As he was thinking, his hand paused slightly.
"Are you worried?" Jing Lan looked at her. Since he woke up, she seemed to be perfectly fine, even able to laugh and joke with him. But if something happened at Duanfeng Mountain, not to mention her mother, even he and she might not be able to escape this calamity. Wasn't she afraid? Wasn't she worried? What power made her so calm?
He couldn't help but recall the first time he saw her. In the main hall, she had a wound on her forehead, yet she chatted and laughed as if it were nothing, effortlessly breaking Yan Zhen's carefully laid trap. At that time, was she already different in his eyes?
---Aside---
I owe another thousand words. I'll catch up this weekend. My typing speed is getting slower and slower; a thousand words an hour now.
Chapter Seventy-Seven Calamity
Chapter Title: Chapter Seventy-Seven: Calamity
An Xin pursed her lips. It was impossible not to worry, but what was the use of worrying?
An Xin didn't answer, but her gaze deepened, as if her worries were coming true...
The next day, An Xin suddenly awoke from her deep sleep to find the cave bright with light, indicating that the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared.
An Xin hurriedly got up and went outside. The valley was misty and shrouded in water vapor after the rain. Everything around her was quiet. An Xin looked at the clear blue sky and realized that she was still alive!
Anxin stepped out of the cave. Last night, there was a strong wind and heavy rain, and the surrounding area was in a mess. The river was murky and the current was rapid.
Suddenly, An Xin's gaze fell upon the carcass of an animal. The body was submerged in water, swollen and bruised—it was a wild rabbit. Finding an animal carcass in the midst of a strong wind and heavy rain was not unusual, but An Xin sensed something unusual. Ignoring Jing Lan, An Xin continued upstream along the riverbank.
The higher they went, the uglier An Xin's face became; the corpses were everywhere, a truly horrific sight!
The rocks on Duanfeng Mountain collapsed! ? But why is she still alive!
An Xin stopped and turned to walk towards the cave. Jing Lan had already woken up. It seemed that the physical resistance of martial artists was stronger than that of ordinary people. At this moment, he seemed to have become the Left Prime Minister who was admired by thousands. Although his face was a little pale, it did not affect his demeanor at all.
He saw An Xin, his eyes flickered, and An Xin asked, "Can we go?"
Jinglan nodded.
An Xin casually draped her outer robe over her shoulders. As she pulled it off, she suddenly heard a "ding" sound and something bounced off. An Xin was startled and looked over to see that it was the dust-repelling bead!
She originally thought the bead had been swept away by the undercurrent when she jumped into the water, but she didn't expect the bead to still be there. Was it because of the Dust-Avoiding Bead that she and Jing Lan were spared from danger?
Without thinking twice, An Xin picked up the beads and said, "Let's go."
Jing Lan's eyes flickered as she glanced at An Xin, then got up and walked out of the cave.
Whether An Xin was being overly sensitive or not, there seemed to be some tension and something was off between her and Jing Lan. As for what exactly the atmosphere was, she didn't want to think about it too much.
Yesterday, she was forced to have physical intimacy with him, but that was only for the purpose of saving him and had nothing to do with anything else.
The two walked at a brisk pace and soon arrived at the street. What lay before them was a horrific scene. Everyone seemed to have suddenly fallen asleep in the street, showing no sign of pain!
An Xin's face was solemn, yet she remained silent. Yesterday, the people had rioted, scrambling to leave the city gates, only to find themselves trapped and left to die in the capital. An Xin's heart pounded. Where was her mother? Would she ever see her again, only to find a corpse? Where was An Jin? This child, so young, had lost both parents, and now his life was about to be taken away? She had never given him a kind look; she simply wanted to help him grow up quickly in her own way. In this world, no one could be relied upon forever; he could only rely on himself!
Yan Zhen... An Xin never expected to think of this person, or perhaps since yesterday, she has been thinking about her, and a part of the hidden worries in her heart belong to Yan Zhen. This emotion came suddenly, but she did not realize it.
Yan Zhen should be at the East Gate. If he wanted to escape, it would be very easy. But An Xin felt that he would look for her!
An Xin turned to look at Jing Lan and said, "You're injured and have a high fever, go back and rest first. I'm fine on my own."
Jing Lan's eyes, clear and bright like a flowing spring, gazed into An Xin's eyes. An Xin seemed to have retreated a thousand miles away, speaking to him with an awkward distance. Had their shared hardships last night failed to stir even the slightest ripple in her heart? Last night, she had called him "Lan'er" with a smile, a name he found unpleasant, yet one that also pleased him. Had she, too, longed for that near-death kiss in the water? If she had been so close to him, why was she now so distant?
An Xin didn't notice Jing Lan's emotional fluctuations. Her gaze swept over each corpse, both afraid of finding it and wanting to find it. Such a state of mind was truly as tormented as the hell on earth before her.
Actually, Yan Zhen wasn't that disliked. She vividly remembered the first time she saw him: in that jade-like pavilion, the curtains were half-rolled up, and he leaned against the balustrade, languidly, his long eyelashes slightly raised as they gazed at each other. Flowers played with shadows on the path, and hibiscus bloomed beautifully in her dreams. Only these two sentences could describe her feelings!
Although he was picky and arrogant, and always had a pampered air about him, she really disliked him for a long time. But that dislike eventually turned into a memory, and whenever she thought of him, all that remained was his smiling and teasing face.
An Xin coldly scanned one corpse after another, constantly rejecting their claims. Yan Zhen's clothes and belongings were extremely luxurious and exquisite. Even in death, she probably wouldn't die in the same place as an ordinary person!
An Xin was horrified that she would have such thoughts. She had never been afraid of death, whether it was a dead person or a corpse. She seemed to have no fear of the word. But now, she was afraid of death.
Jing Lan was unaware of the subtle shifts in his eyes. Some people, once they take root in your heart, will cause pain if you try to uproot them, but he always enjoyed seeing others suffer...
The streets were full of people, yet eerily empty; this strangeness was truly astonishing!
An Xin did not panic and search through each corpse. She could recognize the people she knew at a glance. She just walked silently through the pile of corpses.
Her hands trembled slightly. She had never tested the limits of human endurance. In her past life, she had seen countless deaths, yet her life had been smooth sailing. She had close relatives and had never lost anything, not even love. She had never gained anything, and therefore had never lost anything. All of this was strange and unknown, and it was the unknown that made it terrifying.
A drop of water landed squarely on An Xin's cheek. An Xin subconsciously raised her eyelashes, her gaze passing over the roof ridge and finally settling on the top of the corner tower—a person, leaning against the top of the corner tower, the hem of their clothes fluttering in the wind, their hair like ink washes—An Xin's eyes suddenly narrowed, and her heart suddenly pounded faster.
She rarely showed her emotions, but at this moment, the joy in her eyes was as bright as the evening star.
"Yan Zhen!" An Xin's voice rose slightly, becoming a little off-key, but her clear and melodious voice carried far and wide through the quiet capital.
The figure suddenly stood up and rushed over like the wind and lightning.
Before An Xin could react, she was pulled into someone's arms. His clothes were still damp and heavy with dew, and the faint scent of incense seemed to have been overpowered by the smell of salt, making it somewhat pungent. His bony chest even made her feel a sharp pain, but what surged in her heart was something An Xin had never felt before. She was so happy.
"You..." Yan Zhen's voice choked, and he couldn't say what he wanted to say. He just felt like he was having a nightmare. He was desperately searching in the rain, but with the rain pouring down, where could he find her?
He was in despair. He couldn't believe that his feelings for her had reached such a deep level. Yet, his heart still ached with a suffocating, dull pain. Standing atop the corner tower, gazing at the desolate capital, he felt as stiff as a corpse.
He couldn't believe she was still warm in his arms!
He couldn't believe that she could see him so clearly from that distance and call his name so vividly.
All he wanted to say was, "You heartless woman!"
An Xin was almost suffocating from being strangled!