It's become the next day and Meilian is angry with herself. As soon as she finished her meal, she fell right asleep. She suspected that her food was tempered after all and was determined to not eat anything they gave her.
By the time she woke up, the party was already on the road again and she rode with the masked man. He noticed she had awoken.
"Did you sleep well little mouse?" he teased.
She doesn't respond. This causes him to chuckle and Meilian is embarrassed. Embarrassed that she let them trick her. Another man in a mask rides up closer to the masked man.
"Viper, one of the spiders noticed a person up ahead," the person said. "He is only standing there"
Meilian noticed that this person didn't address the masked man as "boss" as the other three at the party did.
"Is he the only one?" Viper asks.
His friend nods.
"Let's proceed as planned," Viper tells his friend and he rides up ahead, informing the other three.
Meilian didn't want to lose hope, but she bet that her father had noticed her absence and sent Jun Zhi to save her. While she is feeling relieved, Viper gets a cloth and ties it around her mouth to prevent her from making any noises, as a precaution in case she tries to alert whoever was standing in their path.
She kept herself calm, she told herself she needed the energy if she was going to escape. Meilian prepared herself for the worst.
After an hour they reach the path where the man supposedly was going to be standing. The party sees no one, assuming the ambusher left because he was impatient. They had been tense up until that point and after confirming no one was going to stop them, they relaxed.
Suddenly, a gust of strong wind begins to blow and the party stops the horses from advancing. Everyone gets off their horses except for Viper. The others start to spread out but stay close to their boss. Before they get to take another step, another strong wind blows and they get knocked off their feet. All of them fall except for Viper's friend who had dodged the hidden attack.
Meilian's heart beats fast in her chest. She is excited but also nervous. She wants to know who her possible savior is.
"Whoever you are," Viper says. "You should come out from the shadows and show yourself. Let's have a proper battle!"
Viper's friend readies himself, preparing to attack whoever is hiding. The person in question emerges from within the shadows. The man is tall and wears white and blue attire. He held a sword in his right hand while his other was behind his back.
Meilian is stunned. She never expected to see this person to be standing in front of her. It was Master Zhong. She never expected him to come to save her from a predicament. She was upset that this was adding to the debts she had to repay.
Master Zhong notices Meilian. She silently and slowly begins shaking her head from side to side hoping Master Zhong understood that she didn't want him to recognize her and not give it away at any cost. He could see the fear in her eyes.
The only reason he was standing before her was because of Mr. Gu. It was becoming late, and his daughter had still not returned. He went up the mountain to look for Meilian and he only saw her half-full basket but there were no signs of her. He hurriedly went to Heaven's Sword Sect and asked them if they could help find him his daughter. The Sect agreed to help him because they saved someone important to Master Zhong. Master Zhong only found Meilian's whereabouts because she secretly left trails and the party didn't notice.
"Jian Sheng!" Viper says. "It was you after all"
"I wasn't aware the great Viper would go around kidnaping people," Master Zhong provoked. "Doesn't that go against your policy?"
"I have taken an interest in this girl," Viper says as he pulls Meilian closer to him. "I'm thinking about making her mine"
Meilian shook her head, panicking about this whole situation.
"Maybe you should let her go," Master Zhong said as he prepared to fight him.
"Now why should I Jian Sheng?" Viper asked.
Master Zhong, instead of answering, walked closer to the horse Viper was on but was stopped by Viper's friend. Both of them engage in a battle. The friend uses a spear with a long blade and launches an attack on Master Zhong. He dodges it by jumping into the air and then launches a strong wind art at the friend. The friend gets knocked over even after blocking the attack and blood comes out of his mouth.
Viper groans and then get off his horse and materializes a long slim sword. It looks sharp on both sides and shines in the sunlight. Before Master Zhong is able to get closer, Viper disappears and his friend begins to laugh while holding himself up with this spear.
"Viper is the fastest in our sect," he says. "You won't be able to land a hit on him"
Master Zhong takes that as a challenge and begins concentrating on his surroundings. He can hear every sound made around him, even the faint breathing of Meilian who was almost holding her breath because of what she was witnessing. She was becoming anxious. If Master Zhong died then none would be able to save her.
He is focused and Viper is running around him at hyper speed, leaving leaves flying around in the air, never landing on the ground. Master Zhong uses this to determine where Viper might be next and a few seconds later he swings his sword and Viper blocks his advance. Viper is surprised that Master Zhong was able to identify where he was and they begin to exchange hits, sparks flying everywhere. None are able to land hits that would lead to injury, they are good at deflecting each hit the other give.
Meilian is in a trance while watching them fight. She snaps out of it quickly and uses the opportunity to hide someplace safe. She was still on top of the horse and jumps down. In the process, she twists her ankle. She bites down on her lips to muffle the sounds of her pain, she wants to cry but she can't. She lays down on the ground for a few seconds before she attempts to get back up again but pain shoots up her ankle. Meilian tries her hardest to ignore the piercing pain and limps her way to safety behind the trees.
She forgets that Viper's friend is still around. He sees her trying to escape and stops her. He grabs her by her arm and drags her towards the fight. Viper sees his friend and both pause their battle. The friend has a dagger pointer at Meilian. Meilian is unable to tolerate the pain any further, it's too intense, and she begins to cry. She isn't crying because she is in danger.
Master Zhong watches, his expression not wavering once and Viper has a smile on his lips. Suddenly, something flies past the men and right through Viper's friend's arm. He screams out and lets go of Meilian who almost falls to the ground from loss of balance. Luckily, Master Zhong is faster and he catches her.
Fortunately, Master Zhong didn't come alone. Someone had been hiding in the shadows undetected and was able to launch the secret attack. They look back and see that Viper and his party have left. Master Zhong looks back at Meilian and helps her sit down on a nearby log, then he unties her hands using his sword to cut the rope. Once her hands are free, she takes off the cloth that has been covering her mouth and takes a deep breath of the fresh air.
She attempts to get up to show her gratitude to her saviors, but the sprain is too painful and she cries out. The man that came with Master Zhong helps Meilian sit down.
"How are you doing?" he says. "That sprain looks bad"
"I'm fine," she said, not wanting to inconvenience them any further.
"She isn't fine," Master Zhong interrupted. "She is barely able to stand"
"Hold on," the friend says. "I'll dress up your injury. So sit still"
Meilian complies. The friend takes out a thin cloth from his pouch and wraps it carefully around her ankle.
"Don't move around much when you get home okay?" he tells her. "Have your father check it properly"
She nods her head. She is about to thank him when she remembers that the man that came with Master Zhong is the same person she saw after she had splashed water on Master Zhong at the sect.
"I didn't get to introduce myself earlier," he says. "My name is Chao Yan"
Meilian was right.
"I'm Meilian," she says. "Gu Meilian"