My life is worth so much I'd vomit blood.
After walking for a while, Wen Ruo slowed down her pace, panting heavily, occasionally pounding her chest, her face pale.
Looking up, the muddy path resembled a mountain range stretching for thousands of miles, with no end in sight. After calculating the time, she couldn't help but feel a little discouraged.
Qi Guanlan turned around and suddenly asked, "Is the golden walnut still there?" Wen Ruo frowned, glanced at him, and instead of answering him, asked, "What's wrong?"
Qi Guanlan put his hands on his hips and said, "What's with that expression? If you walk this slowly, when are you going to get back? I still want to see the general capture the bandits alive. After thinking it over, I've decided to give you a chance to live."
Wen Ruo quickly said she was there, and Qi Guanlan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that this stingy person would say she wasn't there. He held up one finger and said, "A golden walnut, and this young master will condescend to carry you back."
This is the umpteenth time. Qi Guanlan sometimes comes up with ingenious ways to make people's throats slightly itchy. Wen Ruo couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips, but said angrily, "If I had known, I would have pretended to faint."
Young Master Qi would probably just carry it on his back, without needing to offer a gold walnut or a way to save face. "Then I'll come and collect your body another day. You tell me if I'm worth the price."
Wen Ruo nodded. Her life was indeed very valuable. The moment she climbed onto Qi Guanlan's back, Wen Ruo felt a great sense of relief. But this was not good. She bit her tongue and mustered her strength to ask, "The princess said that the abbot's Shaolin boxing skills are first-rate. How long has it taken you to learn them, young master?"
"When did you hear about this?" Qi Guanlan looked ahead, seemingly already used to the wet feeling under his feet, carrying someone steadily in the middle of the road, with the footprints left by the robbers all in front of him.
"The day I was almost scared to death by the princess's whip."
No wonder he wasn't worried. Qi Guanlan laughed out loud, his broad and sturdy chest trembling slightly. His smooth shoulders and neck had slightly protruding shoulder blades that were unusually noticeable. Wen Ruo had to get close to his neck to avoid feeling uncomfortable.
"How did your mother find such a filial daughter like you? My mother was so envious, she kept talking about it to me before she passed away."
"It's fate!"
To avoid being captured, she fled to Shiliu's mother's house and hid. At that time, Shiliu's mother was still lively and energetic, so much so that she could verbally abuse several burly men until they were speechless. When she crawled out, Shiliu's mother had already knocked over her rice bowl.
Later, she met a conman whose gender was ambiguous. He insisted on teaching her a skill, and adhering to the principle that "it's better to learn than not, and it's never a bad thing to have more skills," she agreed.
After becoming an apprentice and making some progress, he startled Pomegranate Mother and was almost kicked out. He had to make every promise that he wouldn't be a charlatan to appease her.
"What about your family?"
"Dead." Wen Ruo turned her head, closed her eyes, and said weakly, "I have no strength left."
And so, along the way, Qi Guanlan would tease her from time to time. Wen Ruo would open her eyelids and look around. They had already passed Zhuxi Village. The village was shrouded in white mist at the foot of the mountains. It was so quiet that there was not a trace of smoke from the chimneys. Occasionally, pigeons would fly over from above, their destination unknown.
As darkness fell, Wen Ruo felt even colder. Her body felt like a funnel, letting in icy winds. She couldn't help but shiver, and her eyelids were so heavy that blinking required all her strength.
"There's a sound ahead." Qi Guanlan paused, the breathing behind him almost imperceptible. He could only keep asking her questions to confirm if she was still awake.
"Has the general arrived?" Wen Ruo asked with her eyes closed, only hearing the wind in her ears, which gave her a splitting headache; she couldn't hear anything else.
Qi Guanlan: "Help me think of a way to escape punishment when we get back?"
Wen Ruo: "I caught a cold and got hurt a bit."
It seemed the general hadn't come. Wen Ruo's feet felt cold, her eyelids grew heavier, and her thoughts suddenly began to wander aimlessly. "The golden walnut was buried under the crabapple tree in the corner of my house."
"What?" Qi Guanlan didn't understand her words for a moment. Wen Ruo paused for a while, her voice like a stream that was about to dry up, without the nourishment of a clear spring, gradually losing its vitality, "One for you, one for Mother."
"I'm afraid both are mine now, and my clothes cost money too."
Qi Guanlan slowly put her down, leaned her against a tree, and pulled aside her dirty coat to reveal an expensive vest. It was windproof and waterproof, and his mother had specially saved it for him to keep warm and withstand beatings before he left.
He quickly unbuttoned the Chinese knot, and as soon as he took it off, he couldn't help but sneeze, a chill gradually creeping up his back to the back of his head.
He tried, but Wen Ruo was too dazed to hear anything. Qi Guanlan hesitated for a long time, but then decided to stop worrying. He turned his face away, his eyes narrowed to slits, and quickly changed her clothes out of the corner of his eye, muttering to himself:
"If you were like Yang Cong, I would..."
A moment later, Qi Guanlan carried her back on his back. Just then, he saw a horse galloping towards them in the distance. His face lit up with joy, and he quickly quickened his pace. Wen Ruo felt a headache coming on and was jolted awake. "What's wrong?"
"It seems like Xiaobai has arrived."
When she woke up again, she felt much warmer. Could it be a final burst of energy before death? Wen Ruo struggled to sit up, placing her hands on his shoulders. Looking up at the little white thing he mentioned, she saw a familiar longsword flash by, and her intuition told her something was wrong. "It's not the general."
"Little White is blocking the way, we can't see clearly, let's hide."
Qi Guanlan carried her on his back and quickly walked into the woods by the roadside. The interlocking tree trunks formed a natural barrier, making it difficult to walk even on horseback. Wen Ruo leaned close to his ear and asked in a weak voice, "Young Master, do you want to eliminate the bandits or save your life?"
"Nonsense, of course saving my life is the most important thing." Qi Guanlan said without hesitation. Wen Ruo patted his shoulder and ordered, "Put me down."
Xiao Bai's figure became clearer and clearer. Wen Ruo leaned against the tree trunk, her clothes soaked in mud and water blending into the forest, rarely noticed by those hurrying by.
She waved, a glint of light in her eyes. Qi Guanlan glanced at her, then leaned down, close to her face. "That's what the robbers thought too. Remember what you said. Our lives depend on your heartless cruelty."
Qi Guanlan glared at her unhappily, taking the opportunity to curse me, saying I'll settle the score with you later.
As soon as the whistle blew, Little White neighed and raised its front hooves high, almost standing upright. Its snow-white mane fluttered and flew, looking extremely proud. The person on the horse's back was caught off guard and fell into the mud.
Qi Guanlan immediately ran out, mounted his horse, and only then did he notice bloodstains on Xiaobai. His eyes lit up with joy; the robber was injured. Wen Ruo, leaning against a tree trunk, walked out from behind the tree and discovered that it was Scarface.
"You heartless bastard, huh?" Qi Guanlan shrugged and laughed wildly, "This horse is mine now, little brother, I'm leaving."
Wen Ruo looked up indifferently, her meaning clear without a word.
“You’re going to desert again,” Scarface shouted.
With his life at stake, Scarface kept his eyes fixed on Qi Guanlan's movements, his tone even more indignant, "Your brother begged me to protect you, but it turns out he's a complete ingrate."
Wen Ruo watched from a distance, a wicked smile creeping onto her lips. Who would be foolish enough to let go of a horse that could save their life? She lowered her eyes, her voice weak and fragile, "Big brother, I don't blame him."
Upon hearing this, Qi Guanlan, who had been wavering, gritted his teeth, gripped the reins tightly, and prepared to leave. Scarface's expression changed several times, and he hurriedly shouted, "I have medicine!"
Qi Guanlan rode Little White in circles, his expression half-believing and half-doubting. "Are you trying to trick me?"
“Your brother saw it with his own eyes, how could it be fake?” Scarface took out a medicine bottle and shook it. “This medicine can be used to trade for a horse. There’s another one behind, you can try to steal it.”
Qi Guanlan looked at Wen Ruo, his face full of conflict, unable to make a decision. Scarface seized the opportunity to scare him, saying, "If you don't eat now, even a god can't save your brother."
"Throw the knife away from where you are."
"Not dismounting?" Scarface's pupils darkened slightly, his teeth itching with hatred at Scarface's sudden cleverness. Seeing his hesitation, Qi Guanlan's expression also turned cold, his sharp eyes scrutinizing him from head to toe. In a flash, he suddenly realized something and angrily said, "Are you trying to trick me? I'll count to three."
"one."
"two."
Qi Guanlan kicked the knife into the woods, secretly pleased. He nodded with a smile and instructed again, "Put it in front of her, and give you the horse after she eats it."
Seeing his hesitation, Qi Guanlan snorted coldly: "He ate me, so naturally he won't leave alone. If it's going to be late, I'll have to go."
Wen Ruo leaned against the tree and felt the suspicious gaze of the scarred man. She turned to look at him.
A sickly fellow who could barely breathe, plus a useless, spineless crab—the two of them combined couldn't compare to him. Scarface calculated, then tossed over the medicine bottle, "Eat quickly!"
Wen Ruo moved her feet and struggled to pick it up. After hesitating for a moment, she pulled out the stopper and poured it into her mouth. Qi Guanlan dismounted and ran towards Wen Ruo. Scarface was overjoyed, mounted his horse, and rode away.
After running for about two miles, Wen Ruo gave the order, and Qi Guanlan held the silver whistle in his mouth. The melodious whistle instantly filled the land and echoed through the forest. Upon hearing the order, Xiao Bai in the distance turned around and threw Qi Guanlan off, running back as if having a great time.
Scarface wiped the water from his face, squinted, and looked at the man and horse that were intimately connected in the distance. His eyes were filled with a sinister and ruthless look. Very well, he had been tricked. But you won't get away with it either. Thinking of that medicine, he raised the corners of his lips.
With a long howl, Little White reared up and galloped down the road, kicking up a cloud of mud and water. Wen Ruo sat in front, with Qi Guanlan's strong, warm chest behind her. Qi Guanlan's undisguised, maniacal laughter filled her ears, deafeningly loud. "He didn't catch up?"
"Gu Yu is ahead, would he dare?" Qi Guanlan's smile vanished, and he was unusually quiet for a moment before suddenly uttering a sentence that made Wen Ruo want to vomit blood: "You owe me two golden walnuts now."
Wen Ruo let out a hoarse "Ah," completely bewildered, yet her voice perfectly conveyed three parts doubt and seven parts condemnation. The swallowed-back final syllable was a sigh of pity for his stinginess, a truly brilliant performance.
Qi Guanlan fell silent when asked the question, her ears turning slightly red. She said, embarrassed and angry, "You'll know when you're better."
It wasn't a joke after all. Wen Ruo sighed slightly. Her family's wealth had been wiped out overnight. "My life isn't worth that much."
"Don't you still have a box of gold jewelry?"
"It's kind of you, young master, to remember my meager possessions." Wen Ruo seemed to have regained some energy after taking the medicine. She quietly moved her hand to her thigh, her eyes darting around. If she were to pinch her, would he throw her down?
Qi Guanlan glanced down and saw her little action. He couldn't help but laugh. Seeing her embarrassed, he couldn't help but say, "Yang Fei helped me too. Why don't you return it to her?"
Wen Ruo coughed a few times, feeling a tightness in her chest and an unbearable dryness in her throat. Just as she turned her head, she tasted sweetness in her mouth, and the metallic taste of blood spread through her mouth. She looked at the pool of black blood in her palm, and her face instantly turned pale.
Qi Guanlan tightened the reins in surprise, "I was just kidding, how come you actually vomited blood?"
Wen Ruo shook her head, just about to say to go back quickly, when the next moment her body slumped and she lost consciousness, her breathing slowed down, and her heartbeat became faint.
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