Chapter 27 The only way out for him was to hold her hand; only then could he feel at ease.
Qin Yuqi's idea was quickly shattered.
Whether it was due to the mine collapse or some other trigger, they escaped. Just as the mine tunnel was about to completely collapse, Xiao Jiang pulled him along and leaped out of the mine.
Qin Yuqi clutched his pounding heart, gasping for breath. He instinctively reached out to put his arm around Xiao Jiang's shoulder, but she turned away. He followed her gaze and looked back; the mine they had just escaped from was now completely blocked by falling rocks. Any later, and they would all be crushed into mincemeat inside.
The thought of that scene sent chills down Qin Yuqi's spine. He looked at Xiao Jiang again and found that she wasn't much better off. Her once fair cheeks were flushed, her forehead was covered in sweat, and she was breathing heavily just like him, though there wasn't much panic in her eyes.
"No, this isn't the entrance to the mine."
Before Qin Yuqi could recover from the lingering fear of narrowly escaping death, Xiao Jiang's words immediately put him on alert again. He glanced at the unfamiliar surroundings; they were indeed different from a real mine entrance. He had no strength left to run and, disregarding his appearance, plopped down on the ground.
"I can't walk anymore."
Seeing that Qin Yuqi was too tired to walk any further, Xiao Jiang also sat down to rest, since they wouldn't be able to get out anytime soon anyway.
The two rested for a moment at the cave entrance, surveying their surroundings. Towering trees enveloped the area layer upon layer, and weeds grew wildly, almost as tall as a person, a stark contrast to the flattened ground at the entrance. It seemed they had taken another exit, but both knew the mine had only one entrance, and the mountain range hadn't been breached; the entrance was the only exit.
Xiao Jiang stared blankly at the completely unfamiliar forest, pondering for a long time without any clue, so she simply stopped thinking about it. She had already experienced too many things beyond her comprehension these past few days; if she tried to get to the bottom of everything, she would be trapped in these mysteries forever. She had to set aside what she couldn't explain; this was the only way she could grope her way forward.
The tall, dense trees almost blocked out the sky, and the damp air was filled with the smell of decaying leaves. Moss covered the stones and tree trunks. The forest seemed completely untouched by human activity, and the two ventured deeper and deeper. But the further they went, the more eerily silent the lush forest became; there were no chirping insects or birds, only the sharp crunch of their footsteps on broken branches.
I don't know when it started, but fog began to rise in the forest. Walking in it felt like walking on clouds, and it became increasingly difficult to see the surroundings.
Xiao Jiang stayed close to Qin Yuqi, lest he disappear in the blink of an eye. After all, she was the one who brought him here, and she should at least make sure he got out safely.
The thought had barely crossed my mind when I heard a gasp from beside me.
The young man in his fine clothes slipped and fell straight into the thick fog to one side. Xiao Jiang caught him quickly, but he had hit his leg somewhere, and when she pulled him up, his leg was covered in bright red blood.
Xiao Jiang helped him up and realized that he had stepped on a moss-covered stone. On the other side of the stone, shrouded in mist, was a ravine full of pebbles. There was no water in the ravine. Looking closer, he realized that what was in the ravine was not pebbles, but piles of white bones. The bottom of the ravine was too deep to tell whether the bones belonged to wild animals or humans.
But seeing this scene, both of them felt a chill run down their spines.
Qin Yuqi couldn't help but think that if she hadn't caught him earlier, he would have been seriously injured, if not killed. He began to truly understand his current situation: he was really trapped in this damned forest. His life was threatened not because of the power struggles among his royal brothers, nor because of the fighting on the battlefield, but because of this remote mountain forest in some unknown place.
He absolutely cannot die in a place like this.
"Can you still walk?" Xiao Jiang frowned as she looked at his injuries.
Qin Yuqi looked down and saw that the fabric around his right knee was torn, and blood was still seeping out. He moved his knee slightly and a sharp pain shot through him, making him gasp.
Why now of all times!
Qin Yuqi didn't want Xiao Jiang to look down on him, and he didn't want her to think he was a burden and leave him, so he forced himself to reply, "It's okay, I can walk."
"Are you really alright? You're sweating."
Qin Yuqi suddenly looked up and met a pair of golden eyes that were moist. There was no mockery as she had expected; instead, the worry in her eyes was clear.
Her frankness made him feel embarrassed. "No, this is dew." After saying that, he didn't care whether Xiao Jiang was happy or not, and directly took her hand and held it firmly.
In this desolate place where one's sight cannot extend more than three feet, he could only feel at ease holding her hand, just like before in the mine.
Xiao Jiang did not resist; instead, she put one of his arms on her shoulder to share some of his weight so that his injured right leg would bear less strain.
Where Qin Yuqi slipped on the rock, a path covered in moss was revealed. It looked long abandoned and its destination was unknown.
Qin Yuqi leaned on her and staggered forward step by step, feeling a mix of emotions. The thick fog seemed to have seeped into his body, making his heart feel exceptionally damp.
Unable to see the road ahead, and gradually losing sight of the way they had come from, they became disoriented in the woods.
This was quite unusual for Xiao Jiang. Having wandered through the mountains and forests of Liyue Village for so many years, she rarely got lost. But this forest was eerie in every way. She had never seen such a thick fog in the village before.
The path, covered in moss, led downhill until it reached a point where mist settled, creating a silent, serene atmosphere. The entire world turned into a pure white expanse, yet within the mist emanated a restlessness and murderous intent even more eerie than that of a mine.
"Should we continue?" Qin Yuqi asked in a low voice.
They seemed to have walked into yet another trap. Even though Qin Yuqi had never lived in the mountains for an extended period of time, he knew something was wrong.
Xiao Jiang glanced back and saw that the fog was just as thick as it could be, and the mossy path had completely disappeared.
“There’s no turning back now. Being trapped here is a dead end.” Xiao Jiang tilted his head and squinted, his gaze seemingly trying to pierce through the thick fog. “Since we’re here, we’re determined to see who’s behind this mess.”
She felt as if she were being led along the way, and she even began to suspect that they had not actually escaped the illusion, and that this was just another form of the illusion.
Since illusions are so varied, did her father also accidentally enter one and never come out?
Will it be here?
Xiao Jiang reached into his pocket for the small bone dagger, gripped it tightly in his hand, and strained his ears to listen for any sound around him.
Qin Yuqi also reached for the "Jianxing" beside him.
The jet-black dagger, bathed in mist, appeared even blacker on the blade and bluer on the edge, giving it an eerie look.
Almost the instant he drew his sword, a series of roars rose from the mist, one high and one low, as if a spark had been thrown into the forest, causing the entire forest to boil instantly like water.
The restless growls of wild beasts came from all directions. Xiao Jiang and Qin Yuqi quickly changed positions, their backs to each other in defense, but they could not see any physical beasts.
Suddenly, a tremendous sound came from behind the thick fog. The growls of wild beasts fell silent, and something fell, causing the earth to tremble.
Thump, thump, thump... one sound after another, each one closer than the last, as the unknown behemoth drew ever closer to them.
The two people stood back to back in the thick fog, clearly feeling each other's heartbeats quicken with the approaching footsteps.
This thing sounded like it was on a completely different level compared to the hairy spiders in the mine. Xiao Jiang's heart also tightened.
The more tense she became, the quieter Xiao Jiang's breathing became. Her body began to heat up again, but her mind was clearer than ever before. The heat rising from her spine flowed to her limbs and bones, and an unknown pressure ignited her fighting spirit. Her body tensed up, ready to deal with anything that might suddenly appear.
Whether they are human or demon, they should come out and be seen.
The deafening roar stopped, and the ground beneath their feet ceased to tremble.
Xiao Jiang and Qin Yuqi, however, did not breathe a sigh of relief. They both knew that the thing was already in front of them, but they just couldn't see it.
The two looked around at the thick fog, which remained a vast expanse of white.
Xiao Jiang suddenly realized something. She looked up, tilting her neck back quite far, and saw a pair of huge, scarlet eyes hanging dozens of feet above the mist, staring at the two people below.
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