There is a Xiao Chan in the Jianghu

Chapter 7

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lou Lou leaped over and scooped up Yun Chan, then quickly jumped out of the window and into the lake.

Seeing that Yun Chan was safe and sound, Yu Jinzhi wiped away his cold sweat and looked uneasily at the two large doors below that had been blown open by the strong wind.

That strong wind was clearly formed from the palm strike of someone with extremely strong internal energy, intended to save the woman.

Sure enough, two masked men in black flew into the pavilion one after the other and landed beside Yu Jinzhi. Without saying a word, the leader of the men in black severed Yu Jinzhi's left arm with a single sword stroke.

"The cult leader ordered that the woman must not be harmed under any circumstances. You are courting death!" the man in black shouted angrily.

Blood gushed from Yu Jinzhi's left shoulder, his face pale, but he stubbornly refused to faint. Ignoring his bleeding severed arm, he knelt down, trembling, and pleaded, "I was wrong, please give me another chance..."

Before he could finish speaking, another man in black raised his sword and slashed off his right arm.

"Giving you a chance? The Master wanted you to capture prisoners to extract information about the whereabouts of the 'Boundless Technique,' but you, in order to secure your position as Pavilion Master, only thought about eliminating any potential threats. What use is someone who cannot serve the Master!"

Yu Jinzhi lost both arms in an instant, terrified, and forced himself to explain through gritted teeth, "I didn't mean to. I was confident I could find the whereabouts of the Boundless Technique, and that person was a threat to you, so I wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible..."

Another sword light fell, and Yu Jinzhi's mouth could no longer utter a single syllable. His eyes widened, and his head rolled off his body.

The man in black sheathed his sword and sneered, "You suffered a fatal blow that day, and the sect leader saved your life. Now that you have angered the sect leader, it is only right that you return the life."

You're the one who's ungrateful!

Yun Chan was carried by Lou Lou and jumped into the lake, feeling utterly miserable.

She really can't swim! It would be better to die a quick death by being pierced by a thousand arrows; drowning seems to take forever.

She thrashed about in the water, but Lou Lou quickly grabbed her hands and dragged her towards the bottom of the lake. Yun Chan was afraid of water, and as soon as her body was submerged, she couldn't help but close her eyes tightly, letting him pull her along. But soon, she ran out of air, and her mouth...

It started bubbling and gurgling.

Oh no, I'm going to suffocate!

Just as she was feeling unwell, a pair of soft lips suddenly pressed against hers, prying open her mouth to breathe into her. Even through the water, the touch of their lips carried a lingering, intimate flavor.

Yun Chan's mind, which had been in a state of confusion, suddenly cleared. Realizing what Lou Lou was doing to her, she instantly... felt even more suffocated.

Soon, she felt Lou Lou release her and pull her forward again. The current around them became faster, and the light dimmed, as if they had entered a tunnel. After a while, she felt her body being lifted upwards.

Just as she was about to surface, Yun Chan couldn't help but choke on several mouthfuls of water, coughing violently. Lou Lou pulled her to shallower water, and her feet finally touched the riverbed. However, before she could even feel at ease, the person supporting her from behind suddenly shifted all their weight...

Leaning against her, Yun Chan was suddenly reminded of the scene at the bottom of the lake. In a panic, she struggled violently, and with a splash, the person behind her fell back into the water.

"ungrateful."

Lou Lou's voice was weak as he made his accusations. Yun Chan turned to look at him and saw that his face was deathly pale, half of his body was submerged in water, and the wound that had been bandaged the night before was bleeding again.

She awkwardly helped him up: "Are you alright?"

Lou Lou said irritably, "Don't worry, you won't die."

Yun Chan chimed in, "Oh, anyway, it certainly won't stop you from breaking my hands and then my feet."

"..."

She turned her head and looked around, only to find herself standing in a river. The pavilions and towers she had just seen were gone, indicating that she had left the blue lake.

"Where are we? Have we come out?"

“Yes, the bottom of Mo Lake is connected to this river outside, they probably don’t know that.” Lou Lou’s steps were a little unsteady, but he still steadily pulled her towards the riverbank.

Where to?

"I'll take you home."

The two walked into the woods by the river. After walking for a while, the sky gradually darkened. Yun Chan looked at Lou Lou, who seemed to be on the verge of death, and was somewhat alarmed: "Are you... alright?"

"Don't worry, I said I would take you home."

Lou Lou managed to finish his sentence, his face paling further, the bruises on his neck turning black. Yun Chan stared wide-eyed, not even having time to gasp, when she saw him collapse to the ground.

"Henchman?" She crouched down and patted his face. The man didn't react; only a faint breath indicated he was still alive.

The sunlight had completely disappeared, and the moon peeked out.

Yun Chan laboriously dragged Lou Lou to a tree. The man's body was shockingly cold. She hesitated for a moment, looking at his pale face, but finally reached out and began to search his body haphazardly.

The man's clothes contained several soaked and ruined silver notes, barely enough to hold a few loose coins. Also... many medicine bottles; he didn't know which one contained the antidote for Hua Rong's illness. Yun Chan rested her chin on her hand, thought for a moment, and then decisively tore off a piece of his robe to put all the medicine bottles inside.

Packed up.

After gathering some dry branches to cover Lou Lou, Yun Chan clasped her hands together, picked up her cloth bag, and turned to leave.

She's already done more than enough by not killing him... right?

Guided by the North Star, she wandered aimlessly, eventually being led out of the forest by the cicadas. Soaked, cold, and hungry, she saw a village just outside the forest and couldn't help but shout with joy.

In the evening, some villagers who were out enjoying the cool air saw her and quickly called others to come and watch.

Yun Chan hurriedly sought help from the crowd: "Uncles and aunties, I'm from Feiyun Fortress..." She only got halfway through her sentence before realizing the villagers all looked blank, clearly having never heard of Feiyun Fortress. She figured it was pointless to continue, so she changed her words: "Um... I was kidnapped by bad guys..."

"Yes, I just escaped..."

A man interrupted her: "Why would bad guys rob you?"

"Uh..." It started with bad guys trying to steal her things and taking her hostage, then it was all about exchanging her for the antidote—you wouldn't understand even if I explained all the details. "He wanted to kidnap me to sell me... Anyway..."

"Sell it?" Someone interrupted her again, looking at her pockmarked face with disbelief: "Is that person blind? You think someone like you can be sold?"

"..." Yun Chan suppressed her grief and indignation, forcing a smile, "Anyway, how do I get to the nearest town?"

“The nearest city is Shuangzhe, but it takes a whole day to get there,” a woman answered her, then excitedly asked, “You still haven’t said whether that bad guy is blind or not, how could he have thought of robbing you to sell you?”

...

"Okay, let's just say he's blind. Um, can I stay here for the night?" Yun Chan estimated that with her current physical strength, she probably wouldn't last a night before being eaten by wild wolves in the suburbs.

But when the villagers saw her disheveled appearance and miserable face, not one of them responded.

"Well, I have money, I won't stay for free." Yun Chan hurriedly reached into her sleeve, but after searching for a long time, she couldn't find a single coin.

Ah, I just found some loose silver coins, could I have lost them on the way?

Yun Chan was sweating profusely with anxiety. Seeing her like this, the villagers who had been watching finally sighed and then, as if the play had ended and the audience had left, went home and closed their doors.

After waiting for a while, no kind-hearted person as rumored had taken her in. A gust of cold wind blew by, finally awakening Yun Chan's rumbling stomach. Having rarely ventured into the martial world, the young lady Yun had no other choice but to shiver and walk towards the edge of the woods.

Let's gather some firewood to start a fire and keep warm.

She had just reached the edge of the woods when she felt a sudden gust of wind overhead, and several dark figures lunged at her. Yun Chan jumped back in alarm, realizing the figures resembled those in the pavilion. Terrified, she turned and ran...

Running through the woods.

"It's that woman!"

"The cult leader ordered that she not be harmed. Let's follow her; perhaps we can find that person!"

After exchanging glances, the men in black immediately leaped into the chase.

Yun Chan was terrified and ran for her life into the woods. But Miss Yun's martial arts skills were lacking, and her lightness skill was practically nonexistent. Seeing the figures chasing her getting closer and closer, she covered her eyes and cried out, "Mother—save me!"

A flash of light seemed to appear before my eyes.

Yun Chan was astonished to see through her fingers that the men who had been chasing her were falling straight to the ground one by one, like puppets with their strings cut.

Lou Lou swayed as he stepped over the fallen men. He was covered in blood from the splatter of blood when he struck with his knife, and his movements were no longer as graceful as when he was chopping vegetables during the day.

Yun Chan remained with her hands covering her eyes, staring blankly through her fingers as Lou Lou, covered in blood, walked towards her step by step in the moonlight, too terrified to move.

"Don't be afraid, it's alright now." He finally walked up to her with difficulty, but his hand could no longer hold the knife, and his whole body fell on top of her.

"I thought you'd abandoned me and run away." Lou Lou felt weak all over, but there was a hint of pleasure in his voice. "With your pathetic skills, you thought you could distract the enemy..."

Uh... this is a wonderful misunderstanding.

Lou Lou, of course, did not know that Yun Chan was simply lost and wandering around randomly, which was why she ran in the exact opposite direction from where he was.

Yun Chan unconsciously hugged him back, smiling awkwardly, "Um, let me help you apply the medicine..."

The moonlight was gentle, shining softly through the gaps in the branches and leaves onto the man and woman under the tree.

Yun Chan finished bandaging Lou Lou's wounds, glanced at the bruises on his neck, and said with a strange sense of guilt, "Don't use your internal energy for the next few days, or you'll die."

"I'm tough as nails, you don't need to worry." Lou Lou smiled calmly, as if recalling something, "When I was a child, my whole family was killed, and I was the only one who survived. I was trapped under the collapsed roof beam for seven days, and I still didn't die."

What should have been a painful memory was presented to him as if it were something trivial. Yun Chan was stunned and didn't know how to respond.

Lou Lou was displeased: "I'm so pitiful, and you don't even flinch?"

Yun Chan lowered her head and said, "During the day, in the pavilion, that person said you were the head of the Ink Pavilion."

"The former Pavilion Master, I suppose. There was a rebellion in the palace last month, and he's been overthrown now." Lou Lou leaned against a tree, his tone completely indifferent.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"I'll take you home."

Based on your current half-dead, lifeless state, as if you're about to kick the bucket at any moment?

Yun Chan frowned: "We are penniless and being hunted down. You are also seriously injured and unable to fight. Do you think you can get back?"

"I still have some disguise medicine I can use..." Lou Lou's hand slowly reached into his clothes, then suddenly stopped, obviously realizing that all the medicine on his body was gone.

Yun Chan silently took out a small cloth bag from her bosom and said weakly, "Um, the medicine is all here..."

"And what about the silver?" The man's voice was somewhat cold.

"...It seems like I lost it." Yun Chan lowered her head, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

Lou Lou's face darkened: "You took the medicine and silver, so you were planning to run away on your own just now?"

Yun Chan stammered, not daring to look up.

Damn it, he's the one who caused all of this, so why does she feel guilty for being ungrateful?

Lou Lou closed his eyes: "You can leave now."

After a long pause, Yun Chan carefully said, "Um... I feel more at ease when we're together."

There was no response.

Lou Lou leaned quietly against the tree, seemingly asleep.

She thought for a long time, and finally quietly moved to his side, hugged her knees, sat down, and closed her eyes against the tree.

The moon rose above the willow branches. Although the young lady had suffered quite a bit these past few days, she was still not used to sleeping outdoors. Especially at midnight, the man beside her would occasionally ramble in his sleep, which made her even more uneasy.

"Father, elder brother! Hold Lou'er in your arms."