A fire rose in the stove.
Chu Dingjiang crouched by the stove, taking out the vial of sedative from his pocket. Earlier, he had used a significant dose to help An Jiu rest properly. It was his first time using such a thing, and it had failed!
The sedative seemed to not affect An Jiu at all. Chu Dingjiang wondered if it had lost its potency over time.
He poured a little onto his palm and sniffed it.
After just two whiffs, he felt dizzy. He immediately brushed off his hand and walked out of the shed, standing in an open area to meditate and regain his composure.
It would be embarrassing for the Divine Martial Commandant of Guards of the Crane Control Army to be knocked out by his drug!
Fortunately, he had inhaled very little, and he recovered quickly. Chu Dingjiang opened his eyes and thoughtfully looked at the room where An Jiu was staying.
After the water boiled, he mixed a basin and brought it into the room. “You can only wipe yourself down roughly. Make do with this.”
“Thanks,” An Jiu said.
Chu Dingjiang grunted in response and left the room, closing the door behind him.
He leaped lightly onto the roof, sitting down on a flat part of the ridge. He gazed at the distant, undulating mountains bathed in moonlight and mist.
The mountains in this area weren’t particularly high or steep. From a distance, they looked like rolling waves painted in ink wash.
As Chu Dingjiang listened to the splashing sounds from inside the room and gazed at the distant peaks, he couldn’t help but recall that youthful body with its newly apparent curves. At the time, her body had been stained with blood – pristine white and alluring red…
As he dwelled on these thoughts, he felt a warm flow slowly gathering in his lower abdomen. Chu Dingjiang snapped back to reality, his cheeks burning. He quickly tried to think of something else to divert his attention.
When he had rescued An Jiu this time, he hadn’t known that her meridians were destroyed. He had originally intended to bring her under his control. Later, when he discovered she had essentially become useless, he had considered abandoning her. However, he had always believed that winning people’s hearts was the key to achieving great things. Even an ordinary person, if truly loyal, could sometimes have unexpected usefulness. With this mindset, he had spent time-saving her. After all, his recent tasks had been quite easy, so he might as well do something productive with his idle time.
Indeed, An Jiu wasn’t disappointed. Even without inner power, she was unlike ordinary women.
As expected of Mei Yanran’s daughter! Chu Dingjiang knew she had only recently returned to the Mei Manor, so she couldn’t have been trained by the Mei clan. After much thought, this was the only explanation.
Having sorted through his thoughts, Chu Dingjiang felt deeply annoyed with himself for harboring such unsavory ideas.
After sitting quietly for a while, he let out a sigh. Since he had intended to use her from the beginning, he should maintain this mutually beneficial relationship. Although he had been forced to see her body to save her, she had clearly expressed her refusal, so he shouldn’t entertain any other notions.
The night returned to tranquility.
The next day, the two maintained their peaceful coexistence, as if nothing had happened. Only some bruises remained as evidence of their fierce battle.
Two days later, Chu Dingjiang returned to Bianjing to report for duty.
Before leaving, he left behind a large package of silver. Even though An Jiu wasn’t familiar with the local currency system and prices, she could guess it was a substantial sum.
Inside the package was a note from Chu Dingjiang, with just a few words: “Too much money, nowhere to spend. Do me a favor.”
It was signed with a bold and imposing “Chu” character.
An Jiu’s lips curled into a smile.
She could understand the feeling of having too much money and nowhere to spend it. She didn’t think Chu Dingjiang was joking.
An Jiu used to have a lot of money too, but as one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, she rarely had opportunities to spend it.
With such a large sum in hand, she could probably buy a vast piece of land. However, An Jiu herself felt life was meaningless. Now that she had a slight attachment – finding Mei Yanran and Mo Sigui – she didn’t hesitate to use it as travel funds.
Those who didn’t want to die had died, while those who didn’t want to live had survived. Fate truly never seemed to align with people’s wishes!
After recuperating in the small courtyard for five days, An Jiu set out towards Bianjing.
Chu Dingjiang had told her to keep going east until she reached a place called Li Family Village, then turned north. He hadn’t said anything else.
He had intended to test her further. In such a desolate mountainous region, without knowledge of the terrain or any landmarks, even experienced members of the Crane Control Army would likely struggle.
However, An Jiu’s wilderness combat and survival skills were extremely strong. She found Li Family Village after just a day and a night’s journey.
After observing the outskirts for an hour, An Jiu entered the village, bought some men’s clothing, and found an inn to rest.
The Song Dynasty’s restrictions on women were stricter than those of the Tang Dynasty. There wasn’t a single piece of fitted clothing in the ready-made clothing shops designed for women. An Jiu was tall for a woman, but she still couldn’t fill out men’s clothing. So she modified the clothes herself at the inn, tearing and stitching until they fit neatly.
The next day, she bought a horse, prepared some dried food, and began heading north.
While buying flatbread, An Jiu asked the vendor about the distance to Bianjing. It was over two hundred li, a journey of three to four days on horseback. Adding time for rest and replenishing supplies, An Jiu estimated she could reach Bianjing in six days if conditions were good.
But fate had other plans. Just half an hour after leaving Zhao Family Village, she discovered about thirty people tailing her.
This group had started following her halfway along the road; they weren’t from the village.
The air carried an earthy smell, and the wind brought a faint dampness – signs of impending rain. An Jiu had just recovered from serious injuries, and getting caught in the rain could easily lead to a cold. After riding urgently for seven or eight li, she spotted what looked like a rooftop in the nearby forest and rode towards it.
The group following her saw this and reined in their horses by the roadside. One of them said, “Brother, this young woman is acting strangely. Why is she heading into the deep forest?”
Another man with a shrill voice laughed lecherously, “Hehe, I told you she’s not from a good family. What kind of respectable young woman would travel alone? She must be a high-class courtesan from some brothel. Look at that face, that figure. She’s probably going into the woods hoping to have some fun with us…”
The leader said, “The scar on my arm is aching, which means it’s likely to rain soon. This young woman’s every move suggests she’s quite experienced in traveling. She might be from some martial arts sect. Let’s follow her and see, but if anything seems off, we’ll retreat immediately!”
“Understood!” the group responded in unison.
The rooftop had looked close, but it was quite a distance away.
Dark clouds slowly gathered in the sky. By the time the group reached the area, a light rain had started to fall.
It was an abandoned earth god temple, often used by travelers on the official road for rest or shelter from rain. Today, two people were sitting inside resting – a scholar and a villager. The woman was nowhere to be seen.
The scholar held a book, his eyes fixed on it, while the villager nervously shrank back.
“Hey! You there, have you seen a young woman come in?” the bandit leader asked the villager.
Seeing the group’s menacing appearance, the villager answered honestly, “I haven’t seen anyone.”
“Strange!” One of the men circled the inside of the temple, finding no hiding places. “Brother, the target has escaped.”
Smack!
The leader slapped the back of the man’s head and glared at him fiercely.
Scholars held a high status at the time. Although this scholar was staying alone in a dilapidated temple, his robes were new and clean, made of high-quality fabric. He came from a scholarly family. As for why he was staying in a ruined temple, that was hard to say.
In any case, the bandit leader was unwilling to provoke such a person.
Seeing the rain getting heavier outside, someone volunteered to scout the surrounding area.
After a while, the man returned leading a horse. “Brother, the horse is still here!”
How far could a young woman go on foot? She couldn’t have gone far without her horse.
A woman of her beauty could fetch several thousand taels of silver if sold in Bianjing! They had always dealt in small “businesses,” and couldn’t make that much in a lifetime.
Men die for wealth, birds die for food.
The bandit leader pondered for a moment, ultimately unable to resist the temptation of enormous wealth. “Pursue her!”
With the order given, all the bandits rushed out.
More than two hours later, as dusk fell and the rain showed no signs of letting up, the villager paced anxiously at the entrance for a while before gritting his teeth and leaving in the rain.
Inside the temple, the scholar untied a bundle of dry firewood and piled it together. He went to collect fallen leaves under the eaves at the front of the temple to start a fire. As he reached the corner of the building, he suddenly felt something warm under his fingers.
He froze, and his wrist was firmly grasped. He struggled hard, and a beautiful face emerged from the pile of dead leaves.
“Hey,” the beauty calmly asked him, “How far is the nearest village or town from here?”
The scholar stammered, “Ten li.”
An Jiu frowned. Ten li wasn’t far, but if she encountered those men…
An Jiu could sense that those bandits were at most second or third-grade martial artists, but there were too many of them. Her condition wasn’t much better, so she didn’t dare to be overconfident.
People were coming!
An Jiu could detect several people approaching from afar. The group must have failed to catch her and were returning!
“If these people ask about a woman’s whereabouts, point them towards Li Family Village!” An Jiu unsheathed her dagger and held it to his neck. “If you don’t comply, you’ll face the consequences.”
With that, she picked up her bundle and conical hat, used a pillar for support, and flipped onto a beam.
The scholar still stood dumbfounded, a handful of leaves in his hand, not yet recovered from the shock of her beauty.
The group of bandits rushed through the rainy night, reaching the temple door. Seeing the scholar’s dazed state, the leader had a thought. “Sir, have you seen a young woman?”
The scholar was startled. Turning to see them and remembering An Jiu’s instructions, he quickly pointed in the direction of Li Family Village.
“Ha!” The bandit leader laughed ambiguously, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
The scholar had seemed normal when they first arrived, but now he appeared somewhat flustered, which was very suspicious. They had thoroughly searched the surrounding two li and found no traces. The woman must still be in the temple!
“Our young mistress ran away from home. If you know her whereabouts, please tell us truthfully,” the bandit leader said, cupping his hands. He then added, “But if you insist on not saying, don’t blame us brothers for being impolite.”
As he spoke, several men had already walked under the eaves.