Chapter 20
Chapter 20: Leg Chain
They crawled out of the hole, one after another.
Gu Chang Xiao reached back, pulled the straw over the opening, and patted it flat until it looked untouched.
Even if it bought them only a few breaths, those breaths could be the difference between life and death.
Rain still fell. Torches flickered everywhere, throwing frantic shadows across the stronghold.
Yet Gu Chang Xiao moved as if he had memorized every gap, every blind corner, every place torchlight didn’t quite reach.
He gave the chain a short tug. “Stay close.”
Jin Sui’s first thought was Grandpa and Jin An.
“We have to bring my grandfather and brother. If we escape, the bandits will kill them.”
Gu Chang Xiao didn’t answer.
He just kept moving.
Panic surged in her chest. Jin Sui seized the chain and stopped dead.
“If you won’t, then kill me now. I’d rather die than leave Grandpa and my brother behind.”
Her fingers stayed clenched, pressed tight against her palm.
If he truly tried to kill her, she would knock him out and drag him back to the bandits for the reward.
Then Jin Sui remembered Jin An’s message – Gu Chang Xiao had heard every word.
Heat crawled up her neck even in the dark.
“It’s… too black to tell directions,” she blurted, forcing the excuse out.
Gu Chang Xiao snorted.
“If the secret exit wasn’t there, I would’ve killed you and left alone.”
For all his coldness, Jin Sui still couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t someone who slaughtered for fun.
She glanced back, heart hammering.
Stone paths didn’t hold footprints well, and rain would wash away what little there was – but if the bandits searched long enough…
Gu Chang Xiao jerked the chain once, sharp and warning.
“One more thing. If bandits catch up and you insist on staying with your grandfather and little brother, I’ll escape alone.”
Jin Sui didn’t hesitate.
“Try to get the three of us out. If we slow you down, you won’t need to do anything – I’ll cut off this foot myself.”
Gu Chang Xiao gave her a strange look, his brows lifting slightly.
“Didn’t expect a young Daoist to have backbone.”
Jin Sui kept her face steady.
Inside, she was already making plans.
First, find something in her pocket space to break the chain.
If that failed, knock Gu Chang Xiao out.
She remembered the reeds. If she and Grandpa hadn’t treated him, he would’ve drowned – or been caught.
The bandit chief’s quarters were brightly lit.
In a low voice, Gu Chang Xiao told her the secret exit was a cave behind the house, guarded by two bandits.
The urgent part was finding Grandpa Ling and Jin An without raising alarm.
Gu Chang Xiao narrowed his eyes toward the woodshed.
Torchlight was already starting to drift their way.
“You have moments. If you can’t find them, I leave.”
“Enough,” Jin Sui whispered. “Watch.”
She raised two fingers to her lips and whistled, sharp and piercing.
Back in the Xiao Han Mountain Range, when she, Grandpa Ling, and Jin An gathered mushrooms and fruit, they had agreed on this whistle as a signal.
Tonight’s chaos was loud enough that Grandpa Ling – that old fox – would have been ready.
Sure enough, after she whistled three times, a door opened.
Gu Chang Xiao drew a short blade from his waist.
Jin Sui startled despite herself.
She dropped into a crouch and gripped her ankle. “What are you doing? Jin An might have stolen a key. The chain might open.”
Gu Chang Xiao looked at her like she’d lost her mind.
“Two bandits guard the passage. If I don’t move, will you?”
Jin Sui swallowed her pride hard enough it hurt.
“Fine. You do it. We… we’ve never killed anyone. No experience.”
Grandpa Ling waved them on the moment he reached them.
“Move. Those bandits will be on us any second.”
As they hurried behind the house, Jin Sui whispered, “Grandpa, how did you know the passage was here?”
Grandpa Ling didn’t slow.
“I heard the bandit chief warn his men to guard the back path tightly. I was planning to start a fire in the next day or two – create chaos, then run.”
Gu Chang Xiao’s expression tightened, as if he couldn’t decide whether to admire Grandpa Ling or hate him.
They reached the cave entrance.
Gu Chang Xiao motioned for Grandpa Ling and Jin An to hide.
Jin Sui slipped into her pocket space and grabbed a cloth soaked in sleeping powder, gripping it so tight her knuckles ached.
She was ready for either outcome: help Gu Chang Xiao drop the guards – or knock Gu Chang Xiao out.
But Gu Chang Xiao unexpectedly shoved the chain into her hands.
“You’re weak. Don’t move around. Stay close.”
For a moment, Jin Sui hesitated.
If she handed him over to the bandits and those black-clad killers, he would die.
Then they stepped into the cave.
The two guards spotted them at once, sabers snapping up.
“Who’s there?”
Gu Chang Xiao’s voice was cold and steady. “Someone here to take your life.”
He kicked back, yanking the chain so Jin Sui was forced down into a crouch.
Then he moved.
Fast.
He seized one guard’s wrist. The saber clattered to the ground.
He twisted aside from the second guard’s strike and drove his short blade into the first guard’s throat.
He twisted once – hard – before yanking it free.
Blood sprayed warm into the damp air.
The guard crumpled, eyes wide, twitching as he died.
The second guard stumbled back, saw the weakness immediately: Gu Chang Xiao was chained, and he was dragging a burden.
He turned and sprinted for the cave mouth.
Gu Chang Xiao lunged after him, but the chain made every step a fight.
The guard was quick – almost out.
Then Gu Chang Xiao did something that nearly made Jin Sui curse out loud.
He yanked the chain, controlling her momentum and angle, and slammed her straight into the bandit.
The man hit the ground hard.
Pain detonated through Jin Sui’s ribs.
So much for partnership.