In Chapter 10, the injured Xiao Jiang hurriedly used his sleeve to wipe away his tears...
Another powerful blow.
Qin Yuqi was on guard this time and barely managed to avoid it.
But seeing how determined she was to fight him, a battle seemed inevitable. Good, it was time to show her the might of the Dayong warriors and make this arrogant barbarian woman submit.
Qin Yuqi rolled up his wide sleeves, assuming a fighting stance.
Without making any unnecessary movements, Xiao Jiang threw another punch straight at Qin Yuqi's abdomen.
Qin Yuqi didn't hold back either, stepping back a bit and kicking Xiao Jiang in the shin. The two of them started punching and kicking each other, but Qin Yuqi quickly realized something was wrong. Every time he hit a spot, the same spot on his body would receive several times the force of the reaction. This made him afraid to put any force into his fight, while she was hitting him harder and harder, until eventually he was the one being beaten.
Even a single blow can cause a backlash; this place is truly outrageous!
"Stop...stop! Stop hitting me!"
...
Qin Yuqi was knocked to the ground by a punch. Lying on the ground, he thought vaguely that once the barrier of this godforsaken place was broken, he would definitely drag Jiang Yuhu out and have a real fight with her.
Without these random external forces, he didn't believe that Jiang Yuhuo's small frame could defeat him.
Xiao Jiang was completely unaware of the injuries Qin Yuqi had sustained from external force; she simply assumed he was weak in combat.
"No! This isn't fair!"
Xiao Jiang squatted down next to Qin Yuqi. "What's wrong? Is it hard to accept that you can't beat a barbarian?"
Qin Yuqi struggled to open his swollen eyes, the girl's face blurring before him. He raised his hand, saying weakly, "You're talking nonsense! You clearly won by... never mind, anyway, your victory was unfair."
"You're bleeding."
Qin Yuqi felt a swipe under his nose and immediately smelled a strong stench of blood. He saw Xiao Jiang waving his finger in front of him, it was covered in his blood!
She even wiped the blood on his collar!
"Jiang Yuhuo, I'm going to kill you!" Qin Yuqi roared with all his might.
The forest was dense with leaves, and his voice couldn't carry at all. Only Xiao Jiang, who was squatting next to him, covered his ears because of the noise.
"You're so noisy."
Xiao Jiang remembered how the pigs in the village would squeal like that when they were slaughtered. She looked at him with some disdain, preparing to stay away from this noisy person.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from the ground and grabbed her collar, the owner of the hand trying his best to pull her to the ground.
Caught off guard, Xiao Jiang suddenly fell onto Qin Yuqi, her forehead hitting his chin hard.
"Waaah..."
The person beneath him let out a whimper.
Xiao Jiang scrambled to his feet, clutching his forehead in pain, "Are you...?"
Before Xiao Jiang could even utter the words "looking for a beating," he saw glistening tears in Qin Yuqi's eyes.
"You...were crying?"
Xiao Jiang leaned closer to take a look, and sure enough, his eyes were red.
She had never made anyone cry before, and this was the first time she had encountered such a scene. Suddenly, she was at a loss and could only check on his injuries.
As soon as Xiao Jiang's hand touched his chin, Qin Yuqi felt a sharp pain, causing tears to well up in his eyes even more.
"That really hurt..."
Qin Yuqi deeply regretted pulling her just now. If she hadn't hit him and then wanted to just leave, leaving him alone in this desolate wilderness, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to pull her along. He wanted to retort, but his mouth was already in too much pain halfway open, so he could only hum through his nose to express his dissatisfaction.
"Who told you to suddenly pull me? My head is very hard."
Xiao Jiang hurriedly used her sleeve to wipe away his tears.
"Don't cry...don't cry."
In his haste, Xiao Jiang didn't notice that his sleeves were covered in dust from Fang Chang's fight. Wiping them away, the dust went straight into Qin Yuqi's eyes, making it even more painful and impossible for him to open them.
"Jiang Yuhuo, how long are you going to torture me?!" Qin Yuqi said with difficulty, enduring the swelling and pain in his jaw.
"This... just bear with it a little longer..."
Xiao Jiang quickly got up, brushed the dust off his body, took the water bottle from his basket, washed his hands, and then knelt down in front of Qin Yuqi, pried open his eyelids, and gently blew on them.
At this point, the pain in Qin Yuqi's jaw was no longer so intense, and the tears that had been brought up by the pain had stopped.
Cool fingers pressed against his forehead. His eyes, forcibly pried open by Xiao Jiang, were staring directly at her, her face almost inches away. Her pale yet thick eyelashes fluttered occasionally, and her bright golden eyes, now magnified before him, seemed to shimmer with light. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from the earlier struggle, and her breath mingled with his…
Qin Yuqi unconsciously held his breath.
Then all was silent, and only the person in front of him and the sound of his chest beating violently remained in the world.
"They're out!"
The sound snapped him out of his brief daze. Qin Yuqi blinked; his eyes felt only soreness, nothing more.
Are you feeling better?
She was looking him up at him.
Qin Yuqi abruptly turned his face away, avoiding her gaze. He knew without a doubt how disheveled he looked, and being stared at by her made him feel a little embarrassed.
"If you don't say anything, I'm leaving." Xiao Jiang got up to leave.
"etc!"
Xiao Jiang turned to look at him.
Qin Yuqi suddenly sat up from the ground, opening his mouth in pain and saying, "You can't leave me here!"
"You brought me here, so you have to take me out."
"You followed me here on your own, it's none of my business." Xiao Jiang ignored him and went straight to pack up the basket she had placed to the side.
The merman remained motionless inside the glass bottle, startling Xiao Jiang, who quickly tapped the bottle. The merman opened its icy blue eyes, its gaze cold.
Is Xiao Hai angry?
Xiao Jiang immediately reflected that it must have been her oversight. She had promised to take Xiao Hai to soak in the pool, but they had lingered here for so long, leaving it alone in the bottle to sunbathe.
All she wanted to do now was get to the pool.
Seeing Xiao Jiang pick up his basket and leave, it was clear she really didn't intend to take him with her. Qin Yuqi called out to her from behind. "Jiang Yuhuo! You've beaten me up like this, you can't treat me like this."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Qin Yuqi was surprised. Why did it sound so much like the words of a resentful woman who had been abandoned?
Xiao Jiang's hurried steps came to an abrupt halt by those words. He took a deep breath and tried hard to recall the way he had just shed tears.
Be patient; he's already crying, so let him be.
Qin Yuqi did not follow, and it was unclear what he was thinking.
Xiao Jiang turned around and saw that he was still in the same spot.
"Come on, didn't you ask me to take you out?"
Qin Yuqi immediately followed, afraid that she would turn around and run away again.
"Hey, Jiang Yuhuo, what are the characters in your name?"
Have you ever been to the Great Yong Dynasty? Have you seen the imperial palace?
"How old are you this year?"
Why are your hair and eyes a different color than normal people?
...
"Shut up!"
Qin Yuqi's newly lifted spirits were extinguished by this decisive rejection, and the pain in his body became more pronounced. He slowed his pace, walking behind Xiao Jiang. Her steps were light and quick, unlike his disheveled state.
He was the only one injured in the fight...
Qin Yuqi covered his face, staring at her back for a long time. The two neat little buns on her head that were originally smooth had come undone during the fight, with messy hair and her head looking messy, which inexplicably reminded him of a chick with its feathers standing on end.
When I was a child in the palace, the palace maids would grow flowers and vegetables and raise livestock when they had nothing to do. They would give him newborn chicks as little toys to please him. Occasionally, a shy chick would peck at him with its soft beak, and its feathers would stand on end when it saw someone approaching. But after spending a few days with it and feeding it a few times, even the most shy chick would eventually start to flutter around him.
Thinking of this, Qin Yuqi's depressed mood eased a little.
The two walked one after the other, and when they were almost at the foot of the mountain, they could see the exploration team in the distance, so Xiao Jiang stopped. Having brought them this far, she felt her mission was complete.
She left so decisively that before Qin Yuqi could even get angry, her figure had already gone far away.
He thought she would at least accompany him back to the inn, see the doctors' treatment, and then arrange a time for his next visit...
She just left like that?
He still held the object in his hand hidden in his sleeve, tracing its patterns with his fingertips, and didn't call out to her again.
When the panicked servants at the foot of the mountain saw Qin Yuqi, they all breathed a sigh of relief, their hearts finally at ease.
That's great, my life is saved, and my family won't be implicated.
Almost the instant Qin Yuqi was spotted, people rushed to meet him. But their joy was short-lived, shattered by his sudden appearance.
The person returned, but His Highness the Crown Prince had a bruised and swollen face, disheveled clothes, and bloodstains on his body; he was in a sorry state.
This is hardly better than losing your head. With the esteemed Crown Prince of the Great Yong Dynasty injured, the first to bear the brunt of the blame are naturally the guards who failed to protect him.
"Your Highness...Young Master, how did you get injured?"
A plump middle-aged man ran up to Qin Yuqi, anxiously checking his injuries. This was Liu Dan, the civil official who had accompanied them on their first day at Liyue Village, sent to lead the charge. Because he was a relative of Qin Yuqi's maternal side and they were quite familiar with each other, Liu Dan's concern for Qin Yuqi, seeing him return covered in wounds, transcended the usual barriers between ruler and subject.
Qin Yuqi brushed away the outstretched hand, saying, "It's nothing, just some superficial injuries."
Qin Yuqi didn't explain the reason, and no one dared to ask further.
Liu Dan looked back along the path Qin Yuqi had come from, but saw no one else. Strange, how come he had vaguely seen His Highness leave with that white-haired girl earlier?
On the way back to the inn, Qin Yuqi felt dizzy, as if he were drunk or had a fever. Every time he saw her, his head would spin, and he would do many inexplicable things.
But she was always very clear-headed.
Qin Yuqi was somewhat frustrated and couldn't help but tap his head twice.
Liu Dan walked behind, taking in all of this.
Young man.
A note from the author:
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