Qin Zheng took the emperor hostage all the way to the gate of the mansion. Shi Mingyue discovered that this was the emperor's residence outside the city. She was unfamiliar with the terrain here. Qin Zheng was also here for the first time, so she could only rely on her memory of the route she had taken last night to track the secret guards back.
But with every step they took, the group of secret guards would also take a step forward. Qin Zheng looked at the emperor in front of him and thought that how to deal with him was the biggest problem at the moment.
"Why don't you leave?" the emperor asked as if he was an outsider.
Qin Zheng ignored his words and continued walking towards the woods, and the secret guards followed him.
It was night when he arrived, and as he shuttled through the woods, Qin Zheng could no longer remember which direction he had come from. It seemed to be east. He figured there must be a direction that would lead him out of the woods.
The Emperor remained silent, Shi Mingyue remained silent, and neither did the secret guards. Qin Zheng remained silent. He saw a vast expanse of grass ahead; they had indeed emerged from the woods. But after a few steps, he realized there was no path. There was only an open space and then an unfathomable cliff. Should he turn back?
"Don't you know the way? If you don't know, why don't you ask me?" the emperor said jokingly.
Qin Zheng still ignored him. He turned around and saw the secret guards ready to attack, which made him even more worried about how to get rid of them. He was about to go back and change direction, but at this moment, the secret guards threw off their previous caution and strode towards them.
"What are you doing? The emperor's life is still in my hands!" Qin Zheng shouted.
The secret guards turned a deaf ear to his warnings, drew their swords one after another, and did not stop.
Shi Mingyue saw the emperor's expression, a look of complete confidence. She instantly understood that the emperor was betting that they wouldn't dare touch him. He had chosen this moment with great caution. When Qin Zheng first captured him, he had ordered the secret guards to hold their ground. This was because at that time, both Qin Zheng and she were extremely emotionally unstable. If provoked, they would have chosen to perish together. But now, after a while, her and Qin Zheng's emotions gradually calmed down. The desire to live far outweighed the desire to die.
Qin Zheng grabbed the emperor and retreated step by step. Shi Mingyue also retreated until they reached the edge of the cliff and had nowhere to retreat.
"You don't want your master to live?!" Qin Zheng stopped, his hand holding the hilt of the sword trembling a little. It was not worth it to die together with the emperor.
The secret guards obeyed the emperor's orders from beginning to end. If the emperor told them to stop, they would stop. Fu Xingkai signaled them to stop with his eyes, then said to Qin Zheng, "Why are you trying to save your own life?"
"If I let you go now, you'll die too. Why waste your time talking?" Qin Zheng said coldly. He glanced at Shi Mingyue and softened his tone. "It's not like we haven't died before. What are you afraid of? Take the dagger in my hand. If he makes any unusual movements, kill him immediately."
Shi Mingyue understood the determination in his eyes. She knew that Qin Zheng was determined to fight those secret guards. She nodded and said, "Okay."
Qin Zheng gave the dagger to Shi Mingyue, who held the dagger against Fu Xingkai's neck, while Qin Zheng took the sword and walked towards the group of secret guards.
"Have you ever killed anyone?" Fu Xingkai suddenly asked.
Shi Mingyue had never killed anyone, nor had she ever personally slaughtered chickens or ducks. At most, she had stepped on a few ants when she was a child. She thought about it. Although Qin Zheng always told her to learn from others and looked down on her for being timid in her previous life, she would always help him as long as she told him that she was afraid to kill chickens or fish.
She ignored Fu Xingkai because Qin Zheng had already started fighting with the secret guards.
Fu Xingkai sighed as he watched the fight, "I didn't expect him to be so skilled in martial arts and so courageous. Li'er was blind at the time, so why would you marry him?"
He was just like a buzzing, annoying mosquito. Shi Mingyue was about to tell him to shut up, but Fu Xingkai suddenly grabbed her wrist and pinched the acupuncture points on her wrist. Shi Mingyue let go of the dagger in pain.
The situation reversed, and Fu Xingkai said with a smile: "I have played with you for long enough."
Qin Zheng was distracted and saw the situation on their side, and immediately rushed over.
Shi Mingyue felt like a fool. She should have considered that Fu Yueli and Fu Baiheng had practiced martial arts since childhood, so how could Fu Xingkai not know martial arts? He had been appointed Crown Prince since childhood, and his education must have been even more rigorous than Fu Yueli and the others. He might have been a little intimidated by a master like Qin Zheng, but in front of her, even if she had the tip of her knife pressed against his neck, it would have been useless. His body's reflexes were far more agile than hers.
When Qin Zheng rushed over, Fu Xingkai was about to pull Shi Mingyue to avoid him, but unexpectedly the rocks underground suddenly began to vibrate. Before they could react, the ground under their feet collapsed and they fell off the cliff at the same time.
The secret guards on the other side were dumbfounded. When they ran over to take a look, the three men had already disappeared.
After an unknown amount of time, Shi Mingyue opened her eyes and immediately felt severe pain all over her body. She found herself hanging on a tree. As far as she could see, Qin Zheng was lying motionless on the ground.
Shi Mingyue closed her eyes. The excruciating pain throughout her body was the clearest sensation in her mind at the moment. This wasn't a dream, it was reality. She opened her eyes and tried to get down from the tree. The slightest effort on her left hand caused unbearable pain. It must have been broken.
She finally got down from the tree and when she walked to Qin Zheng, her breathing almost stopped. Is he still alive?
When she touched the side of Qin Zheng's neck with the back of her hand, she immediately felt relieved. Fortunately, Qin Zheng was still alive.
"Qin Zheng? Qin Zheng?" She called Qin Zheng's name.
Qin Zheng woke up quickly and found that he was still alive. His memory before he fainted showed that the tree cushioned his fall. This must be the reason why he was lucky enough to survive.
He and Shi Mingyue both looked quite disheveled at this moment, their clothes were torn in several places by scratches, and there was blood on their bodies.
Wait, where did the blood come from? The two turned their gaze to the side and saw a bloody severed leg and Fu Xingkai lying beside it. There was a sharp stone in front of Fu Xingkai's broken leg, which seemed to be the result of his falling.
"Is he still alive?" Shi Mingyue saw that Fu Xingkai's chest was not rising or falling despite his breathing, and his broken leg was too tragic.
Qin Zheng thought he must be dead, "Let's go, those secret guards will find this place soon."
Shi Mingyue nodded and turned to leave with him.
The two walked for a long time before they saw a path leading up the mountain. They were both injured and walked very slowly. When it was almost sunset, they finally reached the top of the mountain and continued walking along the path until they reached the main road.
Perhaps it was fate, but they had only walked a few steps along the road when Fu Yueli's men met them.
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