The Double-Chapter 659 - 203: Injured

Jiang Li sat dazed as the person released her. When she finally saw clearly who it was, she saw that both hands had been neatly chopped off at the wrists.

Jiang Li couldn’t see how his hands had been chopped off, but she noticed a speck of blood on Jih Heng’s fan. He took out a snow-white silk handkerchief from his sleeve, his face showing disgust as he wiped the blood from his fan before casually discarding it.

The silk handkerchief fluttered down onto the person below, who, with bare stumps for hands, was wailing miserably and rolling around as if in extreme pain, his screams heart-wrenching. Zhao Ke walked over and ran his sword through the man’s throat, ending his life.

Only then did Jiang Li see clearly that the other four had already fallen to the ground, all with fatal wounds to their throats, likely the work of Zhao Ke and Wen Ji. The one in front of her must have been personally dealt with by Jih Heng, who had used his fan to chop off the man’s hands.

"A man has died," Wen Renyao said. He sighed and brought his hands together in prayer, "What a sin, what a sin."

There he was, putting on quite the compassionate display – if he hadn’t roamed about at the start, maybe they wouldn’t have attracted these men.

Lu Jiu seemed unfazed, as if accustomed to such events, and suggested to Jih Heng, "Let’s continue on our way then."

Lin Yao, the youngest, was scared to tears. Though he didn’t dare to cry loudly, his red eyes tugged at the heartstrings. Jiang Li looked at Jih Heng, who smiled back at her and patted her shoulder, saying, "It’s over now."

"It’s over now," these words seemed to settle Jiang Li’s nerves, leaving her feeling as if she had exerted all her strength and suddenly becoming exhausted. She was about to speak when suddenly there came the sound of galloping hooves in the distance, mixed with curses and shouts.

Everyone was startled.

"Not good," said Lu Jiu, "these aren’t scattered soldiers; there must be others. Given the number of voices, we’d better hurry up and leave."

They all hurriedly boarded the carriage, and Zhao Ke and Wen Ji, not daring to delay, cracked their whips and set off. Inside the carriage, as the mountain road jostled her, Jiang Li’s mind was still filled with the events that had just unfolded. No one had expected such an encounter on the way; they didn’t know how many soldiers were behind them. Wen Renyao and Lu Jiu both wore grave expressions, while Jih Heng appeared indifferent, but Jiang Li knew, things were not as easy as she had imagined.

Lin Yao sat nervously next to Wen Renyao, his eyes red from holding back tears. He was behaving well, not making much noise, and the carriage was silent.

Jiang Li felt agitated and confused; as she lowered her head, she suddenly froze. A red string was peeking out from around her neck – the string that tied the Civet Jade Pendant. The pendant had been lost, vanished without a trace.

At first, she was stunned, and then panic set in. Upon reflection, she realized that during the scuffle with the soldiers, her jade pendant must have been torn off and lost. Jiang Li felt a sense of regret; the pendant was a gift from her father, a token of her identity as Xue Fangfei, which she had always treasured. She had not expected to lose it here.

But there was nothing she could do about it; they couldn’t turn the carriage around to search for it. Who knew what kind of people were following them, and if they happened to run into Prince Cheng’s troops, it could lead to greater losses. So, Jiang Li quietly pulled on the red string, took it off, crumpled it into a ball, and tucked it into her sleeve.

As she was dealing with her regret, Jih Heng suddenly said, "Stop the carriage."

The carriage came to an abrupt halt. From outside, Zhao Ke and Wen Ji asked, "My lord?" They were clearly puzzled by Jih Heng’s decision to stop at this moment.

"I have something to do," said Jih Heng. "I will leave a mark on the road and meet with you later tonight."

"My lord, that’s not advisable." Lu Jiu, upon hearing this, became anxious. "Prince Cheng’s troops are behind us. Although we don’t know their number, there is at least a troop. We’re about to leave the mountains. If you’re alone and run into them, what will you do?"

"I understand the risks," Jih Heng replied. "You keep going forward; don’t worry about me." After saying this, he got off the carriage. Lu Jiu wanted to protest further, but Jih Heng had already disappeared.

Zhao Ke and Wen Ji only took orders from Jih Heng, so when he instructed them to continue, the carriage picked up its pace once more. Lu Jiu frowned and muttered to himself, "Foolish, foolish!"

Wen Renyao was also taken aback, but it was only after Jih Heng had left that he remembered to ask, "Where is Ah Heng going? Why did he suddenly leave? Hey," He pulled back the curtain of the carriage and peeked out, saying, "He’s headed back the way we came. What’s he up to?"

"How would I know?" responded Lu Jiu irritably. He then turned to Jiang Li and asked in a gentler tone, "Does Miss Jiang have any idea why the lord has gone off on his own?"

Jiang Li shook her head in confusion. "I don’t know either," she said.

A flicker of disappointment crossed Lu Jiu’s eyes, and he sighed, speaking no further.

Jiang Li was also puzzled and anxious. Throughout the journey, Jih Heng had never been separated from them. They had agreed to return to Yanjing City together; why had he chosen this critical moment to leave alone? What was it that he had to do, something that couldn’t be seen by others? Even though she knew that Jih Heng disliked others prying into his secrets, a part of Jiang Li was still irritated.

It all seemed too worrying.

At that moment, her fingertips brushed against the cold scissors in her sleeve. Just before Jih Heng severed the soldier’s hands, she had drawn the scissors herself, attempting to stab the soldier. After Jih Heng had rescued her, in her confused state, Jiang Li had put the scissors away.

Now, as she gave it a calm thought, she seemed to remember... Hadn’t her scissors stabbed into someone?

Jiang Li took out the scissors from her sleeve.

The small, delicate silver scissors gleamed with a cold hue, yet they were marred by some congealed red. Jiang Li stood frozen in shock. Wen Renyao suddenly noticed Jiang Li holding a pair of scissors and asked curiously, "Where did these scissors come from... Second Miss, what did you use them for? Why is there blood on them?"

In Jiang Li’s mind, the scene replayed in an instant—Jih Heng standing in front of her, his red robe shielding her body. When he had said "Don’t be afraid," it seemed his body trembled slightly.

Everything had happened so fast, and amidst her bewilderment, she had overlooked something. When Jih Heng stood in front of her, the scissors had struck him before she could withdraw them. She just didn’t know where they had pierced him. He had acted as if nothing happened, and the red of his robe had hidden the wound, so she saw nothing, unaware that she had injured him, unaware that he bore the pain while casually concealing it.

Jiang Li closed her eyes.

He had a wound on him and had gone off alone to do who knows what, but the current situation was fraught with danger at every turn.

There was nothing she could do, no help she could offer, only silently pray in her heart.

Pray for his safety.

...

Zhao Ke and Wen Ji indeed took Jih Heng’s words seriously. Jih Heng had told them to keep moving forward without stopping, and even in his absence, Zhao Ke and Wen Ji kept on traveling. However, they would regularly stop to make a mark. Jiang Li couldn’t understand those marks, but presumably, Jih Heng could. Perhaps luck was on their side because, by nightfall, they actually found a thatched cottage in the mountains.

The cottage seemed long abandoned, likely left behind by hunters who had journeyed up the mountain. The door wasn’t even closed; entering, they found cobwebs had formed on the floor. There were two rooms, each with a bed frame, but no bedding to speak of, and the windows were covered in mere paper. The kitchen had a stone-built stove, which contained a few logs of firewood.

"Let’s settle down here," Lu Jiu said. "At least we have a place to rest our feet."

Wen Renyao went out to look for more firewood, this time not daring to venture too far away, gathering some dry branches nearby. He planned to boil some hot water. Jiang Li took the broom by the door and began to clean up the inside and outside of the house a bit. The cottage hadn’t been lived in for a long time, and dust was everywhere, but after some tidying, it looked much better.

Zhao Ke and Wen Ji bore grave expressions as they circled the house, likely scouting the surroundings. All around, it was eerily quiet, suggesting that the place rarely saw visitors.

Once everything had been tidied up, everyone sat down inside the house. Zhao Ke and Wen Ji sat by the door, while Wen Renyao took a seat on the ground. In the absence of chairs, they had to move some stones into the house to sit upon.

"Why hasn’t Ah Heng returned yet?" Wen Renyao asked. "Do you think something could’ve happened to him?"

"The leader wouldn’t let anything happen to him," Lu Jiu said. "It’s just uncertain whether he has encountered any trouble."

"Even if he has run into trouble, Ah Heng possesses the abilities to resolve them," Wen Renyao looked at Jiang Li. "Can he resolve them?"

Jiang Li: "...I don’t know."

She was already anxious, not knowing where her scissors had struck Jih Heng, and if the wound was serious, it could affect him.

"Rest assured," the typically reticent Wen Ji spoke up, saying, "The leader knows his limits, and he doesn’t engage in anything too dangerous."

His words somewhat eased everyone’s minds. Jih Heng was never at a loss for strategies—a clever man like him would not do anything to jeopardize himself if faced with a real threat to his well-being. He was the type to weigh pros and cons carefully and wouldn’t make needless sacrifices.

When night fell, everyone went to sleep, and Jiang Li ended up having a room to herself since she was a woman. However, she couldn’t sleep. Zhao Ke and Wen Ji slept outside, on guard against any emergencies.

Jiang Li, restless as ever, decided to sit up and walk outside. Zhao Ke and Wen Ji had fashioned makeshift beds from their mats on the ground. As Jiang Li stepped out, she saw a figure entering. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

It was Jih Heng.

Zhao Ke and Wen Ji stirred awake, but with a wave from Jih Heng, they pretended to be unaware. Jiang Li couldn’t help but approach and pulled Jih Heng into her room.

Wen Renyao, Lu Jiu, and Lin Yao were in the other room, and not wanting to wake them, she led Jih Heng to sit on the bed frame in her room, as there were no chairs.

In the absence of lamps and only the clear moonlight, she asked quietly, "Are you, are you alright? What did you go off to do?"

The young man opened his palm wide; his hand was slender yet powerful, and lying in the center was a jade pendant, with the civet depicted in an adorable, clumsy manner.

Jiang Li was taken aback.

"I found this," he said with a smile.