He slowly opened his eyes.
The unfamiliar scenery before me amazed me; the mountains were covered with flowers, and there was a waterfall like a silver ribbon nearby.
"So beautiful..." I dismounted.
Dugu Jing slowly dismounted and followed behind, leading the horse. His eyes suddenly darkened.
I turned around: "Fourth Prince, did you bring me here specifically?"
Dugu Jing walked on silently.
I suddenly realized that the flower I was talking about was quite unusual.
suddenly.
"Crouch down!"
Caught off guard, I was slammed to the ground.
Lying on the ground, suffering from internal injuries, he said, "Fourth Prince, I'm so heavy... Can you get up...?"
Dugu Jing silently stood up, and I let out a sigh of relief...
Suddenly, his body was lifted into the air. "Ah..."
A rain of arrows suddenly appeared, swish, swish, swish, shooting incessantly.
His face turned pale instantly. "What do we do?"
Dugu Jing looked down at me and said, "Don't be afraid, close your eyes."
I closed my eyes as I listened to his words, and could only hear the whistling sound of arrows passing by my ears, which thrilled my little heart.
Dugu Jing shielded the person in his arms with his arms, his cold gaze sweeping around.
He leaped into the air and kicked the arrow away. Instantly, it changed direction and bounced back.
The archers hiding in the trees all fell down.
Dugu Jing's expression changed, and he carried the person onto his horse.
It felt less noisy now. I slowly opened my eyes.
"Fourth Prince, are we safe now?"
Dugu Jing pursed his lips and stared ahead without saying a word.
Suddenly the horse stopped.
I was grabbed by Dugu Jing and pulled off my horse.
"What's wrong?"
Dugu Jing pulled out a dagger.
"you……"
The horse let out a painful roar to the sky, its hind legs buckled, and it slowly bled to death.
I looked at him in astonishment: "You, you..." How could you be so cruel?
"Hurry up..." My hand was grabbed tightly, and I ran after him.
They finally escaped to a hillside.
I looked at his calm demeanor.
"That one was treated with Murraya paniculata, so it can be tracked. It's also particularly sensitive to the scent of wisteria, which is very attractive to it."
I suddenly understood; the horse would lead us to the meadow with the little purple flowers. Ah, I see… My expression changed. “Who is it?”
Dugu Jing leaned against the hillside, pursing his lips and remaining silent.
My eyes lit up, and I immediately understood. "It's the First Prince, isn't it?" I suddenly realized that this trip to Chuzhou wouldn't be so simple...
Dugu Jing suddenly turned his head: "I'll give you a guard. You leave. Don't go."
I looked at him firmly, meeting his bright, deep eyes: "I will not leave."
We stared at each other, no more than a foot apart. Neither of us was willing to back down.
Suddenly, I heard a rustling sound of footsteps.
Her head was pressed down by two hands, and she nestled tightly against his warm chest.
She looked up at him with her lowered eyes. Her expression remained unchanged, and she held her breath silently.
I could hear his heartbeat clearly, one beat at a time.
Dugu Jing's eyes darted around, and his hand instinctively grabbed the grass beside him.
Do you have any over here?
"No, there's only a dead horse."
"Damn it, looks like we've been found out..."
"Let's go look over there!"
I waited for a long time.
I looked up. My patience wearing thin, I said, "Your Highness, they've left."
"Oh." Dugu Jing slowly released his grip. "Get up."
I patted the grass off my clothes: "Thank you, Your Highness..."
Dugu Jing glanced at me: "Let's go."
I touched him as I followed behind.
My legs are about to break from walking. "Your Highness, do you remember the way?"
Dugu Jing turned around and glanced at the cave not far away: "Let's go there and wait for them to come looking for us."
We sat around the campfire. I glanced at him sideways. "Fourth Prince, we're not going to spend the night here, are we?"
Dugu Jing: "I don't know."
I continued, "Isn't it always a bad idea for a lone man and woman to be together?"
Dugu Jing suddenly turned his head, startling me for a moment. He looked me over and said, "Don't worry."
I bit my lip and glanced down at myself. Then I looked at Dugu Jing, lay down on the spot, and closed my eyes.
Dugu Jing turned to look at the person with their eyes closed. With a slight movement of his hand, his outer robe flew over and gently landed on the person sleeping on the ground.
He twitched his brow slightly and pulled open his collar, revealing a large, bloodied wound with a broken arrowhead still embedded in the flesh.
Author's Note:
Merry Christmas! There will be another update later...
Chapter 20 Arrow Wound
Dugu Jing gritted his teeth and slashed the wound with his dagger. He quickly pulled out the arrow. Enduring the pain, he took out a white bottle from his clothes and poured yellow powder onto the wound.
After the bandage was finished, a layer of sweat had seeped onto his forehead. His lips were pale. He slowly got up and walked to the sleeping person's side, silently watching the flushed face illuminated by the firelight.
He reached out and slowly placed his hand on it.
After a while...
He whispered, "Coco..."
The sleeping person's brows furrowed slightly, and their body stirred.
He quickly withdrew his hand. He returned to the side, looked up at the sky, and slowly closed his eyes.
I never expected to sleep so soundly under these circumstances. I got up, stretched, glanced at the figure not far away, and walked over.
Dugu Jing was still sitting upright; if it weren't for his closed eyes, one would have thought he was meditating.
"Fourth Prince, Fourth Prince..." I called softly.
Dugu Jing paused for a moment, then slowly opened his eyes.