Chapter 7: Escaped and Caught Again

The young woman had already figured it out; as soon as Pan Yun was handed over, she began circling the empty ground beside the plum tree, soon tracing a perfect circle—the very one where Wang Yong was buried.

Pan Yun saw it, her eyebrows twitched; she was held aloft by the young man, staring eye to eye with the black cat in his arms.

She wanted to speak, but found she couldn’t make a sound—only widened her eyes further, then probed the Three Jade Spirit Realm in her mind: [Bite him.]

The black cat stared at her with wide eyes, unmoving.

Pan Yun spoke softly and gently: [If I die, before I do, I’ll destroy my Niwan Palace.]

The black cat’s eyes widened further, its chest heaving; the young man holding it couldn’t help but glance down, deeply concerned. “What’s wrong with you?”

He wanted to look at the cat, but dared not put Pan Yun down; after weighing both sides, his head throbbed.

Then the black cat made the choice for him—its claw slashed sharply at his eye, then it bit down hard on his tiger’s mouth.

The young man let out a loud “Ow!”—to their surprise, he didn’t fling the cat off; instead, he dropped Pan Yun and grabbed for the cat, as if willing to endure the pain to soothe it.

But the black cat clearly had no gratitude; seizing the moment his hand loosened, it leapt with all its strength, far away…

Pan Yun rolled on the ground after being thrown, and as she passed the black cat, she snatched it into her arms and sprinted deep into the woods…

She was a woman of her word; they could fight privately later, but for now, they were temporary allies.

Even the young man, though foolish, realized now—the cat and this child were in cahoots!

He took off after her.

The young woman glanced back once, ignoring them; she had already identified the area, and skillfully fetched a spade and hoe from a nearby wall corner, then began digging with practiced ease.

The young man sprinted after Pan Yun; she ran desperately, trying to gather spiritual energy again—but found her meridians completely blocked; her hand seals had no effect.

She cursed inwardly, clutched the black cat tighter, dodged past the plum tree ahead, and raced toward the temple’s back gate.

The young man shot past her head in a flash, utterly ignoring the obstacles she’d set with her movement and the plum trees, landing lightly before her.

Pan Yun nearly couldn’t stop herself and crashed into him.

The young man grabbed the back of her collar and lifted her again. “Run, keep running—your meridians are sealed, how can you possibly escape? Have I wasted all these years?”

Held in his grip, Pan Yun kicked at him furiously; he swatted each kick away with his hand, his strength considerable—Pan Yun hissed in pain.

The young man dragged her back, tapped several points on her body, then tossed her to the ground; now, not only could she not use any technique, she couldn’t even move—she lay exactly as she fell.

The young woman had already re-dug the pit and now crouched beside it, examining the corpse.

The young man stepped forward, saw the pit filled with crimson blood, and frowned. “Sister, report this to the authorities.”

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

Pan Yun, immobilized, grew anxious inside—should the officials be summoned, not only she, but her entire Pan family would be implicated.

Pan Yun lowered her gaze, entered meditation, and forced her internal essence to surge against her meridians.

What is called "acupoint striking" was merely the opponent injecting a thread of qi into her meridian acupoints, blocking their function.

After some time, the point-sealing effect fades, because that thread of qi gradually dissipates; the deeper one’s cultivation, the more qi injected, the longer it lasts. Aside from waiting for natural dissipation, one can also use one’s own qi and strength to strike the acupoints and meridians.

But those who perform point-sealing rarely seal only one point—so one must stimulate the dantian’s qi and attack each point individually. Yet they forget: the limbs and torso’s meridians also contain essence.

Seeing the young man already walking away, Pan Yun had no time to summon the weak spiritual energy from her dantian—she compressed the nearby essence in her body and blasted open one acupoint.

The sudden surge of pain made her cry out; a trickle of blood seeped from her lips. She gasped urgently: “The body in the pit is from the Embroidered Uniform Guard!”

The young man halted, turned back in shock; the young woman also lifted her head from the pit’s edge to look at Pan Yun.

After catching her breath, Pan Yun said: “His name is Wang Yong. He’s the nephew of the Grand Eunuch Wang Zhen. You two must have heard of the wrongful case of Xue Xuan, the Deputy Minister of Justice, two months ago?”

These two had clear, handsome features and an air of righteousness—they clearly were good people.

Pan Yun changed her tone, appearing weak, her eyes pleading as she looked at them: “My father, Pan Hong, was the Censor implicated in this case.”

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

Pan Yun, both delighted and anxious to hear he knew her father, studied their expressions carefully: “Yes. Before my father was wrongfully exiled, I was gravely ill and untreatable. He couldn’t bear for me to suffer the hardships of exile, so he hid me away and took only my two older brothers to Datong.”

Today, the Embroidered Uniform Guard received a secret tip and raided our home. To spare my elderly grandmother and innocent aunts and uncles, I fled.”

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Pan Yun’s eyes welled with tears: “But on the way, I met Wang Yong. He didn’t recognize me, but seeing me alone and resembling my father, he tried to capture me to frame him. In the struggle, I accidentally stabbed his neck with scissors—he—he died…”

The young man, moved, showed pity—but said: “Then come with me. I’ll take you to the government office to surrender and plead for you. You’re young—the authorities won’t punish you severely.”

Pan Yun: …

The previously cold young woman instead said: “I believe you. Go.”

The young man was stunned. “Sister!”

The young woman circled Pan Yun once, intrigued, then said: “You may not be good, but he was certainly evil. Killing evil is stopping evil—it’s still a good deed.”

Pan Yun stared at her in surprise.

Even the black cat couldn’t help lifting its head and meowing, speaking in Pan Yun’s mind: [This person seems quite gifted.]

So fear me? I’m not indispensable to you.

Pan Yun: [Then leave quickly.]

The black cat fell silent. Though gifted, it still paled beside Pan Yun—so it chose to stay and risk it.

The young woman unsealed Pan Yun’s acupoints, tilted her chin. “Go.”

Pan Yun stood tentatively, took two steps forward; seeing the woman made no move to stop her, she picked up the cat to leave—only to be blocked by the grim-faced young man, who snatched her back.

“Sister, even if this Embroidered Uniform Guard was evil, he shouldn’t have been killed by a child. She’s so young and already so ruthless—just now she tried to kill her own cat. Her nature is clear.”

The young woman: “Wang Zhen will one day bring chaos to the state. Every one of his allies who dies saves more people.”

Pan Yun’s eyes sparkled as she stared at the young woman, nodding vigorously—yes, though she knew little of ancient history, she knew Wang Zhen’s treachery. This woman had vision—no wonder she could see Pan Yun was good.

(End of Chapter)