Before long, the guards from the Jiang estate and the hunters from town arrived—twenty people in total.

There were four paths up the mountain. Jiang Jiu asked, “Young Master Su, should we divide into four groups of five to search the mountain?”

Su Jin shook his head. “No, divide into five groups. Four groups will search the mountain, and the rest will wait here. If anything happens, they can provide immediate reinforcement.”

The father of Da Hu and Er Hu said, “Then I’ll go too!”

Su Jin replied, “No, you don’t know martial arts. If you encounter a wild beast, they’ll have to divide their attention to protect you.”

He then said to Chao Qing, “Yunsheng, you take A Hu’s father and the Jiang family servants to inquire further in town. It would be best if we could confirm the whereabouts of these four children before dawn. Zhao Lin, you go with Yunsheng.”

Everyone dispersed to carry out their tasks.

Near midnight, at this hour, aside from the occasional rumbling sounds of mulberry carts returning to town, the entire small town was already fast asleep.

Nan Ting sat in the cart, seeing from afar people holding torches at the town entrance, and sensed something was wrong.

He jumped down from the mulberry cart and let the driver go ahead. Only after confirming that the person waiting at the town entrance was Miss Jiang Yue’er from the Jiang family did he relax.

Jiang Yue’er also saw Nan Ting. She approached him, first calling out, “Young Master Nan,” before saying, “Xiao Ci has gone missing.”

Nan Ting’s brow furrowed. “How did he go missing?”

Jiang Yue’er explained the situation, then said, “Master Chao has already arranged for people to search the mountain and sent someone to report to the authorities in Pingchuan County. Father asked Yue’er to wait at the town entrance for you. Once you return, he requests that you immediately go to Master Chao’s residence.” After thinking for a moment, she added, “You rarely move about in town, so Master Chao lives behind that mulberry field to the east.”

Who would have thought that upon hearing the words “report to the authorities,” something seemed to flash across Nan Ting’s brow. He lifted his torch toward Cuiwei Mountain, remembering how a few days ago, when Jiang Ci came to ask him to teach martial arts, he had said, “Master, I found a secret path up the mountain, right behind the three old ironwood trees west of the town entrance. Wait for me—in a few days I’ll take my little brother to dig out bird eggs on the mountain to honor you!”

That unlucky child.

Nan Ting couldn’t help but click his tongue.

“I won’t go to Master Chao’s place. I’ll go up the mountain from the town entrance and leave markers along the way.”

As he spoke, he placed his bundle on the mulberry cart and said to the driver, “Help me deliver this back to the Jiang estate.” He unstrapped the long blade from his waist and gripped it in his hand.

Jiang Yue’er hurried forward two steps. “Young Master Nan is going up the mountain alone?” She worried, “But in the deep mountains at night, how can you protect yourself going alone?” She hastily took a wooden box from her maid’s hands. “Let Yue’er accompany you. Yue’er has prepared a medicine box.”

Nan Ting glanced at her. “No need. You won’t be able to help.”

His gaze fell on the medicine box in her hands. After thinking for a moment, he selected trauma medicine and detoxifying licorice pills from it, saying, “Go back. Be careful at night.” He turned and left.

Jiang Yue’er’s face suddenly flushed red. Just as she wanted to reply “You be careful too,” when she looked up, Nan Ting’s figure had already disappeared into the night.

She felt somewhat dazed. Earlier, when Nan Ting had reached out to take the medicine, he had stood close to her, and the palms holding the medicine box had broken out in sweat.

It wasn’t until Uncle Tian, the mulberry cart driver, called to her that she came back to her senses.

“Miss, shall I take you back to the Jiang estate?”

Jiang Yue’er shook her head. “Take me to Master Chao’s place.”

With Nan Ting going up the mountain alone, she was worried and wanted to go ask if there were any spare people available.

After boarding the mulberry cart, seeing Nan Ting’s bundle left to the side, she couldn’t help but ask, “Uncle Tian, why did Young Master Nan think to go to Pingchuan County today?”

“Oh, he said he wanted to go to Ningzhou to purchase some things.”

Jiang Yue’er froze. “He’s leaving?”

“Didn’t you know, Miss? When Guard Nan first came to the Jiang family, the long-term contract he signed only went until the fifth year of Yongji.”

“Will he come back later?”

“That I don’t know.” Uncle Tian said, discerning her thoughts. “Guard Nan is skilled in martial arts, can read, and is quite distinguished-looking. Miss,” he deliberately drew out the words, “in a few days it’ll be the Flower Festival—”

The maid beside them also said, “That’s right, Miss. In a few days at the Flower Festival, Qin’er will help you make river lanterns!”

“You silly girl!” Jiang Yue’er’s face turned completely red. She tried to pinch her. “Nothing but nonsense!”

On a spring night, there should have been constant insect chirping, yet in a small patch of dense forest on Cuiwei Mountain, aside from the occasional heavy panting, all around was deathly silent.

Beneath a low rock about ten feet long, Jiang Ci, Da Hu, Er Hu, and Yun Xi huddled tightly together.

Er Hu had already wet his pants in fright. Da Hu’s face was also deathly pale. Jiang Ci had a large gash torn in his left arm that was still seeping blood. Yun Xi, thinking that he had gotten injured trying to help him after all, tore off a large piece of his garment hem to bandage him.

Actually, they had intended to return after raiding the bird’s nest, but who knew that on the way down the mountain they would encounter a wild boar, glaring at the four of them with bared tusks, its hooves scraping the ground before charging at them with fury.

The four children ran for their lives, but unfortunately they couldn’t outrun the wild beast.

Later, it was Yun Xi who reacted quickly. Seeing the sky darkening, he shouted, “Find stones to throw at it!” and positioned himself beside a thick banyan tree.

When attacking prey, wild boars first charge and gore, then bite.

Seeing this move, Jiang Ci immediately understood his intention and grabbed him aside. “You go find stones. I’ll do this!”

The wild boar’s attention had already been drawn to Jiang Ci. Its hooves scraped the ground, and when it charged, the earth practically shook.

When the wild boar was three zhang away, Jiang Ci dodged behind the thick banyan tree.

With a “boom,” the banyan tree let out a tremendous sound. While the wild boar was dazed from the collision, Yun Xi, along with Da Hu and Er Hu, lifted stones and hurled them at its head.

This collision and bombardment severely depleted the wild boar’s vitality. It swayed in place and, though it collapsed to the ground, it didn’t lose consciousness. It let out angry squeals at the four of them.

“Run—” Jiang Ci shouted. In their panic they fled without choosing a path, and by the time they found this low rock to hide under, they discovered they were already lost and couldn’t descend the mountain tonight.

Jiang Ci’s injury was from being knocked to the ground and scraping himself when the wild boar had crashed into the banyan tree.

Seeing the blood wouldn’t stop flowing, Yun Xi applied some pressure when bandaging.

Jiang Ci couldn’t help but furrow his brow and click his tongue.

Da Hu asked with concern, “Boss, are you afraid of pain? If it hurts, just cry out.”

Jiang Ci got a bit angry. “Who’s afraid of pain? Could I be afraid of pain? Ignorant!” He added, “I learned this from my master. When he’s unhappy, he clicks his tongue. All masters do this!”

Hearing this was actually Guard Nan’s habit, Da Hu and Er Hu’s eyes went wide. They swallowed and imitated in unison, “Tsk!”

Yun Xi was silent for a moment before saying, “Jiang Ci, thank you for earlier.”

If he hadn’t stepped forward, he himself would have been the one injured.

Jiang Ci glanced at him. Moonlight filtered through the forest, weakening by several degrees. Under the rock it was even darker, and he could only make out bright eyes.

He grunted an acknowledgment, not wanting to say that he was actually acting out of guilt.

Their Jiang family held military registration. As military generals of the Great Sui, their duty was to fight and defend, and they valued loyalty and integrity above all. Saying someone “has no father” and exposing their wounds was too low and tasteless—not something Young Master Jiang would do, even though those words had been said by his sworn protector.

“The name Mu Tou doesn’t suit you.” Jiang Ci changed the subject. “Master Chao is better at choosing names. Mu Yunxi sounds nicer.”

Yun Xi smiled slightly, lowering his eyes. “But I really like the name Mu Tou. It was given to me by someone very, very dear to me.”

Jiang Ci asked curiously, “Besides Aunt A Xiang, you have other relatives? Then why don’t you go find—”

Before he could finish, in the silent dark night, a low squealing suddenly came, a sound from the throat carrying anger—it was the wild boar from earlier, having found them.

Er Hu trembled in fright. “B-Boss, what do we do?”

Jiang Ci lowered his voice to ask, “Yun Xi, you’re smart. What do you say?”

Yun Xi thought for a moment. Earlier they had run for a good half-quarter hour, and the wild boar hadn’t pursued them. How had it found them now?

He heard a faint sniffing sound, as if smelling something.

The scent of blood?

Then finding them was only a matter of time.

Yun Xi suddenly grabbed Jiang Ci’s arm. “Run!”

The four children burst out from under the rock and ran deeper into the dense forest. At the same time, the wild boar let out a low roar and charged after them with pounding hooves.

However, the four of them had already exhausted their strength in the earlier escape. Combined with not having eaten dinner, how could they be faster than the wild beast? Seeing Er Hu at the rear about to be caught by the wild boar, Da Hu screamed, “Er Hu—”

Jiang Ci gritted his teeth and turned back two steps to grab Er Hu’s arm.

When fleeing for one’s life, the most taboo thing is looking back—in the end, you can’t save anyone. Seeing the wild boar about to crash into all three of them, Yun Xi also panicked. He shouted with all his might, trying to draw the wild boar’s attention and repeat the earlier method of luring it to crash into a tree. Unfortunately, the wild boar completely ignored him, following the scent of blood.

Just then, in the dark night, a blade suddenly rang out.

A spark of fire descended from above, tracing an arc across the night sky.

“Jiang Ci, catch it!” A clear, resonant voice accompanied the fire.

Jiang Ci’s eyes suddenly widened. “It’s my master!”

Overjoyed, even his limbs surged with boundless strength. He steadily caught the torch that fell before his eyes, frightening away the wild boar charging toward them.

The wild boar paced in place two steps, let out two low roars, then gathered its strength and charged again.

“Get back!” Nan Ting shouted, raising his blade and advancing to block in front of Jiang Ci. The instant the wild boar charged, he spun to evade. At the same time, he tossed the blade from his right hand to his left, turned and slashed downward, then clicked his tongue.

These pigs raised in the mountains truly had thick, tough hide. Such a slash would have split ordinary cattle or sheep in half, yet it only opened a gash.

Jiang Ci, Da Hu, and Er Hu stared wide-eyed, clicking their tongues in unison, “Tsk!”

The firelight illuminated only Nan Ting’s area, as if he carried light with him.

The injured wild boar became even more furious, almost determined to fight to the death.

Nan Ting had fought wolves in the northwest, killed bears on Fenglan Mountain, and when imprisoned in the Eastern Palace, had even slaughtered snakes. He knew these beasts’ tempers when enraged. The instant he withdrew his blade, he showed no mercy. He leaped and dodged the wild boar’s charging counter-attack, then crouched low, one hand bracing the ground. Finding the soft spot on its flank, his other hand drove the long blade straight into its body.

The wild boar let out a squeal and used all its strength to kick at him with its hooves. However, Nan Ting had already gracefully retreated several steps, not even catching a single drop of its dying blood.

“So… so amazing—” Jiang Ci stared blankly for a long time. Only when Nan Ting had walked right up to him did he manage to utter these words.

Nan Ting looked at the blood seeping from his left arm, his brow slightly furrowed. He took out trauma medicine from his waist, intending to have Da Hu and Er Hu help apply it to Jiang Ci. But when he glanced down, both their pants were wet.

Useless.

He looked around again and found the child standing in the shadows who hadn’t made a sound. He said, “You, come here.”

Mu Yunxi felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with the person before him. He knew this was the Guard Nan that Jiang Ci, Da Hu, and Er Hu revered as a deity day after day, yet he suspected—had he perhaps seen him somewhere before?

A small figure, bright as stars and moon, emerged from the darkness.

Nan Ting didn’t look closely either. He handed the trauma medicine to him, then examined Jiang Ci’s wound, saying, “Pull his sleeve back for him, apply the medicine, then—”

The words caught in his throat, and his entire body froze as if someone had struck his acupoints.

He remembered that face. He had watched him grow up. He resembled his imperial brother, and also his imperial sister-in-law. He resembled the family member he had searched for all these years, scouring the ends of the earth without finding a trace.

In his heart, tides swallowed the heavens. In his eyes, the sun rose and the moon set.

Zhu Nanxian turned his face away to look again.