Nanny Qin’s brow furrowed deeply. After a moment’s hesitation, she asked again, “Has that wretched girl Yelu Qianqian still not woken up?”

The guard shook his head. Ever since Yelu Qianqian had fallen ill days earlier, she hadn’t woken once.

Nanny Qin remained hesitant. This place, admittedly, was the best refuge available — not easy to find at all. If they abandoned it, only two paths remained: press forward, or retreat.

There was no other way around. Ahead lay a dense forest; behind, a single long path that would take a good while to reach its end.

“Nanny, better to leave while we can. We shouldn’t trust strangers so easily!”

“That’s right, Nanny, let’s head forward, into the forest — the terrain there is more complex, a much better place to hide!”

……

Nanny Qin hesitated still. “We arranged to meet Madam Situ here. If they arrive and find us gone—”

“Nanny, it was that wretched boy who arranged the meeting for us. Now that he’s run off, who knows what we’ll end up waiting for if we stay?”

Hearing this, Nanny Qin made her decision at once. “Retreat! Head into the forest ahead and find a new spot!”

“Yes!” The guards accepted the order immediately. Two of them hoisted the still-unconscious Yelu Qianqian and carried her out of the cave — her face was hidden, but her frame alone showed just how much weight she’d lost.

Nanny Qin walked at the rear, watching Yelu Qianqian’s thin, frail figure from a distance, a flash of murderous intent crossing her eyes.

She thought, if they couldn’t make it to Xiliang, rather than let Yelu Qianqian fall into the hands of the shadow guards and Xijing’s soldiers, she might as well just kill her with one stroke of the blade.

They’d lose their bargaining chip with Wanyan Lie, yes — but at least, with Yelu Qianqian dead, the Emperor of Xijing would surely be driven to fury, would surely break the alliance.

With that thought, Nanny Qin quickened her pace, and the whole group soon vanished down the icy, snow-covered path as the sky gradually darkened.

The head of Nangong City and Madam Situ stopped at a bend in the path, father and daughter exchanging baffled glances.

Judging by the footprints in the snow, that group of Xiongnu had turned right — and turning right led, not far ahead, straight to a cliff edge. To find Yelu Qianqian, they should have continued forward another half-li instead.

“Father, I don’t think they’re after Yelu Qianqian at all!” Madam Situ said with certainty.

“It’s as if they’re searching for something else. Otherwise, if they weren’t being followed by us, they’d have at least doubled back by now,” the head of Nangong City mused, equally puzzled.

“Never mind them, Father, let’s hurry! It’s just up ahead!” Madam Situ urged, tugging at her father to press on. “Father, we need to find them before dark. Tonight, we get Yelu Qianqian to Xiliang — every extra day Haonan spends on that battlefield is another day I can’t rest easy!”

“Heh, so now you’re worried about your son. If only you’d felt that way from the start — if you two had truly nurtured him properly back then, he never would have fallen in with Jun Beiyue in the first place!”

“Father, what’s the use talking about that now? Let’s hurry, it’s just ahead!”

Father and daughter pressed on as they spoke — Madam Situ anxious, the head of Nangong City remaining composed throughout. Having come this far, no matter what obstacles arose, he doubted anyone had the ability to snatch Yelu Qianqian out of his grasp.

What he didn’t know, however, was that Jun Beiyue had already caught up to them in person, at that very moment standing atop a tall tree with his sleeping wife in his arms, surveying the terrain ahead with a cold, determined curve at the corner of his lips.