Chasing

Wang Yong knitted his brows, his gaze sweeping over her before shifting to the small beggars huddled on the street corner.

He was struggling internally, should he go through with this or not?

If he did, it might lead to unforeseen complications. The Pan family wouldn't be able to find any trace of their "daughter," and as the letter stated, Pan Hong's daughter had likely died last spring.

Pan Hong and his two sons had already been exiled. If he were to provide a daughter now, it would only implicate the Pan Tao family for harboring "her." It might even lead to an additional charge for Pan Hong, potentially resulting in a death sentence. If Pan Hong were executed, his elder brother and uncle would surely feel more avenged.

But the risks would increase significantly.

If he didn't, he would have gained nothing from all this trouble, and he was unwilling to accept that.

How could he have been mistaken? The informants he had dispatched had clearly seen a young girl of the right age at the Pan family's residence.

Recalling the portrait submitted by his informant, Wang Yong's gaze was drawn forward again. He found that the girl was no longer visible on the street before him. The man she had called "Father" had just emerged from a wine shop, arm in arm with another man, walking forward.

What man would take his daughter out drinking?

Wang Yong snapped back to reality, his mind racing through a thousand possibilities. He immediately spurred his horse to give chase.

Liu Jing, a step behind him, was looking down at the paper bird in his hand. Seeing Wang Yong gallop away with hurried steps, his eyes flickered slightly. After a moment's thought, he decided to follow from a distance.

He couldn't snatch the credit from Wang Yong's hands, but he could at least find out what Wang Yong was doing privately. Perhaps it would be useful in the future?

Pan Yun weaved through the crowd, turning at corners and ducking into alleys, trying to shake off Wang Yong behind her. Occasionally, she glanced back and couldn't see him, but her senses continued to send signals of "danger." Clearly, she hadn't escaped the peril.

[What are you waiting for? Help me!]

The Spirit Realm, which had just lent her a portion of its spiritual energy, cursed under its breath but still extended its spiritual sense through the network she had opened.

This was the first time it had openly used its spiritual sense to observe the world since arriving. Previously, to avoid Pan Yun's detection, it had only seen the world through her eyes.

This was a very familiar world. In its thousands of years of existence, the world had looked like this for most of that time.

It quickly spotted Wang Yong in close pursuit, and also saw officers surrounding them from all directions. It finally understood why he hadn't seen Pan Yun but was still relentlessly chasing her.

[Forward, past two alleyways, turn right, run to the end. There's a small grove of trees there, and no one's there yet.]

Pan Yun ran according to its instructions.

The Spirit Realm's spiritual sense couldn't help but observe the people nearby. Pan Yun seemed to know what it was thinking, and as she ran, she chatted with it in her mind, [Trying to get away from me, go find someone else?]

Spirit Realm: Who exactly is in whose mind here?

Pan Yun: [Do you think you can escape? If you dare to run, I'll take you down with me.]

Pan Yun spoke with absolute certainty. Given her previous act of weaving a net to trap it, the Spirit Realm dared not move.

Although it had been studied by them in its past life, this young researcher had only displayed professional skills, and it didn't understand her.

And in this life, although it had been with her since birth, her life was simple. She rarely left the house, and her parents and brothers doted on her. Her daily life consisted of reading, writing, taking medicine, or cultivating. Her emotions were always on a straight line.

The two most significant emotional fluctuations were two months ago when her current father, Pan Hong, was arrested, leading to her family's exile. The other was just now, when she almost implicated the entire Pan family.

Even when she was gravely ill last year, her mood hadn't fluctuated much, making the Spirit Realm unsure if she was truly this resolute.

Regardless of whether she was or not, the Spirit Realm certainly wasn't.

It had existed for such a long time and didn't want to be defeated by a hot-headed youngster.

As soon as the thought flashed through its mind, Pan Yun softened her tone and asked it slowly in her mind, [Besides, can you find a more talented cultivator in this world than me?]

She had cultivation awareness from birth, could refine innate qi, was a genius cultivator during the spiritual energy resurgence in her past life, and possessed vast cultivation knowledge. Who could compare to her?

The Spirit Realm fell silent, answering her with actions. [Wang Yong is still two alleyways away from you, but he's unsure of your whereabouts and has sent people to search everywhere. He's closest to you now.]

It continued, [In front of the small grove is a temple. To the left and right, not too far away, are fields. Further away are some houses. I can't see beyond that.]

Pan Yun was very satisfied. She ran into the grove, which turned out to be a plum grove. At this time, the trees were covered in leaves, with fruits the size of a little finger nestled among them.

Pan Yun's gaze swept around. As she walked deeper into the grove, she picked up a few stones from the ground and casually threw them...

The Spirit Realm glanced at where they landed. [Do you have enough spiritual energy to set up a formation now?]

Pan Yun had already sat down cross-legged behind a tree. Her aura changed, and she seemed to merge with the plum tree behind her. She adjusted her breathing and began to cultivate. [Keep an eye out. I need to recover some strength and spiritual energy.]

The Spirit Realm agreed. Seeing Wang Yong getting closer and closer, it hesitated for a moment before releasing a portion of its spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy appeared in her meridians, and Pan Yun immediately noticed it. She was somewhat surprised, but her movements were not slow. She immediately drew it in and began circulating it...

In addition to the spiritual energy within her body, she also absorbed some qi from the outside and the energy within her body. All of it was refined into qi, circulated through the heavenly cycle, and stored in her Dantian...

After refining this qi to be entirely her own, she opened her eyes and directed the qi to various formation points...

The humidity in the grove gradually increased, and a mist began to form. Wang Yong, who had been searching, also found his way here.

That little girl must be up to something!

Wang Yong already had a guess in his heart. His informants had likely not mistaken her. The Pan family was harboring Pan Hong's daughter. Although he didn't know how the Pan family got their information, they had prepared in advance.

The thought of him about to achieve merit, and potentially exposing disloyal individuals within the Imperial Guards to his uncle, made him tremble with excitement.

He had no blood relation to Wang Zhen, and his status was far below that of his nephew, Wang Shan. But he was capable. What could the good-for-nothing Wang Shan do?

If only Wang Zhen could see his abilities...

Wang Yong's eyes lit up. He chased to the edge of a grove, looked down at the faint footprints on the ground, then looked up at the hazy shadows of the trees. A smile spread across his face. Did she think she could evade his eyes and ears by hiding here?

His hand rested on his saber as he slowly walked into the grove...

He didn't notice that the further he walked, the thicker the mist became, until his figure was almost obscured.

Pan Yun silently stood up, a pebble in her right hand. She opened her left hand and poked the Spirit Realm in her mind, [Give me the scissors.]

Those were the scissors she used for needlework.

The Spirit Realm didn't ask why. A pair of scissors appeared in Pan Yun's hand.