Assistant He had indeed lied.
An Ning and I retraced our steps, and on the road leading toward the Spirit Hall, we saw no one lying in wait.
We made it safely to the Spirit Hall.
Although it was late at night and there were fewer people than during the day, some were still keeping vigil.
With people around, we were safe. An Ning and I sat down nearby, gasping for breath.
"Are we... safe now...?" An Ning kept looking around, afraid someone would come after us.
I reassured her, "These people aren't that brazen. They wouldn't dare openly cause trouble in the village."
But to be truly safe, we still needed to call someone over.
I took out my phone and called Song Xiaotian.
He seemed to have gone to bed already. It took him a long time to answer, and his voice was weary. "Hello? It's the middle of the night. What is it...?"
"An Ning and I are in Xu Family Village. We were attacked. Assistant He is a mole."
"Holy shit!"
I soon heard Song Xiaotian getting out of bed over the phone.
Besides that, I also heard Pan Xiaorou's voice.
Song Xiaotian asked, "How are you two now? Are you safe?"
I said we were safe for the moment. Someone in the village had died, and we were at the Spirit Hall, where people were keeping vigil.
I didn't tell him much more over the phone.
Song Xiaotian told An Ning and me to stay at the Spirit Hall. He and Meng Yifan would come right away.
After hanging up, I sighed.
I had been lucky tonight. I could have spoken with the Ninth Concubine and learned some of the truth about what had happened back then, but just when the truth was within reach,