The sun became dazzling and scorching, and the eldest prince felt as if he were the parched earth around him, his body gradually cracking open.
But he wasn't afraid at all. He felt as if a spring had opened up in his heart, gushing forth sweet water.
After an unknown amount of time, the eldest prince suddenly felt something wet on his lips. He subconsciously began to lick it, and found it to be sticky and watery.
Is it raining? But why are the raindrops warm, and do they smell familiar?
familiar……
The eldest prince jolted awake, his eyes snapping open. He saw drops of crimson blood trickling from Qin Chu's wrist, falling onto his lips. The strong, metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, instantly stirring up memories deep within his mind.
He froze for a moment, then jumped up and immediately pushed Qin Chu's hand away: "Brother! What are you doing?"
Why give him this stuff to drink?
"woke up?"
Qin Chu was pale and his lips were chapped. When he saw the eldest prince wake up, he smiled slightly and said, "The wound isn't deep. Drink up the blood that has flowed out."
"No..." The eldest prince subconsciously shook his head, but Qin Chu's wrist directly covered his mouth.
Having no other choice, he licked Qin Chu's wrist clean, then used the momentum to stand up, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to cut his own arm.
Qin Chu was both amused and exasperated, and pressed down on his little arms and legs.
The eldest prince stared at the wound on Qin Chu's wrist, his expression grave. No, he couldn't die, nor could he be a burden to Qin Chu. He couldn't let Qin Chu cut his wrist again.
He didn't want to drink Qin Chu's blood.
Thinking this, his extremely weak body suddenly felt a surge of strength for no apparent reason.
The horse had long since collapsed, but the eldest prince didn't let Qin Chu carry him; instead, he walked hand in hand with him.
After walking for a while, as night was about to fall, he looked into the distance and saw a convoy of vehicles in the distance on the main road not far away.
The eldest prince excitedly tugged at Qin Chu's sleeve: "Brother! Brother, look!"
Chapter 62 The Fourth World (8)
They crossed the wasteland and were approaching the official road leading to the border.
A long convoy was slowly moving along the wide official road. Qin Chu could see more than a dozen carriages, all of which were full of grain.
Qin Chu knew they had caught up with the second grain transport team. This gave him a slight sense of relief; the eldest prince's body was clearly not holding up, and if they continued on, he would have to think of other solutions.
Holding the imperial edict prepared by Noah, Qin Chu boarded the convoy without much effort.
He was a general personally appointed by the emperor. Although the officials escorting the grain supplies had some doubts about him traveling with a child, they still prepared a separate carriage for him.
The carriage shielded the area from the sandstorm. Although the interior was simple, it formed a small, enclosed space, and the eldest prince sat inside, clearly pleased. He understood the preciousness of life and knew that he and Qin Chu were finally safe.
Someone brought water and food, and Qin Chu offered it to the eldest prince, but the eldest prince said, "Brother, you eat first!"
Qin Chu glanced at him; it was the same thing back in the wasteland.
When Qin Chu offered the child candy, the child calmly explained that he was small and needed to eat less, while Qin Chu, being taller, needed to eat more. The child even tried to share his candy with Qin Chu, but Qin Chu forcefully stopped him.
However, now that there was plenty of food, Qin Chu stopped making excuses and started eating properly.
They had been walking through the wasteland for more than ten days, during which Qin Chu had barely eaten. Although he had received special training, he was now almost at his limit.
The eldest prince sat obediently to the side. He looked up and watched Qin Chu eat a few pieces of dry food and drink some hot water. After confirming that Qin Chu was almost full, he reached out and took some food from the tray to start eating.
He found it somewhat unbelievable.
They had endured such hunger and danger, and now they could finally fill their stomachs and drink water freely. They had survived, and most importantly, Qin Chu was still by their side.
Thinking of this, the eldest prince, who was sitting, suddenly stood up and ran to Qin Chu. He didn't care about the food he was holding and threw himself into Qin Chu's arms.
Qin Chu was suddenly embraced, and the water in his cup almost spilled.
He looked down at the fluffy little head on his chest and unexpectedly felt like laughing. This kid wasn't very friendly with people, and many times Qin Chu felt like he had picked up a wolf cub. He was nothing like other children, and sometimes he had to be careful not to let the kid bite him.
Qin Chu didn't care much, because he didn't like children at all, and he wasn't disappointed at all.
But now, with this little wolf cub nestled in his arms, he couldn't help but feel a sense of comfort. After all, it was the child he had painstakingly protected during this time.
"What's wrong?" Qin Chu put down his cup and awkwardly touched the child's messy hair.
He was the one who cut the hair, and Noah commented that it looked like a dog had chewed it.
The eldest prince didn't raise his head; his face was buried in Qin Chu's arms, and his voice was muffled: "Brother, am I dreaming?"
He survived, and Qin Chu was safe and sound by his side. It was so wonderful, it almost felt unreal.
He was terrified when he saw Qin Chu feeding him blood.
He knew that if a person bled too much, they would die. He didn't want Qin Chu to die, and he couldn't accept Qin Chu dying because of him.
He held Qin Chu tightly with all his might, just like the two of them had huddled together for warmth on horseback. He thought to himself, he would never doubt whether Qin Chu hated him again; he couldn't think of his brother like that.
Qin Chu didn't move, and just let him hug her for a while.
He is indeed still a child, and after the life-or-death ordeal of the past few days, it's understandable that he would be afraid.
The relationships between people are strange. When they stand guard against each other, it's as if they have no relationship at all and are independent individuals. Qin Chu also simply treats this child as a task target.
But now, holding each other in their arms, so close they could clearly hear each other's heartbeats, they were once again the closest people in the world.
It was also the first time that Qin Chu had become so close to a person, a child.
Perhaps it was because the child was too quiet, never making a fuss, and never even asking for anything when hungry. Qin Chu noticed all of this and couldn't help but pay more attention to him.
Patting the child in his arms, Qin Chu realized that the boy was too thin and short. He didn't look like a child who was almost ten years old at all, and he didn't even look as tall as a five or six-year-old child in his time.
"Alright, eat something else," Qin Chu reminded him.
The eldest prince hesitated for a while before slowly raising his head. He was now standing in front of Qin Chu, his line of sight level with Qin Chu's neck. Before leaving Qin Chu's embrace, he seemed to remember something, paused, and leaned closer to take a look at the back of Qin Chu's neck.
Through the slightly loose collar, a horrific wound could be seen hidden beneath the collar. The wound had scabbed over, and some of the scabs had fallen off, revealing new skin and flesh.
But it's not red...
The eldest prince's eyes suddenly stung, and he leaned closer, whispering softly in Qin Chu's ear, "Hoo hoo, it doesn't hurt."
As he spoke, he actually blew on it twice.
Qin Chu felt him tugging at his collar, not expecting him to do this. He chuckled and pulled the child away: "It's been fine for a while."
"But the birthmark won't heal completely." The eldest prince clutched Qin Chu's clothes, still feeling guilty.
Qin Chu wished that this thing would never grow back.
He raised the child's hand holding the food, signaling him to focus on eating.
The eldest prince did not leave. He nestled in Qin Chu's arms as he had on horseback, and began to eat his dry rations.
Seeing that the child was clearly clinging to him, Qin Chu felt a little uncomfortable; he had never been used to this kind of close contact. But after subtly weighing the child, Qin Chu simply let him be.
It's okay to be clingy now; you'll definitely become a real man once you get to the military camp.
Noah, who had witnessed all of this, was very displeased and began to point and whisper: "Tsk tsk tsk, sir, you've fallen from grace. Do you even remember how strict you were with your military academy students?"
Qin Chu calmly retorted, "He's still young."
Noah then showed him the eldest prince's file: "Ten years old. When you were ten, you were already able to kill star beasts."
That's true.
Qin Chu looked down at the child in his arms, who was eating small bites, and hesitated about how to tell him that a mature man cannot eat while nestled in someone else's arms.
Seemingly noticing his gaze, the child, who was focused on eating, looked up at him like a little squirrel, and offered him the dry food with both hands: "Brother, do you want some?"
General Qin changed his mind in a second.
He racked his brains for a moment and threw Noah a rather unreliable answer: "He's a boy."
Noah was furious. "You're a boy yourself, yet you didn't even blink when someone dug out your birthmark. Now you think you should protect a boy like the Crown Prince?"
What a damn double standard!
Thinking about the information he had just seen, Qin Chu thought of another question.
He handed the child a glass of water, and after seeing that he had almost finished eating, he said, "I asked you what your name was before, but you wouldn't tell me. Are you willing to tell me now?"
Once they arrive at the military camp, they will inevitably have to give the child's name, and they will also have to conceal his identity, so they must prepare in advance.
Upon hearing this question, the eldest prince slowly stopped eating. He turned to look at Qin Chu, then immediately lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, "I'm not lying to you, I don't have a name."
Qin Chu was taken aback; he hadn't expected this answer.
Perhaps fearing Qin Chu wouldn't believe him, the child hesitated for a moment before adding, "No one gave me a name."
Even though Qin Chu had guessed that this prince's life wasn't going well, he hadn't expected it to be this bad. The records didn't list the eldest prince's name, but he'd assumed there would be some kind of nickname or something; to his surprise, there was nothing at all.
The eldest prince secretly glanced at Qin Chu.
It's true that he doesn't have a name, but people sometimes call him a bastard or a jinx, which he doesn't think is nice, so he hasn't told Qin Chu.
He also hoped that Qin Chu would never know.
At that moment, the eldest prince's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
He recalled Lin Xiang's dying words to Qin Chu: "I hope you never know... what you were protecting."
His heart suddenly pounded. The eldest prince looked up at Qin Chu again, only to see Qin Chu frowning, seemingly lost in thought, and remaining silent for a long time.
An uncontrollable panic rose within me, coursing through my chest.
Did Qin Chu find out something? Did he know how the people in the palace viewed him? Did he know what he had done in the past?
The blood drained from the Crown Prince's face. Ignoring the crumbs of dry rations on his hands, he gripped Qin Chu's clothes tightly. He looked up, about to explain, when suddenly a knock sounded on the carriage.
The words I wanted to say stuck in my throat.
"Come in," Qin Chu said.
The carriage curtain was lifted, and a handsome young man stepped inside. He carried a pot of hot water, his eyes gentle, and smiled at Qin Chu, saying, "General Qin, I've come to add some hot water for you."
Hot water was poured into the teapot, and steam billowed out of the carriage.
The eldest prince looked at the man through the mist and saw him nod and smile at Qin Chu as he left.
The curtain was lowered, and the carriage returned to silence.