Shi Lan spread out a square piece of cloth. First, she took several sets of clean clothes from the wardrobe and folded them neatly. Then she placed the dry rations to one side.
After hesitating briefly, Shi Lan opened the hidden compartment in the wardrobe and took out several strips of white cloth. She folded them and put them in the bundle.
She had yet to reach the Xiantian Realm, so her monthly period was unavoidable. These were necessities.
After thinking it over, Shi Lan also took the White Crane Skirt from the bottom of the wardrobe and stuffed it into the bundle.
Finally, Shi Lan took out her little stash of money and removed all the silver from it. Once she had secured it, she slung the bundle onto her back, extinguished the candle in her room, and crept out through the door.
Watching Shi Lan sneak about beneath the moonlight with a bundle on her back, Shi Feng was taken aback. Where was she going in the middle of the night?
Shi Lan turned this way and that, avoiding two patrols of guards, and soon reached a secluded corner.
This was a place Shi Lan had scouted earlier. It lay where the front and rear courtyards met, saw little foot traffic, and had a courtyard wall less than two zhang high.
Compared with the other courtyard walls, which were often three or four zhang high, this one—less than two zhang—was by far the easiest to climb over.
Shi Lan took a couple of deep breaths, backed up two steps, then sprinted forward and leaped. She planted one foot against the courtyard wall and pushed off hard, vaulting nearly a zhang into the air!
Then Shi Lan hooked her fingers tightly into a crack in the wall and braced both feet against it. Her thighs drove her upward again, lifting her another stretch higher.
After two pushes upward, Shi Lan finally got her hands over the edge of the wall. She heaved herself up with her arms, swung high into the air, and cleared the wall in an instant.
"Thud—"
Shi Lan hit the ground and rolled, dissipating the force of her fall from above.
She stood and brushed the dust from her clothes, then glanced back at the towering courtyard wall. A faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
Goodbye, Shi Mansion.
"Where are you going, Young Master?"
The voice that suddenly sounded behind her froze the smile on Shi Lan's lips.
Shi Lan turned around stiffly and saw Shi Feng looking at her in confusion.
"Why are you here?!"
Shi Feng was taken aback by her question, then replied, "Your subordinate is patrolling here tonight. But you, Young Master—why are you still up so late?"
"The world is so big. I want to go see it." As she spoke, Shi Lan began edging backward.
Shi Feng stared at Shi Lan for a while before murmuring, "Young Master, you won't get far before they catch you and bring you back. At the latest, Madam will realize you're missing by noon tomorrow and send people to look for you. With the speed of someone in the Xiantian Realm, unless you travel thousands of li in a single night, finding you won't take the slightest effort."
Shi Lan stopped, her expression crumpling.
The air grew awkward for a moment.
Suddenly, Shi Lan's eyes lit up. She looked at Shi Feng with hopeful anticipation.
Shi Feng took two steps back and shook his head firmly. "Young Master, you should go back and get some rest."
Shi Lan came up to Shi Feng and patted him on the shoulder. "Shi Feng, as the saying goes, help those in urgent need and give people what they need. Help me this once, and I won't forget it."
"Young Master, I've never heard that saying. And where exactly are you trying to go?"
"I have something urgent to take care of. I have to leave Tenglong City. It's urgent."
"I..."
Shi Feng wanted to refuse, but as he looked into Shi Lan's fixed gaze, the words caught in his throat.
When Shi Feng still didn't say anything, Shi Lan took two steps back. "If you don't want to help me, I won't force you. Just pretend you didn't see me tonight. A person has plenty of things to forget in a lifetime; one more or one less doesn't matter."
With that, Shi Lan didn't wait for Shi Feng to react. She turned and ran.
Even though Shi Feng had already said as much, Shi Lan still wanted to give it a try. She'd get out of Tenglong City first and figure out the rest later.
Shi Feng lifted a hand, but in the end, he didn't call after her. He sighed and followed at a distance.
Shi Lan didn't dare stop for even a moment. She ran along the streets and out of Tenglong City, then picked a direction at random and kept sprinting.
Shi Lan didn't know how long she ran before she finally saw a small town.
By then, the sky at the horizon had begun to pale.
Shi Lan slowly came to a stop. Her side throbbed, and for a moment, she couldn't catch her breath.
If she kept running like this, something was bound to go wrong. She walked into the town and decided to take a break.
The town wasn't large. Shi Lan circled around and found its only inn, then knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
The sleepy-eyed waiter opened the door and yawned when he saw Shi Lan, whose face was worn from the road.
"Come in, guest."
Shi Lan entered the inn and tossed the waiter a piece of silver. "One room upstairs, and a basin of hot water."
The moment he saw the silver, the waiter's sleepiness vanished. "Right away! This way, please!"
After entering her room, Shi Lan washed her face with hot water to wake herself up, then lay down on the bed and closed her eyes for a short nap.
Shi Lan had only just lain down when Shi Feng stepped into the inn.
"Shopkeeper, may I borrow some paper and a brush?"
Twenty li east of Jiuxiao City, inside a makeshift military camp.
Shi Tianlu emerged from the commander's tent, his expression rather grim.
"Patriarch, a letter from Shi Feng." A Xiantian Realm martial artist who had been waiting outside the tent came forward and handed the letter to Shi Tianlu.
Shi Tianlu took the letter and glanced over it. His already furrowed brows drew even tighter. He strode out of the camp, rose into the air, and transformed into a streak of light, heading for Jiuxiao City.
After entering Jiuxiao City, Shi Tianlu went straight to the inn where he was temporarily staying. He wrote two letters and sent them out.
"Still no sign of her?"
Su Lanyue sat in the main seat of the hall, her face dark and her eyes filled with deep worry.
"Madam, we've searched the entire mansion and all over the city, but there's no sign of the Eldest Young Master." The guard standing below the steps bowed as he answered.
Su Lanyue closed her eyes and waved a hand. "Send more people. Search outside the city!"
"Yes." The guard accepted the order and left.
A streak of lightning shot into the hall and transformed into a little silver-white bird, which perched on Su Lanyue's shoulder.
Su Lanyue frowned slightly and reached up to remove the letter tied to the bird's leg.
"Ah Lan is safe. Don't worry."
Seeing the familiar handwriting on the letter, Su Lanyue called to the guard who was about to leave.
"Call the search parties back. There's no need to look for her."
The guard hesitated, then nodded and acknowledged the order.
Su Lanyue tightened her hand around the letter, a rare trace of helplessness rising in her heart.
What on earth was going on?
After resting for a while, Shi Lan went downstairs and had a meal.
During her break, she saw several horses tied up in the inn's back courtyard. After haggling with the proprietor, she bought a black horse.
Riding was a little unfamiliar at first, but Shi Lan was a martial artist now, after all, and quickly got used to the horse's jostling gait.
Shi Lan rode west, heading in the opposite direction from Tenglong City.
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