Chen Xu glanced at Xiao Ba, who was only concerned with taking care of Xiao Mingcheng, scribbled the map on the ground, stood up, and patted the dirt off his clothes. "Then let's go."
Pei Zhiyuan didn't say anything more, staring at her back with hawk-like eyes, as if thinking about something.
After a while, Song Lin came back with clean gauze. He said gently, "Xiu Xiu, how do you feel now? Does it still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore. I'll be fine after a rest." Shen Xu shook his head, looked behind him, and asked, "Where are the other two people? Didn't they go with you to find water?"
"I don't know. They finished filling the water and left first."
Chen Xu said "oh" and didn't ask any more questions. They all understood each other tacitly.
The five of them waited for them for a while, and then talked about the defense of the Haoyue Kingdom's palace, the character of the guards, the national teacher's secret guards, etc. Shen Xu listened carefully and asked questions from time to time.
After a long time, Xie Jun and Ahu came back one after another.
"What have you been doing? Why are you taking so long to drink water?" Pei Zhiyuan asked with a cold face.
Although everyone knew that they frequently sent letters to the capital, as the chief envoy of the Xuan Jing Division, he would still ask a little bit to appear less perfunctory.
"I caught a rabbit." Xie Jun didn't act perfunctorily. He picked up the rabbit in his hand and waved it.
Ah Hu did not answer, but walked closer to Shen Xu, and stuffed two red wild apples into her hands attentively, saying flatteringly: "Miss, would you like some fruit? It's quite sweet."
Song Lin frowned immediately and gently supported Shen Xu's shoulders.
Xiao Ba sighed in dissatisfaction, feeling extremely disgusted by his flattering behavior. She shouted, "Hey, my husband is right here, what are you doing?"
Ah Hu was smiling brightly, and he took out a few wild fruits from his other pocket one after another, holding them in his hand and said to everyone, "Here are all. Do you want to eat them?"
But everyone was frozen in place, no one reaching for the fruit in his hand. The atmosphere grew strangely cold. Ah Hu suppressed his smile, stuffed the apples back into his pocket, and took a bite of one, saying, "If you don't want to eat it, forget it."
"Let's go, and try to get back to the capital before dark." Pei Zhiyuan spoke to break the stiff and cold atmosphere, urging everyone to set off for the capital as soon as possible. Although he was indifferent, he could not stand the weird and stiff atmosphere along the way.
Moreover, the news had spread, but the journey was unusually peaceful, which made him feel vaguely uneasy. Now that the imperial city was so close, he must not let anything go wrong.
Several people got on their horses with their own ulterior motives. Ah Hu took the initiative to drive the carriage under the pretext of sharpening a workpiece for Chen Xu, while the other four people protected the carriage from front and back as it moved forward on the official road.
Since it was relatively close to the capital, the official road had a wide view and a very flat road surface. After a rest, the horses ran faster.
"Miss, where are you from?" Ah Hu chatted with Shen Xu in the car while driving.
"I don't remember. I fell off a cliff and lost my memory."
"Does the young lady know about snowy owls?"
Shen Xu replied: “Well, birds of prey in the north mostly feed on rodents. If they are extremely hungry, they will also catch wolves and foxes.”
Ah Hu smiled brightly, then lowered his voice and said, "The best plan Miss mentioned the other day is too difficult to implement. It's hard to rely on these people to accomplish it. But we can consider a medium or lower-level plan."
"What do you think?"
"I want to take you to see someone, hold on tight!" As he said that, he raised the whip in his hand high and whipped the horse fiercely. The frightened horse neighed loudly, broke away from Xiao Ba and Song Lin who were escorting it, and ran away wildly.
Shen Xu screamed and fell heavily backwards, hitting the back of her head hard on the carriage canopy. Ignoring the pain, she hurriedly hugged Xiao Mingcheng, who had also fallen on the cushion, and leaned nervously against the window.
"Ah Hu has betrayed us!" Upon seeing this, the four men hurriedly rode their horses to chase after him.
Ah Hu looked back at Song Lin and Pei Zhiyuan who were chasing him closely, took out a folding crossbow, and shot an arrow into the sky. The arrow blade made a clear whistle as it rang in the wind.
It's a whistling arrow.
The speeding carriage made Shen Xu's heart beat faster. She suddenly remembered that day in the crowded carriage of the human traffickers, the horse was running wildly in panic, and then the world was spinning.
She happened to be sitting in the middle of the carriage, being jostled by people in front and behind. In that brief moment, there was the neighing of horses, helpless cries, loud crashes, tragic screams, and overflowing blood and sticky fluids...
Shen Xu hugged Xiao Mingcheng nervously, curling up in the corner of the carriage. She gasped heavily, suppressing the pain in her chest from her pounding heart, and squeezed out a few words from between her teeth: "Are you from the Xue family in the north?"
"Well, Miss, sit tight. I will take you to meet the contact and escort you to the north. With the little prince and your drawings, we will be able to defeat the royal army and capture the imperial city soon." Ah Hu drove the car while checking the situation behind him.
Seeing Pei Zhiyuan and Song Lin getting closer and closer, he hurriedly got into the carriage, stuffed a small token into Shen Xu's hand, and said quickly: "Miss, you are actually the eldest daughter of the Xue family in the north. A few months ago, I heard that you were attacked and disappeared in Yanyang Country. Your father and brother, Lord Xue and the Major General have been looking for you. I have already sent your news back to the north. They will send someone to pick you up soon."
"Pei Zhiyuan is a skilled martial artist. I cannot escort both you and the little prince back to the north. Once you enter the Imperial City, be sure to find a way to visit Lao Qian at the storytelling house on Jingmen West Street. He will find a way to bring you home."
Shen Xu's scalp tingled when he heard this, and he wanted to ask him how he knew my background.
But he snatched Xiao Mingcheng away, held him in his arms, and quickly rushed out of the carriage.
He jumped onto the back of the horse pulling the carriage with his child, cut the rope with a knife, and rode away.
The carriage slowed down because it was missing a horse. Pei Zhiyuan and Song Lin caught up almost at the same time. Song Lin jumped onto the horse pulling the carriage and turned the horse's head hard to slow down the carriage.
Pei Zhiyuan chased Ah Hu without stopping.
Song Lin stopped the carriage and hugged Chen Xu tightly in shock, "Xiu Xiu! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, go catch up with Pei Zhiyuan."
Xie Jun and Xiao Ba soon caught up, and seeing that only Shen Xu was in the carriage, they hurriedly followed Pei Zhiyuan to chase Ah Hu.
Ah Hu's whistling arrows quickly called for help. After a while, about seven or eight black-clad killers holding scimitars on horseback lined up in a row on the wide road.
The horse galloped wildly, its hooves raising dust. Ah Hu passed through the wall of killers and headed north with Xiao Mingcheng in his arms.
Pei Zhiyuan and the other two did not slow down. They drew their embroidered spring swords from their waists and prepared to charge and meet the enemy.
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