The moon hung high in the sky, and she had lost track of what hour it was. Accompanied by the increasingly loud chirping of cicadas and the babbling sounds of mountain streams, Qiu Xinran’s eyelids fought against each other as her head nodded down bit by bit.

Xia Xiuyan had actually long been tired as well, but spending his first night outdoors like this, recalling the events that had occurred today, his thoughts couldn’t help but race wildly, and he felt a wave of restless agitation. When he looked at the girl beside him who seemed to be without a care in the world, he couldn’t help feeling somewhat indignant.

So he nudged the person next to him with his elbow: “Aren’t you afraid, sleeping in these mountains at night?”

Half asleep and half awake, Qiu Xinran was shaken awake by him. Her expression still somewhat dazed, she heard his question and yawned long before answering: “I’ve lived in the mountains since I was small—what do you think?”

“Why have you lived in the mountains since you were small?”

Qiu Xinran replied matter-of-factly: “Because when my master found me, I was in the mountains, and my master also lived in the mountains, so naturally I’ve lived in the mountains since I was small.”

Xia Xiuyan hadn’t known about her background before: “You’re an orphan?”

“How else would I end up in the mountains learning this if I weren’t an orphan?” Qiu Xinran’s answer was rather heartless, but it was essentially the truth. Although the Nine Sects was a major school, it wasn’t lacking in children from prominent families who went up the mountain to learn their arts, but most of these people were concentrated in places like the Literature Source, Metal and Stone, Medicine Sect, and Sword Sect. Those who would join the Divination Sect were mostly orphans seeking shelter or disciples who wanted to have a skill to rely on after completing their training.

She analyzed: “Although the current emperor enjoys seeking immortality and pursuing the Dao, for most people, this doesn’t count as a proper path—it’s still not as reliable as learning a practical trade.”

Xia Xiuyan had never had any good feelings toward these supernatural matters, and he also felt that the art of hexagrams was mostly trickery to deceive people’s hearts. Therefore, hearing her words, he couldn’t help but respond coolly: “Since you know this, why do you still learn it?”

“Because I’m different from them,” Qiu Xinran looked at him rather seriously and pursed her lips in a somewhat embarrassed smile. “My master says I’m the most promising one in the Divination Sect of this generation in the Nine Sects, that I was born to do this.”

Xia Xiuyan, who had expected her to say something extraordinary, found himself unable to respond for quite a while…

“How do you know your master isn’t lying to you?”

Qiu Xinran looked baffled: “Why would my master lie to me? Besides, when I read fortunes for people, I’m truly very accurate—I know it myself.” As she spoke, she looked at the person beside her and began to catch on: “You can’t sleep—are you worried we won’t be able to get out tomorrow?”

Without waiting for Xia Xiuyan to respond, she yawned again: “Want me to read your fortune?”

Xia Xiuyan laughed coldly: “I’m not sleeping so that when wild beasts come at night, I can run away alone and let them carry you off.”

Hearing this, Qiu Xinran instinctively shrank back, but quickly realized he was just trying to scare her, so she snorted lightly: “This is the imperial hunting ground. After His Majesty arrived, the guards already cleared the mountain early on—do you think I don’t know?”

She was truly terribly sleepy, and as she spoke, her voice grew softer. When Xia Xiuyan turned to look at her again after a while, he found she had already closed her eyes and fallen asleep.

Qiu Xinran was shaken awake the next day. When she opened her eyes, she found the sky still hadn’t brightened. The night wind was cool, and though they had been some distance apart when she fell asleep, when she woke up she found herself pressed tightly against the person beside her. Xia Xiuyan hadn’t pushed her away though. Qiu Xinran suspected he hadn’t slept all night. When he shook her awake, although his face showed some fatigue, his eyes were very clear.

“What is it, has someone come to find us?” She rubbed her eyes, her whole body aching terribly from sitting all night.

But Xia Xiuyan said seriously: “Do you still remember what you said last night about listening to me?”

When they were trapped in the cave last night, she had indeed agreed. Qiu Xinran’s expression became somewhat guarded: “Mm… but we’ve already escaped danger now.”

Xia Xiuyan laughed coldly: “You’ve forgotten that those two people said someone would come up the mountain at daybreak to meet them.”

“Then we’ll just go down the mountain now before they arrive, won’t we?”

“What if we run into them halfway?”

“We won’t—it’s such a big mountain, how could we so easily run into them?” Qiu Xinran frowned. “Besides, if we do run into them, we’ll just hide.”

“No,” Xia Xiuyan said decisively. “I won’t entrust my life to luck.”

Qiu Xinran was speechless: “Then what do you plan to do?”

Xia Xiuyan glanced at her and said in a low voice: “Come here.” Qiu Xinran skeptically leaned her head closer, and after hearing him explain the entire plan in her ear, she looked at him in shock and dismay: “Have you lost your mind?”

His face was grave as water, and though he said nothing, he clearly wasn’t joking in the slightest.

“If I agree to this, then I’m the one who’s lost my mind.” Qiu Xinran murmured. Xia Xiuyan laughed coldly: “You’ve misunderstood.” He looked at the person whose brain hadn’t yet caught up after just waking in the early morning, and added: “I’m not discussing this with you—I’m threatening you.”

When she heard him calmly say the two words “threatening you,” Qiu Xinran choked. After a night had passed, this person had once again transformed into someone with the appearance of a killer, completely without that barely visible warmth that had come from sharing adversity yesterday.

So after a short while, Qiu Xinran was kneeling on the ground in reluctant compromise, urging through clenched teeth at the person standing on her back: “Are you up yet?”

Xia Xiuyan had injured one leg yesterday, which made it quite difficult for him to climb the tree. By the time he finally got up and settled himself securely, the sky had already begun to show the pale light of dawn.

The place where the two were located was in some grass not far from that cave. In summer the vegetation was lush, and with the young man sitting in the tree hidden behind dense branches and leaves, unless someone came close and looked carefully, he would be difficult to discover.

After he climbed up, Qiu Xinran stood and dusted off her clothes, asking hesitantly: “Are you really confident?”

“As long as you can remember the path I just drew for you.” The person in the tree answered her coldly.

At this point there truly was no other option. Qiu Xinran swallowed her resentment and hid behind the grass, quietly waiting for daybreak.

After waiting like this for not very long, she indeed heard footsteps approaching from the distance. Her heart tightened, and even her breathing unconsciously lightened. Through the lush grass, she could see that the person coming up the mountain was a tall man wearing the clothes of a palace guard, with a longbow on his back and the appearance of a Han person.

As soon as he came up the mountain, he immediately discovered the corpse in the cave. Greatly shocked, he hurried into the cave to examine the situation. When he emerged after a while, his expression was somewhat unpleasant. Qiu Xinran couldn’t determine whether he was an accomplice of those two from last night or a palace guard who had come up the mountain this morning to search for them, and couldn’t help hesitating for a moment.

She bit her lip and shifted her body slightly. The grass made a soft rustling sound, immediately alerting the person in front of the cave, who shouted loudly: “Who’s there!”

Qiu Xinran jumped up from the grass like a startled rabbit and ran swiftly in the opposite direction. The guard chased after her from outside the cave: “Stop!” Of course Qiu Xinran couldn’t outrun him, and hearing the sound of him drawing his bow behind her, she immediately stopped, turned around, raised her hands in surrender and said: “Alright, don’t come any closer!”

The man saw her face clearly and seemed startled, then said with delight: “You… you’re that newly appointed Divination Official by His Majesty’s side?”

“You recognize me?”

“Of course I do. You disappeared last night, and the entire palace is sending people to search for you. Is Young Master Xia with you? And who is that lying in the cave?” The guard lowered his bow and walked a few steps closer to her.

Qiu Xinran quickly backed away, calling out loudly: “You… you stand there and don’t come closer!”

The man’s steps halted, puzzled: “What’s wrong? This subordinate specifically came up the mountain to rescue you?”

“Are you truly sent by the palace to find us?” Qiu Xinran asked suspiciously.

“Absolutely true. This traveling palace is heavily guarded—who else but palace people could come up? Since you say ‘us,’ do you know Young Master Xia’s whereabouts?”

Qiu Xinran said hesitantly: “The young master is injured, he’s not here.”

The guard was greatly alarmed: “The young master is injured? Quick, quickly take me to find him!” As he spoke, he walked forward a few more steps. Qiu Xinran stood in place without moving, as if she had temporarily set aside her suspicions of him.

Just as he was about to reach her, the young girl standing under the tree suddenly called out loudly: “Wait!”

The man was startled: “What is it?”

“Are you really a palace guard?” The thirteen-year-old girl, not even reaching his chest in height, suddenly tilted her head to ask him, her expression completely innocent.

He pulled his lips into a smile: “Does Divination Official Qiu still not believe me? Do you want me to take out my identification token to show you?”

Qiu Xinran shook her head: “Young Master Xia was abducted. If the palace knew, they would naturally send people to search the mountain overnight—why would they wait until daybreak?”

The man forced a smile: “It was precisely at daybreak that the servants discovered the young master was missing, so only then did they come up the mountain to search.”

“If it was only discovered at daybreak that he was missing, how do you know for certain he was taken up the mountain? Shouldn’t you first search everywhere in the traveling palace?”

The man was taken aback, then said: “The palace naturally searched as well—only when we couldn’t find him did we send people to search the mountain.” He seemed somewhat impatient, furrowed his brow and took another large step forward. “Time waits for no one. Divination Official Qiu should quickly take me to find the young master. If anything happens to him, who could bear the responsibility!”

Qiu Xinran warily stepped back: “Don’t come any closer first!”

But how could that man still have the patience to play riddles with her? In just a few steps he reached her, and just as he was about to grab the hem of her clothes, Qiu Xinran suddenly crouched down and let out a sharp scream. This scream was truly too unexpected—the sound was piercing and startled the birds roosting in the forest.

The newcomer was momentarily distracted, and from the treetop a few steps away, an arrow feather shot straight down with a whooshing sound. In that critical moment, he quickly retreated half a zhang to avoid vital areas, but was still pinned by the arrow through his robe. With the sound of tearing brocade, he had already sensed the danger, but his opponent reacted extremely fast—before he could dodge, a second arrow was already flying toward him. This time it pierced through his left knee, making him immediately stagger. Before he could steady himself, a third arrow followed—

His opponent’s movements were extremely steady, the speed of nocking arrows very fast, without the slightest hesitation. Not only did this catch him completely off guard, it gave him no chance to catch his breath. The man was finally pierced through the chest by the fourth arrow and fell to his knees on the spot.

Qiu Xinran quickly stood up and rushed over, pulling the arrows from his back and pressing them against his throat. The guard didn’t dare move for the moment: “What is the meaning of this, Divination Official Qiu?” He covered his chest with one hand, his expression rigid as he asked.

“Alright, save it. Who sent you?” Qiu Xinran glanced at him with quite an air of borrowed威(威 → authority).

The other party stiffly maintained his answer: “This subordinate was sent by His Majesty to search for and rescue Young Master Xia, as I’ve already said.”

“You don’t have to say—once I go down the mountain, one inquiry will reveal the truth.” Hearing this, the kneeling man looked up. Although he had already suspected it, when he saw that the person who had just shot the arrows from the tree was truly that Xia Xiuyan who was rumored to be plagued by illness, his gaze still couldn’t help but reveal a trace of surprise.

Xia Xiuyan looked down at him from above and said with a cold laugh: “Do you still have family? If you have no relatives, you surely have a few friends or brothers?” Hearing this, the guard’s expression changed, and he said with a stern face: “Even if the young master truly suspects I’m in league with those people, you can take me down the mountain and question me to find out.”

“You still want to go down the mountain alive?” Xia Xiuyan seemed to laugh at his naivety, saying unhurriedly: “If you can confess who’s behind this, I can give you a quick death.”

The man’s expression changed. Knowing that Xia Xiuyan was determined to kill him here, he suddenly became vicious. Qiu Xinran saw him suddenly thrust his neck toward her arrow point and was so frightened she instinctively pulled her hand back, retreating half a step. The man had precisely seized on the fact that she was putting on a fierce front but didn’t actually dare to kill anyone. He turned his palm into a claw and grabbed at her! Qiu Xinran was greatly alarmed and quickly retreated. Just at that critical moment, she suddenly heard a “tsch” sound by her ear, and some warm liquid splattered onto her face. Qiu Xinran instinctively closed her eyes. When she opened them, at close range she saw the other party’s eyes suddenly widen, staring straight at her. In an instant, he crashed backward with a thunderous sound. An arrow feather had grazed Qiu Xinran’s temple hair and pierced through his throat—fresh blood instantly stained the ground red.