Su Xiaoqi followed the young maidservant all the way. The further they went, the more desolate it became. The trees grew denser, and human settlements became sparse, until finally, only they themselves remained.
Su Xiaoqi looked around and her heart trembled. She had a premonition that something was not right.
But if Du Yiyi were truly here, wouldn't she be in even greater danger?
Thinking of Du Yiyi, her worry grew.
She mused, why would Yiyi come to such a place? If anything happened to her, it would be a cry unheard, a plea unanswered.
As she was thinking, Zhang Yu suddenly grabbed her arm. "Mistress, something feels off here."
Yao'er, who had been struggling to keep up with them, also stopped abruptly. "Mistress Shen, our young lady wouldn't come here."
Su Xiaoqi raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure she wouldn't come?"
Yao'er pointed to the beggar-ticks lining the path. "Young lady, she detests this kind of grass. The moment she sees it, she'll retreat, no matter how much she wants to play."
Su Xiaoqi felt a sense of relief. If that was the case, she could relax.
Seeing that everyone behind her had stopped, the leading young maidservant's eyes darted faster. She pointed to a rock not far away. "Look, we're almost there. Hurry up and go."
Su Xiaoqi sized her up with a cold gaze. Without her worries, she felt much lighter, her mind racing.
She beckoned to the young maidservant. "We're all too tired to walk. Let's rest here for a bit."
"No, please! Our young lady is waiting for Mistress Shen to rescue her..."
"Is that so? Can you point her out for me? Where is she?" Su Xiaoqi pretended to be out of breath and stepped forward.
As the young maidservant reached out to point, Su Xiaoqi suddenly grabbed her wrist.
She forcefully threw the girl to the ground, stepped on her, and pinned her chest firmly. The young maidservant cried out in pain and begged for mercy.
"Ah, Mistress Shen, Mistress Shen, have mercy, have mercy! I, I was wrong, I was forced, I didn't mean to."
Su Xiaoqi, who had been smiling sweetly, suddenly struck out. This not only startled the young maidservant but also terrified Yao'er.
She hadn't expected Su Xiaoqi, who appeared delicate and frail, to possess such strength and be so ruthless.
She had seen blood trickling from Ying Xiu's mouth.
Terrified, she fell to the ground, covering her head, unable to bear watching.
Su Xiaoqi surveyed their reactions. This was precisely the effect she wanted.
She let out a cold laugh, then suddenly pressed down harder with her foot, grunting, "Tell me, where is your young lady?"
"In, in, in the real stone forest labyrinth."
"This isn't it?" Su Xiaoqi looked at the rows of large stones standing before her. Although not as grand as the Stone Forest in Yunnan, they had a certain charm.
"This, this is also a stone forest, but, but..."
The young maidservant, Xiu Ying, hesitated for a long time without completing her sentence.
Su Xiaoqi beckoned to Zhang Yu and stepped aside. Zhang Yu did not hesitate; she grabbed the maidservant by the throat, making it impossible for her to breathe.
"Speak!"
"We, we all call, call it the Devil's Stone Forest, it's different from that, that one," the young maidservant cried out.
Su Xiaoqi still had some reservations, but Zhang Yu was less concerned.
With one hand, she left a deep imprint on the maidservant's neck.
The pain made her wail. She was so terrified that a large patch of her skirt became wet; she had urinated herself.
Su Xiaoqi felt a bit disgusted. She looked down at the maidservant and said coldly, "You can tell me the truth now."
The young maidservant's eyes flickered. What she had said was the truth.
"Still not talking? Then push her in." Su Xiaoqi meant what she said. For some things, she didn't need words; she could tell from a person's eyes that something was amiss.
"No, don't, I don't want to..." The young maidservant cried loudly, more so than when Zhang Yu had grabbed her neck.
Su Xiaoqi sneered, "You used the same trick to lure your young lady in, didn't you? Why didn't you think of this moment then?"
"I, I, I didn't, it wasn't me..." The young maidservant's nose and mouth were running. She didn't know where she had given herself away.
She was seen through by Su Xiaoqi, realizing she had been lying.
That's right, Du Yiyi was in this Devil's Stone Forest.
The two masters above had initially agreed to spare Du Yiyi for now, but one of them was unwilling. Thus, they had lured her here together.
"If it wasn't you, then it was someone else." Su Xiaoqi already had her answer.
According to Yao'er, Du Yiyi would definitely not want to come upon seeing the beggar-ticks. However, knowing that Su Xiaoqi was inside, she had entered without hesitation.
Seeing that time was getting late, she didn't want to waste any more words with this insignificant person. She gave Zhang Yu a look, signaling her to throw the girl in.
Zhang Yu grinned and complied.
Yao'er, standing beside them, flinched. She wasn't sure if Mistress Shen would treat her as an accomplice of Ying Xiu and deal with her accordingly.
"You've heard it too. Your young lady is likely inside. It's getting dark, and I'm going in to find her. You can deliver a message for me to someone."
Su Xiaoqi said nothing further. She tore a strip of cloth from her sleeve and threw it to Yao'er, telling her to run to town and go to the Zui Bugui restaurant where they had eaten earlier.
Yao'er, seeing that she wasn't being thrown in and had even earned trust, breathed a sigh of relief and eagerly accepted the cloth.
But then she thought about how her own young lady had been harmed by Ying Xiu, that ungrateful wretch. She felt ashamed to go back alone. She should accompany Mistress Shen to find her.
Su Xiaoqi saw her hesitation and urged her,
"Hurry and deliver the message, or your young lady will be sleeping outdoors tonight."
Yao'er startled and quickly ran off.
Su Xiaoqi surveyed the densely wooded stone forest ahead, feeling a slight apprehension.
But thinking that Du Yiyi had been tricked into entering, and she had only brought one maidservant, she didn't know what might happen inside. She had to go in to support her.
Su Xiaoqi stepped forward to enter, but Zhang Yu stepped up and blocked her.
"Mistress, you can't go. I just scouted from the trees. This place is extremely strange. Once you go in, you might not be able to get out." Zhang Yu's duty was to protect Su Xiaoqi; she wasn't particularly concerned about the safety of others.
Su Xiaoqi said, "How about you stay outside, and I go in alone? That way, you can support me."
Zhang Yu shook her head resolutely. "That won't do, Mistress. It's not that I want to criticize you, but you can't even find your way around on a main street. This is the Maze Stone Forest. If you go in like this, you might..."
Zhang Yu wanted to phrase it delicately but couldn't find the right words to describe the current situation after a long pause. She could only look at Su Xiaoqi with regret.
Su Xiaoqi put her hand to her forehead, speechless, and glared at Zhang Yu. She really didn't know how to speak, exposing her so openly.
Zhang Yu knew her words were quite hurtful, so she quickly changed the subject.
"Right, I'll set off a signal flare. Zhang Lei will definitely tell Master when he sees it."
Su Xiaoqi gave her a look. "You have such advanced things like signal flares, why didn't you say so earlier?"
Zhang Yu looked wronged. "Mistress, you didn't ask. And this thing is very troublesome to make, and the raw materials are hard to find."
Besides, there hadn't been an opportunity to use it before.
Every time Su Xiaoqi saw Zhang Yu's delicate and pretty face, she would forget her background and origins.
That's why she overlooked her capabilities.
"Good, with this, my husband should find us soon. With him, we'll definitely be able to get out." Su Xiaoqi had inexplicable confidence in Shen Yun.
As she spoke, she was already walking inside.
The Devil's Stone Forest had a notorious reputation. Su Xiaoqi felt that given her natural inability to navigate, she didn't need to research it extensively.
Because no matter how much she researched, it would be futile.
Moreover, her primary goal upon entering now was not to find a way out but to find Du Yiyi, who had been lured in.
And then she would think about getting out!
Of course, this was her plan, but the actual situation was far more complicated than she had imagined.