robe and draped it over Ming Ying's shoulders. "Your brother is highly skilled in martial arts and acts cautiously. He will be fine."

Mingying looked worried, holding a small lamp in her hand. The mist reflected in her eyes, revealing an unyielding seriousness: "Brother must have followed that girl's father to the government office to investigate."

Strangely, the girl's father did not return, and her brother was nowhere to be found.

Could it be Pei Xiaoyun?

This person is despicable and shameless, and his methods are ruthless. He chased her all the way to Guanzhou. Could it be that he kidnapped her brother halfway to force her to submit?

Several terrifying, heavy forces coiled around her body like venomous snakes, dragging her steps and making her feel a deep sense of powerlessness from the inside out.

Her brother made enemies with Pei Xiaoyun in order to take her away.

It's all because of her.

Although she resented his coercion, if she could exchange her own life for the freedom and safety of two people around her, then she would have no choice but to walk back into the cage.

Perhaps my entanglement with him will never end.

"Ziming." Her face was flushed by the biting night wind, and the cloak on her shoulders seemed about to be blown off in an instant. "If I can't go to the Northwest with you..."

"No, we won't." Lin Xian interrupted her, carefully tying her cloak tighter, looking at her eyelashes wet with raindrops, "Aying, we'll go together."

If there is one person who cannot go, that person is him.

He is now all alone, his family destroyed, he has lost everything, except for her.

All that shame, hatred, and pain was given to me by Pei Xiaoyun.

He gripped the dagger tucked at his waist tightly, his eyes as dark as spilled ink, terrifyingly deep.

If possible, he would choose to perish together with Pei Xiaoyun.

Mingying didn't speak. The cold wind howled and swirled, blowing against her heart, making it pound like a drum, pounding wildly and uncontrollably.

Perhaps due to the rampant epidemic in the city, the government office was brightly lit even at such a late hour.

After much internal struggle, she finally reached out and knocked on the door of the government office.

She had already made up her mind: if Pei Xiaoyun really came out, she would use herself to exchange for her brother's safety.

In any case, the only person he wanted to take revenge on and torture from beginning to end was her.

"What are you doing?" an officer came out to investigate.

Upon seeing that they were just ordinary government officials, Mingying and Lin Xian both breathed a sigh of relief.

"We're here to find someone." Lin Xian blocked her way and explained the situation to the person. "We're from out of town and staying at the Wanfu Inn. This evening, our elder brother was taken away under the pretext of a medical check-up, and he hasn't returned yet. So we came to inquire when he will be released."

He had no choice but to fabricate this story to test whether Shen Mingshu was in the government office at that moment.

"Oh." The official touched his nose when he heard that they were from out of town. "Those people are still inside waiting for the doctor's routine check-up. Curfew is coming. You can go in and wait."

Mingying blinked slightly, sensing something was wrong. She tugged at Lin Xian's sleeve but didn't take a step.

Lin Xian patted her hand, as if she understood what she meant, and said directly, "No need to trouble yourself, let's just wait here."

The atmosphere froze instantly, with only the bleak sound of the wind.

With a clang, the man opposite drew his sword and pressed it against their necks. "Enough talk, get in!"

Several people rushed out of the government office upon hearing the commotion. Lin Xian, being a non-martial artist, was forcibly captured just as he was about to draw his dagger.

Mingying was no exception; her mouth and nose were covered, and she was helped inside.

—

As dawn broke, the wheels rolled over the bumpy mountain road. Mingying, still groggy, was jolted awake by the jolting. She slammed against the car wall, her bones aching.

She opened her eyes in a daze and realized that her hands were unable to move, as they were tightly bound with rope, and there was something stuffed in her mouth.

Looking around, I saw four women sitting in the car as well.

These people all looked terrified, and judging from their attire, they didn't seem to be locals from Guanzhou.

She remembered that she and Lin Xian went to the government office last night to look for someone, but they were forcibly taken inside. After she fainted, she had no idea what happened afterward.

Where is Lin Xian? Where is her brother? And where is this carriage taking them?

Everything is unknown.

"Brother Dao, those women in the car are really good-looking, especially the one we caught last night. She's got a great figure, smooth skin, and it's the middle of nowhere. The person we're meeting hasn't arrived yet, so why don't we..."

Outside the car, a man with flabby flesh was rubbing his hands together and lewdly laughing.

Hearing these words, Mingying couldn't help but shudder.

The other women in the car also huddled together, terrified and uneasy.

"Bullshit!" another man shouted gruffly. "The prefect said these people are being sent to Wu Heng to practice Gu poison. There can't be the slightest mistake. Forget your ideas!"

The man who had spoken earlier could only reluctantly agree: "They're getting it in batches, those bastards are really getting off easy!"

Upon hearing the words "Wuhuan" and "practitioner of Gu," several women were terrified and burst into tears.

Who among the people of the Central Plains doesn't know that the Wuhuan Kingdom in the northwest is tyrannical, cruel, and utterly devoid of conscience? To fall into their hands would be worse than death.

Mingying's heart turned cold. A breath of cold air caught in her throat, and when she swallowed it, it froze her heart.

Even though the carriage ride had left her confused, she understood everything.

It wasn't a plague in Guanzhou at all. The local prefect colluded with the Wuhuan people for profit, using the plague as a pretext to seal off the city and plunder isolated and unidentifiable people from other places, handing them over to the Wuhuan people.

They were arrested last night for letting their guard down and revealing that they came from out of town.

It's truly a case of things not going as planned.

They had just arrived in Guanzhou when they encountered such a thing; it was as if they had escaped one wolf's den only to fall into another.

The carriage traveled for an unknown amount of time before slowly coming to a stop against a tree. The two men, holding knives, impatiently urged them to get out of the carriage.

As a woman stood up, she lost her balance, and the hairpin in her hair clattered to the ground. Mingying followed behind, quickly bent down to pick it up, and ran her fingertips over the sharp hairpin, enough to slowly cut the knot in her hand.

Fear lingered in my heart, and even under the blazing sun, a chill permeated the air.

A carriage behind them, filled with men, was also forced off the vehicle.

When Mingying saw Lin Xian, her heart pounded, and she realized that the sunlight shining on her could actually generate heat.

No matter what the future holds, at least for this moment, they are still together.

While in the carriage, Lin Xian guessed what was going on from the driver's conversation; they were probably in trouble.

Only when he looked into Mingying's eyes did he feel much more at ease.

No matter what, this time, he was determined to protect her.

Fearing it would cause a disturbance, the Wuhuan only sent four men to pick up the person. Each of them carried a long sword and sharp blade, and had a ferocious and vicious face.

In their eyes, these people from the Central Plains were weak and incompetent; once their hands and feet were tied, they were like chicks, and it would be more than enough to deal with them.

There are two teams, one for men and one for women, each with ten people.

At first, some people refused to leave and were stabbed in the arm, their tendons severed, as a warning to others.

Upon seeing the blood-stained, gleaming longsword, the others dared not resist any longer and had no choice but to follow them.

Lin Xian looked back several times to confirm Ming Ying's safety. Earlier in the car, he had already reached for the dagger at his waist and was deliberately placing it at the end to quietly cut the knot in his hand.

A pregnant woman, with her large belly, couldn't keep up and signaled to the Wuhuan people with her eyes that she couldn't walk any further.

Unexpectedly, the Wuhuan man just smiled sinisterly, picked up the hilt of his knife and smashed it twice into the woman's abdomen, speaking in a very broken Central Plains accent: "Now that you're rid of the burden, let's go."

The woman screamed shrilly, biting through the gauze stuffing in her mouth. The baby in her womb hadn't fallen out yet, but blood was flowing from her body.

Those two strikes just now were more of a warning from the Wuhuan people.

The screams were terrifying and heart-wrenching, echoing through the empty valley and piercing people's ears like knives.

Mingying turned her head away, trembling to the point of suffocation, and unknowingly shed two lines of tears, quickening her pace as she cut the knot in her hand.

In an instant, a man in front of them, looking agitated, rushed forward, perhaps the woman's husband, his hands still bound, ready to fight the Wuhuan people to the death.

Those Wuhuan people really didn't expect this person to get out of control, and were caught off guard when the man bumped into them and knocked them to the ground.

At this moment, Lin Xian cut the knot in the rope and gripped the dagger tightly, stabbing it into the abdomen of the person on the ground.

Blood splattered everywhere, the crowd erupted into chaos, and the woman screamed and ran around in confusion.

Mingying's ropes loosened, and she began to untie the others. The men whose ropes were untied fought the Wuhuan people with their bare hands.

Upon seeing his companion stabbed to death, the Wuhuan man flew into a rage, raised his knife and killed two more people before chasing after the fleeing woman.

Lin Xian held off one of the pursuers, his dagger knocked from his hand, and he fought the man with his bare hands.

The edge was a cliff. The two wrestled to the edge of the cliff, where they saw a bottomless abyss with rocks flying everywhere.

He felt no fear; killing one more of them would give the others a chance to escape.

He clung to the Wuhuan man, refusing to let go, his heels touching the edge of the cliff. In his final moments, he shouted to Mingying, "Aying, run!"

The loud voice echoed through the mountains, its lingering sound lingering for a long time. The two had already tumbled down the cliff and disappeared from sight...

Mingying watched Lin Xian fall off the cliff with her own eyes. Her sense of touch and hearing froze for a moment, as if someone had stabbed her heart with a knife. Every breath felt like being slowly tortured.

The chill froze her legs, making it impossible to take a single step. Her mind was blank, a complete void. She didn't even realize she was crying; the tears that flowed were scorching hot.

The woman, who had been untied from the knot, suppressed her grief and anger and pulled her along, shouting, "Go! Go quickly!"

The remaining two Wuhuan men were wounded, their eyes burning with rage.

They knew they couldn't let these people escape, or there would be endless trouble, so they immediately grabbed their knives and went after them.

Mingying was dragged along by them, running wildly. As they ran, she swallowed mouthfuls of wind, her chest ached terribly, and she felt the cold wind cutting into her skin. Finally, she cried out.

Is all of this a dream?

She still thought that the person holding her hand was Lin Xian.

Someone found an abandoned wooden house in the middle of nowhere. Knowing they couldn't outrun it, the group hid inside, afraid to make a sound.

Inside the room, chaotic breathing mingled and intertwined, weaving a vast net of fear and panic that tightly enveloped everyone.

After being pulled inside, Mingying immediately wiped away her tears, covered her mouth and nose, and held her breath.

She calmly dragged over old tables and chairs to block the overburdened door. Seeing this, the other women followed suit and used old items from inside the house to block the door as well.

The pregnant woman who had been injured earlier was also carried in. Her snow-white dress was stained red with blood. Perhaps she was in labor from the shock and dared not groan, biting her lips until they bled. Only when the pain became unbearable did she let out a low howl.

Even though someone quickly covered his mouth, the faint call still reached the ears of the Wuhuan people who were searching outside.

Upon hearing the commotion, the Wuhuan people's eyes gleamed with a dangerous light.

They had intended to search in that bamboo grove, but they never expected it to be hidden here.

Mingying peered through the crack in the door and saw them coming. Her cold palms pressed against the wooden pry bar, and she noticed a broken wooden window. She pointed at the pregnant woman and whispered to the other women, "Take her away quickly."

The pregnant woman was about to give birth. If she were caught by the Wuhuan people, she and her unborn child would both die, and she would not have a good ending.

If they can hold out for a while, maybe someone can escape. We're not far from the foot of the mountain; once we get there, we'll be saved.

So the two men helped the woman up and struggled to climb out of the window.

The Wuhuan people were confident and, like hunters on a hunt, grinned as they approached.

A girl who was only seventeen or eighteen years old stayed behind to help Mingying.

"You should leave quickly." Mingying pushed her. They had all come from different places and shouldn't suffer this undeserved disaster, wasting their youth in vain.

The girl shook her head: "I'm not leaving. You can't handle this alone."

With a loud "bang," someone outside was banging on the door with the handle of a knife. The sound was deafening, and each bang was more intense than the last.

Mingying felt a jolt in her back, and her voice trembled as she said, "You have to go! They're about to come in! Go!"

The girl was young and hesitant. Through the crack in the door, she saw the villain's distorted and terrifying features. Finally, she hardened her heart, wept, and jumped out of the window.

The wooden pry bar broke in the middle, and the door panel loosened violently. Mingying pushed the table and chairs tightly, holding it in place.

She had nothing left to fear; what she feared more was a broken heart.

Right now, only one thought is on my mind.

The longer she can hold on, the further they can run.

My shoulder bone was throbbing with pain, and my internal organs felt like they were shifting. I felt like I could cough up blood if I looked down.

The images that flashed through her mind were all of Lin Xian telling her to run. As she thought about it, a great determination burst forth in her eyes, which turned into a wisp of power and strengthened the shaky door.

Finally, the wooden door broke in half, letting in a flood of sunlight, followed by two cold, sinister faces.

Mingying was knocked to the ground by the falling door, the door panel pressing down on her. Her face was covered in dust, and every breath she took brought a tearing pain to her chest.

She held out for half an hour by herself, which was her limit; the others had probably all run far away.

The two men who entered looked around and, seeing that she was alone, realized they had fallen into a trap. Enraged, they drew their blades and prepared to strike fiercely.

A beam of white light, about to pour down, was reflected in Mingying's eyes, making her heart pound and her eyes sting...

Suddenly, a gust of cold wind swept down, splattering warm blood onto her face, and a mournful wail rang in her ears.

A wrist, severed by a sharp blade, rolled heavily in front of her.

She looked up and saw a figure in a dark robe swaying in the wind. The robe was embroidered with familiar crane patterns and gold thread. Above that, there was a sharp jawline, high brow bones, and a pair of sinister and sharp black eyes.

When she saw Pei Xiaoyun, the tension that had been building up inside her finally snapped. Realizing she could still breathe, she clutched at the hem of his robe, broke down in tears, and dry heaved uncontrollably.

Seeing her miserable state, Pei Xiaoyun, though still angry and resentful, felt a pang of indescribable bitterness in her heart. She squatted down and looked at her, her tone cold and resentful: "Serves you right. Still trying to run?"

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Author's Note: There are two chapters today, and another one will be released at 10 PM. Remember to check back! [doge emoji]