"Ying Zhong?"
Song Qingchao looked back in confusion, "Sir, is there something you need?"
Ying Zhong was timid, but he mustered the courage to step forward, "Sir asked me to give this rabbit to you."
Although Song Qingchao found it strange, she accepted it, "Please thank your master for me."
"Miss Song, you are too kind." Ying Zhong took a step back, "Master said that you and young master Song are weak and need more nutrition, and cannot eat vegetable dumplings all day long."
"I trouble Mr. Bai for his concern."
Ying Zhong lowered his head and took another step back, "Please enjoy."
With that, he scampered away.
Song Qingchao, holding the rabbit and watching his retreating figure, which was faster than a rabbit's, found it amusing, "Why is he so afraid of me? I am clearly so frail that I can't take care of myself."
Song Qingmu glanced at her and remained silent.
"Am I not speaking correctly?" She sat down and sniffed the rabbit meat, "It smells quite good."
She tore off a few pieces of meat and handed them to Song Qingmu, "But he does have a point. Your lingering poison has been cleared, and if you nourish your body well, combined with our Song family's spear techniques, your martial arts will surely reach a higher level."
"Didn't elder sister say we should conceal our abilities?"
"Conceal our abilities?" Song Qingchao looked towards the distant haystack, "Can we hide forever?"
The night wind stirred her hair, revealing her fair skin and bright, almond-shaped eyes. "Instead of waiting for death, it's better to take the initiative."
"What do you mean?"
"Live well." Song Qingchao dropped the half-woven vine, grabbed a straw mat, and lay down with Song Qingmu nestled beside her, her arm around him. "Sleep!"
"Elder sister! This is not proper!"
Song Qingchao closed her eyes, holding the struggling Song Qingmu still, "Don't move."
She mumbled softly, her voice hazy, "We have so many rules, but living is more important than anything."
Song Qingmu lay on the ground, listening to the steadying breaths beside him, not daring to move.
Since the incident, he had become much closer to his elder sister.
But this was a bit too close...
He turned his head, his ordinarily indifferent eyebrows softening for a rare moment.
She had been working so hard these days.
From the day he was poisoned, he had replayed the scene in his mind countless times.
As meticulous as he was, if anything was unusual, he would always notice.
Monkey was fine, the water was fine.
The little girl he met on the way back had only hugged his leg before his mother carried her away.
And as he passed the man with the black forehead, the man didn't even look up at him.
No, something must still be wrong.
Bai Youan!
He remembered that when his elder sister asked for water, someone hit her hand with a stone.
No, if he were the one who poisoned him, why would he save him?
But he had forced his elder sister to find the medicine, and the three-day deadline was not met.
And during these three days, he had been unconscious. The first person he saw when he opened his eyes was his elder sister and that young disciple.
Song Qingmu got up and looked towards Bai Youan's carriage in the distance.
He always felt that this person harbored ill intentions.
Inside the carriage, Bai Youan was not asleep. He was sitting at his desk, reviewing all sorts of things from his past life.
If his memory was correct, in a few days, this exiled group would encounter a band of brigands.
And young master Song Qingmu of the Song family would "die" in this slaughter.
He had promised his master to protect his younger siblings, so when he learned of the Song family's misfortune, he had rushed to Chang'an.
When he found Song Qingmu, there was no one alive in the entire convoy, their faces all disfigured.
At that time, he truly believed that Song Qingmu was dead.
The stature, the clothing, all identical, and a jade pendant from his mother hanging around the neck.
It wasn't until his death that he realized Tu Nan was actually Song Qingmu.
In this life, he only hoped that Song Qingmu would continue to be Song Qingmu, not become the unscrupulous Tu Nan.
Everything was proceeding according to his memory, except for Song Qingchao.
He thought of the moment this girl held a knife to his throat on the cliff, and a smile tugged at his lips.
She was quite different from the little canary he remembered.
"Second Master, what are you smiling about?"
Ying Zhong, who was grinding ink nearby, asked curiously.
Bai Youan put down his brush, "Nothing. What did Miss Song say?"
"She just said thank you." Ying Zhong shuffled forward, "Second Master, why do you care so much about her? And you even sent her food."
He patted his own shrunken stomach, "You are too biased."
"She is my patient."
Bai Youan stood up and exited the carriage.
"Second Master, you're not sleeping again?"
Bai Youan looked up at the hazy moon, "I'm not sleepy. You go to sleep."
He could not sleep soundly.
When he closed his eyes, all he saw were the disappointed faces of his master and Tu Nan, and the stab in his back.
He remembered a woman in a red veil stepping barefoot over his body, saying "My King," and then the sound of silken music.
The red veil was graceful, she must have been a very beautiful lady.
He habitually reached for the sachet at his waist but found it empty.
Only then did he remember that he had given it to Song Qingchao.
"If you're not sleeping, I won't either." Ying Zhong jumped off the carriage, holding a blanket and standing beside him, "Are you worried about matters in Chang'an?"
"No."
"Really?" Ying Zhong pouted, "I don't believe you."
"With Lin Zhong there, I am very relieved."
Ying Zhong clicked his tongue and mumbled softly, "You really trust him."
Bai Youan shook his head and smiled, flicking his fan onto Ying Zhong's head, "Since you're not sleeping, I'll give you a task."
Ying Zhong rubbed his head but was still excited, "What task?"
"Take good care of the Song siblings. I need to go out for a while."
"What..." Ying Zhong's enthusiasm visibly diminished, "Miss Song is too fierce."
Bai Youan coughed awkwardly, "You stay here. I'm leaving."
Without waiting for Ying Zhong's reaction, he slipped away.
Ying Zhong stared at his retreating back, furious.
He shouldn't have come out with Second Master!
Bai Youan unfurled a map and headed towards a mountain ravine.
The terrain here was complex, easy to defend and difficult to attack.
After the exiled convoy was attacked in his past life,
Xie Yan attacked the bandits, with a small unit feigning an attack from the front, and a large force scaling the cliff from the rear.
Not a single soul survived in the entire stronghold, and the fire raged for three days and three nights.
"Xie Yan..."
He did remember this smiling, foxy man.
Bai Youan circled around to the back of the mountain and used a grappling hook to cautiously make his way into the stronghold before dawn.
He had been here before.
Looking at the buildings and decorations, he once again marveled at how formidable and ruthless Xie Yan was.
Familiar with the layout, he entered the room of the stronghold's leader.
With a "swish," a flying dagger, carrying a cold glint in the dark night, flew towards him.
Bai Youan subtly tilted his head and blocked it with his fan held vertically at his side.
The dagger struck the door panel with a "bang."
"Little Brother, this isn't your first time here. Why are you still so cautious?"
Bai Youan walked into the room, talking to himself, and used a fire starter to light the oil lamp on the wall.
"I've come to help you."
The warm yellow candlelight flickered in his deep, dark eyes.
He smiled, the corners of his mouth curving upward, like reflections on autumn water, quite alluring.
"You've investigated as well. The outside of this stronghold is filled with soldiers. What I said is true, isn't it?"