Ming Yu couldn't help but feel a chill of fear. If Hua Yun Jin had been any slower just now, it wouldn't have been just the carriage that was in trouble. It would have been both her and Hua Yun Jin.
"Master..." The four guards dismounted, drew the swords from their waists, and formed a protective circle around Hua Yun Jin. Hua Yun Jin narrowed her eyes, looking at the pierced horse. Not far away, the horse's eye blinked, then closed. The ground around it was stained with its blood.
"This place is not safe to linger," Hua Yun Jin decided immediately. The four guards nodded in vigilance. The enemy was hidden, while they were exposed. Their ruthless attack clearly indicated they wanted them dead.
"If you want to leave, you'll have to get past us..." As Hua Yun Jin finished speaking, over a dozen masked assassins in black, wielding steel sabers, descended from the trees. Their eyes glowed with a deathly stillness, regarding Hua Yun Jin and her companions as if they were already corpses.
"Who are you?" Hua Yun Jin demanded, her voice sharp. She tightened her arm around Ming Yu, her strong embrace providing a warm harbor for Ming Yu. A strange feeling stirred within Ming Yu.
"We take money to ward off disasters, and we take lives to settle debts. Enough with the nonsense," one of the masked assassins said indifferently. With a sweep of his steel saber, the dozen assassins surged forward.
"Master, escape quickly..." The four guards cried out in alarm. They formed a line, charging forward with their swords drawn. They could not let these assassins get close to their master.
"Master..."
Ming Yu's face was pale, and her body trembled. These were assassins, professional killers who would stop at nothing to achieve their objectives for money.
"Miss Ming Yu, do not be afraid..." Hua Yun Jin held Ming Yu, her eyes narrowed as she watched the guards fighting against the dozen assassins. Hua Yun Jin sneered, then pushed off the ground and leaped onto a horse.
She gripped the reins with her right hand and pressed her heels against the horse's belly. The horse whinnied, its hooves echoing on the silent path.
Seeing their master had escaped, the four guards felt a sense of relief. They had been created to protect Prince Xi, and to die protecting him now was worth it.
"You think you can leave that easily..." One of the black-clad assassins touched the ground with his toe and slid backward. In the process, he drew a curved bow from his back, nocked an arrow, and aimed it at Hua Yun Jin's speeding back, firing it with a swift "thwip."
"Master, be careful!" One of the guards, distracted, saw the arrow heading straight for Hua Yun Jin and shouted. In that instant, the masked assassin's steel saber plunged into his abdomen. Intense pain shot through him. With a squelch, the saber was pulled out, taking a large amount of blood with it. The guard sank to his knees, then slowly collapsed. As he fell, he saw the arrow aimed at his master's back in his terrified eyes. "Mas... Master..."
Ming Yu, sitting in front, felt Hua Yun Jin's body stiffen, followed by a muffled groan. Ming Yu looked back, seeing Hua Yun Jin's face turn deathly pale. "What's wrong?"
"Miss Ming Yu, I've been hit by an arrow. This is your best chance to escape now; you won't get another," Hua Yun Jin grit out through clenched teeth.
Ming Yu gasped in shock. As she slightly lifted herself, she saw an arrow protruding from Hua Yun Jin's back.
Blood dripped down the arrow, drop by drop, falling to the ground and forming vibrant blossoms.
Ming Yu's eyes turned red. Her heart churned with an indescribable emotion.
Hua Yun Jin could have escaped on his own moments ago. If he had left, even a dozen more assassins couldn't have harmed him. But he hadn't. He had brought her along, knowing the extreme danger, yet he had done so without hesitation.
"Hua Yun Jin..." Ming Yu choked out. The next moment, she watched in disbelief as Hua Yun Jin's body slumped, and he fell from the horse.
The horse did not stop, carrying Ming Yu forward. Hua Yun Jin, however, rolled several times on the ground, his body covered in dust, his hair disheveled.
Ming Yu bit her lower lip. If she abandoned Hua Yun Jin, the assassins would soon catch up, and Hua Yun Jin's fate would be dire.
If she left him, Hua Yun Jin might lose his life. Wasn't this what she had always wanted? Didn't she hate Hua Yun Jin to death? He was injured, his life hanging by a thread; she should be happy.
Yet, for some reason, Ming Yu felt an unbearable ache in her heart. He was her enemy, yet she couldn't bear to see him die.
"Hold on..." Ming Yu gritted her teeth and muttered. Then, she pulled on the reins. The horse whinnied, and Ming Yu guided it, turning back towards Hua Yun Jin.
"Hah, whoa..." Ming Yu pulled back on the reins, and the horse stopped. Ming Yu leaped off and rushed to Hua Yun Jin's side. His usually cold face was now devoid of color, deathly pale. Hua Yun Jin's neat attire was now a mess, a large portion of his back stained crimson with blood.
"Hua Yun Jin..." Ming Yu's tears fell as she carefully cradled Hua Yun Jin in her arms. She had seen Hua Yun Jin's ruthlessness, his spirited demeanor as he commanded armies, his gentleness, his smiles, but she had never seen him so broken. The current Hua Yun Jin seemed as though she could subdue him with a single finger.
"It's good. You didn't leave me..." Hua Yun Jin slowly opened his eyes, a childlike smile appearing on his face, so radiant, so innocent, so happy.
Ming Yu's heart ached, but she forced herself to say, "I actually wished you were dead."
Ming Yu wiped away her tears, carefully helping Hua Yun Jin up. She led him into the woods and settled him at the base of a large tree. Then, Ming Yu turned back to cover up the trail of blood. She looked at the fine horses grazing by the roadside, walked towards them with determination, pulled a dagger from her waist, and plunged it fiercely into a horse. The horse, in pain, galloped away.
After completing all the cleanup, Ming Yu returned. Hua Yun Jin leaned against the tree, watching Ming Yu's figure gradually recede. The light in his eyes began to dim. She still hated him, after all.
But when he saw Ming Yu, walking unsteadily, with fine beads of sweat on her brow, approaching him, Hua Yun Jin's eyes inexplicably welled up. His heart felt full, and a feeling called happiness spread through his chest.
"I thought you had left?" Hua Yun Jin tried to control his excited voice.
"I wished I could have left. But the thought of you dying like this made me unwilling to give up..." Ming Yu said fiercely, holding a few stalks of medicinal herbs. On her way back, she had coincidentally found some herbs for external wounds. Fortunately, she had learned some medical skills from doctors in Hua Cheng over the years.