The flames shooting skyward from the Song estate in the black night were truly heart-stopping. Along the way, many households that had originally shut their doors tightly and remained quiet now showed signs of activity. Qing Luo and Han Yan wrinkled their noses and moved lightly through the night.

Their bodies still lacked strength. Song Chuyi and Song Jue always acted with excessive caution—they had long ago fed them medicine that made them drowsy and sluggish. Just now, relying on a surge of alarm, they had rushed from their room to the doorway, and after being on edge for so long, they were gradually finding it hard to support themselves.

Without their martial skills to rely on, the weather seemed particularly cold. Qing Luo hugged her arms and yawned, feeling a dull ache in her temples. After walking some distance, she looked back at Earl Changning’s estate still burning in the distance, then turned her head away without looking again and asked Han Yan, “So where do we go now?”

Since they couldn’t return to Longhu Mountain, she began to feel worried and afraid. Longhu Mountain was their home; their parents and relatives were all on Longhu Mountain now. But now they couldn’t go back—how could they return? The Celestial Master had sent them down the mountain to serve Zhou Weizhao, and Zhou Weizhao had instructed them to serve Song Chuyi, but they hadn’t done so. After betraying Song Chuyi and disobeying Zhou Weizhao’s orders, not only had they failed to return to Longhu Mountain, but they had also…

Even if they returned now, they would be completely useless. Not only useless, but they would very likely implicate their families as well.

Han Yan had obviously already thought of this point. She sighed, kicked a pebble by the roadside, her ears nearly numb from the cold. She raised her hand to cover her ears, stamped her feet, and said with a frown, “Even if we go back now, there’ll be no good outcome waiting for us.”

That was true. Now that the mistake had been made and they had escaped from Earl Changning’s estate, wouldn’t returning make their crime even worse?

But if they didn’t go back, where else could they go? They were merely Dao soldiers who had come down from Longhu Mountain. Although they possessed martial skills, by tomorrow they would likely be wanted throughout the entire capital. No matter how capable they were, two fists couldn’t defeat four hands. What’s more, the Celestial Master had also come down the mountain to the capital. If the Celestial Master sent people to act, besides surrendering obediently, what other option did they have?

The two walked aimlessly for a while, only to feel short of breath and so exhausted they could barely stand—the medicine Song Jue had given them was very potent. Previously at Earl Changning’s estate, they had often spent entire days in a drowsy stupor.

Finding a corner at the base of a wall to sit down, Han Yan hugged her legs, placed her head on her knees, and closed her eyes for a while. When she raised her head again, her hair had already been scattered by the wind. While tidying her hair, she cleared her thoughts.

“Whoever rescued us—we should go find them.” She made up her mind, and her originally racing heart felt somewhat better. The nausea that had already risen to her throat was swallowed back down.

Qing Luo stared at her in astonishment. “What did you say?”

Han Yan gave a cold laugh. “What’s so astonishing about it?” she said. “They surely didn’t rescue us out of the goodness of their hearts, right? If we weren’t of some use to them…”

Qing Luo’s expression was very grave. She lowered her head without speaking. In the darkness, Han Yan’s eyes were gleaming.

Yes, originally they were about to return to Longhu Mountain. It was he who asked them if they were unwilling. It was he who asked them if they wanted to stay. They had done everything according to what he told them.

Thinking about it now, he clearly had no good intentions—neither toward His Highness the Grand Prince nor toward Song Chuyi. He certainly wanted misfortune to befall Song Chuyi and Zhou Weizhao.

That’s why he had incited them to go find the heir of Marquis Guangping. That’s why there was the incident with the stone tablet at the Imperial Mausoleum.

So now, he rescued them and specifically had someone tell them not to return to Longhu Mountain—wasn’t this telling them to go find him?

Qing Luo figured it out but still couldn’t help hesitating. “But he wronged His Highness…”

“Does His Highness consider us important?” Han Yan gave a cold laugh, her expression mocking. “Has His Highness treated us fairly?! We grew up with him since childhood. We learned all these skills to serve him, but he turned around and gave us to Sixth Miss Song. He didn’t even ask once if we were willing!”

By the end, her voice had become somewhat shrill.

Qing Luo didn’t speak.

Han Yan had already made up her mind and stood up briskly. “Let’s go. Even if we returned now, the mountain wouldn’t tolerate us.”

Indeed, Longhu Mountain had very strict rules. Their previous betrayal of Zhou Weizhao could already be considered deceiving their master and destroying their ancestors. The Celestial Master was strict with his rules—he wouldn’t spare them.

Qing Luo also stood up. “But where do we find him now?” She was very worried. “It’s not so easy for us to see him. Besides, we’ve already told Sixth Miss that it was Yuan Jin…”

Han Yan snorted. “So they must have gone to investigate Yuan Jin!”

They had never planned to tell everything from the start. Only a fool would do that. They had witnessed Song Chuyi’s methods of dealing with enemies while serving at her side. Was she the kind of person who would leave anyone a way out? No, she wasn’t. What’s more, what they coveted was her husband. Even if they honestly confessed who had led them to find the heir of Marquis Guangping, Song Chuyi wouldn’t spare them. So it was better not to confess and let her busy herself for nothing. But how to contact him was indeed a problem, after all, he was someone who followed Zhou Weizhao and worked for Zhou Weizhao.

“We need to think of a way.” She stamped her feet thoughtfully in place, relieving the numbness caused by the cold. “But it’s not like there’s no way.”

Qing Luo followed her words and looked at her, asking in a low voice, “What way?”

“Qing Zhuo and Han Feng are the ones who never leave His Highness’s side. He’s usually quite free.” Han Yan struggled to search through some memories. “Where does he usually like to go?”

Qing Luo had obviously thought of it too. Her heart began racing again, and a smile bloomed on her face. “Chongyin Workshop.”

Yes, he had always loved listening to opera. After all this time, he still hadn’t changed this habit. When the two of them had first come down from Longhu Mountain, it was at Chongyin Workshop that they had found him, and he had sent them to Jinzhong to prepare to serve Zhou Weizhao.

“So should we keep this disguise?” Qing Luo pointed at the clothes on herself and Han Yan. “Otherwise we’ll easily be discovered.”

Han Yan nodded. “To avoid detection, of course we should keep it this way. We can’t be discovered. Tomorrow we’ll go try our luck and see if we can run into him.”

But they went for two or three days in a row without seeing the person they wanted to meet, and couldn’t help feeling discouraged and dejected.

They didn’t know if the fire had aroused the Song family’s suspicions, so he was avoiding suspicion…