Too many female prisoners, a special forces soldier transmigrates and marries wildly.

Anyway, we're safe for now.

But Chen tide's heart grew even heavier. Ye Qingli's appearance meant that their whereabouts might have been noticed by more, more mysterious forces. The road ahead seemed even more shrouded in mist and fraught with danger than they had imagined.

The dilapidated mountain god temple, in the deathly silence after the night rain had stopped, was filled with the strong smell of blood, acrid smoke, and the pungent odor of burning damp wood.

A few remaining campfires crackled softly, their orange glow dancing on mud-covered, still-shaken faces, reflecting the bewilderment and lingering fear of surviving the ordeal.

Under Li's low command, the soldiers began to hastily clear away the bodies of their comrades and bandage the wounded, but their movements were slow, and their eyes kept glancing at the darkness outside the temple gate, as if there were still ghosts lurking there, ready to devour their prey.

"Sister Yue," Chen tide's voice was low and hoarse, trembling with lingering emotion, "It's her... Ye Qingli. What's she doing here? Has she been following us?"

Ah Yue's ashen face was expressionless, but her eyes were equally grave. "I don't know. But her target shouldn't be us." Ah Yue paused, seemingly recalling the details of the lightning-fast exchange just now, "Her main purpose was to deal with those people lying in ambush outside."

"Those men in black had a clear target: the soldiers escorting the convoy, or rather, any 'targets' that might be hidden within the caravan," A-Yue whispered. "Ye Qingli's appearance interrupted their operation. But that last sentence... 'Don't get too involved in some muddy waters,' sounded more like it was directed at us, or the people behind us."

"Is she warning us? Or...?" Chen tide frowned. "Does she also know about the west wing? Or even about the Golden Dragon Token?"

"Anything is possible." A-Yue wrapped the cleaned hunting fork back in the rag. "This Ye Qingli is no simple woman. In Blackwater Ridge, she was able to track down Di Rong spies. Here, she was able to pinpoint the convoy that was ambushed by the 'Shadow Guards.' She probably knows far more than we imagine."

Chen Xi's heart sank. She had thought that escaping the Zhou residence and temporarily escaping Zhou Wenyuan's control, though the road ahead was treacherous, at least her goal was clear—to go to Black Wind Valley, meet up with her contacts, and await news from Brother Lin. But Ye Qingli's sudden appearance cast an even thicker, more eerie cloud of doubt onto this already shrouded escape route. Who was she? Which faction did she represent? What were her motives? Was she friend or foe?

"No matter who she is or what her purpose is," A-Yue said in a deep voice, looking at the growing worry in Chen Xi's eyes, "what we can do now is to get to Black Wind Valley as soon as possible according to plan. Only when we reach a relatively safe place and gain a foothold will we have the right to think about anything else."

Chen tide nodded vigorously, forcing herself to suppress her chaotic thoughts. A-Yue was right; thinking too much now was useless. Surviving and reaching their destination were the most urgent matters.

"It's almost dawn." A-Yue looked at the increasingly bleak gray-white light filtering through the crack in the temple door. "Let's rest while we can. Once it's light, Squad Leader Li will definitely urge us to set off. The road ahead probably won't be peaceful."

The two fell silent, leaning against each other and closing their eyes to rest. But after the life-or-death struggle, their nerves were still taut, and they couldn't fall asleep. All they could hear were the suppressed groans of the wounded, the low murmurs of the soldiers, and the seemingly endless dripping of water outside the hall.

After an unknown amount of time, the sky finally began to lighten.

The rain had completely stopped, but the dark clouds hadn't dispersed, and the world was a damp, cold, leaden gray.

Li, the sergeant, counted the number of people and the losses with a grim expression. Four soldiers were dead and seven were wounded. Three laborers were also dead and more than ten were wounded. Several of the animals pulling the carts had scattered in the chaos, and most of the remaining animals were either injured or frightened.

"Damn it! This mission was a complete disaster!" Squad Leader Li spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, glaring fiercely in the direction of Chen Xi and A Yue, but ultimately said nothing, only irritably waving his hand to give the order, "Those who can still move, get up! Pack your things, move any carryable food to other carts! The dead... bury them on the spot! For the seriously wounded, see if you can find nearby villages to house them! We'll depart in fifteen minutes!"

The order was given, and the survivors moved numbly, like puppets on strings. They buried their comrades, carried food, and helped the wounded; the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive. No one was in the mood to speak; only heavy breathing and occasional groans of pain could be heard.

Chen tide and A Yue also silently got up and helped gather the scattered grain.

Their movements remained cautious, trying to minimize their presence. But after last night, the way Li the sergeant and the soldiers looked at them was noticeably more scrutinizing, wary, and distant. Han Kun's status as a "distant relative" was clearly insufficient to explain last night's disaster and Ye Qingli's appearance.

Finally, the wrecked caravan set off again. The lost livestock were replaced by laborers, and the journey was even slower than before. The atmosphere was exceptionally somber; everyone was on edge, fearing that another deadly crossbow bolt might be shot from the darkness.

Fortunately, no further attacks occurred the following day.

But the journey was far from easy. The roads were even more muddy after the rain, and some sections were even washed away by flash floods, requiring detours or difficult repairs.

As night fell again, the convoy still hadn't reached its next destination and had to spend the night on a relatively dry riverbed.

With no mountain temple to take refuge, the group could only huddle under the cart frame or find a piece of oilcloth for makeshift shelter. The autumn night wind on the riverbank was exceptionally biting, the chill of the damp air penetrating to the bone. Chen tide felt as if his hands and feet no longer belonged to him, cold and numb. Their dry rations were almost gone, and they forced themselves to swallow them with the icy river water.

"At this rate, it'll take another two days to reach Black Wind Valley," Chen tide murmured, gazing at the blurry, undulating mountain outlines in the darkness. That place, which should have been a source of hope, now seemed shrouded in uncertainty after last night's ambush and Ye Qingli's warning. Could the people coming to meet them really be trusted? Was Black Wind Valley truly safe?

"Mmm." Ah Yue responded, placing the hunting fork within easy reach, leaning against the cold carriage shaft, and closing her eyes. "Sleep. Conserve your energy."

Chen Xi closed her eyes, but images of the cold weapons in the west wing, Zhou An's sinister gaze, Ye Qingli's aloof figure outside the dilapidated temple last night, and Lin Feng's steady, resolute face, now nowhere to be seen, kept flashing through her mind. There were also Shi Xiu and Liu Yun's gentle, worried eyes, and Cao'er's innocent smile… How were they now? Would Zhou Wenyuan harm them?

Worry about her companions, uncertainty about the future, and helplessness in the face of her own predicament washed over her weary mind like icy tides. She could only clutch the cold golden dragon token tightly in her arms, as if it were the only piece of driftwood she could grasp, connecting her to the past and her hopes.