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Lin Ning hurriedly jumped off the wooden boat and rushed towards the Princess of Yue Ming County. The Princess swayed and stumbled, falling into Lin Ning's arms. Lin Ning anxiously asked, "What happened, Princess? What on earth is going on?" The Princess weakly replied, "We were robbed by bandits..." After saying this, she fainted. Lin Ning checked the Princess's pulse with his hand and found it normal. He sighed in relief and took off his water flask to give her a few sips of water. After a moment, the Princess slowly regained consciousness and cried out, "A few bandits robbed us of our silver and killed three of my guards."
Lin Ning was shocked that such a thing could happen in broad daylight. He helped the Princess up and said, "Don't be afraid, I will take you back to the Borderlands." The Princess stopped crying and said to Lin Ning, "But my silver and horse were taken by the bandits." Lin Ning replied, "I have silver on me; let's go to the horse market and buy two horses."
The two quickly arrived at the horse market and bought two fine steeds, then galloped northward. Jinling was over two thousand li away from Shanhaiguan. Lin Ning and the Princess rode during the day and rested in inns at night. On the evening of the fourth day, they finally reached Shanhaiguan.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of hooves approaching from a distance as a group of people galloped towards them. These individuals were dressed in ordinary Han attire. The burly man at the front shouted, "Is this the Princess of Yue Ming County ahead?" The Princess joyfully replied, "Yes, it is I, the Princess! I have been waiting for you!" Lin Ning knew that Shanhaiguan was still under the jurisdiction of the Ming army, and that the Later Jin soldiers dressed in ordinary Han clothing were clearly trying to conceal their identities.
Lin Ning said to the Princess, "Now that you have safely arrived at Shanhaiguan, it's time for us to part ways after sending you off a thousand miles." He turned his horse around to leave when the Princess said, "Wait! I have a jar of Erguotou wine here; please have a sip before you go. Consider it my farewell gift to you." The Princess took a jar of wine from her horse and handed it to Lin Ning. He pulled out the cork, and a rich aroma wafted out. Lin Ning drank all the wine in one gulp, then cupped his fist towards the Princess and gently urged his horse away.
Lin Ning knew that Shanhaiguan was very close to Jinzhou, and he originally wanted to visit Jinzhou to see Xiong Yanbi before returning to Yunshan Island. However, he knew that Xiong Yanbi was very hospitable and would definitely insist on him staying in Jinzhou for a few days. He was afraid that Xiong Yanbi would worry about him, but he couldn't mention the matter of being poisoned by the silkworm to Xiong Yanbi. In order to avoid causing any misunderstanding, he decided not to go to Jinzhou and instead go directly back to Yunshan Island. After riding for less than a quarter of an hour, Lin Ning suddenly felt dizzy, saw stars, and felt weak all over. He realized something was wrong, and before he knew it, he fell off the horse.
After some time, Lin Ning felt like he was swaying back and forth on a boat, and he could hear the sound of waves around him. He gradually woke up and found himself in complete darkness. He tried to move his hands and feet, only to realize that they were tied behind him with ropes. His heart filled with horror as he struggled to free himself, but the more he struggled, the tighter the ropes became. He tried to shout, but his mouth was gagged with a cloth. The person who tied him up knew about his strong martial arts skills, so they used water-soaked cowhide ropes that would tighten as he struggled. He was then put into a sturdy cowhide bag with a few small holes for breathing.
At that moment, Lin Ning heard people laughing and joking nearby. A man said, "princess of the county is truly wise. This trick of pretending to be captured worked, and this kid surrendered without a fight." Lin Ning recognized the voice as one of the two guards who had followed Princess of Yue Ming County to the south. He realized that he hadn't died at all. After the guard spoke, Princess of Yue Ming County said, "It seems that my decision to have you three take a boat from Jinling to Bohai Bay and then go to Liaoyang to fetch reinforcements was very correct. It took you three days to travel by water and one day to fetch reinforcements in Liaoyang, coincidentally arriving just as I and Lin Ning reached Shanhaiguan." The other guard exclaimed, "The young princess of the county is truly wise and invincible!" Lin Ning also heard Princess of Yue Ming County's personal maid ask, "I wonder why princess of the county has captured Mr. Lin?" Princess of Yue Ming County replied, "I want him to be my servant. I will use a knife to carve 'Forever loyal to princess of the county' on the left side of his face, and 'princess of the county, I love you' on the right side." Thunderous applause erupted, and the guards shouted, "Forever loyal to princess of the county, princess of the county, I love you."
Lin Ning's cheeks turned bright red, and he finally understood that the Princess of Yue Ming County intended to take him to Shengjing. Because the Princess of Yue Ming County knew that the area around Shanhaiguan, Ningyuan, and Jinzhou was the only way to Shengjing, she was afraid that taking Lin Ning through these places would be risky. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, the Princess of Yue Ming County decided to take a boat to Bohai Bay and then take a short overland route to reach Liaoyang and Shengjing quickly.
Lin Ning pondered desperately in his heart for a way to escape. He shifted his body slightly and found that his fingers could still move a little. He tried to use the strength of his fingers to tear open the leather bag, but the leather was extremely tough and slippery. Combined with his hands being tied behind his back, his finger strength was severely weakened, and he couldn't tear open the leather bag at all. Lin Ning rotated his body inside the leather bag, allowing his line of sight to reach a small hole in the bag. Through the small hole in the leather bag, he saw a ray of sunlight shining in, and from this, Lin Ning judged that it was daytime. This meant that after the Princess of Yue Ming County had drugged him the previous night, she did not rush to travel due to the late hour. She should have first tied him up, then found an inn near Shanhaiguan to stay for the night, and only the next morning did she take him on the boat to return to Shengjing. Lin Ning turned the leather bag again and saw the figures of the Princess of Yue Ming County and others swaying on the deck. Suddenly, he saw a nail head protruding from a plank not far from the leather bag. Lin Ning was overjoyed and slowly maneuvered the leather bag to the position of the nail, then flipped his body to let the nail head enter through the small hole in the leather bag. Then Lin Ning rotated himself ninety degrees in the leather bag, positioning his face upwards and his hands and feet downwards. Enduring the pain of the leather cutting into his flesh, he used his left foot to kick off his right shoe and felt for the position of the nail with his right foot. He used his right big toe and second toe to grip the nail, concentrating all his internal force on it, and successfully pulled out the nail. Then Lin Ning laboriously used his right thumb and index finger to grind the sharp edge of the nail against the rope on his arm. After about half an hour, the sharp edge of the nail finally cut through the rope. Lin Ning untied the rope and took out a black gold short sword from his bosom, instantly cutting the leather bag into pieces.
The Princess of Yue Ming County and the others were shocked, not knowing how Lin Ning had suddenly broken free. Seeing his Xuanning Sword in the hands of the Princess of Yue Ming County, he swung his right sleeve towards her, and she felt a gust of wind brushing across her face, causing a faint pain. After the gust, the Xuanning Sword was already in Lin Ning's hands. The Princess of Yue Ming County paled, both shocked and angry, and asked anxiously, "What do you want, Lin Ning?" Lin Ning smiled and said, "I should be the one asking Princess of the County, shouldn't I? What does Princess of the County want by capturing me to Shengjing?" Princess of Yue Ming County blushed, her lips moved, but she hesitated to speak. Lin Ning laughed, "I have important matters to attend to and cannot accompany Princess of the County back to Shengjing." With that, Lin Ning lightly tapped the deck with the tip of the Xuanning Sword, then leaped onto the ship's rail, shaking the sword left and right, causing a plank to fall into the sea. Lin Ning leaped into the sea, his left arm holding onto a plank, and his right hand using the Xuanning Sword as an oar, swiftly paddling southward. Princess of Yue Ming County hurriedly shouted, "Turn the ship around quickly, don't let him escape!" Lin Ning thought to himself, "Oh, Princess of the County, because of your past kindness to me, I let you off. If I were to puncture a hole in your ship with my black gold short sword, would you and your men survive? In fact, Princess of Yue Ming County and these soldiers have lived in the north since childhood and basically cannot swim. If Lin Ning really punctured the ship, all of them would be buried in the sea."
Lin Ning swam in the sea for several hours, while the ship of the Princess of Yue Ming County pursued him for just as long. Gradually, the sun sank below the horizon, and darkness enveloped the ocean, rendering the sky and sea indistinguishable, vast and chaotic. The Princess of Yue Ming County ordered her men to light torches. With the faint glow of the torches, Lin Ning finally spotted the beach. Once he reached the shore, he did not dare to linger for even a minute; he dashed through a grove of poplar trees beside the beach and ran southward into the darkness. The ship of the Princess of Yue Ming County soon landed as well, with officials and soldiers holding torches following Lin Ning's footprints on the sand. However, once they reached the poplar grove, Lin Ning's tracks vanished completely. A guard asked the Princess of Yue Ming County, "Princess, which direction should we pursue Lin Ning now?" After a moment of thought, she replied, "He must be eager to return to Yunshan Island to see that girl Hu Xueyan; he definitely headed south. We should pursue him southward without a doubt."
Lin Ning walked south in the darkness for about two hours until dawn began to break in the east. Ahead, smoke was rising; it turned out to be a small village near Shanhaiguan. Lin Ning stealthily approached a farmer's house, where the door was wide open but no one was inside. He thought that the family must have gone out early to work in the fields. Noticing a set of blue cloth garments hanging on the courtyard wall, he quickly stripped off his own clothes and put on those of the man. He checked his pocket to leave a silver coin for the farmer but found that all his silver had disappeared—likely lost during his escape at sea. Fortunately, his black gold dagger and Madonna lily were still in his pocket. After some thought, he tucked the dagger and lily into his blue garment and hung his original clothes on the farmer's courtyard wall. Then he smeared some ash from the stove on his face and grabbed some cow dung from the barn to smear on himself as well. Having done this, he ran south along a country road.
Suddenly, Lin Ning heard hoofbeats approaching from behind; he knew it must be Princess of Yue Ming County leading her soldiers in pursuit. He quickly hid his Xuanning Sword in some grass by the roadside and threw his shoes deep into the bushes before turning barefoot back north along the path. The troops of Princess of Yue Ming County soon caught up with him, surrounding Lin Ning completely. He tilted his head and stared blankly at her with squinted eyes. The Princess pointed her sword at Lin Ning and asked, "Hey, kid, have you seen a boy in blue clothes pass by here?" Lin Ning pointed at his ear and then at his mouth, looking bewildered at her. One of her guards remarked, "So he's just an idiot." Seeing that Lin Ning was dirty and emitted an unpleasant odor, the Princess frowned slightly. She rode forward a couple of steps but suddenly felt something was off; she turned her horse around and swung her sword towards Lin Ning. Terrified, Lin Ning stood frozen in place as her sword sliced through his sleeve. It took him a moment to react before he fell to the ground rolling around in distress. The Princess snorted disdainfully, turned her horse away from him, and led her soldiers southward in pursuit.
After the officials and soldiers walked away, Lin Ning stood up from the ground, finding the Xuanning Sword and his shoes in the grass. With the lesson learned from earlier, Lin Ning dared not take the main road again; instead, he used his lightness skill to choose secluded paths. Lin Ning knew he needed silver to buy a horse; only by riding could he return to Yunshan Island before the poison took effect. As the sun was about to set, Lin Ning spotted a market where horse traders were selling horses. He inquired about the price, and a good steed cost at least one or two taels of silver.
Seeing a pawnshop in the market, Lin Ning entered and said to the owner, "Innkeeper, I have a black gold short knife. How much do you think it’s worth?" He took out the black gold short knife from his pocket and handed it to the innkeeper. The innkeeper noticed Lin Ning's ragged clothes and disheveled appearance, and seeing that the knife was dull and old with no luster, he thought it looked worthless. The innkeeper replied, "Where did you pick up this broken knife? I can only give you ten wen for it."
Furious yet amused, Lin Ning said, "Alright then, Innkeeper, just give me ten wen. I’ll come back to redeem this knife once I earn some money." The innkeeper snorted coldly and instructed the shop assistant to give Lin Ning ten wen, casually tossing the black gold short knife into a corner of the shop.
With ten wen in hand, Lin Ning went to a stationery store across from the pawnshop and bought a set of writing materials. He spread rice paper on the ground of the market and painted an ink landscape painting. Lin Ning's painting skills were exceptional; with just a few strokes, he vividly captured the essence of the landscape. The peaks in his painting soared into the clouds, majestic and grand. Particularly striking was the waterfall in the valley, with droplets splashing like crystal clear gems, making one feel as if they could hear the gentle sound of flowing water. The onlookers praised Lin Ning's artwork enthusiastically. Soon, a wealthy man asked how much he needed for the painting. Lin Ning told him it would cost ten taels of silver. Without hesitation, the wealthy man handed over ten taels of silver and happily took away the landscape painting.
According to the pawnshop's rules, redeeming a pawned item required double its value. Lin Ning exchanged one tael of silver for one thousand wen at the stationery store and returned to the pawnshop to pay twenty wen to redeem his black gold short knife. The innkeeper had just witnessed how quickly Lin Ning sold his landscape painting for ten taels of silver to a wealthy man and realized that Lin Ning was not an ordinary person. The innkeeper regretted not asking for one tael of silver earlier. He couldn't understand why someone who could easily earn so much silver would dress so shabbily and carry around such a worn-out short knife.
As Lin Ning prepared to leave the pawnshop, the innkeeper changed his previously arrogant demeanor and smiled broadly, saying, "Please wait a moment, esteemed guest. I apologize for my lack of insight; I truly couldn't see what was special about your short knife." Lin Ning plucked a hair from his head and gently blew on it; it floated down slowly until it was less than an inch away from the black gold short knife when it suddenly split into two strands and fell to the ground. The innkeeper was dumbfounded, regretting not recognizing this priceless treasure when he had the chance.
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