Chapter 216 Betting Everything
Mu Jianjian was awakened by the sound coming from the cave entrance.
She hadn't even opened her eyes when she noticed the movement, but she reached out and grabbed the wrist of the person's outstretched hand.
"Oh," Ji Ning exclaimed softly, somewhat surprised and embarrassed to see the girl awake. "This is the herbal soup I wanted to make for you. I saw you were badly injured this afternoon, so I came..."
Seeing that the girl remained silent and did not speak, but simply released her hand, Ji Ning swallowed and continued, "When I came, I saw that you were not awake, so I thought I would let you sleep a little longer and put this medicine aside."
Mu Jianjian lowered her eyes and watched as the other person gently placed the palm-sized soup bowl on the ground beside her. The thick medicinal soup inside emitted a faint bitter taste.
"Thank you," she said, a gentle smile appearing on her face for the first time in a long time. "Did Xiao Cheng ask you to make this?"
Although the herbal medicine might not necessarily heal the wound, she would remember their kindness, even if she wasn't exactly moved.
Ji Ning shook his head. "It's not Xiao Cheng... This is the herb I saved up earlier. Now that you're awake, drink it quickly."
Mu Jianjian's smile became more genuine. She brought the medicine bowl to her side, smelled the ordinary herbal scent inside without any adulteration, and drank it without worry.
After finishing her drink, she seemed to realize something, "Why is it so quiet outside?"
Even though it was late at night, the silence was strangely quiet. Not a single sound could be heard, and even her divine sense couldn't detect that many people.
“No, I don’t think so…” Ji Ning trembled as she held the empty medicine bowl.
"You've been restless ever since you came in. It's a good thing you brought medicine to treat my wounds, so why were you avoiding my gaze?" Mu Jianjian pointed out the other person's unusual behavior. "You kept looking outside. Did someone go out?"
Seeing that Ji Ning was biting her lip and still unwilling to speak, she got up and started walking outside.
At this moment, the area below the cliff was mostly dark and quiet, with only a torch emitting a faint light more than ten meters away. The surroundings were silent and lifeless, and even the chirping of insects had disappeared.
"Miss! Miss Mu, don't go," Ji Ning hurriedly grabbed her as she was about to leave. "Before Xiao Cheng left, he told me to remind you not to wander around the cliff, otherwise you'll easily encounter monsters and get eaten when you get outside."
"Don't worry about me, where did they go?" Mu Jianjian thought of the East District coming to demand someone this afternoon, but if they really decided to give up just one person, would they need to mobilize most of the people in the cliff?
"I can't say..." Ji Ning was pressed by her question, and a helpless and worried expression appeared on her face.
"You know my strength. If I could, I would naturally help them. Don't worry that I would harm them. If I wanted to, I would have done so already," Mu Jianjian reassured her.
“They…they went to lure the demon beasts…” Ji Ning finally spoke, tears welling up in her eyes. “They wanted to use herbs to lure the great demon in the cave to the eastern area. Before leaving, they ate all the remaining food in the cave. But Miss Mu, you know, luring demon beasts isn’t such an easy thing…”
“Cultivators are rare, and we have even fewer here. We are no match for those bandits in the East District. If we want to save our lives and fight for our dignity and confidence against them, this is the only way…”
Ji Ning's voice was broken and tearful, even a little incoherent, but Mu Jianjian still understood the cause and effect of her words.
"How long have they been gone? And where is the place that lured the monster?" she asked.
After Ji Ning explained everything to her, seeing the girl walking calmly towards the edge of the cliff, she couldn't help but ask, "Is Miss Mu really from the Red Chamber?"
"I wasn't born in the Dream of the Red Chamber, but I did spend some time there." Mu Jianjian suddenly noticed a puddle of water in the dry riverbed beside her. She walked over, bent down, and saw her disfigured face.
Three horizontal wounds ran across her once delicate and fair skin, leaving her face pitted and covered with red and purple marks. Her once stunning face was completely ruined by these three wounds.
When Ji Ning saw the girl's actions, he was initially afraid that she would be saddened to see him like this, but after she stood up, she walked outside without the slightest hesitation or pause.
As his lips parted and closed, Ji Ning couldn't help but feel a little curious.
Miss Mu stayed at the Red Mansion, so where did she come from before?
It's rare to find a woman with such a resolute character in a place like Duyunfang.
——
Following Ji Ning's description, Mu Jianjian walked north along the dried-up riverbed and indeed saw many withered trees lying across the vast plain. The endless edge of the plain was devoid of any greenery.
Knowing she hadn't gone the wrong way, she calmed herself and ventured deeper into the heart of the dead tree. Hearing a faint sound ahead, she slowly stepped onto the highest rock to investigate. Soon, she followed the sound and saw several figures running at full speed in the depression at the far north.
"Hurry up, hurry up!" Lu Shaocheng looked at the young man holding an egg, waved and shouted, his voice tearing through the air. He frowned as he watched the young man fly away, then turned to look at the billowing dust and the crowd behind him.
If the herbs that attracted the monster hadn't run into trouble along the way, they wouldn't have lost so many people venturing deep into the cave to find the monster's newly laid eggs!
The advantage is that you don't have to worry about the monsters giving up, but the disadvantage is—
It became even more difficult for them to stop the monsters before the young man placed the egg in the East District.
"Hold it back from the west!" Lu Shaocheng shouted anxiously when he saw the big man in front of him already bleeding from the corner of his mouth.
The monster finally revealed its outline in the billowing smoke. Its four claws were sharp and embedded in the earth, exuding a solid strength. On its back, layers of soil gathered to form a shield, tightly wrapping its entire body.
Feeling the excruciating pain of the iron chain constricting its long, thin tail, the monster swung its tail and stomped the group of people to the ground.
"Pfft pfft—"
The smoke and dust billowed thickly, and when the sandstorm finally subsided, all that remained was a sunken ground and a pool of blood.
Lu Shaocheng's eyes narrowed, but he still gritted his teeth and said, "Hold on, or everything we've done so far will have been in vain! For everyone in the cave, and for everyone else!"
Mu Jianjian stood on the boulder, looking down into the distance. Compared to them, those who were blocking the demon beasts seemed insignificant, yet none of them stopped. Meanwhile, the young man carrying the egg in front of her had only run less than a hundred meters in the blink of an eye.
It's unreachable.
Ten people were killed before they even reached the hundred-meter mark. How could they possibly hold out until the young man carried the egg to the East District?
Even with these thoughts in mind, Mu Jianjian still took a step.
She thought that if she added her words, it might work.
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