Chapter 109 "If you try to escape again, then..."
“When I was still a princess, all my confidants scolded me for wasting money on this,” Diya handed me the wooden shovel, gesturing for me to continue shoveling coal, while she steered the train. “But none of them imagined that one day this thing would actually save my life.”
"You're a princess? How could a princess have so much money?" I was extremely surprised. In my mind, princesses were controlled by their parents or elders, like Princess Yanni, and it was impossible for them to have so much money to build railways and trains.
“I’m no ordinary princess,” Deya said, skillfully maneuvering the train. “My parents only had me as their daughter; all their sons died. I could have been queen.”
"And then what?"
"Later, my parents died suddenly, on the same day. I happened to be studying in another country and was immediately placed under house arrest. The entire country was controlled by my father's younger brother, my uncle, who even claimed to be the regent appointed by my father before his death. Originally, I was arranged to marry my uncle's son, but on the wedding day, the groom became my uncle. Just like that, I became his bride and was forced to give birth to a daughter in prison."
It was like something out of a horror movie; I was so terrified I couldn't speak.
“I was imprisoned after only six months of marriage to him,” Di Yaruo smiled slightly at me. “He didn’t dare kill me because several old ministers swore that if he killed me, their families would rebel against him for generations. So he found a woman who looked like me, used the excuse that I was seriously ill, and locked her in my palace while he imprisoned me in the Eastern Prison. He didn’t dare put me in his own country’s prison, fearing that loyal guards would help me. By the time I met you, I had been imprisoned for more than seven years.”
"So... are you planning to go back to China and take back everything that belongs to you?" I asked.
"If you were me, what would you do?" she asked me in return.
I didn't answer.
The dilapidated train continued forward, passing through narrow passageways. For a moment, I almost thought the train would never make it out.
Beatrice, who had been fast asleep, woke up and curled up in the corner, motionless. Opposite her sat Prince Hya, whose eyes had been closed, and Daisy, whose eyes were slightly closed.
I draped the half-dry hooded coat over Beatrice. "Are you cold?"
Beatrice immediately closed her eyes again.
The train was very old and moved very slowly, taking about ten hours to stop. Di Yaruo glanced at the stopping point, immediately jumped off, and smiled at me, saying, "Although it hasn't been used for many years, this train still made it to its destination."
"Where am I?" I asked.
Di Ya Ruo laughed loudly, "You really don't know anything," and then turned to Dai Lin with a smile, "Come on, you tell her, where is this?"
After a moment's hesitation, Dale told me, "There are three adjacent islands in this sea area, but only the third island is the entrance to the outside sea. We should be on the third island now."
"Connecting to the outside world? What country are we in now?" I asked again.
“Yes, the Elf King conquered the territory on the main continent less than two years ago. The three islands were originally uncontrolled territories inhabited entirely by barbarians. The Elf King led his army to conquer all the islands, enslaving all the barbarian natives and relocating some refugees from the main continent there. Incidentally—” Dale glanced at Hya, “he also took in several princes who had been enslaved there. When you arrived, all the princes were dead, except for Prince Hya,” she emphasized, “who has survived only thanks to my care.”
"Yes," I said.
Hya is really lucky; he always has women protecting him. Before, Princess Yani entertained him with food, drink, and entertainment, deliberately trying to please him. Now, there are women willing to take care of him, and a princess in distress is even willing to marry him.
Haiya heard us talking, but kept her eyes closed and didn't even blink.
——
Despite the wind and rain, our group struggled to climb out of a cave. At the bottom of the cave were railway tracks and trains.
Outside the cave was the seaside, where I saw a very inconspicuous black boat.
Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse; though the princess is in dire straits, she still retains some resources. She must have somehow reconnected with her former subordinates, not only obtaining information but also securing their assistance.
As we emerged from the cave, Daisy whispered to me, "Every island has its unique mark. It is by seeing its mark that I know which island it is."
"Thank you," I replied softly.
To be honest, my relationship with Dailin wasn't exactly close. Logically, as fellow transmigrators from the same hometown, we should have felt a sense of kinship upon meeting and had a good relationship, helping each other out. But Dailin was clearly distant and indifferent towards me, and I certainly wasn't going to offer my warm welcome to someone who didn't reciprocate.
Having lived here for many years, her innocence and enthusiasm for people and things have probably long been worn away by the passage of time and the cruelty of the world.
After walking a few steps outside the cave, I felt something was wrong.
The ground was sticky and slippery, almost making me slip. I looked down and screamed in terror—there were large patches of blood, like a long, crimson river, winding its way forward from beneath my feet.
I had never seen such a terrifying river. I screamed and swayed, and suddenly I slipped and fell to the ground. My face, hands, hair and clothes were covered in blood, and my screams became even more heart-wrenching.
"What are you yelling for?" Di Yaruo, barely managing to keep her balance, said with a slight tremor, "Hurry up and get ready to run!"
"Escape?!" Why? I screamed, trying my best to suppress my fear.
Diya ignored me and struggled to run forward across the Blood River. Dailin helped Haiya catch up quickly, and Beatrice followed closely behind. No one paid any attention to me.
I struggled to my feet from the "river of blood," but after only two steps, I stumbled and almost fell again, when a pair of hands grabbed me tightly.
Looking back, I saw little Beatrice.
"Thank you!" I whispered.
Beatrice ignored me, and seeing that I had regained my balance, she turned and chased after her mother without looking back.
I struggled to catch up, not understanding what danger had occurred, but seeing the vast "river of blood," I knew this was not a place to linger.
But we hadn't gone far when a deafening battle cry erupted, shaking the heavens and earth, and even causing small stones to fall from the cliffs we passed.
As I dodged the falling pebbles, I glanced back and froze in horror—a vast sandstorm raged in the distance, and a large group of people were running desperately forward, but they couldn't outrun a dozen or so riders on tall horses chasing them. The riders held muskets, firing them with deafening bangs, and screams and howls rose and fell, echoing through the sky.
The smell of blood wafted towards us, and we faintly heard Di Yaruo curse something ahead, then turn around and wave at us, signaling us to quickly escape and hide under a sea rock.
They all ran away quickly, but I was the slowest.
I might be physically weaker than them by nature. Like Deya and Atresia, I spent several years in prison and didn't exercise, so I'm not as agile as them. Plus, I just fell and the pain in my body also affected my speed. Even when I tried my best, I was still slow.
Just as I was about to reach the sea stone, the large group of fleeing people had already surrounded me. They were being chased by musketeers, who were much faster than me. I also entered the musketeers' sniping range.
I was covered in blood, my hair was disheveled, and I looked no different from the people who were fleeing.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The sound of gunfire erupted everywhere. I screamed in panic and followed the crowd, dodging left and right, watching people fall, and I was so horrified that I almost fainted.
Those heroines who can dominate the battlefield of novels are simply dragons and phoenixes among men. I admit that I cannot compare to them. I only hope to save my life.
Bang, bang, gunshots rang out continuously. To avoid slipping, I kicked off my shoes, screamed, and ran barefoot across the sticky "river of blood," but my shoulder was still injured, and blood gushed from it.
For a moment, I was close to Hai Shi and really wanted to run away, but I held back because I knew it would expose the whereabouts of others.
We were surrounded by musketeers. Bang, bang, bang! Screams rang out, and my mind went blank.
With each shot of the musket, my stomach would twitch.
People around me fell one by one, to the left, to the right, in front, and behind, from the outermost edge all the way to the innermost edge. Everyone fell down except me.
Bang bang bang!
Every shot felt like it hit me; I screamed, but it was someone else who fell.
When the last person besides me fell to the ground, I stood alone amidst the pile of corpses and blood, looking particularly out of place.
My legs gave way and I collapsed into a pool of blood.
Just when everyone thought there was one last fatal blow, the musketeers suddenly put away their muskets.
I was so shocked that I gasped for breath.
"I'm sorry, sister, I've startled you." A musketeer jumped off his horse, walked up to me, and removed his black helmet.
With a fair complexion, light red eyes, and long black hair tied back, it was actually Luo An.
I froze.
A sudden, fierce, cold wind howled from above, blowing all my hair wild. The smell of blood carried by my hair, mixed with a captivating fragrance in the air, filled my nostrils.
The air suddenly felt suffocating.
I felt everyone's breathing stop almost simultaneously.
A golden chariot drawn by eight snow-white flying horses descended gracefully from a high cliff not far away. Each white horse had a golden star on its forehead. In just over ten seconds, it landed not far from us.
Luo An immediately took two steps back from me, lowered his head slightly, and said nothing more.
"Was that fun?" The Elf King's deep, magnetic, and gentle voice came from the luxurious carriage. "The feeling of escaping was wonderful, wasn't it?"
I was horrified and tried to stand up, but the overwhelming fear made me unable to move.
"If you try to escape again, there are even more exciting chase games to come."
Before I could even process what he said, a large pack of black wolves suddenly appeared out of nowhere, howling and surrounding me. Their eyes were gleaming green, their teeth bared, and they looked ferocious, almost pouncing on me.
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