After leaving that small town, their journey as "fugitives" sent chickens flying and dogs scrambling.
Every so often, Si Shuo carved a few large words into the tree trunks along their route: "The killer was Third Si of the Eastern Region! Got a problem? Come fight me!"
Not only that, he even went out of his way to buy several outrageously flashy outfits along the road and change into them.
"Are you afraid they won't be able to find us?" Jiang Ling looked at him coldly.
"Heh, I'm afraid they won't chase us."
Si Shuo explained to Jiang Ling, "We're leaving a few marks so those soldiers have something to report."
"Otherwise, if they can't find us, they'll definitely go back and take it out on the townsfolk."
"The more brazenly we act, the more those soldiers will focus on us. Who'll spare a thought for ordinary people then?"
Jiang Ling nodded without another word and continued deeper into the mountain forests.
But Si Shuo knew her silence meant tacit approval.
Ruthless as this woman was, she was no madwoman who slaughtered innocents indiscriminately.
As it turned out, Si Shuo's strategy of "drawing their hatred" worked very well.
In the days that followed, pursuers from the Prefectural Seat came in an endless stream to hunt them down.
But those lofty officials had clearly underestimated how terrifying this pair of "lovebirds on the run" was.
Just as Si Shuo had said, if this world had no spiritual energy or cultivators, then they were its heavens.
Those ordinary soldiers could not stop them at all.
They snapped spears, seized swift horses, and strolled through rains of arrows as though wandering a quiet courtyard.
Even without a trace of immortal essence, escaping was as easy as turning over a hand.
Spring passed