Final Decision

Rushing inside the forge and subsequently storage room were none other than Jing Jiang and Jing Hai.

Their faces were sweaty and red as they gasped for air, clearly having run here as well.

"You are back! I'm so glad you're back! We thought we would never see you two again!", Jing Jiang exclaimed with relief, although there was still a fair share of fright mixed in.

But this relief didn't last long when he noticed the injured and unconscious Lei Mingxing in Chang Liuyun's arms.

"Lei Mingxing!", he hurriedly stepped forward and took her out of Chang Liuyun's slightly shaky arms, cradling her a bit awkwardly so as to not touch her wounds.

A worried expression appeared on his face, at least Lei Mingxing was still breathing steadily, Jing Jiang thought after observing her for a bit.

Sighing with relief, he shifted his gaze to Chang Liuyun who was in just as much of a sorry state as Lei Mingxing.

Jing Jiang turned to glance at his father.

Jing Hai's face was grave as he said:

"I'll go get medicine."

Before quickly leaving the storage room and walking up the stairs with hurried steps.

Now finally, Jing Jiang spoke to Chang Liuyun directly, looking intently at the other whose face was entirely exposed for the very first time since they met, asking the question that had been plaguing his mind the entire time they had been desperatedly searching for the two and threatened the guards in front of Suan Bi's estate.

"What happened?"

***

Lei Mingxing swung open her eyes and quickly got off the bed she was resting on.

Once again, she was alone in a room, but this time, it was a familiar rustic room with a window and water basin. So any initial fear she might have had dissipated immediately.

Instead, she calmly looked herself down, noticing the fresh bandages around her arms and legs. 

Although the injuries beneath the bandages were surely already recovered at this point, Lei Mingxing still left them untouched, ignoring them as she quickly put on the only robes she still had left at this point, which were the dark red set.

Unfortunately, the matching face veil had been lost yesterday during their escape, so there was nothing left for Lei Mingxing to cover her face with.

Regardless, she quickly combed through her messy hair and fixed it with a hair needle, before hurrying out of the room to look for the other people in the forge.

As soon as she stepped into the corridor, Lei Mingxing could hear the sound of conversation coming from the living room.

Walking over, Lei Mingxing could already catch mentions of 'Leaving', 'Gathering Supplies' and 'Before Nightfall'.

She opened the door.

Sitting around the table with heavy expressions were Chang Liuyun and the Jing father and son while in serious discussion.

They only stopped to look up at Lei Mingxing in surprise.

Well, Jing Jiang and Jing Hai looked up in surprise, Chang Liuyun simply nodded in greeting.

"Lei Mingxing, you are already up? Don't you need to rest some more?", Jing Jiang asked worriedly.

But Lei Mingxing just shook her head and walked over to join them at the table.

Jing Hai also spoke up.

"You should really lie down some more, it's been barely 5 hours since you collapsed from exhaustion."

He echoed his son's concerns.

"No need, this seems much more important, what were you discussing earlier?", Lei Mingxing replied, directing the last half at Chang Liuyun.

"We were trying to figure out how to leave Dark Spirit Town the fastest."

As soon as Lei Mingxing heard these words, her face turned serious as well.

"We are all leaving together?"

Jing Jiang nodded.

"Chang Liuyun told us what happened, we can't stay here any longer, after what Suan Bi did to you... I'm sorry", a self-loathing look appeared on Jing Jiang's face, "It's all my fault, Suan Bi has always targeted the people around me, I was a fool, I should have done a better job at keeping you out of harm's way..."

"No, we originally caught Suan Bian's attention even before they knew that I was your apprentice," Lei Mingxing interrupted him in a matter-of-fact tone, "Don't worry about it, instead tell me what your plans are now."

This time Jing Hai answered.

"Jiang'er and I planned on going out to buy supplies such as food and medicine and rent a wagon, while you two round up the ores and other materials here, as well as the artifacts in the shop. We hoped to get out of town before the festival's end tonight, as Suan Bi will surely attend the competition. This way we won't have to deal with him directly at least."

"And what about us? Aren't we competing as well?", Lei Mingxing asked in surprise.

Just the mention of Suan Bi attending the competition today caused blazing competitiveness to ignite in Lei Mingxing's heart, thoughts of defeating him to humiliate him for what he had done to them the night before sprouted in her mind.

But all of this hope was dashed the moment she saw Jing Jiang's bitter expression.

"We will have to withdraw."

Lei Mingxing's heart trembled at these defeated words.

So, they would leave just like that, after everything Suan Bi had done?

Gleaming sparks of unwillingness lit up inside her, and her blood began to boil.

The kidnapping, the unknown history between Jing Jiang and Suan Bi as well as the terror Suan Bi had inflicted on the different forges and pharmacies, all this going without repercussions? Not to mention his pathetic excuse of a son.

However, all of that was just meaningless excuses, in actuality, Lei Mingxing felt horribly irritated and angry at the thought that she wouldn't be able to do anything to Suan Bi and had to scurry like mice before a cat.

But that wasn't everything, ever since waking up, Lei Mingxing's dantian and meridians had felt like they were on the verge of bursting, making her feel itchy all over. She had been able to ignore it at first, but this feeling only worsened with her rising rage, irritating her even more.

So, she desperately wished to vent her anger and hopefully relieve that unbearable itchiness, even if the reasoning she had to come up with felt laughable even to her.

"I think Jing Jiang and I should still compete. That way we can distract Suan Bi and put him on the wrong trail while Chang Liuyun and Grandpa Jing gather supplies," the more Lei Mingxing talked, the more she began to believe her words as well," Besides, I much prefer this to sitting here and just waiting around for you to return."

Jing Hai opened his mouth to refute Lei Mingxing's plan, he didn't feel like this was a good idea, Chang Liuyun and Lei Mingxing stepping out of the forge after what happened yesterday, not to mention exposing themselves to the public like this, who knows what traps Suan Bi had already laid for them.

But before he could say anything, Chang Liuyun spoke up.

"I agree with Lei Mingxing, staying in the forge without being able to contact the two of you outside..., I would much rather help as well."

Staring at Chang Liuyun and Lei Mingxing's clear eyes and determined faces for a few seconds, Jing Hai ultimately couldn't help sighing.

He glanced at his son.

Letting Jing Jiang have the final say.

 The former also wore a slightly unwilling expression just like his father, but still answered:

"Alright."