Chapter 121: My Territory

  The rain outside grew heavier, but inside the cave it was dry and comfortable. Although there were no fragrant beds or soft pillows, nor beautiful clothes, Qibaozhu felt particularly satisfied as she roasted by the fire. Since being kidnapped, the most correct thing she had done was to listen to Qindai's words. Although stripping dead people of their clothes was really shameful, etiquette and life compared, the latter was more important. The weather was so cold that if they hadn't taken those few dead men's clothes, she would probably have frozen stiff by now.

  Zi Baozhu touched the interlining on her body, thinking that Qin Dai only wore a coat, and she couldn't help but wonder. Looking at her appearance, she should be a pampered young lady like herself, how could she have the ability to kill those bad people? If it were herself, she would probably not even be able to walk far if someone let her go, and would likely freeze to death in these mountains.

  Qin Dai Xin added two dry branches to the fire, then used a wooden stick to poke at the bottom of the fire until it was burning strongly again. She threw away the stick and turned to Pei Zhuo, saying: "Now we're safe. Why don't you tell me about your identity? Who are you, anyway? Why did those people want to catch you?"

  Qin Dai Xin had already learned about her origins from the black-clad man, and asking again was just to see if he would tell her the truth.

  Zi Baozhu was born with a kind heart, and although she grew up under the care of her parents and older brother, she didn't have the spoiled and arrogant attitude that many girls from wealthy families had. She was just too kind-hearted, to the point where it became a fault. When facing Qin Dai Xin, who had saved her life, she naturally wouldn't hide anything, and immediately told him about her background in detail. However, when it came to why those black-clothed men wanted to kill her, she couldn't say for sure.

  "I don't know if it's because my father unintentionally offended someone, but in the business world, it's inevitable to have grudges." Qibaozhu thought very simply, but Qindai didn't think so.

  This Qi Baozhu, seventeen years old, is the eldest daughter of the Qi family. She has three older brothers, all of whom are her full siblings, which shows that their mother is a capable person. How could such a person give birth to a naive and innocent daughter like Qi Baozhu? Naivety can be described as innocence, but it can also be called foolishness.

  At the age of seventeen, Qi Baozhu is a complete and utter fool. A woman with no guile in her heart is going to marry into the Chu family. Qin Dai's heart can almost see the future where Qi Baozhu will be worried every day, bullied by concubines and not even knowing how to retort, crying alone. By all accounts, the Qi family isn't stupid either, so why would they let their foolish daughter jump into a place that swallows people whole?

  The Chu family is one of the four major families in Dayong Country, a typical business marriage, how tragic!

  And then there's her sister who is about to marry into the Qin family, she's not a simple woman either.

  Qin Dai thought for a moment, still unable to understand why these people had kidnapped Qi Baozhu. She casually asked, "Could it be that your sister is dissatisfied with you marrying better than her, so..."

  Qī Bǎozhū thought for a moment, then said directly: "Impossible. My sister, even if she resents me, is just a woman in the boudoir, how could she have the ability to find these people?"

  Qin Dai Xin didn't think so, who says that women in the boudoir don't have this ability? Isn't she a living example? Besides, that Qi Bao Chan is said to be no less than a man, having read many books since childhood and being well-versed in business matters. Such a woman with strategic thinking in her heart is formidable, perhaps there's a way for her to achieve all this.

  Qin Dai secretly sorted out the threads in her mind, feeling that this matter was not as simple as she had imagined. Not to mention how Qi Baoqian was involved, just the fact that those people were speaking a barbaric language that she couldn't understand was enough to show that it wasn't just a case of "hiring thugs to commit murder".

  Qin Dai Xin looked at Qi Bao Zhu and said: "You go to sleep first! Tomorrow morning we'll think of a way to leave this place."

  Zi Baozhu shook her head like a rattle drum, "I'm not sleepy, I'm not sleepy." Heaven knows she was actually sleepy to death, but was afraid that Qin Dai would abandon her, so she insisted on not sleeping.

  Qin Dai Xin didn't say much either. She simply spread out the dry grass beside her, lay down and said, "I'll sleep first."

  "How can you sleep at ease? Aren't you afraid that those people will come after you?" Safety first, how can one sleep?

  Qin Dai'er thought to herself, "You're thinking too much. Those people must have run into some trouble and it's uncertain whether they can escape or not. Where would they have the leisure to bother with us two? Even if we take a step back and say that they did manage to get out of their predicament, wanting to find us would be extremely difficult, at least for tonight."

  Zi Baozhu thought for a moment, but couldn't figure it out, so she asked: "Why?"

  Qin Dai Xin pulled at her clothes, "The rain is so heavy, making the already difficult mountain road even more impassable. The traces of our journey here have also been washed away, how can they possibly find us?" She saw Qi Bao Zhu's suddenly enlightened expression and added: "If you're not sleeping, you'd better keep an eye on the fire, don't let it go out, otherwise we'll be freezing." After finishing speaking, she turned over and ignored the silly girl beside her.

  Zi Baozhu was originally thrown down by Qin Daihe, and she forced herself to speak to her with a strong spirit. Now that she knew she was temporarily safe, her spirit relaxed, and she immediately felt extremely sleepy, yawning one after another. She also didn't care about the fire, and like Qin Daihe, she spread out the dry grass beside her, covered herself with two clothes, and soon fell into a dreamland.

  I don't know how long it took, but Qibaozhu was awakened by the aroma of food. She opened her eyes to see Qindaixin roasting a game as big as a rabbit over the fire. Her stomach growled embarrassingly, making Qibaozhu want to hide in a crack in the ground. As the eldest daughter of the Qi family, how could she be so miserable? What delicacies had she not eaten before? How was she defeated by this charred thing in front of her? Fortunately, the girl didn't notice her awkwardness and continued to focus on roasting the food in her hands. Who knew whose daughter she was, but she certainly had many skills.

  "Are you hungry? Come and eat quickly! It's almost done." Qin Dai Xin took down the roasted rabbit from the frame over the fire, feeling quite good, and handed her a greasy big leg of meat.

  Qibaozhu took it and looked at it carefully, asking: "Where did this rabbit come from?"

  She can tell what it is and also recognizes it as a rabbit.

  "Hit it! Otherwise, where do you think it came from? In this desolate mountain wilderness, not even a single household can be seen. Could it have been bought?" Qin Dai tore off a piece of meat and put it in her mouth, eating with abandon, regardless of appearances. "It's also our good luck that during this season, there are no wild fruits to fill our hunger. I was thinking of hunting for something, and as soon as we went out, we ran into this rabbit that didn't know what was going on. You say it was fine in its nest, but instead came running out to deliver itself to us, losing its life for nothing. What a waste!"

  "Last night when you killed someone, you didn't have such feelings. Why are you sighing today just because of a rabbit?" Qi Baozhu looked left and right, up and down, but no matter how she looked at Qin Daihe, she couldn't see that he was a kind-hearted person.

  Those men in black, unprovoked, offended me. If I don't kill them, they'll kill me - it's an unsolvable knot. This rabbit, with no grudge or enmity towards me, was caught by me just for taking a morning stroll. My actions towards it are the same as those men in black, unprovoked and offending me. Unfortunately, this rabbit won't fight back.

  Humans are at the top of the biological chain, so naturally they can eat rabbits. But this rabbit isn't supernatural or mutated from radiation, so it can't eat humans. Qin Dai wouldn't dare say these words to Qi Baozhu unless she's gone mad.

  Zi Baozhu didn't quite understand, but she also didn't mean to ask further, so she picked up the rabbit leg and started eating.

  The rabbit meat hadn't been marinated, so it tasted a bit gamey and bland without salt. It was inevitable that the flavor would be strange. In the past, Qibaozhu had never eaten such food; what she ate couldn't compare to the imperial palace's inner courtyard, but it could still be considered one of the finest in the world. Now, however, she found herself in a desolate place with nothing on her person. Being able to eat something like this was thanks to Qindai's kindness. Although the food was a bit rough, at least it was better than starving to death.

  Qin Dai Xin looked at Qi Bao Zhu eating and was relatively satisfied. This girl, although a bit foolish, is still very sensible, won't be unreasonable or make a scene, knows how to recognize reality, and isn't blindly arrogant.

  The rain had stopped, and the entrance was dripping with raindrops, falling to the ground and gathering into a small stream that flowed downwards. The two people inside the cave finished their breakfast, extinguished the fire, tidied themselves up, and prepared to search for an exit.

  The sky was still early, and the air was filled with exceptionally fresh air. The wet mountain road was muddy and difficult to walk on. Qin Dai used a flying knife to cut off a thin wooden stick, stripped off the branches above, and tore off a piece of cloth from the black-clad man's night-traveling clothes to wrap around it, making a crutch for Qi Baozhu.

  Zi Baozhu was very moved, all the way she took care of herself, it can be said that she was meticulous in every detail.

  "We've been through thick and thin together, but I still don't know your surname or where you live!" Qi Baozhu tried to calm her voice, but she was still panting. A simple sentence, it took her half a day to finish saying.

  Qin Dai thought to herself, if your sister were to marry into our family, we would still be relatives. Immediately afterwards, she couldn't help but laugh again, the relationships between people are truly mysterious and wonderful when you think about it.

  "You'll know slowly." Qin Dai's heart wasn't intentionally hiding anything, it's just that she didn't have the mood to say these things now. She was worried, having been missing for a whole night, and didn't even know if Su Shi had received the news or not. Now she feared that the Qin household was already in chaos, others could say whatever they wanted about her, but what she feared was hurting Su Shi's heart. If something happened to her, those people who normally wanted to see her make a scene would probably be gloating behind her back.

  Qin Dai Xin was deep in thought as she walked down the mountain, the two of them following a winding path through the mountainside. They trudged along the muddy stone road for most of the day, until Qi Bao Zhu thought her legs were going to break. Just then, they finally emerged from the mountains and saw a flat road ahead, with wisps of smoke rising from cooking fires in the countryside.

  Finally saw someone else.

  Qin Dai squinted her eyes and looked at the somewhat familiar surroundings in front of her, was she really back at Xiao Qian Zhuang? After circling around, she had actually returned to her own territory?