Leaning against the stone wall, Cui Yunchu felt that now was the right time for her to wake up.
Her eyelashes fluttered, and she let out a soft moan.
"Leave her be," a man's cold and deep voice suddenly rang out.
"..." Cui Yunchu immediately opened her eyes and spoke in a weak voice, "Are you... talking about me?"
In this desolate wilderness, they were just going to leave her here alone?
How could Shen Xiabai say something so cold and heartless?
"She's awake," Yu Feng said.
"The Master isn't blind." Another guard nearby nudged Yu Feng's arm. Yu Feng immediately looked a bit embarrassed and silently took a step back.
The Master hated the Cui family the most.
Shen Xiabai turned his head to look at Cui Yunchu. His sharp eyes seemed to easily see through people's disguises, and a hint of a sneer was hidden on his lips.
"Eldest Miss Cui woke up at a very opportune time."
"..." Cui Yunchu tried her best to muster a bright smile. "Although I may not be very likable, my luck has never been bad."
Shen Xiabai let out a soft, cold snort.
The light was dim. The torches in the guards' hands cast a red glow on his chiseled face, adding a touch of gloomy eeriness to him.
Cui Yunchu said, "Lord Shen, you are kind and virtuous. Could you take me with you?"
She clutched her chest, her breath as weak as a gossamer thread.
"As you just said, after all... cough, cough... I braved the rain to save your life."
She leaned against a rock, looking so weak that she might pass out at any moment. Even the guards beside them couldn't help but feel a bit of pity.
Yu Feng spoke up, "Master, how about... we take her with us? It's no trouble."
Shen Xiabai shifted his gaze to Yu Feng. His look was very indifferent, but it instantly made Yu Feng's scalp tingle.
"My book is missing."
Shen Xiabai's tone was very light, but Yu Feng and the others immediately changed their expressions.
The Master's book was left to him by the previous head of the family. It was the Master's life.
"Yu Feng, take some men to find it. You must bring it back to the manor."
"Yes." Yu Feng didn't dare to delay at all. After asking about the situation at the time, he took two men and left.
Seeing that everyone was about to leave, Cui Yunchu grew anxious. "What about me?"
Had all her humble and flattering words of respect been for nothing?
Shen Xiabai turned back to look at her, and Cui Yunchu added, "Even if you just take me out of here and throw me outside, that's fine too."
She wasn't picky.
Shen Xiabai replied, "If we hadn't fallen down, would I have needed you to save me?"
Cui Yunchu, "..." That actually made sense.
"However..." He suddenly changed the subject and said, "I am not a cold-hearted person. Didn't I bring you down from halfway up the mountain?"
Cui Yunchu, "..." That also made sense. She couldn't refute it.
"Then Lord Shen should see a good deed through to the end. I will certainly remember Lord Shen's kindness today."
"That won't be necessary." Shen Xiabai smiled chillingly. "I'm afraid... that Eldest Miss Cui will curse me to an early grave."
"..."
When it came to understanding her in this regard, Shen Xiabai had every right to speak.
Cui Yunchu put on a smile. "How could that be? What kind of person do you think I am, Lord Shen?"
"'I'?" Shen Xiabai curled his lips. "That sounds a bit familiar... Oh, I remember now. Earlier, Eldest Miss Cui called me a 'little thing'..."
"..." Cui Yunchu closed her eyes. The reckoning had come too fast.
"This place is deserted, and there might be wild beasts roaming around. If Lord Shen leaves a young lady like me here alone, and I encounter tigers or leopards, wouldn't your conscience be troubled?"
"Besides, if the elders in my family investigate even a little, they will know that I fell off the cliff with you. If I die a tragic death while you remain safe and sound, aren't you afraid that the charge of murder will fall upon you and ruin your official career?"
Shen Xiabai's gaze had turned from playful to cold the moment Cui Yunchu mentioned the Cui family.
He bent down halfway, as if to get a clear look at Cui Yunchu's features, and said coldly, "Cui Yunchu, do all of you in the Cui family love to twist the truth like this?"
Cui Yunchu's heart grew a bit cold.
Shen Xiabai straightened up and looked down at her. "Does Eldest Miss Cui have anything else to say? If not, I am going back to wash up, eat, and rest early."
To survive, Cui Yunchu could be flexible and temporarily throw away her pride, but she couldn't throw away the backbone of the Cui clan.
She lowered her head and remained silent, tears falling patter-patter. "I have one last sentence. Please remember it, Lord Shen."
She lifted her tear-stained face, which looked a bit ugly, and said, "You'd better pray to all the gods to bless me so I don't die. Otherwise, even as a ghost, I won't let off the person who caused my death."
She bit her lip, her body trembling slightly, looking wronged and pitiful.
Shen Xiabai stared at her for a moment, and then his gaze fell on the teardrop on her chin.
Her chin was slightly pointed, and the water droplet hung there, about to fall but not quite, washing away the dirt in that spot.
The image of her dragging him along with a bloodstained face once again surfaced in Shen Xiabai's mind.
As well as the sorrow and grief in her constant sleep-talking, and her repeated cries of 'Auntie'.
Shen Xiabai stood there, his gaze dazed, motionless for a long while. Cui Yunchu almost thought her last tactic had worked, but then she saw the man standing before her with his hands behind his back suddenly turn around and walk away decisively.
"..." How could this be? She had clearly seen a trace of wavering and pity in his eyes just a moment ago.
"Hey, are you really just going to leave me?"
Cui Yunchu's voice didn't slow the departing man's footsteps by even half a beat. She could only watch helplessly as the few of them slowly disappeared from her sight.
She couldn't help but choke out a sob. This time, she wasn't pretending; it was real. She was both scared and feeling deeply wronged.
It was already the dead of night, and it was pitch black all around, so dark she couldn't see her own fingers. The only sounds were the chirping of insects and the occasional cry of a bird, which made Cui Yunchu's heart tremble even more.
"Shen Xiabai, you really are my nemesis. You cold-hearted, unfeeling thing. When I get back, I will definitely pray to all the gods to curse you."
As she spoke, she staggered to her feet and wobbled along in the direction the man had left.
Hidden behind the stone wall, the man had the corners of his lips half-curled. He listened to the woman's cursing finish before he took a step and continued walking forward.
A guard beside him said, "Master, this place is secluded. Do you want your subordinate to get rid of that Miss Cui?"
Being surnamed Cui was bad enough, but she actually dared to curse the Master behind his back.
Shen Xiabai shot a sidelong glance at his subordinate and said nonchalantly, "If curses were of any use, the Cui family wouldn't exist."
Bothering to argue with a woman over words was beneath his dignity.
Shen Xiabai would walk for a bit and then stop to rest, claiming that he was injured and needed a break.
And Cui Yunchu, who was lagging a distance behind, walked and cried, cried and cursed.
When her body really couldn't take it anymore, she would even squat on the ground and crawl forward.
"He really left. He actually left me behind. A seven-foot-tall man, without the slightest demeanor of a gentleman. What 'surpassing literary talent'? I think what he read growing up wasn't the Book of Rites, but the Book of Scum."
Cui Yunchu never held her tongue, cursing all the way. But fortunately, she held on by a single breath and didn't completely pass out.
The torches ahead had long turned into tiny specks of starlight, but barely, Cui Yunchu was able to keep up, avoiding getting lost at the bottom of the pitch-black cliff.
