Chương 23: His Lordship

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XuanRong was petrified. The hand that was supposed to stab the man was now hovering above her head, frozen.

'He is--- falling!'

XuanRong was surprised when she saw the man slowly fell forward. Although the cave was very dark, making her unable to see his face, but the light coming from the outside was able to help her see the man's silhouette. And thanks to the fact that her eyesight had already adjusted to the darkness, she was able to notice his intense gaze and was able to see his eyes.

*clang*

The hairpin that was on her hand fell on the ground, producing a small sound that was not enough to alert the people fighting outside the cave.

Subconsciously, XuanRong moved a step forward, planning to catch the man and preventing him from falling to the ground. Raising both of her hands, she managed to stop the man from falling completely.

Everything happened in a blink of an eye. Just a few seconds ago, she was resolute on harming him to defend herself but when she saw the eyes that was looking back at her, she suddenly remembered the person who helped her before she died.

'Was that person... him?'

She then recalled her previous suspicion when she smelled his scent before he hugged her.

When their eyes met, all the wariness and distrust, all the anger she felt suddenly vanished in thin air. She felt like she was submerged in a cold river, washing all the negative emotions inside her heart.

Using her petite body as an improvised pole to support the man, XuanRong slowly pulled his body to the deeper side of the cave.

"Ha... Ha... Ha..."

XuanRong exhausted all her energy before she was able to bring the man back to where she previously sat and hid herself.

She was not a doctor, so, she could not diagnose the man and state the reason why he, who was as strong as a bull, suddenly fainted without any explanation. She could only observe his condition and wait for him to regain consciousness.

Looking at the man lying beside her, XuanRong chewed her inner cheek. After she has returned to normal, her mind that was muddled was now starting to clear. After contemplating a little bit, she was filled with shame. She could not believe that she had a moment of relapse, not able to think clearly and even acted stupid and suicidal. If not for the man's effort to block her mouth and stopping her from screaming, she would have alerted the people fighting outside the cave.

XuanRong pondered for a great time before she was able to realize what went wrong.

It was because she was unable to escape from the shadows of her past.

Because she was haunted by her regret and despair, making her emotionally unstable.

XuanRong inwardly sighed.

She now knows why she hates physical contact with other people.

The truth was, when she smelled the lotus scent coming from his body, XuanRong did not feel any disgust, only wariness and distrust for his sudden action when he hugged her waist and covered her mouth. The only reason why her emotions became unstable was because she remembered the night when she was taken by force. Thinking of the kinship they shared when she half-dragged-half-pulled him to the inner side of the cave, XuanRong was now convinced that he was the first person who she was able to touch without having her stomach churn due to disgust.

Why?

Was it because he was that person who helped her on her previous lifetime?

XuanRong did not know.

Lost in thought, XuanRong gathered her knees and curled her body as she pressed her back on the cave's wall.

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"Who are you?!! Why are you doing this?! We do not have any enmity with each other!! Let us go and we will leave immediately!!" The leader of the men in black was now full of regret.

Half a sichen ago, after following the trail XuanRong painstakingly hid, they arrived at the southwest side of the mountain. After tracing her footprints, they were able deduce the area where she could've hidden herself.

But before they could even find her location, some people unknown appeared out of nowhere, launching sneak attack, those people were able to kill his subordinates before he could warn them. After the fighting went on for almost two cups of tea time [1], the leader was able to see the distance between their skills and aptitude.

He inwardly cursed himself for having a bad luck. His subordinates were starting to fall one by one, unable to retaliate and defend themselves.

The unknown group of men did not respond to his words. They continued slashing with their swords, killing the leader's subordinates every second, as if they did not hear anything.

The leader of the men in black almost puked blood due to anger. Having no choice, he could only send signal to his subordinates, telling them to escape immediately. Without wasting any effort, the men in black retreated hurriedly.

"Do not let them escape! Follow and kill them all!"

The man who was wearing a mask immediately ordered his subordinate to chase the group of assassins who run away.

"Chief, what should we do? If we can't find him, this subordinate is afraid that his life would be in danger. He has to drink his medicine on time. What if----"

"Shut your trap! What happened to our intelligence report? Why was there an ambush waiting for him?"

The subordinate could only lower his head. It was indeed a mistake on their part. The emperor's dragon palace was filled with their spies, but they were useless. Because of their negligence, their Lordship's life was now in critical condition, without drinking his medicine, the subordinate was afraid that they could no longer contain the poison blood running through his veins. Their Master was very vulnerable at this moment and could not defend himself.

"Why are you still standing here?! Search!! Search everywhere!! If we can't find His Lordship on time, then we can only kill ourselves. Committing suicide can't even atone our crime."

Using Qing gong [2], the man who was wearing a mask turned his body and jumped on the nearest tree.

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[1]. A cup of tea time is approximately 15 minutes.

[2]. Chinese martial arts

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Edited and Proofread by: Prikkrang and Supremetobs