Trap in a Book

Chapter 40

It was the next day, and Xiaomei was getting up to prepare for the final assassination attempt. She remembered in the book; he brought Baozhai into the forest to show where they had supposedly buried her parents. As he used that as an excuse to get her away from everyone and make it easier to kill and dispose of her in the forest.

Once Baozhai heard about the graves of her parents, she was eager to go and forgot to inform the others. So, it was just Zhou Haitao and Baozhai alone in the forest.

Once they got deep into the forest, he pulled out his sword and slashed the side of Baozhai's stomach. He wanted to enjoy his time in slowly killing her. When she landed on the ground from the sudden attack, she gripped a log that was beside her. She swung it and injured him before she escaped. However, she couldn't outrun her uncle as she was wounded, so it didn't take too long for her uncle to catch up to her. He cornered her with her back against a tree.

He raised his sword to finish her off, but it was that split second before they came to save her as they were searching for her since Baozhai had disappeared in the morning. It didn't take long before ZhangWei's shadow guards obtained information about where she went and reported back to the others.

However, once they spotted Baozhai, they were surprised to see what was happening and soon Zhou Haitou told them everything as a battle began.

The fight was intense and long, but Zhou Haitou managed to escape. During Baozhai's recovery, Zhou Haitou sent a secret letter to the emperor exposing the sect's whereabouts. Immediately the emperor sent an army to see if it was true and to kill them all, which led to the final battle.

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"Miss Daiyu, it does look like Miss Baozhai is awake," Haoyu reported. Although he wanted to ask why she wanted to know that, he kept it to himself.

"Alright, where is she now?" Xiaomei asked.

"It looks like she is still in her room," he reported. "Alright," Xiaomei said, ready to leave her room. She stopped mid-way, "Haoyu," she called.

"Yes, Miss Daiyu," he answered. She scratched the back of her neck before saying, "Haoyu, when I give you a signal, immediately get help, alright?"

"Miss, are you feeling in danger?" Haoyu said, being aware of his surroundings. "Do you want me to get Young Master Wang?" he asked.

"No. It's just that I feel like my fortune will not be good today," she said, looking up at the sky to make it as if she was a superstitious person. She thought it was best not to expose too much detail about the story, especially telling the characters from the story what's to come, or the story would change too much and affect the outcome. It was better to share the bare minimum.

"Yes, Miss Daiyu," Haoyu said uncertainly but brushed it off, thinking she was a superstitious person. Xiaomei informed him of the signal she would do when she felt she was in danger before he disappeared into the shadows.

Even though she had decided to speed up the story a little fast, she didn't want to be a sitting duck and replace Baozhai. Getting pierced through a sharp object was extremely painful. Xiaomei took a deep breath and hurried to Baozhai's room.

Once she reached Baozhai's room, Xiaomei spotted Baozhai talking with her uncle. They were outside of her room. Xiaomei walked towards them and greeted them before saying, "Zhou Baozhai, what are your plans today? I was wondering if you wanted to go to the market with me?"

Immediately, Zhou Haitou glanced at Xiaomei. He endured the rage he felt when seeing her. He wanted to kill her on the spot. He thought, "She wants to get in my way again. Why not kill both of them? I will enjoy killing her." He touched the scar on his arm before showing a smile and said, "Why don't you join Baozhai and me?"

Xiaomei acted like she didn't know what he was thinking or planning to do and smiled back. "Where are you two going? Is it alright for me to intrude on your plans?" Xiaomei asked.

"Of course, you will not intrude. We are going to visit my dear brother and sister-in-law's grave," Zhou Haitou said in a fake friendly voice.

"It wouldn't be right for me to go with you two then," Xiaomei said, declining the offer to make it look like she was being polite.

"Nonsense. Right, Baozhai?" Zhou Haitou said.

"Yes. Come with us," Baozhai immediately agreed.

"Alright. Are the others coming as well?" Xiaomei asked. Baozhai immediately remembered the others and was about to say something, but Zhou Haitou stopped her.

"I think they are still resting. If we wait for them to wake up and get ready now, it will be extremely late by the time we get back. It is best not to bother them," he said, making excuses.

Baozhai didn't find anything wrong with what her uncle said as she completely trusted him, and Xiaomei couldn't blame her. He was kind and caring to her as if she was his daughter. Xiaomei wouldn't have guessed it either if she didn't know the story or was in Baozhai's shoes. Xiaomei sighed in her heart before going along with them.

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It didn't take them long to head out and enter the forest as they were riding on horses. Since Xiaomei had never ridden a horse, she sat behind Baozhai. They wore warm coats to keep them warm from the icy cold winter. Once they were deep in the forest, Zhou Haitou stopped his horse. "Let's get off here and walk from there. Let's not disturb the ground where they rest with loud horse noises," Zhou Haitou said softly. He didn't want them to escape by having the horses to their advantage. "They are buried over that hill, so it's not too far to walk," he lied, pointing in a direction. They got off the horses and tied them up to a tree. Xiaomei secretly did the signal before following them. Zhou Haitou led them towards the hill with their shoes crunching the snow underneath them. Baozhai was right behind her uncle before Xiaomei grabbed her wrist. "Zhou Baozhai," Xiaomei said, making it look like she just wanted to have a normal conversation with Baozhai and made Baozhai walk side by side with her. Xiaomei thought it was best to have Baozhai beside her so she could protect her. Xiaomei and Zhou Haitou started looking at their surroundings. They noticed that they were far enough from the horses. It was at that moment; Zhou Haitou swiftly turned around with his sword ready to kill.