Footsteps approached.
Without even time to think, Mo Xian instinctively slipped back into the water.
The cliff and the adjacent mountain formed a semi-circle, with a stream rushing down the cliff, making a splashing sound. The surrounding area was dense with deep woods and thick grass.
The tall, thin man took Mo Xian's clothes, stretched his neck to look around in every direction, and found nothing except the clothes in his hand. With the clothes in hand, the tall, thin man left. He moved with agility, taking no more than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea for the round trip. Returning to the herd of horses, one of the handsome men glared at the newly captured prisoner and interrogated him in a deep, intimidating voice: "Do you recognize this?" The captive's face looked as though it had been coated with a layer of ash, his hair was disheveled, and his body was pinned face-down across a horse's back. He raised the corners of his eyes to glance at the clothes in the man's hand, then lowered his eyelids and let out not a single grunt.
"Any accomplices? Where are they?" the handsome man asked, staring down at the captive with a hint of rising anger. He had clearly jumped to the conclusion that the captive had accomplices, and that those accomplices were connected to the clothes in the tall, thin man's hand.
Still, not a single word of reply.
A short, stout, dark-skinned man jumped forward, kicked the captive hard, and cursed as he struck: "Are you mute or what? If you don't talk, I'll kick you to death!"
The captive seemed determined not to say a single word.
Everyone turned to look at the handsome man. Saying nothing, the handsome man stared into the dense and lush woods as if trying to pierce through them with his gaze. After a long while, he turned back to look at the clothes in the tall, thin man's hand and ordered, "Take them!"
Submerged in the water, Mo Xian knew the tall, thin man had taken her clothes and wanted nothing more than to rush over and beat him to a pulp. Seething with anger, she forced herself to stay hidden in the water without moving an inch, cursing the tall, thin man's ancestors down to the eighteenth generation in her heart. When the tall, thin man finally left, Mo Xian burst out of the water, her face flushed red, gasping for breath as she glared with bitter hatred in the direction he had left.
*They're just the most ordinary clothes, he'll probably just throw them away.* Mo Xian thought, clutching at false hope.
Soaking in the water, Mo Xian was consumed by fury. While silently hurling curses in her mind, she listened intently to the conversation by the horses, refusing to miss a single word or the slightest movement, because her clothes were at stake...
Until she heard the command "Take them!" which exploded in her ears like a thunderclap. Drained of all strength, Mo Xian felt as though she were sinking toward the bottom of the pool—bottomless and pitch black... She shook her head, took a deep breath, and steadied herself. *What on earth is going on?!* Mo Xian was furious! She was truly furious! She was going to climb back out and beat the lot of them to the ground! She was going to take her clothes back! But...
The clothes had been carried off. Filled with resentment, Mo Xian grabbed a stone from the bank and threw it. Managing to calm her anger somewhat, she began to crawl ashore.
The moment she lowered her head, Mo Xian noticed a red patch on her body—just above her right breast, about ten centimeters below her neck. She frowned and pressed it, feeling no pain and nothing out of the ordinary. *Maybe I bumped into something,* she concluded hastily. She looked again: it was a pink cluster, glowing and bright. Unknowingly, an image flashed through her mind of a glowing, pink cluster of light. *Never mind that now. What's the most important thing right now? Leaving this place, of course! Just a moment ago, she had heard that group talking with such certainty about accomplices!*
*Clop, clop, clop*—the sound of hoofbeats returned!
*What now?!*
A shudder ran through Mo Xian, and she hurriedly scrambled back into hiding, wrapping herself up tightly.
"Search this place thoroughly!" a commanding voice rang out.
*They're doubling back!*
A group of men moved through the woods, holding sabers and swords. They were dressed in... long robes, ancient Chinese attire! Several times they passed right by Mo Xian, their cold, glittering blades flashing before her eyes, and she knew she couldn't be mistaken. It didn't look like a film shoot; it looked... real?! Mo Xian was completely dumbfounded, her eyes wide, her jaw practically dropping to the ground. This plot twist was far too sharp; her brain cells weren't up to the task, leaving her entirely incapable of thinking.
Stunned, Mo Xian remained utterly motionless.
After tossing the place about for quite a while, the group gathered together, looked at each other, shook their heads, and muttered with a hint of dejection, "Found nothing at all."
Hearing their voices, Mo Xian snapped back to reality. She hardly knew whether to consider herself lucky.
Right now, wave after wave of churning emotions rolled through Mo Xian, crashing against her like layer upon layer of ocean tides.
People riding in on horses out of nowhere, and a mysterious pink mark.
*Could I have traveled through time?*
A bold thought popped into Mo Xian's head, startling her instantly.
*No way, impossible,* Mo Xian hastily denied. But if not, how else could any of this be explained?
The sound of hoofbeats faded into the distance once more.
Mo Xian slumped onto the ground, feeling utterly powerless. Her brain simply refused to function properly.
Yet reality is rarely merciful enough to grant one the luxury of contemplation. More often than not, reality holds no such mercy.
"Miss, when will we be able to go back?" came the voice of a young woman.
"What's the rush, what's the rush? We've only been out for a little while, and already you're dying to go back," another woman replied impatiently.
"My dear Eldest Miss Duanmu, just look up—it's getting dark. If we don't go home now, I won't have a whole patch of skin left on me." Dragging the eldest miss out after dark—of course she'd be in trouble!
"In a minute, just a little longer and we'll go home, okay, Hong Yue?" coaxed the woman addressed as Eldest Miss Duanmu in a spoiled tone, speaking to the other woman who was closely following her.
Every word of the two women's conversation reached Mo Xian's ears, further confirming her suspicions.
Eldest Miss Duanmu walked toward the water's edge, with Hong Yue trailing closely behind. The young miss was in high spirits, leaving Hong Yue with no choice but to follow step for step, wouldn't you know!
Mo Xian's eyes remained fixed on Miss Duanmu and Hong Yue.
As Miss Duanmu and Hong Yue approached the water, Mo Xian groped around beside her and picked up a medium-sized stone.
Just as the two women reached the water's edge, Mo Xian hurled the stone in her hand.
With a whoosh—
"Ah..." Miss Duanmu gasped in alarm.
Losing her footing, Miss Duanmu tumbled backward toward the water.
Quick as lightning, Hong Yue lunged forward to grab her, catching Miss Duanmu's hand. But the ground by the water was slick; Hong Yue's foot slipped, and with a series of splashes, both Miss Duanmu and Hong Yue plunged into the water.
Flailing her arms and twisting her body, Miss Duanmu shrieked wildly, "Ah, ah, ah!"
Panicking, Hong Yue wrapped her arms around Miss Duanmu, shouting, "Miss, don't thrash around, Hong Yue will get you up!" Hong Yue knew how to swim, but after all, she was just a woman and lacked great strength. With much exertion, she managed to haul Miss Duanmu ashore.
Soaked to the bone, Miss Duanmu looked crestfallen, tears welling in her eyes.
Without even stopping to care for herself, Hong Yue hurriedly wrung the water out of Miss Duanmu's hair, stripped off her wet outer garments to dry them aside, and pulled out a spare set of clothes from her bundle for her to put on. Once Miss Duanmu was settled, Hong Yue tidied herself up and changed her own clothes as well.
Miss Duanmu was still shaken, clearly frightened out of her wits.
"Let's go rest over there," Hong Yue said to Miss Duanmu, pointing toward the spot where Mo Xian was hiding.
"All right," Miss Duanmu replied.
Mo Xian's only thought was to pitch both of them back into the water...