C20

He thought about how brave he was just now, how he pulled me back from the brink of death and jumped off the cliff step by step. He was so heroic. Now that I was out of danger, he was as shy as a big girl.

Along the stream, the two of us, treading on withered grass and slightly green shoots, swam up with one foot and one foot, because as far as we could judge, that was the direction of Daxing City. As long as we could get out before dark, there would be no more danger.

My shoes were long gone, and my feet were covered with scratches. I had only taken a few steps when I was pricked by weeds and complained. Blood slowly oozed out of my feet.

He looked back at me with a look of pity on his face, but he couldn't bring himself to look at me directly.

"Princess, if you — this servant has offended you, why don't I carry you?" He seemed to have gathered up his courage to stammer out these words. After he finished speaking, his forehead was covered in sweat.

I thought it was funny that when he had jumped off the cliff, he had tied me to him and carried me down without the slightest bit of hesitation, and after he had managed to escape death, he had returned to this state.

On the cliffs, in order to live, we had put our hearts in our throats and overcome all difficulties; now, with our lives intact, he was bound by the idea of honor.

Seeing me not saying a word, Ah He hurriedly explained:

"I-I didn't mean it that way. I just wanted to, I just thought —" He scratched his head, getting more and more nervous as he spoke. He didn't know what to say, so he could only droop his head blankly while his face flushed red.

"Kekeke," I said, covering my mouth and teasing him. "You don't mean that, do you?"

"No, no, what does this servant mean? This servant is, is …" He had no more words.

Seeing him so embarrassed, I couldn't bear to tease him anymore, so I said:

"Do you want me to stand here until dark?" I pointed to his back.

"Can I?" Suddenly, Ai He's eyes lit up. His clear eyes were like the stars in the night sky, shining with a faint light.

I nodded my head but didn't say anything. Kazuo grinned like a child and happily squatted down to carry me on her back.

The valley seemed to have never been visited before. In some places, the grass was much higher than before, which made it difficult for us to distinguish directions. Fortunately, there was a river, so as long as we followed the river, we shouldn't get lost.

At some point, the sun had hidden itself in the clouds and the sky was getting darker. It was actually starting to rain.

Could it be that once the dragon raised its head, the rumor that it was going to rain would come true?

He looked up at the sky and his expression changed.

"Not good, it's going to rain." With that, he walked forward with even more difficulty, hoping to leave the valley earlier. If he couldn't leave before it rained, the two of us would be in deep trouble.

As we walked until the evening, there was still no exit, nor was there a sign of human habitation. Seeing that his forehead was covered in sweat, I couldn't help but wipe it off with my sleeve.

"Why don't we take a break before we head on?"

Suddenly, Ah He's body shook. He hurriedly wiped his face with his sleeve. His action made me feel embarrassed. I stopped wiping his sweat.

Walking through such a rugged and trackless valley was naturally extremely difficult, and besides, he was carrying me on his back, so he should have been very tired already. When I told him to rest for a while, he didn't object, so he put me down and sat down on the dry grass to rest.

"Princess, I'm afraid it's going to rain soon. It'll be hard for us to get out before dark." He said dejectedly.

I sighed. I was worried too. If we couldn't get out before dark, it would be too cold and too hungry for tomorrow. But I couldn't bear to see his depressed look, so I comforted him:

"Let's take a look over there after a while. Maybe we can meet a kind hunter. It shouldn't be a problem to stay the night."

"It's all because of this servant's incompetence that caused Princess to suffer such grievances." He looked at me apologetically.

I was about to say something when I felt a chill on my face. It was actually raining.

This time, both of us panicked. We didn't expect the rain to come so fast. It looked like it was going to get heavier and heavier. Just as we were at a loss, a grey hare sprang out of the weeds, as if it had just returned from a foraging, and scrubbed its way into a small hole.

He thought for a while and then raised his dagger to cut off the weeds covering the hole. It was a big hole. The rabbits were scared when they saw someone coming over. I saw him raise his dagger and quickly stopped him.

"Let them go. We just need to borrow their cave to hide from the rain."

"Yes, Princess." He put away his dagger and chased all the rabbits out. Then he cut some dead grass to make the hole cover thicker. Just as I entered the hole, I heard the rain outside getting heavier.

This hole was a bit wide, but it was too small. I hugged my legs and called for Mild to come in. However, when he looked at the hole, he shook his head and made a hat to protect himself from the rain. I was filled with gratitude and even more admiration for him for his willingness to do anything that would damage my reputation.

The mountain was cold, and the rain made it even colder. I pulled at my clothes tightly, but I couldn't help but sneeze. He turned around and moved to the side of the cave to protect me from the wind and rain, but I saw that his lips were purple from the cold.

"Hey, I'm cold." He did not know how long he stayed in the cave, but the rain still did not stop, and the sky turned completely dark. In the darkness, I couldn't see anything. I felt myself growing colder and stiffer.

He had been trying to start a fire, but none of us had a fire piston. The mountain was humid, and it was impossible to start a fire with rain.

"Princess, just wait a bit longer. The sky will soon brighten. Who knows, the Duke of Han's group might be looking for us. We'll arrive soon." He said.

I know that he is just trying to console me, but in such a big valley, even if Yang Guang and the others can find us, it will not be easy to find us. Furthermore, we have walked such a long distance, and the rain outside is so heavy, we can't even light a torch in the dark.

"Hey, I'm so cold. I'm going to die, right?" My body was shaking and my limbs were numb. Even my tears were cold. Could it be that falling from the cliff wasn't enough to kill her, but to freeze to death in this rabbit nest?

After a while, he went back into the cave. Perhaps the night had given him courage, or perhaps he was afraid that I would freeze to death, but I felt him support me up and sit down with my back to me. In the dark, I could not see his expression.

"Princess, this servant has offended you. If you rely on your servant's back, if your servant trains, you might be able to avoid the cold for a while. "

I felt the warmth of his back, like a drowning man holding onto his lifesaver, pressing my back against that faint warmth.

I don't know martial arts, and I don't know what kind of martial arts he's practising. He's probably some kind of internal martial arts. He sits down cross-legged and lets me lean on his back to absorb the warmth.

After a while, I felt his back grow warmer and warmer, and with this warmth, my body was no longer stiff. I gathered up my messy clothes around me and wrapped my arms around my chest, pressing them against his broad, solid back.

After an unknown amount of time, his mind began to grow drowsy …

My mind drifted back to when I was young, and I sat at my uncle's broken door, cold and hungry, hoping to draw some warmth from the sunlight. The dog still had a pure smile on his face as he ran over to me, and I eagerly looked at his basket, hoping that he would take out a few peaches to feed me. However, I was horrified to find out that the dog had pulled out an arm, shaking it in front of my eyes.

I panicked. I covered my eyes with my hands and cried, It's not me, it's not me! However, the weather suddenly changed, and it started to rain. I ran with all my might, wanting to run home to my parents' home.

When the rain fell on my body, it was very cold and hard. I finally ran home and saw that my mother was wearing a red jacket. The embroidered red dress extended all the way to my ankles and was exactly the same as the one my mother wore when she entered the coffin.

I wanted to throw myself into her arms and act like a spoiled child, but I could not touch her. There was always an arm's distance between her and me, and no matter how hard I tried, I was unable to cross the arm.

So I cried and I made a scene. When I was young, whenever I cried, my mother would come over and hug me like she was holding a treasure. However, this time, my mother didn't come over to hug me. She actually turned around and left.

"Mother, mother, don't go! Mei Er will listen to you, Mei'er will never make mother angry again!"

But mother didn't look back. She walked further and further away, and no matter how hard I chased after her, I couldn't catch up. Looking at mother's gradually disappearing figure, I shouted with all my might:

"Mother, mother …"