A glint of killing intent flashed through the forest.
Ning Yuwang suddenly stood up. The little spell she had just cast on Yan Zhao had been broken.
Worried that Yan Zhao might get hurt, she immediately mounted her horse and was about to ride into the forest.
Unexpectedly, An Xingzhi blocked her way. "Where are you going, Princess Consort?"
It wasn't that she had pre - arranged with someone to stall for time. It was just that Ning Yuwang's obvious nervousness on her face made An Xingzhi feel rebellious instead.
"The hunting activity isn't over yet. If you enter the forest now, Princess Consort, are you trying to help the Crown Prince cheat?"
Ning Yuwang stared at her with her black eyes, as cold as ice. "Get out of the way."
When she was in a good mood, she still left a bit of face in her words. But now, perhaps due to the urgent situation, she showed no mercy and even slapped An Xingzhi in the face with her words.
An Xingzhi was finally intimidated by the ferocity in Ning Yuwang's eyes. She bit her lip and stepped back halfway. "If you want me to let you through, Princess Consort, you should at least tell me the reason for entering the forest."
Could it be that Ning Yuwang really wanted to help Yan Zhao cheat?
"Do you think you're in a position to interfere in my affairs?" Ning Yuwang shouted coldly. She whipped the ground beside An Xingzhi's cheek, raising a cloud of dust. "If you don't get out of the way, the next whip will land on your face!"
Her cold and fierce eyes and blood - thirsty aura were exactly the same as Yan Zhao's when he got angry.
An Xingzhi was finally afraid and reluctantly stepped aside. Only after Ning Yuwang's back was turned did she let out a huff like a sore loser.
In the forest, there were indeed some significant disturbances.
Gu Xiao was hunting with determination. There was a long string of prey hanging on his horse, roughly twenty or thirty of them.
Thinking he was currently in the lead, he showed off with his dark face and bared his white teeth in a smug way.
He had good hearing as he practiced martial arts all year round.
Suddenly, he heard some noises not far away, which obviously meant there were more than one prey hiding there.
The horse neighed softly and snorted, as if it understood its master's mind and made very little movement.
"Giddy - up!"
Gu Xiao pulled the horse's reins and slowly galloped towards the source of the sound.
"Chirp, chirp, chirp..."
Sure enough, there were flocks of pheasants in front.
Gu Xiao was overjoyed. Judging from the noises, there seemed to be twenty or thirty of them. He was sure to be the first!
The horse rushed forward. Gu Xiao's eyes were only fixed on the front and he didn't notice a transparent long thread silently blocking the ground.
"Neigh!"
The front legs of the chestnut - colored horse were suddenly tripped and it knelt down on the ground with a thud.
If you looked closely, there was blood oozing from the horse's legs. It showed how sharp the transparent long thread was!
Gu Xiao only had time to leap towards a nearby tree branch.
Unexpectedly, the branch suddenly broke. He slipped and fell.
Coincidentally, the direction he slipped was towards the end of the forest, the edge of a cliff.
In this critical moment, Gu Xiao only had time to grab a protruding rock on the edge of the cliff.
Suddenly, an arrow was shot from the forest, aiming straight at the rock under Gu Xiao's hand.
If Gu Xiao didn't let go, he would surely get hurt. If he let go, he would surely fall.
His eyes quickly scanned the sparkling lake below, and his annoyance grew.
With the inexplicably injured horse and the deliberately shot arrow, how could he not know that someone had set him up?
Gu Xiao let out a sneer. The person behind this really knew him well.
They knew that he was not good at swimming, so they lured him to the cliff and forced him to jump into the water.
It wasn't hard to guess the identity of the person behind this.
He had only been back in the capital for a day or two. Who could he have offended?
It must be those stupid people in the capital who had asked him to give up the prize for the first place!
At this moment, Gu Xiao didn't suspect Ning Yuwang, whom he disliked.
Not for any other reason, but he believed in his heart that Ning Yuwang wouldn't do such a thing.
If she could win Yan Zhao's favor, her character must be good.
Gu Xiao didn't like her just because of the relationship between Ning Yuwang and An Xingzhi.
Ning Yuwang was the dominant one, while An Xingzhi was too weak.
People always felt more pity for the weak. Gu Xiao was no exception.
Before he could think further, the flying arrow was already in front of him.
Gu Xiao switched to holding the rock with his left hand and grabbed the flying arrow with his right hand.
Due to the high speed, his body hit the cliff hard, and his exposed arm was scratched and bleeding.
"Damn it!" Gu Xiao exclaimed softly and tried to find the strength to climb up.
But the person in the forest had predicted his movement. The next moment, more arrows were shot at Gu Xiao, determined to force him to choose between getting hurt and falling into the water.
"Don't let me catch you!" Gu Xiao shouted and let go of the rock. He fell into the water.
He looked up at the edge of the cliff, feeling a bit sad.
If he had known he would encounter such a great disaster today, he should have learned how to swim from Yan Zhao.
Then he wouldn't have been in this situation.
His pupils dilated, and he even had a draft of his last words in his mind.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the chance to say them.
Soon, another figure appeared on the edge of the cliff and then jumped down resolutely.
"Cousin?" Gu Xiao shouted in his heart and fell into the water.
The last image in his pupils was Yan Zhao jumping off the cliff in a hurry.
Family! His dear cousin!
He didn't expect that it was Yan Zhao who came to save him in this critical moment.
Yan Zhao didn't have as many thoughts as Gu Xiao. As soon as he entered the water, he felt the bone - chilling cold.
His body was originally weak, and although he had recovered a bit recently.
But the icy water was still hard to bear.
He squinted his eyes and pursed his lips, then swam towards Gu Xiao who was drowning.
He grabbed Gu Xiao's clothes tightly and pulled him towards the shore.
But the nearest shore to them was at the bottom of the cliff, and there was no place to land.
To reach the shore, they had to swim to the southernmost point, which would take about half an hour.
Even if Yan Zhao was in good health, it would be difficult.
Moreover, his body couldn't bear it, and he was dragging a useless person.
It was really a difficult task!
"Cough, cough. Thanks for your hard work, cousin." Gu Xiao managed to speak while his mouth and nose were above the water.
He waved his hands around, trying to relieve Yan Zhao's pressure.
But the movements of a non - swimmer were not standard.
It actually increased Yan Zhao's pressure invisibly.
Yan Zhao's face turned blue, but he didn't have the strength to reply to Gu Xiao.
If he opened his mouth, he might choke on the water.
He was just annoyed in his heart: If they could get out of this danger, he must make Gu Xiao learn how to swim.
After all, he was dragging a big and strong man. Soon, Yan Zhao ran out of strength.
But his fingers still tightly grabbed Gu Xiao's collar.
The two of them slowly sank together.
The last thought in Gu Xiao's mind before he closed his eyes was a mixture of gratitude and regret.
If he hadn't been so determined to be the first, he wouldn't have been in this dangerous situation.
Nor would he have dragged the originally sickly Yan Zhao into this.
If he wasn't in the cold water, he would surely shed two lines of hot tears.
At the bottom of the water, at the moment when Yan Zhao and Gu Xiao closed their eyes.
A transparent air bubble unexpectedly appeared around their bodies, blocking the water from entering their mouths and noses.
It was the little spell Ning Yuwang had cast on Yan Zhao before he left.
But suddenly, a black shadow swam silently in the water, as flexible and fast as a fish.
It had only a big mouth with densely - packed sharp teeth all over its body. It was cold and terrifying, and it bit through the air bubble fiercely.
The blocked water soon rushed into Yan Zhao and Gu Xiao's mouths and noses again.
The two unconscious men's faces turned blue obviously, and they were about to suffocate.