They were certainly in the mountains, surrounded by waist-high wild grass, with a thick layer of decaying leaves beneath them, emitting a suffocating scent in the heavy rain.
The large raindrops struck Xie Jiang’s face with a stinging pain. She casually plucked two large leaves to shield her face, then after a while, got up again to pluck two more, kindly covering the face of the unconscious Xu Hengyan as well.
Xie Jiang rested her head on Xu Hengyan, no longer wanting to move. She wished she could just fall asleep like this.
After an unknown amount of time, she vaguely felt that the rain seemed to have stopped, and a profound silence enveloped the world.
Xie Jiang suddenly woke up, her whole body aching with the slightest movement.
Xu Hengyan, who was beneath her, made no sound.
“Xu Hengyan?”
She felt his neck, there was still a pulse, and his body wasn’t stiff.
Xie Jiang let out a long sigh of relief.
It was good he was still alive, it was good he was still alive.
Xie Jiang felt like crying and laughing at the same time. What kind of situation was this? It was her own fault for getting into this mess!
“Xu Hengyan! Wake up, Xu Hengyan…” Xie Jiang patted his face, but he remained unresponsive.
“Xu Hengyan, if you don’t wake up, I’m going to leave you here and not care about you anymore. Xu Hengyan, did you hear me? Don’t ignore me…”
No matter how much she called, he wouldn’t wake up.
Xie Jiang stood up to survey her surroundings. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, but they had no idea which deep mountain forest they were in. Going out in the dark was out of the question, but she had to find a place to rest. She couldn’t keep lying on this muddy, foul-smelling pile of rotten leaves.
It would be best to find a cave to shelter in. Otherwise, she could endure it, but Xu Hengyan’s physical condition was precarious.
“Xu Hengyan, you lie here for a bit. I’ll be back soon.”
Whatever she said, Xu Hengyan couldn’t hear it. Xie Jiang spoke these words as if to herself.
Xie Jiang planned to search nearby. Once she found a suitable place to shelter, she would come back to move Xu Hengyan.
The mountains were overgrown with weeds, with no paths and no light, making walking extremely difficult.
The boundless darkness seemed capable of devouring heaven and earth. As Xie Jiang looked up, she was suddenly overcome by a wave of dizziness, as if the darkness would swallow her whole in the next second.
Many unpleasant memories suddenly surged forth, the darkness of that time overlapping with the darkness before her.
What had Song Er gone through? From the residual fragments of memory, one could feel the immense shadow cast upon her.
A cool mountain breeze blew, and Xie Jiang felt a chill. The indistinct shapes in the darkness also seemed somewhat eerie.
Xie Jiang turned back, crawled onto Xu Hengyan, and hugged him tightly.
Even though he was unconscious, he was at least a living person.
The armor on him was cold and hard, pressing painfully against her face, but the arms encircling his body tightened ever more.
“Xu Hengyan, Xu Hengyan, wake up quickly, why aren’t you waking up yet, Xu Hengyan…”
In the darkness that seemed ready to devour her, Xie Jiang’s voice trembled slightly.
He was very warm, and even though he was wet, it felt comfortable.
The warmth emanating from him dispelled the chill from her body and seemed to drive away the fear in her heart.
Xie Jiang didn’t want to move anymore, too exhausted to muster any strength. She just wanted to lie there.
“Xu Hengyan, look how good I am. I can’t bear to leave you alone here, afraid you’ll be in danger. What if a fierce beast suddenly appeared and ate the delicious Yan Yan?”
“Xu Hengyan? Xu Hengyan?”
“I’m so hungry. If you don’t wake up soon, I’ll eat you…”
“I’m telling the truth, don’t you believe me?”
Xie Jiang muttered to herself, as if having some sound, some movement, could ward off the devouring darkness.
Suddenly, she felt something was wrong. Xie Jiang touched Xu Hengyan’s face, then his forehead.
He was burning up.
If they delayed any longer, the Duke of Wei’s mansion would have a new heir.
Who would it be this time?
Third son Xu Hengyi?
Then she wouldn’t have to do anything; the Duke of Wei’s mansion would self-destruct.
How boring.
So, Xu Hengyan, you must hold on a little longer.
Xie Jiang climbed off him, took out a dagger from her leg, and first cut off the arrow from his arm.
Then, she carefully pulled him up, letting him lean into her embrace, and cut off the arrow from his shoulder and back.
After that, she pulled him onto her back and, swaying unsteadily, stood up.
She had been utterly exhausted just moments ago and didn’t want to move at all, but now, from somewhere, she found a surge of strength.
“Xu Hengyan, you used to carry me. Now it’s my turn to carry you. You didn’t want to at first, but now, isn’t it worth it?”
Xu Hengyan was heavy, extremely heavy.
Xie Jiang felt like she was about to be crushed to death.
The man, who looked like a slender bamboo and jade tree, though not exactly frail, didn’t appear particularly strong. How could he be so heavy!
“Xu Hengyan, are you a pig! Why are you so heavy!”
After walking not far, Xie Jiang stopped, threw Xu Hengyan to the ground, and gasped for air.
She stripped off his armor, trying her best to avoid touching the arrow wounds, then carefully put him back on her back.
Indeed, he was lighter.
But he still weighed down her slender frame as if it might snap at any moment.
“Xu Hengyan, when you get better, you have to carry me every day! You have to be my mount. When I go out, you have to carry me. Do you hear me!”
“When I eat, you have to carry me to the dining room. When I sleep, you have to carry me to the bedroom, no, you have to carry me to the bed…”
“Xu Hengyan, do you hear me? If you dare to refuse, I’ll break your legs!”
“Don’t think you can renege on your debt by playing dead! No one can escape what they owe me! You, Xu Hengyan, cannot escape! Your elder brother, Xu Hengdan, cannot escape! Your entire Duke of Wei’s mansion cannot escape!”
Xie Jiang cursed fiercely, as if the more she cursed, the fiercer she was, the more strength she would gain.
Suddenly, her foot stepped on something. One leg buckled, and she knelt to the ground. The pain in her knee made her suspect a fractured bone.
Tears welled up and splashed out.
Xie Jiang almost threw Xu Hengyan away!
But after finally pulling him out of the river and carrying him this far, her back was almost broken. If she abandoned him now, wouldn’t it all be in vain?
It wasn’t worth it!
Xie Jiang slumped him to the ground, letting him lean against a rock. She then took out a stick and began to clear away the weeds in front of them.
She had vaguely seen what looked like a cave.
When she got closer, she realized the entrance was very small, and the interior even smaller. It was also sunken, with a lot of accumulated water inside, making it unsuitable for shelter.
Xie Jiang was disappointed. She looked around but found no other caves. She could only go back, pick up Xu Hengyan, and continue searching.
“If I can’t find a cave to shelter in, will I have to carry you all night?”
“…I’m going to throw you away!”
Xie Jiang decided that if she couldn’t find a cave, she would find a relatively dry, wind-sheltered large rock and make do for the night.
If she kept carrying Xu Hengyan like this, she would either be exhausted to death or fall to her death!
He was so damn heavy!
Pushing aside another pile of tangled vines and weeds, she finally discovered another cave.
This time, the entrance was larger, and the interior seemed quite deep.