Chapter 69 Artificial Respiration

The atmosphere on the huge wooden planks floating on the river was so heavy it was suffocating.

All around was the pitch-black, icy river, and above was a starless, moonless night sky. Only the occasional flash of lightning illuminated a breathtaking scene unfolding in this small area.

Jiang Mianmian knelt beside Shen Jin, her body soaked, her hair disheveled. Her usually lazy and cunning face was now as pale as paper, filled with resolute determination.

She took a deep breath, pinched Shen Jin's nose again, and leaned down to seal his lips with hers.

"call--"

The airflow was forcibly introduced.

Then, she straightened up, placed her hands on his chest, and rhythmically pressed on his firm pectoral muscles.

One, two, three...

"Chen Jin! Wake up!"

"Didn't you say you were a menace? Don't you understand the saying 'menace lives on for a thousand years'?"

"Didn't you say you'd protect me for life? Is your life really that short?"

[Wake up, you bastard! If you dare to die, I'll really spend all your money! Smash all the antiques in your mansion! Dismiss all your secret guards! Turn the empire you've worked so hard to build into nothing but a pile of sand!]

【I'm going to keep a hundred male lovers! A different one every day! I'm going to take them to your grave to dance! I'll make you so angry you'll come back to life as a ghost!】

As she pressed on the pressure point, she cursed inwardly, and as she cursed, tears involuntarily streamed down her face, dripping onto Shen Jin's lifeless face.

Around them, Shadow One and several guards, who were floating with driftwood and wreckage, were all dumbfounded.

Where had they ever seen anything like this?

In their minds, once someone is dead, they're dead; once they stop breathing, there's no hope. But what is the princess doing?

"This...Your Highness, what is this...?"

A young bodyguard stammered, his eyes filled with terror, "Has the Princess... gone mad from excessive shock?"

"Shut up!" Shadow One snapped, but his voice trembled.

In his view, the princess was clearly...making a lewd gesture towards the prince?

While the prince was unconscious, she kissed and touched him, and even pressed on his chest... Was this some kind of special farewell ceremony? Or did the princess love the prince so deeply that she wanted to wake him up in this way?

“Your Highness…” Yingyi couldn’t help but swim closer, wanting to dissuade him, “His Highness… he may already…”

"roll!"

Jiang Mianmian roared without turning her head, her hands moving without pausing for a moment, "He's not dead! Anyone who dares to say he's dead, I'll kill them!"

[There's still a heartbeat! It's very faint, but it's still there!]

[The golden four minutes! As long as I don't give up, even the King of Hell can't take me away!]

She bent down again and began another round of artificial respiration.

The moment their lips touched, Jiang Mianmian felt her mouth filled with the bitter taste of river water, and the gradually fading warmth of Shen Jin's body.

That fear was like a cold hand, gripping her heart tightly.

[Please... I beg you...]

Don't leave me.

In this unfamiliar world, you are all I have left.

Perhaps it was because her obsession was too deep, or perhaps it was because those heartfelt words that struck straight to the soul finally pierced through the fog of life and death.

Shen Jin, who was sinking into the boundless darkness, suddenly heard a voice.

The voice was loud and fierce, cursing him as a bastard and threatening to spend all his money and keep male lovers.

But... it sounded so warm, so... that he couldn't bear to part with it.

Keeping male lovers?

Ha, what audacity!

I'm not dead yet, and you dare to think such things?

A powerful emotion called "anger" and "resentment" instantly reactivated his heart, which was on the verge of stopping.

"cough!"

With Jiang Mianmian's final, forceful press, Shen Jin's body convulsed violently.

Immediately afterwards, a mouthful of turbid river water gushed out of his mouth.

"Cough cough cough—!"

The violent coughing sounded like heavenly music on the silent river.

"Your Highness!"

"He's awake! His Highness is awake!"

The guards around him were so excited they almost dropped the driftwood they were holding.

Jiang Mianmian collapsed onto the wooden board, panting heavily, watching the man coughing violently and his chest heaving, laughing and crying at the same time.

[He's alive...he's alive!]

I knew it! That bastard is incredibly tough!

Shen Jin coughed for a while before he finally caught his breath. He felt a burning pain in his chest and his lips were a little numb.

He struggled to open his eyes, his vision still somewhat blurry.

The first thing that catches the eye is the pitch-black night sky above.

Then came an enlarged, wet face, crying like a cat.

"Your...Your Highness?"

His usually composed voice was hoarse and broken, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.

"you……"

He wanted to raise his hand to wipe away her tears, but found himself powerless, unable to even move a finger.

"It's good that you're awake, it's good that you're awake."

Jiang Mianmian wiped her face haphazardly, sniffed, and glared at him fiercely:

"Chen Jin, you just wait and see! I saved your life! From now on, your life belongs to me! If you dare to die again, I'll..."

"So you're going to keep male lovers?" Shen Jin replied weakly, a very faint smile curving his lips.

Jiang Mianmian choked.

[Holy crap! He heard all that? He could hear even while unconscious? Is this mind-reading some kind of cheat code?]

"No...nothing like that!"

Jiang Mianmian's eyes darted around, "I mean... I'll just throw you into the river to feed the fish!"

Shen Jin felt a wave of tenderness in his heart when he saw her stubborn expression.

Although he was not fully conscious in the darkness, he could feel a force pulling him and a breath continuously flowing into his body.

That was her anger.

That was her fate.

"princess……"

Shen Jin mustered his strength and finally raised his hand, grasping her cold little hand. "Just now... what were you... doing?"

"ah?"

"Why...why did you kiss me? And why...press my chest?"

Not only him, but also Yingyi and the others around him pricked up their ears. Although they dared not look, their gossip-loving hearts were burning brightly.

Jiang Mianmian blushed.

How do you explain this? Cardiopulmonary resuscitation? Artificial respiration?

In ancient times, when men and women were strictly forbidden from touching, would anyone believe me if I said this was a first-aid measure?

[Well, since the misunderstanding has already been made, why not... just go with the flow?]

She coughed lightly, straightened her back, and looked completely self-righteous:

"That's because...because I love Your Highness too much! I couldn't help myself! I wanted to awaken Your Highness with my love!"

"This is called... a 'love kiss'! Do you understand?"

All the guards: !!!

A kiss of love?

This is so cheesy! So exciting! The princess is truly deeply in love with the prince!

Shen Jin looked at her serious-looking nonsense and his smile deepened.

A kiss of love.

What a loving kiss.

“If that’s the case,” Shen Jin grasped her hand in return, gently stroking it with his fingertips, “then this king… thanks the princess for her ‘love’.”

"If I faint again in the future, Your Highness... please feel free to kiss me."

Jiang Mianmian: 【…You pervert!】

[You just woke up and you're already driving! Don't you even know what the situation is?!]

"Your Highness, let's think about how to get ashore first."

Jiang Mianmian looked around. "The boat is gone. We can't just keep drifting like this, can we?"

At this moment, the wind and waves subsided slightly.

Yingyi swam over and reported, "Your Highness, I just observed that there seem to be lights not far ahead, which should be a ferry crossing or a village. We can float across using the current."

"Okay." Shen Jin nodded. "Everyone, conserve your energy and move towards the lights."

...

Half an hour later.

The group finally climbed ashore, looking disheveled.

This is a desolate riverbank, overgrown with reeds. There are indeed some lights in the distance, making it look like a small fishing village.

"Your Highness, your clothes are wet and too heavy. Please take them off."

Jiang Mianmian frowned as she looked at Shen Jin's brocade robe, which was soaked with water, and said, "If he catches a cold, he'll get a fever again just as he's starting to feel better."

Shen Jin was indeed terribly cold at this moment. He didn't make a fuss and, with Ying Yi's help, took off his outer robe, leaving him only in his inner garment.

Even his undergarments were soaked through, clinging tightly to his body and outlining his well-defined muscles.

Jiang Mianmian glanced at it and couldn't help but swallow.

[Tsk tsk, that figure... Even though she's fallen on hard times, that wet and alluring look... absolutely stunning.]

[Jiang Mianmian, wake up! This is an escape, not a show!]

She forced herself to look away and took out the small wooden box, her family heirloom, from her "arms."

"Your Highness, please eat something to replenish your strength."

She opened the box and found several pieces of pastry inside, which were flattened but still dry.

Shen Jin looked at the pastries, then at her bright eyes that shone in the moonlight.

This is not a pastry.

This was the "supplies" she risked her life to protect for him in the face of death.

"You eat," Shen Jin pushed the food away, "I'm not hungry."

"Just eat it!"

Jiang Mianmian shoved a piece of food into his mouth. "You're a patient! If you collapse, who's going to lead us back? I don't want to be a widow!"

With the slightly broken piece of pastry in his mouth, Shen Jin felt that it was the sweetest thing he had ever eaten in his life.

"Walk."

He swallowed the pastry, regained some strength, and took Jiang Mianmian's hand. "Let's find a place to stay first. This debt... I will settle it with them sooner or later."

The group walked towards the light, their steps uneven.

At this moment, they were no longer dressed in fine clothes or surrounded by attendants; they were just a group of ordinary people in distress.

But when Shen Jin held Jiang Mianmian's hand, he felt a sense of security he had never felt before.

As long as the warmth in your hands remains.

No one in this world can defeat him.

Even if it means... crawling back from hell.