The vast sky was filled with countless stars, and the bright moon shone like a clear mirror.

Wei Shuwan was pinned against the cold stone wall by a pair of large hands, staring blankly at Li Qingchen in front of her. The moonlight shone into his eyes, and for a moment she couldn't tell whether the moonlight was colder or his gaze was colder.

In fact, Li Qingchen didn't use much force. He just gave her a subtle proof that he might not be a gentleman, but he was definitely not a villain. If he really intended to take advantage of her, she wouldn't be able to escape.

Wei Shuwan pursed her lips, feeling an indescribable sense of grievance, especially since there was a large abrasion on her back from jumping off the vehicle and rolling down the hillside. She could tell it was bleeding even though she couldn't see it, and now, being hit by that rough stone felt like countless icy needles piercing her flesh.

"Ugh—" She frowned and let out a muffled groan.

Li Qingchen immediately removed his hand from her shoulder, a hint of concern appearing in his usually cool eyes: "Are you injured?"

Wei Shuwan pursed her lips and remained silent, still looking angry with him. Li Qingchen didn't let her have her way and gently pulled her body, revealing the bloodstains seeping from her back. The bright red spots stood out against her pale yellow dress.

Li Qingchen looked at her face, his eyes filled with emotion, as if blaming her for not saying she was injured earlier, and for arguing with him over some trivial matter.

However, the blame was fleeting. Li Qingchen took out a small white porcelain gourd bottle from his sleeve and handed it to Wei Shuwan: "Apply the medicine."

"It's alright, we can bandage it when we get back." Wei Shuwan said indifferently.

Without a word, Li Qingchen forcefully shoved the porcelain bottle into her palm, saying, "We need to stop the bleeding first!"

After saying this, Li Qingchen consciously walked a few steps away and turned his back to Wei Shuwan.

Wei Shuwan was still hesitating when Li Qingchen added, "If you need any help, just say so. Don't be shy."

"No need, I can manage on my own!"

This time, Wei Shuwan dared not hesitate any longer. She turned around and faced away from Li Qingchen, then lifted the collar of her collar and sprinkled the medicine powder from the bottle into it little by little.

She could feel a slight pain, knowing that the hemostatic medicine had covered the wound, so she straightened her clothes again.

"alright."

She finished speaking a moment later, and Li Qingchen turned around. Seeing that she didn't seem to be seriously injured, he said, "Let's go down the mountain."

Wei Shuwan nodded.

Li Qingchen carried her along, riding the wind as they traversed the mountains and forests. Wei Shuwan was no stranger to this feeling. In the past, when he carried her like this, she only felt nervous and afraid. But this time was different. She relaxed and earnestly experienced this wonderful feeling, even enjoying the coolness of the night breeze.

Li Qingchen's palm deliberately avoided her injury, so that she would not feel uncomfortable.

As they approached the mountain gate, Li Qingchen released Wei Shuwan abruptly and lowered his voice to remind her, "The carriage is at the foot of the mountain, but there's a bandit sentry post ahead. We should try our best not to be discovered."

"Understood." Wei Shuwan also slowed her pace and followed Li Qingchen down the mountain on tiptoe.

After walking a few steps, she saw the sentry post, and the more she looked at it, the more familiar it seemed... Wasn't this the place where she had been mistakenly arrested last night?

And look up at the sentry post, there's that annoying kid named Xiao Wuzi up there!

Wei Shuwan looked around and found that there was no one else there except Xiao Wuzi. If she wanted to take revenge, she wouldn't cause any trouble.

So she picked up a small stone and threw it at the sentry post!

She had hunted birds with her father since she was a child, so she had a decent aim. The stone hit Xiao Wuzi squarely on the back of the head, and a cry of pain rang out: "Ouch!"

"Who? Who attacked me?!"

Li Qingchen, who was walking straight ahead, stopped and turned around upon hearing the sound. He first glanced at the little bandit covering his head on the sentry post, then looked at Wei Shuwan and asked in confusion, "What, do you have a grudge against him?"

Wei Shuwan nodded seriously, "He was the one who caught me last night, and he even tried to take liberties with me!"

Li Qingchen sighed softly, "Then let's go."

Having taught the other party a lesson, Wei Shuwan was in a much better mood and happily walked ahead. However, after only a few steps, she heard Xiao Wuzi cry out in pain behind her: "Ouch—"

This time, however, was different from the previous one. This cry of pain was almost a wail, accompanied by the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.

In the darkness of the night, Wei Shuwan couldn't see where Xiao Wuzi had gone, only that he was no longer standing on the sentry post. Clearly, the loud thud just now was the sound of Xiao Wuzi landing.

Wei Shuwan looked at Li Qingchen in confusion: "Did you hit him?"

After all, besides him, there was no one else here who could take action.

Li Qingchen merely scoffed, "Do you think I would resort to such underhanded tactics as you? If I were to take action, it would be perfectly aboveboard."

Wei Shuwan scratched her head, wondering if she had used too much force and the aftereffects were too strong.

As she was lost in thought, Li Qingchen had already walked past her and was walking ahead on his own. Inside his wide sleeves, he gently rubbed his long fingers together a few times, brushing away the dirt and grime that had gotten on him when he was picking up pebbles.

...

Down the mountain, Yuan Que and Gu Zhuang had been waiting in the carriage for a long time. When they saw two figures, one tall and one short, walking towards them, they guessed that their master must have "rescued" the young lady of the Wei family.

The two men smiled and jumped out of the car to greet them.

"Young Prince, is Miss Wei alright?"

Li Qingchen didn't say anything, but Wei Shuwan, who was grateful for their concern, said: "I'm fine, it was just a close call. It's you who suffered here all night waiting in the cold."

"Not bitter at all!" the two answered readily, their faces full of flattery.

Li Qingchen couldn't stand it any longer and interrupted, "Let's get in the carriage first. We'll travel slowly on the road and should be able to catch the opening of the city gates when we get back to the capital."

Wei Shuwan stood still, looking at Li Qingchen with a pleading gaze: "Could we not go back for now?"

Li Qingchen frowned: "What else do you want to do?"

"I haven't seen anyone in Niujia Village yet. Since we're already here, why don't we investigate this matter before going back?"

"You are still injured and should not travel any further. We can come back another day."

“But we’ve already offended the bandits here. Niujia Village is full of their spies. It’s easy for them to come back later. We might as well take advantage of the fact that no one knows we’ve escaped and find out what happened tonight. By the time the bandits wake up, we’ll already be gone from Niujia Village.”

Seeing Wei Shuwan's anxious expression with her brows furrowed, Li Qingchen finally couldn't persuade her otherwise and replied in a deep voice, "Alright."

Then he instructed Yuan Que: "Let's go to Niujia Village first."