Yuwen Sheng misunderstood her meaning: "You don't like me, so you don't even like my belongings?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" she asked, frowning.
Yuwen Sheng released her and looked into her eyes: "I thought you would smile when you heard this good news, but you're not smiling now. Is it because... you can't bear to see me die?"
"No!" she said, turning her face away.
He turned his face away, childishly insisting that she look at him: "You're stubborn but soft-hearted. What will you do if you get fooled by someone in the future?"
Zheng Quchi didn't know what was wrong with him, so she stopped dodging and met his eyes, saying clearly, "In my whole life, I, Zheng Quchi, have only been deceived by one person. Don't think that just because I look stupid, I really am stupid."
Upon hearing this, Yuwen Sheng slightly opened his eyes, carefully considering the meaning behind her words, and then laughed, his laughter growing louder and louder.
Remembering that he had just said he could hear laughter from upstairs in the carriage, she quickly covered his mouth: "What are you laughing at? Keep it down."
Zheng Quchi felt as if he was being mocked.
He didn't pull her hand away, but instead deftly hooked her collar with his fingers and took out the thing hanging around her neck. His eyes were dark, and his face wore an unreadable smile: "Wear it properly, don't take it off for a moment, understand?"
"What happened to you? Is your injury really that serious? Is there no hope?" Zheng Quchi let go of her hand, snatched the bracelet back, and stuffed it into her clothes.
When she saw that Runtu and the others didn't seem particularly serious or worried when they mentioned his injury, she assumed that his injury shouldn't be a big problem. But why did he act like he was making arrangements for his death?
Was Runtu deliberately hiding something, or was he exaggerating to deceive her...?
"Yes, I'm dying soon, are you happy?"
I'm happy for you, my foot!
She knew he had seen his injuries with her own eyes, so it wasn't fake. Maybe he really thought his injuries were too severe and he wouldn't live much longer, and he started to give up on himself.
She didn't know how to comfort him, or rather, she was helpless regarding his injuries.
She took a deep breath and said with a firm expression, "Yuwen Sheng, you know I'm a carefree person who can let things slide. But when it comes to life, I'm always serious and solemn. Maybe I'm just naive and foolish. I hope for peace everywhere, and I hope everyone can live in a place without war, without killing, and where you have to fight to the death to survive."
After listening with a strange expression, he smiled and nodded, saying, "It does sound... both naive and foolish."
Zheng Quchi didn't care about his sharp tongue. How could these warmongers understand her lofty ideals? She only summarized her previous statement by saying, "So I would be happy if anyone died, including you."
Yuwen Sheng wasn't pleased by her words; what bothered him was: "So, it seems I'm no different from anyone else in your eyes..."
Just as Zheng Quchi was about to reply, he heard a sharp whistle coming from afar.
?——
?——
?、?——
She quickly got up and peered out the window: "Yuwen Sheng, it's a whistle, Runtu and the others have sent a message, but..."
How could there be two long and two short?
Runtu previously said that if there was a problem, he would blow three short whistles. Huai Pangzi also said that three short and two long whistles meant there was no problem. But now, neither of them is correct. So what does it mean that there are two long and two short whistles?
She turned to look at Yuwen Sheng. He looked up, understood the question in her eyes, and said, "Two long and two short represent..."
He drew out the last syllable, and Zheng Quchi, impatient, pressed on, "What does it represent?"
Is there a third way to signal with a whistle?
Seeing that she was really anxious, Yuwen Sheng stopped teasing her and said directly, "It means that they may have been captured by mistake. This is a whistle deliberately sounded by the enemy to lure us into a trap."
Zheng Quchi looked at him in astonishment.
Isn't this a very serious matter? How can he say it in such a nonchalant tone?
Looking outside now, she feels that every bush and tree is an enemy, and danger lurks everywhere.
"Wouldn't Runtu and the others be in great danger? Are there many enemies lying in ambush at the ferry crossing? What should we do now?"
Yuwen Sheng pulled her hand and made her sit beside him, then dropped another bombshell: "Not only the ferry crossing, but the road we came from is now entirely surrounded by enemies."
Startled, Zheng Quchi eventually calmed down: "Then we're trapped now? No, there must be another way."
Yuwen Sheng sometimes particularly admired her tenacity. Others would become more and more tense until they finally collapsed and broke, but she would bounce back more fiercely the tighter she was stretched, and she would never give up hope.
Seeing no sign of her panic and distress, and her subsequent seeking comfort from him, Yuwen Sheng casually brushed aside the faint sense of loss and regret in his heart, saying, "On land, they certainly laid an inescapable trap, but in the water, they may not be so."
Upon hearing that there was hope, Zheng Quchi's eyes suddenly lit up: "Did you have any other preparations at the ferry? But... but if they bring troops to block our way, how are we supposed to break through?"
He stood up, took her hand, leaned down and asked, "Before, you didn't say anything, you just told me to believe you, and I believed you. Now I'm asking you, do you believe me?"
Zheng Quchi tilted her head back, her expression showing some struggle. Although she seemed to easily get along with others and confide in them, she was not someone who would easily trust others. Rather than trusting others, she preferred to trust herself.
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