Clip! Clop!
The sound of the horse riding along with many other sounds of fighting filled the area. Nan Hua was looking towards the window, wondering whether they would be needed to fight or not. The sound of blade clashing was very clear in her eyes, giving her the picture of those people fighting.
Even without seeing it by herself, she knew very well that there were more than 10 people who were fighting nearby. Most of them were the soldiers from Nan Family who were protecting the carriage.
"Hua'er wants to fight?" Nan Luo asked when he saw his little sister gazed at the window.
Nan Hua shook her head then turned to look at Nan Luo. "We don't need to."
"Yes. As the young master and young miss, our current task is to survive and rely on these soldiers." Nan Luo pursed his lips. He definitely couldn't say that he actually didn't want to just stay behind like this. If possible, he wanted to charge outside and dealt some additional blows.
But after the fight with the assassins just now, Nan Luo knew very well that he was still very weak. This small body was limiting the amount of strength he could muster. It was to the point that he would be nothing more than a hindrance to these soldiers if he came out.
Someday…
He would grow stronger so that he would be the one standing at the front and led his men, no longer being the weak protected young master.
"Oh." Nan Hua glanced outside once more then averted her eyes.
"Hua'er is worried? Don't worry, they're stronger than us."
Nan Hua: "…" If I don't have to hide the needles, they would all die easily.
The battle in the side hall of the temple would have been much easier if she used the needle. However, deep examination later on would reveal that the assassins were killed by using assassination method.
That would cause a lot of trouble.
Thus, Nan Hua used whatever was inside the hall to make it seemed as if Nan Luo was the one fighting. With how messy it was and the fire to cover up, no one would notice that there were actually two children who were fighting inside.
The sound outside changed.
Nan Hua could faintly recognize the voice of other people in the distance.
"Young Master, we're in the small open field under the mountain. The others are also here. We should be save for the time being," Xiao Yan reported from outside.
"Good work."
Nan Luo opened the door and looked at Nan Hua. "I'll take a look for a while then return to the carriage. Don't go anywhere."
Nan Hua nodded and her twin brother leapt down. He wanted to inspect the condition to make sure that this place was absolutely save. There was no way he was going to let his twin sister be exposed to danger once more.
In the carriage, Nan Hua looked down. "What do you find."
"Young Miss, Bai Yin is rescued by a black clothed man. She's dragged into the forest but then killed because she can no longer be of help. I failed to follow the man afterwards, but I did gain some information."
"What did they say?"
"They're talking about Nan Family. The group who planted her into Nan Family Residence is someone Nan Family had been enemies with for a long time. However, Bai Yin herself is nothing more than an additional card."
Nan Hua was silent for a while. "Who are they?"
"This one is not sure because there are several families who are at odds with Nan Family…" Hou Lin was not lying. He had several suspects but nothing was confirmed yet. All of the Nan Family enemies were capable of deploying spies like this.
"What's Bai Yin's real profession?"
"She's a shadow guard."
Shadow guard.
Nan Hua had already expected that much but upon hearing this, the look in her eyes deepened. Shadow guards was the term of people who were in charge of protecting those in the Imperial Family. However, they were not the only one who ended up using them as some influential families also built their own force.
It was not strange that they would have their own shadow guard.
Especially in this era.
"I see."
Hou Lin didn't say anything else as he disappeared. How he managed to sneak into the bottom of the carriage was not Nan Hua's business. She only cared about the information he brought.
"Hua'er, it's safe outside now." Nan Luo peeked inside. He grinned, showing his pearly white teeth. "Come on, it's going to be dawn soon."
Dawn?
Nan Hua was pretty sure that the assassins came not long after midnight… oh right, the sun was going down later than usual in the mountain because they were facing west. Time was moved there.
Walking out of the carriage, the chilly wind slapped onto Nan Hua's face. Her face was still indifferent as she paid no heed to the cold wind.
"Miss, it's cold, you should wear the cloak." Xiao Yun stepped forward and handed a cloak to Nan Hua.
"Mhm."
It's not cold at all for a martial artist…
Nan Luo looked at the group of soldiers around. He shrugged. "Come on, let's walk around."
"Ok." Nan Hua looked at the grasses below and noticed some herbs. She had been collecting some herbs during the time they were in the south forest and enjoyed the meat. Drying them and kept them away would prove to be useful later.
Was there anything valuable here?
Looking at the herbs below, Nan Luo knew what Nan Hua was thinking. He had seen her gathered some of them before, though his knowledge was still lacking compared to her. There were some herbs he didn't even know what for that Nan Hua gathered.
"Hua'er, are you hungry? We can ask the servant to prepare some food."
"You should eat too."
Nan Luo nodded.. "Sure."