It was completely dark and the moonlight was so weak that it was difficult to see the scenery in the woods. They could only rely on the small lantern in their hands to see the road under their feet.
As they walked, they kept shouting "Princess" and "Princess", but they kept shouting all the way. Apart from the voices calling for Qiao Si in the forest, no other sounds could be heard.
There were trees and lush vegetation in the woods here. They had just finished a hunt in the afternoon, and they could still see spent arrows shot on the ground on the road. They carefully examined them, hoping to find clues about Qiao Si from these things.
"Dongmei, can you spot any clues?" Zhang You recalled how Qiuyue had been able to lead them out of the Wuhu Mountain years ago, using footprints and other traces to guide them. Now she was with Dongmei. Although Dongmei hadn't seen as much as Qiuyue, she should be able to discover something, right?
Dongmei looked at the arrows in her hand and said, "Look at these arrowheads. They are not from our mansion. They must have been shot by others. The princess is not here."
Zhang You felt a little disappointed when he heard this.
So much time has passed, and there is still no trace of Qiao Si. He can't have been dragged away by a wild beast in the forest.
"Let's go over there and take a look." Dongmei followed the traces on the grass and continued walking deeper into the woods with Zhang You.
The further they went in, the farther they were from the others. The vegetation in the deep woods was particularly lush. In order not to miss any clues, they carefully searched inch by inch.
Zhang You had been bent over, holding the lantern in one hand and fiddling with the grass with the other. After such a while, her waist was sore. She stood up to rest and looked around. When she looked up, she was frightened by a dark shadow behind a tree trunk in the distance.
"Ah!" she screamed in surprise. Dongmei immediately became alert and walked over to her to ask what was going on.
Zhang You pointed at the black shadow, his voice trembling unconsciously: "Over there... there seems to be someone..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Dongmei strode over.
"Hey? Dongmei!" Zhang You was startled by her sudden movement. She always felt that there was darkness behind her, which was very scary, as if something was staring at her from behind. She hurriedly jogged to catch up with Dongmei. "Wait for me."
When they got closer, the lantern in Zhang You's hand just illuminated the corner of the man's clothes.
The same pink clothes as them.
It’s Jingzhu.
They quickly squatted down to check on her.
Jingzhu is a maid trained by the princess. She is both talented in literature and martial arts, but now she is covered with wounds and unconscious here.
"Sister Jingzhu? Sister Jingzhu, wake up!" Zhang You stretched out his hand and shook her gently, but she didn't respond at all.
Dongmei pulled up her right hand and took her pulse, which was a little disordered. She checked the wounds on her body again and found that most of them were caused by bites from wild beasts, and there were two wounds on her arms, which were arrow wounds.
Zhang You had sharp eyes and found a piece of red clothing in Jingzhu's right hand. It was the fabric of Qiao Si's clothes today.
"Dongmei, look! It's the princess's clothes! Could it be that the princess...?" Zhang You picked up the blood-stained corner of the clothes, his eyes full of horror.
Qiao Si...
Dongmei quickly thought of a solution. At the moment, there were only two of them, and the other people looking for people were elsewhere. Moreover, Jingzhu was seriously injured and unconscious. They had to find a way...
"You wait for us here. I'll take Jingzhu back first. Wait for me to bring the young master and the others over!" She quickly weighed the pros and cons. Xia He had never practiced martial arts. If she took Jingzhu away and brought reinforcements, the round trip would take a long time. It would be better for her to use her lightness skills to go back faster.
Although it is not good to leave her here alone, in order to ensure that she can bring reinforcements to find this place again, one person must be left here.
"But I..." Zhang You wanted to say that she couldn't do it alone, but when she met Dongmei's anxious eyes and looked at Jun Jingzhu who was unconscious on the ground, she gritted her teeth and persevered. "Okay, you must go and come back soon. I'll wait for you here."
Dongmei nodded, and with the help, she carried Jingzhu on her back and returned the same way.
Zhang You was alone in the dark and couldn't help feeling scared. The surroundings were terribly quiet. She swallowed fearfully and didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
She looked at the tree and simply took out the rouge she had in her arms and smeared a piece of it on the tree as a mark. Just in case, she still left a mark. She always felt that something was going to happen, and her sixth sense had never been so strong.
After making the mark, she leaned against the tree and looked at the dark forest in front of her, full of vigilance.
In the distance, footsteps were heard.
"Dongmei? Is that you?" As soon as Zhang You said this, he realized something was wrong.
It couldn't be Dongmei. Dongmei had only been gone for less than five minutes. It was impossible for her to find Qiao San and bring people over so quickly.
Could it be Qiao Si?
No! Impossible! It couldn't be Qiao Si. Jing Zhu was so badly injured, there was no way Qiao Si could still be walking normally like this!
Judging from the sound, it was the footsteps of a person, but he didn't say a word after Zhang You spoke.
Zhang You had a feeling that the person coming was not a good person, so she moved quietly, ready to hide behind a tree at any time.
The voice stopped a few steps away from her, and the surroundings fell silent for a moment. Zhang You, not knowing where her intuition came from, hurriedly turned sideways and hid behind a tree. A sound of breaking through the air was heard, and it just happened to hit the tree trunk.
Zhang You looked at the place where the shot was made. The man wanted to kill her!
Zhang You didn't dare stay. She dropped the rouge in her arms as a sign for Dongmei. She grabbed the lantern and began to flee in panic. From behind her, she heard the sound of arrows piercing the air, but fortunately, none of them were accurate and missed her.
She was still rejoicing in the last second, and the next second, a sharp arrow pierced the lantern in her hand, and the surroundings suddenly became dark.
Zhang You didn't dare to stop. She threw down the broken lantern in her hand and started running away in panic.
This guy was aiming based on the light from the lantern in my hand. Now that the light is gone, he shouldn't be able to shoot me.
Zhang You thought about it and slowed down his movements for a moment.
At that moment, the man shot another arrow, which directly passed through her neck and cut a gash.
!
you**!
Zhang You endured the pain and didn't make a sound. She covered her neck and felt blood on her hand.
The man behind was still shooting. He was walking and shooting at the same time. Zhang You didn't dare to stop and continued running.
In the dim moonlight, she saw the arrow that had wounded her, and the tail feathers of the arrow were stained with her blood.
I can't let him find out that I'm injured!
Zhang You picked up the feather arrow with his other hand and started running away in panic again.
No, who is this?
Could it be Li Xianyu?
Because he wanted to take revenge on Qiao Si for what happened last time, he included himself in it?
Zhang You thought back to their enemies in the capital, and after much thought, she felt that the only one with such a deep hatred was probably Li Xianyu!
This is too sick!
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