On this snowy night when all things withered, the mountain inn had no guests either. The innkeeper was preparing to close up for the night when a woman entered.
The woman was wrapped in a cloak that was obviously ill-fitting, her entire body covered tightly. She threw two silver coins onto the counter.
“Innkeeper, prepare me a guest room, clean clothes, and wound medicine.”
The innkeeper collected the silver and gave Nanyi an extra look, curiously asking, “Miss, did you encounter the Qi people?”
Nanyi looked up in surprise: “How did you know?”
“Haven’t you heard yet, miss? Li Du Mansion surrendered without a fight. The prefect opened the city gates wide to let the Qi soldiers enter the city. Many Qi soldiers have also come to Tiger Crouching Mountain—who knows what they’re up to, but it’s got everyone in a panic. You must be extremely careful in the coming days. If you can avoid going out, don’t.”
Nanyi nodded with lingering fear and turned to go upstairs.
The innkeeper sighed: “These times are getting more and more chaotic.”
No matter how chaotic it was outside, tonight Nanyi could finally take a hot bath and tend to the wounds on her body.
After washing away all her dishevelment, she lay spread-eagle on the warm, soft bed, greedily occupying every inch of space on it.
This was her first time staying at an inn in months—the wonderful feeling went without saying. The last traces of uneasiness and fear in her heart about stealing someone’s pouch were overwhelmed by the pervasive comfort of this moment.
She thought optimistically that it was just a pouch, after all. That gentleman looked wealthy—surely losing it wouldn’t matter much to him.
She thanked that gentleman for giving her this moment of shelter. This guest room was exactly the place she had dreamed of. All along, she had desperately wanted to live under a roof that could shield her from wind and rain, so she wouldn’t have to wander anymore. Under the candlelight, Nanyi examined the bracelet on her wrist. She firmly believed that once she saw Zhang Yuehui, she would be able to have such a life.
In these chaotic times with nowhere to go and no relatives to depend on, this was the only thing she could believe in.
Nanyi covered herself with the quilt and fell asleep. Tonight, she should be able to have sweet dreams.
…
At dawn, when the sky was just beginning to brighten, urgent knocking came from outside the inn.
The innkeeper groggily threw on clothes and went to open the door. Outside stood a noble-looking gentleman with snow on his shoulders and eyebrows cold as frost.
“Have you seen a girl? Not tall, wearing an ill-fitting cloak, with injuries on her body.”
The innkeeper was stunned. He obviously remembered such a girl—she had seemed somewhat strange. He hesitated whether to tell this gentleman.
The innkeeper raised the oil lamp in his hand, wanting to see more clearly. Only then did he notice a Qi soldier standing behind this gentleman, obviously his subordinate.
This strange combination of a Central Plains person as leader with a Qi person as subordinate was something he instinctively knew not to provoke.
“Sir… please follow me.”
The innkeeper didn’t want to make trouble and attract a search, which would be problematic. So he turned and led Xie Queshan upstairs, opening the door to Nanyi’s room.
But the room was empty.
Xie Queshan lifted the quilt and felt it—the bedding was still warm. The person had just left not long ago. He instructed He Ping behind him.
“Immediately go to the camp and deploy troops to search. This person must be found.”
He Ping paused. He hadn’t expected a mere thief to be worth so much manpower to search for, but the young master was always strategic—surely there was something important in that pouch that couldn’t be delayed for a moment.
“Yes!”
He Ping immediately rushed out of the inn.
Nanyi, her soul barely settled from fright, jumped out the window and fled to the back courtyard seeking a hiding place, cursing inwardly—it was just a pouch! Was it necessary for him to come looking before dawn even broke?
Fortunately, she was accustomed to sleeping rough and was naturally alert. Hearing the slightest disturbance outside, she immediately woke up. Through the door crack, she saw it was the gentleman from the boat and immediately understood why he had come. So she jumped out the window and ran, narrowly escaping disaster.
But why was there a Qi person following behind that gentleman? He was clearly from the Central Plains… What could his identity be? Why was he so determined to retrieve the pouch… Could there be something important in it?
This thought flashed by as Nanyi spotted a well in the courtyard with its cover slightly ajar. She followed the rope down into the well to hide for a moment.
Unexpectedly, this was a dry well. The bottom wasn’t deep, so Nanyi simply let go of the rope and jumped down. Just as she was about to explore the depths of the well bottom, she suddenly felt a cold, sharp blade pressed against her neck.
Nanyi’s body stiffened, and her movements froze.
“Don’t make a sound.” A man’s voice came.
At the bottom of the well was an underground river, but the water had dried up, revealing a riverbed polished smooth by rushing water. On the rock wall beside the riverbed sat a weak candle lamp.
Pressing against the blade, Nanyi slowly turned her face. In the dim firelight, she finally saw clearly the man who had suddenly appeared at the bottom of the well.
He had a huge wound on his chest that, though bandaged, was still seeping blood. He seemed seriously injured. His face looked very pale, and the hand holding the dagger was trembling slightly.
“Someone outside is chasing me. I just want to hide for a while… I beg you, sir, to shelter me for a moment.”
Pang Yu looked Nanyi up and down. Such a young girl was indeed unlikely to arouse suspicion. He slowly withdrew his dagger.
“Who’s chasing you?”
Nanyi hesitated, feeling there was no need to explain everything to a stranger. Remembering that a Qi soldier had accompanied that gentleman upstairs, she chose the key point: “The Qi people.”
Unexpectedly, upon hearing these two words, Pang Yu immediately became tense, using what strength he had to climb up and look out of the well.
The inn’s courtyard was already brightly lit, and Qi soldiers had quickly arrived to surround the place. Standing in the center of the Qi people was none other than Xie Queshan.
Pang Yu retreated back down, looking at Nanyi with a very serious expression, his tone urgent: “You’ve provoked Xie Queshan? Who are you?”
Nanyi was completely bewildered: “Who is Xie Queshan?”
“That Central Plains person among the Qi people!”
Nanyi remembered that at the ferry, when she emerged from the water, those Qi soldiers had fled in panic. At the time, she had assumed the gentleman had some martial skills and had driven them away, but now she had a vague and absurd suspicion.