She supported Qi An’s arm and said in a low voice: “Listen to me, this is a trap. Chu Li set up this snare with the purpose of luring you in. I was merely an unwitting bait. Now the two countries are at war, with great battle imminent. Chu Li will definitely use you as a hostage to threaten the Qi state. Last night your country already sent people to rescue you, but they failed. You now have only one choice – trust me, and you can escape to freedom. Otherwise, if Qi falls and the people are displaced with lives lost everywhere, you will be a sinner for all eternity!”

Qi An’s gaze turned cold, his mind suddenly clearing. He raised his head to look seriously at Qing Xia, his eyes full of suspicion.

Qing Xia naturally knew he couldn’t possibly believe her, especially since Zhuang Qing Xia had suddenly transformed from the timid, cowardly noble lady of before into her current self. If she were in his position, she wouldn’t give the slightest trust either.

“Can you still walk?” Seeing that he no longer pressed for answers, Qing Xia said in a low voice.

Qi An didn’t speak, only nodded. Qing Xia pressed her lips together and threw a set of clothes she had stripped from the food-delivering soldiers onto the stone bed, saying to Qi An: “Put these on. We don’t have much time.”

The doubt in Qi An’s eyes grew heavier, but he said nothing and only picked up the clothes, slowly standing up. As soon as he moved, his brow suddenly furrowed tightly. Qing Xia knew his wounds had reopened and could no longer care about propriety. She crouched down and began dressing him.

Qi An’s expression froze. Just as he was about to say something, he was stopped by Qing Xia’s cold, sharp glare. He looked at this face that couldn’t be more familiar, yet felt not the slightest bit of the warmth that should be there. The Qing Xia in his memory should be shy, innocent, someone who could be scared to tears by a single drop of blood, always hiding behind him, carefully dodging his hands under the study hall desk while softly saying: “Prince Brother, Father will see us.”

Those youthful years, those days of studying together in the imperial study, all seemed like a great dream that had suddenly vanished without a trace.

After putting on his pants, Qing Xia carefully removed his blood-stained clothing. Beneath the luxurious fabric, his robust muscles were covered with dense wounds and whip marks, and among them, the most severe was the vicious stab she had given him that day with her dagger. Qing Xia looked at it and felt momentarily dazed, a trace of guilt rising from her heart. She couldn’t help but raise her head and ask softly: “Are you alright? I can carry you.”

Qi An was startled and quickly shook his head, saying hoarsely: “It won’t kill me yet.”

Qing Xia nodded and efficiently dressed him and put on his helmet. Seeing no flaws, she picked up a war blade from the ground and gave it to him, saying in a low voice: “Follow me!”

The two quickly ran to the corridor door. Qi An obviously knew the guards outside were tight, and looked questioningly at Qing Xia. Qing Xia gestured for him to follow her, then counted silently a few times and pulled open the heavy iron door.

“Prince Qi is dead! Someone is breaking into the prison!” Qing Xia stumbled and suddenly rushed out, seemingly accidentally falling toward the alarm post and grabbing an Iron Buddha guard, shouting sternly: “Prince Qi is dead! Quick! Someone is breaking into the prison!”

“What?” The fourteen Iron Buddha guards cried out in unison, and several impatient ones immediately rushed inside. Qing Xia saw the timing was ripe, a sinister look flashing in her eyes. Her dagger suddenly struck out, slashing the throat of the guard watching the alarm. Before the man could understand what was happening, a spray of blood shot skyward and his body fell to the ground.

“They’re not our people!” One guard reacted and immediately shouted. Qing Xia’s brow twitched, and the dagger in her hand immediately flew out, piercing right into the center of that guard’s forehead with a bang. Qing Xia suddenly yanked the door rope, and the heavy iron door thundered down, trapping the eight Iron Buddha guards who had already run inside to check the situation.

Since ancient times, prison construction was primarily designed to prevent prisoners from escaping, with preventing outsiders from infiltrating as secondary. So escaping from within the prison was even more difficult than ascending to heaven. This place was over a hundred meters deep, and once this heavy iron door fell, no matter how loudly you screamed, no one would hear you.

Two Iron Buddha guards rushed to the iron door, trying to open it. Qing Xia drew the heavy iron long blade specific to Iron Buddha guards from her waist, kicked against the wall corner, and the thick scabbard crashed down on another Iron Buddha guard’s head. Combined with her kicking force, red and white matter immediately splattered from the man’s brain. She quickly and cleanly eliminated three guards, while another eight guards were trapped in the prison cell. Qing Xia’s long blade moved with wide, sweeping strokes – all the fierce techniques of Japanese Eastern martial arts – as she fiercely attacked the remaining three men. At this moment, it was a contest of who was faster than whom.

In terms of reaction speed, Qing Xia was confident she was second to none. Her previous series of actions had occurred almost within a single second. In Qi An’s dazed state, he only saw Qing Xia suddenly engage in direct combat, her movements agile like a tigress. What seemed like simple chopping moves were filled with tremendous power. Suddenly one man screamed miserably, his head immediately split in half by Qing Xia’s blade, and he fell down.

The Iron Buddha truly deserved their reputation as Southern Chu’s most elite Imperial Guards. Despite facing such a fierce sudden attack with heavy casualties, they remained calm in battle without showing the slightest cowardice. However, they were completely focused on dealing with Qing Xia and forgot about Qi An beside them. Qi An drew his long blade and attacked from behind, slashing one guard’s shoulder. Unfortunately, this single movement caused Qi An’s shoulder to immediately bleed. The two days of torture became increasingly evident at this moment. Moreover, having not eaten for two days, he was already at his limit. His body went weak and he collapsed.

Seeing the Iron Buddha guard’s war blade slashing horizontally toward Qi An, Qi An closed his eyes and stopped struggling. With just their two people’s strength, trying to escape from Southern Chu’s most heavily guarded prison was too much of a stretch. But the next second, he heard the dull sound of blade meeting flesh. Opening his eyes, he saw Qing Xia covered in blood, kicking away the Iron Buddha guard’s corpse and coldly going up to deliver a finishing blow.

Watching Qing Xia like a bloodthirsty beast delivering finishing blows to each corpse, Qi An couldn’t help but frown tightly. Qing Xia walked a circle around the short corridor, and seeing no living person remained, she extended her hand to Qi An and said: “Let’s go.”

Qing Xia’s hands were covered in blood. Thinking of the gentle, tranquil woman from before, Qi An couldn’t help but feel disgusted. Thinking that she might have been deceiving him all along, putting on an act in front of him, he felt a wave of anger. He ignored Qing Xia and stood up by himself, walking toward the dark tunnel.

Qing Xia was startled and followed after him.

The tunnel remained dim. The fighting inside obviously hadn’t alerted those above, and it was completely quiet here now. Suddenly Qi An’s steps slowed. Qing Xia quickly moved forward and said in a low voice: “How are you?”

“Get away!” Qi An said harshly and continued forward. Qing Xia naturally knew what was happening but didn’t say a word, still following behind.

They soon exited the tunnel and came to the hidden room where Qing Xia had hidden before. Familiar with the way, she opened the door, saw no one in the corridor, and both of them slipped toward the storage room they had entered through earlier.

Ridiculously, the guard who had been sleeping before was still fast asleep. Qing Xia found it amusing, thinking silently that if this man hadn’t been asleep, he might have died by her hand tonight too. She didn’t regret killing those guards – after all, as soldiers, they should have the awareness to sacrifice their lives for their country at any time. If Qi An couldn’t escape, the deaths would be a hundred or thousand times more. Entering the storage room, Qing Xia looked down and around, saw no one on either side, and nimbly jumped down first. Qi An, severely injured, stumbled when he jumped down, steadied himself against the wall, and gritted his teeth to persevere without making a sound.

Seeing him enduring the pain, Qing Xia frowned and turned her head away. Escaping was relatively much easier. Since Qing Xia had already left an escape rope, the fifteen-meter wall was no longer a barrier. This place was in the eastern part of the city, near the military headquarters. Qing Xia conveniently stole two horses and quickly escaped to the east city gate. Both wearing Iron Buddha military uniforms and riding war horses from the military headquarters, they easily passed through the city gate. They didn’t stop until they had traveled about ten li.

“I can only escort you this far.” Qing Xia jumped off her horse and took a bundle she had prepared in advance and hidden outside the prison walls, handing it to Qi An and saying seriously: “Inside are clean clothes, golden wound medicine for treating injuries, dry rations, water, silver, a map, and a carrier pigeon. You can first notify your subordinates to come meet you. Chu Li will soon know of your escape, and he will certainly set up an inescapable net to chase you. Although this place isn’t too far from Qi, I still advise you to take a detour through Qin first, then plan your return to Qi to avoid Chu Li’s pursuit. The journey is long – be careful in all things.”

Taking Qing Xia’s bundle, Qi An’s heart immediately surged with indescribable bitterness. But thinking of their many years together before, when Qing Xia might have had ulterior motives all along, his heart could never find peace no matter what.

Qing Xia knew what he was thinking and couldn’t help feeling sad, not knowing whether it was because she felt wronged or because she felt sorry for the real Zhuang Qing Xia. Dispirited, she said lightly: “No matter what you think, Zhuang Qing Xia truly never betrayed Qi An. Everything can only be said to be fate’s manipulation, a series of unfortunate coincidences.”

Having said this, she turned and mounted her horse, about to leave.

“Wait!” Qi An suddenly shouted loudly, grabbing Qing Xia’s horse reins and frowning: “You’re still going back?”

Qing Xia smiled helplessly and said lightly: “Though you think me cruel and ruthless, if I hadn’t been ruthless just now, it would be you and I who died. Everything in this world is like this – once you decide to do something, you must eliminate all threats completely, leaving no way back. But the Zhuang family members are innocent after all. Though my words sound carefree, I cannot ignore their lives and deaths, and there are all the servants in Lanting Palace. I cannot just walk away. Qi An, after today’s parting, we may never meet again. Farewell.”