Don’t Be Afraid

Why was Zhao Zhi here? How could he even be here?!

In that instant, Song Caitang’s heart started beating like a drum. The crackling sound of the fire next to her ears faded into the background and the smell of smoke lingering around her nostrils disappeared. All she could see and think about was the man she could see outside the room.

She noticed that the moment Zhao Zhi and the fake Xin Yongwang locked gazes, a deep hatred filled Zhao Zhi’s eyes, while the fake Xin Yongwang glared right back with an antagonistic look of absolute disgust.

So… these two men had a feud!

The fake Xin Yongwang must have purposely set everything up this way!

No wonder she was so confused when the fake Xin Yongwang started talking about playing a game and choosing between himself and her. It turned out that the person he was addressing was not her but Zhao Zhi!

The fake Xin Yongwang had not only set the place on fire, but he also started dueling with Zhao Zhi so that Zhao Zhi couldn’t dash in to save the girls.

Song Caitang frowned at this when she suddenly smelled blood.

It was coming from this room but not from herself, so it could only be…

She spun around to see blood spilling from Ye Nan’s lips.

Ye Nan had used all her might to bite herself hard enough to bleed so that she could attract Song Caitang’s attention. She used her eyes to tell Song Caitang to just leave her here and run as quickly as possible. She would rather die than to implicate Song Caitang.

But when she saw that Song Caitang remained where she was and refused to leave, tears filled her eyes and slowly rolled down her cheeks.

Her lashes trembled, as though they were begging Song Caitang to just leave her here and run before it was too late…

But Song Caitang couldn’t find it in herself to abandon Ye Nan at a time like this.

It seemed like the heavens really liked testing one’s character and enjoyed creating dilemmas in such dangerous situations. She had experienced such times before, but she always chose to do the same thing – follow her heart!

Since she didn’t want to abandon Ye Nan, she was going to try her best to do just that!

She was bad at directions, but she could analyze her situation. She had seen a map of the Night Sanctum before and knew that the library she was in was in an area that was isolated from the rest of the Sanctum. There was nothing in front or behind it and it was a huge space. This room she was in was surrounded by an outer wall, so the room was basically concealed.

The place was huge and the fire was burning wildly. Without any help from outside, there was no way she could escape safely with Ye Nan.

The fake Xin Yongwang was bent on making this as hard as possible. He continued dueling with Zhao Zhi and moved away from the window so she couldn’t see them anymore.

But she was very confident that Zhao Zhi wouldn’t abandon her, or abandon Ye Nan, since they were both still alive and well.

She tore a large piece of her innerwear, tore that into two pieces, then wet them with the tea on the table. She tied one piece around Ye Nan’s face to cover her nose and mouth, then did the same for herself.

Ye Nan still couldn’t move nor speak, so she could only stare at Song Caitang with a conflicted and anxious look in her eyes as tears continued pouring down her face.

Both of them were women, but Ye Nan was taller and practiced martial arts, so she was heavier than most women. Song Caitang couldn’t carry her using her arms, and even if she tried to carry her on her back… she probably couldn’t go much further than a few steps before collapsing again.

She scanned the room and her eyes fell on the table in front of her. Without pausing to even think, she pulled the tablecloth off, used her arms and legs to flip the table over, used all her strength to carry Ye Nan off the floor and put her on the overturned table.

Then, she grabbed hold of the table legs and dashed toward the door.

The fire had spread to many areas of the room and a lot of furniture had begun to collapse or fall apart. Song Caitang randomly picked up a wooden board and placed it between the legs of the table to serve as a shield for Ye Nan, then continued concentrating on dragging the table out of the room.

Bit by bit… step by step…

They couldn’t stay in this room and couldn’t just move to the next room either. They had to make it out of the hall and into the corridor.

But the corridor was also filled with flammable items, and the fake Xin Yongwang had probably set everything on fire already. They wouldn’t be able to escape even after they reached the corridor, but it would be easier for Zhao Zhi to save them once they got there.

“Miss Ye, don’t be scared, hang on tight!”

Song Caitang still remembered to encourage Ye Nan even as she persevered without turning her head back.

Ye Nan stared at Song Caitang’s slim but straight back amidst the glowing flames and tears filled her eyes again.

She couldn’t believe that a martial artist like herself, a sect leader, had to be encouraged by this young lady who was so skinny, the wind could blow her away.

But she was so thankful.

She couldn’t speak, but she was deeply grateful to this young woman.

Thank you, Song Caitang!

Meanwhile, Zhao Zhi had already been engaged in battle with the fake Xin Yongwang for quite a while now, so it wasn’t hard to imagine what emotions he was going through. The fake Xin Yongwang, on the other hand, was in no hurry and remained as confident as ever. Even as he fought Zhao Zhi, he could still continue setting the place on fire.

In no time, not only was the first room in flames, but the hall, and corridor outside and even the courtyard was blazing brightly.

Slowly, doors and windows fell, pillars collapsed, things on the roofing beams and even the beam itself started to wobble, as though it was wondering when would be the best time to come crashing down.

The more Zhao Zhi’s movement exuded anxiety, the more gleeful the fake Xin Yongwang became.

And when the beam was finally about to come crashing down, the fake Xin Yongwang didn’t even bother to dodge Zhao Zhi’s powerful attack. He just stood there with his arms folded, smiling faintly as he stared at his opponent in a relaxed manner.

Just as he had expected, Zhao Zhi paused his attack halfway and switched directions by stomping against a tree. He withdrew from the fight and flew straight toward the fire!

The fake Xin Yongwang let out a cheeky whistling sound that matched Zhao Zhi’s swing.

But after that, his expression became serious as he touched the ground with his toes and leaped out of the Night Sanctum without hesitation at a speed way faster than he had been moving before.

Zhao Zhi took a few leaps to reach a vantage point, then looked down and immediately located Song Caitang. He rushed over without even pausing to think.

Of course, besides Song Caitang, he had also spotted the oddly positioned Ye Nan being transported in a table.

Ye Nan was lying in a very awkward pose, so he knew immediately that she had been paralyzed.

With that thought in mind, he shot some tiny stones at her acupoints as he flew toward them.

But Ye Nan still couldn’t move.

Zhao Zhi got it very quickly. That fake Xin Yongwang had really made thorough preparations for this day.

He stopped thinking about that and dashed into the fire. After getting through the heat wave, the flames that threatened to lick his clothing and the sparks that kept flying at him, he finally reached Song Caitang just before the last beam was about to collapse.

“There’s one more person here! Her acupoints have been struck so she’s paralyzed!” Song Caitang called out to Zhao Zhi. She didn’t know martial arts, so she failed to notice that Zhao Zhi had already tried to undo Ye Nan’s paralysis.

Zhao Zhi stared intensely at her without saying anything, then pursed his lips tightly as he wrapped a large hand around her waist to hold her tightly. He used his other hand to pick Ye Nan off the table, then pushed himself off the floor to leap out of the fire. He moved at an odd angle but at an incredible speed to retreat from the fire.

It seemed as though he had eyes growing on his back, so he knew which angle was the best and safest for all three of them. His body continued to rotate, shift or stop when needed…

Song Caitang didn’t even know what was going on. She only knew that she was moving at extremely high speed, so everything was a blur to her, including the flames…

The heat, though…

Scorching flames were burning around her and the smell of things being burned up hit her nostrils. The smell of clothes and hair burning. She felt like her entire body was on fire. But strangely enough, she wasn’t afraid.

Neither was Zhao Zhi.

She felt like she could hear his heart beating. It was loud and steady.

The fire had grown by the time Zhao Zhi successfully rescued Song Caitang and Ye Nan from the burning room.

The room in the middle where the fire had started was gone. It had collapsed and it was impossible to enter. The outer ring around it wasn’t in such bad shape, but if nobody came to put out the fire soon, it wasn’t going to hold up for much longer.

The fake Xin Yongwang had purposely made sure that nobody was around when he first set the place on fire. But now that the fire had grown out of hand, the huge flames and smoke made it obvious that there was a fire happening in this part of the Sanctum. Nobody in the Sanctum was blind, so they immediately rushed over.

It didn’t take long for help to arrive.

Everyone automatically formed teams to carry pails of water or even connect tanks from the water source and pumped it toward the area. They did everything they could to get the fire under control as quickly as possible.

Zhao Zhi was also finally able to undo Ye Nan’s paralyzed state.

The fake Xin Yongwang had put a lot of effort into this. It wasn’t difficult to undo, but it required a certain amount of time.

A good 15 minutes had passed since the fake Xin Yongwang made his way out of the Night Sanctum.

That wasn’t a lot of time to ordinary people, but it was plenty of time to someone who both knew martial arts and was bent on escaping.

The fake Xin Yongwang had loads of time to pick a path and cover his tracks so that Zhao Zhi would be unable to track him down.

Song Caitang sighed quietly when she realized this.

Saving her meant that Zhao Zhi couldn’t get that guy.

“Are you alright?” Zhao Zhi’s low and slightly hoarse voice resounded next to her. She turned around and said, “I’m alright…”

Her eyes met his.

They were a deep black, like the cold lake waters in the middle of the night. Or like the deep ocean waters. Everything looked calm on the surface, but strong currents were hidden beneath.

Zhao Zhi’s gaze was too intense, too deep, and too frightening. He seemed to be suppressing his agitation, but also looked very sad. At the same time, he looked aggrieved, as though he was getting very emotional, yet also hardened from his years of experience. She couldn’t understand what was going through his mind.

“What’s… what’s wrong?” Song Caitang was a little worried.

But Zhao Zhi didn’t say anything. He looked down to remove the dagger hanging on his belt and put it in her hands, then he removed a tiny bottle from a pocket on the inside of his coat and stuffed it in her hands as well. After that, he fished out a large ornamental hairpin made from myrtle from his sleeve and stuck it into her hair.

Each action was done deftly and with great seriousness.

Song Caitang was so confused and worried that her eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

What was wrong with Zhao Zhi? She hadn’t seen him for slightly more than a month and he had become a completely different person?!

And even if she ignored his strange actions, she couldn’t ignore his watery eyes. Why were his eyes watery? Was he crying? WHAT?!

This was all very frightening.

Once he was all done, he stared at her intensely and pointed at the things in her hand. “If anyone dares to harm you, use these things. You hear me?”

So, these things were meant for her to protect herself?

The dagger was obvious. She could use that to stab someone. But what about the tiny bottle and the hairpin?

Was there some trap in them? Were they hiding some scary poison that could kill one instantly?!

Zhao Zhi did everything with no expression on his face and he neither gave her any explanations nor any further instructions. He turned toward Ye Nan and pointed at Song Caitang, “If one of mine even loses one strand of hair in this place, or suffers even the smallest cut, I’ll make sure this entire sect and estate disappears forever from the martial arts world. Nobody will ever know it existed.”

His voice was not loud and he spoke very calmly, but his stance was clear.

If he said he would do that, he would definitely do it.

Ye Nan’s heart nearly stopped in fear.

She had no idea who this man was or what sort of ability he had, but after fighting for survival in the martial arts world for such a long time, she had an instinct that was as sharp as a wild animal’s. She knew that she must not anger this man.

Song Caitang was definitely incredibly important to him.

Ye Nan did not want to anger him, and she never intended to hurt Song Caitang at all. Moreover, Ye Nan was the reason why the Night Sanctum existed, so since Song Caitang saved her life, Song Caitang was now a benefactor to the entire sect. Ye Nan wasn’t going to repay good for evil.

“Don’t worry. Even if I have to die, even if the entire sect has to be turned upside down, I will make sure that Miss Song is safe!”

Ye Nan smiled faintly and her voice sounded stronger because the wind was blowing in her direction. “The Night Sanctum might not be the best in all aspects, but we’re definitely capable of doing this!”

Zhao Zhi nodded, then returned to Song Caitang’s side. He raised a palm as though he was about to touch her hair, but stopped himself and forced himself to put it back down again.

“I’m going to attend to some matters.”

Zhao Zhi looked down at Song Caitang’s eyes and pursed his lips tightly, as though he was really reluctant to leave but had no choice. “Don’t… don’t be afraid, I’ll be back soon.”

The worst was already over. Why would she be afraid?

Song Caitang took a few seconds to snap out of her thoughts and she quickly replied, “Sure, go ahead.”

Even after Zhao Zhi stared intently at her again before leaping off and disappearing altogether, she still hadn’t wrapped her head around the situation. What in the world was happening?

Was Zhao Zhi ill or something?!

While Song Caitang was still trying to understand why Zhao Zhi was behaving the way he was, Cao Zhang was going insane in the capital.

He had made his way to the capital as quickly as possible and had finally located the commandery prince’s residence, only for the servants to tell him that Zhao Zhi wasn’t in the capital at all!

Where in the world did he go? What about Song Caitang?!

If he returned to Luanze just like that, Guan Qing would tear him to pieces!

He had no choice but to use a special connection he had to find out a little more. A vague piece of information reached his ears.

Guangzhou.

Zhao Zhi was very strict about any information regarding himself. Not only were his whereabouts a secret, but his habits, his hobbies and even where he normally stayed at were classified unless he allowed his subordinates to reveal them.

Cao Zhang was here because of Song Caitang, so while he represented the Green Gang, he represented the Guan family too. So, the servants were allowed to tell him just one thing, which was Guangzhou. That was it.

Guangzhou… was in the same direction as Shouyan, which was where the Night Sanctum was!

Suddenly, Cao Zhang didn’t feel the aches in his body from riding his horse to the capital so quickly anymore. He immediately started riding back to Luanze, his body filled with energy!

He could tell Guan Qing that she needn’t worry anymore!