Their swords opened the door, but the smoke inside spread everywhere. They covered their mouths and noses, but they still couldn't stop the smoke from entering their nostrils. However, they were slower to faint than the four maids before them.
Xiao Bao walked past them, still oblivious to the noise of his footsteps. Reaching the cave entrance, he looked around several times, gesturing with his hands: "Left, right, front, back, right... this way is on the right..."
But it was very dark on the right, with only a crescent moon casting a faint light, barely making out the outline of the road. Nevertheless, Xiao Bao ran to the right.
Yunxiang, who hadn't gone far, vaguely heard the commotion. She stopped and listened carefully, but heard nothing.
"It's impossible that something happened to Xiaobao. He's mentally challenged, he's been unconscious for a long time, and they just took his blood. He won't wake up—and even if he does, it'll be fine."
As Yunxiang'er thought this, she looked towards the cliff, thinking that if there was any movement, it would only be the Crown Princess's people quietly coming down from the cliff.
However, when she looked over, she saw nothing; the cliff was so high that it was impossible to get down.
Perhaps the wind was too strong tonight, and since Suolongwu is a desolate place, it's possible that wild animals might have appeared and caused a disturbance.
With that thought in mind, Yunxiang continued walking forward.
...
Besides the six maids, there were other people outside the place where Xiao Bao was imprisoned. However, they were just like the maids, fully on guard against the situation outside and had no precautions against Xiao Bao inside.
Xiao Bao had been running for about half a cup of tea's time before they realized what was happening. They immediately realized the situation was serious and led their men to chase after him!
Xiao Bao has short legs and is slow. Moreover, he has been captured for several days and his shoes have long been gone. He is running barefoot on the ground.
Before long, his feet were covered in blood. Just as he was about to stop and rest, a guard's fierce voice came from behind: "Stop! This is an isolated island. You can't escape!"
Xiao Bao glanced back and saw those people approaching with torches. He turned and ran, not believing their words; they were all bad people.
He believed what the older boy who looked exactly like him had said: as long as he ran to the right and kept running, he would be saved.
The guy had said he had a sleeping potion in his clothes, and he really did have one, so he believed him!
The guards found it both funny and infuriating that he didn't stop and the little boy was still running desperately. How could those short legs possibly outrun them?
The guards at the front rushed towards Xiaobao, as if they wanted to grab him and bring him back—if Xiaobao ran away, they would all be dead. Of course, they didn't believe that Xiaobao could escape their grasp!
The guard at the front spread his arms, ready to catch the running Xiao Bao—
Just then, in the firelight, a wolf with snow-white fur pounced, knocking the guard to the ground. The guard crashed into the people behind him, falling backward in a series of falls until three or five people had fallen before the attack stopped.
By the time they got up, Xiao Bao had already climbed onto the white wolf's back. The white wolf leaped with its paws and plunged into the darkness.
Everyone's faces turned deathly pale, their eyes practically bulging out of their sockets from anger and terror!
"Find him quickly! Don't delay! We must find that little fool!" the head guard said in a deep voice, his voice almost cracking.
We can't ruin Princess Xuan's plans!
They couldn't let the little fool run to the Crown Princess, otherwise... they didn't even want to think about it! They had to catch the little fool, they absolutely had to catch the little fool!
But as they continued forward, they suddenly noticed that the wind direction seemed to have changed, and the calm lake surface seemed to be moving, as if a large number of people were emerging from unknown corners and surrounding the entire Lock Dragon Dock.
At this time, Ji Mingwei was completely unaware of this.
She remained seated, calmly observing Ye Qingxue, and slightly raised her chin, signaling Ye Qingxue to kneel down quickly, as she didn't have much patience left.
Ye Qingxue exhaled and walked forward, but was stopped by Dong Bai, who said, "Crown Princess, I will kneel down in your place and crawl on my knees along the pebbled path to Princess Xuan!"
Ji Mingwei raised an eyebrow: "No one can replace her. I want the Crown Princess to come kneeling here in person, or she can forget about seeing the Crown Prince!"
Dong Bai gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot, wishing he could tear Ji Mingwei to pieces.
Yunxiang'er brought over Xiaobao's outer garment, which was tattered and stained with blood.
“Your Highness, this outer garment is what the Crown Prince’s eldest grandson wore on the day he left the Crown Prince’s residence. You should recognize it, right? If you don’t kneel down now, the next time we’ll be offering up the Crown Prince’s eldest grandson’s hands.” Ji Mingwei laughed.
Ye Qingxue remembers that outer garment!
These past few nights, she's dreamt of Xiaobao returning, always wearing this outfit.
In the days leading up to this, while searching for Xiaobao outside, she would subconsciously look at clothes of the same fabric and color, and sometimes even have the illusion that Xiaobao was wearing those clothes and had returned to her.
So how could she not remember!
She clenched her teeth, her hands were clenched into fists, her eyes were bloodshot, and she stared intently at the blood-stained outer garment. Thinking of her child, who was mentally challenged and who knows how he was being tortured, her heart ached.
"Ah!" Ye Qingxue screamed, and dust fell from the cave wall. Ye Qingxue bent her knees and was about to kneel on the stone path!
"Mother—"
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