Reborn as the Crippled King's Beloved
Chapter 322 Ah Jiu, Move Forward, Don’t Look Back

Chapter 322: Chapter 322 Ah Jiu, Move Forward, Don’t Look Back

Murong Jiu wasn’t being sentimental.

With life and death at stake, she had no time to think about propriety between men and women, especially considering Senior Brother Cheng had always taken care of her like an elder brother in his early years.

Senior Brother Cheng seemed frail, but that was because he was undernourished from birth and struggled to gain weight no matter what he ate. However, he wasn’t as weak as he appeared in front of Mo Yu; once outside, he toppled Li Tiezhu, who tried to stop them, and quickly carried her into the mountains behind.

Senior Brother Cheng frequently went to the mountains to gather herbs and was familiar with the area, leading her deep into the mountainous region.

Murong Jiu’s condition wasn’t good; she passed out several times on his back.

During this time, Senior Brother Cheng found some wild fruits to replenish her sugars and fluids.

She had eaten Broken Intestine Grass and shouldn’t eat anything hard to digest, as her stomach couldn’t handle it.

When she was awake, Senior Brother Cheng spoke a lot to her. It turned out her guess was right; Senior Brother Cheng indeed had received a letter from their master, but it had taken a long time to reach him. He had trained the pigeons to fly several trips, finally making contact with their master. However, by the time he received another letter from the master, he learned about Ah Jiu’s disappearance.

"Your husband is very intelligent; he guessed that the Fourth Prince’s route would come this way to the Western Regions and asked me to watch for any unusual activities. So when that woman in black found me at midnight, my first premonition was that you were in her hands,"

Senior Brother Cheng also praised her intelligence, saying that if she hadn’t decisively eaten the Broken Intestine Grass, Mo Yu definitely wouldn’t have left her in the village to seek a court physician.

When Murong Jiu learned that the Prince was probably fine, she breathed a long sigh of relief and a smile appeared on her face, "It’s also thanks to Senior Brother cooperating with me, otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to access the two pieces of Thin Line Heaven antidote."

Speaking of this, Senior Brother Cheng’s expression became somber.

"Ah Jiu, you still lack the final piece of the antidote. It’s a pity I couldn’t subdue Mo Yu; otherwise, we might have been able to find the last antidote."

He was still too cautious, afraid that Ah Jiu wouldn’t get the antidote. He didn’t dare to strike Mo Yu too hard, also fearing that Mo Yu had hidden the antidote somewhere they couldn’t find it. Surely, they could kill Mo Yu, but what about Ah Jiu’s Thin Line Heaven poison?

Murong Jiu shook her head, "The last antidote wouldn’t be with her. Based on the final poison activation time, Mo Yu must have already taken me into the territory of the Western Regions. With the Fourth Prince’s caution, how could he put all his eggs in one basket?"

Mo Yu travelled too fast; even the soldiers relaying battle reports on horseback might not catch up with her.

If she hadn’t eaten the Broken Intestine Grass halfway, continuing at such a pace, Mo Yu could have taken her into the territory of the Western Regions in at most three days.

Senior Brother Cheng frowned deeply, no longer speaking, and continued carrying her deeper into the mountains.

He felt so useless, not knowing how to cure the Thin Line Heaven poison, and thought it perhaps better to say nothing and let Ah Jiu rest well.

Ah Jiu had been on the run with Mo Yu for many days, and when the ropes on her arms and legs were untied, her flesh had embedded in them; fortunately, the weather was not hot, or else her wounds could have rotted and gotten maggots.

She had vomited so much blood; what she needed most now was rest and recuperation.

Senior Brother Cheng didn’t know if he could escape the pursuit. There were no outsiders in the town yesterday; perhaps Mo Yu couldn’t find reinforcements, but no one knew what could happen overnight, and perhaps reinforcements had already arrived.

He had used a type of bewitching fragrance from the Western Regions on Mo Yu, which smelled of fresh herbal medicine and could make one lose all their Inner Strength, but it only lasted for a short duration, at most two Shichen Chinese hours, before the effects would wear off.

He could only hope that Mo Yu didn’t find reinforcements, allowing them an additional two Shichen Chinese hours to escape. Additionally, since Mo Yu was injured in one eye, her ability was also greatly reduced.

By now, it was already broad daylight.

Murong Jiu, having rested about two Shichen Chinese hours on Senior Brother Cheng’s back, felt revitalized both mentally and physically, and asked Senior Brother Cheng to let her down so she could walk on her own.

"Senior Brother, please let me down. Don’t wait until you’re too exhausted to keep up, or by then, we’ll both become sitting ducks."

She joked as she spoke.

Senior Brother Cheng laughed and set her down, finding her a piece of branch to use as a crutch, making it easier to walk.

The two of them ate some wild fruits and continued on their way.

The mountains stretched on endlessly, bristling with thorns, and only as they walked did they realize the difficulty of the terrain. However, Senior Brother Cheng was experienced, having woven long boots out of grass vines and tied them tightly around his legs. He wrapped his robe around his waist in a knot, protecting his clothes and legs from the thorns as they walked.

He did the same for Murong Jiu, and together they hastened along.

They walked until evening that same day.

The two of them had already entered the remote depths of the mountains where no human traces were to be found, hearing wild beasts howling as the temperature plummeted, depleting their strength, making it unsuitable to continue traveling.

"There’s a cave ahead. I’ll go check if we can rest our feet there."

Senior Brother Cheng checked it out. The cave was quite deep and relatively dry, with no wild animals inside, so it was decent enough for a rest, certainly better than sleeping in the open wild.

Murong Jiu didn’t care about cleanliness and simply lay down on the ground.

Her body was too frail now, Mo Yu had tormented her to the point that she hardly ate anything recently, and she still couldn’t eat much.

Senior Brother Cheng knew how to make traps and hunt, but he did not set out to do so. Obviously, it was impossible to make a fire when being pursued.

He took off his outer robe and placed it under Murong Jiu. "The moisture at night is heavy, you sleep, and I’ll keep watch."

"Let’s take turns keeping watch, Senior Brother. You rest too. I feel bad for causing you trouble."

"Don’t say that. I don’t like hearing it. I still remember when I was nearly beaten to death by some beggars, and it was you and Master who came to save me. You were so young yet you were incredibly composed, helping me change bandages and administer medicine, and even pleading with Master to teach me medicine so I could ultimately make a living. If it weren’t for you and Master, I might have died on that snowy night."

He knew himself that his talent in medicine wasn’t high, it was all due to compensating with diligence, memorization, and relying on the encouragement and help you offered initially.

He had gained some renown now, having saved many lives, but he had never forgotten his roots, always remembering the new life that Master and Ah Jiu had given him.

Thus, no matter the risk, he had to save Ah Jiu, even if it meant sacrificing his life, it was worth it.

Murong Jiu was reminded of the past when Master took her around, encountering all sorts of people, which was truly interesting.

She didn’t want to think about troubling matters. In this situation, they could only take one step at a time.

Unconsciously, she fell asleep.

Suddenly, Senior Brother Cheng woke her up, "Ah Jiu, quickly hide inside the cave. I’ll cover you with dry grass. Don’t make any noise, wait until I draw them away, and then run in the southeast direction. Prince Ling and Master must be on their way back by now, Ah Jiu, move forward, don’t look back, understand?"

Murong Jiu instantly became alert.

Senior Brother Cheng had collected a lot of dry grass and pulled her to the depths of the cave, using the dry grass to block her hideout.

"Senior Brother, have the pursuers arrived? No, you alone..."

"Ah Jiu, there’s no time, don’t be afraid, I will find a way to lead everyone away. Not far ahead, there is a valley with a tiger in it. I will lead them into it to confront the tiger. Don’t worry, I won’t get hurt."

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