Bringing Her Back

"Don't worry!" Su Chenyu said, one leg over the other, seemingly unconcerned. "Ye Feng has been trained since childhood. Assassinations, stealth, and surveillance are all in a day's work for him. Those Yemen runners in the government are nothing to him."

Wen Yuan's heart stirred. He had heard of wealthy families who trained secret guards to protect their masters. These guards faced very high standards. Looking closely, Ye Feng didn't seem like an ordinary servant—he was probably one of those secret guards. It looked like Master Jing's status wasn't that simple either.

Sure enough, after about an hour, Ye Feng returned with the woman.

When everyone saw her, they all jumped.

The woman's clothes were in tatters. Whip marks covered her body, and blood coated her skin. Her hair was a mess, and her face was splattered with blood. A bloody whip mark stretched from the end of her eyebrow down to her jaw, and her eyes were closed—no one knew if she was dead or alive.

"Master, she's still alive. If we hadn't brought her here tonight, she would probably have died." Ye Feng said.

Su Chenyu's expression darkened: "Isn't this just a fancy way of using torture?"

Wen Yuan replied: "She's crippled the governor's son. The governor will surely take revenge on her for his humiliation."

Ye Feng spoke up: "I got inside during a guard shift change without alerting anyone. But if we stay too long, they'll notice she's gone. What should we do with her now?"

"Tomorrow, before sunrise." Su Chenyu instructed: "Ye Feng, take her out of the town and wait for us. We'll catch up later."

Jing Chen nodded in agreement.

Seeing their plan, Ye Feng accepted the task.

Wen Yuan suggested: "This woman has suffered serious injuries. Shouldn't we at least find a doctor to take a look at her?"

"It's impossible to find a doctor in the middle of the night." Qibao said: "I'll give her some medicine I brought with me."

Qibao took out a pill and filled a glass with warm water. Invisible to the others, she added a drop of spiritual healing water to the glass.

The woman hadn't eaten anything since being captured, probably not even a sip of water. Her cracked lips made it painfully obvious.

They stuffed the medicine pill into her mouth. Although she was still unconscious, her body reacted by swallowing it instinctively—probably because she'd gone without food for so long. They also fed her some of the water from the cup.

Qibao said: "Why don't the rest of you head to your room? I'll keep an eye on her."

It was hard for the men to take care of a woman, so they simply nodded and left.

Jing Chen spoke up: "I couldn't sleep either way, so I'll stay here and keep you company!"

Xu Wenwu objected: "Jing Chen, that's not right. Boys and girls shouldn't be alone together, especially at night. It wouldn't be good for my sister's reputation."

Jing Chen didn't say anything. He nodded and quietly walked out the door: 'I shouldn't have spoken without thinking.' With so many people around, he realized his actions were indeed inappropriate and could affect the girl's reputation.

Su Chenyu rubbed his nose, smiling slightly as she also left the room.

Wen Yuan, not fully understanding the situation, followed their lead.

Xu Wenwu urged: "Sister, I'll be next door. If you need anything, just call out, got it?"

Qibao smiled and agreed: "Sure, Big Brother. Go ahead and sleep! Don't worry about me."

With everyone else gone, Qibao called up her little spirit: "Can you tell if she's really losing her mind?"

"When she gets upset, her mind becomes confused." Xiaoling said: "If you don't upset her, she acts like any normal person."

Qiba guessed: "Feng Zheng must have done something to upset her. Otherwise, she wouldn't have risked her life to stab him."

Xiaoling added: "I could tell from Feng Zheng's face that he's bad news."

Qiba teased: "Wow! Impressive! Did you learn a new skill? Can you really read people from their faces now? Well then, how do I look?"

"You're not truly bad, Master." Xiaoling replied: "But you're not exactly good either!"

Qiba smiled, indeed, she wasn't inherently good. Every good deed she performed had a self-serving purpose. Yet, she had never intentionally harmed anyone.

"Oh, right! Master, Xiong'Er ate the wild honey you collected earlier!" Xiaoling exclaimed.

Qiba paused, then released Xiong'Er from her storage space.

Instantly, the quiet room filled with deafening snoring.

The sight that greeted them was a grinning, half-asleep bear.

Qiba gave it a kick, expecting it to wake up. Surprisingly, the bear merely turned over and continued snoring.

Qibao patted its big belly several times before the bear finally woke up, growling and showing its teeth.

Qibao gave it two hard slaps on the head: "Are you still grumpy in the morning?"

When it saw its owner, Xiong'Er quickly dropped its menacing act. Trying to be friendly, it reached out and gently swayed Qibao's arm.

"Did you eat the wild honey I collected?" Qibao asked.

Xiong Er's bear face went blank, and its eyes darted around.

Qibao started patting its big head again: "Didn't I tell you and your brother that I need this wild honey? You can't just eat it."

Feeling guilty, Xiong'Er stuck a finger in its mouth, looking innocent.

"Next time if you ignore what I say, I'll send you back to the mountain." Qibao warned.

Xiong'Er panicked. Its nearly three-meter tall body seemed even bigger in the room.

Wrapping its large arms around Qibao, it shook its big head pitifully, fear in its eyes.

Qibao asked: "Will this happen again?"

Xiong'Er shook his head right away.

"Since you seem to understand your mistake." Qibao said with a threatening tone: "I'll let you off this time! But if it happens again, I really won't keep you anymore!"

Xiong Er's mouth split into a grin. He picked up Qibao and set her on his shoulder, one paw around Qibao's waist to stop her from falling off. Then he happily ran back and forth in the small room, excited beyond measure, making the floor creak with each step.

Afraid that Xiong'Er might break the floor, Qibao quickly said: "Put me down right now! You're making too much noise. If someone finds you, they'll cut off your paws and cook them for a meal."

When Xiong'Er heard this, he quickly hid his paws behind his back.

Amused by its antics, Qibao laughed and put Xiong'Er back into her space.

Looking at the unconscious woman again to make sure everything was still normal, she closed her eyes and began to enter a meditative state.

The next day, before the sky had lightened, someone knocked on Qibao's door.

She opened it to find Jing Chen and Ye Feng waiting outside. After letting them in, Ye Feng moved to help the woman on the bed, but she slowly opened her eyes herself.

"Where am I...?" she mumbled, still dazed.

Qibao answered: "You're in an inn. We saved you. You can't stay in Xuanyang Town anymore, so we're taking you out of here."

The woman's eyes widened in surprise. Looking at Qibao, she asked: "It was you! Why did you save me?"

Qibao replied: "There's no time for explanations. While it's still dark, we need to leave quickly. Once the prison guards discover you're gone, you won't have a chance to escape!"

The woman's eyes reddened as she nodded: "Alright! I'll do as you say!" At that moment, she didn't care whether Qibao and her friends were good or bad, as long as she could survive, she'd have a chance at life.