Min Tiancheng helped her up. Yu Yi stood on one foot, looking pained, while Min Tiancheng crouched in front of her with his back turned: “Ling’er, let me carry you down the mountain!” He looked up at another person, “Sixth Uncle, Ling’er has twisted her ankle. I need to take her down, so I can’t hold the torch. Can you light the way for us?”
His sixth uncle agreed.
Someone suggested, “Forget it. The rain is getting heavier, and the torches will soon go out. How can we chase her? If Xiu Yun hides in some mountain hollow or tree cave, who could find her? The mountain path is slippery – we might fall into a ravine before catching her.”
Chasing someone on a rainy mountain path, with no personal stake in the matter, the group had been driven by a momentary burst of energy. But with Min Ling’s fall, that energy dissipated, and everyone agreed to return down the mountain and deal with everything in the morning.
When these dozen or so people returned to the village, lights were still on at the home of Third Master Min at the village entrance.
Third Master Min saw them return without Xiu Yun. Though dissatisfied, he couldn’t say much, as everyone had made an effort, and the mud on their feet was proof enough.
Yu Yi was carried back to Min Ling’s home by Min Tiancheng and scolded by Ling’s mother: “Going up the mountain to chase someone, what are you doing joining in? Always running around outside, not behaving like a proper girl! Thank goodness Tiancheng was looking after you, or you might have rolled into a ravine…”
Min Tiancheng hastily made his excuses and went home.
—
Late at night, the rain had stopped.
Yu Yi lay on the wooden bed, listening to the snoring of Ling’s father at the other end of the room, wondering if Xiu Yun had gone far.
Remembering Xiu Yun’s expression when she heard about the plot between Min Da’an and Xiu Shui to frame her, she quietly left Min Ling’s home and made her way to the back window of Min Da’an’s house.
—
