The camp was filled with the familiar scent of herbs mixed with the stench of blood. The medics and assistants were busy at work. Xiao Chengjing and Shen Yuewei's eyes searched anxiously through the crowd, sweeping over faces—young or weathered, pained or resolute—and over the busy, gray-clad figures… No, not the face they longed for day and night. Even in disguise, they were confident they could recognize those eyes.
"This is the main camp for wounded soldiers," Lu Zheng introduced. "The conditions are tough, but the brothers have all done their best. This is Physician Li, who is the most experienced."
Physician Li quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Highness and Your Highness!"
Suppressing her disappointment, Shen Yuewei asked gently, "Physician Li, you've worked hard. I wonder if there are any young physicians from Jiangnan in the camp? Those with... outstanding medical skills?"
Physician Li thought for a moment and shook his head: "Your Highness, most of the physicians in the camp are from the North or the Central Plains. There don't seem to be any from Jiangnan. If we're talking about young and outstanding ones," his eyes showed admiration, "there is a young man named Anping. He has excellent medical skills and is very meticulous, but he is a bit aloof. He was sent to Black Rock Cliff to collect herbs early this morning, otherwise His Highness and Your Highness could have met him."
“Anping?” Xiao Chengjing repeated the name.
“Yes, Anping.” Physician Li nodded. “He’s a good prospect, but his background is not very clear. All we know is that he volunteered to join the army.”
Shen Yuewei and Xiao Chengjing exchanged a glance, both seeing deep regret in each other's eyes. Anping… the name was ordinary, sounding like a man's. They didn't overthink it, simply assuming they had missed out on an excellent young military doctor. They then inquired about the other battalions, but Medical Officer Li said he hadn't heard of any particularly outstanding young doctors from Jiangnan.
After the inspection, she left the wounded soldiers' camp. Looking at the mist-shrouded mountains to the north, Shen Yuewei sighed softly, "Chengjing, it seems... An'an isn't here."
Xiao Chengjing put his arm around his wife's shoulder, gazing in the same direction with deep eyes: "Hmm. Perhaps it's further away. But seeing the orderliness here, and the strictness under Brother Lu's rule, I do feel much more at ease. Let's... wait for news from Brother Lu's side."
Unbeknownst to them, on that misty, black cliff, their beloved daughter was brushing past danger and quietly approaching a romance.
Black Stone Cliff, its walls steep and sheer like a knife's edge, was swept by a biting wind. Anping carefully clung to the jagged rocks, her medicine basket hanging behind her, intently searching for the legendary "Snow-Seeing Grass." Finally, in a shady crevice, she spotted several herbs with silvery-white leaves and peculiar shapes!
"Found it!" Anping was overjoyed. She carefully moved over and took out her small hoe. Just as she was concentrating on digging into the roots of the herb, a weathered rock beneath her feet suddenly loosened!
"Ah!" Anping cried out in alarm, instantly losing her balance and sliding downwards! She instinctively reached out and grabbed at anything, but only managed to grab a handful of loose rocks! Below was a bottomless abyss!
At the critical moment!
"Watch out!" A familiar, horrified shout came from above!
A dark figure pounced down like a cheetah, narrowly grabbing Anping's wrist as he was about to slip away! The immense force of the fall caused the newcomer to groan, his body sliding downwards as well, his other hand gripping tightly onto a hard rock protruding from the cliff face!
Anping looked up, still shaken, and met a pair of bloodshot eyes, wide with tension and strain—it was Lu Xiao! What was he doing here?!
"Hold on tight! Don't let go!" Lu Xiao's voice was hoarse and tense. His arm was bulging with veins from bearing the weight of two people, and his knuckles were white and even bleeding from gripping the rock so tightly! Half of his body was hanging over the edge of the cliff, supported only by one hand and his stubborn willpower!
"Your Highness?!" Anping stared in shock at his face, which was covered in cold sweat and contorted with exertion. He felt as if his heart had been struck by something.
"Stop talking nonsense! Feet...feet try to find a foothold!" Lu Xiao gritted his teeth and squeezed out the command, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.
Anping forced herself to calm down, suppressing the turmoil in her heart, and followed instructions to explore the slippery cliff face with her feet. Finally, her toes touched a small protrusion. She used it to steady herself, easing the burden on Lu Xiao.
"Okay! Like that! Slowly... upwards!" Lu Xiao felt the pulling force decrease slightly, and immediately used all his strength to pull An Ping upwards little by little with great difficulty. His arm muscles were bulging, his nails were cracked from excessive force, and blood stained the rocks, but he seemed to feel no pain. His eyes were only on An Ping's terrified but trying-to-cooperate face.
After what seemed like an eternity, the two finally scrambled back to the relatively safe platform at the top of the cliff. Both survivors collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
"You... how did you get here?" Anping was still in shock, her voice trembling as she looked at Lu Xiao, who was equally disheveled and whose arm was covered in blood.
Lu Xiao turned his head away, avoiding her gaze. His voice was a little hoarse, with a hint of barely perceptible awkwardness: "...I was on patrol. I saw a figure loitering in such a dangerous place, so...I came up to check." He would never admit that it was because Anping hadn't returned from gathering herbs for the past few days that he was restless and had inexplicably led his men to patrol in this direction. When he saw that familiar figure hanging on the cliff edge in the distance, he was terrified and rushed over without thinking of anything else.
Anping looked at his bloodied, trembling arm, and his light black armor, covered in dust and even torn by rocks, worn from saving her. A crack quietly appeared in the icy wall of "disgust" and "defense" in her heart. A strange emotion, a mixture of gratitude, lingering fear, and... a strange, inexplicable flutter, quietly began to grow.
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