No one knew which godforsaken route the bandits were taking, but the cart jolted and rattled so violently that, within half an hour, several of the captives had already thrown up.
Getting carsick in ancient times—Wen Wan was frankly at a loss for words.
The air inside the cart was thick with an unpleasant stench. Out of the corner of her eye, Wen Wan saw that A-Chai's expression had darkened to stone, his furrowed brows stacking like three mountain ranges.
After a moment's hesitation, she reached into her clothes and pulled out two handmade masks.
They were crudely stitched from gauze—her needlework wasn't great, with crooked seams and a childish cartoon cat embroidered on the front.
She put one on herself and then passed the other to A-Chai, murmuring, "This might help with the smell."
A-Chai eyed her warily, lowering his voice. "Why are you giving it to me?"
They were both captives—it was already good enough to look out for oneself. He didn't believe for a second that anyone would offer kindness to a stranger for no reason.
Wen Wan replied with absolute sincerity:
"Because you're good-looking."
She was nothing if not a loyal face-connoisseur—if someone was handsome, of course she'd treat them well.
Her response clearly stunned A-Chai. He stared at her with a mixture of suspicion and confusion, as if trying to see through her.
The girl before him looked to be around eighteen or nineteen, with a sweet, docile appearance—not exactly breathtaking, but her eyes were unusually clear. Even in the dim, stuffy cart, they sparkled like rare jewels.
What a pity… such a girl was only a merchant's concubine.
"You want it or not? If not, I'll give it to that little brother in the back," Wen Wan said casually.
Several other young men sat in the corners of the cart, about the same age as A-Chai. Though none were as striking as him, they were all decently handsome and well-built—likely the "good-looking lads" the bandits had referred to earlier.
A-Chai's fingers twitched slightly before he finally accepted the mask and put it on.
The moment it covered his nose and mouth, his expression changed subtly. The deep crease in his brows gradually relaxed.
Eventually, the cart stopped in front of an abandoned mountain temple.
The captives were herded into a drafty, dilapidated annex.
This was clearly one of the bandits' hideouts. The broken doors and windows had been boarded up, leaving only a hand-sized slot for food to be passed through.
A sliver of moonlight seeped in through a gap in the wooden planks, but it wasn't nearly enough to illuminate the vast room.
In the pitch-black corners, the captives, still shaken, finally had a moment to catch their breath.
Thanks to the earlier mask exchange, A-Chai's attitude toward Wen Wan was no longer as cold and repelled as before.
So when she sat down beside him, he didn't tell her to move.
Lowering her voice, Wen Wan leaned in and asked, "Want to escape?"
A-Chai was silent for a beat before answering calmly, "What, you have a plan?"
"I do."
Wen Wan said this with complete confidence.
"Oh." A-Chai replied with a single cold syllable.
In the darkness, they couldn't see each other's faces—only guess at emotion through tone.
From his aloof response, Wen Wan could tell he clearly didn't believe her.
"Don't doubt me. I really do have a way out."
Still, he said nothing.
After a pause, Wen Wan dropped her voice even lower. "Not only can I help you escape, I can make you rich. Do you believe me now?"
A-Chai remained unmoved—completely ignoring her offer.
Wen Wan sighed inwardly. So it was true—God is fair. The better-looking someone is, the worse their personality.
A-Chai was the type who wouldn't cry until he saw his own coffin.
She thought for a moment and decided to sweeten the deal.
Wen Wan tapped her fingers lightly on the dirt floor beside her. The dull thud didn't sound like anything special.
"Two feet below this spot," she whispered, "is the side chamber of an ancient tomb. Want to bet?"
Something about her words must've hit a nerve—because A-Chai suddenly grabbed her wrist in a flash.
"What did you just say?"
His reaction startled Wen Wan. The pain from his grip made her wince.
"You just grabbed me out of nowhere in the dark? What are you, trained?" she hissed, frowning in pain.
Her sharp observation surprised A-Chai—but in the darkness, she didn't see the flicker of astonishment in his eyes.
"I did learn some martial arts," he admitted curtly. "You said there's a tomb underneath?"
She had his attention now. Her plan was already halfway to success.
"Exactly. So, do you want to work with me to escape or not?"
There was a short silence—then finally, A-Chai gave a one-word answer.
"Fine."
With that, Wen Wan unapologetically scooted closer to him.
"I checked out the temple's layout when I got off the cart. From a geomantic standpoint, this place is completely unsuited for a temple."
A-Chai paused. "Geomantic?"
"Uh…" Wen Wan thought for a moment. "Feng Shui. You guys call it Feng Shui."
A-Chai gave a slightly mocking snort. "You're young—don't tell me you understand that too?"
Wen Wan pursed her lips. "I know a bit. Not an expert, just… a little knowledge."
A-Chai: "Go on."
Clearly, he was intrigued.
Wen Wan began to recite in a low voice:
"To find a dragon, follow the mountain's coils—Each fold hides a gate, each gate a lock;A thousand locks upon the door,And behind them—nobles rest forevermore."
"From a Feng Shui perspective," she explained, "this site should house a grand tomb. But instead, there's a temple built right on top of it. Which means…"
She trailed off deliberately, waiting for A-Chai to pick up the line. But the young man said nothing—his silence turning the conversation into a one-woman show.
Boring.
Wen Wan lost some of her enthusiasm but still finished her thought: "It means someone hated the tomb's owner so much, they built a temple here just to suppress their spirit."
At the time, Wen Wan had no idea that her casual words were causing a storm inside the young man beside her.
The place his people had risked life and limb to find—the one they had searched for endlessly—was now casually revealed by this inconspicuous young woman.
All from a few glances at the terrain when she got off the cart.
She called that "a little knowledge"?Not much understanding?
If the room hadn't been so dark, Wen Wan might have noticed the sudden wariness—and murderous intent—in A-Chai's eyes.
In a low, icy voice, he asked, "Who are you really?"
"I already told you at the inn, didn't I?" Wen Wan replied smoothly. "Let's not waste time rehashing things. We don't have long—let me explain my plan."
She didn't answer him directly, just continued:
"Bandits only care about money. So we offer them a bribe."
"Tomorrow morning, when they bring food, I'll tell them there's a tomb underneath. We'll pretend to help them dig for treasure, lure them down, and then…"
She was speaking confidently when A-Chai suddenly snapped:
"No!"
Wen Wan blinked. "Why not?"