“Did he kill Xue Henglu for my sake?”
The girl’s voice echoed in the cell.
Hearing this, Jin Feng knew that things might be difficult today.
The girl was calmer than he had imagined.
But he did not lie because of it. He shook his head and said, “No, I killed Xue Henglu because he tried to seize war horses from me. I used the pretext of him intruding into the camp and took the opportunity to have him beaten to death.”
“Then you somehow learned of my grudge against Xue Henglu, so you came to the prison, wanting to get me out and have me work for you, right?” the girl asked.
“Not exactly work to the death, but I do think you are a talent, and I am truly moved by your loyalty.”
Jin Feng said, “Your master’s family has fallen, yet you are still willing to risk your life to avenge your old master. Such righteous people are rare.”
The girl did not respond, she just looked at Jin Feng and gave a cold laugh.
“Alright, I admit it. I was thinking of saving you and then inviting you to be my bodyguard.”
Jin Feng said, “What I am doing is not bad for you, is it?”
“At least you said something honest.”
The girl said, “Since you told the truth, I will tell the truth too. My lady is dead. I will never protect anyone again in my life. Give up that idea and go back!”
“Hey, why are you so ungrateful?”
Da Liu said anxiously, “In a few days, you will be beheaded!”
The girl simply closed her eyes again.
Clearly, she did not want to pay any more attention to Jin Feng and the others.
Seeing this, Jin Feng could not help sighing.
A-Mei also felt quite helpless.
The girl’s attitude was already very clear. She would rather die than accept Jin Feng’s recruitment.
“Very well, it seems our fate has not yet arrived.”
Jin Feng sighed and said, “Da Liu, go get the key from the warden and release her.”
“Sir, she is not willing to follow us. Why release her?”
Da Liu asked indignantly, “She is a death row prisoner. If you release her without reason, when Lord Qing asks about it, we will not have a good explanation!”
“I said release her, so release her. If anything happens, I will take responsibility.”
Jin Feng took the key from the warden. “I will greet the prison side. If you want to leave, you can go tonight. But do not hurt the jailers again, or it will be hard for me to explain to others.”
With that, he threw the key into the cell.
Then he led Da Liu, A-Mei, and the others away from the prison without looking back.
In the cell, Bei Qianxun looked at the key on the ground, then at the cell door, her face full of surprise.
She had thought Jin Feng was just putting on an act earlier, but she had not expected him to really leave.
Survival is the instinct of all animals. After a while, Bei Qianxun still picked up the key from the ground and walked out of the cell.
As expected, no jailers blocked her along the way, and Bei Qianxun smoothly left the prison.
Looking at the empty street, Bei Qianxun slightly narrowed her eyes.
After months, she was finally breathing fresh air again.
And finally regaining her freedom once more.
“This is what Mr Jin asked me to give you. He said since we have met, it is a congratulatory gift for your regained freedom, and also some travelling money for you.”
The warden gathered his courage, stepped forward, and threw a bundle towards Bei Qianxun.
Then he turned and ran.
Bei Qianxun reached out to catch the bundle, opened it, and found two sets of women’s clothing inside, along with several silver ingots of various sizes.
Bei Qianxun looked around, slung the bundle on her back, and walked into the darkness.
All the way, she paid attention to anyone behind her, guarding against being followed.
As a result, she found that Jin Feng really had not sent anyone to watch her.
By now, the city gates were closed, so Bei Qianxun climbed over a wall into a courtyard.
This household had a large residence, but it might have declined later. There were many empty rooms in the back courtyard, yet no one maintained them.
She had hidden here before, staying for over ten days without the owners noticing.
Now returning, she found everything just as it had been when she left.
She drew two buckets of water from the well, did not heat it, and just washed with cold water, then put on the clothes Jin Feng had sent her.
From a cracked water jar in the corner, she took out a few already split steamed buns. Without caring if they had gone bad, she swallowed them with cold water.
It was not until she lay on the bed that Bei Qianxun felt everything that night was like a dream.
That mysterious man had appeared hurriedly, said only a few words to her, and then released her…
Were there really people in the world who wanted nothing in return?
Bei Qianxun could not figure it out.
But she was too tired. Thinking about it, she fell asleep.
…
At the city gate, Da Liu thanked the mansion soldiers who helped open the gate, then spurred his horse to catch up with Jin Feng.
“Sir, you owed Lord Qing such a big favour. Are you really just letting her go like this?”
Da Liu had the same doubt as Bei Qianxun.
In the middle of the night, rushing into the city, then to the Qing residence and the dungeon, busy for most of the night, wanting nothing, just releasing her?
“Meeting once is also fate. Let her go.”
Jin Feng also felt a bit helpless. “Consider it a good deed.”
He had indeed been moved by Bei Qianxun’s actions and sincerely thought she was good material for a bodyguard.
If there had been more time, he would definitely have tried to persuade her further.
But in a few days, she was to be executed, and no method would be in time.
He could only release her first.
Even if she did not appreciate it, even if he had to owe Qing Xinyao a favour for it, Jin Feng accepted it.
Da Liu sighed and said no more.
The group rode back to Great Python Slope under the moonlight.
…
As dawn broke, Bei Qianxun heard a rooster crow and suddenly opened her eyes.
She had been imprisoned for too long. Looking at the beams overhead, she was stunned for a moment before coming to her senses.
After a good sleep, Bei Qianxun’s spirits had recovered a lot.
She got up, washed, and when it was light, climbed over the wall and left the courtyard.
Turning through several alleys with few people, she entered the main street.
She found a breakfast shop with the most customers, ordered a bowl of meat soup and a few steamed buns.
Inns and restaurants were the best places for江湖 people to gather information.
Bei Qianxun gnawed on the buns while listening to the conversations around her.
But during the time she was imprisoned, too many things had happened. She could understand every word people said, but when strung into sentences, she could not comprehend them.
Something about Tubo people, something about Great Python Slope, something about the Ninth Princess…
Bei Qianxun listened in complete confusion.
But江湖 people had their own ways.
After leaving the breakfast shop, Bei Qianxun went to a pawnshop.
She exchanged signals with a shop assistant, who led her to the back courtyard, into a room with no windows.
In the room sat an old man, sipping tea.
Seeing Bei Qianxun, the old man sprayed out the tea in his mouth.
“How did you get out?”
The old man jumped up directly, but then showed a look of realisation. “Right, Xue Henglu is already dead!”
“I want to know what happened after I was imprisoned!”
Bei Qianxun threw a silver ingot onto the table. “Also, who exactly is this person Jin Feng!”
