Chapter 13

No Place to Escape

“Stop!”

A commanding voice came from outside the ancestral hall.

A middle-aged man in official robes strode into the hall, followed by Lu Jinxiu and several maidservants.

Seeing that the situation was not good and fearing something might happen, Lu Jinxiu quickly brought in the Third Master of the household, Xie Jun’s younger brother, Xie Zhu.

If anyone in the household still held influence over Xie Jun, it was two people: the sickly matriarch, Madam Xie, and Xie Zhu. After Xie Jun withdrew from public life, Xie Zhu had become the representative of the Xie family’s authority in the official world. He was known for his kindness and loyalty, and was a respected Confucian scholar in Lidou Prefecture.

When Xie Zhu entered, he immediately saw Xie Que Shan’s back, torn and bloody. He couldn’t bear to look and closed his eyes. Despite the harsh words and actions, seeing his nephew in such a state, his heart softened.

“Third Uncle.”

“Third Master.”

Everyone bowed to Xie Zhu.

“Big brother, that’s enough.”

Xie Jun, with a stern expression, did not respond.

“He is still a person of the Great Qi. If he dies in the Xie family, how will you explain it? Big brother, are you really willing to destroy the entire Xie family over a moment of anger?”

Xie Jun closed his eyes and took a deep breath, looking up: “What kind of sin is this...”

Without even glancing at Xie Que Shan, Xie Jun turned and left.

Xie Zhu looked at Xie Que Shan with deep sorrow: “You have such a spirit of indifference to death, yet you serve those Qi people... How did it come to this?”

Xie Que Shan lowered his gaze, ignoring the words, and tried to stand, but staggered and fell back down. Xie Zhu reached out to help him, but Xie Que Shan avoided his hand. With a sigh, Xie Zhu said nothing more and left.

The once crowded ancestral hall quickly emptied. No one wanted to be associated with Xie Que Shan and his mess.

When all the commotion had died down, Nan Yi finally dared to crawl out from beneath the table. She tightly gripped the dagger Xie Que Shan had given her, the gleaming tip pointed toward him, and slowly walked closer.

The distance between them had vanished, and she was once again forced to wear a hard exterior, showing him her beastly fangs, performing her courage and fragility.

Xie Que Shan merely glanced at her, neither dodging nor reacting, as though she and the threat she posed didn’t exist.

He tried to move his limbs slightly, hastily draping his clothes back on. Every movement caused excruciating pain.

He suddenly wanted to confirm something, so he slowly made his way toward the ancestor tablets, ignoring Nan Yi as he stood by the shelf on the side of the hall and took down the family genealogy.

He flipped through the pages, eventually coming to his generation. The name “Xie Chao’en” was prominently crossed out in vermilion ink.

Xie Que Shan smiled. This was not surprising.

Everyone standing in the ancestral hall today was his blood relative. He was born into this world not alone, but he had forcibly turned himself into a solitary figure.

“Are you not afraid that I will kill you?”

Xie Que Shan didn’t turn around, still staring at the page of the genealogy: “Do you dare to kill me?”

Nan Yi, clutching the dagger, moved closer to him, the sharp blade giving her some courage: “Did you expose my identity as a bastard daughter?”

“Yes.”

“You’re shameless!”

Xie Que Shan turned to look at Nan Yi. People tend to bully the weak and fear the strong. Seeing him covered in wounds, she had gained the courage to offend and despise him. But Xie Que Shan was not angry.

“The world knows I am shameless.”

Nan Yi glanced at the genealogy. She remembered that beside the name Xie Heng, there was another name crossed out in vermilion ink.

“Is this your name?”

“Yes.”

“Since you’ve escaped, why come back to suffer?”

“Fool—” Xie Que Shan sneered, “Haven’t you figured it out yet? Running away is completely useless.”

Nan Yi froze.

She was used to running, being chased, and barely escaping with her life. Her choices were limited, and she had never considered whether running away was even useful.

But now she realized that Xie Que Shan was right. Every time she ran, she only sank deeper into the mire. Even if she left the Xie family today, she would still be unable to escape the wrath of the noble family, unable to escape Lidou Prefecture.

“Running away means completely exposing your back to the enemy.”

The ancestral hall fell into a deathly silence, the dim candlelight flickering in their eyes.

Nan Yi’s voice was filled with confusion and hesitation: “Then if I don’t run away, should I just wait to die?”

“Yes, you can only wait to die.”

Xie Que Shan suddenly took a step forward, grabbing Nan Yi’s wrist and forcefully pulling her hand an inch forward, pressing the tip of her dagger against his chest.

Nan Yi was startled and instinctively tried to withdraw her hand.

“You’ve drawn the dagger on me, yet you don’t dare to kill me. You’ll always be a cowardly woman.”

He seemed to be provoking her anger.

“The Xie family doesn’t dare to do it, and I dare not either!” Nan Yi glared at Xie Que Shan angrily, “But Xie Que Shan, I’m no longer afraid of you.”

Xie Que Shan’s expression turned cold, twisting her wrist and slamming her against the cabinet. In the blink of an eye, the dagger in her hand was pressed against her own neck.

This sudden movement had exhausted the last of his strength. Xie Que Shan gripped Nan Yi’s wrist with one hand and propped himself against the cabinet with the other. The veins on his hand bulged as he desperately supported his weight. The faint scent of blood in his breath brushed against her face.

“You’re an interesting plaything, so I’ll spare your life. But it seems you’ve forgotten your place.”

The blade was pressed against her neck. Nan Yi couldn’t help but feel fear, but she still met Xie Que Shan’s gaze and looked back at him.

“Do you dare kill me in the Xie family ancestral hall?”

The two of them faced each other for a long time, neither moving.

“I’m not afraid of you, because you’re no better than me. We’re both stray dogs.” Her voice trembled, but each word hit him like a slap in the face.

Xie Que Shan loosened his grip and stepped back a few paces, looking up at the towering ancestor tablets. The light and shadows fell in his eyes, and for a fleeting moment, it seemed like tears sparkled in his gaze.

“Go.”

Nan Yi left, and everything fell into silence.

Xie Que Shan stared at the empty wall. He finally couldn’t hold on any longer, his body swaying before he slowly sank to the floor.

A bitter smile appeared on his lips.

Night had fallen, and the entire Lidou Prefecture was shrouded in peaceful moonlight.

The sound of the night watchman’s wooden clapper echoed through the streets, carried by the wind, reaching even the ancestral hall in Wang Xuewu’s deep courtyard.

Xie Que Shan remained in the ancestral hall, sitting on the floor. He took out a set of tools from his sleeve, revealing a miniature set of paper, ink, brush, and inkstone. The ink was a special colorless type, and the tiny characters he wrote on the paper quickly vanished with the moisture, leaving no trace on the letter.

After finishing the letter, Xie Que Shan sealed it in a wax seal and then used a crossbow hidden in his sleeve to shoot it over the high wall.

The faint movement didn’t attract anyone’s attention, as though nothing had happened, yet everything was quietly unfolding in the shadows.

The night watchman outside the high wall found the wax seal, nonchalantly tucked it into his clothes, and continued to strike his clapper, continuing his rounds.