Chapter 59

The scene was too chaotic. Taking advantage of the fact that everyone's attention was focused on Sanzhou Jinse and Feng Wentang, and that even Mu Qinhan did not look in her direction, Mu Yulu quickly and quietly retreated, slipped out through the side door without making a sound, and then ran towards the Imperial Garden in the night wind.

Judging from the fierce and relentless fight between the two just now, Feng Wentang will definitely take advantage of Sanzhou Jinse's weakness to kill him with a single sword strike.

But she didn't want him to die.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed along the cobblestone path as two figures darted swiftly among the artificial hills and flowerbeds.

San Zhou Jinse possessed superb lightness skills, and his figure remained graceful. However, his breathing had become noticeably more rapid, and each leap was not as easy as before. He even staggered slightly when landing.

Feng Wentang clung tightly to Sanzhou Jinse, giving him no chance to breathe, and thrusting each sword at a vital spot.

Sanzhou Jinse endured the chill that raged through her meridians as the poison took effect, and retreated like a candle flickering in the wind, her longsword slashing diagonally, attempting to defuse Feng Wentang's sword strike with skillful force.

However, Feng Wentang's attacks were too fierce. One vicious slash after another swept across San Zhoujin's waist, which could not be neutralized by mere skill.

The two swords clashed, sparks flying everywhere. Sanzhou Jinse felt a tremendous force, which made his arm go numb, and his already stagnant internal energy surged even more violently.

His vision blurred, and he stumbled back several steps, his back slamming heavily against the cold white marble railing before he could barely regain his balance.

Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth again, dripping onto his light pink shirt. He raised his hand to cover his chest and vomited another mouthful of blood.

The next second, Feng Wentang pressed the long sword in his hand against his heart.

Sanzhou Jinse looked up at him: "You're so ruthless, do you hate me that much?"

Feng Wentang did not answer him, but moved the sword in his hand forward an inch, and the tip of the sword pierced his chest, and blood quickly gushed out.

Sanzhou Jinse raised her hand and gripped the blade tightly, stopping it from moving forward. "You want to kill me even more than the Third Prince. I'm very curious why?"

"You still have the strength to speak, so it seems you're not badly injured." Feng Wentang finally spoke, forcefully pulling his sword back and slashing a deep, bone-revealing gash across Sanzhou Jinse's hand, before thrusting his sword forward again.

At this critical moment, Mu Yulu arrived just in time. Before she could stop Feng Wentang, she suddenly rushed out from behind the artificial hill by the lake, and without hesitation, spread her arms and used her body to block the sword that Feng Wentang thrust out.

Feng Wentang was startled, and the sword in his hand stopped abruptly less than half a foot away from Mu Yulu.

She didn't turn around to look at Feng Wentang, but maintained her previous posture, using her body to protect Sanzhou Jinse.

She raised her hand to touch the wound on his chest that was still bleeding, and felt a cool, sticky sensation in her palm.

Mu Yulu was slightly taken aback.

Why?

Why is the blood that flows out of him not scalding hot, but rather cold?

Feng Wentang stood there with his sword in hand, frowning as he watched the scene before him. He wanted to persuade Mu Yulu to leave, but his Adam's apple bobbed with a soreness, and he couldn't open his mouth.

Sanzhou Jinse naturally noticed Feng Wentang's hesitation. He seized the opportunity, forcefully suppressing the excruciating pain of the cold poison that was almost devouring his mind, and with a muffled groan, he grabbed Mu Yulu's slightly trembling waist.

"Hold me tight." Sanzhou Jinse's voice was low and urgent. Before the words had even finished, Mu Yulu felt a strong force coming from her waist, and her body was instantly pulled into an embrace filled with a strong smell of blood.

The next second, she heard the whistling wind in her ears. She subconsciously raised her arms and tightly wrapped them around Sanzhou Jinse's neck, burying her face in his strong shoulder.

Taking advantage of Feng Wentang's hesitation, Sanzhou Jinse carried her away from the palace walls at an extremely fast speed.

Mu Yulu, who was being held tightly in Sanzhou Jinse's arms, felt dizzy and disoriented. The wind howled in her ears like the wailing of ghosts, and the palaces and halls below seemed to be rushing past like blurry phantoms.

She couldn't help but recall the scene when she first met Sanzhou Jinse in this life, and the moment when Sanzhou Jinse let go without hesitation and threw her down from the air.

So she huddled into his arms, trembling, and clung to him tightly like an octopus.

Sanzhou Jinse noticed Mu Yulu's nervousness. He wondered if he was also recalling the scene when they first met. After hesitating for a moment, he used one hand to tightly protect her head and pressed her head against his chest.

As soon as he got close to Mu Yulu, he felt the violent heaving of his chest and even heard his heavy breathing, which smelled of blood.

Cold sweat soaked through the fabric of his clothes, and the chilling poison was coursing through his internal organs. The icy coldness made Mu Yulu feel a chill through her clothes.

"You..." Mu Yulu was about to ask a question when she was choked by the gust of wind that had been poured into her mouth.

Sanzhou Jinse didn't look down at her; all his attention was focused on the escape. Fortunately, most of the Imperial Guards had been transferred away by Mu Qinhan and were tied down by the chaos in the main hall. Sanzhou Jinse, carrying Mu Yulu, swept over the palace walls and rushed out of the imperial city without any hindrance.

The streets of Kyoto unfolded beneath my feet, and without the lights of the palaces, the night grew even deeper.

After leaving the palace, Sanzhou Jinse's speed inevitably slowed down, each leap felt unusually heavy, and even her body began to sway.

He forced himself to fly a little further, until he was two streets away from the Mu residence, when he finally couldn't hold on any longer. He carried Mu Yulu into a small alley and crashed heavily to the ground. The moment he landed, he instinctively shielded Mu Yulu in his arms, using his back to absorb most of the impact.

Mouthfuls of blood gushed from Sanzhou Jinse's mouth along with violent coughing, staining the rubble beneath him and the front of his clothes.

Mu Yulu broke free from his embrace, ignoring her own disheveled state, and hurriedly supported his cold, trembling body. Seeing him in so much pain, seemingly struggling to breathe, she instinctively reached out to help him remove his mask.

But he stopped her.

Mu Yulu truly did not expect that even at this critical juncture, he would still be so wary, not allowing her to remove his mask.

He gripped her wrist tightly, his voice so weak it was almost carried away by the night wind: "The cold poison in my body has flared up, I can't circulate my internal energy. Don't worry about me, go... go home..."

They all knew very well that although they had escaped the palace, the crisis was far from over.

The Third Prince's pursuers must have already left the palace by now, and San Zhou Jinse is already at his last gasp; he has no strength left to continue escaping the capital.

For Mu Yulu, returning to the Mu residence was the best option at this time.

Sanzhou Jinse's consciousness was already somewhat hazy. At this moment, he was lying in Mu Yulu's arms, breathing heavily. It was a vulnerable sight that she had never seen before.

She hesitated for a few seconds, during which she was torn between her inner thoughts and her own.

When she saw him take the poison, her panic had actually overcome her reason. For a moment, she did want to abandon him and run away alone.

The reason she dared to shield him with her own body was because she knew that Feng Wentang would never hurt her, which gave her the courage to rush over without hesitation when Feng Wentang swung his sword at her.

But the people chasing them right now are the Third Prince's men. They don't care who she is. They'll probably just kill her while they're capturing San Zhou Jinse.

She had already died once, but that did not alleviate her fear of death. Perhaps she had died too tragically in her previous life, and now that she was reborn, she was even more afraid of death than before.

She really didn't want him to die, but if even sacrificing her own life might not save him, then she had to reconsider the pros and cons.

The only person who saw her leave with Sanzhou Jinse was Feng Wentang. No one else knew where she went. She was sure that Feng Wentang would not betray her. At this moment, she only needed to leave Sanzhou Jinse behind and return to the mansion alone to sever ties with the assassin who tried to kill the prince.

In the end, this matter is an internal power struggle within the Vermilion Bird royal family, and has nothing to do with her. Why would she want to get herself involved?

Just as she was about to convince herself to abandon Sanzhou Jinse and leave alone, a faint but firm voice suddenly rang in her mind.

She was telling herself that he had saved her in her previous life, when she was scorned and despised by everyone, and he was the only one who reached out to her when she fell into the abyss.

Do we really have to abandon him at a time like this?

Mu Yulu's eyes reddened with anxiety, and tears streamed down her face like broken beads.

She then thought that in her past life he had indeed saved her from danger, but for him it was just a small favor. He had rescued her from those bandits without even getting a stain on a corner of his robe.

But if she wanted to repay his kindness and save his life, she would have to risk her own.

Most importantly, even so, it might not be possible to save him.

Is it worth it?

This is clearly not a good deal.

Making the decision to abandon Sanzhou Jinse was certainly difficult and painful, but Mu Yulu had the advantage of a good attitude. She kept comforting herself, just saying that she had been influenced by Mu Yugang and learned bad habits.

Anyway, she was never a good person.

Even in business, one must weigh the pros and cons; one cannot do things that are not worth the loss. Moreover, the matter at hand is far from being comparable to business matters; one wrong move and you could lose your life.

Even if San Zhou Jinse saved her in her past life, she had already repaid the debt of saving her life by taking a sword for him just now, and she didn't owe him anything.

With a determined look and a gritted teeth, she glanced down at Sanzhou Jinse one last time.

Seeing him lying weakly in her arms, like a flower on a branch beaten into the mud by a storm, completely unlike his former ethereal beauty, Mu Yulu felt a pang of pain in her heart.

She kept saying sorry to him in her heart.

She raised her hand and shakily moved him away from her embrace.

The moment her hands touched his cold body, she trembled all over.

The next second, she staggered out of the alley carrying the Sanzhou Jinse on her back.