Chapter 584: Capture

When Cen Ermu flipped over the wall and landed, Pan Yun opened her eyes.

She lay still, not moving, until footsteps slowly approached this room; only then did she raise an eyebrow and pull back the thin blanket to get out of bed.

Pan Xiaohei lifted his head to glance once, then lay back down without moving.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He were snoring soundly.

Tao Yan Bai in the neighboring room, however, because the person lying beside him was the unfamiliar Qu Le, and because he was in an unfamiliar place, he kept a sliver of alertness—he opened his eyes the moment someone drew near.

The one who opened his eyes with him was Qu Le.

Both sat up on the bed, exchanged a glance, and both felt solemn.

Had we been exposed during the day?

Qu Le reached out and gripped his sword, whispering: "If a conflict breaks out, you take them straight to the mountains—the paths there are narrow, they know the terrain well, you can't escape on the road, only through the mountains."

Tao Yan Bai: … Aren't the two of us the ones who should be worried now? What could possibly happen to Little Master Shu in the next room?

We can't take the road? Then we fly out!

Although Qu Le had seen Pan Yun fly, his mind clearly hadn't recalled it—he was only thinking of running on foot.

He crept quietly toward the door, leaned close to listen to the sounds outside, but found not a single noise—he turned back in confusion to look at Tao Yan Bai.

Tao Yan Bai was equally puzzled, lowering his voice: "It seems the qi signatures have vanished."

The two stood by the door for a long while, weighed their options, then finally opened the door.

They stepped out pretending to be going for a night urination—the farmhouse courtyard was empty, not a single figure to be seen.

Qu Le's expression went slack: "Did we hallucinate?"

"Impossible. You heard it, and I heard it too—someone was sneaking up on us. If it wasn't someone from the Cen family getting up at night, then it must be…"

Tao Yan Bai paused, turned, and walked to the neighboring room; after a moment's thought, he knocked on the door.

"What are you doing?"

The voice came from behind them—Tao Yan Bai and Qu Le's hearts thudded, their legs went weak, and they nearly collapsed.

Pan Yun stood silently behind them in her inner robe; seeing their trembling state, she couldn't help but scold softly: "Look at you two—just one voice and you're this terrified."

Tao Yan Bai: "…Little Master Shu, startling someone like that can kill them."

Qu Le directly accused: "How are you walking without making a sound?"

Pan Yun replied confidently: "Because my martial arts are strong—I land without a sound."

She said: "Is it my fault that my martial arts are strong?"

Qu Le was left speechless.

Tao Yan Bai exhaled slowly: "Little Master Shu, just now we heard footsteps…"

"I know," Pan Yun nodded. "I threw him outside the village. Half the mission is done—we'll leave after buying supplies tomorrow."

Qu Le froze: "What?"

Tao Yan Bai: "Little Master Shu, you captured someone from the village? That's not good—we're only here to gather intelligence; we should find the sea bandits first before acting…"

Pan Yun cut him off: "That man is the sea bandit."

Tao Yan Bai's eyes widened.

Pan Yun: "That's right—our luck is just that good. He came to us on his own."

Tao Yan Bai: "Where is he?"

"At the village's earth shrine," Pan Yun said. "Don't worry—I checked. The shrine hasn't been visited since last spring's sacrifice; it's full of spiderwebs. He'll go unnoticed for weeks."

"Wait," Qu Le felt something was off: "Why would a sea bandit sneak over the wall? Cen Ashou is a villager."

Pan Yun: "He's targeting us."

Qu Le: "Have we been exposed?"

"Not exactly," Pan Yun said. "We just showed off our wealth—they thought our chests were full of money." Qu Le: "…They were full of money—a chest of copper coins!"

Pan Yun waved her hand: "It doesn't matter anymore. Go back to sleep."

"Wait—you're just leaving him at the earth shrine? I want to go see."

Pan Yun was disgusted, but if they argued further, they'd wake up the Cen family.

So she grabbed one by the scruff and flew onto the roof, then leapt through the treetops, soon leaving the village behind.

The earth shrine sat at the foot of a hill outside the village.

It was just a slightly larger slope, densely wooded, so the shrine was blocked front and back by trees, with only a narrow path in and out.

Pan Yun skimmed over the treetops, dropped Qu Le in front of the shrine, set down Tao Yan Bai, then tilted her chin: "Go take a look."

Beneath the shrine's altar, Cen Ermu was struggling desperately to roll over, trying to free himself from the ropes—but he didn't know how she'd tied them; the more he struggled, the tighter they became, and the tighter they got, the harder it was to breathe—he couldn't even flip his body over.

Cen Ermu lay face-down, arching his buttocks to rise, but found he couldn't.

!

He felt he was about to die.

In that moment, he truly regretted it—he shouldn't have been greedy for money, shouldn't have sneaked out alone for fear Cen Dachuan would find out.

He should have brought more people.

【But how exactly did I get captured?】 Cen Ermu still didn't understand.

He'd just seen a blur, then felt his meridians sealed, his clothes yanked, and suddenly he was hurtling headfirst like the wind—then blinked, and he was in this ruined shrine.

Pitch black—he had poor night vision and couldn't see who grabbed him; then the person tied him up with ropes.

He couldn't see the person's movements, couldn't make a sound, couldn't even see their face.

Cen Ermu lay face-down, still regretting, when he heard the door creak and footsteps approach.

He strained, pushing with his shoulders against the ground, trying to lift his head toward the door.

But he couldn't raise his head—he could only see two dark shadows drawing near.

Cen Ermu nervously swallowed hard, terrified; he whimpered twice, trying to push the sock out of his mouth, but it sank deeper, making it hard to breathe—he rolled his eyes upward.

Tao Yanbai noticed something was wrong and rushed forward, yanking him up and pulling the sock from his mouth.

The sock smelled awful; Tao Yanbai grimaced and was about to throw it away when Cen Ermu, freed, gasped deeply to recover—and shouted: "Help, wuwuwu——"

Tao Yanbai shoved the sock back into his mouth and scolded: "What are you yelling for? Out here in the wilderness, even if you scream until your throat breaks, no one will come to save you. Save your strength."

"Wuwuwu——" Cen Ermu widened his eyes, looking from Tao Yanbai to the other figure.

The moonlight was dim, but the two stood right before him—he instantly recognized them: "Wuwuwuwuwu……"

"That's right, it's us." Qu Le shoved him from Tao Yanbai's grip, frowning: "Why are you being so nice to him? He's a sea pirate—let him fall, let him fall."

"Wuwu…" Cen Ermu grew furious.

Qu Le gave him a hard smack on the head: "What are you yelping for? If you scream again, I'll kill you!"

Pan Yun stepped into the Tudimiao, frowning at the altar.

Tao Yanbai took off his outer robe and laid it down for her: "Young Lady, please sit."

Pan Yun sat down, looking down at Cen Ermu from above.

Cen Ermu instantly realized—these were the ones who had captured and bound him.

He widened his eyes in disbelief—could this really be that haughty noble young lady?

(End of Chapter)