Fire

“Ahem—”

Mu An Ning was awakened by a suffocating thick smoke. As the hot breath rushed towards her, she suddenly sat up from the couch.

She was silent for a while, observing for a while, and finally understood what had happened.

Why did the fire suddenly break out out of nowhere?

"Wan'er?" She subconsciously called Mu Wan'er, who was supposed to sleep next to her, but there was no response.

She suddenly remembered that Mu Wan'er had just said she wanted to go to the toilet.

Although she originally wanted to ask Mu Wan'er some questions, she fell asleep without realizing it because she was busy all day.

And when I woke up, I encountered this kind of thing.

Looking at the blazing fire in the tent, Mu An Ning couldn't help but coughed into his sleeve. Without time to think about it, he quickly put on his clothes, put on his shoes and socks, and got out of bed.

Looking around, there were only a few flames in the tent, but the smoke was so thick that one could not see anything clearly.

Therefore, she almost tripped over the corner of the table after taking only two steps, but fortunately she reached out and supported herself on the table at the last moment.

"Cough cough." The girl couldn't help coughing twice because of the snort. Her body also felt a little weak. For some reason, she suddenly couldn't move forward.

She suddenly closed and opened her eyes, trying to stay awake and see clearly what was happening in the tent.

The fire was clearly getting bigger, and the thick smoke seemed to be spreading not only inside the tent, but also outside the tent.

I think the fire was outside, but it also affected her area.

Could it be... a granary?

Mu An Ning's entire back was soaked with sweat. He couldn't help but clutch the corner of the table tightly, and breathing seemed to become more and more difficult.

She gasped a few times and tried to take a step forward, but she still couldn't move an inch, as if she was fixed in place.

Could it be that the system is controlling her again?

But this time, why wasn't there any strange sound to seduce her?

Seeing the smoke getting thicker, so thick that she couldn't see anything clearly, Mu An Ning suddenly remembered something. She hurriedly took out the handkerchief from her sleeve and tentatively reached out to the table based on her memory.

After a while, she finally touched the teapot. There was not much tea, but it was enough for her to wet her handkerchief and cover her mouth and nose.

She had been in too much of a hurry and had inhaled a lot of thick smoke. She now felt dizzy, her throat was uncomfortable, and her eyes were tearful from the smoke.

Mu An Ning's heart was pounding, but his feet felt extremely heavy and stuck to the ground, and there was still no sound in his ears.

In an instant, she had only one thought in her mind: if no one discovered the fire here, she would probably die here.

The girl covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, and in a trance, her other hand unconsciously reached down slowly and touched the hot amulet.

When her heart inexplicably calmed down for a moment, she suddenly felt her legs seemed to relax, no longer restrained.

The next moment, without any hesitation, she hurried towards the direction of the exit she remembered.

However, after she staggered for only two steps, she was tripped by something again and fell violently to the ground.

Besides the pain, she felt more fear because she wanted to pick up the handkerchief that fell on the ground, but she seemed unable to move at all again.

"Cough cough." Mu An Ning took a few more puffs of thick smoke and stared at the handkerchief that she couldn't lift.

A premonition told her that her life seemed to be coming to an end.

She slowly closed her pale eyes, and countless images flashed through her mind at the same time.

Once when she was a child, she was locked in a room, sitting quietly practicing the piano, but her eyes unconsciously looked out the window at the bright sunny sky.

When she was a little older, she attended the flower banquet with Xu, but the two of them had nothing to talk about, unlike the other mother-daughter pairs around them who were chatting happily with each other.

Then, on the day she and Gu Huaizhi got engaged, her adoptive father told her to be obedient to Gu Huaizhi and fulfill her duties as a daughter of a marquis.

She also saw the joy in her eyes that she could not hide when she first met Mu Wan'er, as well as her curiosity about her biological parents.

Finally, she even saw the childhood Gu Huaizhi standing with the grown-up Gu Huaizhi.

One of them turned his head away awkwardly and said that he only regarded her as a sister and there was no way he could fall in love with her.

But the other one stared at her with a smile in his eyes and said that he would not marry anyone else in his life.

Suddenly, Mu An Ning coughed violently a few times, and the images in his mind disappeared instantly, leaving only a blank.

Her eyelashes trembled and she slowly opened her eyes, only to see the fire growing bigger without a doubt, even spreading to where she was, almost burning the hem of her skirt.

The red light reflected in the girl's eyes, forcing the tears in the corners of her eyes to roll down unconsciously.

The past was like passing smoke, and she actually did not have many regrets in her life.

She only wished to see her biological parents once, even if it was just to pay homage at their grave.

Unfortunately, she seems unable to do it.

God seemed to confirm her thoughts. When she was in despair, he took away the last bit of hope in her heart.

Because the thin pillar supporting the tent was being burned by the fire and was about to fall down on her.

She finally tried to move her arms, but she could no longer control the rest of her body except her eyes.

Mu An Ning slowed down his breathing, his eyes fixed on the tent shrouded in smoke, not knowing what he was thinking.

The clothes were soaked with sweat, and the girl's mind became gradually confused. She could no longer see the scenes just now, nor could she remember the past.

That’s it.

She thought she was really a little tired.

Ever since she discovered the absurd fact and learned that everyone except Mu Wan'er was a person in the book, she has never had a peaceful day.

I worry every day about when I will die, and I have even experienced the feeling of being on the verge of death several times.

Instead of obsessing over it, why not just sleep forever and put it all to rest?

Although this way of dying is really not decent.

Mu An Ning no longer had the energy to think any more. He closed his eyes tiredly, quietly feeling the crackling flames around him and the rising body temperature.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, the thin column above her head loosened as she expected.

Soon, the pillar surrounded by flames began to fall slowly to the ground without mercy.

Mu An Ning's breathing had become weak, and he didn't even care about his fear. He just lay there on his side, waiting quietly for the pillar to fall.

Along with the 'click' sound, there seemed to be a vague calling sound.

She couldn't hear clearly and didn't have the strength to open her eyes to see if anyone could come to save her.

Just before she fell asleep, she finally heard the man shouting:

"Aning."

*

"He comes without a trace, and leaves without a trace." Gu Yihan stroked the jade ring on his thumb, without a trace of smile between his eyebrows, and looked at Gu Huaizhi who was sitting across the table: "The changes of Liang people in these years really surprised me."

Ten years ago, when Chu and Liang were at war, although he was still young, he never missed any action on the front line.

At that time, even though the emperor wanted to test Prince Anqing and General Hua, their Chu State still had the upper hand.

But now, facing the same situation, he felt helpless and didn't know where to start.

The fire last night burned almost all of their food, leaving only enough for two days for many soldiers.

Last night, they were able to catch the man who set the fire.

Some sharp-eyed people noticed that those people were actually the reinforcements he brought from Shangjing. They were very familiar with the Chu camp and the time of changing posts.

Although he was a native of Chu, he defected to Liang State, worked for Liang State, and harmed his compatriots.

He showed no mercy and threw the man directly into the fire, burning him to death, no longer following the rules in the books of the sages.

Gu Huaizhi coughed, with only fatigue between his brows: "Cousin, please go back to Beijing."

They have been avoiding conflicts with the Liang people these days, just to recuperate and gather strength for a few more days.

Unexpectedly, the Liang people caught them off guard.

Now, even if the Liang people did not attack directly, they would not be able to hold out for a few days without food, and they could not retreat.

Gu Yihan is the crown prince. If anything goes wrong, the position of the Lord of the East Palace will most likely fall to the foolish third prince.

By then, the situation of their Chu State will only be worse.

Gu Yihan did not respond and seemed to be thinking about it.

After a while, his eyes swept across the boy's arms and his lower abdomen, and his expression darkened: "Is Miss Mu awake?"

He never imagined that his cousin would one day risk his life for a girl.

Gu Huaizhi's abdominal injury has not yet healed, and now his right arm is burned, and the scar is not small.

But he suddenly felt that there was a strange change in his heart.

He was actually feeling lucky that Mu Wan'er was not in the tent last night and that he had managed to survive.

Gu Huaizhi's expression darkened, and he tightened the teacup in his hand, saying in a dull voice: "She is still unconscious."

Last night, he came just a hair's breadth away from losing her forever.

He didn't dare to think about what kind of suffering she would have suffered if he had been a step later.

He also hated himself for not arriving earlier. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so frightened that she would have been unconscious all night, had a fever, and started talking in her sleep.

Fortunately, she was not seriously injured, only had some minor scratches on her calves and arms, so the doctor asked Mu Wan'er to apply some medicine on her.

Gu Yihan watched the change in his cousin's expression, and suddenly laughed, his eyes seemed to see through everything: "Ah Huai is so anxious to let me return to Beijing, but is it for her?"

Gu Huaizhi's eyebrows twitched, and his Adam's apple rolled unconsciously because of being stared at.

After a while, he turned his face away and uttered a "hmm" from his nose.

He wanted Gu Yihan to bring Mu Anning back to Shangjing. Now the war situation was unpredictable and he was really scared.

Even though the amulet was still there, he was still afraid that he could not protect her.

After what happened last night, he dared not take risks again.

Gu Yihan sighed and shook his head slowly: "She is unconscious now, how can you ask me to take her away?"

They had no carriage now and could only ride horses. It was not easy to take away a comatose patient.

Gu Huaizhi frowned and was about to say something when suddenly a soldier came running over and interrupted their conversation.

"Your Highness, this is General Gu." He panted heavily and handed the things to Gu Yihan without even having time to salute. "Eight hundred miles, rush."

Gu Huaizhi's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he immediately stood up and strode to Gu Yihan who had received the letter: "What happened?"

Since he came to the border, he has not received any letters from Shangjing.

Even when Gu Yihan led his troops to the border, the emperor did not inform him in advance.

Gu Yihan read the letter quickly, raised his eyes heavily, and said, "Shangjing is in chaos."