Chapter 727 - 729: Hiding in the Reed Beds
"Okay, behave and follow me," Before Bai Ruozhu could react, Zhou Jue touched her pressure points, paralyzing her ability to speak and move!
She could only glower at Zhou Jue; she was immobile, if he failed to retain a hold on her, wouldn’t she drown in the river?
Zhou Jue understood her inference, his laugh sinister, "You are too capable. If I’m not cautious with you, I’ll be the one getting frightened."
Even while speaking, he swam in the river, clutching Bai Ruozhu - who realised only now that Zhou Jue was remarkably skilled in the water. Perhaps it was due to his long limbs that he could swim so fast even while dragging her along.
She had forgotten, the people of the Chengshui Country were blessed with a gift for swimming because of the abundant water bodies around, even the children were adept swimmers.
Then, a large cluster of reeds appeared in front of her. Zhou Jue removed the lock from her body and led her into the reeds. Bai Ruozhu’s heart chilled. Like this, Jiang Yichun would never be able to find her, and she wouldn’t be able to send any signal for rescue.
She tried to communicate with Furball, but after it bit her last time, seemingly sucking the Soul-Captivating Powder poison from her body, it had fallen into a deep sleep. She didn’t know whether it was digesting or recovering from discomfort caused by the poison.
Bai Ruozhu had Zhou Jue’s arm wrapped around her waist. The two of them - their clothes soaked through and being light for spring - their flesh nearly pushing against one another. She felt her whole body stiffen, but in truth, that was due to her inability to move, not even a single finger.
She glared at Zhou Jue repeatedly, but he remained silent throughout. She didn’t have the energy to glare anymore, her head wasn’t able to turn, her eyes hurt from the constant squinting.
Soon, the sound of water came from nearby, followed by Jianqi’s voice, "There’s something suspicious here, let’s split up and search. Send a signal if anything happens."
"Your subordinates move pretty fast huh," Zhou Jue whispered. His words blurred, Bai Ruozhu instantly realised he was speaking in a coded manner that only she could understand.
Not long after, Jiang Yichun arrived, telling Jianqi, "It must be Chengshui’s people. They excel in swimming. We must search thoroughly."
When Bai Ruozhu heard Jiang Yichun’s voice, she felt a tug in her heart. Although it was distant and somewhat blurred, she could still hear the worry and tension in his voice. What if she was carried away to Chengshui country? What about Jiang Yichun and Dengdeng? How would they fare? She didn’t know how much the child had been startled earlier, she wondered if it was safe on the boat at this moment.
But all she could do was worry, she couldn’t make any changes to the situation.
About a moment later, she heard the noise of the water close by, it kept getting nearer. Hope sparked in her eyes. Someone was about to discover her!
Out of nowhere, Zhou Jue descended - plunging silently into the water with Bai Ruozhu. Sensing the danger, she inhaled sharply before submerging, preventing herself from dying due to a lack of oxygen.
A dark guard swam past them, not far away. He did not stop or suspect anything.
Bai Ruozhu was so anxious she almost cried out; with her loss of breath, her face immediately turned red.
Zhou Jue suddenly closed in on her, his handsome face right in front of hers. She recoiled in apprehension. She had seen in movies that when a woman is trapped underwater without oxygen, a man would provide her with air through a kiss. Was Zhou Jue going to kiss her?
She felt even more frantic. The thought was repulsive. It wasn’t because Zhou Jue didn’t look good, but because the idea was intolerable.
Zhou Jue, with a naughty grin on his face, pried open her tight-lipped mouth, inserting a thin reed into it. The other end of the reed protruded from the water surface, allowing Bai Ruozhu to breathe through it - gaining an access to air.
She heaved a sigh of relief. Luckily, he used a reed and not any other tactic.
Zhou Jue then took a reed for himself, indicating he was planning to stay underwater longer.
Unable to move, she just stayed in the water, breathing through the reed. She did not know how long it had been, but noticed the light dimming. The sun was setting.
Even though she wasn’t swimming, she felt extremely fatigued. A few times, she almost fell asleep but was fearful that the reed in her mouth would drop, so she forced herself awake.
Jiang Yichun and his people had searched several times without any results and had thus dispersed to search elsewhere.
"Could that broken rope be a ruse to mislead us?" Jiang Yichun muttered under his breath, his heart was aflame with worry.
He could only dispatch people to seek elsewhere and he himself returned to the boat to check on Dengdeng. The pitiful Dengdeng had spent the whole afternoon without his parents, his eyes swelling from crying. He was fed some millet porridge by Lamei and only then did he fall into a stupor.
Seeing his son’s eyes swollen like cherries, Jiang Yichun was wracked with guilt. He shouldn’t have chosen the water route; he knew the Chengshui people excelled in water, effectively one Chengshui equal to two others in the water. He had been overly careless.
Again, he ordered his subordinates to safeguard the child before setting off on a small boat to continue the search. He even disregarded his subordinate’s suggestion to change out of his wet clothes.
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t stay conscious any longer and succumbed to sleep. When she woke up, it was pitch-black. She did not know how late it was, only that she was still unable to move her body and felt as if her legs were getting eroded by the water.
Also, she had left the large cluster of reeds and was still on the river, but she had no clue where she was. Zhou Jue, carrying her, kept swimming. She looked at him with disbelief, "Doesn’t he get tired? Doesn’t he need to sleep?"
Zhou Jue, aware of her awakening, flashed his captivating smile at her, whispering, "Even if I were to fall asleep in the water, I wouldn’t drown."
Only then did Bai Ruozhu notice a rope tied around her waist, which was connected to Zhou Jue’s waist.
After they had swum for a while, they reached the shore. A lightless, quiet small village lay ahead. No one was around.
Zhou Jue untied the rope around her, and utilizing his light footwork, promptly fled with her. They entered the yard through various twists and turns.
"Master, thankfully you’re back. We were scared to death," In the yard, a dozen guards stood. One of them, looking towards Zhou Jue, addressed him with a somewhat grumbling tone. The gaze was somewhat special. Bai Ruozhu felt a shiver go through her. Though she was a fujoshi who enjoyed handsome men tangled, she lacked an aptitude for a person who regards both men and women romantically. She felt it was unclean, Zhou Jue always gave off a disgusting feel to her.
Zhou Jue’s expression became somber, "I’m fine. You all should be waiting at the next location to avoid the risk of exposure due to excess personnel."
"Understood." After all the guards saluted him, they suddenly disappeared without a trace.
Bai Ruozhu then understood Zhou Jue’s wariness in carrying her alone. He didn’t want too many people around lest there may be a risk of exposure.
"Have a good sleep. Don’t play any tricks, or I’ll kill you on the spot!" Zhou Jue threw her on the bed, his face filled with ruthlessness.