Caught You

The announcement wasn't just posted on the city walls. Pan Yun's sharp eyes spotted a few more on a table by the city gate.

Knowing she couldn't enter the city now, she lowered her head and turned to leave, but suddenly her shoulder was grabbed, and she was instantly flanked from both sides.

"Meow—" Pan Little Black, startled, tumbled off Pan Yun's shoulder with a thud onto the ground.

The child standing in front of Pan Yun saw this and felt heartbroken, quickly squatting down to pick it up.

Pan Yun's expression remained unchanged. The moment the black cat fell, she had already prepared to exert her strength, but a finger suddenly pressed a pressure point on her waist. This familiar feeling...

Pan Yun instantly broke free of the pressure points, but didn't move. Instead, she looked up and saw Xuan Miao standing to her right and Tao Ji to her left.

Meeting her gaze, Tao Ji smirked, "Are you very surprised how you ended up on the wanted poster?"

Xuan Miao frowned, "Stop wasting time, let's go."

Xuan Miao grabbed Pan Yun and turned to leave. Pan Yun only had time to glance at the child and the black cat before Tao Ji had already scooped them up and taken them away.

The four of them and the cat left quietly, without alarming anyone at the city gate.

Once they reached a secluded spot, Pan Yun shifted her feet, instantly putting five steps between herself and Xuan Miao.

Seeing this, Tao Ji wanted to grab her, but Xuan Miao stopped him and said to Pan Yun, "Do you think the Imperial Guards are incompetent fools? Do you think no one is watching Pan Hong and his two sons in Datong now?"

Pan Yun's chest heaved, but she remained silent.

Xuan Miao continued, "The Imperial Guards have eyes everywhere. They are far more capable than you imagine.

An Imperial Guard chases a little girl down the street and then disappears. If they can't find you in a day, will they not find you in five days, or ten?"

Pan Yun's heart sank continuously.

Xuan Miao, uncharacteristically speaking at length, added, "You underestimate the Master, and you underestimate the Imperial Guards.

You should be grateful that you were sickly as a child, so you never left the house, and your neighbors never saw you. That's why no one could link you to the Pan family. Otherwise, your uncle's family would already be in the Zhenfu Division's prison."

Pan Yun touched the talisman she wore. It was still intact, unchanged from how it looked this noon. Therefore, Xuan Miao and Tao Ji wouldn't harm her now.

She looked up at Xuan Miao, appraising her seriously for the first time. "Isn't this the first time we've met? Why are you helping me like this?"

Xuan Miao said gravely, "This is a promise! Since you agreed to travel with us and enter the mountains to cultivate your heart, you must fulfill your promise. And I, knowing you killed someone but not turning you over to the authorities, decided to bring you back to the temple for cultivation when you agreed to repent and mend your ways. Bringing you back is how I honor my commitment."

Pan Yun: "...That promise wasn't made to me. You just thought it in your heart, you could have just..."

"Is a promise not a promise if it isn't spoken aloud?" Xuan Miao looked at her sternly. "Is deceiving yourself not a form of deception?"

Xuan Miao gazed at her steadily. "If you can't even be true to yourself, whom can you keep your promises to?"

Pan Yun was speechless.

Tao Ji, standing nearby, hesitated as if he had something to say.

Pan Yun's gaze sharpened as she looked at him. "What is it you want to say?"

He's so cautious with his Junior Sister, but so impatient with me. He bullies the weak and fears the strong!

Muttering inwardly, Tao Ji replied impatiently, "Nothing. Let's go. How many detours have we taken just to chase you?"

As a result, they weren't getting closer to home but were getting farther away. Where had they even ended up?

Pan Yun didn't move immediately. She looked back at the tall city walls.

Xuan Miao's heart softened. She walked to Pan Yun's side and said, "There will be opportunities. You are still too young. When you are older, you can go."

Pan Yun: "With this wanted poster up, how can I go in the future? My life will probably be difficult, even a normal life."

"Don't worry, it won't affect you at all," Tao Ji said faintly. "Because in the mountains, very few people will see this. And even if they do, they won't remember it."

Xuan Miao added, "You are still young. After a few more years, you'll look different. There are many similar-looking people in the world. If the Imperial Guards don't have proof that it's you, they can't do anything to you."

Pan Yun scoffed, "If the Imperial Guards were truly so law-abiding, would my father have been exiled to Datong? Do you know how my father was implicated? Do you know why the former Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Xue Xuan, was almost beheaded?"

Pan Yun's expression turned grim. "It's because the Imperial Guards, with their empty words, accused them of favoritism and accepting bribes. And then Censorate's Wang Wen 'heard' 'otherwise,' so they were convicted!

Among all the civil and military officials, except for that fool sitting on the dragon throne, who doesn't know they were framed?

Who has proof that they were guilty?"

If even officials like Xue Xuan and her father could be convicted without evidence, dealing with her would be as easy as lifting a finger.

Xuan Miao, however, remained calm and reiterated, "They can't do that to you. This is also a promise."

Tao Ji frowned but didn't object. "You underestimate us Taoists too much. Although we generally don't get involved in state affairs, not everyone can afford to offend us.

How about this: you become my Junior Sister's disciple. From now on, our Sanqing Temple will be connected to you. Your second senior uncle is currently in Beijing at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. He occasionally sees the Emperor. Even Wang Zhen wouldn't dare to offend him too much."

The three types of people in the palace who must not be offended were: palace concubines, eunuchs, and officials from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices who could divine fortunes.

Even the head eunuch by the Emperor's side treated them with great respect. Otherwise, if one of them were to say, "Your Majesty, you have a villain by your side, and that person's zodiac sign is the snake."

Then all those born in the year of the snake around the Emperor would have to be purged.

Even if the Emperor was rational and his officials objected, those individuals wouldn't be purged, but they would certainly be kept at a distance.

People, after all, would rather believe it exists than not.

Therefore, Pan Yun's situation was indeed a minor issue for Xuan Miao and Tao Ji.

Pan Yun opened her mouth, completely taken aback by this turn of events.

Tao Ji puffed up with pride. "How about it? Become my Junior Sister's disciple?"

"No way!"

"Not accepting!"

The two spoke at the same time, but their meaning was the same. They couldn't help but look up at each other.

Tao Ji was quite disappointed. After hesitating, he said coyly, "Then, I'll reluctantly take you on?"

As soon as he said it, Tao Ji felt it was a good idea. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Pan Yun. "You are intelligent and have great talent for cultivating the Dao. It would be a shame not to learn it."

He also wanted to ask her where she learned her supernatural arts, oh, no, her spells, and what stage she had reached. She seemed so powerful.

However, the Daoist school was very taboo about outsiders inquiring about their cultivation methods unless they mentioned them voluntarily.

Tao Ji was a person who strictly followed the rules. Although he was extremely curious, he still suppressed the desire to ask further.

Xuan Miao stood in front of Pan Yun, prompting her to make a decision. "Do you want to come with us honestly?"

Pan Yun: "If I don't agree, will you not force me?"

Xuan Miao shook her head. "If you don't agree, then you can only passively keep your promise. A person without integrity cannot stand. Since you have made a promise, you should keep it."

She paused and then said, "Pan Yun, the Pan family's survival is in your hands."

Pan Yun looked up at her in surprise. Xuan Miao met her gaze with a deep look. "If you are well, the Pan family will be well. If you are bad, the Pan family's fortune will take a sharp turn for the worse. If you die, everyone in the Pan family, including your uncle's family, will be doomed."

Tao Ji quickly interrupted her. "Junior Sister!"

Xuan Miao didn't stop. She continued to look at Pan Yun's face and said, "If you die, your father will follow closely, then your two elder brothers. Your family was sentenced to eternal exile. Without a reversal or a general amnesty, someone will have to take over your father's military registration and service. First, it will be your uncle, then your cousin, and finally, it might even affect the collateral branches of the Pan family..."

Therefore, exile and conscription were considered severe punishments, equivalent to execution.

Among the scholars and officials, they would rather be beheaded than exiled and conscripted.

The former was just sticking out one's head for a knife, while the latter was a continuous, even family-ruining punishment.

The former killed the body, the latter killed the spirit. It was hard to say which was worse.

Xuan Miao spat out a mouthful of blood, her face pale. Tao Ji quickly put down the child in his hands to help her, saying disapprovingly, "You are really something. Senior Brother is right. You should learn from those monks and practice 'Mizukata-no-Koto'. You can't even refrain from speaking now. You should just not speak!"

Xuan Miao was helped by Tao Ji to sit cross-legged, closing her eyes to regulate her breathing.

Tao Ji looked at Pan Yun warily. "You're not thinking of escaping, are you?"

Pan Yun: ... She wasn't stupid. Xuan Miao had said so much, and it seemed to be true. Why would she still run?

Pan Yun was just feeling a little lost and sad. She was about to reach Datong. At her current speed, she would be able to see her father, eldest brother, and second brother in four more days.

Damn the Imperial Guards, damn Wang Zhen and Wang Wen. If she ever met them again, she would definitely throw a bad luck charm at them.

Pan Yun muttered in her heart but showed nothing on her face. She calmly walked to the opposite side of Xuan Miao and sat down cross-legged. She noticed that their breathing was internal, and they were not drawing in spiritual energy from the outside to nourish their bodies.

Alas, she was injured because of her, so she should help her.

Thinking this, Pan Yun mobilized the thin spiritual energy that existed between heaven and earth. Her breathing, her body's breathing, slowly synchronized with them. As her cultivation technique circulated, this spiritual energy was drawn to her and circled around her...

Pan Yun only absorbed a little, letting the rest wander around her and Xuan Miao.

Even if Xuan Miao didn't actively absorb it, once the spiritual energy became concentrated, her breathing and the respiration of her skin would absorb the spiritual energy into her body, giving her a feeling of exhilaration.

Xuan Miao was not stupid. She quickly sensed something was wrong. She opened her eyes and glanced at Pan Yun, then closed them and continued to regulate her breathing. The surrounding spiritual energy was absorbed by her.

Tao Ji stood by and watched them for a while. Seeing that he was not needed, he then looked at the child who had been quietly huddled to the side.

The child hugged the black cat and hid to the side. When he saw Tao Ji looking over, he instinctively moved closer to Pan Yun. However, he didn't seem very afraid of Tao Ji, so after moving a few steps, he stared at him with his round, watery eyes.

Only then did Tao Ji have the time to be curious. Could Pan Yun have picked up a little beggar while fleeing?

It seemed that he and his Junior Sister had not misjudged Pan Yun. Although Pan Yun acted in a way that was neither entirely righteous nor evil, her heart was good.

Looking at the child's face, the half-baked Tao Ji frowned. He had the appearance of dying young. Hmm, his face also had a noble aura. Why was he wandering outside as a beggar?