Chapter Seven: Escape and Recapture

The young woman had noticed it early on. As soon as Pan Yun handed it over, she began circling the empty ground beside the plum tree. Before long, she traced out a circle—the very one where Wang Yong was buried.

Pan Yun saw this and her brows twitched. The young man lifted her into the air, and the black cat in his arms stared wide-eyed back at her.

She wanted to speak but found no sound would come out. Instead, she widened her eyes even further and silently sent a message to the spiritual realm: [Bite him.]

The black cat looked at her with big eyes but did nothing.

Pan Yun softened her voice, coaxing gently, [If I die, before I go, I will surely destroy my Mud Pellet Palace.]

The black cat’s eyes grew even larger, its chest rising and falling irregularly. The youth holding it couldn’t help but lower his head to look at the cat, worry etching his face. “What’s wrong with you?”

He wanted to look at the cat, but dared not put Pan Yun down, torn between the two and growing increasingly headache-ridden.

Then the black cat made the choice for him. Its claws suddenly swiped at his eyes, then it bit the webbing between his thumb and index finger.

The young man let out a sharp “Ow!” To the surprise of both the cat and Pan Yun, he didn’t throw off the cat—instead, he dropped Pan Yun, reaching out to grab the cat, seemingly enduring the pain to comfort it.

But the cat clearly wasn’t grateful. Taking advantage of the moment his hand loosened, it summoned its strength despite the pain and leapt far away.

Pan Yun tumbled on the ground after being dropped, snagged the cat as it passed by, pulled it close, and dashed toward the depths of the forest.

She was a woman of her word—though they were rivals in private, they were allies for now.

Even the young man was not so foolish as to miss that the cat and the girl were on the same side.

He took off in pursuit.

The young woman glanced back once but ignored them. She had already found the boundary and, with practiced ease, retrieved a shovel and hoe from a nearby corner, digging with proficiency.

The young man sprinted after Pan Yun, who ran desperately while trying to gather her spiritual energy again. But she found her meridians blocked; her hand seals were useless.

Cursing inwardly, she hugged the black cat tightly, slipped past the plum tree, and headed for the back gate of the temple ahead.

The young man whooshed past overhead, ignoring her use of terrain and the obstacles set by the plum tree, landing lightly just ahead of her.

Pan Yun nearly lost control and crashed into him.

He reached out, grabbed the collar of her coat, and lifted her up again. “Keep running, keep running—your meridians are sealed, and you think you can escape? All these years I’ve lived have been for nothing.”

Pan Yun struggled in his grip, kicking angrily. The young man raised his hand, swatting away each kicking foot with considerable strength. The pain made Pan Yun hiss sharply.

He carried her back and pressed a few points on her body before dropping her to the ground. After that, not only could she not use magic, she couldn’t move at all—wherever she fell, that’s how she stayed.

The young woman had already redug the pit and was now crouching by its edge, examining the corpse.

The young man approached, frowned at the pool of blood in the pit, and said, “Junior sister, we should report this to the authorities.”

The young woman nodded. “You go find the constables. I’ll stay and watch here.”

Pan Yun lay immobile, anxious inside. If the officials were summoned, not only she but the Pan family would be implicated.

She lowered her gaze, entered a meditative state, and began directing her internal essence to repeatedly strike at her blocked meridians.

The so-called acupoint sealing was simply the opponent injecting a certain energy into her meridian points, blocking their function.

After a while, the sealing would naturally dissipate because that energy gradually faded. The more skilled the attacker, the more energy was injected, and the longer the sealing lasted.

Besides waiting for it to fade, one could also use their own energy and force to break through the blocked points and meridians.

However, those who sealed acupoints rarely only did so in one place, so breaking through required attacking each point individually. But they overlooked that the limbs and body meridians also contained essence energy.

Seeing the young man already walking away, Pan Yun didn’t have time to gather the weak spiritual energy from her dantian. Instead, she compressed the nearby essence in her body to break open a blocked acupoint.

The sudden pain made her cry out involuntarily, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of her mouth. She hurriedly said, “The pit contains an Imperial Guard!”

The young man stopped in his tracks, surprised, and looked back. The young woman also lifted her head from the pit to look at Pan Yun.

After catching her breath, Pan Yun continued, “His name was Wang Yong. He was the nephew of the Grand Eunuch Wang Zhen. Two months ago, there was a wrongful case involving the Ministry of Justice official Xue Xuan. You two should have heard of it, right?”

The two men had clear, refined features and an air of righteousness—it was obvious they were good men.

Pan Yun changed her demeanor, looking weak and pitiful as she gazed at them. “My father, Pan Hong, was the implicated censor.”

The young man’s brow furrowed more tightly. “Pan Hong? Wasn’t he exiled along with his entire family?”

Pan Yun was both glad and worried that he knew her father. She studied their expressions carefully and said, “Yes. Before my father was wrongfully exiled, I was gravely ill and incurable. He couldn’t bear the thought of me suffering banishment, so he hid me away and took only my two elder brothers to Datong.

“Today, the Imperial Guards received a secret tip and searched my home. To avoid implicating my elderly grandmother and innocent uncles and aunts, I sneaked out.”

Tears welled in Pan Yun’s eyes as she said, “Unexpectedly, halfway along the way I met Wang Yong. He didn’t recognize me but saw me walking alone and resembling my father. He wanted to capture me to frame my father. In the struggle, I accidentally stabbed his neck with scissors. He… he died…”

The young man’s face softened, pity showing through. “Then let’s go. I’ll take you to the authorities to confess and plead on your behalf. You’re young; the court probably won’t be too harsh.”

Pan Yun was speechless.

The usually aloof young woman instead said, “I believe you. Go.”

The young man was shocked, protesting, “Junior sister!”

But the young woman circled Pan Yun with interest and said, “You may not be a good person, but he is certainly a villain. Killing evil to stop evil is still doing good.”

Pan Yun looked at her in surprise.

The black cat even lifted its head and meowed once, sending a message into Pan Yun’s mind: [This person seems quite gifted.]

So she’s scared, huh? It’s not like the cat insists on her alone.

Pan Yun replied: [Then you’d better leave quickly.]

The black cat was silent. Though promising, it was no match for Pan Yun, so it was willing to risk staying.

The young woman released Pan Yun’s blocked points and lifted her chin. “Let’s go.”

Pan Yun tentatively stood and took a couple of steps outside. Seeing no resistance, she picked up the cat and tried to leave, only to be blocked by the dark-faced young man, who grabbed her back again.

“Junior sister, even if this Imperial Guard was evil, it’s not right for a child to kill him. She’s so young yet so ruthless. She even tried to kill her own cat just now—that speaks volumes about her nature.”

The young woman said, “Wang Zhen will one day bring chaos to the nation. Every one of his followers who dies saves some people.”

Pan Yun’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the young woman, nodding repeatedly. Indeed. Although she didn’t know much about ancient history, she was aware of Wang Zhen’s treacheries. This woman had insight—truly someone who could tell she was a good person.