A small round table was placed in the middle of the carriage, with tea and pastries on it. Xu Lu Cha slowly moved his body, the hands tied behind his back gradually approaching the round table. When his hands reached the delicate porcelain tea set, his slender fingers steadied a small teacup, then arranged the other cups to fill the gap. Then he slowly moved his body back to its original position. He forcefully smashed the porcelain cup against the hard wooden board, with a crisp “crack”, the cup shattered.

“What was that sound?!” A middle-aged man lifted the curtain and poked his head in.

Seeing Xu Lu Cha quietly sleeping in the corner, he frowned suspiciously, then looked at the tea set on the round table, seeing the cups all neatly arranged, he was confused for a moment. But he still didn’t dare to be careless, walking forward to search Xu Lu Cha’s body.

There were no sharp teacup fragments on his body, nor in his hands. The man looked around every corner of the carriage again, still not finding anything suspicious.

Xu Lu Cha frowned, opening his eyes to see the man searching his body, a flash of confusion passing through his beautiful eyes, then widening in fear: “What are you doing?” He struggled against the ropes, “Why am I tied up?”

The man released Xu Lu Cha, though his face was full of doubt, he still said calmly: “Third young master, the master specifically instructed to keep a close eye on you, this lowly one has no choice.”

Xu Lu Cha lowered his eyes, his expression sorrowful: “I’ve thought it through too, marriage is indeed decided by father, I was truly unfilial to be so defiant. I agree to marry that person, I won’t run away, can you untie me?”

The man naturally refused: “Third young master, please don’t make things difficult for me.” With that, he turned and lifted the curtain, walking out.

Xu Lu Cha’s sorrowful handsome face instantly turned cold, he quickly pulled out a small piece of shard hidden in the carriage gap, forcefully cutting the thick hemp rope. Soon his delicate fingers were cut bloody by the sharp fragment, the hemp rope stained with a lot of blood. Xu Lu Cha gritted his teeth, persevering until the rope was cut.

He struggled against the rope, which slipped off loosely, then he bent down, quickly untying the knots binding his feet.

He slightly lifted the carriage curtain, seeing several burly women riding tall horses following the carriage outside, wearing swords at their waists, while in front were a coachman and a middle-aged man.

Even if he could overpower the coachman and middle-aged man and steal the carriage to escape, he still couldn’t escape those women. Stealing the carriage to escape was not a wise choice.

He lifted the curtain again to carefully observe the surroundings. The road they were traveling now seemed to be a mountain path, somewhat narrow, with dense shrubs around. Not far to the right of the road was a steep slope, covered with rocks of various sizes, and below the slope seemed to be a cliff.

Xu Lu Cha quietly made up his mind, with lightning speed he pushed away the man sitting on the right in front, quickly jumping off the carriage. As the carriage was moving rapidly, Xu Lu Cha fell heavily to the ground. But he only paused for a moment before quickly getting up and running towards the bottom of the steep slope.

Furious voices came from behind: “Don’t let him escape! Catch him!”

They hurriedly reined in their horses, the horses letting out a long neigh. After the horses stopped, they quickly dismounted and chased in the direction Xu Lu Cha had fled.

Xu Lu Cha’s face was pale, his right foot in intense pain, while his arm was also cut by sharp rocks, blood flowing steadily. He panted heavily, using one hand to push aside the dense shrubs, limping forward.

After walking for a while, he changed his escape direction again, circling back. The most dangerous place is the safest place, he wanted to get back to the original spot before they caught up to him, to escape on horseback first.

However, the mountain was densely covered in shrubs, uninhabited, green covering the entire mountainside, making it impossible to distinguish directions. Even though he wanted to escape back to the original location, he still got lost.

He had shaken off those people, but he could no longer find the road to leave this place.

Even though the sun was fierce, Xu Lu Cha’s handsome face remained pale, sweat dripping down. He clutched his continuously bleeding arm, his vision blurring. His right foot was in excruciating pain, making it almost impossible to walk.

He slowly sat down, only to find a large spotted snake coiled up, its head raised high, staring intently at him.

Xu Lu Cha gasped, no longer caring about anything else, he quickly stood up and turned to flee. The snake suddenly leaped, its sharp fangs biting into his calf. Xu Lu Cha turned back, grabbing a stick and striking down at the snake’s vital spot.

…..

Was he going to die?

He was truly unwilling, he had schemed for over a decade, only to end up dying unknown in the deep mountains. The one happiest about his fate would be Chen Yue, he never imagined that after contending for so many years, he still couldn’t overcome him.

Xu Lu Cha’s lips were purple, even though he had squeezed out the venom, his pale calf was still numb. His vision was gradually blurring, everything going dark before his eyes.

Was he hallucinating? He actually saw Zhang Meng. That’s right, Zhang Meng had also died, she probably came to receive him.

Even as a ghost, she was still so foolish, why would she still approach someone like him? He certainly wouldn’t be grateful to her.

Someone like him would probably go to hell, so if she was going to approach him, she should be prepared to fall into hell with him. He definitely wouldn’t let her go.

That person walked quickly towards him, warm hands lightly patting his face. He could see her lips opening and closing, and that gentle, pleasant voice as always, but he didn’t want to hear what she was saying. He used all his strength to grab that person’s hand.

Since you’ve approached me, don’t think of escaping. Fall into hell with me.

Xu Lu Cha used all his strength to hug that person, pulling them to jump off the cliff.

…..

Clear springs burbled, birds chirped.

Zhang Meng knelt on a rock, treating the wound on the unconscious Xu Lu Cha’s arm.

She had originally come up the mountain to check on Chen Qing’s wooden cabin and do some cleaning. But when she finished and was preparing to return to the government office, she happened to see a flash of red clothing through the dense undergrowth.

She went to take a look and found the badly injured Xu Lu Cha, which startled her. At that time, Xu Lu Cha seemed to be in a daze, his handsome face turning a purplish-black color.

Zhang Meng immediately realized he had been poisoned. She approached him, intending to take him back to the bamboo house for treatment, but unexpectedly Xu Lu Cha hugged her tightly and pulled her to jump off the cliff with him.

Fortunately, there were trees to break their fall, cushioning the impact of the descent. Otherwise, both of them would have lost their lives.

Zhang Meng put Xu Lu Cha’s arm over her shoulder, supporting him as they walked down to the foot of the mountain. Without delay, she quickly sucked out the poison from Xu Lu Cha’s calf, then went to find herbs, crushed them and applied them to his wound.

The wound on her back hadn’t healed yet, and after such exertion, it had reopened, blood flowing continuously. Her head was spinning, but she still endured the discomfort and tended to Xu Lu Cha’s wounds.

She had lived in the mountains for ten years and was very familiar with wilderness survival skills. So even though she was seriously injured, she was still able to keep another seriously injured person alive and well.

She used large leaves to scoop some spring water to drink and replenish fluids. On the rock were also some wild fruits she had picked while gathering herbs earlier. She hurriedly ate a few fruits, feeling a bit better, then went to collect some easily combustible dry firewood.

Now she had expended too much energy and couldn’t possibly carry the unconscious Xu Lu Cha out. She could only plan to rest at the foot of the mountain for the night, regain strength, and find a way out tomorrow.

…..

Xu Lu Cha woke up in the evening. Zhang Meng was sitting by the fire, drowsy, but whenever her head nodded down, she would immediately wake up and continue to poke the fire with a finger-thick stick, making it burn brighter, occasionally adding more firewood.

Seeing Xu Lu Cha’s beautiful eyes staring at her, Zhang Meng smiled: “Young Master Xu, you’re awake?”

She took a few red fruits from the rock and handed them to him: “If you’re hungry, eat some fruit to fill your stomach. I’ll take you out tomorrow.”

Xu Lu Cha didn’t take the fruit, his beautiful eyes fixed on her, waves of emotion rolling in his eyes, gradually calming after a long while. He lowered his head and said softly: “You didn’t die.”

Zhang Meng felt quite awkward being stared at so intently by Xu Lu Cha, but hearing his words, she smiled slightly: “Of course I didn’t die. I’m tough, you know.”

Xu Lu Cha kept his head down, his black hair hiding his face. Zhang Meng couldn’t see his expression or guess what he was thinking.

But Zhang Meng still put the fruit in his hand: “Eat something, replenish your strength.”

After giving the fruit to Xu Lu Cha, she picked up a large leaf beside her and stood up, walking towards the stream.

Xu Lu Cha held the fruit, looking up at her for a moment. He noticed her light-colored clothes on her back were soaked with a large patch of dark red bloodstains. His expression changed, and the scene of her taking a knife for him that day replayed in his mind.

Zhang Meng returned with water and saw Xu Lu Cha looking at her with an unreadable expression, not eating the fruit. She asked: “Young Master Xu, don’t you like this fruit? There are others over there, I can get them for you. If you’re thirsty, there’s water here.”

In the firelight, Zhang Meng’s face was soft and beautiful. Her black hair was casually tied up, with loose strands falling down, giving her a touch of languidness.

For some reason, Xu Lu Cha’s heart skipped a beat.

☆、