“Are you sure this place is safe?” Mu Xi couldn’t help but ask again, her voice trembling slightly.
Jing Ji seemed to see through Mu Xi’s worry, a meaningful smile curling at the corner of her lips as she spoke lightly, “Don’t worry, this is the best defensive position.”
She pointed to the hill above them and said, “The terrain is high, the view is open, easy to defend but hard to attack. Even if the Escort Team catches up, we’ll spot them first and hold the advantage of the terrain.”
Although Mu Xi thought Jing Ji made sense, she still felt uneasy inside.
This place was too open, which only made her feel more exposed, with no sense of security at all.
She would rather hide deep in the forest, where at least she could find some psychological comfort.
“How about we go a bit further up?” Mu Xi tentatively suggested.
“The trees are denser up there, it’s more concealed.”
Jing Ji raised an eyebrow, seemingly dismissive of Mu Xi’s proposal.
“Go up? Little girl, are you out of your mind? It’s all thick forest up there. If the Escort Team sneaks up, we won’t even have a place to run.”
She paused, her tone tinged with mockery.
“Or do you really think hiding in the woods can help you escape those well-trained Escort Team members?”
Mu Xi was left speechless by Jing Ji’s words.
She knew Jing Ji was right—hiding deep in the forest was not wise—but being stuck out here on this barren hill made her feel unsettled.
“But…” Mu Xi wanted to argue, but Jing Ji stopped paying attention and strode over to the roadside, parking the motorcycle.
Then she took a simple bundle off the bike.
“Enough with the ‘but’,” Jing Ji cut her off, her tone carrying an unyielding command.
“We rest right here. We’re not going anywhere.”
Saying that, she walked to a relatively flat patch of grass by the roadside and tossed the bundle onto the ground, then beckoned Mu Xi over.
“Come here, sit down and rest for a while.” Jing Ji patted the ground beside her, her voice softening as if she had noticed Mu Xi’s nervousness and unease.
Mu Xi hesitated for a moment but slowly walked over and sat down beside her.
The ground was cold and hard, and through her thin uniform, the chill seeped straight into her body, making her shiver.
Jing Ji seemed to feel the cold too.
She rummaged through the bundle and pulled out a dirty blanket, handing it to Mu Xi.
“Wrap this around you. It’s going to get colder at night.”
Mu Xi took the blanket and quietly draped it over herself after saying, “Thank you.”
The blanket smelled faintly of mildew, rough in texture, and not warm at all, but it was better than nothing.
The two of them sat silently by the roadside, neither speaking a word.
Around them was complete silence, broken only by the wind, the chirping of insects, and occasionally the distant cries of Night Birds echoing through the darkness.
Mu Xi curled up, trying to draw some warmth from the bloodstained uniform and the coarse blanket.
She lifted her head to look up at the boundless night sky, where countless stars twinkled like tiny diamonds set against black velvet, shimmering with a cold light.
The starry sky was beautiful, but Mu Xi had no heart to appreciate it.
Her mind was filled with Ye Lan, with the Manor, with the Escort Team shadows that pursued them relentlessly.
She had no idea where they were now, whether the Escort Team was still chasing them, or when they would catch up.
This unknown fear wrapped tightly around her, making it hard to breathe.
Exhaustion and tension surged like a tide, and Mu Xi felt waves of drowsiness wash over her.
She leaned against the cold ground and closed her eyes, trying to relax, but her mind was a mess—thoughts running wild like untamed horses, crashing about and keeping her wide awake.
After an indeterminate time, Mu Xi finally drifted into a haze of sleep.
In her dream, she was back in that cold room, kneeling on the icy floor.
Before her lay a woman drenched in blood, the vivid red stains soaking her white dress—shocking to behold.
Mu Xi couldn’t make out the woman’s face, only seeing her long, jet-black hair, so familiar yet so strange.
She held the woman’s hand tightly—it was cold and stiff, as if it had lost all warmth.
Tears streamed uncontrollably from Mu Xi’s eyes, blurring her vision and the entire dream.
She tried to cry out, but no sound came; her throat felt blocked by something, and all she could manage was a whimpering sob.
Everything in the dream was hazy except for the heart-wrenching pain that reached deep into her soul, suffocating her with its intensity.
Mu Xi suddenly awoke with a start, still lying on the cold ground, wrapped in the rough blanket.
Darkness surrounded her, broken only by faint calls of Night Birds in the distance.
The scene from the dream remained vividly imprinted in her mind, the unbearable grief still haunting her.
She raised a hand to her cheek and found it wet—she couldn’t tell if it was dew or tears.
She didn’t understand why she had such a dream.
‘Who was the woman? Why did she cause such sadness?’
Her tangled thoughts knotted tighter in her mind, giving her a throbbing headache.
She bit her lower lip tightly, trying to clear her mind, but the more she tried, the more confused she became.
In the suffocating silence, sudden trouble arose.
Jing Ji, who had been weakly half-lying on the ground, suddenly sprang up.
The movement was so fast it almost cut through the air, making Mu Xi’s heart jump violently.
Before she could react, Jing Ji dashed to the roadside and swiftly drew a black gun from her wide black uniform belt.
The cold metal gleamed under the faint moonlight, the muzzle unwaveringly aimed at the night sky above them.
Mu Xi’s heart leapt to her throat as confusion and fear flooded her.
‘What was Jing Ji doing? Had she gone mad?’
Just as Mu Xi hesitated, the night sky above them seemed to tear open.
A black figure abruptly descended from the heavens.
The figure moved with incredible speed, breaking the sound barrier as it fell, landing not far in front of them in the blink of an eye.
In the dim moonlight, Mu Xi barely made out the visitor’s attire.
It was a woman, dressed in the distinctive purple uniform of the Nightfall Guards.
The uniform clung to her tall, imposing figure, shimmering with a cold metallic glow in the darkness.
‘The Escort Team!’
Mu Xi’s mind buzzed as if struck by lightning, instantly going blank.
‘They had caught up so fast?’
Fear wrapped around Mu Xi’s whole body, freezing her in place as she could only watch helplessly as events spiraled into the unknown.
But Jing Ji reacted with astonishing speed.
Almost the instant the Nightfall Guard landed, she pulled the trigger.
“Bang!”
The sharp gunshot shattered the night’s silence, echoing through the open forest and ringing painfully in their ears.
A flash of fire flickered at the muzzle, and a faint scent of gunpowder spread through the air.
The bullet screamed toward the Nightfall Guard.
However, the guard’s agility far exceeded Mu Xi’s imagination.
At the sound of the shot, she leapt sideways like a nimble wildcat, narrowly avoiding Jing Ji’s fire.
The bullet struck the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust that sounded especially harsh in the stillness of the night.