Li Maner was somewhat surprised, "You're still returning to the prefectural city? Haven't you finished your business?"
"Yes," Aqi dropped the flippant air from his face. "There are still things to be done, but I can't discuss them with you, Miss. Please take me back to the prefectural city."
Li Maner nodded, "For the Prince's sake, I can take you back."
Aqi bowed to her with clasped fists, "Thank you, Elder Miss."
Li Maner pointed to the bonfire, "Apply your medicine here and bandage yourself simply. We'll leave this place first."
"What about these people..."
"Don't mind them."
Aqi said nothing further. He stumbled to the campfire and began to apply medicine and bandage himself.
Li Maner took this opportunity to loot all the belongings from the barbarians, not even sparing their weapons. She even secretly moved two horses into her spatial dimension.
She could assign them a place there arbitrarily; they wouldn't need to eat or drink, nor would she have to clean up their dung.
As for Li Wenchang.
Li Maner remembered finding some corpse bags in her spatial dimension earlier. After a brief search, she indeed found a few.
She simply put Li Wenchang's body into a bag and temporarily stored it in her dimension. It might prove very useful later!
Aqi quickly applied his medicine and bandaged himself, then put on his clothes.
"Elder Miss, we can go now."
Li Maner had nothing left to take. She was not interested in the corpses of those barbarians.
"Can you ride a horse?"
Aqi nodded, "No problem."
"Then good. You ride your horse and follow me. We'll meet up with the Li family's team at the encampment. Then, you'll accompany us to the prefectural city."
"Alright!"
The two mounted their horses and turned back.
Li Maner did not forget to lead her own horse back as well.
Ever since Li Maner had left, Li Nian had been restless, his heart constantly in his throat. He had never felt at ease, fearing that something might happen to Li Maner, leaving him unable to face his deceased wife, Madam Ning. Because of this, he had stayed with the night watchmen, his eyes never closing.
The sound of hooves approached from a distance. Li Nian shot up from his seat. Judging by the sound, there was more than one horse.
"Prepare yourselves," Li Mu said, his voice suddenly tense as he tightened his grip on his long saber.
The sound of hooves grew closer, and the Li family guards had already aimed their crossbows at the two indistinct figures.
"It's our people," Li Maner shouted, "Third Uncle!"
Li Mu quickly signaled everyone to stop and called out, "Man'er?"
"Third Uncle, it's me."
By now, Li Maner's horse had drawn near. Li Mu, using the firelight, saw that it was indeed his niece who had returned, and he rejoiced, "It's Man'er!"
The Li family guards then lowered their crossbows and gathered around curiously.
Li Maner reined in her horse, dismounted, and her first question was, "Are you all alright? Were you attacked?"
She feared the barbarians might have split their forces.
"We're fine, everyone is safe." Li Mu noticed that Li Maner had brought back another person and quickly asked, "Man'er, who is this..."
"Oh, Third Uncle, this is one of us, trustworthy. We just happened to run into him, so I brought him back."
Li Mu, having a keen eye, saw that although the person was injured and disheveled, his bearing was extraordinary. He didn't ask further. Having been away from the capital for a long time, he had no idea what the two guards by the Ninth Prince's side looked like, and thus did not recognize Aqi.
"Since Man'er brought him back, he is one of us. I see you are injured. Why don't you rest and have something to eat first."
Aqi clasped his fists, "Thank you, Fourth Master Li, for your hospitality."
"You're welcome, please," Li Mu winked at his personal guard, who immediately stepped forward and led Aqi to the campfire to warm himself.
The uncle and niece then went aside to talk.
"Man'er, you have a strong smell of blood on you. Are you injured?" Li Mu asked, very concerned.
"No, that's not my blood, it's barbarian blood."
Li Mu exclaimed in surprise, "You encountered barbarians?"
"Third Uncle, that Li Wenchang is indeed not a good person. Although I don't know why he's serving the barbarians, it's a fact that he betrayed my father. When I arrived, these people were making things difficult for Aqi. I killed Li Wenchang and those barbarians, and rescued him in the process."
Li Mu was both surprised and delighted. "You mean the barbarians who were supposed to ambush us were temporarily deterred because of this Aqi? Who exactly is he, and why do the barbarians value him so much?"
He had to be cautious, fearing that Aqi's origins might be unknown and could bring disaster to their group.
Li Maner said, "Third Uncle, please rest assured, this person will not harm us. As for his background, you will know sooner or later. However, it's not that Man'er didn't want to deal with them. They probably thought that pack of wolves could take care of all of us, so they weren't in a hurry after capturing Aqi."
"So, those wolves were indeed led by Li Wenchang, and everything was orchestrated by him?"
"Roughly so. Moreover, all those barbarians were disguised as bandits, which shows Li Wenchang had made two sets of plans. However, I noticed the barbarians looked down on him and probably deliberately opposed him, which is why they didn't ambush us."
Li Mu felt a sense of having narrowly escaped death. If the barbarians had followed Li Wenchang's plan, they didn't know what their current situation would be. Even if they had won in the end, it would have been a pyrrhic victory, and several lives would have been lost.
"Man'er, you killed all of them, more than ten people, by yourself?"
"Third Uncle, you can't say it like that," Li Maner replied. "I took advantage of the situation, attacking them by surprise when they were relaxed. Besides, I'm not stupid; I threw out some sleeping powder and knocked out half of them."
Li Mu believed her and praised her for being clever.
"Alright, you've been on your feet all day. Go to the carriage and rest."
Li Maner said, "Okay. Third Uncle, you should rest too. We still have to travel tomorrow, and we should try to reach the prefectural city as soon as possible."
"Alright."
Li Maner pulled her cloak tighter and went to the carriage to rest.
Li Qingyan had already fallen asleep. Liu Ya had also taken a short nap. She woke up when Li Maner returned.
"Is Miss injured?"
"It's all other people's blood." Li Maner touched Li Qingyan's wrist. "Did Young Master's medicine arrive on time?"
"Miss, don't worry, I'm taking it on time!" Liu Ya added, "Miss, do you want to wash up? I'll prepare it."
Li Maner waved her hand, "We're out on the road, there's no need for such fuss. Go to sleep, we have to travel tomorrow."
She leaned back, pulled her cloak tighter, and closed her eyes.
Liu Ya said no more, but she picked up a blanket and covered Li Maner.
The wind in the northern desert was too harsh; even in the carriage, one needed to be well covered.