The man who fell heavily to the ground choked with blood. Just as he tried to sit up, the female soldier who followed him pointed her sword at his throat.
“…No, don’t kill me!” The man’s face turned pale, he retreated tremblingly, knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.
Chang Suining squatted down in front of Wu Jue and held one of his arms.
But Wu Jue still supported himself with his hands on the ground, but he changed from looking up at the sky to silently lowering his head and closing his eyes. His thin body was hunched over as he knelt there, and the blood from his forehead mixed with the mud on his face made it almost impossible to recognize his original appearance.
The only movement he made at this moment was the silent trembling of his whole body.
"Wu Jue?" Chang Suining simply half-knelt down, lowered his head even lower, shook him nervously, and quickly checked his body for possible injuries.
Hearing this voice, Wu Jue finally regained his senses. He looked up in shock, and the moment he saw the person in front of him clearly, his eyes trembled slightly, and big tears suddenly welled up in his eyes.
The hand holding his arm was not big, but powerful, as if to shield him from the huge impact brought by the endless malice.
He opened his mouth trembling with disbelief, trying to make a sound, but failed several times. He could only cry.
But Chang Suining knew he was calling "Your Highness", and she nodded repeatedly: "It's me, I'm here."
"Where do you feel unwell? Do you have any other injuries besides the external ones?" Chang Suining asked, his eyes fell on his hands that were supporting the ground, and he immediately asked, "Where is the ring?!"
Yes, Wu Jue's current situation is more like mental trauma and damage than physical pain and discomfort... It must be because of the ring! Chang Suining looked back at the man who was kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, his eyes and voice were cold: "Hand it over!"
“It’s all…it’s all there!” The man pointed at the bag that fell to the ground and said, “I didn’t move anything!”
Facing those cold eyes, he hurriedly said, "Oh, right... there's also this, this!"
The man frantically took out the ring from his arms, ignoring his aching arm, and held the ring with both hands: "…Here! All for you!"
The female soldier kicked him hard. The man immediately understood and begged for mercy again and again. He knelt down and moved forward, holding the ring in front of Chang Suining.
The female soldier kicked him again, pulled him up, threw him under a big tree, and continued to point the sword at him.
Chang Suining took the ring and quickly put it on Wu Jue.
The rain was still falling, and Chang Suining was still half-kneeling. She used her hands to wipe away the mud and blood that blocked Wu Jue's vision from the corners of his eyes, and said to him, "I'm late. Let's go home now."
After the ring returned to his body, Wu Jue gradually distinguished between fantasy and reality. He stared blankly at the girl in front of him with tears in his eyes. After a moment, his cracked and dry lips moved, and before he uttered a choked whisper that only the two of them could hear in the wind and rain, he forced a smile: "Your Highness, why did you come to this remote place in person..."
His smile was innocent and ingratiating, the result of careful practice over and over again in front of the river.
This smile appeared on this extremely embarrassed face, like a long needle, silently piercing Chang Suining's heart and also hurting her eyes.
"Who taught you to laugh like that... That's not like you. You are not allowed to laugh like that." While speaking, Chang Suining took off his cloak, tied it for him first, and then put his hood on him to block the wind and rain from hitting him.
Wu Jue looked at her movements in disbelief, and after his thoughts came back to him, he asked with tears in his eyes: "Your Highness... don't you think that I am annoying to you?"
As their eyes met, the half-kneeling girl with her hair loose and wearing a green robe shook her head seriously at him: "No."
He gave her a chance to be reborn, a healthy body, and left all this glory and majesty to her, while he himself was covered in mud, hiding in a muddy corner, being spurned, despised, and beaten by the world...
He was the most loyal subordinate, the elder who sacrificed himself for her, the most admirable initiator of the world-saving game, how could she, how could she hate him? Wu Jue didn't dare to believe it, and just thought that she was suppressing her emotions because of past relationships... His Highness had always been the most sentimental.
"Have you forgotten?" Chang Suining explained to him softly, "I am not originally in this world. I am just a wandering soul that you exchanged your life for. The order of this world cannot control me, and naturally cannot affect me in the slightest."
Wu Jue was stunned when he heard this. After thinking about it, he felt that... it made a lot of sense! In the rain, the girl's dark eyebrows and thick eyelashes were stained with rain mist, but the determination in her eyes was not blurred at all -
"Like the stone left by your master, I am also from the outside world. From now on, I will be your second ring." Chang Suining promised, "Just stay by my side and I will protect you from disasters. I will fight off all the troubles, calamities, bad luck and evil spirits for you."
"As for how long you can live, that depends on how far I can go." She said, "From now on, wherever I go, you will live."
As long as she had breath, she would hold the sword tightly in her hand and keep moving forward.
"Your Highness, you..." Wu Jue was shocked when he heard this: "You know everything?"
"You should have told me earlier." Chang Suining helped him up and said, "If I had known earlier, why would you have gone on this 'travel'?"
“But this is unfair to you…” Wu Jue’s tears flowed down his cheeks: “I didn’t know about Master’s arrangement before. If I knew…”
Chang Suining put one of his hands on her shoulder and asked softly, "Why? If you knew, you wouldn't have brought me back?"
Wu Jue showed a crying and laughing expression, but that was not possible. No matter what, he had to rescue His Highness, but...
"I know that you don't like being coerced into making deals." Wu Jue's voice was hoarse, and he choked with sobs as he slowly said, "I don't want to see you being bound by anyone or anything again..."
Others cannot imprison His Highness, and neither can he, and he should not.
"I don't like being coerced into a deal..." Chang Suining helped him to a big tree to take shelter from the rain, let him sit down, checked the wound on his leg, and said, "But this is a deal with the heavens. It sounds so impressive. Throughout history, how many people have had such an adventure?"
"Besides, this is something I wanted to do on my own, so it can't be considered coercion."
Maybe this is the reason why "why it had to be her", everything was already destined.
"So making a deal with God is just a side job."
Her tone was exceptionally calm.
"So you don't have to feel guilty. If you really want to feel guilty, it's because I owe you a lot."
Wu Jue was about to shake his head and speak with tears in his eyes, but was interrupted by Chang Suining: "Okay, let's not talk about this for now. Fortunately, the injury on your leg is not serious and the bones are not broken. I will take you to the doctor now."
Wu Jue raised his hand to wipe away his tears and nodded obediently.
It’s great that he can listen to your highness again.
Only at this moment did he truly understand what the "glimmer of hope" that His Highness could bring him was. Not only could His Highness use his own achievements to prolong his life and keep him alive, but he could also allow him to live like a normal person.
If a person is despised by heaven and earth while living in this world, he is no different from a walking corpse.
But His Highness never despised him, so he is still truly alive.
While wiping his tears, Wu Jue looked at the ring on his hand. It should be said that the master had at least done something humane...
When Chang Suining was about to help Wu Jue onto the donkey cart, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves and human voices approaching.
The sound of horse hooves was not urgent. Chang Suining held Wu Jue with one hand and silently pressed Yao Ri with the other hand. He looked vigilantly at the source of the sound through the rain and the green and yellow weeds.
She had already prepared to have her subordinates take Wu Jue away from the back if things got bad, but she had never expected that the person who came was...
As soon as the carriage stopped, a figure stepped down. He was wearing a royal blue robe with tight sleeves and a round collar, and his hair was tied up with a jade crown. His temperament was between that of a teenager and a young man, but he already had the aura of an official.
The person who came was Yun Hui.
He asked the villagers and finally found this place. At this moment, his sight caught Chang Suining. He immediately took the umbrella handed to him by the coachman, opened it and ran towards her quickly.
Only then did Chang Suining feel relieved and helped Wu Jue to stand up.
"Madam Chang, are you okay?" Yun Hui's eyes were filled with worry and anxiety. He asked repeatedly, "Have you found the person? Is he seriously injured?"
There was no greeting or courtesy, just the impatience of the boy that he rarely showed in front of others.
Chang Suining did not exchange pleasantries with him, but shook his head and asked, "Why is Yun Erlang here?"
"I'll come..." Yun Hui wanted to say that he was on duty, but then he changed his mind and realized that as a governor of a state, it was impossible for him to pass through this country road on duty.
He didn't lie after all: "I came to find you."
"The magistrate of Nanhe County told me..." He explained, "I heard that you came to Hezhou to look for someone, so I thought maybe I could help... I went to Nanhe County and found out that you left early in the morning. I asked around and ended up here."
Chang Suining nodded, then looked back at the man who was being escorted over: "It just so happens that there is a person here who attempted robbery and murder but failed. He will be handed over to Governor Yun and severely punished by the Guizhou government according to the law."
Yun Hui frowned and looked over. He had already made a rough judgment in his mind and assured him solemnly, "Don't worry, I will have someone investigate this matter strictly."
At Chang Suining's signal, the female soldier handed the man over to Yun Hui's close followers.
Seeing many villagers coming here, the man immediately shouted: "...I didn't do anything, I just thought he was a thief, I was just catching a thief!"
"Why are you arresting me?"
"Li Zheng, mother! Save me!"
But he soon discovered that even the head of the village could not get close to this place, as all the villagers were stopped.
The ones who stopped the people were Yun Hui's followers. The knives in their hands were not unsheathed, but it was enough to be a deterrent to the villagers.
The leading attendant showed the token of the Hezhou Governor's Office.
The village head was horrified and knelt down. The young and middle-aged villagers beside him didn't know what was going on, but when they saw the village head kneeling down, they followed suit in panic.
The man was even more frightened when he saw this. Why did the village head kneel? Is he an official? They and the state don't have such young officials! No, except...
Could it be Governor Yun?! The man looked at Yun Hui and trembled like a sieve. He also wanted to kneel down, but he was controlled by the attendant and could not move at all. He could only cry and beg for mercy with trembling mouth: "...Sir, spare my life!"
He looked at the group of children who had returned with their parents and shouted, "It was them! It was those children who told me that a thief had stolen something! That's why I misunderstood!"
In the crowd, an old woman holding a rag in her hand knelt down with trembling hands and feet, "My son... my son is a good man! He will join the army soon... My dear nobles, please don't wrongly accuse him!"
The old woman wept and bowed down in panic and fear, and said incoherently: "There must be some misunderstanding here... I beg the adults to have mercy!"
The children were so scared by the adults' questioning that they started crying. The crowd was in chaos and several people from the same tribe knelt down to beg for mercy.
"I'm fine anyway, so let it go..." Wu Jue, who was supported by Chang Suining, looked at the villagers who were begging for mercy, and the old woman, with a blank look of compassion in his eyes. His voice was very low, as if he was talking to himself: "All living things are suffering..."
Yun Hui led his men forward to stabilize the situation. At this moment, only he and Chang Suining were under the tree.
"Just now, I was enlightened in a trance and thought of the Buddhist teachings of self-sacrifice..."
"Everything that happened today was caused by me. If I had never been here, this evil thought would not have happened..."
After patiently listening to the intermittent whispers, Chang Suining finally said, "Wrong."
She said: "Even though you aroused his evil thoughts, it was not caused by you. Even though you are despised by heaven and earth, they are only despised. Otherwise, you would not have come here alive. But he wanted to kill you just now for money, which is not your fault-"
"His evil lies in himself. Even if you are not here today, if a weak person with money appears in the future, it will also arouse his murderous intent."
Wu Jue's eyes were still somewhat bewildered: "During this journey, I have often thought that perhaps all these experiences are tests..."
He himself was not sure what was right, he was just worried: "Since this is a plan to save the world, perhaps every step Your Highness takes is crucial, or perhaps every step is a test."
"The test of becoming a Buddha?" Chang Suining raised his head slightly, looking at the gloomy sky through the gaps between the branches: "But becoming a Buddha cannot save this world. If a Buddha appeared at this time, he would only be swallowed up by the evil thoughts and greed of this world."
“If people want to save the world, they must use the world’s methods, not the Buddha’s methods.”
She couldn't become a Buddha, and she had no intention of becoming one, so why should she do what a Buddha should do? She didn't know if it was really as Wu Jue's intuition said, and that all this might be a test from God. She only knew one thing -
"Since you want me to save you, then I should have the final say on what the world should be like."
The girl looked up under the camphor tree, as if talking to the world: "I want those who do evil in this world to be punished, and those who suffer injustice to be spoken out. Those who use their bodies to seek a chance of survival for the people must not be allowed to drown in the sea of evil thoughts in people's hearts."
She wants this world to be one that she feels is worth living.
If not, how can we save them? Why bother to save them? What's the point of saving them?
Wu Jue looked at the girl's upward profile in a daze, and the fog in his heart seemed to gradually dissipate along with her bright eyes.
"There is more than one path in this world, but I only follow the path I want to follow. If I believe it is right, then it is right." Chang Suining turned his head and looked at him: "You don't have to worry about me, and you don't have to forgive sins that should not be forgiven. You have given more than enough mercy to this world."
She said: "From now on, the most important path of compassion you should learn is how to treat yourself well."
Wu Jue's eyes turned red silently.
Chang Suining finally said to him: "If it's fate, you were the one who chose me and recommended yourself to me, so you have to believe me."
Wu Jue's eyes were full of tears, but he finally smiled with relief: "Yes... Your Highness believes in me."
Chang Suining helped him out from under the tree.
Yun Hui walked quickly over and raised the umbrella in his hand over Chang Suining's head.
Because Wu Jue was injured, Yun Hui suggested that Chang Suining take Wu Jue on his carriage.
The man was put on a donkey cart by Yun Hui's followers and sent to the government office for interrogation and punishment.
"...After the investigation is completed, I will have those children involved properly disciplined and educated."
After getting on the carriage, Yun Hui looked at Wu Jue with an apologetic look, who was wrapped in a cloak and huddled beside Chang Suining like a frightened wretch: "It is because of my failure in governance that the evil people are prone to hurting others."
He was really ashamed, especially since this happened to Chang Suining and the person she was looking for.
4500 words update, good night.
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