Chapter 21: A Narrow Escape between Life and Death

"This..." Pan Yueqing couldn't help but take a deep breath when she saw the treasures in this small cave. There were at least thousands of items piled up so high! But this wasn't really the time to marvel at such good fortune. She went forward and placed Gu Pan and Wan'er in the cave. She reached out and stroked Wan'er's face. "You must survive."

She tidied up the quilts and closed the wardrobe. Then she turned to look at Qi Si'an, who was looking at her with a puzzled expression. She heard him ask, "You clearly could have hidden in there too."

"I'm afraid you'll sell out that hiding place," Pan Yueqing didn't give Qi Si'an a pleasant look. For a man who wanted to kill her at any moment, she only felt a bit regretful. She should have known that saving Qi Si'an was no different from saving a venomous snake that would bite back. It would have been more convenient to find a way to cripple Qi Sicheng directly.

Qi Si'an stepped forward, covered Pan Yueqing's mouth with his hand, and pulled her back three steps. Just then, with a bang, an arrowhead pierced through the thin window panel and got stuck in the gap. The sharp tip grazed her sensitive earlobe.

The iron weapon revealed the threat of death with its smooth lines.

"You're quite right. Even if I go to the underworld, I'll definitely take a few people down there to serve me," Qi Si'an's tone was still relaxed, but when his eyes landed on that arrow, his gaze involuntarily turned cold.

Pan Yueqing met his gaze, and a hint of mockery couldn't help but appear in her eyes. "No wonder someone is so eager to hunt you down."

Upon hearing this, Qi Si'an's expression wasn't good. He slightly lowered his eyes and looked at the arrow that had pierced through the door panel. He murmured softly, "Top-grade mysterious iron arrow, star-spiral arrowhead, repeating crossbow..." Then he smiled self-deprecatingly and said nothing more.

The Helan Imperial Guards.

The name suddenly flashed into Pan Yueqing's mind. The Mysterious Armored Guards was the general term for the troops protecting the imperial city, but the Mysterious Armored Guards had many branches. Among them, the Helan Imperial Guards, who were responsible for protecting the emperor's safety, were equipped with the highest-quality iron weapons. The unique arrows of the Helan Imperial Guards were the star-spiral arrowheads that Qi Si'an had mentioned.

Pan Yueqing felt a bit confused. She knew what it meant for the Helan Imperial Guards to be hunting down Qi Si'an. In that instant, she actually felt a twinge of sympathy for this "venomous snake" Qi Si'an. If it wasn't for someone falsely spreading an imperial edict, being hunted down by the father who had always doted on him was probably one of the most heartless things in the world...

Although she lived in the treacherous Pan Mansion, at least her father didn't want to take her life. Whether it was in this life or in her previous life when she was slandered, Pan Haiyun at most ignored her, but he still fulfilled his duties as a father when she needed him.

But this "venomous snake" Qi Si'an, in his injured state, found out that the people trying to kill him were actually the master of the Helan Imperial Guards. It was like stabbing another knife into his heart.

Pan Yueqing let out a long breath, raised her hand, and gently rubbed her forehead. She cursed herself in her heart. Her life was on the line, so why did she still have the heart to feel sorry for this "venomous snake" Qi Si'an? It was still quite chilly in the mountains in spring. In the side room, there were still ten jin of charcoal, some firewood, and a brazier for heating. These were originally in the side room. But setting fire was actually very dangerous. If she accidentally burned herself, it would be terrible.

"Shen Ping'an, come and give me a hand," Pan Yueqing called out using the alias Qi Si'an had given. The two of them quickly pushed the two water vats in the room to the door. She rolled up her two-layer quilt, divided it, soaked it completely, put it on herself, and threw the other piece to Qi Si'an.

"Are you planning to set the place on fire?" Qi Si'an lowered his voice and reached out to hold Pan Yueqing's hand that was about to continue with her actions. "At such a close distance?"

Pan Yueqing turned around and smiled. She raised her hand and stroked Qi Si'an's hand, then forcefully pushed it away. "Otherwise? If we don't set this place on fire, who will see us and come to save us? At the very least, we can slip out while the fire is in chaos. Put it on quickly!" Seeing that Qi Si'an still didn't move, in this situation, Pan Yueqing didn't have the time to think about whether her actions were appropriate or not. She was very impatient with Qi Si'an and shouted at him forcefully, "What are you still standing there for?!"

Ignoring Qi Si'an's reaction, Pan Yueqing heated the ten jin of charcoal until it turned red and divided it into two parts. One part was scattered at the door, and the other part was picked up one by one with iron tongs and placed on the only iron bucket in the room. Then she took an autumn thin blanket, threaded it through one ear of the iron bucket, and stood on tiptoe to slowly place it on the beam of the room at a certain angle.

Regardless of what kind of oil it was, as long as it was something in the shape of an ointment, she pushed it to the side of the charcoal fire. Then she set up a pile of firewood.

After thinking for a while, she opened the half bag of soybeans in the portable dressing cabinet that was meant to be made into snacks and placed them right in the middle of the door.

"Are you setting up a trap?" Qi Si'an was a bit shocked. How could a girl who had been raised in a boudoir know so much?

"Otherwise? I'm a delicate woman who can neither carry heavy things nor wield weapons. Do you expect me to take your sword and go up to fight?" Pan Yueqing clicked her tongue and slightly raised her head to ask Qi Si'an, "How is it outside?"

Suddenly, there was the sound of arrows piercing through the air outside the door. It was as if hundreds of arrows were shooting towards the door of this side room. Qi Si'an quickly pulled over the only two tables and a beauty couch in the side room. With a kick for each, he made the tabletops fly over the charcoal that Pan Yueqing had piled three inches in front of the door and stacked them at the door of the side room. Then he stood the beauty couch upright, picked up Master Wuji's long monk staff, and propped it against the beauty couch. He shouted at Pan Yueqing, "Get down!"

Pan Yueqing cursed in her heart and lay on the ground. She raised her eyes and saw Qi Si'an half-crouching on the ground, with little spots of blood appearing at his feet. Pan Yueqing looked up and saw that there was blood slowly flowing down along the edge of the sword sheath at Qi Si'an's waist.

"Don't hold it up! Your wound has opened!" Pan Yueqing said anxiously. She even reached out to pull Qi Si'an's hand that was tightly gripping the long staff. Her hand touched a lot of blood. When she took a closer look, Qi Si'an had gripped so tightly that the skin on his hand was broken and his fingernail was split.

Qi Si'an turned his head, and his gaze was as cold as a venomous snake spitting out its tongue. "Let go!"

Pan Yueqing's expression was serious. She grabbed the long staff, clutched Qi Si'an's neck, pushed the long staff away, and grabbed the most vulnerable part of his neck. She rolled on the ground with Qi Si'an. The beauty couch lost its support and fell down with a crash. Qi Si'an's wound on his back completely burst open. When he stood up with difficulty, his lips had already turned completely white.

Pan Yueqing pulled Qi Si'an and pushed him into the cave filled with gold and silver in the wardrobe. Seeing that Qi Si'an didn't seem to want to cooperate, without thinking, she casually grabbed a piece of cloth and stuffed it into Qi Si'an's mouth. "You talk too much!" Then, ignoring Qi Si'an's reaction, she directly piled up the quilts to cover the cave and locked the wardrobe with the lock on the jewelry box.

"Don't worry. I won't betray you," Pan Yueqing gritted her teeth and said in a low voice.

Just after Pan Yueqing finished saying this, the door of the side room was directly broken open. The spear of the leading Mysterious Armored Guard was pointed right at Pan Yueqing. Pan Yueqing let out a long breath, composed herself, and smiled at the person wearing an iron mask.

The grease at the door completely melted and poured onto the charcoal. The wind blew into the firewood, and flames burst out one after another. The heat of the iron was the most intense. With the fire formation in front, they didn't dare to move forward lightly. This was the biggest problem that all iron cavalry soldiers faced on the battlefield. Pan Yueqing rested her chin in her hand. "Sir, why don't you take off your armor first?"