By midday, the rain had stopped, but the wind still carried moisture, chilling them to the bone. The two stopped by a stream to rest and eat.
Mei Lin moved to the side, out of Yue Qin's line of sight, and began cleaning her wounds by the water. She applied some medicinal herbs she had found along the way and rewrapped the wounds with a freshly washed cloth. After taking a couple of sips of water, she glanced up at the sky, and her expression suddenly changed.
"Kid, hide!" she urged, retreating quickly into the nearby dense forest.
Yue Qin didn't understand what was happening, but he had grown accustomed to following Mei Lin's instructions without question. Without a second thought, he dragged Murong Jing He and followed her into the trees, mimicking her actions.
Mei Lin carefully maneuvered through the underbrush until she reached them, peering through the gaps in the foliage to look at the sky.
"Sister, what's going on?" Yue Qin asked, following her gaze upward.
A black speck circled under the leaden clouds. Suddenly, it swooped down like a bolt of lightning, heading straight for their hiding spot. Just as Yue Qin was about to cry out in surprise, it halted abruptly about ten feet above the treetops, revealing the sleek and agile form of Murong Xuanlie's hawk. Its golden eyes gleamed with sharp, icy light as it fixated on them. Then, before they could react, it soared back into the sky, circling above the dense forest where they were hiding.
Mei Lin cursed under her breath, her face darkening. "We've been spotted. We need to get out of here, now."
Yue Qin tightened his grip on the wooden crossbar of the makeshift stretcher, hunched over like a startled calf, and charged deeper into the forest, with Mei Lin following closely behind. There was no time to cover their tracks. Despite their best efforts to move quickly, the fierce bird continued to circle overhead, signaling their location to its distant master.
Mei Lin's injured leg was beginning to give out after the frantic run. She quickly called out to the boy ahead, who was panting heavily from the exertion of dragging the stretcher.
"This isn't working. They'll catch up to us soon," she said, moving forward to untie the vine sling strapped across the boy's chest.
Yue Qin's lips, pale with exhaustion, parted as if to speak, but she raised a hand to stop him. "We don't have much time. Listen to me."
"You'll keep going from here," she continued, using her knife to cut some soft branches from a nearby bush. She quickly wove them into a round hat covered in leaves and placed it on the boy's head. "Follow the stream for a while, staying hidden as much as possible," she instructed. Then she paused and asked, "Can you swim?"
Yue Qin nodded, opening his mouth to speak, but Mei Lin gave him no chance.
"Good. Stay with the stream as long as no one is following you. Don't change direction unless you have to," she said, adjusting his ragged clothing to cover the parts of his body exposed to the cold wind. She tied the makeshift hat securely under his chin with the vine sling. "When you leave the water, don't rush. Cover your tracks just like I taught you, understood?"
Yue Qin shook his head, his mouth still tightly closed, but his eyes had already turned red with tears.
"Hurry up! You'll only slow me down if you stay," Mei Lin scolded, pushing him in the direction of the stream, as if she were angry.
But to her surprise, the boy burst into tears, crying out loudly, though he didn't move closer to her.
Mei Lin was taken aback. She couldn't stand to see someone cry, and she sighed, defeated. She walked over, wrapped her arm around Yue Qin's neck, and rested his forehead on her uninjured shoulder. He was small and thin, so the gesture didn't seem awkward.
"Alright, alright. Big sister isn't angry with you," she said, acknowledging the title for the first time. Hearing it, Yue Qin only cried harder, his shoulders shaking with sobs.
Mei Lin couldn't help but feel a mix of frustration and inexplicable sadness, mingled with another emotion she couldn't quite name, which softened her tone.
"Are you a girl or something? Crying so much," she teased.
That seemed to do the trick. Yue Qin quickly stifled his sobs, though he still sniffled occasionally, making him seem even more pitiful.
Mei Lin sighed, realizing that without a good reason, she wouldn't be able to convince him to go ahead on his own.
"Yue Qin, we have to split up. If that bird keeps following us, neither of us will get away. You go first, and I'll follow."
"Then you go first, Big Sister. I still have to pull this Yan man," Yue Qin replied, lifting the leaf hat from his head and trying to put it on her.
Mei Lin stepped back to avoid it, her expression annoyed. "Are you really that slow? Do you want them to kill you and then come after me?" But before the boy could look any more dejected, she smiled and said, "I'll be fine on my own. They won't find me, and I'm not from Nan Yue, so they won't do anything to me." Remembering Yue Qin's concern for Murong Jing He, she added, "Don't worry. I won't leave this Yan man behind. I'll watch until they take him back, and then I'll come find you."
Before Yue Qin could think too much about the contradictions in her words, she continued quickly, "After you get out, wait for me in the nearest big city to Zhao Jing. Let's see who gets there first." With that, she grabbed the vine rope attached to the stretcher and began dragging it toward the stream.
Yue Qin stood there, dumbfounded, wanting to help but knowing it would only make her angry. As he hesitated, Mei Lin shouted over her shoulder, "Get moving! You're not a little boy anymore, so stop acting like one!"
Yue Qin flinched at her words, let out a small whimper, and ran off, putting on his makeshift hat as he went. It took him a while to calm down as he tried to stay hidden among the dense trees. But as he ran, he kept crying, his vision blurred by tears, causing him to stumble and fall several times, making a mess of himself.
＊＊＊
With the two of them separated, the hawk suddenly seemed confused, unsure which target to follow. It hovered above them in a frantic circle for a moment before abandoning the trail of the boy, who had vanished from sight, and focusing solely on the two remaining by the stream.
Mei Lin sat there, chewing on a few pieces of snake meat she had pulled from her pocket, then rinsed her mouth with water. She picked a few fragrant leaves from nearby and chewed them slowly. She felt like she could almost hear the sound of soldiers rushing toward them, but she knew it was just her imagination. With her current condition, there was no way her hearing could be that sharp.
Murong Jing He's complexion had worsened, with more blue than white in his skin, making her wonder if he might stop breathing at any moment.
Mei Lin thought for a moment and then moved to untie the vine ropes binding him to the stretcher. She reasoned that if he woke up, at least he wouldn't die from being unable to move. She didn't particularly care for him, had no intention of saving him, but she didn't hate him enough to wish him dead.
No, she didn't plan to wait around for someone to find him, as she had promised Yue Qin. She wasn't suicidal.
The thought of the anger in Muye Luomei's eyes made her shiver. Believing that Yue Qin had likely already slipped into the stream, she stood up, ready to run in the opposite direction.
But before she could lift her foot, something tightened around her ankle, nearly causing her to fall.
"Take me with you." The raspy voice carried a tone that brooked no refusal.
Mei Lin was startled and looked down, meeting Murong Jing He's clear eyes.
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