Chapter 40: Xirong’s passionate and sweet scene, Yang Yan originally…
Yang Yan gave the mute girl and her brother a large sum of money and rented the woodshed in the yard.
During the day, when the mute girl and her brother went out to work, he would chop firewood in the yard and make some hot food for Chai Heng.
Before Yang Yan came, the mute girl and her brother would leave some dry food and water on the table for Chai Heng before leaving, so that she could eat it at noon.
After Yang Yan came, no one knew what benefits he gave to the mute brother and sister. The two of them often spoke well of him with gestures, and no longer prepared dry food for her before leaving during the day. She had no choice but to drink the soup cooked by Yang Yan.
“Is it bland?”
“It’s salty.”
"What about this time?"
"It's faded."
Initially, Chai Heng had no desire to drink his cooking. She was annoyed by Yang Yan's self-important, controlling attitude, so she repeatedly spilled the soup he brought her. A few times, the scalding broth spilled onto his hands, causing blisters on the back of his hand. He said nothing, only turning away and calmly re-cooking the food. Spilling the re-cooked food again seemed like a waste of food, so Chai Heng had no choice but to force herself to eat a few bites, always finding fault with him.
Her attitude towards Yang Yan was really not good.
Whenever the mute siblings asked her to pass something to Yang Yan, she would throw it. Where it hit him depended on her mood. Sometimes it was his head, sometimes his face, sometimes his arm. Most of the time, she would just toss it to the ground, leaving him to bend down and pick it up.
Yang Yan wasn't a man of clay; he had his own temper. Chai Heng thought his patience was limited. As long as she gave him enough trouble, he would probably leave on his own when his patience ran out.
But before waiting for Yang Yan to leave, she first waited for the arrival of the Western Rong Army.
The village where she and Yang Yan lived was called Linxi Village. It was located at the foot of the cliff of Shouyang Village. The entire village was hidden by trees that blocked out the sun. If one did not know the terrain here very well, one would not be able to find the village at all.
During their time in Linxi Village, official documents from the imperial court were constantly delivered to the post station. Yang Yan cared for her during the day, and at night he sat in the woodshed, processing each document one by one. The local prefect, a recent transfer from the capital, had no idea how to protect the people on the border. The government and the surrounding soldiers were very weak in this regard.
Yang Yan went to the local county magistrate several times and pressured him to concentrate the military forces of nearby government offices first. Only then did the local county magistrate reluctantly listen to his advice.
But it was too late.
That night, a group of Western Rong troops came to Linxi Village for a surprise attack. They lit torches and rode on tall horses, burning, killing and looting.
Chai Heng was a light sleeper, and she was awakened by the sound of horse hooves. The first thing she did upon waking was to use her cane to go to the mute siblings' room and shake them awake. Then she told them to take the western path to the city. By then, the county magistrate in the city should have received the news, and the city gates would be closing soon. Hiding in the city would still save the mute siblings' lives.
After waking up the mute girl and her sister, she immediately went to Yang Yan's woodshed, wanting him to go with the mute girl and her sister. It was so late, and the lights were still on in the woodshed. The documents piled on the table had all been collected by Yang Yan, but he was nowhere to be found.
The mute girl put on her clothes and hurried out, her hair still messy. She gestured to Chai Heng, "Brother Yang may have left first. Sister Chai, you should leave too. Come with us."
Chai Heng: "He shouldn't leave first. You guys leave first. I'll come find you later."
As he spoke, he stepped forward to help the mute girl button up her clothes, then took out two tinder sticks from his sleeves and handed them to her, "Hurry, follow your brother!"
The mute girl looked at Chai Heng reluctantly and tried to make some gestures to say something, but the sound of horse hooves in the distance was approaching.
Chai Heng told them to hurry and then went inside to get her bow and arrows. She was limping, and if she encountered the Western Rong people, using a short blade wouldn't be a good option; a bow and arrow would be a safer option.
The bow and quiver she had used before were hung on the wall. When she came out of the Western Rong camp, there were only a few feather arrows left in her quiver, but now it was full again. Chai Heng knew without thinking that Yang Yan had put them in at some point.
Without giving it much thought, she shouldered her bow and arrows, leaned on her cane, and headed out. By the time she left, several Xirong soldiers had already arrived on horseback.
Chai Heng could only understand simple Xirong language, not complicated ones. They stared at her as if she were prey, and spoke in complicated Xirong language, making it unclear what they were saying.
Without a second thought, Chai Heng pulled out the arrows from her back and shot three in quick succession. The Xirong soldiers hadn't expected her to move so quickly. When their companion was hit by an arrow, the others counterattacked, riding their horses and wielding their spears to lunge at her.
Chai Heng, quick-witted and swift-handed, dodged to the side, then snatched the spear from the rider and tossed him and his horse to the ground. After that, she used the spear she had just snatched to knock another Xirong soldier off his horse. As he fell, she struck him in the chest with her spear, and in an instant, a pool of blood splattered across the Xirong soldier's chest.
After completing this series of actions, she saw the fire growing brighter in the distance, and the sound of horse hooves becoming louder. Another group of Western Rong people were chasing them. The leading Western Rong general, perhaps seeing what had happened, cursed in the Central Plains dialect, but Chai Heng didn't hear clearly.
But with her current legs and feet, it was impossible to fight against a large number of enemies with a small number of enemies. She was lucky to have killed those four or five Xirong people just now. She would have no chance of defeating more people.
So he immediately ran towards the path in the woods with his crutches.
The trees in this area were exceptionally dense, and the path was rugged, making it a perfect place for hiding. Chai Heng limped into the woods, not daring to light a fire, but simply following her instincts. The Xirong people behind her were chasing her frantically, and her legs couldn't carry her far. Unsure of what to do, she passed a cave and was grabbed by a hand, dragged straight into it.
The cave was filled with the smell of blood.
Chai Heng was surprised for a moment because it was too dark and she couldn't see who the person was, but she was very familiar with the temperature of the person's palm.
"Yang Yan?"
"It's me."
Yang Yan leaned against the wall of the cave. Chai Heng didn't know if it was her illusion, but she felt that he seemed to have no strength in his body, and his usually cold voice was a little weak.
After Yang Yan pulled her in, he remembered that she didn't like him touching her, and he happened to be very dirty at the moment, so he immediately let go of her hand.
Chai Heng moved his legs and reached out to touch the crutch again, but suddenly he touched the corpses beside him, and there was more than one.
She suddenly realized why she felt that something was wrong with Yang Yan. These corpses should be from the Western Rong people. Did he kill people with a knife?
She wanted to ask him, but she was afraid her voice would startle the pursuing Xirong soldiers, so she held her breath, not daring to utter a single word. After the sound of horse hooves faded and the Xirong soldiers passed through the dark cave entrance one by one, and after a while, Chai Heng subconsciously reached for the tinderbox in her sleeve.
She wanted to see what the situation was like in the cave, but Yang Yan held her hand.
"Cui Miao is also in this woods. If you keep going forward, you will see him. Let him carry you away." His voice was so low that Chai Heng was even worried that he would die.
Chai Heng couldn't see the situation here, but she felt her heart beating fast. "What about you?" she asked almost subconsciously.
Yang Yan smiled, a teasing arc forming at the corner of his lips: "What? You still want me to carry you?"
Chai Heng felt that it was unnecessary for him to ask such a question.
She stuck her head out and confirmed that there was no sound of horse hooves around. She guessed that the Xirong army had gone far away, and groped her way to her feet by the wall.
Yang Yan handed her his walking stick and then handed her a bunch of other things. Chai Heng felt around and realized they were a dozen arrows, probably something he had taken from the Western Rong people after he finished off the ground.
Chai Heng put them into the quiver on his back and turned to leave. Before leaving, he thought for a moment and asked again, "Are you injured?"
If she hadn't been injured, according to Yang Yan's personality, he wouldn't have let her go with Cui Miao like that.
"You care about me so much, have you forgotten how I hurt you before? Chai Heng, you always say that every failure makes you wiser, but now it seems that's not enough."
In the darkness, emotions surged in Yang Yan's eyes, but the corners of his lips were still smiling, and the words he spoke had a bit of the flavor of the past.
Chai Heng knew that he would not keep his composure forever.
Familiar recipe, familiar taste.
This is the kind of thing Yang Yan would say that gets a beating.
Chai Heng felt something was wrong and went forward to pull him along, but her hand shot out mid-air before retracting. She knew that Yang Yan, besides having never killed anyone before and not liking to be around corpses, was also very afraid of the dark, so he always carried a lot of tinder.
In such a dark cave at this moment, she knew without even thinking that although he was holding on, his face would not look very good.
But what does this have to do with her?
She had been scared many times before.
He knew it clearly at that time, but he didn't care about her.
Thinking of this, Chai Heng stopped moving, not knowing what he was thinking.
"Why don't you go find Cui Miao? Are you still reluctant to leave me?" Yang Yan smiled coldly and continued to mock her.
If she hesitated any longer after he spoke like that, then she would be wrong.
"Then you are dreaming."
After saying this, Chai Heng was afraid that he would be soft-hearted, so he picked up his crutches and walked forward without looking back.
Hearing her footsteps as she left, Yang Yan's originally tense back could no longer support itself. He relaxed and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes with a little fatigue.
*
The large force of the Western Rong army that had just been chasing Chai Heng was heading in the opposite direction of Chai Heng. Chai Heng walked forward and met some fleeing villagers and several Western Rong people who were harassing the fleeing villagers on the way.
She dealt with them one by one, and other than a few minor scrapes, she didn't suffer any other injuries.
As Yang Yan said, Cui Miao was indeed in front.
He brought a dozen men from Youzhou and fought with the large force of the Western Rong army that had just left for a while. Both sides suffered serious injuries.
When Chai Heng came out of the woods and saw Cui Miao, he was sitting by a small river with his subordinates to rest. Because they had just been through a fierce battle, the subordinates were very sensitive at the moment. They suddenly saw a man coming out of the woods and about to draw his sword. Cui Miao was drinking water from a sheepskin pot. He looked to the side and found that it was Chai Heng.
"Ah Heng?"
After searching for her everywhere, he finally found her without any effort. When Cui Miao saw that she was safe and sound, he hurriedly dropped the kettle and went over to her.
"What's wrong with your arm?"
Chai Heng saw at a glance that Cui Miao's right arm was covered in blood, as if it had been chopped by a knife or an axe.
When Cui Miao was just hacked, he felt the pain so much that he gritted his teeth and held back a cry. Now that he saw Chai Heng and saw that she cared about him, he felt even more embarrassed to howl in front of his beloved. He just smiled with a pale face and said, "It's a minor injury. I was just hacked by a blind Xirong soldier. But it's not a big deal. I'll just find a doctor to bandage it when we get back to the city."
His wound was still visibly bleeding.
Chai Heng took out a handkerchief from her bosom and said softly, "Give me your arm."
Cui Miao's face turned slightly red, and he said, "It's okay, just a minor injury." But his hands were very honest and he quickly handed it over.
Chai Heng lowered his head and bandaged Cui Miao's wound briefly. After he finished, he asked, "Why are you here?"
It was a long story. She was in Linzi City, and it wasn't just Yang Yan who was worried about her; he was also worried about her. So, shortly after Yang Yan disobeyed the imperial order to return to the capital, he also came from Youzhou. Considering the special geographical location of Linzi City and the fact that Shouyang Village had already been purged by the Western Rong army, he specially brought some subordinates with him when he came.
Unexpectedly, an accident happened in Linxi Village.
Yang Yan was reviewing documents in the woodshed when he heard the sound of horse hooves and thought something was wrong, so he went out. He had spent quite some time in Linxi Village and knew where the most crowded areas were. He also knew that it was late at night, and if the Western Rong army attacked, it would be like slaughtering another village.
So he first killed a Xirong man, trying to lure these Xirong soldiers into the nearby woods, buying time for the other people in the village to escape.
Cui Miao encountered Yang Yan on the way. At the time, Yang Yan was severely wounded. It was difficult for a civil official to even lift a knife, let alone kill someone. His clothes were covered in blood, and Cui Miao couldn't tell where the wound had occurred. He wanted to take him away, but was refused.
Cui Miao guessed that he was probably worried that Chai Heng was alone in the village and didn't know how to get out with her limping leg, so he wanted to go back to find her, but now she appeared here alone, so perhaps the two of them didn't meet.
"It's too long to tell how I got here. I'll tell you slowly later."
"Where's Lord Yang? He must have been afraid that you'd come out alone, so he went back to look for you. Didn't you run into him?"
Hearing Cui Miao mention Yang Yan, Chai Heng's heart beat a few times more violently. In fact, she had been thinking about whether he would die all the way here, but after seeing Cui Miao, she didn't know how to say it, so she didn't mention it. Now that he took the initiative to mention it, she said:
"I met him in a cave. He gave me a lot of arrows and told me to come find you."
No matter how naive Cui Miao was, he knew that he and Yang Yan were rivals in love.
Who would be willing to entrust the person they love to the hands of their rival?
Cui Miao recalled Yang Yan's bloody appearance earlier: "Lord Yang has been seriously injured. I'll take some people to check on him. I'll leave two people behind to guard you. Don't worry."
Hearing about the serious injury, Chai Heng remembered the smell of blood and couldn't help frowning.
"Then you have to be careful too."
"good."
After Cui Miao finished speaking, he immediately led his men back into the woods. Chai Heng sat by the stream outside the woods and waited for about two hours before he saw Cui Miao again.
Cui Miao brought the man out of the cave. Yang Yan's originally snow-white clothes were now completely stained with blood. He looked very weak. His face was as handsome as before, but there was no trace of blood on his lips. When he passed by Chai Heng, he raised his eyelids.
"Don't worry, I won't die." He chuckled and spoke weakly.
Chai Heng stood up and looked away: "I'm not worried about you, you're overthinking it."
Yang Yan smiled self-deprecatingly and said nothing.
Cui Miao, on the other hand, was somewhat worried about the condition of his love rival and said kindly: "Don't say that. Lord Yang is in a serious condition. Ah Heng, he needs to see a doctor immediately, otherwise he will die."
"Take care of yourself first. Don't you want your hands anymore?"
The disaster will last for thousands of years.
Before Chai Heng saw Yang Yan, she was worried that he would not die, but now that she sees him, she feels that he would not die so easily.
So he walked towards Cui Miao.
In order to hold him up, a lot of blood oozed out of Cui Miao's arm, which had just been bandaged. Chai Heng walked over, took off the blood-soaked handkerchief, and took out another handkerchief from his arms to bandage him.
She moved very carefully, afraid of hurting Cui Miao.
Yang Yan didn't want to watch this kind of romantic scene, but he couldn't help but lift his eyelids and take a few more glances as if to self-mutilation.
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