Chapter 42 If Wan Yiren is still alive, is he seeing things? ...

Zhao Shuyi dared not look down the cliff, but she also dared not look away, in case a poisonous snake was lurking below.

She looked around and, seeing nothing unusual, breathed a sigh of relief.

But as soon as she moved, her legs started to go weak, and the place where she had twisted her leg before was also in excruciating pain.

As she considered all the possibilities, Zhao Shuyi's eyes involuntarily blurred.

How terrifying.

She never wants to come to these places again.

I originally thought that having the space would ensure everything was safe, but I didn't expect it to be so dangerous.

I never imagined that there would be so many people who would harm others in this simple and honest era.

Zhao Shuyi took a breath and began to walk forward, holding onto the stone wall.

"Don't cry, crying is the most useless thing. It's good enough that you're alive..."

As Zhao Shuyi moved slowly, she observed her surroundings. She dared not grab the branches and vines, worried that they were not sturdy enough. She held onto the stone wall, keeping her body close to it as much as possible, while mentally encouraging herself.

Since she came into this world, she shouldn't have had an accident so soon.

It will be alright.

Zhao Shuyi finally managed to move a short distance, her back soaked with sweat.

Her head was spinning, and she felt as if she were hallucinating.

It sounded like someone was calling her.

Zhao Shuyi stopped in her tracks, her heart pounding, wondering if it was just her imagination.

She listened for a moment, and besides the howling wind, the chirping of insects and birds in the forest was the sound of her own heartbeat.

Where is anyone?

Zhao Shuyi sighed, "It seems it really was just an illusion."

She continued moving forward and heard another urgent "Zhao Shuyi".

Someone was indeed calling her.

"I'm here! Gu Yan!"

"Zhao Shuyi!"

Gu Yan, a former reconnaissance soldier, quickly located Zhao Shuyi's position. However, he couldn't possibly descend into that place unscathed, so he took a detour, wasting some time, and was also somewhat unsure of Zhao Shuyi's direction.

Suddenly, his ears twitched, as if he heard Zhao Shuyi's voice.

"Zhao Shuyi!"

"I'm here, Gu Yan! Gu Yan!"

Gu Yan was much faster than Zhao Shuyi, and he moved steadily towards the direction of the sound, step by step, close to the stone wall.

His heartbeat was even faster than his movements.

Of all the missions he'd been on, he'd never felt such an urgent urgency to end them immediately.

"Zhao Shuyi." His voice trembled slightly involuntarily.

"Gu Yan..."

Zhao Shuyi was surprised that it was true; she never expected that Gu Yan would actually find her.

Tears streamed down her face, and she could no longer see the road ahead.

But she kept moving forward, knowing that Gu Yan was just ahead.

She forgot all about the poisonous snakes and the cliffs; all she knew was that she was safe once Gu Yan arrived.

Actually, she wasn't afraid anymore, but the feeling of palpitation hadn't disappeared, and she desperately wanted to see people.

"Gu Yan..."

After she called out again, a figure appeared in front of her, somewhat blurry.

Zhao Shuyi wanted to go there immediately.

Gu Yan was startled when he saw her let go.

"Don't move, wait for me to come over."

This stretch of road was so short, yet it felt like he had walked for a very long time.

But it also felt like it happened in an instant.

He walked up to Zhao Shuyi and wiped away her tears.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here. I'll take you back."

Gu Yan took the basket from her back and slung it over his own shoulders. Then, taking her hand, he asked, "Can we walk?"

Zhao Shuyi nodded firmly, "Okay."

The two held hands and moved step by step in the direction Gu Yan had come from.

It's still quite slow.

Gu Yan was worried that Zhao Shuyi might accidentally slip and fall, but Zhao Shuyi couldn't walk fast at all. Her legs were so weak that she could hardly stand, and she was supporting herself almost entirely on Gu Yan's arm.

Her mind was still blank, but she knew she was safe.

Now all you need to do is focus on the path beneath your feet.

She didn't know how long she walked, but when Zhao Shuyi reached the woods, she was completely exhausted.

She choked up a little as she said, "Gu Yan, you really scared me to death, sob sob..."

Gu Yan gently patted her head, not wanting to scold her. "It's okay, we won't come next time."

Zhao Shuyi nodded, her lost rationality gradually returning, and then she began to recount what had happened that day.

"Gu Yan, someone is trying to harm me."

Gu Yan was startled and noticed that she was walking with a limp, so he helped her to sit down.

"Take a break and tell me slowly."

Even he himself didn't realize how cold his voice was at that moment.

“It was Cai Xiaoyue, and a man. I was picking herbs here when I noticed someone behind me, so I ran. They kept chasing me, and that's when I fell down.”

Zhao Shuyi had a lot to say. She wanted to analyze why Cai Xiaoyue was pursuing her, whether they knew she was coming here all along, and who the man was.

But her mind was in a complete mess, and she didn't know where to begin, so she spoke incoherently.

Gu Yan remained silent, which made Zhao Shuyi very uneasy.

"You...you don't believe what I'm saying?"

"No, I believe it." Gu Yan paused for a moment before saying, "I was just thinking, I saw footprints, what did that man look like?"

He had noticed more than one person's footprints earlier, one of which was clearly a man's, but he didn't expect Cai Xiaoyue to be there as well.

Zhao Shuyi recalled, "He was a very ordinary man, with a square face, not very tall, maybe... I'm not sure, about 1.7 meters. His eyes were a bit like Cai Xiaoyue's. He might be someone from her family. I would definitely recognize him if I saw him."

Gu Yan hummed in agreement. "You twisted your ankle. Do you have any other injuries?"

He squatted down in front of Zhao Shuyi and looked up, causing Zhao Shuyi's heart to skip a beat.

"No...nothing, I don't feel anything."

"It's alright, let's check again when we get back. You carry the basket, I'll carry you. We'll talk about it when we get back. I'll definitely check on Cai Xiaoyue."

“Okay.” Zhao Shuyi did not refuse. He said he would carry her on his back, so Zhao Shuyi obediently climbed onto his back.

Whether it was from the tension or not, Zhao Shuyi felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her as she lay on his broad back, and soon her breathing became steady.

Sensing her soft breathing, Gu Yan slowed his pace, his face turning terrifyingly grim.

Judging from their somewhat disordered footsteps, Cai Xiaoyue and the other girl were definitely chasing after Zhao Shuyi.

Why are they chasing after Zhao Shuyi?

And how did they know that Zhao Shuyi came to the mountain?

He had thought of everything Zhao Shuyi had thought of.

Moreover, he understands the Cai family better than Zhao Shuyi does.

Although this mountain is very close to Caijia Village, it is not the closest mountain to Caijia.

The Cai family shouldn't come to this mountain if they have no reason to. Even if they did come, there was no need for them to chase after Zhao Shuyi.

Furthermore, Zhao Shuyi has been out for quite some time now. Judging from the extent of her ankle injury and the abrasions on her body, she must have fallen down some time ago.

Why didn't Cai Xiaoyue and the others notify anyone?

Unless they did it intentionally, they didn't want to harm Zhao Shuyi.

Gu Yan didn't want to think about the worst-case scenario, but the events that happened one after another left him no choice but to think about them.

Having witnessed Xiao Liang's incident, he had no expectations of the Cai family whatsoever.

Meanwhile, the Cai family.

Cai Da and Cai Mingyue were equally terrified when they returned home.

When their family asked them what had happened, neither of them could give a clear answer.

"Little sister, what should we do? Shouldn't we go look for him? What if he's still alive..."

"If you fall from that height, you'll be crippled even if you don't die. Are you going to take responsibility then? You can go if you want, I don't know anything about it."

Cai Xiaoyue is extremely agitated right now.

Of course, things turned out the way she wanted. With that woman dead, she was quite confident that she could win Tsai Ming-liang back.

But she was worried that today's events would lead to suspicions about her.

"Go tell Mom and Dad to be careful not to let it slip that we didn't go anywhere today and stayed at home the whole time."

"This..." Cai Da still hesitated, "Will this work?"

Looking at Cai Da's pathetic state, Cai Xiaoyue wasn't really sure if she could do it. If someone asked, there might really be problems.

"Brother, it has to be done, even if it's not going to work out. Do you want to eat peanuts?"

Cai Da's pupils contracted, and he shook his head vigorously, "No, it will definitely work, it will definitely work."

The more he said that, the more uneasy Cai Xiaoyue became.

"Take some food and go stay at your sister-in-law's house for a few days. Go and appease her. The longer you stay, the better. Don't come back unless necessary."

Cai Dayi thought it was a good idea and immediately agreed.

"I'll go right now, I'll go right now..."

With Cai Da gone, the Cai family had no way of knowing what had happened.

Anyway, Cai Xiaoyue told them not to mention that they went out together in the afternoon, and they just kept quiet.

However, they forgot that they had a troublesome second daughter-in-law in their family.

The second son's wife usually liked to gossip, so she naturally wanted to know what they had gone to do that afternoon. So she took the opportunity to ask Cai Xiaoyue privately.

"Xiaoyue, did you go to take care of that matter?"

She's not stupid. These two went out together and came back looking restless. They must have gone to take care of that matter.

Cai Xiaoyue, however, was impatient and had no intention of saying anything more to her. "What is it? Second sister-in-law, I'm not feeling well. Can you please leave me alone?"

The old daughter-in-law was thus kicked out of her home.

If she had known the seriousness of the matter, she wouldn't have gone around showing it off. But now that no one was talking to her, she had an idea and went back to her parents' home that afternoon.

-

Family compound.

When Dr. Wang saw Zhao Shuyi being carried back, he was startled.

"What's going on? Put him down right now."

As he took Zhao Shuyi's pulse, he asked, "What's wrong?"

“She rolled down the hillside. Please check her over and see if there are any problems.”

Doctor Wang didn't have time to think about anything else and quickly began to examine the patient.

"Judging from her pulse, there doesn't seem to be any major problem. She was just frightened and bumped her head, but it doesn't look serious for now. We'll have to wait until she wakes up to ask her about her body."

Zhao Shuyi was actually about to wake up when she was put on the bed, but she didn't want to open her eyes because she felt tired.

Upon hearing Dr. Wang's voice, she slowly opened her eyes, her gaze sweeping over Dr. Wang and Gu Yan, before weakly greeting them.

"Little girl, where does it hurt? Did you fall?"

As a doctor, he knew whether he had any external injuries, so Dr. Wang was not too worried.

Sure enough, Zhao Shuyi shook her head and said, "It's nothing, just some superficial injuries. I twisted my ankle. Could you please apply some ointment for me, Dr. Wang?"

Doctor Wang had already seen it; he took the medicated oil and handed it directly to Gu Yan.

"Come here."

When these people go on missions, they inevitably suffer bruises and sprains, and most of them have some self-defense skills.

This sprained ankle can't be treated with just one application; I'll have to apply it again when I get back, so I just handed it over to Gu Yan.

Gu Yan didn't refuse and sat down at Zhao Shuyi's feet; he really did know how to do it.

"It might hurt a little, just bear with it."

Zhao Shuyi hummed in agreement.

Gu Yan grabbed Zhao Shuyi's foot, and Zhao Shuyi flinched uncomfortably, but the other man's strength was so great that she didn't have a chance to move.

Soon, the medicated oil was applied to her ankle, feeling cool and refreshing. As soon as Gu Yan's hand touched it, she immediately felt his warmth.

As soon as he pressed it, Zhao Shuyi hissed.

Ouch, that really hurts.

"Don't stop, keep going!"

Dr. Wang was worried that Gu Yan might not do a good job, so he kept a close eye on him.

Gu Yan glanced at Zhao Shuyi and said again, "Just bear with it."

As he spoke, he began to exert force.

Zhao Shuyi's brows furrowed in pain, and tears welled up instantly, but she didn't cry out. She knew that she needed to rub it to make it heal faster.

It was finally over, and Zhao Shuyi felt like she had lost half her life.

"Thanks."

She didn't forget to be polite.

Gu Yan was both amused and exasperated.

"You should rest well. After resting for a while, see if there's anything else that's bothering you. Once you're all better, we'll go home."

"It's alright. Aren't you very busy? You should go ahead and get busy. I know about my situation. It's nothing."

Gu Yan pursed his lips tightly, making them appear long.

His subordinates all knew that this was a sign that he was about to get angry.

Zhao Shuyi could tell that the other person seemed unhappy, but she didn't think it was her fault at all. She even advised, "Go quickly, don't delay your business."

"I took the day off, nothing's wrong."

Wang Junyi felt inexplicably superfluous and advised, "You should go back quickly, don't stay here unless it's absolutely necessary."

He told them to leave, so the two of them naturally couldn't stay any longer.

Suddenly, Zhao Shuyi remembered something and asked, "Where's my basket?"

"You still have the mind to worry about the basket?" Gu Yan said irritably, then belatedly realized he was scared, but still couldn't help but retort.

Zhao Shuyi didn't care at all.

"Go and get my basket quickly, I have something good."

Seeing her so enthusiastic, Gu Yan didn't say anything, but took the basket from her. Naturally, Dr. Wang couldn't help but peek over as well.

What he saw was quite significant.

Is he seeing things?