Chapter 850 - 852 Perilous Encounter, Gazing from Afar_1
Lunch was a simple meal eaten during a break in the wild; it seemed they were accustomed to traveling this way. The Study Palace had no complaints, and the only person who usually liked to make noise was now lying quietly in the horse carriage, much more subdued.
Having taken two doses of medicine from Bai Ruozhu, Dang Youshen was feeling much better, but due to the severe vomiting earlier, his body was still somewhat weak. He gazed coldly at Bai Ruozhu, who was at a distance playing with a child. His hatred for her intensified; he didn’t believe it was Bai Ruozhu who saved him. On the contrary, he blamed her for not treating him, which led him to seek medication from a Hospital outside, resulting in taking the wrong medicine.
What he didn’t know was that although the medicine wasn’t exactly right for his condition, it wouldn’t have caused any serious problems—it was his consumption of alcohol that was the issue. Of course, it wasn’t the doctor’s fault for not warning him; the doctor did advise him, but he had stormed off too hastily to hear the doctor’s subsequent words.
Bai Ruozhu paid no attention to Dang Youshen. In her eyes, Dang Youshen could no longer stir up trouble. Whether he spoke ill of her or accused Bai Zepei of ascending to his position through connections, no one would believe him. They would even think of him as petty.
She had no time to worry about Dang Youshen, though her eyes occasionally drifted towards the back of the convoy, as Diao Yao and Chu Hai were following behind. When the convoy stopped to rest, they would also halt at a distance and take out some dried food to eat.
From afar, Diao Yao saw Bai Ruozhu and waved at her with a smile. Bai Ruozhu felt somewhat emotional—the girl seemed carefree and heartless. She had cried so sadly just a while ago that Bai had thought the young girl would hold a grudge, but in the blink of an eye, everything was fine again.
"Brother Han, Sister Ruozhu is looking at us. Why don’t we go talk to her? Maybe she can help you find a remedy by taking your pulse?" Diao Yao tugged at Chu Hai’s sleeve, suggesting excitedly.
Chu Hai shook his head, "Let’s not disturb her. We’ll talk after we reach Xuanlang City."
"Oh." Diao Yao’s tone became a bit sheepish when she saw Chu Hai wasn’t pleased, "It looks like they’re setting off. We should hurry too."
Chu Hai stood up, his gaze landing on a distant silhouette, his eyes deepening with thought, leaving one to wonder what was on his mind.
In the afternoon, the sun was quite intense, making it hard to keep one’s eyes open. Those in the horse carriages were still comfortable, but those riding on horseback were beginning to struggle. However, with Luoyan Slope approaching, no one dared to relax in the slightest.
Jiang Yichun carefully assessed the surroundings and signaled the dark guards with a look before making hand gestures to lead the convoy into Luoyan Slope.
With mountains on both sides and the path narrow, only one horse carriage could pass at a time, stretching the convoy out. As they had progressed about a third of the way in, sudden whistling sounds from above were followed by a thunderous rumble. Everyone looked up to see giant stones rolling down from both sides of the mountain. These stones were wrapped in something that had caught fire, and had it not been summer with greenery on the ground, the path they rolled over might have easily ignited as well.
"Everyone, be cautious and avoid them!" Jiang Yichun’s voice was deep and resonant as he bellowed the command.
The group was ready for hidden arrows, but not such gigantic objects. The convoy descended into chaos, especially since the raging flames spooked the horses. The soldiers’ horses were somewhat manageable, but the ones pulling carriages became agitated. Had the coachmen not been specially trained and were striving to maintain control, the horses might have panicked and bolted.
As the giant stones kept rolling down, everyone had to dodge and ended up split into two groups. A horse carriage couldn’t get out of the way in time and was smashed to pieces, but fortunately, the occupants were rescued beforehand by dark guards.
Bai Ruozhu lifted the carriage curtain and saw the still-burning giant stones that had landed; she discovered that she was now separated from Jiang Yichun by the giant stones!
Jiang Yichun also turned back to look at her, his eyes clearly conveying a message: Be careful and protect yourself!
At that moment, more giant stones fell from above. The trajectory of the previous stones was still clear; they were meant to cut the team in two, but now the stones being dropped were ablaze and haphazardly aimed to scatter and crush the people below.
"Jianqi, tell all the horse carriages to retreat quickly!" Bai Ruozhu urgently said. Pulling back this distance, at the least opening up this gap, they wouldn’t be smashed by the giant stones. The recently destroyed horse carriage still lay there, with two horses injured, already giving them enough of a fright.
Jianqi quickly shouted out, ordering the coachmen to retreat, but horse carriages are not as nimble as horseback riding, and couldn’t turn around immediately, especially in such a narrow space, making the maneuver much more difficult.
Suddenly, a loud cry came from outside the carriage, "Madam, be careful!"
He swooped in suddenly, scooping up Bai Ruozhu from the carriage, along with Dengdeng in her arms, flinging them outside, while Muyu quickly yanked Tu Ying out. As they dodged, a giant stone crashed into where Bai Ruozhu’s carriage had been a moment earlier, smashing it to pieces. If they had been any slower, even if they hadn’t been flattened, they would have been severely injured by the impact.
Jianqi blew a whistle, and all of Bai Ruozhu’s dark guards appeared, forming up protectively around her.
At that time, the sounds of a fierce battle suddenly erupted from the front. Bai Ruozhu focused her gaze and saw that quite a number of horsemen had attacked Jiang Yichun’s group, and a fight had broken out. Those attackers were dressed like mountain bandits but some practiced good Martial Arts, and from the mountain, hidden archers kept shooting arrows, making the situation extremely dangerous.
Bai Ruozhu’s eyes darkened, "The enemy plans to attack us from both front and rear, to break us up separately."
By then, the horse carriages at the back had already retreated, sparing them from being crushed by any more giant stones, but many soldiers around them were injured, and some were even on fire, frantically rolling on the ground, while other soldiers were trying to put out the flames.
The dark guards shielded Bai Ruozhu as they backed away further. Bai Ruozhu looked back worriedly at Jiang Yichun, separated by giant stones and raging fire, with enemies entwined in pursuit, making it impossible for him to break through.
Even though she knew retreating would take them even farther apart, Bai Ruozhu had no choice but to pull back; she didn’t know how many more dangers awaited them on the mountain.
"Bai Ruozhu, you must get on the carriage quickly!" Tu Bai jumped down from the carriage, and upon seeing Bai Ruozhu’s carriage destroyed, he yelled urgently.
Bai Ruozhu was not one to stand on ceremony; she was holding a child, and it would be safer inside the carriage.
Chen Feng picked her up in one motion and put her directly onto the carriage, inside were Zepei, Qin Kaichang, and Liu Jianzhou. Zepei appeared a bit pale, clearly shaken by the ordeal. Bai Ruozhu’s heart clenched, knowing that her brother was not spooked by the current situation, but by having seen her carriage getting smashed, he was feeling the aftereffects.
At this point, a group of black-clad men with covered faces appeared from the rear, and more hidden arrows shot down from the mountaintops. Fortunately, Bai Ruozhu had ordered the team to retreat in time; the arrows didn’t have enough range and therefore didn’t cause them any further trouble.
"They are all killers!" Jianqi exclaimed, already sensing the intense killing intent hurtling towards them.
Bai Ruozhu, looking out from the carriage window, saw the situation outside and snorted coldly, saying, "It seems they are determined to annihilate us entirely, but let’s see if they really have the capability to do so!"