Zhong Li was initially disbelieving.
To her, although Tian Hua Fen was precious, it wasn't impossible to obtain. Furthermore, the court had even cultivated it in Liaocheng before. How could it have become a sacred object of an evil cult?
It wasn't until she visited more than ten shops, with some explaining things when she mentioned Tian Hua Fen, while others simply treated her like a jinx and chased her out, that she finally confirmed Tian Hua Fen was nowhere to be found in Liaocheng.
"How could this happen?" Zhong Li walked on the street, her delicate brows furrowed. Lu Wu Xie was unconscious, and the most crucial medicine to wake him up was Tian Hua Fen. Now that Tian Hua Fen was not for sale in Liaocheng, she truly didn't know where to procure it for the time being.
She gazed at the sunset in the sky and sighed softly.
"Waiter, a bowl of Yang Chun noodles," Zhong Li found a small noodle stall and casually ordered a bowl to fill her stomach before thinking of a solution.
As she began to eat, her gaze inadvertently fell upon a table behind her.
Three men sat at that table, appearing to be strangers who had coincidentally met and were sharing a table for noodles. However, Zhong Li knew that these three men had followed her to several herbal medicine shops. It seemed she was being tracked.
Realizing this, Zhong Li finished the noodles in her bowl, casually tossed three copper coins, and got up, walking briskly towards an open space.
Logically, Zhong Li's method of dealing with pursuers was the most effective for her own safety. However, this was the ancient times, and once night fell, there were no streetlights. Coupled with the fact that surrounding vendors were closing up one after another, she had only walked half a street when the vast street was left with only a few hurried passersby returning home.
Zhong Li suddenly stopped. The people following her also halted as she did.
She gently turned her head, clearly seeing the number of people following her. Noticing that there were now four more, she looked towards the inn, which was still half a street away, and with a hardening of her heart, she began to run.
"Quick, she's discovered us. Chase her."
"Yes!"
"Quick, she's heading for the inn. You take the side alley to cut her off. Don't let her get away."
...
The men tracking her no longer bothered to conceal themselves. They saw through Zhong Li's plan and quickly ordered their companions to apprehend her.
Zhong Li's medicine box was heavy on her back. Furthermore, she had been busy since arriving in Liaocheng without any rest, so her physical strength was already depleted. After running only a few dozen yards, she was surrounded by five or six men.
"What do you want?" Zhong Li eyed her surroundings warily, her dissection knife glinting silver in the dim night.
"Zhong Sicheng, isn't it?" The man in the lead wore a bearskin vest, his chest hair slightly exposed, giving him a fierce appearance. He said, "Apologies, my brothers are paid to do jobs, and someone wants your life. We're truly helpless."
As he finished speaking, the man waved his hand, and they all lunged towards Zhong Li.
Zhong Li was no pushover. When she realized they were tracking her, she had prepared herself. She first took down the person who charged at her first, using her dissection knife to cleanly sever his wrist tendons. As he fell, she powerfully flung something at the two men charging from behind.
As a cloud of white powder was thrown, the two men fell to the ground, emitting piercing screams.
Clutching her medicine box, Zhong Li stepped over the fallen men and fled rapidly into the distance.
"Bastards!" The man with chest hair cursed in anger as Zhong Li got away. He took a small whistle from his waist and placed it to his lips.
A crisp whistling sound rang out. A subordinate behind the chest-haired man said, "Boss, with this ambush signal, all our dozen or so brothers lying in wait around here will hear it. This kid definitely won't escape our grasp."
The man said this while clenching his fist tightly.
The chest-haired man narrowed his eyes, looking in the direction Zhong Li had left, and sneered, "Hmph, thanks to that person's reminder, who said Zhong Sicheng once captured the Deputy Commander of the Naval Division alive and told us to be careful. Now we've prepared for this. In an hour, we'll be waiting to collect the body, haha."
"Let's go, follow!" After laughing, the chest-haired man waved to his subordinates.
"Yes!" The chest-haired man's subordinates responded, pulling up the two subordinates blinded by the white powder on the ground and heading straight for where Zhong Li had disappeared.
Liaocheng was vast. Zhong Li had been here for less than a day. She had intended to run towards the inn, but as she ran, she realized she was lost.
Her physical strength had reached its limit. She walked to a hidden corner, leaning against the wall, panting heavily.
The weather was already hot, and after such exertion, she was not only parched but her legs were starting to feel weak.
"Quick, she's over there!"
"Surround her!"
"Remember, kill her on sight, and bring her head for the reward."
...
Just as Zhong Li had rested for a moment, she heard the sounds of footsteps and shouts again.
She reacted, holding her breath and concentrating, judging from the surrounding echoes that there were about a dozen people chasing her in this wave.
What to do?
She clutched her chest, trying to calm her tense nerves and rapid heartbeat. But no matter how calm and composed she was usually, anyone who didn't want to die, when pushed to such a desperate situation, couldn't help but feel nervous and worried.
"She's here, in the alley."
Just as Zhong Li was contemplating how to slip away silently in the darkness, a man in casual attire, holding a torch, illuminated the alley and discovered her at the same time.
Damn it!
Zhong Li was furious. Before the man could shout to attract more people, she had already swiftly flashed in front of him. With a swift stroke of her dissection knife, the man's windpipe was severed, and he fell heavily to the ground.
"Quick, the person is there."
A male companion of the man noticed the commotion here and began to charge towards her.
Zhong Li glanced at the torch on the ground, pondered for a moment, and quickly picked it up.
"There's blood on the ground, someone must be injured."
"The person hasn't gone far, search for them."
Conversations could be heard from the mouth of the alley.
Then another voice rang out, "Quick, there's light at the fork ahead, looks like someone."
Simultaneously, a flurry of footsteps rushed towards the direction of the light.
After all the people chasing Zhong Li had swarmed into the brightly lit area, Zhong Li slowly emerged from the darkness and ran desperately towards the outside of the alley.
"Damn it, it's a corpse! Chase after me!"
As soon as Zhong Li stepped out of the alley, those people realized they had been tricked and turned back, running towards her.
Zhong Li ran, her feet already faltering. She was truly out of strength, her body was starting to collapse, and she couldn't hold on much longer.
Just as she rushed out of the alley onto another unfamiliar street, a carriage stopped at the street corner, blocking her path.
Zhong Li stopped. Fortunately, her body reacted instinctively; otherwise, an ordinary person would have already fallen to the ground.
"Zhong Sicheng," a deep, slightly hoarse voice sounded from inside the carriage.
Zhong Li forcefully swallowed the little saliva left in her mouth, holding her dissection knife horizontally before her in a final struggle.
The carriage curtain was slowly pulled open. Zhong Li was prepared to die.
The person inside the carriage spoke again, "Quick, get in."
Zhong Li froze, looking at the hand reaching out from the carriage, a look of bewilderment on her face.
"If you don't want to die, get in!" the person inside urged again.
Zhong Li glanced back at the hunters chasing her, grit her teeth, grabbed the person's hand, and rolled into the carriage.