At the cave entrance, Qingyin saw the man who hadn't woken up when she woke up standing alone at the entrance, like a pitiful little dog that no one wanted.
Qingyin paused subconsciously as she carried the prey and fruit, suddenly feeling a pang of guilt, like an owner abandoning their puppy. What to do!
Qingyin shook his head. Sure enough, yesterday's strange associations had caused him to act strangely today. Be normal, be normal!
Having shaken off her strange thoughts, Qingyin strode forward.
"Young Master Ruyu, you're back! Why didn't you ask me for help? You're still injured." Xu Yanli ran over and took the things from Qingyin's hands with a slightly forceful manner.
The item wasn't too heavy to begin with, so Qingyin let the man take it from her.
The fire inside the cave had been lit again by the man. Qingyin sat to one side, while Xu Yanli was carefully roasting the meat.
Qingyin glanced at his barbecue skills and thought they were alright, so she let him cook.
The fresh, plump pheasants and rabbits soon filled the fire with a rich aroma, and drops of fat dripped into the flames, creating crackling sounds and intensifying the meat's fragrance.
After a short while, Qingyin looked at the chicken and rabbit legs wrapped in lotus leaves that Xu Yanli had handed him. He glanced at him lightly, a smile in his eyes.
He casually grabbed a rabbit leg and handed it back, writing with a charcoal pencil, "I can't eat that much."
Xu Yanli blushed slightly, took the rabbit leg, and started gnawing on it.
I don't know if it was because Xu Yanli's cooking skills were good, or if the rabbits and pheasants in this forest were just naturally delicious, but roasting them directly with wild seasonings was surprisingly tasty, with no fishy smell at all.
After the two men finished processing a rabbit and a pheasant, they ate some fruit and finally filled their stomachs.
There was no place to wash hands in the forest, so the two of them had to wipe themselves down at the hem of their clothes.
After finishing their meal, the two prepared to walk upstream.
Following the current will eventually lead to our way back, but we must be careful along the way to avoid potential attacks from assassins.
The forest was deep and secluded, with towering trees blocking out the sun, yet the temperature remained high.
Qingyin, a master of martial arts, walked ahead and casually wiped the sweat from her face caused by the heat and humidity.
Xu Yanli followed closely behind him, and smelled a faint fragrance. He couldn't help but be stunned. He and Ruyu Gongzi hadn't bathed for several days, but why did Ruyu Gongzi still smell so good? Could it be that beautiful women all have a natural fragrance?
As Qingyin walked forward, she naturally noticed that the man behind her seemed to be getting closer and closer.
Qingyin, thinking something had happened behind her, stopped, just as the man pressed himself against her.
The beautiful woman, exuding a delicate fragrance, tilted her head slightly, looking at him with a puzzled expression. Xu Yanli wanted to remain rational and calm, and explain a few words, but the person who touched his heart was too close. He felt as if he could touch her if he lowered his head.
His Adam's apple bobbed, his mind went blank, and the man blurted out in a panic, "I'm scared."
Qingyin: "..."
In his past life, the powerful eunuch who could overthrow the emperor and his enemies was afraid of Lin Zi.
Qingyin wondered if it was the dim light in the forest that frightened him. After explaining himself for a while, Qingyin nodded and continued walking forward.
His mind couldn't keep up with his mouth. Realizing what he had said, Xu Yanli's ears turned red again, but seeing that Qingyin did not reject his approach, he couldn't help but secretly smile.
— — — — — — — — — — —
With the autumn hunt at the palace drawing to a close and Emperor Chongzhao still unable to find the person, he had no choice but to leave a contingent of men behind. The rewards remained the same, but once the person was found, they were to be immediately sent back to the palace.
Xiao Lin and Lao Lin were rare good brothers among the Imperial Guards, but they weren't very confident that they could find Lord Xu.
The two of them were just trying their luck by walking through the woods. The forest was deep and dark, and the sounds of insects and various animals mingled together in an eerie atmosphere. They spoke with great courage.
"Old Lin, do you think Lord Xu is still alive?"
"With water so deep and flowing so fast, how can a person survive holding their breath for so long?"
Kobayashi asked the question to the brother next to him.
Old Lin slapped his brother: "How dare you say such a thing? This is the man His Majesty is looking for. He wants to see him alive or dead. His Majesty values Lord Xu so much. If your words were to reach the ears of those other officials, you'd be in big trouble!"
Xiao Lin chuckled: "Old Lin, Brother Lin, it's all thanks to you that I dare to say this to you!"
Old Lin has been in the Imperial Guard for two years; he's a true veteran.
A rustling sound came from not far away.
"Wait!" Old Lin stopped Little Lin.
"Shh! Keep your voice down, there's noise." Xiao Lin, who had been laughing and joking just moments before, became tense and slowed his footsteps.
The two walked slowly toward the source of the noise.
Who's there?
Qingyin, who had snapped a venomous snake in half with a wave of her hand, looked up at the accent of the capital city. Were they the Imperial Guards who had come to see them?
Just now, Xu Yanli suddenly stepped into a trap and twisted his ankle, so Qingyin put him under a tree in a relatively safe place first, so that he could scout out the way and hunt some wild animals before leaving tomorrow.
Qingyin heard two footsteps approaching. Even if they were enemies, he could handle them.
Qingyin stopped and looked over.
Then the person who came revealed his face.
Two dark-skinned soldiers dressed in Imperial Guard uniforms stood dumbfounded in the grass, staring at him.
They really were reinforcements.
Xiaolin and Dalin struggled across the tree branches, swords in hand, and walked over, finally seeing the person, or rather, the demon, they were meant to meet.
The other person looked to be a young man of seventeen or eighteen.
Her eyebrows were delicate, their color varying in shade, like snowflakes falling from a high mountain or raindrops pattering in a forest, seemingly both distant and near. Her eyes, shaped like peach blossoms, even the corners appeared tinged with a blush. Beneath her straight nose were perfectly shaped lips. Her fair, translucent skin made the color of her lips appear even lighter, yet not the purplish-black of a sick person; rather, they were like tender, pink buds blooming in early spring.
The ordinary black robe made the young man's skin appear even whiter, like an ice crystal about to melt on the summit of a snow-capped mountain—seemingly fragile, but sharp enough to be felt as soon as you touched it.
She was both enchanting and ethereal, her beauty so captivating it was almost unbelievable, leaving the two soldiers dazzled.
The two asked again, almost simultaneously: "Who are you?"
Qingyin looked at the two silly soldiers and a slight smile appeared on her lips.
In that instant, her complexion was like the dawn of spring, her brows and eyes were gentle as water, and even her gaze was like snow melting under the blazing sun and blooming with spring flowers. The most captivating, clear and soft light made people willingly intoxicated and unwilling to wake up.
Qingyin prefers greetings from simple, silly kids to dealing with intelligent people.
Qingyin stepped forward, knowing that all the Imperial Guards were literate.
He broke off a tree branch from the roadside and started writing words on the ground to explain.
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