Qi Yue ignored him, first checking on Zhong Daheâs condition and found that he was severely injured but not in life-threatening danger, which put her at ease.
The bearded man was still begging.
âExalted one, you must be Zhong Daheâs friend, I consigned to you his matters, please spare me!â
âExalted one, I have elders above and young ones below, and my wife still carries another inside her, my family canât make it without me!â
âIâve heard that the people of Beiyuan are always kind-hearted, please spare me this once!â
Qi Yue curled her lips.
Beiyuan people kind-hearted? Elders above and young ones below?
She didnât expect this bearded man to be quite the speaker.
She really did want to let the man go, after all, they had left Zhong Dali with a breath of life.
âHow extraordinary! Since when did the noble folks of Donggao start to beg mercy from the Beiyuan dogs?â
Hearing this, the bearded man hurriedly changed his plea.
âNo, no, no, I was wrong, I am a Donggao dog, I beg you, exalted one, to spare my life.â
âSpare you?â Qi Yue looked down at the dagger in the bearded manâs ribs, raising her eyebrows, âFine, seeing that youâve been stabbed in both ribs, it wouldnât be good to kill without mercy.â
The bearded man, hearing there was a chance of survival, kept nodding his head.
âYes, yes, yes, I am willing to take daggers to the ribs for you, exalted one.â
Qi Yue laughed with a snort, retracting her twin blades, and the bearded man immediately let out a painful scream, collapsing behind the door.
âSo tell me, how do you plan to âtake daggers to the ribsâ for me?â
âIâll tell everything, not leaving out a single word,â said the bearded man, pressing his hands against the blood oozing from his ribs, his face pale.
It turned out Qi Yue was right to urge Zhong Dahe to leave Donggao.
The master he served, Zhang Kai, was not a simpleton; quite the opposite, Zhong Dahe was too foolish.
Initially, he saved Zhang Kai inadvertently, and afterward, he gained trust and care in various aspects, making Zhong Dahe believe that there were good people in Donggao.
But for Zhang Kai, it wasnât so.
Even though Zhong Dahe saved him unintentionally, Zhang Kai believed that a Beiyuan person wouldnât genuinely save a Donggao person without an ulterior motive.
So, he outwardly trusted Zhong Dahe, but inwardly, he remained on guard.
Of course, Zhong Dahe knew none of this.
Those days he was busy with settling the Beiyuan people, which Zhang Kai discerned.
This crafty old man hinted at something to Zhang Kai. Zhong Dahe, being just a soldier, wasnât so cunning and truly believed he could turn to this master in times of trouble.
Moreover, he was eager to send the rescued Beiyuan people away, so he carefully broached the subject of the Arena, hoping Zhang Kai would lend a hand.
He completely forgot that he was originally sold by Zhang Kai at the Underground Beast-fighting Arena.
This was undoubtedly like a lamb walking into a wolfâs den, a self-inflicted snare.
Could Zhang Kai, who loved watching beast-fighting games, be benevolent?
On the surface, he stabilized Zhong Dahe but probed for a lot of details about destroying the Underground Beast-fighting Arena.
Although he didnât mention Qi Yueâs identity, it still drew Zhang Kaiâs attention. As soon as Qi Yue saved Qu Wei at the city gate, he immediately connected the dots.
Eager to take credit, Zhang Kai immediately reported the matter.
From then on, Qi Yueâs identity was further exposed.
Fortunately, Zhong Dahe still maintained a minimum level of vigilance and didnât disclose the hiding place of those 200 Beiyuan people; otherwise, Qi Yue would have been busy for naught.
Later, when Zhang Kai inquired further about Qi Yue, Zhong Dahe began to sense something wrong.
Therefore, refusing to betray Qi Yue, he was beaten half to death by Zhang Kaiâs men and then positioned here as bait.
Upon hearing this, Qi Yue didnât know what to say about Zhong Dahe, she just had to prepare herself mentallyâthere are always some people in this world whose cognition and thinking are different from others, commonly known as being slow-witted, and she couldnât change that.
âExalted one, I have told you all I know, please spare me! I have an elderly mother and young childrenâ¦â
Qi Yue twitched her lips and applied two needles to the back of his neck.
A needle for sleep, another for amnesia.
She conveniently gave Zhong Dahe another shot, making sure he fell deep into slumber before putting him into her spatial storage, then she quickly left.
Soldiers were everywhere on the streets, scrutinizing each passerby.@@novelbin@@
Qi Yueâs current appearance was neither that of a woman nor of a man around thirty, so she quickly passed the checkpoint and returned to the residence that sheltered her.
Once at the door, she used the cover of the plants to release Zhong Dahe from her space, dragging him into the house.
Qu Wei startled at the sight and made a fuss, but fell silent immediately after Qi Yue explained the situation.
After a while, he broached another grave subject.
âYueyue, I believe we can now be fairly certain that Qing Nanzun is not dead.â
Qi Yue hummed in acknowledgment but said nothing more.
She pondered the bearded manâs words. Although his account didnât contain much valuable information, she could derive two exceedingly important points from it.
First, the Donggao side had confirmed her identity, and second, Qing Nanzun might indeed still be alive.
In other words, she had been completely exposed.
It was just that she had too many tricks up her sleeve, and Donggaoâs people simply couldnât catch her.
âYueyue, what should we do now? I donât want to die in Donggao!â
Qu Wei rolled around on the floor, continuously tugging at his hair, looking very much like a nitwit.
Ever since he lost his fan, his default behavior had changed to what it was now.
That old saying is so true, âTime reveals a personâs heart.â
The longer Qi Yue spent with Qu Wei, the more she realized he was nothing like the refined, carefree persona he displayed, but rather someone with a split personality.
Qi Yueâs lip corners twitched.
âDonât worry. With me around, you wonât die in Donggao. Youâll die in Beiyuan instead.â
At those words, Qu Wei sighed in great relief.
âWith sister Yueyueâs word, I can rest easy! Now I can go to sleep.â
With that said, he staggered off as if to leave.
Qi Yue shook her head, remembering that she hadnât treated Zhong Daheâs injuries, and quickly grabbed the collar of Qu Weiâs clothes to pull him back, then threw him a bottle of medicine.
âTake care of Zhong Dahe. Get him well soon.â
Qu Wei obediently got to work, while Qi Yue looked at the unmoving Zhong Dahe and suddenly questioned herself.
Why hadnât she knocked Qu Wei out and taken him with her in her space? If she had, by now they might already be on Beiyuan soil.
Alas, she was too panicked at the time to think of that.
Qi Yue stamped her foot in frustration.
Moments later, a bold plan surfaced in her mind.
Given the situation, she might as well knock out those few hundreds of people, put them all in her space, and leave by herself!
Although it was risky, as long as she executed it properly, it was quite feasible.
The only question was whether her space could accommodate so many people at once.
Until now, the most she ever had in her space were two people, one of whom was herself, the owner.
If it didnât work out or something went wrong, it wouldnât be a laughing matter.
She wanted to save others, but she was not ready to gamble the secret of her space, which was her foundation.
After some thought, Qi Yue decided against this plan.
No matter how important an issue was, it could not outweigh her own safety!
This was her absolute bottom line!
While Qi Yue was racking her brain on how to leave, a secretive meeting was taking place in the Qianhua Hall of the Donggao Imperial Palace.