Xinyi noticed the man chasing her slowed down because of the sound of his footsteps lessened. She thought, "Did his feet get tangled up?" Xinyi touched her heart and took a deep breath, hoping that her pursuer was not looking at her.
She grinned and changed her direction, heading back to 'her' dilapidated villa as fast as she could.
She reached the villa in minutes of stealth movements. As her feet touched the roof, she jumped down and changed to another dress in swift movements. She also took off the necklace, in consideration if that man would come here and see her.
"It's better to be careful than careless," Grandma Liu and Yan Ma always told her in the past.
In haste, she placed the clothes she wore earlier, necklace, and blanket under a nearby heap of grass, and laid down on it as she covered her body with the pile. She also made sure her hair cloaked her face for precaution in case if he saw her face earlier and connect the dots.
The birds flew fast away from the three when they saw the nightingale's signal telling them she was safe. The lookout nightingale, who Xinyi asked, perched itself on a tree near the villa's entrance.
After the whisper's distraction, Ming couldn't sense her presence from then on and went straight to his two brothers, Zhāi the warrior, and Qínfèn the youngest of the three.
"Did you see her?" asked Ming.
"Nope, big bro," said Qínfèn, pulling a dangling apple from a branch.
"Don't tell me; you didn't follow right after I ran after her."
"She's just a girl. You can't handle her by yourself?" questioned Zhāi, who was wiping the newly plucked apple. Ming squinted at him as Zhai smiled and bit into the fruit while making sure his older brother could hear the crunching sounds…
"Besides, you like her, so we let you catch her on your own," said Qínfèn, who followed suit on eating fruit.
Ming kicked the ground and glared at his brothers who were teasing him and said, "You two..." While looking away, Ming added, "Let's check Anjing Pavilion."
"Oh, hehe," smirked Zhāi, "Ahem, are we checking your… ahem." Zhāi teased and looked away whistling as he walked ahead of them, afraid the eldest would counter.
"I'm not going for that Xian… I want to see if that animal lady went there and might have done something to that woman." Ming replied in annoyance.
Qínfèn laughed. "Oh, just admit you're concerned about your newly wedded wifey." And ran fast to catch up with Zhāi, fearing the smacking on the head from the eldest.
Ming's temple trembled, totally in a bad mood now. The two felt the rising temperature behind them and hurriedly jumped up on a tree and climbed the villa's walls ahead of Ming, avoiding his fit of anger.
Ming followed, still upset because he had no one to vent his anger toward.
When they went in the courtyard, the first thing they saw was the tall grasses and the dilapidated state of the building. The two shook their heads, feeling sorry for Xinyi.
Ming jumped in, and with a wave of his hand, the wind became a sickle cutting most of the tall grasses from the ground up, opening a path for them. The two felt sorry for the 'little' forest in the courtyard, it received the big brother's ire and thankful as well for dealing with their brother's ire while helping the poor wife clean the place.
"Zhāi, go to the back. Qínfèn, go to the other rooms. I'll check the main hall."
The two obeyed while Ming went in. He saw the door with cobwebs and ripped in the middle but the rest was still intact on the doorpost. With two swift waves of his hand again, the doorpost was now clear from cobwebs while the floor was free of dust in an instant.
He stepped in and caught sight of the heap of leaves and the long black hair spread on the floor. Ming went closer and found Xinyi sleeping soundly but her hair partly covered her face while her body was half-covered with the grass.
"Such a lady… how could you sleep with this itchy grass?"
At this moment, Xinyi was still awake. As he was nearer, she faked despicable snores, accompanied by snorts like a pig as she rubbed her nose and stopped moving.
Ming cringed looking at her and walked away from her as fast as his feet could carry. "So unladylike, disgusting," said Ming.
Xinyi heard him well and giggled. The man heard a bit of her snicker and turned around, but she began snoring again. He cared less and left her in a hurry. Xinyi breathed deep in relief.
Earlier, her heart pumped like crazy when she heard them coming. Mostly, when he started clearing, afraid he would wake her or blow the heap of leaves away and exposed her hidden items.
She heaved a deep sigh to hear them talking and Ming mentioned leaving the place and search back out the forest. Xinyi tweeted, and the nightingale flew in.
"Have they left?" Xinyi whispered.
"Yes, and they are heading back to the brook," said the nightingale.
Xinyi sat and stretched her body. "Ah, thank you. And thanks to my friend. What's your name?"
"I'm called Kuàilè," said the bird as it hopped on her hand.
"Kuàilè, nice name. Will you stay with me, Kuàilè?" asked Xinyi.
"I'd love to if I can." From that day on, Kuàilè became her sidekick. Xinyi went to sleep after a short chat with her new friend.
For her, she would need a good rest for her grand escape tomorrow and the most important thing was on how to get her allowance from that husband of hers before she leaves. She knew well how needy she was right now and the amount she needed to survive the outside world. For now, she had to gain her strength and prepare for the brand-new start of her life.
As for the three…
"Big bro, what do you think of that lady? Is she pretty? You were the one who saw her well," asked Qínfèn with a big grin on his face.
"I didn't have a good view of her face but I'm sure she practices martial arts on the way she moved from one tree to another. But I'm not sure if she was here for a friendly visit. She could be a foe. So we need to be on alert when the birds and other animals will attack humans," said serious Ming while staring at the brook.
"You're too serious. I was asking if she was pretty?" Qínfèn said, desperate. "Anyway, do you mean, she is an enemy?"
"Not sure, but it's better to be careful than careless."
Meanwhile, Xinyi was wondering, "What type of goodies will I find? Gold bars, or fancy jewels? All that man's money is now mine." However, Xinyi grinned and thought, "Should I leave a note?"
After her head hit the leaves, she snored her heart out, dreaming of her husband's treasure room laid out to her for the taking to aid her escape.