Chapter 30. She didn't care whether he lived or died. ...
The men in black came on menacingly, and one by one, the guards were injured and fell down.
Shen Yunzhi was terrified, but only Cui Huai could maintain a calm and composed demeanor at such a time.
The guards accompanying them weren't the only ones; Cui Hong and Cui Lizhu also had guards, but it would take time for them to arrive. Lin Yue used a whistling arrow as a signal to notify the others that Cui Huai was in danger. Once more guards arrived, these men in black would be no longer a threat.
Therefore, when the guards fought their way through the encirclement of the men in black, Cui Huai took Shen Yunzhi and left first.
Lin Yue then led the remaining guards to cover their rear.
Just moments before, they had been forced into the mountains by the men in black.
Even if they leave first, they can only travel through the mountains and forests to avoid danger for the time being.
The tall trees blocked out the sun, making the light in the mountains and forests unusually dim.
The ground was covered with pebbles, and it seemed that no matter which direction you went, you couldn't avoid weeds and bushes.
In fact, there was no road at all.
But Cui Huai led the way with his sword, and Shen Yunzhi followed silently behind him.
She stumbled after accidentally stepping on a stone, but once she regained her balance, she finally found a chance to pull her arm away from Cui Huai's grasp. After she tugged at Cui Huai's sleeve, Cui Huai, understanding her fear, thoughtfully held her arm through his sleeve and never let go.
"It's nothing..." Shen Yunzhi said to Cui Huai, who had stopped walking.
Looking up, I noticed that his expression was unusually serious, and his gaze swept over the grass and trees in the distance, as if he were listening intently, trying to detect any danger lurking in the shadows.
Could there be an ambush?
The thought flashed through her mind, and Shen Yunzhi's heart tightened. But before she could think any further, Cui Huai grabbed her arm again.
The sound of arrows piercing the air rang out again.
Shen Yunzhi was pulled behind a tree by Cui Huai, and the trees blocked her view, so all the arrows missed their mark. Several men in black soon appeared.
If she had known there was an ambush, she wouldn't have gone with Cui Huai.
There is no other way at the moment.
Even if she abandons Cui Huai and runs away, she will likely be targeted by these men in black and used to threaten Cui Huai.
Shen Yunzhi regretted leaving in such a hurry that she hadn't brought her plum blossom hidden arrows. Her hunting quiver was left on her horse, and she hadn't had time to take it off when the man in black used the arrows to startle the horse. She had also thrown away her longbow while defending herself against the man in black. Now she was completely powerless and could only wait to be protected.
"Don't wander off."
After confirming that there were only four men in black, Cui Huai gave Shen Yunzhi a word of advice and then left behind the tree, stepping forward with his sword.
Shen Yunzhi knew that Cui Huai was also skilled in martial arts.
But facing four opponents alone, with both open and covert attacks, she wasn't sure how much of a chance Cui Huai had.
More importantly, she lacked the awareness to stand with Cui Huai through thick and thin.
If the situation becomes very bad...
Shen Yunzhi stopped herself from thinking about it and obediently hid behind a tree, watching Cui Huai and the man in black entangle together. The sound of clashing weapons echoed through the forest, startling birds into flight, and nearby small animals scattered in all directions. Gradually, the smell of blood filled the air, and more men in black fell. Cui Huai was not unscathed either; he was injured.
It seems that Cui Huai isn't that capable.
At least, in her eyes at this moment, he seemed to be struggling.
Shen Yunzhi frowned.
Now is the best time to escape, because they can't care about her.
But if she says she's going to get help, and Cui Huai survives in the end, will he believe her?
If Cui Huai hadn't survived, would anyone else have believed it?
Even if the poisoned wine that took her life in her past life wasn't truly related to Cui Huai, it wasn't entirely unrelated either, and they had many other grudges. She wasn't single-mindedly focused on revenge against Cui Huai because she didn't want to spend another lifetime paying for his mistakes in this life, not because she forgave him or didn't hold grudges. Even if Cui Huai really did die in these mountains because of this assassination attempt, ultimately it was the fault of the man in black and his mastermind…
She didn't want to be buried with Cui Huai.
Even if this second life isn't as smooth as she imagined, she's determined not to die in these mountains because of Cui Huai.
Shen Yunzhi pursed her lips and left behind the tree.
Confirming that neither Cui Huai nor the man in black were paying attention to her, she slowly stepped back a few paces and turned around.
...
After a brief struggle, two of the four men in black had fallen to the ground.
The longsword in Cui Huai's hand was stained with blood.
The price he paid for killing the two men in black was two wounds on his left arm and waist.
Even though the remaining two men in black were also injured, he was clearly exhausted from dealing with them.
Suddenly, an arrow shot towards one of the men in black.
Caught off guard, the man in black was shot in the chest and fell to the ground. Another man in black was distracted, and Cui Huai seized the opportunity to kill him with a single sword strike.
All the men in black fell to the ground.
Cui Huai turned his head to look at Shen Yunzhi, who was holding a longbow and whose face was as white as paper, not far away.
The longbow was something that originally belonged to the man in black, which he picked up from the ground.
After Cui Huaiwang came over, Shen Yunzhi threw him aside.
She did want to leave, but remembering the Prince of Chu's coldness and the Emperor's high regard for Cui Huai, she ultimately decided against the risk. If something happened to Cui Huai, even if she could handle everyone in the Prince of Chu's residence, she might not be able to withstand the Emperor's presence.
Fortunately, two men in black remained.
They were completely unprepared for her, and the sudden arrow proved highly effective.
"Your Highness."
Shen Yunzhi walked towards Cui Huai, but before she reached him, he seemed unable to hold on any longer and collapsed.
The scene before her eyes startled Shen Yunzhi so much that she stopped in her tracks.
Her already racing heart pounded even harder. Coming to her senses, she hurriedly ran towards Cui Huai, who had suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Shen Yunzhi squatted on the ground and reached out to check Cui Huai's breathing, knowing that he was just unconscious.
If the person isn't dead, then it's not a big problem.
Having escaped danger, she pursed her lips and looked around. Seeing the corpses of the men in black and smelling the strong stench of blood in the air, she belatedly felt nauseous. Still not entirely at ease, she checked the breathing of the men in black again. The other three had no pulse, only the man in black who had fallen after being shot by her arrow still had a faint breath.
Since there were no ropes, Shen Yunzhi used vines instead.
She dragged the man in black to the tree and tied him to the tree with vines to prevent him from suddenly waking up and trying to ambush them.
As for Cui Huai...
Shen Yunzhi looked back at the person on the ground, but had neither the interest to move him nor the intention to treat his wounds.
Wait a minute, Cui Lizhu and Cui Hong will come with their guards. After thinking this, Shen Yunzhi ignored Cui Huai and moved to another tree further away from the corpses to rest against it.
Cui Huai, lying on the ground, slowly opened his eyes.
The sound of footsteps confirmed to him that Shen Yunzhi had already gone some distance, leaving him alone here.
She had the strength to move the man in black, but she ignored him completely.
Even under the circumstances where he was protecting her.
Would she have acted the same way if it were Huo Ming?
Cui Huai's eyes turned gloomy in an instant, and he gave a silent, cold laugh.
...
Shen Yunzhi originally didn't want to pay attention to Cui Huai.
However, thinking that it would be unsightly for Cui Huai to be lying on the ground like this when Cui Lizhu and Cui Hong came looking for him, she reluctantly picked up a sword from the man in black and cut a few strips of cloth from the hem of her white inner dress, then went back to Cui Huai's side to bandage his wounds.
After checking Cui Huai's injuries and bandaging him, Cui Huai suddenly opened his eyes.
Their eyes met, and Shen Yunzhi's hand happened to rest on his waist. She paused, startled, and said, "The wound needs to be treated..."
"No need."
Cui Huai coldly refused and sat up from the ground on his own.
Shen Yunzhi glanced at the strip of cloth wrapped around his waist and said patiently, "If Your Highness does not like others touching it, you can bandage it yourself."
Cui Huai did not respond, his gaze falling on the man in black who was tied to a tree not far away.
"We tied him up as soon as we saw that he was still breathing."
Shen Yunzhi also looked at the man in black and explained, "Maybe we can get some information out of him if we take him back."
Cui Huai remained noncommittal.
His indifferent attitude silenced Shen Yunzhi for a moment.
Before long, Cui Huai’s gaze shifted from the man in black who was tied to the tree.
This time, however, it was the longsword belonging to the man in black that landed beside her.
Seeing Cui Huai staring at the sword, Shen Yunzhi assumed he was looking for her own, so she picked it up from the ground and presented it to him, saying, "Your Highness's sword is here."
Cui Huai reached out and took it, then used the long sword to help himself stand up.
Shen Yunzhi was hesitant to ask Cui Huai what he was thinking and whether he should stay and wait for Cui Lizhu and Cui Hong. Cui Huai walked to a tree and sat down again, clearly indicating that he did not intend to leave.
Shen Yunzhi saw that he did not immediately follow.
Cui Huai, standing under the tree, looked up and said calmly, "I'll trouble you, Miss Chen."
This time, she was asked to help bandage the wound again.
Shen Yunzhi barely pursed her lips before walking over, sitting cross-legged beside him, and re-wrapping the loosened strips of cloth around his waist.
"You seem even calmer today than you were on the fifteenth of July," Cui Huai's voice rang out above her. Shen Yunzhi paused, not looking at Cui Huai, but composing herself before asking, "Why does Your Highness say that?"
Cui Huai said, "At least Miss Shen didn't cry today, nor was she frightened into fainting by this scene."
Shen Yunzhi tied the bandage on his wound before raising her head.
“Perhaps it’s because… His Highness is here today.” She met Cui Huai’s gaze, composed herself, and slowly said, “Your Highness has saved me from danger time and time again, which has made me feel that Your Highness is exceptionally capable. So I believed that Your Highness could turn misfortune into good fortune today, and I was not so uneasy or afraid. Perhaps that’s why Your Highness felt this way.”
lie.
Cui Huai already had a different conclusion in his heart.
However, she knew that these men in black were not after her.
She didn't care whether he lived or died.
This morning, Shen Yunzhi rode her jade horse to the top of the mountain. At the top, he said to her, "Miss Shen seems to be avoiding suspicion."
At that time, she also asked him, "Why does Your Highness say that?"
Shen Yunzhi later told him that it wasn't to avoid suspicion, but that she was mentally exhausted due to too many things that had happened recently. She also said that she had originally prepared a gift to thank him, but unfortunately, it was interrupted, so she had been too embarrassed to see him.
That grand and imposing air is just like it is now.
"Is that really the case?" Cui Huai asked her again.
“My presence will make Miss Shen feel at ease and not afraid.”
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