"A Jing! Wake up quickly!"
"A Jing! Don't scare me!"
Ruan Jiu cried out, her tears streaming down uncontrollably. Her hair was in a mess, and her body was covered in blood. She looked extremely disheveled.
However, the blood on her body wasn't her own.
Xie Jingchu was lying on the ground, eyes tightly shut. There was a large gash on his arm, so deep that the bone was visible.
There were countless wounds all over his body.
What on earth had happened?
Why did they end up in such a state?
It turned out that they had followed the direction of the sound and walked deeper into Taiping Village.
As the sound grew clearer, there was no path ahead, only a steep slope.
The slope was precipitous, overgrown with shrubs. The mist lingering in the mountains made it impossible to see what was below.
And those strange sounds were exactly coming from beneath the slope.
Just as they were looking for a way down, suddenly Ruan Jiu slipped and unfortunately fell.
Seeing this, Xie Jingchu didn't have time to think.
He leaped down and tightly held Ruan Jiu in his arms.
Then, the two of them rolled down the cliff together.
Fortunately, being protected by Xie Jingchu, Ruan Jiu only had a few scratches on her hands.
But Xie Jingchu was in a terrible state.
Not only was the wound on his arm deep enough to expose the bone, but he also hit his head when rolling down.
Seeing that Xie Jingchu didn't wake up for a long time, Ruan Jiu's fear deepened.
She trembled with both hands, wanting to bandage Xie Jingchu's wounds but didn't know where to start.
For the first time, she felt so useless. All she could do was cry.
"A Jiu, don't cry. I'm fine," Xie Jingchu lifted his heavy eyelids.
He forced a smile and looked at Ruan Jiu.
Seeing that Xie Jingchu finally woke up, Ruan Jiu excitedly hugged him and cried out, "You're finally awake!"
"Ouch~" Xie Jingchu couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.
Ruan Jiu quickly let go and anxiously asked, "Did I hurt you?"
Xie Jingchu shook his head with a smile.
Ruan Jiu's nose turned sour again. With red eyes, she said, "I thought you were dead! You scared me to death!"
Xie Jingchu propped himself up and sat up. He reached out and stroked Ruan Jiu's hair. With gentle eyes, he said, "I haven't married you yet. How could I be willing to die?"
Hearing this, Ruan Jiu pouted, "At a time like this, you still have the mood to joke!"
When her gaze fell on Xie Jingchu's injured arm, her eyes were full of pity. "Aren't you being stupid! Why did you jump down with me! Such a deep wound. It must hurt so much!"
Although Xie Jingchu was happy to see Ruan Jiu worried about him, he still couldn't bear to see her cry.
As long as Ruan Jiu was safe, even if his arm was crippled, it didn't matter.
Moreover, this minor injury was not as serious as the one he got when he went to Wuyin Mountain to find Blood-Frightening Herb for Ruan Jiu.
"A Jiu, it doesn't hurt at all. I'm fine. If you don't believe me, take a look!"
After saying that, Xie Jingchu tried to stand up to reassure Ruan Jiu.
Unexpectedly, before he could stand firmly, he fell down again.
Xie Jingchu smiled awkwardly. "It seems I sprained my foot."
Ruan Jiu bit her lip and choked with sobs. "A Jing, I'm sorry. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been so seriously injured!"
She wasn't usually a person who loved to cry. But for some reason, her tears just wouldn't stop.
Even her body began to tremble constantly.
This really worried Xie Jingchu. He quickly wiped the tears from Ruan Jiu's face.
"A Jiu, I really didn't feel any pain at first. But when you cry, my heart aches terribly. If you don't believe me, feel it."
After saying that, Xie Jingchu placed Ruan Jiu's hand on his chest.
Looking like a rascal, he made Ruan Jiu laugh.
Ruan Jiu sniffed. "So what should we do now?"
They had rolled down from such a high slope, and now Xie Jingchu was seriously injured. How could they get back up?
"Don't worry. Qin Yuan will find us," Xie Jingchu nodded firmly.
But Ruan Jiu still wasn't at ease. "Qin Yuan is so timid that he doesn't even dare to enter Taiping Village."
Xie Jingchu smiled. "He's just afraid of ghosts. Don't forget, he's my personal bodyguard. How could he be useless?"
After hearing this, Ruan Jiu pursed her lips doubtfully.
Just then, there came a sound of footsteps in the distance.
After hearing it, they immediately hid behind a big rock.
Four strong men were walking slowly. Fortunately, they were far away, so they weren't discovered.
The strong men stopped in front of a cliff.
Just as Ruan Jiu was wondering why these people were here, there came a sound.
This made Ruan Jiu widen her eyes in surprise.
Unexpectedly, this seemingly ordinary mountain had a secret door made of stones, and it was extremely well-hidden.
After the stone door opened, a man in black walked out. He carefully poked his head out and looked around.
Since Ruan Jiu and the others were quite far away, they didn't see the face of the man in black clearly.
After making sure no one was following, the man in black waved to the four strong men.
Then, the four strong men followed the man in black and walked in.
The stone door closed again, as if nothing had happened.
Xie Jingchu and Ruan Jiu glanced at each other.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would never have thought that there was so much hidden here.
But what was inside?
Xie Jingchu looked serious and said, "There must be something wrong inside."
Ruan Jiu nodded.
It seemed that they hadn't heard that strange sound since they rolled down.
Xie Jingchu continued, "Do you still remember what the farmer said? Taiping Village suddenly suffered a mountain fire five years ago."
Ruan Jiu nodded again.
That mountain fire had burned all the villagers in Taiping Village to death.
Xie Jingchu took a deep breath. "And Chi Wei just took the position of the Minister of Revenue five years ago."
"You mean it was Chi Wei who set fire to the whole village?" Ruan Jiu frowned.
Otherwise, how could a mountain fire burn Taiping Village to ashes?
"So, there must be some unspeakable secret hidden here," Xie Jingchu's expression became solemn.
What kind of secret was it that made Chi Wei burn the whole village?
The means were too cruel!
Suddenly, Xie Jingchu covered Ruan Jiu's mouth with one hand and put his finger on his own lips with the other.
The stone door opened again.
When the four strong men came out, they were carrying a big box together.
Their knees were bent, and their steps were heavy. It was obvious that the box was filled with heavy objects.
Then they walked in the direction they had come from.
This made Ruan Jiu even more curious about what secret was hidden behind the stone door.
After the four strong men had walked far away and the surroundings became quiet again.
Xie Jingchu whispered, "Maybe that mysterious person wanted to lead us here."
After hearing this, Ruan Jiu looked at Xie Jingchu's injured arm and frowned tightly. "But you're injured now. For now, we'd better wait until we get back and then make a long - term plan."
Xie Jingchu nodded.
After all, he couldn't even protect himself now, let alone take Ruan Jiu to investigate the secret behind the stone door.
Suddenly, that strange sound rang out again.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The sound was indeed coming from inside the stone door.
But they couldn't tell what it was.
Suddenly, Qin Yuan let out a surprised cry.
"Fourth Master! I finally found you guys!"