In Yu County, at the inn.
"Your Highness, your body is not yet recovered, you cannot get out of bed!"
"Your Highness, you cannot go, absolutely not!"
"Get out! Move aside!"
Lu Wuxie swayed as he got out of bed. He looked at the two subordinates blocking his path, his grip tightening on the slip of paper in his hand.
It was left for him by Zhong Li, simply a few words telling him to wait for the antidote, nothing else was written.
But he knew where Zhong Li would go to get the antidote, nowhere else but the tiger and wolf infested lands deep in the woods.
"It's been a whole night, and Li'er's fate is unknown. I must go find her," Lu Wuxie said, walking to the screen to put on his clothes.
"Your Highness, why don't I go find Miss Zhong and bring her back," Lin Jin said as he walked beside Lu Wuxie.
Lu Wuxie didn't answer. His gaze swept past the innkeeper and the waiter in the backyard outside the window. Although he didn't know what they were whispering about, the murderous intent in their eyes was enough for him to guess that they were preparing to make a move against him.
This was also understandable. After all, six days had passed since Zhong Li last sought the medicine, and today was the day to seek it again. Zhong Li had not appeared before the two of them, so they should have become suspicious long ago.
"It's no longer safe here," he said, his brows furrowed tightly.
"Then we..." Before Ah Wu could even finish his question, a white dove flew in through the window from outside.
Lin Jin stepped forward and confirmed that the white dove had not attracted the attention of the innkeeper. He took the secret letter tied to the dove's leg and handed it to Lu Wuxie.
Lu Wuxie took it and read it carefully, his expression turning solemn.
"Your Highness, what is it?" Lin Jin inquired.
Lu Wuxie folded the letter and tucked it into his sleeve, saying, "It's a carrier pigeon from Lan Heng.
Lin Jin, Ah Wu, we have to leave now, whether we want to or not!"
As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the door.
Hearing the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs, the next moment the door to the chamber was kicked open. The innkeeper, accompanied by the waiter, wielding weapons, appeared at the doorway.
The innkeeper glanced inside. Although he was unsure about the presence of an extra man, he noticed the absence of the accompanying woman. He sneered and said to the waiter, "As expected, that woman is gone. For the immortal elixir, we must now unleash a bloodbath!"
With that, the innkeeper raised his saber and charged towards Lu Wuxie and the other two.
Lin Jin and Ah Wu had felt suffocated by being cooped up in the inn for days. They would naturally not miss this opportunity to stretch their limbs.
They both drew the weapons at their waists in unison and met the enemy.
In an instant, with a flurry of strikes, the innkeeper and the waiter fell to the ground with eyes wide in disbelief.
Lu Wuxie took the remaining wake-up pills left by Zhong Li, motioned for Lin Jin and Ah Wu to change into the clothes of the innkeeper and the waiter, and prepared to leave with them.
"Master, are we going into the woods now?" Ah Wu asked Lu Wuxie as they walked, "But we don't know the whereabouts of Assistant Minister Zhong. How can we find her? If we delay, won't it be counterproductive?"
A continuous fine rain fell upon the streets. Households had their doors tightly shut. Occasionally, people in straw capes passed by, hurrying along with anxious steps, completely oblivious to the abnormality of Lu Wuxie and the other two.
"No, we'll go to the magistrate's office first. We need to change our clothes, and then someone will naturally lead us into the woods," Lu Wuxie said, raising his eyes to look at the magistrate's office at the end of the street, where he could still faintly see two officers in red clothing at the entrance.
At the same time, at Zhong Li's location.
Zhong Li stood in place, gasping for breath. The dissection knife in her hand was still dripping with blood. Three corpses lay neatly on the ground beneath her feet. All of them had their throats slit, their eyes wide with a look of unwillingness.
She hadn't intended to harm them, but while fighting them, she discovered that all their moves were deadly. After consideration, she had no choice but to strike first.
She sat in place, recuperating for a while. Confident that no one else would pursue her for the moment, she shakily pushed herself up and walked in the direction where Qiao'er had disappeared.
Zhong Li didn't know where Qiao'er had gone, nor did she know how much further they had to walk to get out. Helplessly, she could only rely on the faint fragrance emanating from the cave to find another way out.
After walking for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the strange fragrance became even more potent than that of the cave with the large pool. She couldn't help but follow the scent and wind her way into the cave.
As soon as she took a step, she felt a slippery and soft sensation under her feet. She quickly withdrew her foot, took out a tinderbox from her embrace, and probed into the cave.
When she saw that the cave, no bigger than a room, was entirely filled with bubbling wet marshland, she had a rough inference.
To prove it, she turned back, took a sharp saber from one of the corpses she had killed, and returned to the cave. She forcefully thrust the saber in, and when she pulled it out, the tip was faintly stained with blood.
Indeed, this muddy ground was where the tanned corpses were made. But... she had only probed it once and already hit a fresh corpse. She wondered how many lost souls were buried here.
"Lord Zhong, are you there?" a voice called out, interrupting Zhong Li's thoughts.
Zhong Li was familiar with the voice; it should be Qiao'er.
She turned and shone the tinderbox towards the source of the sound. As expected, Qiao'er was slowly walking towards her, leaning against the rock wall.
"Why are you still here, haven't you gotten out?" Zhong Li asked.
Upon hearing Zhong Li's question, Qiao'er pouted pitifully and said, "I don't know either. I just kept walking and ended up back here. What should we do?
What were you looking at just now, Lord Zhong?"
Zhong Li glanced back behind her and shook her head.
"Then let's go quickly!" Qiao'er said, taking Zhong Li's hand and preparing to move forward.
Zhong Li lowered her gaze for a moment, then followed her footsteps around the next turn.
After another half an hour, Qiao'er was once again sitting on the ground, panting wearily. It was obvious that they had circled back.
"Lord Zhong, what do we do? We really can't get out."
Zhong Li remained silent. After touching the rock wall with her fingertips, she squatted in front of Qiao'er and said, "Qiao'er, haven't we met somewhere before?"
Qiao'er stiffened. She raised her eyes to explain, but seeing Zhong Li looking at her so intently, she didn't know what to say.
"Divine Maiden, how long do you plan to pretend?" Zhong Li no longer wanted to play games with her. Her gaze turned cold, and she coldly revealed Qiao'er's true identity.
Qiao'er's eyes widened, and her body instinctively pressed closer to the rock wall behind her.
Zhong Li glanced back at the dark space behind her, confirming it was safe, and continued, "At first, I was truly fooled by you, thinking you were also a victim. Until I discovered you were passing information to them."
"How co... Ah!" Before Qiao'er could even attempt to deny it, Zhong Li had already seized her arm. She cried out in pain.
Zhong Li brought the tinderbox close to Qiao'er's arm and said, "It was with this hand that you knocked on the rock wall to pass information, wasn't it? Do you really think I'm stupid?
And the three people who chased after me just now, you brought them, didn't you?"
"It hurts so much!" Qiao'er's forehead was beaded with sweat from the pain.
Zhong Li said, "Qiao'er, you are truly formidable. You knew I was a coroner, so you couldn't fool me with fake injuries. Thus, you didn't hesitate to harm yourself to make me believe you, luring me into your trap, and incidentally, killing me.
Speak! How can I get out, and what is your purpose in doing all this?"