Crowned Consort in Golden Age-Chapter 81. Rescuing People from Distress

81. Escape and Rescue

Le Jiang’s footsteps echoed again after a short while. He returned to the room, tossing a small wooden box to Old Master Liang, his face stormy. "I have ordered those four individuals to be dealt with. Here’s your item; I will arrange for someone to escort you to the Nanzhao Capital after this." Old Master Liang opened the box to check, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "Excellent. In that case, let’s not waste any time. Where are my steward and guard?"

Le Jiang scoffed. "Your steward can’t even walk because his legs are shaking, and your guard is even more useless. He fell off the cliff. People from the Central Plains are truly sacks of pus!"

"You!" Old Master Liang reined in his anger and said, "Fine, hurry up and take me to Nanzhao."

"Very well," Le Jiang nodded. "Rest for a while; we will set off soon."

Outside the hall, Ye Li glanced at Han Mingxi. Han Mingxi shook his head silently. Indeed, there were many corpses at the bottom of the cliff, but they were all skeletons ravaged by wind and rain for many days; Zheng Kui’s body was not among them. Zheng Kui probably had not fallen off the cliff but had been dealt with by these Southern Border people.

The diseased scholar did not rush to deal with Old Master Liang, as the bodies of the two Southern Border men, who had been poisoned by the scholar, had been found. The once quiet underground palace was suddenly bustling. As Old Master Liang was leaving under heavy guard, Ye Li’s group of four could only disperse to avoid the scrutiny of the guards and prepare to leave. Darky Three naturally went with Ye Li, and Han Mingxi unwillingly followed the diseased scholar.

"Young Master, we..."

Ye Li shook her head. "We won’t leave just yet. Let’s go in and see." Without the interference of the scholar and Han Mingxi, Ye Li and Darky Three could move more freely. They carefully infiltrated the depths of the underground palace. The underground palace was not very large, divided into only seven or eight rooms. They searched several rooms but did not find anything useful, finally setting their sights on a room at the deepest end. Different from the other rooms, this room had a tightly closed door guarded by two weapon-wielding Southern Border men. Ye Li glanced at Darky Three and adeptly signaled: You left, I right!

Darky Three nodded. They subtly approached the doorway and attacked simultaneously from left and right, restraining the two guards. Darky Three silently snapped one guard’s neck while Ye Li glanced at the unconscious person in her hands, frowned, and put him aside in a concealed location. Looking at the lock on the door, Ye Li frowned, drew a gold hairpin from her sleeve, and twisted it slightly to reveal a sharp golden needle. She inserted it into the keyhole and twisted a few times until, with a click, the large lock sprang open. Ye Li nodded to Darky Three, who was hidden in the shadows, then pushed the door open and darted inside. Darky Three crouched down, vigilantly watching his surroundings. After a while, Ye Li came back out and relocked the door.

Probably because Han Mingxi and the scholar’s group had drawn too many soldiers earlier, Ye Li and Darky Three felt that there were significantly fewer people searching than before. Following the markers Han Mingxi had secretly left, they reached the entrance of the cave in less than ten minutes. However, even at a distance from the cave mouth, they could smell a dominant, dangerous floral scent from outside, identical to that on the mountaintop. Darky Three took out a few pills from his chest and gave them to Ye Li. Ye Li crushed one and sniffed it. With a muted smile, she asked, "Did you get this from the scholar?"

With no outsiders present, Darky Three’s expressions were much more lively. He replied with a hint of pride, "Indeed. He carries too many poisons. I was afraid of taking the wrong ones, so I didn’t take much. This is the same medicine he gave us before. It can last for about three hours."

"Excellent." After each had taken a pill, Darky Three took the lead, examined the cave entrance, and then gestured to Ye Li. When they carefully stepped out of the cave, they were stunned by the scene before them. An overwhelming expanse of brilliant red flowers stretched out before them. The cave entrance was less than two meters from the bottom of the cliff. The valley below was filled with striking red blossoms, and almost every plant had a red-and-black-patterned snake coiled at its base, some even slithering up the stems and branches. Ye Li finally understood why Han Mingxi couldn’t help but curse when he first descended. This ungodly place truly sent a chill down one’s spine. However, with the exit located in such a perilous place, it wasn’t exactly arrogant of the Southern Border people to not deploy many guards for vigilance.

"Can we get through?" Ye Li pointed at the cliffs opposite and asked.

Darky Three looked and nodded. "Shouldn’t be a problem."

"Be careful. Falling down means certain death." Falling into that sea of flowers would mean being instantly devoured by those flowers and snakes, leaving not even bones behind.

Darky Three frowned. "How will the Young Master cross?" He could use his lightness skill to fly across, but he definitely couldn’t carry someone. And the Young Master’s lightness skill probably isn’t enough for her to fly across by herself. The terrain here was too low for ropes to be used effectively. A single misstep could also lead to being bitten by the snakes that could lunge out at any moment.

Ye Li sighed in annoyance. "This wretched place is really troublesome. But if we can get out, this adventure will have been worth it. You go first; I’ll take a different path."

Darky Three did not move. Even though he knew the Princess Consort was very skilled, he couldn’t see any other way across. Staying here wasn’t safe either; though no one was here now, it didn’t mean no one would come later.

Seeing Darky Three’s stubborn expression, Ye Li reluctantly gestured. "Fine. I’ll go first. You watch, and once I’m across, you follow. I really don’t know why you all are so obstinate."

Darky Three said steadfastly, "We are the Young Master’s shadow guards. Naturally, we must prioritize the Young Master’s safety."

Ye Li rolled her eyes skyward. "Thanks. It would be even better if you could have a bit more confidence in me."

It wasn’t until dusk began to fall that Ye Li climbed out of the cave. Using the dagger in her hand, she started to climb the cliff. After climbing a short distance, she looked down to see Darky Three following and asked, "What are you doing?"

Darky Three responded solemnly, "I am accompanying the Young Master."

"You think I want to do this? If I had your lightness skill, I would have flown straight across." Casting an exasperated glance at Darky Three, Ye Li looked up and continued her ascent.

Darky Three reached Ye Li’s side and said, "This cliff is at least a hundred zhang high. I’m afraid it will be difficult for the Young Master to climb directly to the top."

Ye Li laughed quietly. "Who said I was going to climb all the way up? A little higher will do. There’s a protruding rock up there; that’s the spot."

Darky Three looked up at a moderately sized protruding rock not far above and nodded. "I understand. Young Master, I’ll go first."

"Be careful," Ye Li cautioned.

Darky Three nodded, his left foot tapping lightly on the cliff face as he launched himself outward. However, perhaps due to the posture from his earlier climb, he showed signs of exhaustion mid-leap. Although he could use the flowers below to borrow force, if he were bitten by a snake, they had no antidote now.

Ye Li muttered a curse, flinging the dagger from her left hand towards Darky Three’s feet. Darky Three tapped the dagger’s hilt, using it as a leverage point to propel himself upward again, and after a few more leaps, he landed on the opposite slope. Having lost a dagger, Ye Li took a little more effort to climb onto the protruding rock on the cliff face. The rock wasn’t large; even pressed tightly against the cliff, Ye Li could barely stand. It must be an outcrop of a huge boulder embedded in the mountain. Standing firm on the rock, Ye Li caught her breath before taking a rope from her bundle. She fixed one end of the rope to a sleeve arrow and shot it across to the other side.

Darky Three, on the opposite side, caught the end of the rope, found a place to secure it, and then tugged the rope twice to signal Ye Li that it was ready. Ye Li also secured her end, pulled it taut, then gripped the rope and slid downwards.

"Young Master!" Seeing Ye Li land safely, Darky Three quietly sighed in relief.

Ye Li patted the dust off her clothes. "Let’s go. This should be the mountain behind the stockade we were in earlier. We should be able to find a way out from here."

Darky Three nodded, following behind Ye Li. "Young Master, I think I know what this place is. This is Snake Valley."

"Snake Valley?"

Darky Three nodded. "Some seniors among the shadow guards once accompanied the Prince on a campaign to the Southern Border. It’s said that there was a Snake Valley in the Southern Border, filled with red snake-poison flowers. However, it was also said that the Prince burned Snake Valley to the ground. I didn’t expect it to have recovered in less than ten years. But... the location seems a bit off. Snake Valley should be in the southwestern part of the Southern Border. How can it be so close to Broken Snow Pass?"

Ye Li shook her head. "This place was likely purpose-built. Didn’t you notice that all the snake-poison flowers are arranged in neat rows, and even the distance between each plant is almost identical? They definitely didn’t grow naturally. And those snakes. Even if the snake-poison flowers made a comeback, there couldn’t be so many red-banded kraits here. Both the flowers and the snakes must have been intentionally cultivated and raised."

Recalling the scene within the sea of flowers, Darky Three couldn’t help but curse, "Are the Southern Border people all insane, to create something so dangerous..."

"The Southern Border people don’t fear snakes," Ye Li smiled. "Presumably, the Southern Border people set up such a daunting Snake Valley here to conceal what’s inside this mountain."

"A weapons foundry?" Darky Three asked doubtfully.

Ye Li chuckled. "No, something even more interesting. Let’s leave here first. Did you see Han Mingxi’s markers?"

Darky Three was squatting, looking at something on the ground. "Something must have happened to them. This marker... was placed very haphazardly." It was already night, so footprints and the like were invisible. Darky Three had searched for a long time before finding this marker left by Han Mingxi.

Ye Li frowned, squatting down to look, and mused in a low voice, "It’s been four hours since we separated from them. Walking for two hours, they should be able to cover about twenty miles. Both of them know lightness skills... but lightness skill isn’t primarily for covering long distances, so let’s tentatively say thirty miles. Under normal circumstances, they should be about sixty miles away by now. So... was Han Mingxi ambushed? Or were they both captured?"

"The diseased scholar wouldn’t betray Han Mingxi," Darky Three said. "Tianyi Pavilion has many informants. Someone in Yonglin City must have seen the diseased scholar and Han Mingxi together. If anything happened to Han Mingxi, the diseased scholar wouldn’t be able to explain it to the Lord of Tianyi Pavilion."

Ye Li frowned. "Then... is it possible they were captured? Darky Three, let’s split up and see if Han Mingxi left any other markers." If something happened to Han Mingxi, it wouldn’t just be the diseased scholar; they would also have a hard time explaining it to Han Mingyue. After all, she was the one who first approached Han Mingxi, which led to him following them to the Southern Border. If they really were captured, they could only pray Han Mingxi hadn’t been killed yet.

「In a hidden stockade somewhere in the Southern Border,」

Han Mingxi lay limply on the ground, his body bound tightly with ropes, unable to move. Nearby, the diseased scholar was in an even worse state. Not only was he shackled with iron chains, but he was also covered in wounds. He was coughing incessantly and looked like he had only half a life left.

Ignoring his own wretched state, Han Mingxi grinned at the diseased scholar. "How are you doing? Still holding up?"

"Are you so sure they’ll come to rescue us?" the diseased scholar asked, coughing again before looking up.

Han Mingxi chuckled. "I believe Junwei wouldn’t abandon me."

The diseased scholar snorted. "I’d sooner believe she’s coming to save you for Tianyi Pavilion’s sake."

Han Mingxi didn’t get angry, smiling. "So what? She wouldn’t come all this way to save you, the Third Master of the King of Hell Pavilion, would she? It seems right now we can only wait for Junwei to save us, can’t we? As for you, Third Young Master, why don’t you find someone to rescue us now, huh?" Looking up slantwise at the suspended diseased scholar, Han Mingxi was filled with resentment. If it weren’t for this guy insisting on coercing them to find some Bilo flower, how would he have been unlucky enough to fall into these people’s hands? He hadn’t seen any Bilo flower yet, but they might soon be on the road to hell. That would truly fit Junwei’s phrase: ’Search from the highest azure heavens to the deepest yellow springs.’

The diseased scholar coughed violently a few times. "Since you have so much confidence in Chu Junwei, why do you keep nagging?"

Han Mingxi faltered, then said in a low voice, "Didn’t you see the place we came out of? Junwei, unlike you, doesn’t have any medicine to repel poisonous snakes. Who knows if they can even get out? They might have been knocked out by those ghostly flowers as soon as they exited the cave. And... those poisonous snakes..."

The diseased scholar was silent for a moment, then said faintly, "When Zhuo Jing brought us down from the cliff, he took some medicine from me." Seeing Han Mingxi glaring at him, he twitched the corner of his mouth. "Don’t look at me like that. I only found out after we parted ways. He took the antidote for hallucinogens and the muscle-relaxing powder from me, the same kind I gave you on the mountain."

Han Mingxi rolled his eyes. "So later you could only give me one type of medicine, and it stank to high heaven!"

"Don’t worry, they’re fine," the diseased scholar said, suppressing a cough.

Han Mingxi glanced at him. "How do you know?"

"That Liang fellow is itching to kill us immediately. But Le Jiang has held off; he must be waiting for them."

"They want to catch everyone in one fell swoop?" Han Mingxi frowned.

The diseased scholar said, "Don’t forget Chu Junwei was behind us the whole time, and when we exited the cave, they didn’t follow immediately. They must have done something else after we left. That’s why these people are determined to capture them. Did you think they didn’t see the markers you left along the way?"

Han Mingxi said furiously, "You knew they were deliberately using us to lure Junwei, so why didn’t you remind me?"

The diseased scholar sneered contemptuously. "Why should I remind you? Now, at least Chu Junwei still has a chance to get us out. If she doesn’t come, you and I are dead for sure."

"She might come only to die with us!"

"So what?"

TAP TAP...

Two soft sounds came from the window lattice. Both men paused and looked towards the window. A nimble figure quickly flipped in through the window, turned, and smiled at them. "Brother Han, rest assured. I definitely won’t die with you."

"Junwei!" Han Mingxi exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

"Shhh..." Ye Li put a finger to her lips and winked at him.

Han Mingxi immediately lowered his voice. "How did you get in? This stockade is full of ambushes."

Ye Li smiled. "There’s no such thing as a foolproof defense in this world; it just depends on whether you can find a way to break through. Well now... Brother Han, and you too, Third Master, you both owe me your lives."

The diseased scholar snorted. "That only counts if we all get out of here alive." Chu Junwei must have heard his conversation with Han Mingxi. But looking at the young woman’s bright, clear smile, the diseased scholar couldn’t be sure if she held a grudge.

"Alright, you’re right," Ye Li said, feigning helplessness. She drew her dagger, quickly cut the ropes binding Han Mingxi, and casually tossed him a sword. "It’s hard to find good weapons in the Southern Border. Make do with this."

Han Mingxi caught the sword and smiled. "Thank you, Junwei."

The ropes on Han Mingxi were easy to deal with, but the iron chains on the diseased scholar were not so simple. Ye Li spent some time before finally undoing the chains. The diseased scholar stretched his limbs and then asked, "Where’s your guard?"

Ye Li smiled. "He’s preparing a big gift for the Luoyi Tribe." Walking to the window, Ye Li imitated several bird calls of varying lengths. Soon, a commotion erupted in one part of the stockade, then spread to more areas. In a short while, it seemed the entire stockade had come alive with noise.

Ye Li smiled with satisfaction. "Alright, let’s go!"

Just as the diseased scholar pushed open the door, several arrows shot towards them. Han Mingxi quickly grabbed him and pulled him back, while Ye Li kicked the door shut. THUD! THUD! THUD! Several arrows embedded themselves in the wooden door.

The diseased scholar glared angrily at Ye Li. Ye Li offered him a benign smile. "This is a thank-you gift for the Third Master inviting me to die with you all earlier."

The diseased scholar knew he was in the wrong, so he just snorted and said nothing more.

Outside, the archers were warily watching the door when, BANG! The wooden door was flung open again, and a dark shadow darted out. SWISH! SWISH! A volley of arrows shot forth.

CRASH! CRASH! From the windows on both sides of the small building, a figure burst out from each. WHOOSH! WHOOSH! Several archers felt a piercing pain and collapsed.

Ye Li walked out of the doorway, glanced at a cloth bundle on the ground, riddled with arrows like a pincushion, and then at the corpses littering the area. Her eyes darkened slightly. "Let’s go quickly. Zhuo Jing can’t hold out much longer." The entire stockade was in chaos, with fires flaring up in several places. It seemed Zhuo Jing had set many fires, and not in insignificant locations either. A few strange bird calls sounded from not far away. Ye Li, leading Han Mingxi and the diseased scholar, unhesitatingly ran in that direction.

As they passed a spring, the diseased scholar sneered, took something from his robes, and threw it into the water. Han Mingxi saw this, his eyes flickered, but he said nothing and quickened his pace to catch up with Ye Li.

By the time they arrived, Darky Three was surrounded, clearly struggling to hold on. Ye Li scanned the area; the main figures of the stockade were all present. No wonder their side had assigned more than a dozen men to guard that spot. Ye Li thought of something she had taken from the underground palace. Clearly, in Le Jiang’s eyes, that item was far more important than Han Mingxi’s and the diseased scholar’s lives.

"Rescuing two only to lose one, this really isn’t a good deal," Ye Li frowned helplessly. "Brother Han, can you grab that old man?" she quietly asked, pointing to Old Master Liang, who was under heavy protection.

Han Mingxi frowned. "There are too many people around him. Also... that old man is too fat."

The diseased scholar handed him two items. "Scatter this one in the air, and feed this one directly into that Liang fellow’s mouth." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"That’s more like it," Han Mingxi said, weighing the items in his hand and nodding.

Darky Three, with an indifferent expression, watched the men in Southern Border attire who had surrounded him, mercilessly wielding his weapon.

"Zhuo Jing, hold your breath!" Han Mingxi’s voice suddenly rang out, and a dark figure shot through the air towards the crowd.

Darky Three instantly held his breath. The Southern Border was different from Xiling; not many people there understood the Central Plains language. So, when Han Mingxi landed, people collapsed to the ground one after another. Darky Three also seized the opportunity to break free from the encirclement and leaped onto a nearby rooftop. Han Mingxi successfully landed beside Old Master Liang. Ignoring the man’s paralyzed groans on the ground, he pried open his mouth, stuffed the medicine in, and patted his face with a beaming smile. "Old fellow, you’re finished."

Le Jiang was one of the few Southern Border people still standing. Seeing people lying all over the ground, his face was extremely grim. His gaze fell on Old Master Liang, who was wailing and pleading for help, and Le Jiang looked at him as if he were an enemy and a scourge. "Despicable Central Plainsmen! What have you done?!"

Han Mingxi was in high spirits now, the gloom of the entire day dissipating considerably. He flung Old Master Liang towards the diseased scholar and chuckled. "Luoyi Chieftain, you have the nerve to ask us what we did? Shouldn’t you think about what you yourself have done?"

Le Jiang snorted disdainfully. "Do you think a mere bit of poison can trouble the people of our Luoyi Tribe?"

Han Mingxi shrugged nonchalantly and smiled. "The poison isn’t mine, so whether it works or not has nothing to do with me. But can your men stand up, though?"

The diseased scholar emerged, dragging the portly Old Master Liang, whose face had already turned as black as ink. He looked like he was at his last breath. Anyone could tell he was severely poisoned. Le Jiang was greatly horrified. Although he was skilled in using poison and commanding snakes, he couldn’t immediately identify what poison Old Master Liang had ingested. And this annoying Central Plains merchant absolutely could not die now. "What do you want?"

The diseased scholar said coolly, "Let us go. Don’t send anyone after us. Otherwise... I’ll kill him."

Le Jiang pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. But... return what you took from the underground palace!" He pointed at Ye Li and Darky Three, his eyes filled with a murderous glint.

Ye Li blinked and smiled innocently. "It wasn’t anything valuable, so why make such a fuss? Here, you can have it back. Who knows what those crooked scribbles you wrote even mean?"

Le Jiang stared at her suspiciously. "If you couldn’t understand it, why did you take it?"

Ye Li smiled. "If it was something important, I’d advise you not to decorate it so lavishly in the future. Isn’t that just asking for someone to take it? This Young Master’s greatest pleasure in life is collecting pretty little trinkets. Here, take this useless piece of junk back." With that, Ye Li took out an item and tossed it over.

Le Jiang caught it. It was a dark wooden box. The lid was engraved with some twisted markings that could have been characters or pictures. One could see that the body of the box should have had some decorations, but now it was covered in uneven dents. The decorations had clearly been pried off.

Le Jiang checked the mechanism lock on the box and saw no signs of it being triggered, and a heavy weight lifted from his heart. His expression also softened considerably. He watched Ye Li ostentatiously twirling a glittering object in her hand and smiling. "There were a few other items I took from the table. I trust Chieftain Le Jiang won’t be so petty as to deny me a souvenir, right?"

Le Jiang snorted. "You can go." He knew what other minor items were missing from the underground palace; none of them were important, and he couldn’t be bothered to pursue the matter now.

The diseased scholar, still dragging Old Master Liang, issued a final warning: "Don’t try any tricks, or I guarantee he’ll die without even a trace left."

Ye Li and Darky Three had prepared horses in advance. Once out of the stockade, the four of them mounted and galloped furiously towards the northwest. It wasn’t until daybreak, when they finally reached a main road, that they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Han Mingxi laughed. "Yesterday was truly exciting! It’s all thanks to Junwei. Let’s rest here for a bit. The next town is only a little over ten miles from here. We can rest there for a day. If the journey goes smoothly, we should reach the Nanzhao Capital in another seven or eight days at most."

The diseased scholar vetoed this. "We bypass the town and head directly for the Nanzhao Capital."

"You may not be tired, but we are!" Han Mingxi said, disgruntled.

The diseased scholar said coldly, "We’re taking him with us. Do you think we can find lodging peacefully? And do you really believe Le Jiang won’t send people after us?"

Han Mingxi scoffed. "Who said ’we’? The person you were looking for has been found. You can go ask him where the item is yourself. Let’s part ways and go our separate roads. Weren’t we made miserable enough by you yesterday? Right, Junwei?"

Ye Li, toying with an exquisite jeweled ornament in her hand, smiled faintly. "It was alright. But... if we part ways, will the Third Young Master give me the promised reward?"

The diseased scholar’s eyes flickered. "So, isn’t it better if we travel together? Otherwise, Young Master Chu wouldn’t be at ease, would she?"

Ye Li laughed. "Since we’ve already been through so much, a little more won’t hurt. If I give up halfway, wouldn’t all my efforts yesterday have been in vain?"

Hearing Ye Li say this, Han Mingxi could only nod helplessly. "I hope I don’t get killed following you."

Ye Li smiled. "Actually, Brother Han, you can return to the Central Plains sooner. After all, Brother Han isn’t interested in what the Third Young Master is looking for, right?"

Han Mingxi turned his head and flatly refused. "I think it’s more fun following Junwei. Wherever Junwei goes, I’ll go. If we go together, then we go together! Who have I ever been afraid of?"

The four decided to rest briefly. The diseased scholar, seemingly unwilling to wait even a moment, dragged Old Master Liang aside to begin his interrogation. Han Mingxi, who also bore a grudge against Old Master Liang, went along to watch. Ye Li expressed no interest. Although Darky Three was interested, he would never show it in front of outsiders and remained by Ye Li’s side to protect her. Ye Li walked to a large tree and sat down, glancing at Han Mingxi and the diseased scholar in the distance before taking out a few small, scattered items from her sleeve. Among them were two sheets of white paper. Satisfied, she took out a sharpened charcoal pencil from her bag and began to scribble and draw on the paper.

Darky Three stood guard nearby. Looking at the twisted, strange characters on the paper, he asked curiously, "Young Master, didn’t you say you couldn’t read these characters? Were you deceiving them?"

Ye Li shook her head and smiled. "I don’t recognize many of them, but others do. It’s a bit difficult to remember things one doesn’t recognize. I should have written them down yesterday, but I was worried it would be troublesome if I was discovered. Now... I should have remembered correctly." After speaking, Ye Li lowered her head and continued to draw winding lines on the paper. She said to Darky Three, "Actually, I don’t really know what this is, but I do recognize that box. The things I pried off it seem to be the insignia of the Holy Woman of Nanzhao, so this item should be very important." In fact, she had seen some even more interesting things, things she could understand and therefore remember clearly. After a quick look, she had put them back in their original place. Naturally, she wasn’t in a hurry to write those down now.

Darky Three nodded. He silently pitied the Luoyi Chieftain, who thought his treasure was undamaged. He would never know that the Young Master had already taken out the contents and studied them for over an hour while waiting for nightfall at the entrance of the Snake Valley cave before putting them back. Secretly, Darky Three deeply admired his master’s lock-picking skills and wondered when he might ask the Young Master for a lesson.

After a good while, Ye Li slowly filled one sheet of paper. Satisfied, she checked it against her memory twice more before handing it to Darky Three. "Have someone send this home as soon as possible. Find out what this is."

Darky Three nodded, then looked at Ye Li, hesitating as if he wanted to say something.

Ye Li looked at him, somewhat amused. "If you have something to say, just say it."

Darky Three looked at the paper in his hand and asked in a low voice, "We’ve been away for quite some time. Since the Young Master is sending a message home, perhaps you should write a letter to the family, so they know the Young Master is safe."

A letter home? Ye Li paused. Since leaving, she hadn’t sent any messages to Mo Xiuyao, to avoid revealing her whereabouts. She hadn’t even contacted the shadow guards stationed in various places. Remembering Mo Xiuyao’s parting words, Ye Li couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Looking at the remaining paper in her hand, she thought, since there’s some left, I might as well write a letter.