Chapter 4: Escaping the Royal City

"Ah Da, what are you doing leaving the city? Where is Young Master Situ? Isn't he with you?" a guard suddenly asked.

Bing Cheng looked over at the sound and saw that the burly bodyguard of Situ Miao had been stopped by two guards.

Although the burly man was wearing a bamboo hat, Situ Miao was quite famous in the Royal City and often went out of the city for leisure, so he was still recognized by the guards.

Swallowing, Bing Cheng couldn't help but quicken her pace; she lowered her head and squeezed toward the city gate.

Just as she exited the city gate, she heard loud shouts coming from inside the city.

"Close the city gates! Don't let a single person out!"

Bing Cheng instantly understood that Situ Miao's corpse had already been discovered.

"Everyone who has left the city, come back!" When those guards saw that the approaching people were the Inner Guard, they knew something very serious must have happened in the city, so they also started shouting along.

Bing Cheng curled her lips upon hearing this. Who would listen to you? If she went back, her life would be over, so she took even larger strides.

When the burly man saw the Inner Guard, he panicked instantly. He pushed aside the two guards who were blocking him and squeezed toward the outside of the city.

"Ah Da, what are you doing!" the guard shouted.

Ah Da didn't know how many people he had knocked over, but he finally managed to get out of the city before the gates closed.

About half the people managed to get out of the city. Bing Cheng was walking at the very front, but she was soon caught up to by Ah Da.

Ah Da's strides were much faster than hers, and he stopped when he passed her.

"Where are you planning to go?"

Bing Cheng was stunned. Now, she and this Ah Da were grasshoppers on the same rope; they would definitely be on the wanted list.

"Creak…" The city gate behind them opened slowly again.

Ah Da's expression changed, and he started running again, quickly disappearing into a forest.

Bing Cheng looked back and saw many Inner Guard members riding horses out to capture the people who had already left the city.

She knew she had to dive into the forest too.

This forest was a hunting ground specifically for the wealthy to enjoy. Although it wasn't large, the end of the forest led to a big mountain.

Although there were guards there, there weren't many; they were only meant to prevent ferocious beasts from entering the forest and harming the children of wealthy families.

Following Bing Cheng were two middle-aged men who were likely also in trouble for something in the Royal City and assumed the Inner Guard were coming for them.

The forest was not large, and she soon saw several watchtowers at the edge of the forest.

From deep in the forest behind her came a rustling sound. The sound was very close; it seemed the Inner Guard had caught up.

Bing Cheng was in a difficult situation. The watchtowers ahead were all manned by archers; if she rushed through rashly, she would definitely be shot to death.

There were pursuers behind, and she couldn't get caught; it seemed like a death sentence on both sides.

"Young lady, what should we do?" one of the middle-aged men asked in a low voice.

Bing Cheng didn't know what to do either. Right now, the choices before her were to force her way through or try to sneak past.

There was a four or five-meter open space in front of and behind the watchtowers, and there were fences over two meters high blocking the way; forcing her way through was too risky.

But sneaking past was even less realistic.

She had to gamble. She would walk along the edge of the forest to the moat and just hope the pursuers were slower.

After thinking this over, Bing Cheng headed toward the direction of the Royal City.

"Young lady, where are you going…"

"The moat!"

Bing Cheng's words scared the two men. They didn't follow her; in their minds, this was just going back to die.

In fact, this was reverse thinking.

Those pursuers would definitely assume the criminals would try to escape as far from the Royal City as possible; the closer one was to the Royal City, the less search force there would be.

"Ah!" Bing Cheng heard a scream from behind. It was obvious those two middle-aged men had tried to force their way through the watchtowers.

Dying was at least better than falling into the hands of the Inner Guard.

Along the way, Bing Cheng indeed didn't encounter any Inner Guard. She arrived smoothly at the edge of the moat and jumped straight in.

The river was very deep, and the water was very cold, but Bing Cheng had to endure it now.

The moat was not a dead river; following the moat downstream would allow her to leave the Royal City.

The most important thing now was not to be discovered by the guards above, otherwise, they would definitely kill her, thinking she was a spy.

Fortunately, she had practiced the Strongest Cultivation Technique yesterday, and now she could hold her breath for half a minute. As long as she reached under the bridge at the city gate, she could take a break.

Fortunately, most people's attention was on the hunting ground, so no one noticed there was a person in the moat.

Just like that, Bing Cheng left the Royal City.

…

"Cough, cough…" Bing Cheng crawled out of the river and coughed fiercely a few times. She had been in the water for a long time.

Now the sun was shining brightly. If she didn't get ashore, she might never be able to get up again.

Bing Cheng felt that her whole body had no warmth left. It was autumn, and it could really freeze a person to death.

She broke off a few branches and took off her clothes to dry them.

She curled up naked; she had to endure the cold for now. If her clothes didn't dry, the night would be unbearable.

Bing Cheng cursed that Fortune Teller again in her heart. A perfectly good Rebirth immortality cultivation had turned into wilderness survival.

From her Transmigration until now, she had never left the King of Zhou's city, and her knowledge of this world was limited to the Royal City.

She didn't even know where she was right now.

"So cold…"

"So hungry…"

It felt as if she had returned to the time of her Transmigration, back to that alley filled with snow.

…

After about an hour, Bing Cheng felt that her body was completely dry, but she touched her clothes and they were only half-dry.

It was fine as long as there was no wind, but once the wind blew, she still felt very cold.

Bing Cheng picked up the Strongest Cultivation Technique beside her and discovered that the book showed no signs of having been soaked.

It was worthy of being equipment dropped by the Fortune Teller.

She had intended to Cultivate while waiting for her clothes to dry, but her hunger prevented her from entering the state.

Helpless, she had to put on her half-dry, half-wet clothes and enter the mountain forest to look for food.

After eating some wild fruits, the feeling of hunger subsided slightly, but she still felt hungry.

Without a staple food, she couldn't get full.

Heaven never seals off all exits; she soon discovered a small path. As long as Bing Cheng followed this path, she would definitely encounter human habitation.

By nightfall, she finally saw signs of human life.

This was a small village. Looking from afar, there were only a dozen households, and many of them already had thin wisps of smoke rising.

Bing Cheng swallowed; she was truly hungry.

Her only thought now was to scarf down a few bowls of rice.

Arriving in the village, she quickly attracted the attention of many villagers. Although what she was wearing wasn't a luxurious garment, it wasn't fabric that an ordinary family could afford to wear either.

The villagers were very simple and honest. Upon learning that Bing Cheng hadn't eaten all day, a woman from one household immediately welcomed her in; it was just a matter of adding another pair of chopsticks anyway.

Through chatting, Bing Cheng learned that this was a family of three. The male host was called Gouzi, the woman was called Cuihua, and there was also a child who didn't have a name.

Their dinner was rice porridge with pickled vegetables, very simple, but Bing Cheng didn't mind. When she had first Transmigrated, she had even fought a horse for food.

When hungry, rice porridge was a delicacy.

In the end, Bing Cheng ate three consecutive bowls of rice porridge before she was full, leaving the family twitching the corners of their mouths.

A young woman who looked soft and weak had actually eaten the amount for a whole family's meal.

After the meal, Cuihua asked Bing Cheng to stay the night, and she gladly agreed.

After expressing her gratitude, she entered the room to start Cultivating the Strongest Cultivation Technique.

Today, she quickly entered the state of Cultivation, feeling a continuous stream of Spiritual Qi pouring into her body.

The exhaustion of the day was actually washed away.

Gradually.

Bing Cheng felt that the spiritual power in her body was no longer wandering aimlessly, but was rapidly gathering toward the lower abdomen.

She knew that was the Dantian.