Swish, swish.
Two arrows pierced the chests of the squad leader and the thick-lipped man, respectively.
The remaining four men looked terrified and hurriedly fired their arrows toward the source of the sound.
The deaths of the squad leader and his companion threw them into a panic, greatly diminishing their archery skills. Moreover, the pitch-black night and the vast distance made it impossible to see any figures. They could only rely on sound to aim, completely missing their targets.
Two more men were struck by arrows and died.
Terrified, the last two men dared not show their heads again, hiding beneath the parapets of the city wall.
Yao Ji slung his bow over his back and sprinted to the gatehouse, sending a soldier standing there flying with a single thrust of his weapon.
Xie Nanxiao halted the carriage, grabbed his Panlong spear, and scaled the city wall. Before long, agonizing screams echoed across the north gate.
Yao Ji dismounted, but his legs gave way. The world spun around him, and with a heavy thud, he collapsed to the ground.
When Xie Nanxiao came down, he didn't hear the sound of the gate opening. His heart skipped a beat, but the light was too dim to see clearly.
He hurried forward, only spotting the blurry figure lying on the ground when he got close. Old Yao, what's wrong?
Only after helping the man up did he realize his body temperature was frighteningly hot. He touched Yao Ji's forehead—sure enough, he had a fever!
By the roadside near Mount Changyu.
Dong Si stood by the road, occasionally peering toward Liang City. Mosquitoes and bugs had bitten him all over, and he scratched at the welts absentmindedly.
A carriage was parked in the dense woods by the road. Inside, Feng Qingzhu and Liu Mi were equally anxious and uneasy.
They knew very well that without Princess Jinyang and Zhou Sui, the three of them wouldn't survive even two days in this chaotic world on their own.
Feng Qingzhu bit her lip and asked softly, Are you scared?
Liu Mi fell silent. After a long while, she sighed, I am. I just hope everything goes smoothly for them.
This echoed Feng Qingzhu's own thoughts, and the two women fell silent.
I think I hear hoofbeats! Dong Si's excited voice rang out.
The two women jolted to attention, yet they were extremely nervous, terrified that the approaching riders weren't their own people.
Liu Mi hurriedly called out, Eunuch Dong, hurry and come hide.
Dong Si didn't need her reminder; he had already crouched in the roadside grass, listening intently to the hoofbeats.
The sound grew closer and closer. The hearts of the three leaped into their throats.
Eunuch Dong. Zhou Sui's familiar voice suddenly rang out.
Overjoyed, Dong Si leaped out of the grass and shouted, I'm here, I'm here!
Zhou Sui pulled the reins and slowly came to a halt. The carriage following behind also stopped.
Dong Si took a few quick steps forward. Where is the Lady? Who is this? Is the Lady in the carriage?
Although the night was hazy, Dong Si's eyes had adjusted, and he could vaguely tell that the tall figure driving the carriage was definitely not Jiang Jin.
Zhou Sui replied, No, the Lady is behind us. I'll explain the rest later. Where is your carriage? Drive it onto the road first. As soon as everyone is here, we'll set off immediately.
Though anxious at not seeing Jiang Jin, Dong Si knew this wasn't the time to ask questions.
Without wasting words, he quickly drove the carriage hidden in the dense woods onto the middle of the road.
Just as he steadied the carriage, he heard hoofbeats again. His face lit up with joy, and he hurriedly got off to stand in the road, looking toward the sound.
Seeing them from a distance, Jiang Jin took off her night vision goggles and stored them away in her spatial dimension.
Approaching and seeing only Zhou Sui and Dong Si, she couldn't help but frown. It seemed Yao Ji and Xie Nanxiao hadn't arrived yet.
Tears of excitement welled up in Dong Si's eyes as he ran forward. Lady, Lady, are you alright?
Jiang Jin pursed her lips. I'm fine. Two people are still missing. We'll wait for fifteen minutes.
Zhou Sui nodded, understanding her meaning. If Yao Ji and his companion didn't arrive within fifteen minutes, they would have to leave first.
This place was too close to Liang City; they could easily be discovered and caught by the Jiaoren.
Looking at the three horses trailing behind Jiang Jin, Zhou Sui couldn't help but ask, Lady, these horses?
Jiang Jin waved her hand. They followed on their own.
It was only after she had walked a distance that she realized Little Red had brought two friends along in a buy-one-get-two-free deal.
Zhou Sui's mouth twitched, and after a long moment, he managed to squeeze out, They have good taste.
Dong Si was delighted. The Lady is truly amazing.
Jiang Jin waved her hand dismissively. Just average.
Chen Xi entered the carriage holding a waterskin. Wuniang, are you in pain? Have some water.
Chen Zi leaned against Luo Qingci, her voice weak. Alright.
Luo Qingci took the waterskin and slowly fed her the water.
Chen Xi then handed a bottle of wound medicine to Luo Qingci. This is wound medicine. Lady Luo, please help my sister apply it.
Chen Zi didn't just have injuries in her private areas; her body was also covered in pinch marks and bite wounds.
Having suffered similar hardships, Luo Qingci understood Chen Zi's pain. She took the medicine and softly comforted her, Okay, rest assured.
A candle was quickly lit inside. With the carriage walls and curtains blocking it, the light was hardly noticeable from the outside.
Otherwise, they really wouldn't have dared to light a lamp, given how close they were to Liang City.
As they were talking, the sound of hoofbeats approached.
Joy appeared on Jiang Jin's face, but when she saw a horse trailing behind a carriage, she knew something must have happened to Yao Ji.
Sure enough, Xie Nanxiao's anxious voice rang out: Old Yao has a fever.
Jiang Jin frowned. Once the carriage stopped, she quickly jumped down and went forward to check the situation.
Her eyes had adjusted to the dark. By the hazy moonlight, she saw that Xie Nanxiao's carriage was packed with dark, bulky items, knowing they were the gold, silver, and grain from the cellar.
Yao Ji was curled up, leaning against the pile. However, his pants looked very strange, tied off in sections like a lotus root.
She reached out and felt them, quickly realizing that the lumps in his trouser legs were gold cakes. She didn't know what to say; to be so badly injured and still not forget to hoard wealth, there was truly no one else like him.
She touched his forehead—it was indeed burning hot, probably close to 40 degrees Celsius.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was looking, she slipped a fever reducer and an anti-inflammatory pill into Yao Ji's mouth, then turned to instruct the others.
Move young General Yao to your carriage, Dong Si. Lady Feng and Lady Liu, please help take care of him.
Understood, the group replied.
Feng Qingzhu and Liu Mi had already jumped down from their carriage.
Zhou Sui moved quickly, picking Yao Ji up in his arms and carrying him into Dong Si's carriage.
Watching Zhou Sui carry him in a bridal style, Jiang Jin couldn't help but twitch the corner of her eye. She admitted her thoughts were a bit inappropriate.
Candlelight soon flickered inside the carriage. Zhou Sui and Xie Nanxiao quickly cleaned Yao Ji's blood, stopped his bleeding, applied medicine, and changed his clothes.
Seeing the gold cakes clattering down from Yao Ji's trouser legs onto the carriage floor, Zhou Sui pursed his lips and glanced out of the corner of his eye at Xie Nanxiao's trouser legs.
Xie Nanxiao explained in a low voice, We can't just let the Lady support us, so...
Zhou Sui grunted an mm in understanding, secretly wondering to himself if he should also get his hands on some valuables.
Both were military men, so they were highly adept at this kind of simple bleeding control and medicine application, working with great speed.
When everything was done, Yao Ji's body was still burning hot. Neither of them said anything more.
They were well aware that under these circumstances, there was no way to find him a doctor, nor the time to prescribe and brew medicinal herbs. It was all up to his own resilience now.
Dong Si followed beside Jiang Jin. Lady, I'll drive the carriage for you in a bit so you can get a good night's sleep.
Jiang Jin asked, What about your carriage? Who will drive it?
I will, Zhou Sui said, washing his hands with a waterskin. The Princess was of noble and precious status, and still young; she indeed needed rest at night.
Jiang Jin thought about it and agreed. Her body was frail, and right now she truly felt exhausted and aching all over.
The carriage convoy slowly set off.
