Chapter 230 Survival
The cliff was deep and shrouded in mist. Qiu Heng carried Xue Han and landed on an old tree that stretched out horizontally.
This is where she found her footing after Xue Han pushed her off the cliff.
"Xue Han, how are you?"
Xue Han slowly opened his eyes, looked at Qiu Heng's anxious expression, and said softly, "Aheng, don't worry about me. Be careful as you descend to the bottom of the cliff and find your way out. With your abilities, you will surely get out of these mountains and return to Great Xia..."
"It's good that you can still talk nonsense." Qiu Heng wiped away her tears and reached out to untie Xue Han's belt.
Even though Xue Han was severely injured and slow to react, he was still taken aback by Qiu Heng's actions: "Ah, Ah Heng, what are you doing?"
"Tie me to your body, and we'll go down the cliff together."
That's too dangerous—
"Shut up!" Qiu Heng's expression was fierce. "Either we live together, or we die together. I won't listen to anything else you say."
They had to ignite Xue Han's will to survive; they had to return to Great Xia together.
Xue Han forced his eyelids open to look at the fierce-looking girl, his heart overwhelmed with a mixture of sadness and sweetness.
To live and die together?
"Aheng, don't untie it, untie my belt—"
Qiu Heng glared at him: "What time is it? Don't worry about such trivial matters."
"No—" Xue Han spoke with difficulty, then paused to say, "I have... a rope in my cloth bag..."
Qiu Heng paused for a moment, then silently reached out and touched the cloth bag hanging at Xue Han's waist, quickly finding a roll of rope.
It must be said that Xue Han has a good habit of carrying various practical items in his bag.
Without time to say more, Qiu Heng used a hemp rope to tie Xue Han to her back and reminded her, "Xue Han, I'm going to get down slowly. If you still have the strength, try to hold me tight."
"Okay." The boy on her back responded softly, already half-conscious.
Xue Han finally put his belt to use. One end was wrapped around Qiu Heng's hand, and the other end was tied with a sharp awl. When there was a place to grab onto, he slowly climbed down. When there was no place to grab onto, he would swing the sharp awl to wrap around protruding rocks and trees, and then quickly swing over.
It was incredibly difficult; I nearly fell several times, but I finally made it to the bottom of the cliff.
Qiu Heng lay motionless on the ground, her cheek pressed against the stone, Xue Han strapped to her back.
It felt a hundred times more tiring than when she thought she had reached her limit during her previous martial arts training. Not only was her body exhausted, but her spirit was too.
I'm so tired, it hurts so much, I feel so uncomfortable.
Qiu Heng, panting, moved her fingers with difficulty: "Xue Han, are you alright?"
No one answered her.
My heart sank.
"Xue Han—"
The sound of rushing water at the bottom of the cliff masked the sob in the girl's voice, and tears silently slid down her cheeks.
"Xue Han—"
She cried out again and again, weeping silently.
Why isn't Xue Han responding to her?
Is Xue Han... dead?
"Xue Han—"
Unable to say anything more, Qiu Heng called Xue Han's name again and again, her heart aching.
Why treat her like this?
She lost her parents on the first day she returned here, and now she's going to lose the one she loves?
She's done so much, shouldn't we give her a small reward?
Having regained some strength, Qiu Heng laboriously untied the ropes, not daring to roll over directly. She slowly moved out from under Xue Han, and only then could she see Xue Han's condition clearly.
With an arrow still stuck in his back, his eyes were closed, his face was deathly pale, and his clothes were covered in blood.
No matter how unbearable the outcome, Qiu Heng knew she would have to face it eventually.
She slowly reached out to check Xue Han's breath, and the faint, almost imperceptible breath made Qiu Heng's eyes light up.
This gave her a sudden burst of energy, even though she was already exhausted.
Qiu Heng rummaged through Xue Han's bag and found some wound medicine, then examined the arrow stuck in his body.
It's far from the heart, so it can be removed. Of course, there are risks, but leaving the wound untreated and allowing it to fester is equally dangerous.
Not far away are waterfalls and streams with clear water.
Qiu Heng went over, washed the handkerchief clean, and placed it next to Xue Han's wound on his back. Although her heart was pounding with worry, her hands were extremely steady, and she quickly pulled out the arrow.
The moment the blood splattered, a handkerchief was applied to the wound, quickly becoming soaked. The bleeding only gradually stopped after most of a bottle of wound medicine was applied.
Qiu Heng leaned close to Xue Han's ear and said, "Xue Han, I'm going to apply medicine for you."
Perhaps the pain of pulling out the arrow brought Xue Han back to his senses, and the boy, whose eyes were tightly closed, suddenly trembled his eyelashes.
He can hear me!
Qiu Heng couldn't help but raise the corners of her lips, and said, word by word, "Xue Han, you must hold on. I'm injured too. Without you, I won't be able to get out of this mountain range, and we'll just die here together."
Xue Han's eyelids twitched.
Qiu Heng carefully unbuttoned Xue Han's clothes, cleaned the wounds with a damp cloth, and then applied wound medicine.
After using up the two bottles of wound medicine, Xue Han's wounds were almost treated. Qiu Heng fed him some water and then they found a cave to take shelter in.
After resting for a while to regain her strength, Qiu Heng touched Xue Han's pale face and said, "Xue Han, I'm going to find some herbs. I'll be back soon."
She blocked the cave entrance with a stone, leaving a small gap, and Qiu Heng went out.
The bottom of the cliff was covered with lush vegetation. Qiu Heng picked up a stick to probe the way and collected herbs that had hemostatic and detoxifying effects. As she walked, she smelled blood.
It was a much stronger smell of blood than the wounds on my own body.
Qiu Heng gripped the wooden stick tightly in her hand and walked forward cautiously, then paused.
A person was lying in the grass not far away. When you got closer, you could see that it was a mangled corpse.
Once it was confirmed to be a corpse, Qiu Heng felt relieved. She walked closer and examined the body closely. The person was smashed to pieces and could not be identified, but from the clothing and the many feathered arrows stuck in the body, it was not difficult to deduce that it was Prince Chi Yan.
They died tragically, and their afterlife was equally tragic.
Qiu Heng didn't dislike Prince Chi Yan; they simply had different stances. But it was impossible for her to bury him out of pity for a fellow human being.
After standing still for a moment, Qiu Heng used a wooden stick to move the scattered leather bags a little further away and looked through their contents.
There was flint, wound medicine, snake repellent, and a bottle of pills whose contents were unclear. Qiu Heng smelled them and guessed they were antidotes.
There were even tightly wrapped beef jerky and milk-based snacks.
Prince Chiyan carried these with him, clearly intending to capture them in the mountains, but now they've become a great help to Qiuheng.
Qiu Heng put the things she had found back into the leather bag and returned to the cave. She checked on Xue Han's condition and took the empty leather bag to the stream to wash it.
The bloodstains on the leather bag diffused in the water and quickly disappeared without a trace. Qiu Heng placed the leather bag on a stone to dry, and painfully cleaned the wounds within reach.
Countless abrasions and scratches left almost no part of her body unscathed; they weren't fatal, but they were very painful.
Qiu Heng seemed oblivious to the pain, biting her lip hard as she carefully cleaned the dirt from her wound.
Clean the wound thoroughly and apply medicine properly to minimize the risk of it worsening. If she lives, Xue Han can live.
They were going back to Daxia together.
(End of this chapter)
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