After parting ways with Chu Qingze, Rong Zhi bought materials to make masks, then thought for a moment and bought a large bag of candied dates.
Upon arriving home, she deliberately tiptoed.
She suddenly had a guess. Xia Yunting might not have come alone. Since he was prepared, he must have had his personal guards or something hidden.
Perhaps while she was away, Xia Yunting was secretly discussing something with his guards.
She imagined Xia Yunting sitting at the head of the table, giving stern orders, with his guards kneeling on the ground, their postures radiating obedience. That scene would be quite serious and handsome.
However, Rong Zhi guessed wrong. There were no guards, and Xia Yunting was not being serious at all; he was looking in the mirror.
That's right, he was looking in the mirror, and in his true appearance.
He sat on the bed, changing angles, and stared intently at himself in the mirror.
Rong Zhi froze at the doorway.
It wasn't that she hadn't seen Xia Yunting's true appearance before, but seeing it again, she was still struck by his beauty.
His deep, sharp eyes, his chiseled features, every part of his face seemed meticulously sculpted – neither too much nor too little.
The next moment, that handsome face suddenly turned, his eyes brightening, "Xiao Mo, you're back?"
His gaze fell on the bag of sweets in Rong Zhi's hand. "You bought more candy? How did you know the last batch was finished?" Without hesitation, he took the bag, opened it, and popped a handful into his mouth.
Rong Zhi instantly felt the handsome facade crumble.
Where was the aloof, ruthless, decisive general?
She also popped a candy into her mouth, finding it a bit too sweet, almost cloying.
"What about the mask?"
"It's here." Xia Yunting held up something as thin as a cicada's wing. Rong Zhi noticed that the mask already had fine holes, rendering it unusable.
"It's fortunate I bought new materials. I'll make a new one."
Without delay, Rong Zhi mixed the potion and began processing the pigskin in her hands. As she worked, she recounted the day's events to Xia Yunting.
"If Yanzi Mountain only has the forces we see openly, perhaps you and I could defeat them with a plan, but that would require meticulous planning. Moreover, there's the county yamen's scribe and Li Hao from the Zhang mansion. We don't know if they are in charge or just doing odd jobs. If they are in charge, they might have their own people behind them. If we go to Yanzi Mountain now, even if we could eliminate everyone there, it would alert them. If the scribe or Li Hao bring more people to ambush us, they'll be in the shadows while we're in the open, putting us at a disadvantage."
Xia Yunting pondered for a moment and pulled something out from under the bed to show Rong Zhi. "Xiao Mo, do you remember what this is?"
Rong Zhi looked up and saw a snake-shaped token. In the lower left corner, "Yin Xue Ge" was written in strong strokes.
"This was found on your fake subordinate. He's also from Yin Xue Ge?"
She suddenly understood.
"That makes sense. Yin Xue Ge wants to deal with you, so they committed these misdeeds and then blamed it on you."
Xia Yunting nodded. "I've heard that Yin Xue Ge has twelve halls, named after the twelve zodiac animals: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. The owner of this token should be the hall master of the Silver Snake Hall, Zhu Ye Qing. The people who chased us that night numbered at least a hundred. If they all followed Zhu Ye Qing's orders, they are all from the Silver Snake Hall. One hall alone has a hundred people. If there's a hall master among the forces at Yanzi Mountain, then they would also have at least a hundred men."
Rong Zhi mused, "The people I saw in the open area that night were about sixty or seventy. Zhang Yajing said there were fewer than thirty people in the mansion deep in the mountains. Together, that's exactly a hundred people."
"It's not calculated like that," Xia Yunting frowned. "I pretended to be captured that day and fought with them. Their skills were extremely poor; they didn't seem like people from Yin Xue Ge."
"If they were just ordinary rabble, they would be easier to deal with."
"They went to such lengths to set up this large scheme, they couldn't possibly only have these numbers. Xiao Mo, do you remember what the county yamen's scribe looked like?"
A person with a rat-like face appeared in Rong Zhi's mind.
"I remember."
"According to rumors in the martial world, the hall master of the White Rat Hall has a face like a rat. Let's assume he is the hall master. He has over a hundred Yin Xue Ge men behind him. We don't know Li Hao's background, but our enemies have at least over a hundred people."
In fact, the disparity in numbers was only one aspect. The most critical issue was their lack of knowledge about the other side. If a real fight broke out, they would be at a complete disadvantage.
It was clear they both realized this.
"Then why did you rush in alone? Couldn't you have discussed it with me before? You could have died!"
Rong Zhi gave him a disgusted look.
"I wouldn't die."
"How do you know? Because you've never died before?"
Xia Yunting didn't mind the sarcasm in her tone. He said, "Xiao Mo, I have an idea."
Three days later, at the largest restaurant in town.
"Where did that person come from?"
"I don't know. A new face. He's quite handsome, though."
Several people were discussing a figure in the corner, but due to the aura of aloofness surrounding the person, they dared not speak loudly, only whispering amongst themselves.
"Miss, look at the young gentleman in the corner. He's so handsome, even more so than Divine Physician Chu!"
Zhang Yajing was devouring a large table of dishes. After three days of recuperation, with only bland food, her face was becoming pale. Now, faced with such a feast, she had no mood to look at handsome men!
"What's so good about him? Can he be more handsome than Divine Physician Chu?"
Even as she said this, out of curiosity, she stole a glance. The next moment, the chopsticks in her hand clattered to the floor, and her eyes widened in astonishment.
"Miss, isn't he very handsome?"
Zhang Yajing didn't know how to answer and could only nod blankly. Truly, there's always someone better, someone more skilled!
Xia Yunting, holding his wine cup, appeared outwardly unfazed, but he was constantly aware of his surroundings.
Ever since he entered the restaurant, a nondescript person had been staring intently at him. Although the person seemed unremarkable, just drinking and eating meat on his own, Xia Yunting's martial instincts sensed something unusual.
He hadn't expected to be targeted so soon after making his appearance.
It seemed his guess was correct.
Not long after, Xia Yunting paid the bill and left. The nondescript person flicked away a peanut shell, dropped a piece of silver, and followed him.
Along the way, the person browsed around various stalls, appearing to be shopping for goods, but his eyes never left Xia Yunting. It wasn't until Xia Yunting turned a corner and entered a deserted, secluded alley that the person instantly dropped what he was holding, leaped onto a rooftop, and pursued with several strides, making no sound and attracting no attention.
When he reached the alley, he was surprised to find it empty. Not a soul was there.
Could he have been discovered?
The person abruptly turned around, expecting an attack from behind, but there was nothing. He searched around again, finding not a single person, as if the person he saw earlier was just an illusion.
He rubbed his eyes, a solemn expression on his face. He didn't continue searching but turned and headed towards the yamen.
Shortly after he left, Xia Yunting and Rong Zhi climbed over the wall of a courtyard. Xia Yunting had already changed his clothes and altered his appearance.
This time, Rong Zhi had meticulously crafted the mask, further softening his facial lines compared to the previous one. Although his appearance was changed, it didn't seem unnatural.
"Follow him."
The man chose a less crowded route and walked quickly. Rong Zhi and Xia Yunting followed at a moderate distance. Suddenly, the man ahead stopped and glanced back sharply.
There were few people on the street, only a few scattered vendors and a couple embracing in broad daylight, seemingly oblivious to the surrounding eyes.
He frowned and muttered, "A hallucination?"
As he continued on his way, Xia Yunting, who had been pressed against the wall by Rong Zhi, pushed her away with a slight blush.
"You're so skilled. How many times have you done this?"
"This is called quick thinking born of necessity."
Rong Zhi said, jumping off Xia Yunting. "Let's keep chasing."
Xia Yunting touched his lips, cleared his throat twice, and then followed.
The two followed all the way to the yamen entrance. Rong Zhi whispered to Xia Yunting, "Wait for me outside," and slipped inside.
Although it was daytime, only two sleepy constables guarded the yamen entrance. Two people entered successively, and they remained completely unaware.
Xia Yunting picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it in front of the two constables. They merely opened their eyes, glanced at it, and went back to sleep.
The defenses were so lax that they wouldn't notice even if a thief entered.
Xia Yunting then leaped over the wall and entered.
In a room in the back courtyard, Tang Yuanjiang was playing with a large-eyed calico cat. The nondescript man knelt on the ground and asked, "Hall Master, should we inform the other hall masters?"
"Notify them? Then wouldn't the credit be snatched away by them? Don't alert anyone for now. Find someone to investigate secretly and see where he is. Also, go to the Zhang mansion and tell Li Hao to quickly cough up more money."
"But Hall Master, if it really is Xia Yunting, with our numbers, we probably can't defeat him."
Tang Yuanjiang kicked him.
"Are you stupid? If we can't do it openly, we'll do it secretly. As far as I know, Xia Yunting escaped here alone, without bringing anyone. Even if he has three heads and six arms, with so many of us, can he handle all of us?"
"Yes, subordinate understands."
The man withdrew, obeying the command.
Tang Yuanjiang returned his attention to the kitten in his arms. He stroked the calico cat's fur, looking quite relaxed. The next moment, he suddenly swung his hand, smashing a purple clay teapot on the table. The teapot instantly shattered into pieces. Tang Yuanjiang pinched a shard between his fingers and flicked it out. The shard forcefully punched a large hole in the window.
"Meow..." The calico cat meowed and jumped to the ground. Tang Yuanjiang also came into the courtyard and discovered it was empty. The purple clay teapot shard was deeply embedded in the wall.
"He runs quite fast."
Rong Zhi had already made her way outside the yamen. She made a face at Tang Yuanjiang in the courtyard. A mere little mouse, and it thinks it can catch me?
Arriving at the spot where they had separated, Rong Zhi didn't see Xia Yunting. She frowned. Could he have been discovered?
Suddenly, she felt a pat on her shoulder. Rong Zhi ducked, her toes pushing off the ground, retreating several zhang. She realized it was Xia Yunting.
"Where did you go?"
"I found something good inside."
Xia Yunting opened his robe. Inside was a token, shaped like a rat. Like the snake token, it had "Yin Xue Ge" written in the lower left corner.
"You stole his token?"
"Yes, this will be useful later."
"I didn't expect you to be so swift."
Xia Yunting smiled. "You too."
He had witnessed it just now – her evasion could be described as instantaneous. Her Qinggong was indeed extraordinary.
"That person went south. Let's continue to follow."
"Okay."