"Did the prince send someone to arrest us?"
Chu Ning held Mu Nanxi's hand tightly, her eyes filled with nervousness and worry, fearing that her daughter would be taken away by the court.
Mu Nanxi held Chu Ning's hand with her backhand and patted it comfortingly: "Don't worry, I will protect you and your mother."
"Then who are they? Why are they arresting us?"
"The flower picker." Mu Nanxi couldn't think of a more appropriate identity.
"What!? Are you okay then?" Chu Ning pulled her in fear and looked up and down carefully.
"They didn't do anything to me. I gave him gold, silver and jewelry, and he was willing to let us go." She said, pulling Chu Ning out.
"The horse is ready, let's go quickly." The guard held the horse and stood outside the wing with a cold expression.
Mu Nanxi helped Chu Ning get on the horse, then got on the horse and sat behind Chu Ning.
They rode off on horseback, quickly left the bamboo house and disappeared into the night.
Not long after, Mu Nanxi returned to the inn.
The moment she opened the door, the moonlight poured in. Through the moonlight, she noticed that there were no signs of fighting on the ground floor of the inn, but there was an arm and a trail of blood beside the door leading to the back hall.
Obviously, the store owner and the waiter here have suffered from the murderous hands of the masked man.
Mu Nanxi wondered if the store owner was not one of theirs, so who revealed her whereabouts?
But she didn't have time to explore too much, leaving here was the top priority.
She took Chu Ning upstairs to get her baggage and came down. She saw the guard standing in front of the inn door with a long sword in his hand and a fierce look in his eyes.
The guard blocked their way and said coldly: "Where is the thing our master wants?"
Mu Nanxi rummaged through an unimportant medicine bottle in his bag, poured out a pill, held it in his hand and said to him: "We will give it to you when we get on the horse, otherwise I will destroy it."
As he spoke, Mu Nanxi looked as if he was ready to crush the pills at any moment.
The guard pretended to move out of the way to let them pass.
The moment Mu Nanxi passed by him, the guard suddenly raised his sword with his backhand and aimed at Mu Nanxi's neck, intending to seal his throat with the sword.
As early as when he met his master to accept the order, his master had already given him hints with gestures.
To get things, people don’t have to keep them.
Mu Nanxi was already on guard. At the critical moment, she pressed Chu Ning's back, quickly bent down, raised her right foot, and kicked the guard's sword-holding hand hard with all her strength.
The guard relaxed his grip, revealing a flaw for a moment.
Mu Nanxi seized this opportunity and pushed Chu Ning forward with one palm to ensure her safety. At the same time, she neatly pulled out the dagger she had hidden earlier from her sleeve and pounced on the guard's neck like a cheetah.
Her aim was clear, the blade pointed at the guard's lifeline.
Seeing this, the guard hurriedly raised his arms to try to fend off Mu Nanxi's attack.
However, Mu Nanxi was agile. At this moment, her hand loosened, and the dagger slipped from her hand, but landed on her left hand below.
She held the dagger in her left hand and stabbed it directly into the guard's chest without hesitation.
The sound of cold metal colliding with flesh echoed in the silent night, making people's hair stand on end.
"Ah!" Chu Ning screamed in fright, her heartbeat beating violently like a drum.
Her calves went weak and she subconsciously took a few steps back, barely able to stand still.
The guard was caught off guard by the sudden attack. His eyes widened and he looked at the dagger on his chest in disbelief.
He fell heavily with a dull sound.
He refused to close his eyes and did not understand why the pretty little lady his colleagues mentioned in his report could have such skills.
Mu Nanxi slowly knelt down, holding the dagger in his calm-faced hand. He pulled the dagger out of the guard's body with a little force, and then wiped off the blood with the guard's clothes.
After putting away the dagger, Mu Nanxi stood up and looked at the shaky Chu Ning. Her face was pale and her eyes were full of fear.
Mu Nanxi walked over and wanted to help, but Chu Ning was pushed away.
Chu Ning stared at Mu Nanxi, his eyes full of strangeness and wariness.
"Mom? What's wrong? Did it scare you?" Mu Nanxi asked softly as much as possible.
Chu Ning did not answer, but stared at her with red eyes, her voice choked with sobs: "My Xi'er has been dull since she was a child, and is not good at eating. She usually doesn't even dare to kill a chicken, but you killed someone today! Kill someone with your own hands!”
Seeing Chu Ning's excitement, Mu Nanxi was a little confused, "If I didn't kill him just now, he would kill us. Does mother want me to be killed by him?"
Chu Ning covered her mouth and shook her head, looking devastated. Tears fell down her cheeks, and she murmured: "You are not Xi'er, you are not her."
Mu Nanxi frowned slightly, with an unclear meaning in her eyes, "Let's leave here first."
If they don't leave, when the cartilage powder on the masked man wears off and he realizes that he was not poisoned at all, he will definitely come back to hunt her down, and she will not be his opponent.
Chu Ning didn't want to leave and was very resistant to the woman in front of her who had a completely different personality from her daughter.
Mu Nanxi took a deep breath, then raised his hand and hit Chu Ning hard on the back of the neck, knocking him out.
"It's more convenient this way."
Mu Nanxi dragged the unconscious man onto the horse, and she immediately climbed onto the horse and galloped towards the nearest prefecture and county - Hexian.
At dawn, Chu Ning woke up leisurely on horseback. Perhaps he had calmed down, and his mood had eased a bit.
Mu Nanxi stopped his horse, helped the man down, and rested against a tree nearby.
She handed the kettle in the bag to Chu Ning. Chu Ning raised his head and stared at her for a long time, sighed softly, and then took the kettle.
Chu Ning drank a few sips of water, turned her head to look at Mu Nanxi sitting next to her, and asked with red eyes: "Are you her?"
Mu Nanxi looked a little embarrassed, and she didn't know how to answer.
Her body is indeed the original Mu Nanxi, but the soul inside is no longer the same.
Seeing that Mu Nanxi didn't answer, Chu Ning knew in her heart that her guess might be correct.
She didn't dare to continue questioning, she didn't dare to face this cruel reality.
The two fell into silence. Finally, Chu Ning broke the silence. She took Mu Nanxi's hand and said softly: "Let's go home and go back to Dian Kingdom with my mother."
Mu Nanxi looked at Chu Ning, a hint of emotion surged in her eyes, and there were crystal tears in her eyes.
This time she is no longer alone. Even if it is known that she is not the original Mu Nanxi, there is still someone willing to stay by her side...
He County is the only way for them to return to the Dian Kingdom. After that, they have to pass through Xitang, Youzhou, Tongxiang and Yixing to reach Anji in the Dian Kingdom.
Riding a horse is always faster than riding a carriage. It originally took a day to reach Hexian County, but they arrived outside the city gate in the evening...
