Feeling herself swaying in the moving carriage, Ye Xi immediately realized that Yi Yuan might have discovered her whereabouts.
Looking around at her situation, Ye Xi was pleasantly surprised to find that she wasn't in the narrow and dim hiding - place. There were faint voices in her ears. Her heart filled with joy as she knew: the opportunity had come.
She was weak all over, and her throat was still hoarse. Having no other choice, Ye Xi could only try her best to control her body to hit the inner wall of the carriage as much as possible with the bumping of the carriage.
She made as much noise as she could.
As long as someone heard it, no matter whether they cared or not, they would surely have an impression.
Then, there would be one more clue for Yi Yuan and the others.
Gritting her teeth, with a relatively large bump of the carriage, Ye Xi rolled with all her might—
"Thud!"
She couldn't control the strength well at all. Ye Xi's shoulder hit hard, and the pain made her grimace. With her hoarse throat, she could hardly even make a sound of gasping.
Fortunately, this hit wasn't in vain. After all, the sound was really loud. Pedestrians nearby on the outside all looked over in surprise and stared at the carriage in confusion. Unfortunately, fearing that Yi Yuan would catch up, the Holy Master drove the carriage quite fast and had already left the city gate. The city - guarding officers and soldiers didn't hear it.
"Don't waste your efforts,"
The Holy Master's vicissitudinous and hoarse voice carried a hint of pride:
"Don't think your lover is so great. He's just a green - horned kid. I just set up a slightly more complicated plan to divert the tiger from its mountain lair, and he was led around by the nose."
"Humph—Now that we've left the city gate, no matter how much noise you make, they can't see you. I advise you to give up your little tricks, lest I get annoyed later and lose control of my strength."
As he spoke, Shan Hou, who had left the city on foot alone, also jumped onto the carriage.
Taking the reins from the Holy Master, Shan Hou skillfully exchanged positions with the Holy Master and drove the carriage away.
The Holy Master then lifted the thick curtain and stepped in, sitting steadily in the middle of the couch. His sinister eyes swept over Ye Xi half - smilingly, as if admiring the prey struggling in vain in his palm.
After more than ten days of unpleasant co - existence, how could Ye Xi not know that the Holy Master would never really harm her? But, it's better to be safe than sorry. Even a cornered dog will jump over the wall. If she really angered this mysterious and scheming Holy Master, she might lose her life if he got serious.
Without saying a word, Ye Xi turned her eyes away and stared intently at the curtain without giving any further response.
The galloping horseshoes splashed the snow and mud.
Seeing that Ye Xi seemed to be behaving herself, the Holy Master gently closed his eyes to rest, listening attentively to the movements on all the small paths.
There was an obvious commotion in the direction of the city gate, indicating that Yi Yuan had discovered the clue and was chasing after them.
A contemptuous arc curled up on the Holy Master's lips. He was confident that he could shake off Yi Yuan's pursuit. After all, he had left the city gate alone, and had changed his carriage and disguise. There were many more suspicious people among those leaving the city than him.
Just as he was feeling proud, there came a slightly hasty sound of horseshoes from the opposite side of the road. There were a large number of people on the other side, and obviously they were all very good at martial arts. They ran in an orderly manner without making a sound.
Both Shan Hou and the Holy Master became vigilant.
The Holy Master lifted the side curtain and took a look. He saw about a dozen people riding horses with weapons, surrounding a large carriage in the middle. Although the appearance of the carriage was plain and unassuming, the horse pulling it was truly a fine one.
It was completely black, with bright eyes. Its long mane fluttered in the wind like floating clouds, and its hair was as smooth as satin. It had a strong and well - built body, with distinct muscles and a proud air.
It was obvious that the person sitting inside must not be an ordinary one.
"Shan Hou,"
The Holy Master took a vigilant look and immediately withdrew his gaze. He ordered:
"Move to the side and avoid them."
"Yes."
Shan Hou also sensed the threat from the other side. He responded and pulled the reins to move the carriage to the side of the road.
The approaching people didn't pay attention to this ordinary carriage. Seeing Shan Hou taking the initiative to give way, the leading man even nodded slightly to show his gratitude.
Just as the two carriages were passing each other in harmony, Ye Xi, who had been pretending to sleep with her eyes closed, suddenly seemed to gain strength from somewhere. With the swaying of the carriage, she rolled out with a sudden force and fell into the snow beside with a "plop".
"Who's there!?"
The leading man shouted first and drew out his precious sword with a "clang".
Both sides were startled. The people and horses behind also drew out their weapons in unison and stared at them warily.
Ye Xi's throat was hoarse and she couldn't speak. She could only look at the leading man pleadingly with her eyes to show that she needed help, and moved her lips to indicate her situation.
The Holy Master's face darkened. He reacted extremely quickly, jumped out of the carriage, grabbed Ye Xi and said:
"I'm sorry, everyone. Alas～My poor granddaughter just lost her husband, and then her son died two days later. She just couldn't bear the blow and has gone crazy. I'm really sorry for offending you."
Shan Hou also rushed over and said simply and honestly:
"Miss, are you okay? It's all my fault. I'm so bad at driving that I made the miss fall out."
Ye Xi shook her head repeatedly and tried her best to break free from the Holy Master's iron - like grip on her arm. Her eyes were clear and there was no sign of madness.
Seeing that Ye Xi was not a threat, the group of people relaxed a little.
The leading man looked at Ye Xi carefully and knew that there must be something behind it. But he was just a servant, and his top priority was the safety of his master. He was really in a dilemma for a moment and didn't know whether he should interfere.
The Holy Master and Shan Hou had already grabbed the struggling Ye Xi and were about to return to the carriage.
Just then, a soft and gentle female voice suddenly came from inside the carriage pulled by the black horse:
"Si Gong, what's going on?"
The leading man immediately responded and said:
"Back to Madam, a girl fell out of the carriage when our carriages passed by each other..."
He told the whole thing in detail. Suddenly, a rough and yellow - hued hand lifted the curtain, and a woman in her forties, dressed as a servant, got out. But she didn't look like the calm and capable mammy in a wealthy family.
Qiu Sigong immediately stepped forward. It was obvious that the two had a good relationship usually:
"Aunt Lu, does Madam have any instructions?"
Aunt Lu waved her hand without answering. She turned to look at the Holy Master who was stuffing Ye Xi into the carriage and said expressionlessly:
"Sir, my Madam doesn't mean to offend. She just can't bear to see women in the world being wronged, so she wants to meddle in this matter. She sent this old servant to ask this girl. If there is no injustice, we won't interfere."
"She's crazy. What can you ask?"
The Holy Master didn't even lift his head and easily put Ye Xi into the carriage:
"My granddaughter is stubborn. I didn't agree when she got married because I thought that young man was no good. But she didn't care at all and didn't listen to the family's advice.
"Now it's good. That young man gambled too much and owed debts. He had no money to pay them back and was beaten to death without anyone caring. My granddaughter insists that it was because I didn't lend money to her good - for - nothing husband that this disaster happened..."
As he said this, the Holy Master looked so sad that his eyes were filled with tears:
"Alas... She's the only granddaughter in my family. Even if she hates me, do you think I can really ignore her? You don't need to ask her. I'll just tell you clearly that she didn't go with me voluntarily. She might even make up lies and say that I'm abducting her..."
"If you still want to interfere, I, a commoner, naturally can't argue with you. I just hope that your Madam can really treat her well and not dislike her."
As he spoke, he gently wiped the corners of his eyes, showing that he was extremely sad.
But Aunt Lu's expression didn't change at all. She just nodded and said:
"I understand. You can go."