Yue Hongshan looked at Feng Xingzhi doubtfully and aggrievedly. "What are you guys talking about? My life of luxury was all provided by my father. What does it have to do with the common people?"
Unable to hold back any longer, Li Jiuge stood up, walked up to Yue Hongshan, and pinched her smooth chin. "Provided by your father? He's just a mere prefect. How could his monthly salary afford such a large mansion and all these gorgeous clothes you're wearing?"
Yue Hongshan had always been kept in the inner chambers. She had always just taken what her parents gave her and had never thought about where these things came from.
Seeing her look so innocent, Li Jiuge said, "What you eat is the suffering of the people in Yue City, and what you drink is the tears of the old, the weak, the women, and the children. What's wrong with making you go hungry for a few meals? If you'd just step out of your prefect's mansion, you'd see the tragic sight of corpses lying everywhere. How can you say it has nothing to do with the common people?"
Yue Hongshan felt as if she'd been slapped hard. She didn't know what to say for a moment. "But it's not my fault that there are strange celestial phenomena..."
Li Jiuge was so angry that she laughed. She walked up to her and pointed at Ji Yunxi. "She's the eldest daughter of the prime minister's mansion and a proper princess consort. She would share her rations with the common people. Her family has fewer servants than the servants in your prefect's mansion."
Yue Hongshan seemed to understand. She slightly raised her head. "Are you saying my father..."
"A person in office should take the world as their responsibility. Your father, as the prefect, while the refugees were running wild and the people were living in dire straits, was holding grand feasts in his mansion..." Li Jiuge couldn't go on. "I really don't know how you guys could enjoy your meals."
She turned around and walked away, sulking on one side.
Yue Hongshan looked at the others and thought, Who told those people not to be born into good families? How could this be their fault?
Fortunately, Li Jiuge didn't know what she was thinking. Otherwise, she would surely have beheaded her on the spot to vent her hatred.
Ji Yunxi listened to their conversation. Seeing Li Jiuge sulking alone, she didn't go up to comfort her. She knew that seeing the poor state of the common people along the way had made Li Jiuge feel sad, so she didn't stop her from venting her emotions.
The group simply ate the rabbit, barely filling their stomachs.
Suddenly, there were footsteps outside the cave. Qing Xuan immediately turned to look at Feng Xingzhi, who immediately put out the fire.
Yue Hongshan guessed that this was the best chance for her to escape, so she opened her mouth to call for help. However, Ji Yunxi reacted much faster. Without saying a word, she covered Yue Hongshan's mouth.
The group held their breaths and listened to the sounds outside, tightly gripping their weapons.
Soon, the group arrived at the entrance. They heard the prefect shout loudly, "As long as you find my daughter, I'll reward you handsomely!"
There were scattered responses. It seemed that the guards were not very united.
However, the prefect then said, "All of you, get your spirits up! As long as you capture the few thieves alive and offer them as sacrifices to the mountain god, you can ensure good weather and peace in Yue City!"
This seemed to be more important. The guards immediately perked up, and their voices answering were much louder.
Ji Yunxi was a bit confused. Sacrifices?
She suddenly remembered that when she had bid farewell to the prefect before, he had said that the sacrificial altar was not far away. So it was them who were going to be sacrificed?!
Sacrificing living people?!
The great shock made Ji Yunxi turn to look at Yue Hongshan. She couldn't believe that the prefect had become so muddle - headed. Sacrificing living people was a heinous act clearly prohibited by the four kingdoms.
Yue Hongshan's eyes widened as her mouth was covered. She also didn't expect that her father would offer the others as sacrifices. Seeing Ji Yunxi's unfriendly look, she quickly shook her head, trying to tell Ji Yunxi that she knew nothing.
Her movements were a bit too big. Li Jiuge was afraid that she would make a sound and be discovered, so she immediately glared at her. "If you make any more noise, I'll kill you right now."
Threatened, Yue Hongshan could only pray that her father outside would find them.
The prefect was still leading people to search everywhere. Ji Yunxi knew that this place was not suitable to stay for long. If they waited any longer, they would surely be discovered.
Qing Xuan also realized the danger here. He immediately told Ji Yunxi through the master - servant contract, "Master, I'll go out and lead them away. They won't be able to catch me. Then you guys can slip away."
Ji Yunxi thought for a while. Indeed, this was the only way now, so she nodded at him.
She walked up to Qing Xuan and whispered, "Qing Xuan, after you lead them away, go down the mountain first. We'll meet at the mountain gate at the foot of the mountain."
Feng Xingzhi grabbed her arm. "Xixi, it won't be so easy to come back up after going down the mountain. We haven't gotten what we want yet."
Yue Hongshan pricked up her ears to listen, but the next second, Li Jiuge covered her ears.
Qing Xuan said, "Master, the prince is right. We can't go down the mountain."
Seeing the firm looks in their eyes, Ji Yunxi thought for a moment. "Then let's go to the top of the mountain. Anyway, we have a hostage in our hands. They won't dare to do anything."
The group nodded. They looked at each other and got ready. They just waited for Qing Xuan to go out and lead the others away, then they would head towards the top of the mountain and finally meet there.
Qing Xuan took a deep breath, hunched over, and walked out. He came to a haystack and suddenly stood up.
The prefect immediately saw him. Qing Xuan immediately pretended to be flustered after being discovered and turned around to run down the mountain.
The prefect finally saw someone. How could he let him run away? He immediately shouted and rushed forward. "Catch him!"
Then there were wave after wave of footsteps, which even chilled Yue Hongshan's heart.
She secretly cursed her father for being stupid. He couldn't even see such a simple distraction tactic. She gritted her teeth. Was she really going to die at the hands of these people? Thinking of this, Yue Hongshan's tears flowed uncontrollably.
However, before she could be too sad, Feng Xingzhi quietly peeked out first. He saw that the entrance of the cave, which had been full of people just now, was now empty.
He made a gesture inside and walked out. Li Jiuge also grabbed Yue Hongshan. "Let's go!"
The group didn't care about the dangers in the deep - night jungle. They ran all the way towards the top of the mountain. Although Yue Hongshan really wanted to sit on the ground and refuse to move, none of Ji Yunxi's group pitied her. As long as she was disobedient, the sword would be on her neck the next second.
When they were almost at the top of the mountain, the group could finally catch their breath.
Leaning against a huge rock, Li Jiuge looked up and saw a plant on the cliff shining silver - white in the moonlight.
She quickly pointed at the plant and pulled on Ji Yunxi's sleeve. "Yunxi... Look!"
Ji Yunxi looked in the direction of her hand and saw that the plant was very similar to the Dongwei described in the book before. The book said that the Dongwei was a tenacious plant that often grew on cliffs, symbolizing survival in desperate situations.
Now this thing was exactly as described in the book.
Unexpectedly, they had found a way out. Ji Yunxi looked at Feng Xingzhi with a delighted face.
"Azhi! We found it!"