Chapter 4 Rainy Night

Although I knew it was going to rain, I didn't expect the rain to come so suddenly.

The heavy rain instantly turned the appendix path into a muddy mess. Everyone was soaked and suffered terribly.

There was no place to shelter from the rain on the road. As it was getting dark, the yamen runners held torches and shouted at everyone to hurry up. Anyone who dared to delay would be whipped.

Shen Yuexi still had a high fever, and her head was still groggy. She stepped on the muddy path, and her calf was accidentally cut by a thorn. The pain was excruciating, but she continued to walk forward, taking one deep step and one shallow step.

Behind her, some women had already fallen to the ground due to exhaustion. They were immediately whipped by the yamen runners and screamed in pain. They could only grit their teeth and continue to get up and move forward slowly.

She knew that the yamen runners would not show any sympathy to these exiles until she died.

Xiao Zhuo was wearing heavy handcuffs and shackles that made clanking sounds. He walked with heavy steps, and blood mixed with mud and water seeped out of his ankles. He walked slowly forward with the crowd, his face terribly pale.

Shen Yuexi moved closer and seeing that Xiao Zhuo did not resist her approach, she tried to support him.

Xiao Zhuo looked at her silently without saying much.

After walking for several miles in the pouring rain, we found a temple on the side of the road.

The outer wall has collapsed in several places and the paint has peeled off. It is obvious at a glance that this is a dilapidated temple that has been abandoned for a long time.

When everyone entered the temple, they found that it was not very big. It only had a front hall and a back hall. The two halls were connected front and back and separated by two doors in the middle. Now only the threshold was left, and the door panels were gone.

It could barely fit all of them, at least providing shelter from the rain.

All the exiled prisoners were driven to the back hall. As soon as Shen Yuexi arrived at the back hall, she immediately found a corner that was not leaking and helped Xiao Zhuo to sit down.

The yamen runner came over and lit a fire, then threw a few steamed buns into the center of the crowd and turned away, not caring at all whether they would get dirty by being thrown into the mud.

The crowd rushed forward to grab it.

Being hurried along by the yamen runners, Shen Yuexi was already dizzy with hunger and saw stars in her eyes. When she saw food, she rushed over desperately to grab the steamed buns on the ground.

During the struggle, she was hit hard by someone, her body tilted, she felt dizzy, and rolled on the ground.

There was a burning pain in my arm, probably a scratch.

She gasped, without even looking at the wound, and instead excitedly looked at the steamed bun tightly held in her hand.

This is the life-saving straw for her and Xiao Zhuo.

We finally have food for tonight.

He wiped off the mud and water on it with his sleeve, then carefully tore off the dirty leather, and then broke off half and gave it to Xiao Zhuo.

"Here, for you."

The man hadn't spoken a word the entire way, and she didn't expect him to answer.

At least from now on, he no longer kept her at a distance.

Xiao Zhuo took the half of the steamed bun, took a look at it, and started eating it silently.

Very good, if there is a chance to escape, she believes Xiao Zhuo will take her with him.

The biggest problem now is how to remove the shackles on Xiao Zhuo's feet and hands.

On the way, she had been keeping an eye on the yamen runner with the key on his waist, but she never had the chance to get close to him.

The yamen runners who carried the key were also extremely cautious. Even when they went to bed at night, they would not take it off, but put it in the lapel of their shirt.

As more and more people died, she became more and more anxious.

Several people have died just by walking this distance in the rain.

If she didn't leave, she would probably die again as soon as she traveled through time. She believed that God would never give her a second chance to live.

It was pitch black outside the temple and the rain was falling with no sign of stopping.

The air began to get chilly, and she subconsciously curled up and moved closer to Xiao Zhuo.

My high fever hasn't subsided and the manufacturing machine can't help me for the time being, so I have to rely on myself for everything.

She tossed and turned, dozing off for a moment before being woken by the cold. Listening to the patter of rain outside the temple and the intermittent snoring inside, she found it harder to fall asleep.

Not wanting to listen to the snoring from the other side, she turned over and saw that Xiao Zhuo had not slept either.

Xiao Zhuo's eyes scanned the surroundings sharply, and he suddenly leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Don't make a sound."

Shen Yuexi was very surprised that this person actually took the initiative to talk to her.

Being so close, she could feel that Xiao Zhuo was tense all over, his body ready to fight back at any moment, and her heartbeat involuntarily quickened.

There seems to be some danger...

Xiao Zhuo stood up, holding the handcuffs and shackles to avoid making any noise, and pulled her to hide under the window. This place was extremely hidden, and it was an excellent place for both sneak attacks and hiding from pursuit.

There was a faint sound of noisy horse hooves outside. Shen Yuexi was a little curious for a moment and stuck half of her head out to look outside.

Suddenly there was a slight "bang" sound not far away.

It seems like someone is playing with cotton?

While she was still pondering, a large hand pressed down on her head and pushed her down suddenly.

A flash of cold light whizzed past her scalp, followed by a "thump" sound, as if something was nailed into wood.

She looked towards the place where the sound came from, and saw an eagle feather arrow nailed to a red-painted pillar, the tail feathers of the arrow still trembling slightly.

Her heart began to beat violently.

I was still looking out stupidly, luckily Xiao Zhuo was quick, otherwise I would have become the unlucky guy who got shot in the head by an arrow as soon as I crossed over.

"Enemy attack!"

A yamen runner rushed into the back hall holding a knife. Just as he shouted a warning, he was hit in the chest by several arrows and fell headfirst into a puddle, dyeing the rain water beneath him blood red.

The crowd was in an uproar and stood up to try to hide, but they were all chained and had nowhere to escape.

The sound of arrows piercing the air continued uninterrupted, and the clatter of horses' hooves echoed in the darkness. There was no telling how many attackers there were. Shen Yuexi only saw yamen runners and exiles being shot through with arrows, some with dozens, leaving them looking like hedgehogs.

For a moment, screams were heard one after another in the ruined temple, just like hell on earth.

She and Xiao Zhuoyin hid under the window, and the rain of arrows did not hurt them, but she was still terrified and her legs were shaking.

Oh my god, they were planning to run away, but now someone is trying to assassinate them. This is too exaggerated.

This is no joke. With her weak body and high fever, even if she is hit by just one arrow, she will either die or be crippled.

No one knew where the other party came from, but they wanted to kill everyone in the ruined temple regardless of whether they were officials or civilians.

When Shen Yuexi thought that she would soon die, she became panicked and wanted to stand up and run away in an instant.

Xiao Zhuo held her arm tightly, shook his head slightly and signaled with his eyes.

Shen Yuexi was being pulled tightly and unable to get up, so she had to follow Xiao Zhuo's gaze and immediately understood what he meant.

Amidst the corpses and pools of blood, a yamen runner with two arrows stuck in his back was trying to get up by supporting himself with a steel knife when a feather arrow whizzed in and pierced his head.

The archers outside were aiming at every moving person in the ruined temple. If she stood up at this moment, countless arrows would probably fly at her immediately.

Compared with the warlike Xiao Zhuo, she is an idiot in this regard. It is best for her to listen to Xiao Zhuo's orders obediently.