Chapter 357: Spare your life, you're useful

In the moonlight, seeing things is not the same as in daylight; Dou Rongshan momentarily failed to see Gu Xixi, and couldn't help feeling panicked.

Perhaps she hadn't realized it yet, but she had actually come to rely on someone she once disliked.

"Gu Xixi! Where are you?"

Dou Rongshan staggered forward; there were no living people left on the ground, and each time she came across one, she jumped in fright.

As she walked, her shouts already carried a sobbing tone.

"Miss Xixi, Sister Xixi, come out quickly! Please don't leave me alone!"

Only a long sigh was heard, full of helplessness.

Gu Xixi said, "What exactly do you want? Just now you were afraid I'd kill you to silence you, and now you're acting like a child looking for its mother!"

Dou Rongshan followed the sound and looked intently; not far ahead, beneath a large tree.

Because the moon had shifted, the tree's shadow was dense, so she hadn't seen clearly.

Dou Rongshan burst into laughter through tears and ran over, "You didn't leave!"

Gu Xixi was squatting on the ground, having just tied up two people.

The hemp rope naturally came from the kidnappers.

She looked at the female bandit and said, "Although you don't distinguish right from wrong and aid the tyrant, I spare your life because you once felt pity for me; consider it you saved yourself."

"The reason I tied you up is first, I don't want to wait for you to recover and then torment me again."

"Second, you have committed kidnapping; I must hand you over to the authorities. If your hands are unstained with blood, you naturally don't deserve death; if they are, you have no grounds for complaint."

The female bandit weakly nodded, saying nothing.

In fact, by the time Gu Xixi gave the female bandit the antidote, she was already near the final stage of the poison's onset.

Even after taking the antidote, her strength had long been exhausted by the poison.

At this moment, Dou Rongshan angrily pointed at the other bound person and exclaimed, "How is he still alive!"

"I truly heard that he was the one who ordered these people to kidnap us."

"It's also him! Dare to leer at me with lustful eyes!"

Unbeknownst to her, Dou Rongshan's way of referring to themselves had become "we".

Compared to the female bandit sitting with her back against the tree trunk, this was relatively decent.

Fan Dongping was wrapped all over with rope, like a dead pig casually thrown onto the ground.

His face was smeared with blood and dirt, making him hardly recognizable, yet he grinned sheepishly.

"How about it? In the end, you still dare not kill this young master!"

"You poisoned this young master, then saved him—little lady, you really play with high stakes!"

Dou Rongshan angrily said, "And you're not allowed to leer at her either!"

Gu Xixi turned to Fan Dongping, relaxed, "What's the rush? I just finished explaining to her. Now it's your turn."

Fan Dongping's face slightly changed; he was clearly afraid.

But he forced himself to smile and say, "As long as you're sensible and let me go, I'll pretend tonight never happened. And Lv Jing—I won't bother her either. How about that?"

Gu Xixi turned a deaf ear to his nonsense: "One antidote—just the herb costs two or three silver coins. Giving it to someone as utterly wicked as you, I'd normally hate to waste it."

"But there's no choice; keeping your worthless life is still useful."

"Take this moment to think about all the heinous things you've done in your life; when interrogated, the quicker you confess, the sooner the beheading comes, and you'll at least suffer less living punishment."

Fan Dongping's eyes gradually grew fearful.

Dou Rongshan also wore the expression of having seen a living King of Hell.

Fan Dongping still wanted to say something, but Gu Xixi casually grabbed a handful of wild grass and stuffed it into his mouth.

Now it was quiet; Gu Xixi sat down to rest.

She alone couldn't carry Fan Dongping and the female bandit away, so she could only wait where she was.

She figured that with that person's far-reaching influence, they would surely come before dawn.

Dou Rongshan, afraid, dared not look around; she could only lick her face and sit close to Gu Xixi.

She waited about the length of a meal.

From not far below came a shout: "Xixi! Boss Gu! Where are you!!"

It was An Qinghe's voice.

Gu Xixi opened her eyes; Dou Rongshan had already leapt up excitedly, "I was calling you! Someone's come to rescue us!"

Gu Xixi stood up and saw the faint lights of torches below.

"Is that you, Brother An? I'm up here—keep climbing!"

Having confirmed the direction, the group soon reached Gu Xixi's position.

Those who came were more than Gu Xixi had imagined.

Mu Nan Zhao, He Jinghui, the light pearl sent for help, An Qinghe, and both expected and unexpected people were all here.

There were also several guards, all from the Regent Prince's personal guard.

"Xixi, are you alright? Seeing you safe is wonderful!"

An Qinghe was about to rush over, laughing and crying, but Mu Nan Zhao subtly stepped forward to block him.

Mu Nan Zhao gave a faint glance back, and just that look actually calmed An Qinghe down.

Gu Xixi sensed something between them and asked, "Brother An, why are you here too?"

An Qinghe unwillingly glanced at Mu Nan Zhao and said, "I ran into the person sent to deliver a message from the Young He's Manor; seeing Miss Jing Lan's odd expression, I asked her what was wrong."

"She hemmed and hawed, feeling agitated, and only told me after I pressed her."

Gu Xixi understood; without being told, she knew He Jinglan was afraid An Qinghe would act rashly.

And yet, she still came running over.

An Qinghe still had something left unsaid.

In the afternoon, Mu Nan Zhao confirmed the search of this desolate mountain.

After much coaxing, An Qinghe agreed to go up the mountain and listen to Mu Nan Zhao, and only then was he permitted to follow.

On the way over, they again encountered Guang Zhu, who was on his way to seek aid.

At that moment, An Qinghe felt the joy of having survived a disaster, his eyes bright and shining, filled only with Gu Xixi.

He Jinghui first saw that Gu Xixi was safe, and already breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he noticed corpses scattered nearby and afar.

He thought he was mistaken, rubbed his eyes, 'These...'

Mu Nan Zhao said, 'What's there to make a fuss about?'

'If they weren't dead, by the time you dawdle up here, even collecting corpses would be saved.'

He Jinghui was stunned.

It seems Mu Nan Zhao had already anticipated the situation here; no wonder he only brought the prince's manor guards when he came.

Convenient for helping one's own people destroy corpses and erase traces, right?

He Jinghui glanced sideways at Gu Xixi; this scene was obviously not something the person beside her could accomplish.

That must have been done by her alone.

He again glanced at Mu Nan Zhao; it was obvious that this person's mood was very bad, extremely bad.

Guang Zhu had already helped Gu Xixi up, smiling while wiping tears, 'As long as the young lady is unharmed, that's good.'

'I shouldn't have left the young lady; on the way I would have regretted it to death!'

Gu Xixi said, 'No need to blame yourself; you were just following my orders, and besides, I had confidence.'

'Confidence?' Mu Nan Zhao said in a cold tone, 'Obviously you had confidence to escape at the start, why then insist on putting yourself in danger?'

Dou Rongshan originally wanted to greet, but after a glance, she silently shrank back.

This isn't the cousin she knows! Terrifying!

Gu Xixi had long anticipated this question; she had just closed her eyes to rest, for no other reason.

Only to deal with this great deity.

'Sorry! I know I acted first and reported later, causing everyone to worry.'

She decisively admitted the mistake, steadied the other's emotions, then proceeded to explain:

'As the saying goes, one fears not thieves stealing but thieves eyeing; since we have this opportunity, I wanted to drag him out from the shadows for peace of mind.'

Seeing that Mu Nan Zhao's face remained as cold as frost.

Gu Xixi gave a pleasing smile, 'Still, it wasn't in vain; we gained a great harvest.'