Zhan Xinjia didn't know where to run, as she was unfamiliar with the area, so she decided to just run first and figure things out later.

Shen Suqing, who was being carried horizontally by her, was still in shock. He was bewildered and confused, unable to understand why he was being carried by Azhi, or why Azhi could carry him so far.

This...this isn't right.

No matter what, it should be him holding Ah Zhi...

Perhaps noticing the young man's restrained expression and embarrassed face, Zhan Xinjia, while fleeing for his life, took the time to offer him a few words of heartfelt comfort.

"Oh, Lord Shen, when you're running for your life, don't worry about your pride or what's going on between you and me. I don't care about this or that. Even if you're an animal, you have to save your life first!"

really.

Shen Suqing fell silent.

Although the words are rough but the principle is sound, Ah Zhi's words are just too rough...

He clearly tried to teach her properly, but it seems like the child's behavior is getting worse and worse...

Well, she's just a simple young girl, standing there like a little cake. What could she have done wrong? She must have been corrupted by some wicked people in the past.

Poor Ah Zhi, despicable villain!

Shen Suqing pursed his lips, and in a fit of anger, he snapped.

Looking back on the events of the past few days, it felt like a series of nightmares. Since Jiangyuan County, things had been anything but peaceful, but thankfully, he had the reliable Azhi by his side, and everything turned out alright.

I have to say, finding her was like finding a ghost...

After running for an unknown amount of time, the view gradually opened up, and the sound of the pursuing horses' hooves gradually faded and disappeared.

At Shen Suqing's insistence, Zhan Xinjia finally put him down on the ground.

They must have been chased to a desolate mountain in the suburbs. All around them were dead trees, weeds, and jagged rocks. There wasn't even a path to walk on. Zhan Xinjia could only walk ahead and use his dagger to cut through the waist-high weeds to barely make a way.

Not long after walking, a large grove of towering trees rose from the ground not far ahead. The dense branches crisscrossed, almost blocking out all the sunlight in the forest, making the woods look particularly eerie and gloomy. What was even more strange was that there wasn't a single bird chirping.

It doesn't look like a decent place at all.

What can we do? Going back the way we came would be suicide, so we might as well go all out.

It's almost June, the beginning of summer, but walking under the shade of the trees still feels chilly with a gust of wind.

The soil beneath our feet was damp and muddy, and the dead trees along the way looked as if they had been soaked in water for years, rotting and covered with mushrooms. From time to time, the air was filled with the stench of maggots infesting animal carcasses.

Zhan Xinjia rubbed his arms and silently pinched his nose.

That was bad enough, but to make matters worse, before they had been looking for a long time, it started to rain.

Zhan Xinjia was somewhat disarmed.

No way, who wrote this "it always rains when you're being chased" trope?!

So you're just going to disregard people's lives just to create a better atmosphere?

She cursed inwardly, but the most important thing right now was to find shelter from the rain. If she caught a chill from the rain, it would be fine if it was Little Shen who got sick, but what if it was her who got sick—

Zhan Xinjia guessed that the moment she fainted, Lord Shen was snatched away and eaten alive by a wild beast.

As she was lost in her wild, unrestrained thoughts, the rain suddenly stopped.

Zhan Xinjia looked up in confusion and saw that it was Lord Shen who had taken off his outer robe and held it over her head to shield her from the wind and rain.

Seeing the little girl staring blankly up at him, blinking her eyes, looking so well-behaved, Chen Suqing felt as if a ball of fresh, fluffy cotton had been stuffed into his heart, warm and soft.

Her small face, no bigger than the palm of his hand, had chubby cheeks, and he could even recall the texture of her skin, like milk jelly, when he kissed her.

Shen Suqing's ear tips turned a little red.

cough…

Forcing himself to clear his mind, he subtly pulled her closer to him, reaching out to loosely embrace her shoulder until he completely enveloped her under his robes.

The raindrops pattered on my robe, making a noisy sound.

Zhan Xinjia leaned closer to him without making it obvious, and in response, the young man tightened his grip on her shoulders.

The two huddled together for warmth. The warmth emanating from him dispelled the chill, and their stiff and cold limbs gradually warmed up. Zhan Xinjia nestled softly against him, her eyes unconsciously curving upwards.

Strangely enough, she actually felt very safe standing next to Little Shen, who could kill twenty people with a single punch...

It's no exaggeration to say that if she were to do that to him, he would owe her ten lives.

Moreover, even in such a miserable state, she still had the leisure to think that it was fortunate that Lord Shen was not one of those "cold-faced princes," "domineering crown princes," or "wicked regents" written in storybooks.

These individuals are most likely born with a cold constitution, either having a body temperature as cold as ice all year round, or suffering from cold toxins.

Unlike her husband, Xiao Shen, who always smells warm and fragrant.

Although she was just a tasteless and vicious female supporting character in the story, putting aside all the settings, she felt that Lord Shen perfectly met all her expectations of the one and only male lead in her mind.

Lord Shen isn't the kind of person with a cool, icy expression; on the contrary, he smiles more often.

When he's happy, he'll laugh with her without any inhibitions; when he's sad, he won't let his negative emotions affect others.

He was warm, kind, tolerant, calm, and spoke softly. Being with him always felt like a warm breeze coming from the flower-selling alley when swallows were chirping in spring.

His father was a blacksmith and his mother ran a tofu stall. He had no distinguished family background; he was just an ordinary country scholar who had passed the imperial examinations.

Perhaps it is precisely because he lacks the background of a wealthy family and the so-called mysterious past that, even though he has now risen to the rank of first-grade official and is the Crown Prince's advisor, he has no airs of superiority.

You can still feel his inherent warmth and sincerity, and his most genuine and approachable nature.

Lord Shen never thought of things like "a gentleman keeps away from the kitchen" or "a civil official's hands are for handling official business."

He would bake pastries for her, research cat food with her, and sit with her in the sun, eating sunflower seeds and daydreaming. Washing clothes and cooking were the simplest and most ordinary daily tasks for him, and taking care of her was also something he did naturally.

Unlike the male protagonists in other stories, he wasn't a martial arts master; he was just an incredibly weak civil official.

Occasionally a bit old-fashioned, a bit pedantic, and a bit arrogant.

Most of the time, he still needs her to protect him.

But Zhan Xinjia didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

The road ahead is uncertain, shrouded in mist and haze.

With pursuers at their rear, there was nowhere left to retreat.

Trapped in this desolate and remote place, walking in the rain, Zhan Xinjia, who was being carefully protected in his arms, felt no panic at all, but instead became more and more at ease.

His robes, held up like a small umbrella in a vast, boundless world, sheltered both of them.

Even if the two are just insignificant passersby in other people's stories, forgotten side stories, and unimportant supporting characters, as the two cooks at Kofukuji said...

I don't care about this or that, it's none of your business.

The rain intensified, and the wind grew fiercer.

The already muddy path became even more difficult to walk on. Looking ahead, the visibility in the woods was extremely low. Looking up, one could only vaguely see a strange green light through the thick rain curtain.

etc……

Green light? What green light?

Zhan Xinjia tilted his head.

The instant the green dot began to move towards them, alarm bells rang in her mind, and with lightning speed, she decisively pushed the young Master Shen beside her aside.

In an instant, a towering figure, as imposing as a mountain, lunged straight at her!

The man was nearly two meters tall, with shoulders as strong as an ox's, and one of his fists was as thick as Zhan Xinjia's waist. Even though she managed to deflect the force of his lunge and dodge, the impact still left her hands numb.

The stench grew stronger in the rain, and the monster dripped thick, foul-smelling saliva, its eerie green eyes fixed on the person before it.

Upon closer inspection, his body showed signs of decay. He had bald patches on his head, several pieces of skin had fallen off his face, revealing the grotesque veins and flesh beneath, several bloody holes in his waist, his left eyeball drooping halfway out of its socket, and only bare white bone remained of his right knee.

It's no exaggeration to say that he was a living corpse.

It seems this is the first person to be bitten to death by a dog.

Covered in mud, Zhan Xinjia sighed and got up from the ground, casually wiping the rainwater off his face.

Well, she has to work overtime again. She's such a jinx.

The howling rain and gale affected her vision and hearing. The surrounding tree branches swayed like ghosts dancing. She could no longer tell where she had pushed Master Shen in her panic.

But it's better that he's not by her side, otherwise she would have another weakness and vulnerability.

Thinking of this, Zhan Xinjia couldn't help but shout desperately in all directions.

"Don't worry about me, you should go quickly, Master Shen!"

Holy crap, Mr. Shen, get out of here! Don't stay here and hold me back!!