Qi Manyan frowned. "What did you say? You don't care about others, but don't you care about her either?"
Lu Jinchen glanced down. Whether it was the reflection of the river or Gu Liyue had woken up, he seemed to see her moving.
He immediately squatted down. "Liyue, it's Lu Jinchen. Liyue, are you okay?"
Gu Liyue was parched. When she opened her eyes, a wave of dizziness hit her. Where was this? Her arm ached terribly, and her whole body was tugged at, unable to move. She faintly heard Lu Jinchen's voice, and it gradually grew louder. It was Lu Jinchen. She wasn't mistaken. His voice came from above.
She tried to lift her head, but the wind was too strong, making it hard for her to open her eyes. She subconsciously replied, "My lord... I'm here..."
Lu Jinchen was overjoyed and continued, "Liyue, hold on. I'll definitely save you up!"
Gu Liyue gradually came to her senses, and the voices around her became clearer.
She heard not only Lu Jinchen's voice but also Qi Manyan's. Qi Manyan was laughing, seemingly a smug laugh.
Right, Qi Manyan wanted to harm Lu Jinchen.
Gu Liyue tried to raise her head. "Lu Jinchen, I beg you. Live a good life and don't worry about me. Lu Jinchen, you should go and save your adoptive father!"
Qi Manyan laughed even louder. "What a touching confession. But do you know that if Lu Jinchen just agrees to a small request, you won't have to die. Yet, he still refuses."
Gu Liyue was momentarily stunned. She licked her lips. Her whole body ached terribly, and she could hardly think. But even so, she could sense the request Qi Manyan was talking about.
Although she wasn't far from Lu Jinchen, she couldn't see clearly. She could only shout, "Lu Jinchen, do you love me? Lu Jinchen, I want you to promise me that if I die, you can marry other women, but never Qi Manyan. Never..."
Qi Manyan was taken aback and flew into a rage. Pointing at Gu Liyue, she shouted, "Cut one of the ropes!"
The rope on Gu Liyue's left hand snapped, and only the right one was left tied. She let out a scream and slid to the right, hitting the cliff wall. The pain made tears well up in her eyes. The pain in her left hand eased, but the whole weight of her body was on the right rope, and her right hand was tugged even more painfully.
Lu Jinchen's heart tightened. He turned back and stared coldly at Qi Manyan, gritting his teeth and saying word by word, "Okay, Liyue, I promise you. If you die, I'll never marry anyone else, especially Qi Manyan. Moreover, if you die, I'll surely kill every member of the Qi family with my own hands and make them accompany you to the grave!"
Gu Liyue wanted to say that wasn't what she meant, but she couldn't say a word. She felt as if her whole body was about to be torn apart. Tears kept streaming out. She tried to reach for the rope with her left hand to relieve the pain in her right hand.
But just as she was about to touch it with a great effort, the rope shook violently. She couldn't help but let out a scream, and a huge pain hit her right hand. She didn't dare to move anymore, fearing that struggling further would dislocate her right hand. Then she would have even less chance of relief.
Hearing Lu Jinchen's words, Qi Manyan let out a roar. "Why! Lu Jinchen, why are you so heartless!"
Lu Jinchen had stood up, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly. "Come on. No matter how many of you there are, just come at me!"
Qi Manyan also sank her face. There were three or four secret guards around her, asking her how to deal with Lu Jinchen.
"Kill him. Kill him at all costs!"
Hearing this, Gu Liyue panicked and shouted, "Jinchen, run away quickly. Run away. There are so many people here. You can't handle them. Jinchen, don't worry about me..."
The secret guards moved fast, and so did Lu Jinchen. The people following him descended from the sky and blocked in front of him.
Qi Manyan was stunned for a moment and then sneered. "I knew you wouldn't come to die alone. Don't worry. Today will be your death day!"
A dark mass of people rushed over from all directions, hundreds of them. Lu Jinchen only brought more than forty elite guards. Even though they were extraordinary in combat, they were no match for these well - trained soldiers.
Qi Manyan retreated to the edge of the cliff and said coldly, "Lu Jinchen, I've said that I love you the most. How could I let you be alone on the road to the underworld? Now I'll take her life and let her go and wait for you first!"
Holding a knife in her hand, she walked step by step towards where Gu Liyue was.
Lu Jinchen got rid of the entangled soldiers. His sword was nowhere to be found. He didn't care about anything else and threw himself on Qi Manyan, pinning her to the ground and tightly choking her. "I won't let you succeed!"
Qi Manyan giggled. "Lu Jinchen, it's a pity you've made a wrong move. Don't worry. After you die, I'll cut off your right hand as a souvenir because when we were kids, you held my hand with your right hand and led me out of the cold palace. And your body, I'll throw it into the river to be with Gu Liyue."
The soldiers behind kept turning around. Lu Jinchen pressed down on Qi Manyan while fighting with the soldiers.
Qi Manyan was unhurried and shouted to the side, "What are you standing there for? Cut the rope of that woman."
Lu Jinchen's heart tightened. Without caring about anything else, he hugged Qi Manyan and jumped towards the edge of the cliff.
The maid screamed, "Save the young lady. Save the young lady quickly!"
Lu Jinchen grabbed Qi Manyan's hand, trying to throw her down. But in her panic, Qi Manyan didn't forget to tightly hug his arm.
Without thinking much, he fell off the cliff with Qi Manyan.
Gu Liyue couldn't hold back anymore. "No, Lu Jinchen, don't..."
But Lu Jinchen and Qi Manyan had already fallen off the cliff together.
At this critical moment, a man flew over, grabbed Lu Jinchen's hand with one hand, and with the other hand, he held a knife and hacked at the cliff wall. Because of the heavy weight, he slid down for a long time.
He tightly held the knife. His hand was shaken until it was bloody and blurred, and his shoes were all broken because his legs had been kicking hard against the cliff.
"Jinchen, don't be afraid. Father is here."
Lu Jinchen looked up and saw the Prince of Liang pulling him with all his might. His anger flared up, and he shouted, "Get out of the way. I don't need your help!"
He struggled hard, while the Prince of Liang desperately held onto him, only clenching his teeth and saying with difficulty, "Jinchen, no matter whose fault it was before, I'm your father, and I'll never leave you alone."
Lu Jinchen didn't care about him. He just lowered his head and kicked Qi Manyan hard, trying to make her let go.
But Qi Manyan hugged Lu Jinchen's arm tightly and cried, "Brother Jinchen, I'm so scared. I'm so scared. This cliff is so terrifying, and the river is so terrifying. Brother Jinchen, save me."
The river below was so turbulent. Lu Jinchen subconsciously looked up at Gu Liyue and saw that she was also quietly looking at him.
For no reason, Lu Jinchen felt a tenderness in his heart and seemed to be very calm. He smiled with his eyebrows unfolded, and she also smiled at him.
The Prince of Liang couldn't hold on anymore. The knife broke. He quickly dug his hands into the cliff wall. Unable to bear the weight, he slid down two feet. The blood on his hands kept dripping down. He gritted his teeth tightly and tried hard to support the weight of the three people.