A Stolen Romance - Chapter 28.1

Chapter 28.1: A Bloody Path

Blood splattered everywhere, and streaks of scarlet mist rose into the air. The road, surrounded by mountains in the countryside, was a dangerous place for an ambush. Luckily, Xie Zhaoran had considered this beforehand. In addition to the guards in the procession, she had sent a scouting party to patrol the mountainsides, anticipating a possible ambush. A large number of archers in the mountains had been neutralized, but Xie Zhaoran’s own people had also suffered heavy losses.

Hearing the sound of horse hooves from ahead, Xie Zhaoran breathed a sigh of relief. With one slash to the neck of a nearby assassin, she kicked the body away and rushed to Shi Yuning’s side. As she cleared the enemies around Shi Yuning, she quickly scanned her with her eyes. Fortunately, she seemed to have only suffered a few minor injuries. “Hold on, our people are here.”

Shi Yuning also saw the soldiers rushing down the road. They looked like they were part of the Empress Dowager’s procession, likely coming to provide aid after hearing the commotion. But before they could feel relieved, both of them noticed something was wrong. The team of guards halted their horses far away.

“This is bad!” Xie Zhaoran shielded Shi Yuning and ducked behind a carriage.

In an instant, hundreds of arrows with blazing fire shot toward them. The arrows didn’t distinguish between friend and foe, shooting indiscriminately. While the assassins fell one after another, their own people also suffered heavy casualties.

“What’s going on?” Shi Yuning’s brows furrowed as she looked at the tragic scene. The air was filled with a strong smell of burning, and the screams were deafening, echoing through the valley. The cries came from both the assassins and their own people.

Qiang Di, her eyes red, fought her way to Xie Zhaoran’s side. “Master, I don’t know if they are working with the assassins, but it’s dangerous to stay here.”

Xie Zhaoran nodded, her gaze fixed on the archers ahead, lost in thought. Was there a traitor in the imperial guards, or was this a separate group of assassins ambushing them from the front? Either way, she had to deal with it.

She slashed open the back wall of the carriage, opened the lacquered wooden box under the seat, and took out her Cloud-Shattering Bow. “You protect Miss Shi. Wait for my command.” Xie Zhaoran quickly told Qiang Di, then looked deeply at Shi Yuning. “Protect yourself.”

Shi Yuning guessed that Xie Zhaoran was going to make her way through the forest. Her eyes filled with worry, but she nodded resolutely. “You, too. I’ll cover you.” She then yelled, “I’ll fight you to the death!” and led Qiang Di from the other side, engaging the assassins in close combat amidst the smoke and fire.

Shi Yuning didn’t know where she found the courage. Although she had trained in martial arts for many years, she had only ever fought with thugs. This was the first time she had ever killed anyone with a sword. It was also the first time she had seen so much blood, and the air was filled with a sickening metallic smell. She didn’t dare to stop or think too much. She had only one belief: she couldn’t die here, and she wouldn’t let Xie Zhaoran die here!

Shi Yuning’s sword slashed, felling a man on horseback, and she quickly mounted the horse herself. She was grateful that Xie Zhaoran had taught her horsemanship and archery, and that she had taken the lessons seriously.

After Shi Yuning emptied the quiver of arrows on the horse, Xie Zhaoran had also made her way closer. Shi Yuning and Qiang Di rode forward to attract the enemy’s attention and cover Xie Zhaoran. Xie Zhaoran drew her Cloud-Shattering Bow, firing four arrows at once, and the men on horseback fell one after another.

After a fierce battle in the wild mountains, with countless casualties, Xie Zhaoran ran out of arrows and carved a bloody path. Shi Yuning rode to meet her. Xie Zhaoran jumped onto the horse, and with the two of them riding on one horse, they fought their way out with their remaining people.

“Don’t be afraid. We’ll be safe once we get to Crane’s Call Temple.” Xie Zhaoran held the person in her arms tightly. Shi Yuning gripped Xie Zhaoran’s sleeve tightly, not daring to relax.

As they got closer to Crane’s Call Temple, the sounds of pursuit gradually faded. By the time they saw the guards at the foot of the mountain, there were no more pursuers behind them. The guards were shocked to see the state of Xie Zhaoran, Shi Yuning, and the others, and were even more confused when they heard there were assassins. The Empress Dowager’s procession had passed without incident.

Xie Zhaoran let out a cold laugh. It seemed they were targeted specifically. Shi Yuning immediately concluded that it must have been Prince Yu, seeking revenge. The guard leader dispatched people to follow Qiang Di and pursue the fleeing assassins.

Xie Zhaoran took Shi Yuning’s hand and began walking up the stone steps. After a couple of steps, she noticed the person behind her hadn’t kept up. “What’s wrong?” Xie Zhaoran asked with concern. “Are you injured somewhere?”

Shi Yuning shook her head and smiled. “I’m fine, my legs are just a little weak.” She hadn’t been scared during the fighting, but now that they were safe, all the fear rushed back.

Xie Zhaoran smiled knowingly. “The first time I encountered assassins when I was a child, I was so weak afterward that Qiang Di had to carry me back. You were amazing.”

Shi Yuning thought Xie Zhaoran was just trying to console her, but hearing her say “you were amazing” made her heart flutter with pride. She hadn’t held them back.

“Maybe we should have someone get a sedan chair for you,” Xie Zhaoran said, looking up at the steps. They looked gradual, but there were thousands of them.

“No, I want to walk.” Shi Yuning felt that walking would help her settle her anxious heart.

Xie Zhaoran thought for a moment, then wiped some blood from her right hand with her sleeve. She held out her hand, a little hesitantly. “Would you like to hold my hand?”

Shi Yuning looked at the hand offered to her and remembered how she had rejected Xie Zhaoran’s hand earlier by the carriage. After that, they were nearly killed in that deadly ambush. If she had died in that attack, she would have died with so much regret. She hadn’t even told Xie Zhaoran how she felt yet.

“Yes!” Shi Yuning quickly reached out and tightly clasped Xie Zhaoran’s hand, smiling brightly. The smile took Xie Zhaoran’s breath away, and a blush crept onto her cheeks. She quickly turned around and, holding Shi Yuning’s hand, they walked up the steps, one by one.

On the way, besides the sound of their shoes on the stone steps, all Xie Zhaoran could hear was her own heartbeat. Shi Yuning kept looking at their clasped hands, thinking about the future. She had originally intended to hide her feelings, but now, she didn’t want to anymore. Just like the situation they had just faced, if you don’t try, it really is a dead end with no hope. Perhaps she should try. Maybe Xie Zhaoran would see her good qualities, and maybe Xie Zhaoran could accept this kind of different love.

Lost in their own thoughts, the two of them didn’t speak a single word the entire way up.

When they reached the entrance of Crane’s Call Temple, Xie Zhaoran finally let go of Shi Yuning’s hand and went to talk to the nun standing guard. Shi Yuning looked at her empty hand and felt a strange emptiness in her heart.

“Amitabha. Benefactress, please put away your sword.” It was a sacred place, forbidden to kill or bring weapons inside. Xie Zhaoran knew this rule and was about to comply when Shi Yuning, who had caught up to her, stopped her.

“Oh no, I left the scriptures I copied for the Empress Dowager in the carriage.” Shi Yuning looked anxious and lightly gripped Xie Zhaoran’s arm.

Xie Zhaoran’s eyes flickered with a hint of doubt, but she went along with Shi Yuning’s words. “Do you need to go get them?”

Shi Yuning nodded. “Of course! I spent several nights copying them.”

The waiting nun smiled faintly. “Benefactress, don’t worry. This nun can send someone to retrieve them for you.”

Shi Yuning’s face immediately hardened. She lifted her chin, putting on an overbearing air. “No! You’re all clumsy and rough-handed. What if you damage them?” With that, she grabbed Xie Zhaoran and turned to leave. “You’re coming with me.” After two steps, she looked back at the nun, who was standing still. The nun was dressed as a monastic, with the characteristic compassion in her eyes, but her smile was too practiced, too fake. It was like the same elegant, proper smile Shi Yuning had been forced to learn in the palace while biting a pair of chopsticks. She waved at the nun. “We’ll be right back. Tell the Empress Dowager that I went to get the hand-copied scriptures myself to show my filial piety.”

The nun remained unmoving, only smiling as she watched their backs disappear. Shi Yuning pulled Xie Zhaoran, walking faster and faster. “That nun is a problem.”

Xie Zhaoran had also guessed this was the reason, but she didn’t know how Shi Yuning had figured it out. With no time to spare, Shi Yuning gave a simple explanation. “She smells of flowers.”

Xie Zhaoran immediately understood. Monastics were surrounded by the scent of incense every day, so a nun should be infused with its fragrance. She grabbed Shi Yuning’s hand and began running down the steps, taking three at a time. Suddenly, they heard a whooshing sound from behind. Something’s wrong! Xie Zhaoran turned with Shi Yuning, and an arrow shot past them.

They looked up and saw the nun they had just spoken to, still with her kind smile, taking an arrow from a person beside her and placing it on the bowstring. As the second arrow shot toward them, a line of heads appeared on the outer wall of the temple. A row of archers aimed at them.

Shi Yuning: Again!

Xie Zhaoran smiled faintly. She had been careless. She had thought the previous senseless ambush was Prince Yu’s final attack. It seemed that idiot wasn’t completely useless. But this scale of an attack was not something he could have achieved alone. A sky full of arrows, charged with murderous intent, flew toward them. Xie Zhaoran waved her sword, trying her best to block them. Shi Yuning desperately blocked an arrow that almost hit her in the eye. Seeing the endless stream of arrows, she pulled Xie Zhaoran, and they rolled into a dense forest thick with thorny bushes.

Slashing their way through the obstructing bushes, their clothes were torn to shreds. Xie Zhaoran quickly tied up Shi Yuning’s hair and her cumbersome skirt, and they struggled to run deeper into the forest. The sound of their pursuers was getting closer. Shi Yuning looked around, unable to find a clear path.

“Where are we going?” Shi Yuning was a little disoriented.

Xie Zhaoran pointed in a direction. “Down the mountain. The mountain is no longer safe. Crane’s Call Temple has likely been completely compromised.”

“Huh?” Shi Yuning was terrified. “What about my mother and the Empress Dowager?”

Xie Zhaoran: “Don’t worry. If it’s Prince Yu, he won’t harm the Empress Dowager.” If he wanted to ascend the throne legitimately, he would need the Empress Dowager’s support. As for Madam Shi, Prince Yu had no reason to specifically harm her.

Shi Yuning’s heart settled a little. It was good that her mother would be safe. “Are we going to die here today?” Shi Yuning gave a bitter laugh. With this wave after wave of assassins, Prince Yu was clearly determined to kill them today.

“That’s not certain. I think his goal is to capture us alive.” Xie Zhaoran had realized during their fights that the enemy was reckless but not aiming for a kill. They likely had other uses for them. But while they might not be killed, they wouldn’t have an easy time either. There was a saying: living a life worse than death. If it was Prince Yu, he would want revenge and to use them. If they fell into his hands, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Xie Zhaoran glanced at the person beside her. No matter what, even if she died, she would not let Shi Yuning fall into his hands.

…

The dense forest was full of crisscrossing branches. While they could block arrows, they also hindered their escape. Shi Yuning listened to the footsteps coming from all directions and had a terrible premonition. After the previous battle, she had little strength left. Xie Zhaoran’s hand was no longer just holding hers; it was now around her waist, supporting her with her own strength.

Shi Yuning wanted to tell Xie Zhaoran to leave her and save herself. But as the words reached her lips, she saw the side of Xie Zhaoran’s face, scratched by a branch, with a thin line of blood running down her sharp jawline. She saw her clenched jaw. Xie Zhaoran was out of strength too. In that case, if they were going to die, they would die together, and at least they would have company on the road to the underworld.

Moreover, Shi Yuning had a strong belief: they wouldn’t die today.

“What’s wrong?” Xie Zhaoran felt the person beside her suddenly falter and asked anxiously.

Shi Yuning pulled her leg, which had been caught by a wild vine, and continued to move forward. “Nothing. I just didn’t expect these vines to be so troublesome.” She then seemed to remember something and asked Xie Zhaoran, “Did you ever go to tea houses to listen to storytellers in the capital?”

Xie Zhaoran’s pace didn’t falter. She didn’t understand why Shi Yuning was asking this. “Once or twice.” It was for a family gathering during the New Year. She didn’t personally enjoy it.

Shi Yuning: “In a situation like ours—escaping in the wilderness—a righteous hero would typically encounter this a few times, and…”

Xie Zhaoran saw that Shi Yuning still had the mind to talk about stories she had heard. This confused Xie Zhaoran. What was the point of her saying all this while they were on the run? Suddenly, they broke through a natural barrier of dense trees, and the view in front of them opened up.

As if to prove a point, Shi Yuning ran a little way forward. She looked at the deep gorge in front of her, turned, and winked at Xie Zhaoran, finishing her sentence. “…and that’s when a cliff will appear.” She paused, looked at the direction the sounds were coming from, and said, “And then we’ll be cornered at the edge of this cliff, facing a choice.”

Just as her words fell, figures emerged from behind the natural barrier of the forest. The nun from earlier was among them. Still wearing her serene smile, she walked to stand directly opposite them. “Surrender. There’s no road ahead.”

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