Chapter 4: Chase

Wang Yong frowned, his gaze sweeping over her before turning to the beggar children huddled in the alley corner.

He was struggling within himself—should he act or not?

Act, and it might stir up trouble; the Pan family might never find traces of their "daughter," and as the letter said, Pan Hong's daughter likely died last spring.

Pan Hong and his two sons have already been exiled; now, if I pin a daughter on him, it'll only implicate Pan Tao's family for harboring "her"—maybe even upgrade Pan Hong's sentence to execution. If I can have Pan Hong beheaded, Brother and Uncle will surely feel more satisfied.

But the risk increases.

Do nothing, and all this effort yields nothing—how unsatisfying.

How could I have mistaken her? My spies clearly saw a little girl of matching age inside the Pan household.

Thinking of the sketch submitted by his spy, Wang Yong's gaze automatically followed forward—only to find the little girl gone from sight, while the man she called "Father" had just emerged from the tavern with wine, arm-in-arm with another man, walking ahead.

What man takes his daughter out for drinks?

Wang Yong snapped back to awareness, his thoughts racing, and immediately spurred his horse to chase.

Liu Jing, one step behind, was staring at the paper bird in his hand; seeing Wang Yong gallop off in haste, he blinked slightly, thought for a moment, then followed at a distance.

He couldn't steal the credit from Wang Yong, but at least he needed to know what Wang Yong was doing behind the scenes—might come in handy later.

Pan Yun wove through the crowd, turning at every corner, slipping into every alley, trying to shake off Wang Yong behind her; sometimes she looked back and saw no trace of him, yet her senses kept sending her "danger" signals—clearly, she had not escaped.

【What are you waiting for? Help me!】

Though grumbling, the Spirit Realm—having already given up some Qi—extended its spiritual awareness from the net she had opened.

This was the first time since arriving in this world it had openly used its spiritual awareness to observe this world; previously, to avoid detection by Pan Yun, it had only seen through her eyes.

This was a familiar world—in its thousands of years of existence, most worlds looked like this.

It quickly spotted Wang Yong chasing behind, and then the officials closing in from all directions; finally, it understood why he couldn't see Pan Yun yet still clung to her trail.

【Go straight, turn right at the next two alleys, run to the end—there's a small grove, unoccupied.】

Pan Yun followed its instructions and ran.

The Spirit Realm's awareness involuntarily observed the people nearby; Pan Yun seemed to know what it was thinking, and as she ran, she chatted with it mentally: 【Want to leave me and find someone else?】

Spirit Realm: Who's really inside whose mind?

Pan Yun: 【Do you think you can run away? If you even try, I'll take you down with me.】

Pan Yun spoke with iron certainty—because of the precedent of her net trapping it, the Spirit Realm dared not move.

Though in its past life it had been studied by them, this young researcher had only shown professional skill; it didn't truly know her;

In this life, though it had been with her since birth, her life was simple—she never left home, her parents and brothers doted on her, her days consisted of reading, writing, taking medicine, or cultivating; her emotions were a straight line.

The two major emotional shifts: two months ago, when her current father Pan Hong was arrested and the family exiled; and just now, when she nearly dragged the entire Pan family down.

Even when she nearly died of illness last year, her mood barely fluctuated—so the Spirit Realm couldn't tell if she was truly this fierce.

Regardless of whether she was or not, the Spirit Realm wasn't. It had existed for so long—it didn't want to be brought down by a reckless youth.

The thought had barely crossed its mind when Pan Yun softened her tone and asked slowly in his mind: 【And can you find a better cultivation prodigy than me in this world?】

Born with cultivation awareness, able to assimilate primordial Qi, she was a prodigy among prodigies when Qi returned in her past life, possessing vast cultivation knowledge—who could match her?

The Spirit Realm fell silent, answering with action: 【Wang Yong is still two alleys away, but he doesn't know your exact location—he's sent men to search everywhere. Right now, he's closest to you.】

It continued: 【Ahead of the grove is a temple; to either side, not far, are fields; farther still, houses—I can't see beyond that.】

Pan Yun was satisfied. She ran into the grove—it was a plum orchard, the trees now full of leaves, with small fruit the size of a thumb nestled among them.

Pan Yun glanced around, walked deeper into the grove, and picked up several stones from the ground, then casually tossed them…

The Spirit Realm watched where they landed: 【Do you have enough Qi to activate the formation now?】

Pan Yun had already sat cross-legged behind a tree, her aura shifting—she seemed to merge with the plum tree behind her; she calmed her breath and cultivated: 【Watch closely—I need to recover some strength and Qi.】

The Spirit Realm agreed. Seeing Wang Yong drawing nearer, it hesitated, then released a portion of its Qi.

Please... Your... Collection_(!)

Qi appeared in her meridians; Pan Yun immediately sensed it. She was startled, but didn't slow—she immediately guided it, setting the Qi in motion…

Along with the Qi within her body, some external energy and internal power were all refined into Qi, circulated through the Microcosmic Orbit, and gathered into her Upper Dantian…

Once she had fully refined these energies into her own, she opened her eyes and projected the Qi onto each formation point…

The mist in the grove thickened gradually, fog rising; Wang Yong, who had been searching, finally arrived here.

That little girl must be suspicious!

Wang Yong already had a theory—his spy likely hadn't mistaken her; the Pan family was harboring Pan Hong's daughter. Though he didn't know how the Pan family got wind of it and prepared in advance.

The thought of his imminent success—and possibly exposing disloyal members within the Embroidered Uniform Guard—made him tremble with excitement.

He had no blood tie to Wang Zhen; his status paled beside his own nephew Wang Shan. But he was capable—what could Wang Shan, that drunken wastrel, possibly do?

If only Wang Zhen could see his abilities…

Wang Yong's eyes gleamed. He reached the edge of the grove, glanced at the faint footprints on the ground, then looked up at the hazy shadows of the trees—and smiled. Thought hiding here would escape my notice?

His hand pressed on his blade as he slowly stepped into the grove…

He didn't notice—the deeper he went, the thicker the mist became, until his own figure grew indistinct.

Pan Yun rose silently, a stone clutched in her right hand, her left hand open, prodding the Spirit Realm mentally: 【Give me the scissors.】

It was her sewing scissors.

The Spirit Realm didn't ask why—a pair of scissors appeared in Pan Yun's hand.

(End of Chapter)