The woman's eyes remained hard, but she listened. Ji En spoke quickly, omitting the slap and the awkward accident, instead stressing the serpent, the crane, and the danger.
At last, her gaze softened. Looking at the fire, the bandages, and her mended clothes, she sighed with weary sorrow.
"My crane… Xiaobai?" she asked hoarsely.
Ji En lowered his head. "It is gone. It fought the serpent, saved us—and fell."
At this, she closed her eyes and turned away, shoulders quivering in silent grief, before fainting once more.
When dawn came, she was steadier. Her name, she revealed, was Lingyue.
Ji En cautiously asked if she was of the Soul-Suppressing Alliance. She deflected with suspicion: "There are countless sects in this world. Why assume the Alliance?"
Ji En smiled wryly. "You said yourself, 'back to the Alliance.'"
She flushed faintly but did not deny it. When he asked if the Sentinels had ambushed her, she fell silent, only watching him warily.
"I've no reason to harm you," Ji En said at last. "If I wished it, you'd already be dead. And I must reach the Alliance myself—to find my uncle Hao Lan and the others."
The name made Lingyue's eyes flicker. Ji En showed her his water-soaked travel pass. She studied it, nodded.
"It is valid. Very well. I must return as well—you may travel with me."
Thus the two set forth together. Though grievously wounded, Lingyue insisted upon burying the crane. Ji En, knowing the peril but moved by her grief, used his iron pot as a shovel, laboring for hours until the task was done.
Thereafter, some measure of trust grew between them. Lingyue confirmed that her attackers were indeed Blood-Defying Sentinels.
Yet soon they met with wolves. To save Lingyue, Ji En released his wounded donkey as bait. He heard its anguished cries as the pack tore it apart, and grief cut deep into his heart.
With no beast of burden, he bore Lingyue upon his own back, staggering on until they found a mountain inn. But inside lay corpses of merchants, strewn and bloodied.
"This place is cursed," Lingyue warned. But night had fallen, and there was no choice. Ji En moved the bodies aside, lit a fire.
At midnight came strange scraping sounds, as if the corpses rose and walked. Terrified, Ji En burst in—only to find a wolf dragging bodies. He chased it off in fury.
Then came worse. Six bandits returned, brutal and leering. Seeing Lingyue's beauty, their lust was plain.
Though gravely injured, Lingyue struck like lightning—blinding their leader and killing him with his own blade. Ji En, wielding only a kitchen knife, fought like a cornered beast. Together they slew the rest, but Ji En suffered a deep cut across his back.
Binding his wound with rags and ash, he stumbled on with Lingyue, the road growing darker and more treacherous.