Shrill screams echoed one after another. Everyone felt a chill run down their spines and began to hack wildly with their weapons.
Ye Xi felt nauseous. Her face turned pale as Qiao Yan dragged her out of this chaotic place.
Taking advantage of this moment, the purple - clad man spotted an opening and flew away.
Arrows rained down from the sky, chasing closely after the purple - clad man.
With a “shh” sound, an arrow hit the right shoulder of the purple - clad man. He staggered slightly, and the remaining momentum carried him down.
“Chase!” Yun Qi shouted.
A group of people rushed out from both sides and chased in the direction of the purple - clad man.
Ye Xi's heart was pounding like a drum. She, Qiao Yan, and Sai Xing waited for the result in the side room just now.
Just as they were in suspense, the door suddenly burst open.
The cold wind howled in.
Two black - clad men with strange crescent - shaped knives rushed in and without a word, attacked Ye Xi.
In the blink of an eye, Yan Xuan and Yan Gui leaped down from the beam. With a “clang” sound, they blocked the strange knives of the black - clad men.
Mian Xiao and Lin An appeared side by side at the door and attacked with their swords.
Qiao Yan laughed excitedly:
“Humph, didn't expect this, did you? We've been waiting for you two!”
“A Yan.” Ye Xi grabbed Qiao Yan who was eager to fight:
“Let's change places. Don't get in their way.”
“Okay, let's go.”
With a big smile, Qiao Yan led Jian Yue, Ye Xi, and Sai Xing quickly to the small door, pushed it open, and went in.
The sound of fighting came from outside from time to time. Ye Xi and the others sat on low stools around the sandalwood round table, trying to calm their racing hearts and pricking up their ears to listen to the movement next door.
As time passed, the sound outside gradually faded. The room was warm. Perhaps after a day of tension, they all felt a bit sleepy when they relaxed a little.
Qiao Yan yawned widely and mumbled:
“Is it quiet now?”
“Seems so,” Ye Xi replied. She stretched her limp arms that had been tense for too long and said:
“Let's go and check.”
Suddenly, a sense of unease flashed through her mind.
She felt limp all over, and couldn't muster any strength. This wasn't the normal tiredness, especially not what should happen at this tense moment.
“A Yan, Sai Xing! Jian Yue!”
Layers of fear overwhelmed Ye Xi from the inside out.
She hurriedly called out to the three of them and forced herself to stay awake to push them.
Sai Xing and Jian Yue had already fallen on the table and didn't reply. Qiao Yan still had a glimmer of consciousness but didn't realize the danger yet. She asked stupidly:
“What...”
Before she could finish her words, she fell into a deep sleep.
“Don't sleep, A Yan. Don't fall asleep,” Ye Xi tried her best to pinch Qiao Yan, hoping to wake her up with pain.
“This is a sleeping drug! We can't...”
“Thud!”
Ye Xi also slumped onto the table.
Suddenly, a crack appeared on the snow - white wall. A secret door turned, and two masked men walked out. One was tall and dressed in purple from head to toe; the other was thin and tall, in a tight - fitting suit.
They were exactly the real purple - clad man who had attacked Ye Xi that day and Yi Xing!
“Hurry up and take the person away,” Yi Xing urged.
“Remember what you promised the master. This person must never come back alive.”
“Naturally,” the purple - clad man said in a hoarse and unpleasant voice. He strode to Ye Xi's side and easily picked her up.
“Don't worry. Actually, I want her dead more than you do.”
Hiding the suspicion in her eyes, Yi Xing didn't reply and just glanced at Ye Xi. Remembering what her master had said, she resisted the urge to kill Ye Xi herself.
She was no match for the purple - clad man at all, so Yi Xing had to choose to believe that he would kill Ye Xi.
The two immediately turned around and entered the secret passage through the secret door, disappearing without a trace.
Just as the secret door closed, Lin An and Mian Xiao opened the door and walked in.
“Miss, we've caught...” Their pupils shrank, and they both froze in place.
“Miss!” Mian Xiao shouted. Shaking hands, she frantically searched the room that could be scanned at a glance.
Lin An stepped forward to check the breaths of Qiao Yan, Sai Xing, and Jian Yue. Seeing that they had just been drugged and were not in danger of losing their lives, he let out a sigh of relief.
He took out a porcelain bottle and waved it under their noses. The three of them stretched and slowly woke up.
“Sai Xing,” Lin An rarely panicked. He grabbed Sai Xing's arm tightly and stared at her, hoping to hear some good news from her mouth:
“Where's the miss? Where did the miss go?”
“Miss?” Sai Xing was still a bit dazed:
“Isn't she here?”
Saying so, she scanned the room, but there was no sign of Ye Xi.
She suddenly stood up, and the round stool under her butt “thudded” to the ground. Sai Xing's face turned bloodless, and she panicked and looked around, shouting:
“Miss! Miss!”
“Where are you, miss? Woo, don't scare Sai Xing...”
Lin An's heart sank to the bottom.
Qiao Yan also realized what had happened. Her heart tightened suddenly. Turning around and seeing Jian Yue, whose face had also turned pale with fright, she knew that she must not know anything either.
Grabbing the red whip on the table, Qiao Yan immediately rushed out.
“Shopkeeper!” Qiao Yan was both anxious and scared. She grabbed the shopkeeper's collar and shouted angrily:
“Where's Xiao Xi? Where have you hidden my Xiao Xi?!”
The shopkeeper had no idea where Ye Xi was. Seeing Qiao Yan looking like she was going to eat someone, he was so scared that he kept begging for mercy:
“Miss Qiao, please calm down. Miss Xi has always been with you. I, I really don't know where she is...”
“Don't you dare lie!” Qiao Yan roared and was about to strike. Lin An followed up in time and stopped Qiao Yan's movement of raising the whip. He forced himself to calm down and asked:
“Shopkeeper, besides our people, has anyone else come in or gone out just now? Even beggars and flower girls count.”
“No,” the shopkeeper said with a bitter face.
“Yesterday, Lord Xie came to pass on a message, saying that he would borrow our place to arrest someone today. He repeatedly told me not to mess up the plan. How dare I let anyone in. Not even a sparrow could get in, let alone a beggar.”
After a moment of thought, Lin An continued to ask:
“Is there any secret room or mechanism in the room where our miss rested?”
After thinking for a while, the shopkeeper said:
“There should be none. This shop is rented by our boss, but he is always away. I've been in charge of this Baishang Shop. That room is just for entertaining distinguished guests on weekdays. I rarely go in, and I haven't found any secret room or mechanism.”
“Why are you wasting your breath on him?” Ye Xi's disappearance made Qiao Yan feel both guilty and scared. She was in a complete mess and couldn't listen to the shopkeeper's words. She said arrogantly:
“Xiao Xi disappeared for no reason on his territory. I don't believe he has nothing to do with it!”
“Beat him up first. If he still doesn't confess, I'll use all the eighteen kinds of torture in the Dali Temple on him and see if he still dares to be stubborn!”
As she said, she was about to raise the whip again.
But her wrist was suddenly grabbed by a warm hand, and Yun Qi's gentle voice sounded:
“What's going on?”
Qiao Yan turned around. Seeing Yun Qi's strong face and the concern in his eyes, for some reason, her eyes suddenly turned red.
“Why did you come back so late?” she said. As soon as she spoke, big tears rolled down her face. She was scared, panicked, and guilty:
“Xiao Xi is lost, woo...”
“It's me. It's my fault that I lost her! I'm so stupid. I can't do anything right. Waa—”
The tears just wouldn't stop. Qiao Yan simply burst into tears:
“Why didn't you come back earlier? If you had come back earlier, Xiao Xi might not have been lost, woo...”