Even now, with the jailer standing beside her, Chang Lili still feels somewhat dazed, as if she's in a dream.
A bolt of lightning ripped the sky apart, followed by a deafening clap of thunder. As the thunder subsided, a sharp, metallic clang shattered the silence of the night.
Time seemed to stand still, and the large sword overhead never fell.
Chang Lili stiffly looked up, only to find that the man holding the broadsword had already spat out blood, his eyes filled with terror, and the broadsword in his hand was blocked by a long sword, unable to fall no matter what he did.
The man wielding the sword was dressed in black. The other two jailers had already fallen to the ground, their throats slit before they could utter a sound.
It wasn't just one person who came, but a group of people. They were clearly a well-organized team, as if they had planned it all along. They silently infiltrated, killed the jailer, grabbed Chang Lili, and hurriedly left.
Chang Lili was still in a daze. Before she could even feel grateful for surviving the ordeal, she was overcome with a new wave of fear.
"Who are you people? Where are you taking me?" Chang Lili heard her own voice trembling.
She subconsciously thought of Xiao Shu'er, and felt that Xiao Shu'er probably didn't want her to die so easily and wanted to torture her.
But she soon realized something was wrong. These people ignored her and hurriedly dragged her away, heading towards the palace gate.
"Did Xiao Shu'er send you?" Chang Lili asked again, suppressing her panic, but still no one answered.
For some reason, a sudden gust of wind, lightning, and thunder broke out at midnight. Listening to the thunder and feeling the cold wind, Chang Lili calmed down considerably.
She glanced at the group of people, her eyes flashing. She noticed the weapons at their waists and knew that the broadswords that had been blocked by the longswords must be broken now.
She remembered these people's weapons very clearly, because it was these very weapons that nearly cost Meng Yuxiu her life that day in the hunting grounds.
They were the men in black who had previously tried to kill Meng Yuxiu.
Chang Lili felt a chill run down her spine as a bad feeling washed over her. These people who saved her were clearly not acting out of kindness.
They probably wanted to capture him to restrain and threaten Meng Yuxiu.
Chang Lili felt a mix of emotions. Although her face flushed slightly when she thought about it, she knew very well that if she were to fall into enemy hands, Meng Yuxiu might do something drastic.
Moreover, judging from their behavior, these people are not easy to deal with. Rather than being manipulated by them later, it's better to take a gamble now.
Another flash of lightning streaked across the sky, and Chang Lili clearly saw a black-clad man with a sword hanging at his waist.
The thought was there, and she acted immediately. Like a fish swimming away, she broke free from the lead man in black and quickly approached another man in black. With her hands bound behind her back, she drew the sword from her waist in the blink of an eye, hooked the blade behind her back, and the ropes binding her hands came undone.
Suddenly, the black-clad figures stopped in their haste. When they looked at Chang Lili again, they saw her holding a gleaming blade to her neck, her expression resolute.
Large raindrops pelted down from the sky, and the torrential rain made it difficult to open one's eyes.
Chang Lili felt a sharp pain in her back. It seemed that the blade was indeed sharp. With just a light slash, it cut through both the rope and her back.
The men in black didn't panic for long. In the dim light, they exchanged a knowing glance and then surrounded Chang Lili, trapping her like a turtle in a jar.
Chang Lili pressed the blade of her knife against her neck: "Don't come any closer! You'll only be able to capture me alive, right? If you dare take another step closer, you'll only be able to take my corpse back to report!"
Those people indeed stopped in their tracks and looked at the man in black who had been leading them. The man in black's eyes flashed with coldness, and he suddenly spoke up: "We saved you, but if you continue to stay here, it's only a matter of time before you lose your life."
Her voice was somewhat distant through the rain, but Chang Lili could hear it clearly; it was a woman's calm voice.
“Then I won’t jump from one fire pit to another!” Chang Lili said decisively.
The woman looked troubled when she heard what she said. She knew she had been misunderstood, but she didn't know how to explain.
"We won't harm you, let's leave here together first," she said tentatively.
Chang Lili ignored it. At this moment, she looked around and a trickle of blood flowed from her snow-white neck.
The man in black showed genuine concern and urgency, but Chang Lili was thinking about where she could escape to. Now that the emperor of Yun Kingdom wanted her life, where could she escape to?
The sounds of fighting could be heard, extremely intense, seemingly coming from the direction of the palace gate.
They were already very close to the palace gate, but it was the middle of the night, so who would be fighting and brawling in such a large-scale manner?
A naive idea popped into Chang Lili's mind: since things were in such a mess near the palace gates, perhaps she could take advantage of the chaos to escape, even if it was just for a while.
As she thought about it, she took a step toward that side, but the men in black surrounded her even more tightly, showing no intention of making way.
"If you don't move aside, I'll make you clean up this mess for me!"
The rain soaked her clothes, her hair clung wetly to her face and neck, and blood flowed merrily from the tiny wounds on her neck, leaving a faint pink stain on her white collar.
“I won’t harm you. I just want to take you out of the palace. You’re walking into a trap and cutting off your own escape route.”
Chang Lili found it strange that she could actually hear genuine concern and suppressed anger at the woman's disappointment in her words.
But why would she help me? And risk her life to save me?
Chang Lili would never believe it if she said she had no ulterior motives.
Besides, she didn't think she could trust the words of people like them. They were the ones who wanted to kill Meng Yuxiu!
"Are you going to move aside or not?" Chang Lili suddenly shouted, "You're dressed like that, you probably don't want to be recognized, right? If you don't want me to call for help, then get out of here!"
Those people followed the woman back a few steps, but showed no intention of leaving.
Just when Chang Lili was at her wit's end, a man breathing heavily suddenly rushed over, followed by a large group of people.
Looking up, Chang Lili saw a familiar face covered in raindrops.
Her eyes suddenly stung, and tears streamed down her face along with the rain. She called out in a hoarse voice, "Meng Yuxiu!"
The newcomer fought off several pursuing guards before raising his eyes to look at the scene. He glanced at it once, but could not look away.
The woman in black's face darkened instantly, sensing that things were getting even more complicated.
Chu Moyu, who had followed the guards, also had a dark expression. He moved all the guards to the vicinity of the palace gate, partly to keep Meng Yuxiu occupied, and partly to cover Guo Yan's escape from Chang Lili.
Unexpectedly, such a change occurred. These men in black were naturally more suspicious than Meng Yuxiu, who had directly broken into the palace. How could the guards turn a blind eye?
The woman in black's eyes sharpened, and she quickly approached Chang Lili.
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