If we can get out alive

"I won't die...find a place to hide." Zhu Liji leaned against a rock, his face pale and gray in the moonlight, but his eyes were piercingly bright.

Zhiwei barely managed to calm herself down, and with all her might, she dragged him into a hidden crevice in the rocks.

The cave was small, cold, damp, and filled with an earthy smell.

Zhiwei trembled as she tore off the hem of her outer garment and groped to press on Zhu Liji's wound. The freshly drawn blood was warm, carrying Zhu Liji's warmth, and left Zhiwei's hands sticky.

Zhiwei, panting heavily, examined Zhu Liji's injuries. The arrow shaft was embedded diagonally in the tight flesh, surrounded by a patch of bruises and swelling.

Zhiwei took a deep breath and gripped the arrow shaft: "Bear with it."

Zhiwei exerted her strength suddenly, and the moment the arrow left her body, Zhu Liji's body trembled violently, the veins on her forehead bulged, and cold sweat poured down her face.

"Do you hate me?" Zhu Liji asked, his mind hazy and in pain.

"My lord, you're awake!" Seeing the person in front of her react, Zhiwei felt relieved. If something had happened to Zhu Liji here, she wouldn't be able to explain it.

"May Heaven protect us, may Heaven protect us..." Zhiwei thanked Heaven for its benevolence in her heart. Without stopping, she hurriedly pressed the strips of cloth tightly against Zhu Liji's wound and tore off more strips of cloth to bind it.

After doing all this, Zhiwei collapsed to the ground. Cold light streamed into the cave, and all was quiet except for Zhu Liji's suppressed breathing and her own pounding heartbeat.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Liji suddenly moved, his burning hot forehead unconsciously brushing against her arm, causing a ticklish and numb sensation. Zhiwei was so startled that she pulled her hand away.

Zhu Liji mumbled incoherently, "Father, Mother, don't leave me..."

“…My puppy, my puppy.” Zhu Liji frowned, his dry lips moving slightly. “Apologize…I don’t want to apologize.”

The fragmented words stirred the imagination, unexpectedly piercing Zhiwei's heart. Bowing her head in apology… Did Zhu Liji also have such a painful past?

Outside the cave, the cold wind howled, and inside, it was damp and chilling.

Perhaps feeling cold, Zhu Liji's burning hot hand suddenly grabbed Zhiwei's wrist with astonishing strength, like a drowning person grabbing onto a piece of driftwood.

"It's cold," he said. "I want to go home."

But where is home? It's rare for Zhiwei to feel even a little empathy for Zhu Liji.

Since transmigrating to this world, she has felt quite uncomfortable and has tried to find a way back, but to no avail.

She used to be more at ease in Lingnan, but now, all she does is serve others, serve others! Whenever Zhiwei is exhausted after a day's work, she longs for a place she can cherish, at least something to look forward to.

Does Zhuliji exist?

Zhiwei discovered that although she worked under Zhu Liji, she knew very little about her superior.

Aside from learning about his status as the heir apparent from others in the camp, all Zhiwei knew about Zhu Liji was his food preferences.

As Zhiwei thought this, Zhu Liji began to murmur again. He still had a fever, and his whimpers were weak and feeble, like a sick animal.

Seeing this, Zhiwei softened and stopped pulling her hand away, drawing his heavy body closer into her arms.

Shedding his usual coldness and sharpness, Zhu Liji's flushed cheeks revealed an almost fragile handsomeness, and a trace of childish grievance lingered between his tightly furrowed brows.

It's quite pleasing to the eye, and I think about it carefully.

As if guided by a ghost, Zhiwei reached out and gently brushed away a strand of damp hair stuck to Zhu Liji's forehead with her fingertips.

Zhu Liji shuddered suddenly, his eyes snapping open. After a brief moment of blankness, his gaze hardened with cold vigilance and scrutiny.

Zhiwei's hand froze in mid-air.

"What are you doing?" Zhu Liji's voice was still hoarse.

She jerked her hand back as if burned: "You...you have hair on your face."

Zhu Liji stared at her silently, without saying a word, as if trying to see through Zhiwei.

Zhiwei couldn't avoid him, so she gave him a guilty smile.

Zhu Liji snorted coldly, expressing his dissatisfaction. After a long while, he slowly shifted his gaze and struggled to sit up straight.

"Don't move!" Zhiwei instinctively pressed down on his intact right shoulder. "The arrow is poisoned."

Zhu Liji stiffened and looked up at her: "Poison? She's just a cook, how did she figure it out?"

Zhiwei bit her lip and said knowingly, "I guessed."

"Otherwise, do you think this little injury would have burned you like this?" Zhu Liji was tall and reasonably well-proportioned; his physique should be stronger than Xi Gou's. Besides, assassinations involve poisoning the arrows—isn't that how it's always portrayed in TV dramas?

Zhiwei continued to giggle foolishly. Zhu Liji ignored him, but he was indeed feeling unwell; every breath he took aggravated his wounds, and the bloodstains were black.

He actually guessed right. Zhu Liji sighed.

"What did you do?" he asked.

Zhiwei answered truthfully, and looking back on her calm and quick reaction, she was so pleased with herself that she was practically smug.

Tell me she's wonderful in every way, tell me quickly!

But Zhu Liji didn't give her the reaction she expected; his face was very sullen.

"So you didn't do anything at all."

"I've bandaged it up!" Zhiwei exclaimed, her phoenix eyes wide.

Zhu Liji looked at him as if he were an idiot: "I've been poisoned, and I'll die if I don't get the antidote, right?"

"If that's the case, why don't you find some antidote or tonic? Besides, what kind of thing are you bandaging? Am I a rice dumpling?"

Zhu Liji pointed to the extremely haphazardly wrapped huge bandages on his body: "You're hoping I die, aren't you?"

Not now.

Zhiwei blinked slightly: "What do you want me to do?"

Zhu Liji turned to the side, revealing the sachet hanging from his waist. Zhiwei had seen it in Lingnan; it was exquisitely crafted and clearly the product of great effort.

"What are you standing there for?" Zhu Liji said speechlessly. "Open it, there's medicine inside."

"Oh, oh." Zhiwei took off the sachet and looked closely. The needle and thread on the sachet were all gold, so it must be very valuable.

Zhu Liji fought on the battlefield and, despite many twists and turns, still kept it in excellent condition, with no patterns left, which shows how much he cherished it.

Zhiwei opened it and sure enough, she saw powdery particles, and a medicinal smell hit her nostrils.

Zhiwei dared not delay, and opened the wound to apply medicine to Zhu Liji. Zhu Liji's face was still pale, and he gritted his teeth and endured it.

“My lord,” Zhiwei tentatively said, “you can speak up, I won’t laugh at you.”

"I'll laugh at you if you don't apply it properly," Zhu Liji said sullenly.

“I will also kill you,” he added.

"Hey." Zhiwei cleared her dry throat, her voice echoing in the narrow crevice. "My lord, what you're saying isn't quite right."

He even wanted to kill her.

Zhiwei felt disdain. If it weren't for her bandaging him, Zhu Liji would probably be meeting the King of Hell in the underworld by now.

However, if Zhu Liji hadn't managed to get himself on the horse amidst the chaos, Zhiwei would probably have already been reincarnated into the next life.

But why would Zhu Liji risk everything to save her alone? A bitter feeling slowly welled up inside Zhiwei, overwhelming her heart.

Is it trust or... Sigh, what am I thinking? Zhiwei shook her head violently. Zhu Liji is no ordinary person, much less a bodhisattva. Who knows if he has some plans or intends to scheme against her!

Seeing that Zhiwei remained silent, Zhu Liji asked, "Are you perhaps thinking about how to abandon me?"

"No, if you die here, I'll have nowhere to go, and I won't get my salary next month." Untimely honesty is Zhiwei's greatest virtue.

Zhu Liji's eyelashes trembled very slightly: "That makes sense. You don't have the guts. Besides, you can't tame 'Black Lightning' either. Without it, you probably wouldn't be able to get out of this dense forest."

That's true. The paths in this forest are incredibly complicated. Zhiwei has also suffered injuries from a fall. There are wild animals in the jungle, and it would be very difficult for her to find the exit on her own two legs.

"It still depends on me." The person in front of him was afraid of horses and had not made any progress despite practicing for a long time. He could barely get on the horse, let alone learn to ride it. That was a complete fantasy.

Zhu Liji twitched his nose, raised his head, and glanced at his beloved horse guarding the cave entrance.

"My lord," Zhiwei called softly, "you can trust me a little more."

"If I really wanted to abandon you, I do have ways to tame your horse."

“Or rather, I don’t need to care whether it lives or dies.” Zhiwei pointed to the horse’s injured left hind leg. “You see, ‘Black Lightning’ also needs rest now. If it’s not taken good care of, it won’t go far under normal circumstances…”

“But if I don’t care whether it lives or dies, there should be other ways to tame it.” Zhiwei reached up to her head and didn’t touch the familiar silver hairpin. She then remembered that she had put the hairpin away herself when she entered the camp to keep a low profile.

The hairpin is now hidden in Zhiwei's pocket. Speaking of which, she designed and crafted that silver hairpin herself. It is sharp enough that if you exert a little force, drawing blood would be nothing more than a matter of laughter.

Zhiwei, her face cold, withdrew her hand and continued, "If you don't care about life or death, pain is the best way to tame it. I used knives, hairpins, and sharp objects to stab it. After that, when the pain came, 'Black Lightning' could always run, couldn't it?"

As for stopping, Zhiwei thought that letting it hurt until it was breathless would be fine; it wasn't difficult.

She didn't save Zhu Liji out of need or to take advantage of him.

The cold wind swirled withered leaves and pebbles, making a strange, whistling sound at the cave entrance. The darkness of the night turned into a somber, leaden gray.

Zhu Liji's body temperature was alarmingly high, and the area where the medicine was applied began to stiffen inexplicably.

"My lord, please stop testing my sincerity."

"Otherwise, you will be all alone and live a very difficult life."

After he finished speaking, Zhiwei's dark complexion gradually brightened again, like the sky clearing after rain.

Suddenly, a strong wind started blowing outside.

Zhiwei moved Zhu Liji to the most sheltered corner, placed dry grass under him, and took off her own thick coarse cloth coat to cover him tightly.

"I'll go find some water and food, you..." Zhiwei looked at that face that looked unusually fragile in the dim light, "Stay put and don't move around and get yourself killed."

Zhiwei felt a little embarrassed. Logically, she shouldn't have said those kinds of things to her superior, who was also injured. But Zhu Liji's "I see right through you" expression was truly disgusting.

To be so insightful about the ways of the world requires immense knowledge; how could he see things so clearly?

Zhu Liji showed no reaction, his chest rising and falling very faintly as he grasped Zhiwei's hand.

“You’re right,” he admitted.

"I'm not hungry yet." Zhu Liji paused, then took out a water pouch from his pocket. "It's windy outside, be careful."

"Also, if you manage to get out of here alive, you won't have to live under an assumed name anymore. You saved me, and no one will ever make things difficult for you again."

What arrogance! Just because he's a prince?

Zhiwei was somewhat confused, but she took the water pouch and nodded.

Emerging from the cave, the icy mountain wind cut like a knife against her face, seeping into her thin inner garment, making Zhiwei shiver with cold.

She glanced back at the dark cave entrance, somewhat dazed, but still waded towards the sound of flowing water, her steps uneven.

The fallen leaves crunched underfoot, each sound sending shivers down Zhiwei's spine.

She walked for an unknown amount of time before finally finding a narrow mountain stream. She filled her water bag and, following the moonlight, carefully searched for and picked a few wild fruits.