Chapter 55 055 Yue Hong grabbed his pants waistband, gritting his teeth: "You..."

In broad daylight, under the clear blue sky.

A slap sent countless birds flying from the stream.

Yue Hongjun turned his face to the side, revealing a bright red handprint on his cheek.

Whether this was the first time in his life that the dignified Third Prince of Yong Kingdom had been slapped, Yue Hong did not get angry. He seemed to be still in a daze, raising his hand to cover his cheek and staring blankly at her.

When this guy dragged her over, Lu Yuanyuan's knees had nowhere to touch the ground, and in her haste, she could only kneel with her thighs slightly apart from Yue Hong's. At this moment, her thighs were pressed tightly against his, separated only by two layers of clothing, and she could clearly feel the taut, strong muscles that he had developed from years of riding and archery. Because of this position, she was now taller than him.

Lu Yuanyuan frowned unhappily, looked down at him, and asked, "Does your face hurt?"

Actually, her hands were also numb from the shaking, but she didn't show it. She just put her hands behind her back and rubbed them quietly to relieve the feeling.

Yue Hong paused for a moment, then nodded, his eyes still fixed on her.

"That means you're not dreaming." Lu Yuanyuan glared, reached out, pinched his cheeks, and pulled them apart: "Wake up!"

Before, she was under someone else's roof and had no choice but to bow her head. Not only did she have to pretend to be a submissive princess every day, but she also endured countless pinches on her cheeks from this guy. Now, she could finally flatten and smooth his face and get her revenge, standing tall and proud.

However, in terms of feel, Yue Hong's face wasn't as easy to pinch as hers; it was more bone than flesh. She was at a disadvantage.

However, her hand was pressed down after only a moment. Yue Hong circled her wrist, finally finding his voice: "You...you're still alive? Where have you been for the past three years?"

Yue Hong is a prince of the mortal realm and also one of the forces in this war. According to the Shu Mountain's rule of keeping a low profile, especially since Qi Chang and others are also traveling with them, she shouldn't say that she is a Shu Mountain cultivator.

Otherwise, once she rejoins the main group, Yue Hong will definitely guess that everyone in her group is a cultivator from Mount Shu.

She was willing to believe that Yue Hong wouldn't harm her, but he was still a prince of Yong Kingdom, and three years ago, the condition for letting her go was that she wouldn't betray her country. Revealing her companion's identity all at once seemed inappropriate.

Lu Yuanyuan thought for a moment, then crawled back on her knees, freeing herself from between his thighs. She shook her wrist, which was still being held, and said, "That's a long story. Let go of me first, and I'll bandage your wound while I tell you."

Yue Hong hesitated for a moment, glanced around, reluctantly let go of his hand, and uttered a single word: "Speak!"

Lu Yuanyuan filled a pot with clean water from the river, turned her back to Yue Hong, set up a fire, boiled the water, and then threw in gauze to sterilize it. As she spoke casually, she said, "That night, after I was swept away by a monster, I thought I was going to die, but unexpectedly, I met a hermit master along the way and was saved. However, I was also poisoned by that monster. Fortunately, the master was kind-hearted and took me to a secluded paradise, where an old man healed my wounds. Coincidentally, during that time, the mortal world was searching for me extensively, so I simply stayed there. Today is the first time I've returned to Yong Kingdom."

Yue Hong squinted: "What reclusive master? What paradise?"

Lu Yuanyuan sighed, "Alas, don't ask about this. I also want to tell you, but I have already promised the expert and the old man that I can't say anything carelessly."

Yue Hong: "..."

Not wanting him to pry, and just as the food was cooked, Lu Yuanyuan quickly stopped him, saying, "Alright, alright, I'm going to start cleaning your wound now, you still need stitches."

After being dragged around, Yue Hong's pants had been pulled up a little, covering his waist again.

Seeing Lu Yuanyuan unabashedly reach out, hook her hand around his waistband, and pull it down, Yue Hong's eyes twitched with alarm. He swiftly moved to block her hand. But the next second, with a "slap," his hand was forcefully slapped away: "Don't cover yourself!"

Yue Hong took a deep breath, his face darkening. He gripped his pants tightly, gritting his teeth, "Are you even a woman?!"

“Yes, I am. If you’re uncomfortable, you can treat me like a stone.” Lu Yuanyuan was not bothered at all. She stared at him and said, “I carried you from such a dangerous place to a place with water. Do you think I did it just for fun?”

She paused, then a look of realization dawned on her face: "Or is it that you're just afraid of pain?"

Yue Hong's expression turned slightly strange. His fingers twitched, but after hearing her last sentence, he released her hand and gave a cold laugh: "What a joke. You think I'm afraid of pain?"

Before he could finish speaking, he felt a chill on his waist and abdomen, and his crotch was already exposed.

Yue Hong: "..."

Lu Yuanyuan picked up the bottle of strong liquor beside her and shook it. Fortunately, Yue Hong only spat out a small mouthful, so there wasn't much waste; half of it remained. She pulled out the stopper and instructed, "I'm going to clean you now; it will hurt a little, so bear with it."

Yue Hong remained silent.

As if to prove his claim that he wasn't afraid of pain, Lu Yuanyuan clearly saw his abdominal muscles tense up, his thighs twitch, and his fingers dig forcefully into the grass as the strong liquor washed over his wounds, yet he never cried out in pain.

Lu Yuanyuan knew he was in pain and didn't want to delay. She quickly took out the boiled cotton thread and needles, bent over, and began stitching his wound. To distract Yue Hong, she said, "I know that Yong and Yan are at war. How did you end up lying there alone? Wasn't anyone protecting you?"

After listening to Yue Hong's account, she learned that last night, on his way back to the city to rest, he encountered a perilous ambush in the valley. All of Yue Hong's personal guards had been killed, and only he had managed to break through the encirclement.

After Yue Hong finished speaking, the stitching was complete. He was covered in sweat, took a breath, and asked, "Is healing people also a skill you learned from that master?"

“Yes.” Lu Yuanyuan lowered her head and tied the knot carefully.

The worst was over. Yue Hong leaned against the rock, looked up at the sky for a moment, and then glanced down. Lu Yuanyuan had poured him wine earlier, and because he hadn't taken his pants off completely, his crotch was inevitably soaked. The strong aroma of the liquor masked the smell of sweat, and the wet fabric outlined the contours of his thighs.

Yue Hong paused, then awkwardly bent his other leg, leaned forward slightly, rested his elbow on his knee, and casually looked away.

Lu Yuanyuan's attention was focused on his waist, so she didn't notice anything amiss and finished bandaging him. Since the heavy armor was no longer an option, she tossed him the leather breastplate and decided, "Rest for a while. There's something to cover us here; we'll set off later."

Yue Hong didn't argue with her and closed his eyes wearily.

Lu Yuanyuan buried the blood-stained gauze and washed her tools by the river. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed several gray-haired women, their backs hunched, carrying water jugs, coming to the river to drink. They seemed to be villagers from the neighborhood. Most of them were disabled; some were blind, others had lost an arm.

Lu Yuanyuan wanted to ask them some questions, but after observing them for a moment and seeing that they were indeed ordinary old women, she stepped forward and said, "Gentlemen..."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing the voice of a stranger, the old women trembled like startled birds.

When they discovered that Lu Yuanyuan was just a young girl, everyone was less alarmed.

Lu Yuanyuan quickly reassured them, "Grandmas, don't be afraid. I just want to ask you how long it takes to get from here to Xiangcheng?"

The old women looked at each other, and the one who seemed the boldest said, "It's far away. Go north, and you have to cross several mountains."

Lu Yuanyuan frowned. So far?

What surprised her even more was what she heard next.

The old women turned pale when they heard her description of the soldier.

It turned out that since the war between the two countries began, many people had fled into the mountains and become bandits. The number of bandits began to increase exponentially, causing considerable trouble for the government. The government ordered its soldiers to suppress the bandits, offering a reward for every head taken. Some soldiers then began to resort to crooked methods, raiding villages, targeting innocent civilians, beheading them, and then claiming they were members of a bandit gang.

Lu Yuanyuan felt a chill run down her spine, recalling the four heads she had seen last night. So, the one who shot the arrow was trying to use her head to exchange for the fifth reward!

Indeed, war is a breeding ground for evil. She hadn't expected this place to be in such chaos, and Yue Hong probably didn't know either.

An old woman caught a glimpse of Yue Hong's arm peeking out from behind a rock, sighed, and advised, "You have a man, so you should run quickly and find a way to Xiangcheng. Then the soldiers won't dare to kill people indiscriminately."

Lu Yuanyuan was stunned for a moment, wanting to refute that Yue Hong and she were not in that kind of relationship, but after thinking for a while, she kept quiet.

Forget it, save your breath. Anyway, Yue Hong is asleep, so there's no need for her to explain.

The old women fetched water and left quickly. Lu Yuanyuan sat meditating under the shade of a tree by the river, but she couldn't calm down. She looked up at the bright sky, but a dark cloud seemed to hang over her heart.

She knew, of course, that the world was just a book, but it felt so real. When she faced the cruelty and bloodshed that modern people could never witness, she couldn't help but feel compassion for those innocent people.

Two hours later, the sun shifted its position and the heat gradually subsided. But a new problem arose—Yue Hong developed a fever.

High fever, unconscious.

Mortals and cultivators are still too weak. Yue Hong's physique is already much stronger than that of ordinary people. Even after consuming the elixir and treating his wounds promptly, he still couldn't avoid a local inflammatory reaction.

Lu Yuanyuan made a quick decision and immediately followed suit, carrying Yue Hong on her back and heading towards Xiangcheng. She put Yue Hong's armor into her storage ring; without that armor, their speed should have been much faster. Unfortunately, they had only reached dusk when muffled thunder sounded in the sky, and soon after, raindrops began to fall.

Lu Yuanyuan: "..."

She calculated that, carrying the wounded and controlling the speed of her sword, it would take about two days and one night to reach Xiangcheng. Should she try anything and continue on her way, or should she take shelter from the rain first?

System: "Ding! Hidden plot [Prince] updated. Please find a safe place to avoid the search for Yue Hong by Yong Kingdom soldiers within seven days."

How to evade the search by Yong Kingdom soldiers?

Isn't Yue Hong a prince of Yong Kingdom? He's gone missing, and someone's coming to look for him. Isn't that a good thing?

Lu Yuanyuan frowned for a moment, then understood.

Yes, Yong Kingdom has more than one prince. A prince with a chance to ascend the throne is undoubtedly a thorn in the side of many. The system said this because the soldiers who have a chance to find Yue Hong within seven days are not on his side.

As soon as they find Yue Hong, they will take the opportunity to kill him.

No wonder Yue Hong's expression was so gloomy when he recounted his ambush. He probably sensed something was amiss too.

Without further hesitation, Lu Yuanyuan successfully found a sheltered spot with roofs over her head before the torrential rain arrived—a dimly lit village.

The war lasted for three years, and many villages on the border were deserted. Many people had migrated north, leaving empty houses everywhere. Lu Yuanyuan found a relatively clean house, had Yue Hong lie down on the bed, checked his wounds to make sure there was no bleeding, and then fed him some water and a pill to fill his stomach.

In the cultivation world, there are only hemostatic pills and blood-stasis-removing pills. If there's blood loss, you can stop the bleeding like turning off a tap. But there's no specific medicine for fever.

After doing all this, Lu Yuanyuan set up a barrier, pulled up a chair, sat down with her back against the bed, and closed her eyes to rest.