The disturbance on the Yan River was extremely brief. Ordinary people heard only a few muffled thunderclaps before the river was calm again.
In the wooded hills outside the city, Xue Baijin followed the agreed plan toward Yanmen Town, more than fifty li away, watching her surroundings all along the way to avoid exposing their whereabouts.
Zhe Yunli followed behind with her long saber, occasionally looking downstream along the Yan River to check on Ye Jingtang. But the three pursuing one another had moved too quickly; by now, she had no idea where they had gone and could not see them at all.
Hua Qingzhi knew no martial arts and could barely move through the hills, so Xue Baijin could only carry her tucked under one arm. She looked like a scholarly young lady abducted by bandits. Although the position was rather uncomfortable, they were traveling outdoors, and she could hardly blame Baijin for being less gentle than her husband. She merely gritted her teeth and quietly endured.
After the three had traveled like this for a long time, a soft flutter of wings suddenly came from above the woods:
"Cheep?"
Xue Baijin thought Ye Jingtang had returned and stopped to look up, only to discover two figures darting through the depths of the woods toward them.
Since their builds did not resemble Ye Jingtang's, Xue Baijin's gaze sharpened slightly. She set Hua Qingzhi down and gripped the Iron Mace at her waist.
The figures deep in the woods also stopped then, and a voice carried over from afar:
"Yunli?"
"Aunt Lu?!"
"Sister Lu?"
Zhe Yunli and Hua Qingzhi were studying the figures closely. At that voice, both their eyes lit up, and Zhe Yunli hurried over.
Hearing Perfected Person Xuanji's voice, Xue Baijin frowned instead. Her first thought was