Chapter 46 Trust
The rain poured down in torrents. The pea-sized raindrops slammed painfully into our faces, and the icy water quickly soaked everyone's clothes. The mountain path became muddy and every step was extremely difficult. The howling of wolves and the clatter of pursuing footsteps behind us were like maggots on our tarsal bones, pursuing us relentlessly, sometimes far away, sometimes near in the thunderous rainy night, like a death warrant.
Wen Youqing half supported and half dragged Cui Junji as they ran wildly in the mud, one step deep and one step shallow.
Under the pale light of lightning, Cui Junji's face was as pale as a piece of water-soaked paper, and his lips were completely bloodless. The wound on his left arm was soaked by the rain, and blood mixed with the rain continued to flow, spreading large, shocking patches of black and red on his moon-white robe.
With every bump, his body would tremble violently, his teeth clenched, and he let out a suppressed groan, but he always managed to hold on and not fall down. He held the long sword tightly in his right hand, and his knuckles turned white from the force.
"Hold on!" Wen Youqing's voice seemed a little broken in the wind and rain, carrying an anxiety that she herself was not aware of. She felt the weight of Cui Junji's body in her arms and the uncontrollable trembling, and her heart felt like it was being tightly grasped by an invisible hand.
The rain flowed down her forehead, blurring her vision, but it could not blur the sound of pursuit like the howling of a pack of wolves that was getting closer and closer behind her.
"In front! The mountain god temple!" The guard's hoarse roar pierced through the rain curtain, carrying with it the ecstasy of escaping from a desperate situation!
A flash of lightning suddenly ripped through the night sky! A pale light instantly illuminated the scene ahead—a dilapidated mountain temple nestled against the mountainside. Like the remains of a giant beast crouching in the darkness, it stood alone on the precarious slope. Most of the temple wall had collapsed, and the rotten wooden door hung askew from its frame, creaking in the fierce wind, making a teeth-grinding sound.
"Go in quickly!" Wen Youqing cheered up and almost carried Cui Junji, using his last bit of strength to rush towards the crumbling temple gate.
The few remaining guards followed closely behind, smashing open the rotten wooden door and rushing into the temple. The interior was pitch black, thick with dust and the smell of rotting wood. Broken statues cast eerie shadows in the corners. The roof leaked in places, and the raindrops, like beads from a broken string, pattered onto the dusty and dry grass-covered ground.
"Close the door! Block the door!" Wen Youqing carefully placed Cui Junji on a pile of relatively dry grass in the corner of the wall and gave the order hurriedly.
The few guards who were still able to stand immediately used their bodies to hold up the broken door, which could not be closed tightly, and used all the debris they could find - broken rafters, the remains of the toppled altar - to block it.
"Ho…ho…" Cui Junji leaned against the cold earthen wall, his chest heaving violently. Every breath strained the wound on his shoulder, bringing waves of ripping pain. The cold rain and blood loss had robbed him of much of his body heat, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
Wen Youqing tore off a relatively dry piece of her undershirt and squatted beside him. "Bear with it!" Her voice remained cold and hard, but her movements were hurried and cautious, a stark contrast to her tone. She pressed firmly on the wound above Cui Junji's left arm, then wrapped the cloth tightly around it, binding it tightly. The cloth quickly stained red with the constantly seeping blood.
"I...can't die..." Cui Junji forced a very forced, pale smile, his voice weak, "Madam...this bandaging technique...is...strong enough..." He tried to hide the pain with his usual teasing, but before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by a violent cough, a cough that was so heart-wrenching.
Wen Youqing paused. She looked at his handsome face, twisted by pain and blood loss, his rain-soaked black hair, plastered to his forehead, looking especially fragile, and listened to his weak voice, trying to force calm...
If he died because of her, she would have a hard time not feeling guilty. A strong sense of fear suddenly rushed to the tip of her nose, blocking her breath. She lowered her head and tightened the bandage even more tightly. Damn, this man is really good at calculating!
"Shut up! Save your energy!" she growled, her voice trembling with an almost imperceptible tremor.
Just then!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The heavy crash was like a muffled thunder, fiercely hitting the temple door that had just been barely blocked by debris! The entire dilapidated temple seemed to be shaking, and dust fell.
"They're catching up!" a guard roared, holding his shoulder against the door, his face flushed with the force.
Outside the temple, the wolf-like howling and chaotic footsteps could be clearly heard, like a surging tide hitting this last isolated island.
After a short moment, the outside world returned to silence. A very ordinary and calm voice could be heard. It was impossible to tell whether it was a man or a woman, and there was no emotion in it. "Sir, it's all taken care of."
"Is there an antidote?"
"I'm still looking."
The sound came suddenly and went away suddenly. Nearly a hundred people were killed by him alone.
"No!" Cui Junji let out a heart-wrenching, completely out-of-tune roar! The sound broke through his throat, carrying with it an unprecedented fear and a devastating despair that he himself had not yet realized! It was as if something most precious was about to be completely shattered before his eyes!
From nowhere, a terrifying force erupted from his severely injured body! This force even overwhelmed the severe pain from the pierced shoulder!
His left hand—the one that almost everyone believed was half-disabled in the fire that year—struck free of invisible shackles and suddenly lifted up! With a speed so fast it surpassed the limits of vision, an angle and trajectory so bizarre it was indescribable, and with a brutal, utterly devastating momentum, he fiercely grasped the scimitar blade that was stabbing Wen Youqing in the back!
"laugh--!"
The piercing sound of metal and bone rubbing against each other rang out, blood splattering everywhere!
Cui Junji's left hand, at the critical moment, grasped the poisoned scimitar blade with a firm grip! His five fingers were instantly severed by the sharp blade, revealing the bone! Blood gushed out like a fountain, flowing wildly along the blade and his arm!
But he used this hand, this flesh and blood, to firmly clamp the deadly scimitar, preventing it from moving forward even a little bit!
The killer's eyes were filled with disbelief and horror! He launched a full-strength attack, but was unexpectedly blocked by a "useless hand"!
This brief pause is enough!
Wen Youqing turned back abruptly amidst the desperate roar, only to see Cui Junji's left hand tightly grasping the blade, blood dripping profusely. Unspeakable pain and rage erupted in her chest like a volcano! She spun around, her right leg like a steel whip, lashing out with a sharp, air-tearing whistle as it fiercely struck the killer's forehead!
"Crack!" A bone-breaking sound was heard!
The killer's head suddenly tilted to one side at a strange angle, the horror in his eyes froze instantly, and his body fell down as if all the bones had been pulled out.
Another killer was also killed by a personal guard.
A deathly silence suddenly descended upon the dilapidated temple. The only sounds were heavy, suppressed breathing, the patter of rain dripping through the holes in the roof, and the crackling of burning grass in the corner. The thick smell of blood was almost suffocating.
Wen Youqing was panting heavily, her reckless run having almost exhausted her last bit of strength. She slowly turned around and her eyes fell on Cui Junji.
He leaned against the earthen wall, his right hand tightly gripping the blood-stained longsword for support. His left hand… the hand that had been tightly grasping the scimitar blade now drooped limply at his side, its five fingers twisted and deformed, the flesh ripped from deep wounds visible to the bone. Blood dripped continuously from his fingertips, forming a small, glaring dark red pool in the dry grass and dirt beneath him.
His face was as pale as gold paper, his lips chapped, and his breath as weak as a candle in the wind, seemingly about to go out completely at any moment. Only those phoenix eyes, in the dim, flickering firelight, continued to gaze at her deeply, unblinkingly, churning with extremely complex emotions that Wen Youqing could not understand at all - the lingering fear of surviving a disaster, the bottomless pain, and a kind of... grief that bordered on despair?
She had never seen Cui Junji so embarrassed and vulnerable. The Cui Junji who seemed to have everything under control was now like a piece of glass about to shatter.
Looking at the hideous wound on his left arm, the bandage on his shoulder that was still oozing blood, his horribly burned hand, the panic in his eyes...
"If we can't find the antidote, do you have any last words you want me to take to your family?" Wen Youqing walked towards Cui Junji step by step. His steps were a little unsteady due to the rush, but his voice was firm and calm.
As if he hadn't saved her life.
The guards of the Cui family nearby couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to step forward to say a few words to speak up for their master.
But Cui Junji just glanced at the crowd lightly, and they all retreated, leaving space for the two of them.
Rain, sweat, and blood splattered down Wen Youqing's cheeks. She crouched down, her gaze fixed on Cui Junji's pale face, a piercing look that seemed to penetrate his soul. "I don't understand. You've always acted like an aristocratic family, and now you're betraying the family that gave birth to you and raised you? Why?"
Her voice echoed in the dilapidated temple, carrying with it the confusion and incomprehension that had been suppressed for too long, and a hint of harshness that she herself hadn't even noticed.
Cui Junji's body trembled violently under her questioning gaze. He avoided her clear, bright eyes and, with difficulty, turned his head to look out at the still-poured rain and the thick, impenetrable darkness outside the dilapidated temple, as if there lay hidden an unbearable answer.
The Adam's apple rolled with difficulty as he uttered a clear affirmation. Only the fingertips of his drooping, blood-soaked left hand twitched unconsciously.
Wen Youqing didn't understand, but today, she had to ask clearly. She didn't want to live with the gratitude or guilt for saving her life, so...
"Why?"
"The students I taught in Xunyang are also buried there." These words were said so sincerely that Wen Youqing didn't know how to react.
Her lips trembled slightly, and her throat seemed to be blocked by a hot iron. She opened her mouth several times, but could only make broken sounds.
Finally, she staggered to her feet, but she didn't fully believe it. She only whispered, "I believe you again."
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