Tang Daiyu wiped the tears from her eyes as she ran. Her heart hurt, but she knew she needed to get away. Not only to save herself, but also the others.

She kept running. Trees blurred by. With no idea of where she was headed, she moved blindly through the forest. She took a sharp turn and banked to the left. Strangely enough, she soon camp upon a run-down house. Tang Daiyu stopped running and bent over. Her hands rested on her knees as she panted. After calming down, she straightened up and approached the house. Her hand knocked on the front door. She waited. When no one answered, she slowly opened the door.

Inside, she was greeted by cobwebs and dust. Coughing, she waved her arm back and forth in front of her face. Tang Daiyu wandered around the house, but there were no inhabitants other than some insects. She wiped the heavy layer of dust off a chair and sat down. Sighing, she leaned forward, rested her elbow on the dusty table, and put her chin in the palm of her hand.

"Why do I always make things worse? If I really am supposed to help China, then I need to figure out how to stop ruining things first."

Then, her stomach rumbled loudly. She held a hand to her stomach and winced.

"I doubt there's any food here. It doesn't look like anyone's lived in this house for some years now."

Tang Daiyu yawned. Rubbing her eyes, she got up and shuffled over to the bed. She shook out the moth eaten bed coverings before curling up under them. Her eyelids fluttered as she fell asleep.

~~~

Meanwhile, back at the exiles' camp, Liang Yingzhou was talking with Xia Dongya.

"Thank you for warning me."

"Of course. I tried to persuade her otherwise earlier, but she was determined to go."

Liang Yingzhou looked at the black document crumpled in his hands. His hand tightened into a fist, knuckles whitening.

Why did Ah Daiyu want this so badly? Why is Hei Siwang worth her taking suck risks? She can't ever use it again anyways, so what is she planning?

"Master Liang, is everything alright?"

He looked at Xia Dongya. "Yes. Everything's fine. I'm growing tired, so I'll leave first."

Liang Yingzhou excused himself and walked away. He returned to his tent and fell asleep inside.

The next morning, he woke up. As he emerged from his tent, he watched as the exiles scrambled about. Confused, he walked over to Xia Dongya.

"What's wrong?"

"Tang Daiyu's gone."

Panic gripped him. "What? When did she disappear?"

"I don't know. Probably sometime last night. We looked for her this morning, but couldn't find her anywhere."

"Did someone take her?"

"There's no sign of a struggle. I think she left the camp of her own accord."

"Why? Where would she go?"

"I'm not sure. Don't worry, Master Liang, we'll find her."

~~~

Tang Daiyu woke up and rubbed her eyes. Looking around, the events of the previous night returned to her. She winced and stood up from the bed. Her stomach rumbled again, and she groaned. Then, she sneezed. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around her. She sneezed again. Wiping her nose, Tang Daiyu began to cough.

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Great, now I've caught a cold.

She laid back down on the bed and wrapped herself up in the blankets. Chills washed over her. She tightened the blankets around her, but still felt cold. Her nose ran, and she blew it into a handkerchief. Sighing dejectedly, she laid there, sick and suffering.

What other suffering do I have to go through before I can be happy? A hot broth sounds so good right now…

Her eyelids closed, and she fell asleep again.

~~~

Liang Yingzhou searched all day for her. He grew increasingly worried as each shichen passed with no success.

"Ah Daiyu, where are you?" he called. "Ah Daiyu!"

There was no answer.

Panic gripped him. He whipped around, looking, searching, hoping to find her.

"Master Liang, it's getting late. We should probably return to the camp."

"No, she has to be around here somewhere. Dusk hasn't set yet. I can keep searching."

Xia Dongya stepped forward and tilted his head. "I know you care about her and that you want to find her. But it's getting cooler. If you catch a cold, how will you be strong enough to continue looking for her? We’ll just have to hope that she's somewhere safe."

Realising he was right, Liang Yingzhou nodded in acquiescence. He followed Xia Dongya back to the camp.

~~~

That evening, Tang Daiyu's cold had gotten worse. She was drenched in a cold sweat and had a nasty headache. Her high fever hadn't broken and was affecting her terribly.

"Zhou-ge," she murmured weakly. "Zhou-ge."

Her eyelids fluttered as she struggled to remain conscious.

Then she heard, "Elder Sister."

Looking up slowly, she saw her brother smiling at her. He stretched out his arm towards her.

"Baobao."

She reached towards him with her left hand.

"Baobao."

"Come with me, Elder Sister. I can take you to Father and Mother. We can be together again."

"Alright. I'll go with you."

"Elder Sister is the best."

She gave a wan smile. Tang Daiyu struggled to throw off the covers. Much of her strength had left her. When she finally managed to get out of bed, she stumbled sideways as she tried to walk forward.

"It's okay, Elder Sister. You can take your time. Father and Mother are patient. Let me help you."

Her brother stepped forward. Just as he was about to touch her, she faintly heard someone calling her name.

"Daiyu! Daiyu!"

"Zhou-ge?" she asked coarsely.

"Come, Elder Sister. Father and Mother are still waiting."

"Daiyu!"

She clutched her head, unable to differentiate the truth.

"Elder Sister."

"Daiyu!"

Then, Tang Daiyu remembered. Zhou-ge would never say just my given name. Plus, he couldn't have found me here.

Deciding to go with her brother, she reached out towards him. Tang Bao smiled at her. She smiled back.

"Baobao..."

Suddenly, the doors on the house burst open. Liang Yingzhou whipped around.

"Daiyu!"

He ran forward and wrapped her up in his arms. Noticing the sweat on her forehead, he pressed the back of his hand to her clammy forehead.

"Daiyu, you're burning up."

He checked her pulse before sweeping her up into his arms. She fought him.

"Let me go! Let me go! I want to go with Baobao! I want to see Father and Mother!"

"Daiyu, Daiyu," he murmured. "Tang Bao isn't here. You're hallucinating. Your di di isn’t here."

She looked around wildly. Pointing, she tried to show him that he was wrong.

"He's right there!"

Liang Yingzhou sighed, "I'm sorry, Daiyu."

He hit her acupoints to knock her out. Once she had slumped in to his arms, he picked her up and carried her back to the exiles' camp.