"The bandits on Huanglan Mountain actually thought highly of us. Usually, after falling from such a height into a river with such turbulent currents, they should have assumed we were dead, right?"
The mountains were difficult to traverse. The two picked up branches to use as walking sticks. With every step, they had to push aside the waist-high wild grass in front of them.
"Perhaps they believe that 'calamity lingers for a thousand years'?"
"Xu Hengyan, who are you calling calamity?"
"...Me, I'm the calamity."
It was also possible that they hated them so much that they wouldn't be satisfied until they were absolutely sure they were dead.
"Watch out!"
Suddenly, Xu Hengyan pulled Xie Jiang behind him and swung the branch he held fiercely towards her side.
A snake slithered down from a tree, only to be flicked away by Xu Hengyan.
This was the eighth snake they had encountered on their journey that day.
The two were too tired to even glance at it again, continuing their slow progress, chatting as they walked downstream.
Walking downstream was relatively less risky.
The bandits on Huanglan Mountain searched for them starting from the upstream of the river.
Later, they encountered two more groups of searching bandits, but they didn't meet them head-on. Xie Jiang and Xu Hengyan managed to avoid them from a distance.
However, good fortune wouldn't last forever. The mountains were full of dangers far greater than bandits. After eating their fill in the afternoon, they hadn't walked far before they ran into a foraging tiger.
Escaping the tiger's jaws by the skin of their teeth, the two, already injured, sustained several new wounds each.
Xie Jiang could no longer run. She lay sprawled on the ground, panting, her face pale.
Xu Hengyan was no better. The wound that had started to heal had split open during the struggle, and blood gradually soaked through his clothes.
"Are you alright?" Xu Hengyan knelt beside her, raising his hand to wipe away the blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. He looked at her bloodless face with great concern.
Xie Jiang chuckled, "Good people live to be a hundred. My lifespan is still long."
Perhaps it was because smiling had pulled at her wound, but Xie Jiang grimaced in pain.
"Does it hurt badly? Where does it hurt?"
Xu Hengyan seemed at a loss. He examined her from head to toe, unable to discern the extent of her injuries.
Xie Jiang couldn't quite pinpoint it either. It felt like everywhere hurt. "If it weren't for my old injuries, even if two more tigers like that came, and the whole family of three showed up, I could have taken them down one by one with a single sword."
"What are you boasting about at a time like this? Are you expecting me to praise you?"
Seeing her try to lighten the mood with jokes to stop him from worrying, Xu Hengyan's lips pressed together tightly.
"Am I boasting? Didn't I stab that tiger to death just now? If it weren't for this internal injury that never seems to heal, I could still..."
"What else could you do? You still know you have a chronic illness? Knowing you have a chronic illness, how dare you be so presumptuous..."
Upon hearing this, Xie Jiang was utterly dejected. She covered her forehead and exclaimed, "Oh, Xu Hengyan, why are you nagging again? Your 'noble and aloof' persona is completely shattered, do you know that? When did you become disciples with Tang Monk?"
"If I don't nag, will you actually take it to heart?" Given her usual stubbornness, she would definitely dare to provoke the bandits of Huanglan Mountain with only a few people next time!
"I know, I know, I really know this time!"
When men start nagging, what need is there for gossiping aunts?
Seeing Xu Hengyan's stern face, unsure of what he was brewing, Xie Jiang got up and pounced on him, knocking him onto the grass. She pinned him down with her hands and feet.
"Rest for a while. We still have to travel later."
A wolf-like paw covered his mouth.
Xu Hengyan: "..."
She wouldn't even let him speak!
~
Finding food in the deep mountains was not difficult. They casually hunted two pheasants for lunch, and for dinner, they were luckier and caught a wild goat.
However, they couldn't find a place to shelter, so tonight was destined to be a bit difficult.
Finally, they found a dry and sheltered spot, spread a thick layer of wild grass, and made do for the night.
To avoid being devoured by wild beasts in their sleep, Xie Jiang gathered a lot of firewood and built two tall bonfires. In the middle of the night, amidst the howling of wolves, she got up twice to add more wood.
When she woke up the next morning, one of the bonfires was still flickering. Xie Jiang went over to add some wood, then let out two earth-shattering sneezes, feeling a bit dizzy.
Xu Hengyan frowned and asked, "Did you catch a cold?"
Xie Jiang inwardly cursed. Xu Hengyan was already so badly injured; if she also lost her combat effectiveness, could they still get out of the mountains?
Xu Hengyan worriedly touched her forehead, but his palm was hot, and he couldn't tell if she had a fever.
Xie Jiang washed her face by the river and felt much better. Although she was still a bit dizzy, at least the world wasn't spinning. As she stood up, she casually touched Xu Hengyan's forehead.
"Is it hotter than yesterday?"
"It hasn't worsened."
Yesterday, while they were moving, they had also gathered medicinal herbs. Although their efficacy might have been far inferior to the medicine she carried, they weren't useless. He felt alright himself.
Xie Jiang brought over the wild vegetables she had picked while gathering herbs yesterday and asked Xu Hengyan to wash them and boil them in the bamboo tubes.
Every meal was either roasted fish or roasted meat, and without salt, even though she had tried her best to season it, she was tired of it.
Each person had a tube of vegetable soup. They ate to their heart's content, even if the taste was a bit strange.
Xie Jiang mashed the herbs on a stone, changed Xu Hengyan's dressing, and re-bandaged him. Her hem was already torn to shreds. Xu Hengyan was only left with his inner and outer garments, so there was no place to tear more, and they had to make do with the original ones.
Looking at the blood-stained cloth strips in her hand, Xie Jiang sighed as she bandaged him, "I hope there won't be any infection."
After treating Xu Hengyan's wounds, Xie Jiang removed the cloth strips from her own hand, preparing to apply some medicine to herself.
"I'll do it."
Xu Hengyan grabbed her hand and gently spread the mashed herbs onto the wound on her hand, being extremely careful and gentle for fear of hurting her.
The quiet morning light pierced through the mist in the mountain forest, casting a golden glow on his thick long eyelashes, his clear eyes so tender that one could get lost in them.
After tidying up their meager belongings, Xu Hengyan left a mark as usual, and the two continued their journey downstream.
Xu Hengyan silently calculated that even if Guang Bai and the others were incompetent, they should have found them by today.
But they couldn't rely entirely on their subordinates.
They had to find a way to save themselves first.
~
The sun was setting, and another day was about to end.
They still hadn't found a suitable cave today.
However, by the river, there was a dry, natural stone platform that could serve as a makeshift shelter.
The two washed their faces by the river. Just as they were about to go hunting and gather firewood, they turned around and realized something was wrong.
Dozens of wolves were silently approaching their direction.
Xu Hengyan instinctively stepped forward, shielding Xie Jiang behind him.
Xie Jiang drew her dagger and counted their numbers. "...I feel like we're doomed."
If they hadn't been injured, they might have been able to fight, but in their current state...
Xie Jiang glanced back. The river surface shimmered. This section of the river was calm, but wolves could swim too!
Xu Hengyan made a decisive move, pulling Xie Jiang up into a tree.
As soon as they climbed the tree and steadied themselves, a volley of arrows pierced the air. In an instant, the wolf pack was annihilated.
"Jiang Jiang! Jiang Jiang—"
Da Chui was the first to rush out from the woods.