After parting ways with the man and woman, Zhang Jingmo found a nearby inn to stay for the night. He had some wine with beans and then fell into a drowsy sleep.

Early the next morning, he left the inn and went to the stables to look for his donkey, but when he arrived, his mount was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing this, Zhang Jingmo called over the waiter and asked where his donkey went.

The waiter saw Zhang Jingmo's dazed look and flashed a mocking glance, but said, "Sir, I didn't touch your donkey."

Zhang Jingmo froze for a couple seconds before finally realizing he had been tricked again. He said, "How can you talk nonsense? Didn't you lead my donkey to the stables yesterday?"

The waiter gave a fake smile and said, "Sir, you can eat recklessly but you can't speak recklessly. Do you have any evidence proving I led your donkey?"

Hearing this, Zhang Jingmo glared at the waiter, as if stunned silly with anger. He couldn't even curse, only stammering "you, you, you" non-stop.

The waiter said, "Sir, do you have any other business? If not, I'll go serve the dishes first."

Zhang Jingmo held back for a long time before blurting out, "Why do you look so much like the waiter next door at that restaurant?"

The waiter laughed at this remark. He said, "Ha, you got that right, sir. The server at the restaurant across the street is my older brother!"

Zhang Jingmo: "..."

The back and forth between Zhang Jingmo and this waiter had already attracted the attention of many people in the inn. When he left the inn with a dejected face, quite a few sitting inside gave him peculiar looks.

A handsome young gentleman who seemed ignorant of worldly matters, appearing alone in this border town, was either a perfectly disguised hungry wolf or a rare fat sheep.

After leaving the inn, Zhang Jingmo seemed to have completely lost hope in this town. He went straight to the post station, wanting to buy a horse and leave this place. But unexpectedly, the petty official at the station seemed to have received some information. Seeing Zhang Jingmo coming to buy a horse, he directly named an exorbitant price of ten taels of gold.

Zhang Jingmo was furious but also seemed afraid of getting physical. The aggrieved look on his face deepened as he angrily left the station. Right as he exited, he ran into the man and woman who had warned him yesterday. The two were leading two horses and walking out, the packs on their backs suggesting they also wanted to travel far.

Seeing the two, Zhang Jingmo no longer cared about saving face. He hurriedly went up and called out, "Lady, are you leaving the city?"

The woman was a bit surprised to see Zhang Jingmo here too. She said, "What's the matter? Why are you here as well?"

Hearing this, Zhang Jingmo recounted his experiences in detail. Listening to it, the woman felt both angry and amused on his behalf. She said, "Your master actually felt at ease letting you travel alone?"

Zhang Jingmo said helplessly, "He did indeed instruct me on many things, but...what he said was all useless."

The woman asked, "What did he say?"

Zhang Jingmo replied, "He said to always remember to pay before taking things."

The woman had a speechless expression. She turned to look at her still expressionless older brother, showing a hint of a pleading look.

The woman's brother coldly swept his eyes up and down Zhang Jingmo. After a while, he faintly said, "Get on."

Zhang Jingmo cheered and walked up, wanting to leave the city together with the two of them.

Three people, two horses. The man naturally wouldn't let Zhang Jingmo ride with his sister, so the two grown men had to make do and sit together.

As the horse trotted along, Zhang Jingmo got more and more excited, fidgeting non-stop on the horse.

Seeing this, the man slightly furrowed his brows and spat out, "Sit still, don't move."

Zhang Jingmo chuckled, "First time riding a horse, I'm a bit excited. But may I ask how to address you two benefactors..."

Before the woman could speak, the man said, "We're both surnamed Chen. You can call her Lady Chen and me Young Master Chen."

Zhang Jingmo said, "Alright then." Sitting in front of the man, the corners of his mouth curved into a small arc where the other couldn't see.

To leave the border town and reach the nearest city took over ten days even riding hard. Zhang Jingmo was excited at first but couldn't take it after a few days. When walking, his legs trembled non-stop.

What was more miserable was that the insides of his thighs were chafed raw. As soon as he saw a horse, he would show an expression like he was about to cry.

Although Lady Chen had a soft heart, she also couldn't slow down the journey for Zhang Jingmo's sake. After discussing with her brother, she proposed leaving a horse for Zhang Jingmo to rest for a few days while she and her brother would continue rushing on.

When Zhang Jingmo heard this suggestion, he rejected it without hesitation. Seeing Lady Chen's puzzled look, he stammered, "Did you...see anything...strange?"

Lady Chen asked, "Strange things? What do you mean?"

Zhang Jingmo seemed to want to say more but held back. In the end, he didn't say anything.

Compared to Lady Chen, Young Master Chen wasn't so easily fooled. He didn't care that Zhang Jingmo disagreed with their suggestion and directly left a horse behind. While Zhang Jingmo went to gather firewood, he left with his sister.

When Zhang Jingmo returned, he only saw a horse nibbling on grass and a lonely burning campfire.

He had been abandoned - if Zhang Jingmo really was an ignorant noble son, he would probably be very sad. However, Zhang Jingmo wasn't sad at all right now, because he was very clear that the two who left would quickly return.

Sure enough, in the middle of the night, Zhang Jingmo, who was resting in a pile of hay, heard the sound of hurried hoof beats. He didn't open his eyes and continued pretending to sleep until someone called his name. Only then did he rub his eyes and sit up.

As soon as he sat up, he seemed to be startled by the scene before him. Lady Chen was covered in blood, painfully supporting Young Master Chen, sobbing non-stop. She said, "Chen Baicang, quickly run..."

Zhang Jingmo was greatly alarmed. He said, "What happened to you?"

Lady Chen said, "Someone is chasing us...my brother was injured protecting me..." As she spoke, tears flowed down.

Zhang Jingmo hurriedly said, "Put him down first, let me take a look at him." As he spoke, he took out a small bottle of medicine from his package and rushed over to check on Young Master Chen's condition.

Young Master Chen's face was deathly pale, and he had already lost consciousness. A black dagger was stuck in his chest, with black blood continuously gushing out from it.

Zhang Jingmo's eyes slightly sank as he said, "This dagger is poisoned."

Lady Chen's face was blank, but a hint of ruthlessness quickly appeared in her eyes. She said, "Take my brother and leave, I will hold them back."

Zhang Jingmo shook his head and said, "We can't leave. Your brother can still be saved now, but if we continue to move him, I'm afraid even the Great Luo Golden Immortal won't be able to bring him back to life."

Lady Chen asked, "He can be saved?"

Zhang Jingmo nodded. He reached out and tapped a few points on Young Master Chen's body, then took out an exquisite box from his sleeve and solemnly opened it, revealing several silver needles inside.

Lady Chen's eyes lit up, "You know medical skills?"

Zhang Jingmo smiled awkwardly, "Just a little, just a little." While his words were modest, his hands never stopped moving. In just a few breaths, he had inserted the silver needles into Young Master Chen's body, and the rise and fall of Young Master Chen's chest became more pronounced.

Hope ignited in Lady Chen's eyes, but that spark of hope was quickly extinguished because she heard the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground.

Lady Chen said in despair, "They are coming..."

Hearing this, Zhang Jingmo gritted his teeth and took out several thin talismans from his sleeve, telling Lady Chen to paste the talismans on a rock within three zhang of them.

Lady Chen had already fallen into despair. Hearing Zhang Jingmo's words, she thought this noble young master had been scared silly. But as a last resort, she tearfully pasted the talismans as instructed.

Zhang Jingmo said, "The power of these talismans is a bit strong..."

Lady Chen looked at Zhang Jingmo helplessly, obviously not quite believing his words. She asked, "How strong?"

Zhang Jingmo sighed, "I really hope fewer people will come."

Hearing this, Lady Chen naturally thought Zhang Jingmo was afraid, otherwise he wouldn't hope for fewer people... She sighed slightly in her heart, thinking that she shouldn't have placed her hopes on those elusive matters of gods and ghosts.

With the determination to die, Lady Chen gripped the weapon in her hand tightly, holding her breath and concentrating, only thinking about fighting to the death to carve out a way for her brother to live, even at the cost of her own life.

The sound of horse hooves became more and more urgent. Lady Chen looked up at the desolate Gobi desert, only to see a group of people appearing on the horizon at some point. The group was all dressed in black, holding long knives or bows and crossbows in their hands, galloping towards them.

Lady Chen turned her head and said to Zhang Jingmo with a calm expression, "Baicang, take good care of my brother."

Zhang Jingmo asked, "What?"

Seeing this young master still so absent-minded at such a critical moment, Lady Chen became a little angry. She dragged out her voice and said, "I told you to take good care of my bro--"

However, Lady Chen couldn't say the last word "brother" because she heard a miserable scream and smelled the scent of burnt flesh. When she turned her head in a daze, she didn't see anything.

Lady Chen blankly asked, "Who was screaming just now?"

Zhang Jingmo showed a pained expression and casually pointed to the black ashes on the ground that were incompatible with the yellow soil, "They just finished screaming."

Lady Chen: "...???"

Zhang Jingmo sighed, "It's against the laws of nature..." After he finished speaking, Lady Chen heard another extremely miserable scream. This time, she clearly saw what happened. The cavalry approaching her and her brother were directly squeezed into a pile of black ashes by a fiery red giant hand.

Lady Chen had been following her brother to hide from the age of seven, and she had often experienced life and death situations. However, seeing such a scene, she still couldn't help but show a look of fear.