Chapter 132 - Ninghua, I Love…

Shen Ninghua observed the surroundings and frowned slightly. There was a forest ahead and a river on the left. If there was a danger and they needed to escape, there wasn’t even a way out. However, entering the forest would be even more dangerous, so they could only make do by staying here for the night and hope that nothing would happen.

Thinking about it, she walked to Baili Anning and said, “Your Highness, please make arrangement for people to rest first. I’m afraid that we will be spending the night here today.”

“Here?” Baili Anning tightened her grip on Shen Ninghua’s hand and said nervously, “This is a mountain forest. What should we do if any beasts rush out?”

Shen Ninghua looked around at the exhausted guards and sighed slightly. “Let the guards take turns to keep watch at night. I think His Majesty won’t send someone to save us until tomorrow. Moreover, there are wild mountain forests all around. If we walk in the forests in such a panic, we don’t know what we’ll encounter.”

“Yes, that’s the only way.” Baili Anning gritted her teeth and forced herself to restrain her expression. She instructed the young ladies around her to find a nearby place to rest.

These young ladies were used to being carried in luxurious sedans when they traveled and had never suffered such hardship. They all complained when they heard the conversation between Shen Ninghua and Baili Anning.

Suddenly, a loud wolf howl pierced through the sky.

Several young ladies who were complaining looked like they were strangled by the throat. They instantly swallowed the words that had reached their mouths and huddled in a trembling manner.

“What’s that noise? Are wolves coming?”

“Will we be eaten? I don’t want to…”

Chu Junyi, Baili Jinchuan, and several others were all injured, and the smell of blood was very likely to attract wild beasts, so they needed to help them clean up as soon as possible.

Shen Ninghua walked to the imperial doctor and asked softly, “How are the Second Prince and Master Chu now?”

“Your Highness, they are seriously injured. They need a quiet place to recover. Otherwise, they are very likely to have some after-effects. But now…” The imperial doctor shook his head. “I hope they won’t have a fever in the second half of the night.”

Qing Que and Bai Ruo found some hay, laid it on the ground against the leeward side of a stone, and pressed it down with their hands. “Miss, come over here and rest.”

Shen Ninghua nodded. “You guys should also go to rest. Don’t get hurt.”

“Yes, Miss. Don’t worry.”

Shen Ninghua leaned against the stone and closed her eyes drowsily. There were bugs humming in the surroundings, and many people were sobbing in low voices. She had wanted to close her eyes and have a nap, but when she opened her eyes again after dozing off, people were already in a mess.

When she saw the surroundings clearly, the drowsiness in her eyes dissipated completely. Under the faint moonlight, pairs of green eyes were staring coldly at them with cold killing intent and greed…Somehow they were surrounded by a pack of wolves!

Bai Ruo ran over to help Shen Ninghua up. Qing Que stood in front of her with a short sword in hand. “Miss, are you alright? Can you stand up?”

Shen Ninghua supported herself with the stone and stood up. Only then did she feel weak all over, as if she had been drugged with the muscle relaxant. “What’s going on?” She raised her head to look at Qing Que, only to find that although Qing Que was standing, her movements looked extremely powerless. Her forehead was also covered in cold sweat, and it was obvious that she was trying hard to hold on.

Someone had drugged them!

Originally, she thought that burying Wanying pollen in the tent was just a form of revenge, but she didn’t expect that it was only the first part of a deadly trap to kill them. First, the killer used snakes to drive them out of the camp and into the dense forest. Then, with the noise of the surroundings influencing people’s judgments, the killer took the opportunity to drug them and make them weak. Finally, he lured the wolves over!

In this way, even if all of them died, nobody could see any abnormalities. What a vicious plan!

Bai Ruo tried her best to support Shen Ninghua and brought her into the crowd. “Miss, you must protect yourself. You must not get injured.”

Shen Ninghua felt a chill in her heart. They were surrounded by wolves, and she could not even stand steadily. Perhaps there was no escape for her even if nobody was scheming against her.

Suddenly, a loud wolf cry was heard. The surrounding wolves seemed to have heard an order and pounced towards the crowd.

“Ah, get lost!”

“Help!”

The smell of blood gradually spread out, and the surrounding wolves became more ferocious.

Suddenly, Qing Que shouted in a low voice, “Be careful!”

Bai Ruo held Shen Ninghua and rolled on the ground. A wolf claw smashed on the ground right near Shen Ninghua’s face, so close that she could almost smell the stench of the wolf’s mouth.

“Bai Ruo, protect yourself. Don’t worry about me!” Shen Ninghua took out a porcelain bottle from her sleeve and said, “Apply the poison on the sword and try to fight your way out and find someone to save us!”

They probably won’t be able to make it to the dawn. The people behind this probably wanted to kill them tonight!

“No, Miss, what are you going to do?”

“Don’t worry about me!” Shen Ninghua said coldly. She turned to look at Qing Que and said resolutely, “Qing Que, protect her and choose an untraveled path. I’m afraid people are ambushing outside the forest and they won’t let anyone escape alive.”

Qing Que gritted her teeth and said, “Yes, Miss.”

Bai Ruo held the sword and got up. “Miss, we will protect you and rush out together.”

“I’m afraid that the killing this time is aimed at me as well. If I run away, it’s even more impossible for you to get out of here. Furthermore, Chu Junyi is injured. He…” Shen Ninghua turned around and pushed Bai Ruo away. “My life depends on the two of you. Quickly leave!”

Bai Ruo wiped away her tears and stood beside Qing Que. Then, the two of them rushed towards the woodland fearlessly.

Shen Ninghua heaved a sigh of relief. She picked up a long sword from the ground and applied the poison on the sword blade. Then, she slashed at a wolf that was pouncing at her.

The wolf’s fur was thick. This strike only caused a minor injury to its skin and flesh. It roared at Shen Ninghua in a low voice. Unexpectedly, before it could finish howling, it suddenly fell to the ground. That sword was painted with fatal poison!

There were more and more wolves in the surroundings. More than half of the guards had already been bitten to death by the wolves, and lay on the ground breathlessly.

Shen Ninghua didn’t have time to check on their situation and she staggered towards Chu Junyi.

As soon as the wolves appeared, the imperial doctors dumped Chu Junyi on the ground. Feeling the danger from the surrounding situation, he could no longer pretend to be unconscious. He stood up and wanted to go to protect Shen Ninghua, but his entire body was powerless and it was difficult for him to take a single step. With the wolves pouncing towards him, he was a little overwhelmed.

Seeing that Shen Ninghua was approaching him unharmed, Chu Junyi’s eyes lit up with joy as he slashed down a wolf’s front claw and ran towards Shen Ninghua.

Suddenly, Chu Junyi’s eyes widened and he used all of his strength to pounce towards Shen Ninghua!

Shen Ninghua felt her eyes darken, and she was heavily pressed to the ground by Chu Junyi. Then, some warm liquid flowed down her neck, causing her eyes to unconsciously widen. “Chu Junyi!”

Chu Junyi paused for a moment. A wolf was ferociously biting his shoulder which had already been injured as if it was determined to tear the flesh off his body. Blood splattered everywhere from the wound. He blacked out and struggled to kill the wolf with his sword and pulled Shen Ninghua to retreat to the riverside.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound of something breaking through the air. A sharp arrow flew towards Shen Ninghua’s back!

When Chu Junyi heard the sound, he did not have time to cut off the sharp arrow. He could only use his last bit of strength to hold Shen Ninghua and jump into the river.

On the surface, the river flow wasn’t very rapid, but when they were in the water, they found that there were many rapid undercurrents below, and the two of them instantly disappeared without a trace.

When Baili Anning saw this scene, she felt the world was spinning before her eyes. “Ninghua!”

“Brother Junyi!” Xiao Huanxi screamed at the same time!

Red blood stains spread out along with the river water.

Chu Junyi’s face was deathly pale. His teeth were trembling from coldness, but he tried his best to restrain himself from fainting. “Ninghua, are you alright?”

Shen Ninghua looked at his face that was blue due to coldness and her eyes suddenly reddened. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Did you know that you could die from this?”

Chu Junyi curled his lips and smiled. He said weakly, “I’m relieved to hear you scold me with so much strength.”

Shen Ninghua hugged him tightly and felt that his body was as cold as ice. “Chu Junyi, you must hold on. You cannot die!”

First, his shoulder was pierced through with a sword, then he was bitten by a wolf, and then he jumped into the water to escape…The excessive loss of blood caused Chu Junyi’s senses to become blurry. If it wasn’t because he wanted to make sure Shen Ninghua was fine, he would have fainted a long time ago.

Shen Ninghua wanted to speak but choked on a mouthful of water and coughed. Tears blurred down her cheeks. “Chu Junyi, you heard what I said. Don’t sleep, don’t let go of me. Talk with me.”

Chu Junyi also knew that once he fell asleep, he would probably never wake up again. He tried his best to look at Shen Ninghua with his eyes wide open. “Cough cough…my beautiful sweetheart, I’ve been dreaming of marrying you for so long. Now, it seems that my dream won’t come true.”

Shen Ninghua’s heart ached. “Yes, it will. If we can return alive, I will ask His Majesty to issue a decree for us to get married!”

“Don’t say stupid words…I…You don’t even know my identity, do you? You want to marry someone with an unknown identity? That’s too bad.”

“Chu Junyi, whatever your identity is, I don’t care. As long as you are alive, I will be your wife. But if you die, I will marry someone else with my large dowry!” Shen Ninghua gritted her teeth and roared in his ear.

Chu Junyi wanted to smile, but his hand slipped. He no longer had the strength to hold Shen Ninghua. “Ninghua, Ninghua…”

Shen Ninghua grabbed onto his clothes tightly to prevent him from sinking, but she was brought along with him and swallowed a few mouthfuls of water.

Chu Junyi tried his best to open his eyes and stared at Shen Ninghua. He seemed to want to imprint her in the depths of his mind. He slowly extended his hand and pushed Shen Ninghua away from himself. If she was alone, she would definitely be able to hold on. At this moment, he was already a burden. “Ninghua, I love…”

“Chu Junyi, don’t let go. I beg you, don’t let go of me…” A burst of piercing pain filled her heart. She had thought that her heart was numb, but unexpectedly, he managed to repair her heart that had been riddled with holes and deeply imprint himself into it.