Chapter Ten: Hahaha, Escaped

The black cat’s two front paws had healed, but one of its hind legs still hung limply.

To Tao Ji’s surprise, he even performed bone-setting on the cat—not only did he straighten its leg bones, but he also tied the leg with small wooden sticks.

So, throughout the journey, the happiest was the black cat. It was either being held by Tao Ji or by Pan Yun, eating its fill and then sleeping, waking up to watch the scenery. Nestled in someone’s arms was effortless and neither too cold nor too warm, soft and cozy. Pan Yun was envious to no end, wishing she could pretend to have a broken leg just to be carried like that.

The black cat was very clingy to Pan Yun, meowing whenever it couldn’t see her for a moment. Whenever Xuan Miao accompanied Pan Yun to the restroom or to change clothes, it would also meow insistently. Tao Ji looked on jealously, feeling somewhat envious despite having treated it better all along.

“I haven’t asked—what’s its name?” Tao Ji inquired.

Pan Yun glanced down at the cat and said, “Little Black. Its name is Pan Xiaohei.”

The black cat angrily refused, meowing, “My name is Lingjing, Lingjing!”

[Stop calling that,] Pan Yun responded mentally, [They don’t understand your words. Besides, Lingjing isn’t your name; it’s the name of an object. If you call yourself Lingjing, then in the future, anyone who forges something with the same function can also call it Lingjing.

It’s like the swords in their hands—all called swords, but to distinguish them, you need to give them names.]

The black cat paused, thought it over, and accepted this, declaring, “I don’t want to be called Little Black. Give me a nicer name.”

Pan Yun smiled faintly, holding it close as she looked up at Tao Ji and said, “Look, it’s all black, isn’t it as black as dragon crystal?”

Tao Ji looked at the black cat and nodded, “Yes, very black.”

“So it’s called Little Black, taking my surname—Pan Xiaohei.”

Tao Ji: “...Why not call it Dragon Crystal? That sounds much better.”

The black cat nodded vehemently, glaring at Pan Yun with its glassy eyes in anger.

“Because I just like calling it Little Black,” Pan Yun said softly as she stroked its fur gently. “No matter how pretty a name is, it can’t buy my happiness. Right, Little Black? You wouldn’t oppose me, would you?”

The black cat stiffened for a moment, then resigned itself and leaned into her arms silently.

Pan Yun nodded in satisfaction and said to Tao Ji, “See? It likes it.”

Tao Ji: ...

Xuan Miao put down her chopsticks, counted out some copper coins and placed them on the table, then stood up. “Let’s go.”

Tao Ji hurriedly put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and pulled Pan Yun up to follow.

Pan Yun stumbled a couple of times before regaining her balance.

Passing by a ready-made clothing shop, Xuan Miao glanced up at the storefront, then turned to Tao Ji and said, “You wait here.”

Pan Yun quickly said when Xuan Miao looked over, “I’m not buying anything. I’ll wait outside with him.”

Xuan Miao frowned, considering that Pan Yun was currently inconvenient and probably didn’t want others to know, even though she was a young lady herself.

She looked at Tao Ji and instructed, “Watch her closely.”

Tao Ji assured her, “Don’t worry, sister. As soon as you go in, I’ll press her acupoints so she can’t move. With both meridians blocked and acupoints sealed, no matter how clever she is, she won’t escape.”

Pan Yun was indignant, “You guys really underestimate me. I already agreed to go with you, have I ever run away on the road?”

Xuan Miao immediately approved Tao Ji’s plan and turned to enter the clothing shop.

---

As soon as she left, Tao Ji raised two fingers and stepped closer.

Pan Yun snorted at him but didn’t resist, only turning her head aside.

Her compliance lowered Tao Ji’s guard considerably, and just as he was about to press her acupoints, Pan Yun’s eyes suddenly brightened and she called out, “Wait.”

Tao Ji stopped. “What now?”

Pan Yun pointed to a nearby candied hawthorn stall. “I want to eat that. How about you press my leg acupoints and hold my hand so I can have one sugar-coated hawthorn stick?”

Tao Ji said, “You’re hungry again just after eating noodles? What kind of stomach is that...”

Pan Yun’s mood instantly dropped, and she said sadly, “I’ve been weak since childhood and barely ever left the house. I’d only heard of candied hawthorns but never tasted them. My second brother promised me that once I got better and could go out, he’d buy me some. But before he could, he followed my father to Datong. I’ve grown up never having eaten a candied hawthorn…”

Before she finished, her eyes reddened, and without waiting for Tao Ji’s reaction, large tears streamed down her face. She broke down sobbing uncontrollably.

At first, she had only intended to pretend, but the thought of her fourteen-year-old second brother—still just a boy like her—being locked up and dragged away, reportedly exiled to Datong as a lowly soldier guarding the border, overwhelmed her.

Pan Yun sobbed loudly, drawing the attention of passersby.

Tao Ji flustered, “D-Don’t cry! It’s just candied hawthorn. I’ll buy it for you.”

He quickly took out money to pay.

The hawthorn seller craned his neck to look over, smiling as he saw Tao Ji pull out money. He immediately approached and pulled down the biggest, reddest stick from the pile. “Daoist, this one’s sweet—has the most sugar.”

Tao Ji examined it, satisfied, then pointed to another string on top. “Give me one more.”

His sister seemed to like sweets too, so one each.

Holding a stick in one hand, Tao Ji turned around smiling, only to find that Pan Yun’s spot was now empty.

His smile stiffened, chills ran down his spine. He looked around, scanning the long street filled with people resembling Pan Yun.

“Sh-She...” Tao Ji anxiously turned back to the hawthorn seller. “Where is she? Where did she go?”

The hawthorn seller also glanced around, his face suddenly grim. “Oh no, could she have run into panhandlers?”

Tao Ji raised the hawthorn sticks and dashed into the clothing shop. There were only a few scattered customers inside, no sign of Pan Yun. “Store owner, did the girl who was standing outside with me just now come in?”

The shopkeeper replied, “No…”

Before she finished, Tao Ji rushed back out, scanning left and right. After choosing a direction, he dashed forward, eyes scanning every person along the roadside, but still no Pan Yun.

His eyes reddened as he stomped his foot in frustration and charged back into the shop. “Sister, sister, come out quickly! I let Pan Yun run away!”

Outside, the hawthorn seller kindly called out, “Everyone, please help look around. That runaway girl can’t have gone far…”

Tao Ji spat angrily. What panhandlers could have snatched her away? She ran off on her own!

He looked at the hawthorn sticks in his hand, furious enough to want to throw them away, but then hesitated, feeling they were innocent and shouldn’t bear his anger.

Just then, Xuan Miao emerged, carrying a bundle and holding a sword.

---

Tao Ji looked at her with a wronged expression. “Sister, I—I didn’t watch her well and let her run off.”

Xuan Miao’s face remained cold and stern but she didn’t blame him. Instead, she looked at the two hawthorn sticks in his hand, counted them, then began calculating mentally. After a moment, she said, “The upper trigram is Kan, the lower trigram is Xun—Water over Wind, the Well hexagram. Since she ran off on her own, she can’t escape. Near water, heading south, to the dock. We’re going to Kaifeng.”

“Got it!” Tao Ji nodded fiercely, trailing closely behind Xuan Miao toward the dock.

Hmph, his sister’s Plum Blossom Divination was truly extraordinary. No matter how fast she tried to run, there was no door or window to escape through!

Eyes blazing, Tao Ji strode energetically toward the dock.

Upon arrival, he saw dozens of boats, some already departed, and countless more waiting to enter the dock. He was stunned. “With so many boats, which one is she hiding on?”

Xuan Miao frowned, unable to divine anything more precise, and decisively said, “Search around first. If we can’t find her, we’ll head straight to the Kaifeng government office.”

At that moment, Pan Yun was hiding on a large ship.

Pan Yun was wealthy, as she was always ill. Not only did her father lavish money on her, but her eldest and second brothers also doted on her, although mostly in copper coins. The only piece of silver she had was given out of curiosity by her father—not very large, about five taels in official silver.

When Tao Ji approached the hawthorn seller, Pan Yun had stopped crying. The moment everyone’s attention shifted to Tao Ji, she slipped through the crowd like a fish.

She dashed toward the dock swiftly. While eating noodles, she had heard that small boats to Kaifeng left when full, but the larger boats were official vessels leaving on a fixed schedule—every hour, regardless of passengers or cargo.

Less than fifteen minutes remained until the hour struck.

She clutched the cat and ran to the shore just as the boatman was untying the ropes and pushing the boat outward.

Silently, she leapt forward and landed steadily on the gangplank.

“Hey, kid, you’re crazy to jump on a departing boat! Where are your folks?”

Panting, Pan Yun pulled out some copper coins from her sleeve. “My family is waiting for me at the Kaifeng government office.”

She paid the fare, moved to the edge, and sat down. Shortly after the boat set off, she saw Xuan Miao and Tao Ji rushing to the dock.

She immediately leaned back into the shadows, hiding completely to watch them question each boat.

The black cat meowed softly, “They’re so fast. Can you really get away?”

Pan Yun agreed they were incredibly fast. Unless they quickly found the direction she had left from, but she had covered her tracks...

Pan Yun said, “If they search, they’ll look north. They wouldn’t expect us to head south to Kaifeng first, then double back north—that will throw them off...”

She paused, frowning. “You’re right. They’re too fast. They might guess I’m going to Kaifeng…”

“Little girl, what are you muttering to yourself?” An elderly woman with a kindly face looked at her with concern. “You’re so young—how could your parents let you travel alone?”

Pan Yun glanced at her and quietly scanned the ship’s cabins. “My mother died. My father... went to do business. My stepmother runs the household. She sent me to Daming Prefecture to find my uncle to get money. My uncle owes my family a lot.”

The old woman was clearly surprised by her honest answer and hesitated before asking, “Did you get the money then?”

Pan Yun shook her head, eyes red, choking up. “No. My uncle only gave me some copper coins and sent me back home. I—I can’t get the money and don’t dare to go home…”