Chapter 353 An Unspeakable Wound

Jiang Zhi frowned at him. "What's wrong?"

Xie Qi's expression was somewhat strange, but his movements as he bandaged her remained gentle, and he simply nodded in response to her questioning gaze.

“He knows.”

In fact, Lu Yuan arrived not long after Jiang Zhi fainted by the pool.

At that time, Xie Qi had just finished treating Jiang Zhi's wounds and was carrying her on horseback to go down the mountain.

Lu Yuan blocked his path, staring intently at the person he held tightly in his arms with his cloak. "How is she?"

Xie Qi merely glanced at him coldly, "If you want her injuries to worsen, then feel free to continue stopping her."

Lu Yuan's knuckles were white as he gripped the reins. The black horse beneath him seemed to sense its master's mood, snorting and pacing back and forth uneasily.

"I just want to make sure she's safe. Just let me... take a look." Lu Yuan's back was broad and straight, and his face, though cold and hard, surprisingly carried a hint of pleading.

When he arrived at the Shen residence from the palace, Jiang Zhi had already been taken away by Yan Wenhong.

He was extremely anxious and followed the trail left by Yan Wenhong and Xie Qi, and finally found her here.

Xie Qi snorted coldly, not wanting to get entangled with him any further. She slightly removed her cloak, revealing half of her face with her eyes closed and her black hair disheveled.

Because of the distance and the darkness, Lu Yuan wanted to go forward for a closer look, but Xie Qi had already put his cloak back on in the next instant, and with a squeeze of his legs, he was about to leave.

Just as Lu Yuan was about to follow, Xie Qi's voice stopped him.

“I will take her down the mountain to heal her wounds. You will stay here to clean up the mess—Yan Wenhong’s body and the thatched hut halfway up the mountain must not be left with any trace.”

Lu Yuan stopped abruptly in his tracks. "A thatched hut?"

"Do you think nothing could have happened after Zhizhi has been kidnapped for so long?" Xie Qi's voice was cold and icy. "Yan Wenhong is dead, but this matter must not be leaked even a little bit, do you understand?"

Xie Qi said no more and rode away with Jiang Zhi.

Lu Yuan was left standing there as if struck by a thunderbolt, unable to recover for a long time.

*

Jiang Zhi was surprised when she heard Xie Qi say that Lu Yuan was also there.

Just as I was about to speak, the door was pushed open.

Lu Yuan, feeling cold all over, pushed open the door and came in, carrying freshly brewed medicine in his hands.

Lu Yuan still carried the lingering stench of blood, travel-worn and covered in dust, yet this did not diminish his sharp and cold demeanor, like a sword drawn from its sheath.

He stepped in, his gaze first falling on Jiang Zhi's face.

Pale and disheveled, with red, swollen handprints and tiny cuts on both cheeks.

His lips were bluish-purple, and the dark red mark around his neck was even more shocking.

It's easy to imagine what kind of treatment she had suffered before.

With just one glance, Lu Yuan almost dropped the bowl of medicine in his hands.

He took a deep breath and said in a calm tone, "Take your medicine first."

He had just come down from the mountain when he saw the hunter who had come to deliver medicine at the door.

But then, Lu Yuan saw Jiang Zhilu's legs sticking out from under the covers.

A thick bandage was wrapped around her slender, fair thigh. To make the bandaging easier, Xie Qi held her thigh root with one hand, his five fingers digging into her soft flesh.

The area around his thighs was covered in bruises, making it impossible to look away.

Lu Yuan felt a surge of anger coursing through his chest, and he could barely control the urge to kill.

He recalled the scene when he found thatched hut halfway up the mountain and had to hold onto the door frame to stand.

Inside the house, the straw piles were scattered in disarray, mixed with specks of blood, her torn clothes, the cut ropes, and signs of struggle.

Lu Yuan could imagine what Yan Wenhong did to Jiang Zhi here with his eyes closed.

He held the embroidered spring knife, his heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly by two hands, a suffocating feeling welled up inside him, his throat tasted metallic, and his fingertips were embedded in his palm, leaving a trail of blood.

It's all his fault.

If he had sent more people, if he had left the palace earlier, she wouldn't have had to suffer like this!

Lu Yuan used all his strength to calm his violently heaving chest.

After taking one last deep look at the place, he took out a tinderbox and burned all traces of the place to the ground.

Then, gripping his embroidered spring knife, he headed back towards the waterfall he had come from without looking back.

Even if Yan Wenhong dies, he will not let him get away with it so easily.

Jiang Zhi looked at Lu Yuan, who was not moving, and tilted her head in confusion, "Didn't Lord Lu come to deliver medicine to me?"

"Yes, the medicine should be drunk while it's hot." Lu Yuan forcefully suppressed the ruthlessness surging in his eyes, sat down next to her, blew on the medicine to cool it down, and fed it to her.

Xie Qi snorted coldly, took out the medicine left by the doctor for external application, and carefully applied it to the wounds on her body.

The cool sensation temporarily relieved the pain, and Jiang Zhi's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.

Lu Yuan glanced down at Xie Qi, then hesitated before saying, "Yan Wen Hong, he..."

Xie Qi blew on the wound on Jiang Zhi's arm and interrupted him with a sidelong glance, "Lord Lu, Zhi Zhi needs to rest now, so don't mention this kind of thing again."

His face showed displeasure.

Even though Zhizhi is in this state, he keeps asking her questions. Isn't he deliberately stirring up her painful memories and stabbing her in the heart?

“What’s done is done. If you really care about it, you can go back to Kyoto now and just pretend you’ve never been here.”

Xie Qi felt that Lu Yuan was extremely annoying, and that Zhi Zhi was the biggest victim in this matter.

Lu Yuan silently fed Jiang Zhi the medicine before speaking, "I'm just worried that she might have some unseen internal injuries."

Xie Qi was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening.

Yan Wenhong hates Zhizhi intensely and will definitely show no mercy when he strikes.

What if Zhizhi really suffered some unspeakable injury, and is too embarrassed to tell them?

Thinking of this, he became anxious and was about to ask Jiang Zhi when he found that she had already leaned listlessly on Lu Yuan's shoulder and fallen into a deep sleep under the influence of the drug.

“This…” He thought for a moment, “How about I check it now?”

As he spoke, he reached out to lift the blankets from her legs.

Lu Yuan stopped him abruptly, his face grim. "What are you doing?"

"Weren't you worried about whether she had internal injuries? Taking a look will put your mind at ease," Xie Qi suddenly glared at him, "or do you want to lay a hand on her?"

Lu Yuan's face turned even paler.

He couldn't possibly let Xie Qi examine Jiang Zhi's body while she was asleep, much less do it himself while Xie Qi watched.

He couldn't accept any of these points.

"Don't touch her. We'll talk about everything after she wakes up," he said through gritted teeth.

Seeing Lu Yuan's menacing gaze, Xie Qi could only temporarily abandon his thoughts.

He then took out some ointment, intending to apply some to Jiang Zhi's face to reduce the swelling.

However, just as he was about to start, Lu Yuan stopped him again, saying, "I'll do it. You've been on guard all night, so go and get some rest."

Xie Qi almost laughed in anger, "Lu Yuan, since when have I needed to listen to your arrangements?"

After saying that, she ignored Lu Yuan's cold gaze, gently pinched her chin and applied the medicine for her before reluctantly letting go.

"Put her down quickly," he said, his temper flaring as he saw Jiang Zhi leaning against Lu Yuan's chest. "How can she sleep peacefully like this?"

Lu Yuan pursed his lips.

Considering that Xie Qi had saved Jiang Zhi this time, he decided not to hold it against him.

So he didn't argue anymore, and held her as they lay down on the bed.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Lu Yuan got up to open it and found that it was Ye Qi.

"How is things at the Shen residence?" he asked.

Ye Qi was panting heavily, clearly having rushed over on horseback. "Everything is fine, and I have some good news to tell Princess Qinghe."