A Single Tie Of Long Hair Seals A Lifelong Commitment - Chapter 26.1

The scent of blood lingered around her nose, and sweat broke out on Chen Liangyu’s palms as she fled blindly in panic.

The forest was overgrown, making even the moonlight seem eerie.

Someone was chasing them from behind.

The phantom-like figure moved swiftly, darting through the trees at a speed that blurred its form, residual shadows sweeping across the treetops.

The technique was identical to the one used in the assassination attempt on Emperor Xuanyuan that day.

During the struggle, Zhai Ji had injured his calf. In a moment of crisis, he shielded her from a ghoul’s claw. The sharp talons had ripped away a large piece of flesh and skin from his right shoulder, leaving it bloody and mangled.

If Zhai Ji hadn’t stepped in to block that attack, her entire face would have likely been torn off.

Chen Liangyu supported him, bearing his weight on her body. They had already exchanged blows with the group of assailants five or six times, and she was nearly exhausted, able to hear her own heart pounding “thump-thump.”

She had to find a way to stop Zhai Ji’s bleeding first. Half of his white tunic was already soaked red with blood. Zhai Ji’s lips were very pale, and he was breathing shallowly.

Chen Liangyu helped him hide behind a massive, natural stone barrier. There was a cave here, piled up with loose stones from the hillside, which looked unstable.

But at the moment, there was no other place to hide.

Zhai Ji said, “Don’t mind me. The people chasing us are here for both our lives. Leave me here, and you can escape on your own.”

Chen Liangyu tore off a relatively clean piece of cloth from her own clothing and used it for a crude bandage. “I have to take you with me.”

Zhai Ji insisted, “With me, you won’t get away. Just remember to come back and collect my corpse. If you have any extra conscience, please… take me home.”

Feeling that his death was too ignominious, his eyes were filled with resentment. “Chen Liangyu, meeting you was truly bad luck.”

“You reap what you sow,” Chen Liangyu replied.

But even if he had brought this upon himself, she couldn’t abandon him in this deep mountain forest to be fed to wild beasts. “The death of a Hostage Prince will lead to war between our two nations, which will harm the common people of Great Lin. You are not worth the suffering of my citizens.”

“If you don’t leave me, we will both die here.”

Chen Liangyu tossed Zhai Ji onto the ground, unfastened his belt, and pulled out the thread-like material. Zhai Ji’s tattered clothes fell apart, barely clinging to his body.

His arm felt heavy as a thousand pounds as he tried to pull his clothes tightly, but he was unable to raise his hand. He barked, “Don’t take advantage of my situation and act like a hooligan!”

Chen Liangyu focused on her task, pulling him up onto her back and using the belt she had removed from him to tie and secure him.

She didn’t dare leave Zhai Ji alone in this not-so-concealed cave. If the assassins discovered him, he had no ability to fight back and would only be waiting for death.

“Then let us die together.”

The person on her back laughed, his breathing weak.

“What are you laughing at?”

“I’m laughing that we, former sworn enemies who wished nothing more than to kill each other, are now sharing life and death.”

Chen Liangyu continued, “If you die, and I die with you in this desolate mountain forest, it can be considered a life for a life. The lives of people from the Xuanping Marquis’s Residence are still valuable to your North Yong. The Emperor can provide an explanation to North Yong, and there will still be room for negotiation, preventing another war.”

“I knew it… you’re not that kindhearted.”

After a chaotic search, the mountain forest fell silent once more.

Chen Liangyu’s steps were heavy. She was also wounded, leaving a bloody footprint with nearly every step she took.

Following the faint moonlight filtering through the branches, Chen Liangyu strained to see, finally managing to gather some medicinal herbs to stop the bleeding and apply them to Zhai Ji.

When the light of dawn faintly appeared, they finally stumbled to the edge of the forest. Gazing out, all she could see were large fields of green sprouts.

Where there are fields, there are farmers.

She saw small footpaths between the ridges of the fields, and in the distance, she spotted a village.

Before she ran out of her last ounce of strength, she finally knocked on a door.

A foul odor drilled into her nostrils. Chen Liangyu wrinkled her nose, but she didn’t even have the strength to wave her hand and shoo the smell away.

Zhai Ji opened his eyes, his voice weak: “Does this place feel familiar to you?”

The door opened with a creak.

Chen Liangyu, with the crooked person on her back, spun in place and looked inside the door. What she saw was a row of low, mud-plastered walls.

A pig… pen…

Two guards, holding wine jars, were drinking together. “You two are back.”

Zhai Ji spat out a breath and passed out on her back.

She and Zhai Ji were thrown into the woodshed, where a simple plank bed was constructed with wooden stakes and boards.

Chen Liangyu pulled Zhai Ji’s tunic aside to examine his wounds. The cloth she had wrapped him in last night was already stuck to the flesh with dried blood. It needed to be cut open, and she needed proper hemostatic medicine; the few herbs she had on her were clearly not enough.

She got up and prepared to ask the bandits for supplies through the crack in the door. Since this group had cleared out the woodshed for them, they must have worried about the filth of the coop and pigsty, fearing infection and death. Therefore, it shouldn’t be hard to beg them for some life-saving medicine.

The woodshed door was locked from the outside. Just as she peered through the crack, she saw a delicate-looking young girl carrying a handwoven basket entering the farmhouse.

The two guards called her “A-Yin.”

The guards unlocked the door and let A-Yin in. Sure enough, the handwoven basket contained the scissors and hemostatic medicine she needed, along with clean fine gauze.

A-Yin fetched a basin of cold water, dampened a piece of linen cloth, wrung it semi-dry, and began cleaning the dirt off Zhai Ji’s face, starting from his forehead, down to his nose and cheeks.

“You should clean the wound first; a dirty face won’t kill him,” Chen Liangyu said.

A-Yin acted as if she hadn’t heard. After wiping Zhai Ji’s face clean, she studied it, playfully pinching his earlobe and cheek. “He’s quite handsome.”

“He’s so handsome he’s about to die!”

Chen Liangyu was astonished that someone could be infatuated with Zhai Ji in this state.

Picking up the scissors from the handwoven basket, Chen Liangyu was about to cut away the cloth stuck to his shoulder, but A-Yin criticized her for being clumsy, snatched the scissors away, and began working with delicate precision.

When Zhai Ji’s skin was pulled, he winced in pain even in his unconscious state, and A-Yin’s movements immediately became much gentler.

Chen Liangyu couldn’t have been more pleased. It was as if she had been granted a reprieve, and a plan instantly formed in her mind.

“A-Yin, he’s down on his luck now and injured. If you take care of him and save his life, he will become your husband when he recovers.”

A-Yin was delighted. “Really?”

“Really. That’s how all the stories in the martial arts world are written.”

Having successfully fooled A-Yin with her nonsense, A-Yin dutifully took on the task of caring for Zhai Ji’s injuries. Chen Liangyu herself found a pile of firewood, closed her eyes, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Through trickery and lies, A-Yin actually believed her nonsense. She changed the dressing and brought food and drink twice a day without fail.

The next day, she came humming a tune, carrying a clean set of linen clothes that gave off a faint scent of soapberry.

Zhai Ji felt a cold breeze on his body and struggled to open his eyes. What he saw was a fair-looking woman taking off the soiled tunic that was stained with mud and blood, and now reaching to untie his trousers.

Zhai Ji practically leaped up, disregarding the pain from his wounds.

Chen Liangyu was still sitting on the pile of firewood, watching the scene with a maliciously amused smile.

Seeing a neatly folded pile of clothing at the foot of the bed, Zhai Ji released his arms, which were clutching his chest in an attempt to cover himself. “There is no need to trouble you. This kind of thing, Your Royal… I can do myself.”

A-Yin looked a bit disappointed but said nothing, going out to lock the woodshed door. She still delivered medicinal herbs and ointment twice a day.

She was never seen again until Zhai Ji’s wounds had scabbed over.

Her return was prompted by the appearance of the ghouls who had chased Chen Liangyu and Zhai Ji, as they attempted to kill them again at the farmhouse.

Chen Liangyu recognized the leader, who was wearing a hooded cloak and whose eyes shone with malice. During the escape in the forest, this person had given the order to the ghouls under his control: “Kill them both!”

That group of ghouls had pursued them until they were not far from the stone barrier where they hid, only to suddenly retreat as if startled.

Chen Liangyu and Zhai Ji exchanged glances, each understanding the other’s meaning.

There were two factions in Bogue Stronghold: one was Lin Jianshu and his group, who captured them but did not kill them, with an unknown purpose; the other faction was led by this hooded figure, who was determined to take their lives.

The two guards desperately tried to restrain the ghouls, fighting fiercely outside the woodshed door to defend against their attacks.

One shouted to the hooded figure, “Guan Ren, if these two die, the consequences are too great for you to bear! Tell them to stop!”

The other immediately added, “She is Marshal Chen’s daughter! If Marshal Chen arrives, the Chief will surely give you an explanation!”