Crowned Consort in Golden Age-Chapter 48. Adventure Chronicles of the Mountain Fort
48. The Adventure in the Mountain Stronghold
In a secluded alley in the Capital City, a carriage stood quietly. The coachman had long since disappeared. At some unknown point, they had been surrounded. The man leading them wore inconspicuous grey clothes, his long, messy hair obscuring half his face. The exposed half looked stiff and ferocious. A vengeful, cold light shot from his one visible eye. Even though the setting sun, not yet vanished in the west, still cast a faint warmth, it seemed to turn bone-chillingly cold upon his figure.
"Come out!" the man’s voice rang out ominously. After a long pause with no movement from the carriage, he seemed to grow impatient. He sneered, "If you don’t come out, I’ll start shooting. I know full well the people inside aren’t dead. Get out!"
A moment later, a pretty maidservant shakily lifted the carriage curtain and slid down. Then, with another charming young maid, she helped a pale young woman with refined features out of the carriage. An arrow was embedded below the young woman’s right shoulder; the spot she clutched with her left hand was already stained a deep crimson. "Who... who are you people?" the pale young woman asked, her voice trembling.
The one-eyed man sneered, his solitary eye flickering with malice. "So this is the future Princess Consort of Prince Ding? Mo Xiuyao, that cripple, certainly is lucky. Down to half a life, and still such a beautiful woman is willing to marry him!"
Qingluan stepped forward, shielding the two behind her. "Since you know who we are, how dare you be so insolent?"
The one-eyed man grinned savagely. "Others may fear Mo Xiuyao, but I don’t. Besides... is there anyone in the Capital City who’s still afraid of him now?"
Ye Li looked squarely at the man. "Sir, do you hold a grudge against Prince Ding, or against the Xu Family and the Ye Family?"
The one-eyed man was taken aback but quickly burst into wild laughter. "Mo Xiuyao’s woman? Interesting! I have no grudge against Mo Xiuyao, nor against the Xu Family or the Ye Family. So what?" Ye Li said, "Then you’ve been paid by someone else to cause trouble? Whatever they paid you, I’ll double it."
"You?" The one-eyed man stared at Ye Li, sizing her up as if assessing her credibility. "I received silver notes worth 20,000 taels to take your life. Can you afford that?"
Ye Li nodded. "Let us go, and I’ll give you 40,000 taels."
"Why should I trust you?" The man’s solitary eye narrowed as he stared intensely at Ye Li. For anyone, 40,000 taels of silver was a sum that would tempt them. The eyes of his surrounding men began to shift, but they dared not act without their leader’s command. Ye Li replied calmly, "If you don’t trust me, you can let one of my maids go back to fetch the money. An exchange of money for our release, and we’ll be even. Besides... I don’t think you intend to kill me. I only ask that you don’t harm us."
The corner of the one-eyed man’s eye twitched violently. He glared at Ye Li. "You think I don’t dare to kill you?"
"If you truly intended to kill me, you would have riddled us with arrows already."
"Good! Mo Xiuyao’s woman is indeed out of the ordinary! You!" he pointed at Qingyu. "Go back and get the money. If anyone else finds out, or if the silver notes aren’t at the designated place at the appointed time, then prepare to collect your young miss’s corpse!" Qingyu, startled, shook her head vehemently. "I won’t go! Let our Young Miss go; we’ll stay!"
The one-eyed man sneered. "Do you think I’d believe the lives of two maids are valuable?"
Qingyu gritted her teeth. "My Young Miss is injured. I know a little about medicine. Let Qingluan go."
"The injury isn’t severe. If you hurry back, you’ll still have time to treat your young miss’s wound. Scram!"
"Qingyu, you go first," Ye Li said softly. Qingyu bit the corner of her lip and nodded heavily. "Qingluan, take good care of our Young Miss."
Qingluan nodded, turning to take Qingyu’s place in supporting Ye Li. Watching Qingyu stumble away, the one-eyed man pointed to two of his companions. "Follow that maid and bring back the silver notes. As for the rest of you... will you walk on your own, or shall I have my men ’escort’ you?"
"We will go on our own." So, they were kidnapped. Ye Li watched the unfolding scene with a sense of helplessness. Of course, for a group of bandits to kidnap a future Princess Consort from the Capital City, right under the Emperor’s nose, was an astonishing feat. Furthermore, the group had moved with extreme speed out of the Capital City, arriving at a treacherous mountain peak a good hundred *li* away. Clearly, they had indeed been kidnapped by bandits, for this was a bandit stronghold.
Perhaps because Ye Li was still valued at 40,000 taels in silver notes, they weren’t thrown into a gloomy dungeon but were confined to a rather crude hut. Once the door was shut, Qingluan quickly went to it, pressing her ear against it to listen for any sounds outside. Only then did she approach Ye Li and whisper, "Young Miss, we’re so far from the Capital City. Will Qingyu be able to find us?"
Ye Li lowered the hand that had been pressing her right shoulder and casually pulled out the arrow. The feathered arrow had entered her right chest and pierced diagonally, yet it hadn’t injured Ye Li at all. The crimson stain on her clothes was merely red rouge and a potion from a bottle Qingyu always carried. "He never intended for Qingyu to return," Ye Li said. "He just couldn’t bear to lose those 40,000 taels of silver." Qingluan gasped. "Young Miss, are you saying... they plan to kill us once they get the money?" Ye Li nodded and comforted Qingluan with a smile. "Don’t worry. Those two are no match for Qingyu. She’ll be fine." The worry on Qingluan’s face didn’t lessen in the slightest. She glanced helplessly at her young miss. She wasn’t worried about Qingyu; she was agonizing over how they themselves would escape! The Master and the Eldest Young Master had entrusted the Young Miss’s safety to them, and now the Young Miss had been captured by bandits while they stood by, powerless. How useless they were!
"There were too many of them; it’s not your fault," Ye Li said with a smile. "Help me bandage this wound." Qingluan nodded. She lowered her head, tore a strip of cloth from the sleeve of her clean inner garment, and bandaged Ye Li’s "wound" while asking, "Young Miss, do you know who means us harm? Could it be Ms. Wang?"
Ye Li shook her head. "She’s been short on funds recently; it’s unlikely she could suddenly produce 20,000 taels to have me kidnapped. Besides, it would be too easy to trace back to her." More importantly, the perpetrator clearly didn’t intend to kill her. That meant either they weren’t afraid of her retaliation, or it was someone she would never suspect, someone she couldn’t possibly retaliate against. Therefore, it probably wasn’t Ms. Wang.
Qingluan frowned. "But, Young Miss, you haven’t offended anyone."
Ye Li fell silent, lost in thought. They kidnapped me but don’t intend to take my life. So... once news spreads that I was abducted by bandits, my reputation will be utterly ruined. "The marriage," she murmured.
"What?"
"Someone doesn’t want me to marry Prince Ding smoothly," Ye Li said calmly.
"Prince Li!" Qingluan exclaimed resentfully.
Ye Li shook her head. "Perhaps, but not necessarily." Even if Mo Jingli were that foolish, he should know that if anything happened to me, Mo Xiuyao would come after him first.
"Then... what should we do now? I’ll open the door, and Young Miss can take the chance to escape."
Ye Li shook her head. This place is at least a hundred *li* from the Capital City. If my guess is correct and this is about my marriage to Prince Ding, then news of my abduction right after leaving the capital has probably already spread. It might not be difficult for me alone to escape this stronghold, but even if I returned now, it would likely be futile. In that case, it’s better to stay. Perhaps I’ll make some unexpected discoveries. "Let’s rest for now. We’ll talk later tonight."
"Yes, Young Miss."
「King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion」
"Your Highness!" The Steward-in-Chief of the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion rushed in, his face etched with anxiety. He was too flustered to even bow to Mo Xiuyao before blurting out, "Your Highness, something terrible has happened!"
Mo Xiuyao sharply raised his head. "What is it?"
"Just now, some of the staff reported that a rumor has suddenly started spreading outside, saying that Third Miss Ye has been abducted by a rapist—" A sudden, piercing gaze from Mo Xiuyao cut the Steward-in-Chief’s words short. The Steward-in-Chief shivered involuntarily and looked, trembling slightly, at the man seated in the wheelchair. "Your Highness..."
Mo Xiuyao closed his eyes for a moment, then snapped them open. "What’s going on?"
"I’m not sure what happened either, Your Highness. Some of our people went out to procure items for Your Highness’s wedding and heard this rumor spreading everywhere. They sensed something was wrong and hurried back to report to me. I dared not delay, so I..." Mo Xiuyao raised a hand, cutting him off. "Immediately send people to the Minister’s Estate to see if Ah-Li has returned. Another team is to investigate Ah-Li’s movements after she left the palace, and also check the situation within the palace itself!"
"Yes, Your Highness! I’ll see to it at once!" The Steward-in-Chief dared not linger for even a moment, turning and disappearing swiftly down the corridor.
"Ah-Jin," Mo Xiuyao said in the quiet study, his voice soft, yet laced with a chilling austerity that could make one’s blood run cold. "Notify Third Feng. By any means necessary, I don’t want to hear any more rumors in the Capital City."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Your Highness." The Steward-in-Chief, who had just departed, reappeared at the doorway.
"What now?"
"Eldest Young Master Xu just sent a message by messenger, requesting Your Highness to come to the Xu family’s villa for a discussion at your earliest convenience."
Mo Xiuyao lowered his gaze. "I understand."
「Xu Mansion’s Pavilion」
In the main courtyard, Qingyu slumped weakly into a chair. The sleeve on her left arm was torn, half of it stained crimson with blood. On the floor lay the two unconscious men the one-eyed man had sent to follow her. Xu Hong Yu sat grim-faced in the main seat, with Xu Hongyan and Xu Qingchen seated below him. Xu Qingze and the others stood to one side, their expressions, as expected, exceptionally grim. "What of the rumors outside?" Xu Hong Yu inquired in a low voice.
Xu Hongyan replied, "Someone deliberately spread them. According to Qingyu, the news of Li’er’s abduction spread throughout the entire Capital City in less than two hours from the time she was taken."
"We’ve deployed men to search discreetly throughout the Capital City. However... I’m afraid Li’er is likely no longer in the Capital City by now," Xu Qingchen said with a frown.
"To think that so many people could abduct two defenseless women right under the Emperor’s nose! What in the world are the Capital City guards paid for?" Xu Qingfeng seethed.
Xu Qingchen frowned. "We’ll discuss that later. Can’t these two be awakened?"
Qingyu replied, "I, your servant, used a resinous heartwood drink on them. They should awaken in about a quarter of an hour." She had initially planned to lead these two directly back to the Xu Family, but one of them, unexpectedly, was extremely alert and saw through her scheme. In his shame and rage, he had tried to kill her to silence her. She’d had no choice but to expend considerable effort and time to finally knock them unconscious before she could notify the Eldest Young Master. She never imagined that in such a short while, news of the Young Miss’s abduction would have spread throughout the Capital City.
"If they can’t be awakened, then hand them over to me." A calm voice drifted from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Mo Xiuyao, dressed in plain clothes, sitting in his wheelchair, his expression serene as he gazed at the two unconscious men on the floor. Behind him, a silent Ah-Jin pushed the wheelchair in.
"Your Highness." Everyone rose. Mo Xiuyao raised a hand. "The urgent matter takes precedence; let’s dispense with formalities. Ah-Jin."
"Yes, Your Highness." Ah-Jin stepped forward. With a flick of his right wrist and a soft CRACK, a thin, long whip appeared in his hand. Tiny barbs on its tip glinted coldly in the candlelight.
"CRACK—!" The long whip lashed viciously onto one of the senseless forms on the ground. With a sickening RIIIP, the barbs on the whip tore away a strip of fabric, skin, and flesh. As everyone watched in stunned silence, Ah-Jin mercilessly brought the whip down again. "CRACK—!" "CRACK—!"
Before five lashes had fallen, a groan of pain came from the ground as one of them was the first to open his eyes. What greeted him was the whip lashing towards his face like a venomous snake. "AH!" CRACK—! "AH! AH..." "Help me! Spare me! Mercy... AH!"
Mo Xiuyao leaned back in his wheelchair, his expression calm. "Tell me, where are the people you abducted?"
"N-no... I don’t know! Mercy, Your Highness... Mercy, Your Highness!"
CRACK—! "Ah, it hurts... Please don’t, Your Highness, spare me! This lowly one truly doesn’t know..."
"Right now, I only want to know the whereabouts of the people you abducted. Speak, and I will spare your life." Looking down at the man on the floor, Mo Xiuyao’s eyes remained calm and devoid of ripples. Yet, the man under his gaze couldn’t stop trembling violently, groaning, "This lowly one... this lowly one truly doesn’t know." Mo Xiuyao nodded. "I admire your backbone. I hope that backbone can keep you alive." He slowly maneuvered his wheelchair closer to the man on the ground. The man, enduring the tearing pain in his body, stared at the approaching figure, a flash of wild joy in his eyes. The moment Mo Xiuyao was near, he suddenly leaped up and lunged at him. But the man in the wheelchair was clearly faster. Just as the attacker was about to reach him, he collapsed powerlessly. Then, Mo Xiuyao, using a bizarre technique, rapidly pressed several points on the man’s body. A horrifying series of CRACKS and SNAPS followed, accompanied by an exceptionally shrill scream. The man who had lunged like a fierce tiger now lay crumpled like a heap of rags beside the wheelchair. Mo Xiuyao took the handkerchief Ah-Jin offered and slowly wiped the right hand he had used, then turned his head to look at the other man on the floor. "Now, are you willing to tell me the answer?"
All eyes fell on that heap of rags on the ground—truly, it was nothing more than a heap. The man, once tall and well-built, was now shrunken and twisted into a ball at an utterly bizarre angle. It was as if all the bones in his body had vanished in an instant, leaving him limp and lifelessly crumpled there. But what was even more chilling: the man was still alive.
The youngest, Xu Qingyan, couldn’t help but shiver at the scene, discreetly moving closer to Xu Qingfeng. Even standing near Fourth Brother [Xu Qingfeng] didn’t feel safe anymore. Among all their brothers, Third Brother’s [likely Xu Qingchen] martial arts were the best.
The other man, who had still been unconscious, began to tremble violently. "Mer-mercy... Your Highness, spare my life..."
"Where are the people you abducted?" Mo Xiuyao asked.
"Not in the Capital City! Our... our boss left the Capital City as soon as he caught them..."
"Where did he go?"
"BOO HOO... I truly don’t know! The boss said our stronghold wasn’t safe, and that after this last job, we’d move to a new place. I... I’ve never been to the new place..." The tall, sturdy man was so frightened he was weeping profusely, a truly miserable sight.
"Then tell me your original location."
"Outside the Capital City... sixty *li* out... Black Cloud Peak. BOO HOO... Your Highness, spare my life..."
"Hand them over to Third Feng. See what else he can get out of them. Then, prepare immediately. I am leaving the city."
"Yes, Your Highness." Ah-Jin put away his long whip. Lifting one unconscious man in each hand, he walked out. The youth’s slender, lean figure carried the two sturdy men, each easily twice his own size, with no apparent effort, striding out as swiftly as if he were flying.
In the crude room, Ye Li was lying on the bed while Qingluan sat on a stool beside it; both were resting with their eyes closed. Even so, an expression of shame and unease was evident on Qingluan’s face. She secretly opened her eyes and peeked at Ye Li, who was resting on the bed. Qingluan whispered, "Young Miss, you should lie down and rest for a while. I will keep watch."
Ye Li opened her eyes, looked at her, and smiled faintly. "Rest for another hour. Tonight, you must find a way to leave this place."
Qingluan’s eyes widened in surprise. "How can that be? If anyone is to go, it should be Young Miss first! I know Young Miss is not some helpless weakling who can’t even truss a chicken. I can lure those men away, and Young Miss will surely be able to fight her way out!"
Ye Li shook her head. "I’ll be fine even if you leave. But if you disappear and they notice, they will definitely kill you."
"That’s not acceptable either! I can’t leave Young Miss alone," Qingluan said stubbornly.
Ye Li looked at her firmly. "When you get back, you can find people to rescue me. Judging by how confident and fearless they are, I’m afraid this place we’re in now won’t be easy to find." Qingluan’s mind was in turmoil; she gazed at Ye Li with hesitation. Obeying the Young Miss’s orders seemed like the correct choice, yet for some reason, she felt an undeniable sense of unease. Ye Li smiled. "Don’t worry. I am your Young Miss, am I not? Eldest Brother told you all to listen to me. Do you intend to disobey my command?"
"Young Miss..." Qingluan was at a loss, able only to look at Ye Li with tear-filled eyes.
Ye Li looked at her and said gently, "Qingluan, be good. You must leave here tonight. Perhaps, afterwards... you’ll meet some unexpected people."
"Young Miss!" Qingluan stared at Ye Li in horror.
"Be good, don’t be afraid. I, your Young Miss, have my own ways to escape. Hurry down the mountain and get help. You want us to go home soon too, don’t you?" Ye Li coaxed with a smile, and Qingluan finally nodded with a grave expression.
BANG! The room’s door was kicked open from the outside. Qingluan leaped up from her stool, positioning herself in front of Ye Li, and vigilantly eyed the two burly men who had barged in. "What do you want?"
The man in the lead stared at Ye Li, who was shielded by Qingluan, his murky eyes filled with lewd intent. He chuckled, "So this is the Ye Family’s Third Miss Ye? This year’s Capital City’s Number One Talented Woman, Prince Ding’s fiancée?"
The one beside him, clearly a lackey, chimed in with an obsequious smile, "The Second Tribe Chief is correct. This is the young miss our Chief Tribe Master brought back."
The Second Tribe Chief rubbed his hands together, a wicked grin spreading across his face. "What does Big Brother mean by this? Keeping two such stunning beauties locked up in here?"
The lackey was startled for a moment, then recalled his own chief’s instructions and hastily said, "Second Tribe Chief, these two beauties are not to be touched!"
The Second Tribe Chief snorted. "Once they’re in my Black Wind Mountain, is there anyone I can’t touch?"
"Uh... this young lady is worth a total of 60,000 taels of silver. The Chief Tribe Master ordered that, especially Miss Ye, she absolutely must not be harmed."
"Sixty thousand taels?" The Second Tribe Chief’s beady eyes lit up, glinting with greed. His gaze swept over Ye Li, then returned to Qingluan. He chuckled, "Alright, for the sake of 60,000 taels, I’ll let her off for now. Then this maid belongs to me! Though not as pretty as that one, she’s far better than those ugly hags in our stronghold." With that, he lunged at Qingluan.
"Qingluan, act!"
Ye Li shot up, swiftly moving past Qingluan and the lunging Second Tribe Chief to knock out the lackey standing behind them. Qingluan didn’t hesitate. Her seemingly petite frame unleashed astonishing strength as she landed a punch on the Second Tribe Chief’s abdomen. Then, she nimbly flipped, landing behind him, and delivered a sharp chop to the back of his neck. The tall, sturdy man crumpled to the ground without so much as a groan. Behind them, Ye Li had already quickly shut the door.
"Young Miss."
Ye Li nodded in approval. This little maid has good potential. "Alright, no more delays. Do you remember the way down the mountain?" Qingluan thought for a moment, then nodded. When the bandits brought them up the mountain, although their eyes had been covered, the bandits had overlooked that Qingluan was a trained martial artist with exceptionally sharp hearing. While she couldn’t remember the path completely, she should recall the general direction. Ye Li said, "I suspect this stronghold is newly built, so neither its traps nor its defenses will be too formidable. Be careful. Go now."
"Take care, Young Miss."
Ye Li nodded, having repeatedly assured Qingluan of her own safety. Only after Qingluan had left did Ye Li turn back to look at the two men still lying on the floor. Bending down, she pulled a hairpin from her hair and pricked several inconspicuous acupressure points on each of their bodies. Only then did she sit back on the bed and close her eyes to rest.
Ye Li sat quietly on the bed, her ears intently focused on any sounds from outside. The mountain stronghold was tranquil in the night; clearly, Qingluan hadn’t been discovered. Ye Li inwardly breathed a small sigh of relief. Qingluan’s lightness skill, capable enough to successfully trail the Gentleman of Wind and Moon, should be trustworthy, right? As long as she wasn’t discovered within an hour, an hour would be enough for her to get off this godforsaken mountain.
BANG! The flimsy room door was kicked open again from the outside, the panel groaning and swaying precariously under the impact.
The one-eyed man stormed in first. Seeing the men on the floor and Ye Li sitting calmly on the bed, he was momentarily taken aback. Surprisingly, however, he didn’t fly into a rage. Instead, he waved his hand, and several men came in to carry out the unconscious figures.
"It seems I’ve underestimated you. Where’s that maid?" the one-eyed man asked, staring at Ye Li.
Ye Li sighed inwardly. Discovered already! I hope Qingluan made it safely down the mountain. "Didn’t you see? She escaped." The man’s single, fierce eye narrowed suspiciously as he stared at her. "Why didn’t you go with her? Or did that maid abandon her master and flee? It’s truly surprising that a mere maid could slip away from our stronghold so silently."
Ye Li met his gaze. "A group of bandits managing to abduct two people from right under the Emperor’s nose, as if strolling into an unguarded place. I find that quite surprising too."
The one-eyed man snorted. "The men I sent to follow your maid to get the money haven’t returned. What do you suppose happened to them?"
Ye Li shook her head, feigning ignorance.
"It seems your maid is quite an expert. Perhaps she’s already gone down the mountain to fetch reinforcements. What do you think you need to do to save your life before those reinforcements arrive?" the one-eyed man stared viciously at the composed young woman before him. Ye Li, with a hint of resignation, lightly touched her carefully bandaged shoulder. "Perhaps you could consider accepting a sum of money from me and then disappearing far away. I believe your two subordinates haven’t returned because they likely harbored ill intentions towards my maid. Since you know that maid of mine is an expert, you should also realize her companion wouldn’t be much inferior. Therefore, our deal can still proceed."
"It seems Miss Ye is fond of solving problems with money?" the one-eyed man said mockingly.
Ye Li shook her head. "Weren’t you paid by someone to make things difficult for me, Sir? Since that person didn’t intend to have me killed, I presume your objective has been achieved. I’m sure that before tomorrow, rumors of Third Miss Ye being abducted by bandits will have spread throughout the entire Capital City. All I’m doing is spending a little money to ensure I suffer no actual harm, and you won’t be violating your agreement with your client. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement, so why not?"
"That does sound rather reasonable."
"Someone once told me that any problem solvable with money isn’t really a problem. I won’t go back on my word this time. As soon as I’m free, I’ll give you the money immediately. I can even pay a deposit first," Ye Li said with a faint smile.
"And if I don’t agree?" the one-eyed man asked, his eye narrowing.
Ye Li replied calmly, "If I die, the Ye Family, the Xu Family, and the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion will spare no effort to hunt you down and exterminate you. If I live, I will consider using all my wealth—perhaps even including my dowry from the Xu Family and the betrothal gifts from the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion—as a bounty for a worldwide manhunt. I won’t ask for your life directly. For every cut anyone manages to inflict on you, I’ll pay one thousand taels. How many people do you think would take up that offer?"
The corner of the one-eyed man’s mouth twitched. "Quite vicious. But that’s assuming you can find me."
Ye Li’s smile became even more serene. "Someone from Tianyi Pavilion owes me their life."
The mocking smile on the one-eyed man’s face finally froze completely. The original sinister malice in his single eye gradually faded, replaced by a sharp, piercing glint. Though his face remained terrifying, in that instant, he exuded the distinct aura of someone in authority.
"Worthy of being Mo Xiuyao’s woman. Truly extraordinary."
Ye Li gave a faint, bitter smile. "Just trying to stay alive. Perhaps you’d be willing to show your true face, Sir? To be honest, I don’t much care for speaking to people who wear masks." The one-eyed man stared at her, somewhat surprised. "You can tell? I thought my disguise technique was good enough to pass for real." Ye Li said, "Perhaps I’m just more sensitive to such things. I imagine there are still some differences between a mask made of human skin and actual skin, wouldn’t you agree?"
The one-eyed man rubbed his face in distaste. "Time was too short. It’s a shoddy piece of work, made in a rush. Since you know someone wants to ruin your reputation, do you happen to know what their exact demand was?" Ye Li looked at him. "I’m willing to hear the details."
The one-eyed man walked to one side and sat down, his eyes fixed on Ye Li with a teasing glint. "Their demand... was to ruin your virtue. Mark my words, they truly want to... de-stroy... you."
Ye Li’s eyes turned cold. "It’s a woman."
The one-eyed man raised an eyebrow in surprise. Ye Li frowned. "Only women like to use such malicious tactics against other women."
The one-eyed man shrugged. "I will absolutely not tell you who it is. Aren’t you afraid?"
Ye Li looked at him seriously, thought for a moment, then said, "You don’t actually intend to do that, do you?"
The man nodded and laughed heartily. "I have to admit, Mo Xiuyao certainly has a discerning eye. Far better than that idiot Mo Jingli, at least. I indeed have no such intention. After all, I don’t plan on seriously provoking Mo Xiuyao over a mere tens of thousands of taels."
"You know Mo Xiuyao," Ye Li stated.
The man didn’t deny it. He stood up. "We can go now. Third Miss Ye, let’s go get the money I’m owed, and then I’ll send you home. What do you say? I reckon Mo Xiuyao will be here in another two to four hours; it’s not safe here anymore." Ye Li rose nonchalantly with him and asked, "What about the people in this stronghold of yours?" The man turned back, giving her a twisted smile. "You didn’t really think I was a bandit chief, did you? Rest assured, while I’m not, everyone in this stronghold is, without exception, a bandit who stops at nothing. It’ll be their rotten luck to fall into Mo Xiuyao’s hands."
"You killed the original Chief of the One-eyed Tribe, didn’t you?" Ye Li remarked as she followed the man through the crude huts. Along the way, any passing patrols of bandits would salute the one-eyed man, and upon seeing Ye Li trailing him, they would invariably flash knowing, lewd grins. "The security here is truly lax. No wonder Qingluan managed to get away without alerting anyone in the stronghold."
"You even know about such things? Indeed, their security is terrible. If it weren’t for my help, these idiots would have been caught before they even got out of the Capital City." The man replied, "That greedy fool is fast asleep in his room. He actually wanted to hog all the reward money! I always make my own fortune and cut others out. When Mo Xiuyao arrives, that fellow will make a perfect scapegoat. What do you think of that plan?"
Ye Li nodded indifferently, surveying the increasingly remote path ahead. "Are we leaving this way?" The man nodded. "Rest assured. Once I get my money, I’ll ensure you’re returned to the Ye Family completely unharmed." Just as he was about to raise his hand to trigger a mechanism, strange sounds drifted up from the foot of the mountain. Ye Li remained impassive, but the one-eyed man’s expression changed instantly. He cursed under his breath, "Damn it! How could he be here so fast?" With that, he immediately abandoned their current path, grabbed Ye Li’s hand, and sprinted off in another direction.
"We’re not taking the secret passage anymore?"
The man said, "The secret passage isn’t safe, and it’s too circuitous. We might get cornered." Listening to the sounds, which were drawing steadily closer, he noted that there was still no sign of alarm from the stronghold. Clearly, the arrivals were experts; the rabble within the stronghold hadn’t even detected their presence. The man pulled Ye Li, racing towards the back of the mountain. "There’s another path on the back mountain. It’s a bit treacherous, but it leads directly to a valley. Mo Xiuyao definitely won’t find us there for a good while."
"But I..." Ye Li said.
"Don’t worry, my lightness skill is decent. I can get us down even with you in tow."
"But... I feel like reneging on our deal!" Ye Li said with a laugh.
