Despite the sharp object puncturing Tao Xiaobo's skin, all he could think about was the sentence Wang Sinjeong had insulted him with.
There was no way that he could understand her as she was speaking in another language, but somehow, he was reminded of his words earlier.
"She's a princess? But she's a whore's daughter." His past words were now coming back at him to bite him in the butt. His hazel eyes opened wide with shock once again. How had this girl, who had no knowledge of the language he spoke, known what he had said? Likewise, how had he figured out her taunting reply to his insult?
While he was trying to figure out things he couldn't find an answer to, the girl was slowly making her way into the forest behind her. Her slanted hazel eyes remained alert, not letting a single shadow go by missed. Never did she turn around, for she knew if she did, she'd be slain immediately.
"She's taking Xiaobo away!" A nearby soldier yelled. The scream that had occurred earlier had attracted everyone's attention, yet because they had yet to get adjusted to the darkness, they hadn't been able to see the teenage duo. After searching for a few moments, they could finally be seen.
"Stop." He Tengfei commanded from the top of the unpaved road. The multiple armed soldiers that had begun to chase after them immediately stopped. They turned their attention to the authority figure with a face of confusion. "We may end up injuring Xiaobo if we mindlessly chase after them."
"So we're just going to let her go?" Another soldier yelled out furiously. They all knew the punishment they'd face if they failed this mission.
"No." Both Cui Hong and He Tengfei spoke together.
"Not many girl's can survive in the forest alone. She'll have to leave and will end up at one of three cities. The nearest ones are Julin, Guilin and Yangshuo. Theres no way she can get anywhere else before we capture her, but to take extra precautions we'll station some men along the roads." He Tengfei explained. "Split into six groups. Three will be made up of less people and will watch over every road to these cities, the capital, and this road. The other three will be spreading out to search every city. We leave in seven minutes!"
Tengfei glanced at the forest in front of him before following suit of his fellow soldiers. He hurriedly packed up his belongings and had his space clear in five minutes. As he geared up, he quickly began to assemble the men that would follow him to Yangshuo.
In the speedy seven minutes it took the entire makeshift base to wipe any trace of them ever being there, Tao Xiaobo and Sinjeong had travelled quite the distance. As they neared a lake, they finally paused.
"Hmph. I can't believe your tired already." Xiaobo taunted. They had barely run for seven minutes and Sinjeong besides him was panting with exhaustion. Still, the jade hair piece was stabbing into his throat, and he was afraid that if it went any deeper he'd have a hard time.
Wang Sinjeong paid no attention to the words coming from the younger boy's mouth. She couldn't understand him no matter how hard she tried, and had long ago decided to ignore any attempts at communication. Instead, she was avidly searching for something.
A smile dawned upon her small face as she eyed a large rock. She made her way with the unsuspecting boy towards it and quickly picked it up. By the time he had realized he wasn't being held onto, it was already too late.
A large rock was coming into his vision as he turned his head. The pain he felt as it collided with his head was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before and he grunted with pain before everything turned black.
'Is he unconscious?' She thought to herself. She looked at the boy carefully, and after inspecting him for a few minutes she finally decided that he was out cold. She knew he would regain consciousness soon, due to her experience with it only hours before, so she quickly got to work.
Using the hairpiece she had threatened his life with, she sloppily cut her white dress. What used to cover the entirety of her legs, now stopped roughly above her knees. She then proceeded to cutting the piece of fabric into smaller strips.
When there were four pieces, she began to tie the boy up against a tree. His shoulders were broader than she had suspected, and she ended up using two strips just to tie up his arms. From there, she tied up his legs. With one strip left, she used it to gag him in case he shouted for help. When all things had been done, she quickly ran into the distance.
It didn't take her long before she reached the end of the forest. A small city could be seen from the small hill in which she stood upon. She didn't dare approach the city in case the soldier's had already arrived there. But, she knew the dangers of remaining in the forest. As she plotted her next move, a surprising giggle echoed through the forest.
'Don't tell me there are ghosts here!' The foreign princess screamed internally. She immediately lost her composure and began frantically searching around her. Only when she tiptoed away from the hill's edge did she find out the source of the creepy laughter.
In a small pond, a woman and a man were happily 'playing' together in the water. The teenage girl quickly looked away, not eager to see the spoils of what would happen when she eventually married. As she looked away, her fortune suddenly turned gold. Folded neatly behind a rock, two pairs of folded clothes sat.
Without hesitation, she took the brighter colored set of clothes. The one-of-a-kind clothing she was wearing was eagerly discarded as she finally figured out a way around her predicament. Or so she thought.
Even as the product of an affair, she was still the King's daughter. She never had to dress herself, she had maids who had always helped her out. They had never been on her side, nor had they been on her mother's , but they still helped her with the daily necessities of life. And that, of course, included dressing.
To make matters worse, this was a piece of clothing she had never seen before! As she tactfully tried on the clothes, doing her utmost to make the clothes look natural, the sun eventually rose. As dawn finally illuminated the city and forest, she had give up all hopes of ever dressing herself in the future. With her choice of giving up, failure for this last day of dressing was already determined.
Dressed in an entirely new style because of her cluelessness, she finally decided to enter the city.