Jiang Suizhou froze in place. For a moment, he felt as if he was hallucinating.
But in the next moment, he was pulled back to reality.
He only heard the whooshing of the wind, accompanied by the rustling of tree branches and leaves. In the blink of an eye, several dark shadows had surrounded the two of them.
Without waiting for Jiang Suizhou to react, he felt his waist being grabbed by someone, and he was tightly protected in front of that person.
"Be careful," he heard the person next to him say in a low voice.
The group of people surrounded them like a pack of wolves hunting in the dark night. They rushed forward from all directions, leaving no room for escape.
They were outnumbered, and surrounded. It was clearly a hopeless situation.
But in Huo Wujiu's hand, a sword that was nothing more than a decoration, had become a lethal weapon. There was nothing fancy about the sword's edge, but it made it impossible for the surrounding assassins to get close. After a dozen or so moves, the black-clothed people who had rushed forward fell one by one.
There was a burst of rustling of branches and leaves, and the surroundings returned to normal.
Only seven or eight corpses lay at Huo Wujiu's feet. Fresh blood had dyed the brown soil a dark color.
He raised his head and saw Huo Wujiu holding his sword with one hand and looking down at the motionless corpses on the ground.
The sword in his hand was still dripping with blood.
"… Huo Wujiu?" Jiang Suizhou said in a daze.
Was he crazy, or was he hallucinating? Why would Huo Wujiu appear at this time? And why was he standing in front of him, perfectly fine? His legs didn't seem to have been injured at all.
But before Huo Wujiu could respond, there was a faint sound of something breaking through the air.
A hidden weapon glittering with silver light broke through the dense mass of tree branches, heading straight for Jiang Suizhou's face.
He was immediately pulled to the side by Huo Wujiu. The hidden weapon brushed past his cheek, cutting off a strand of his hair.
At the same time, someone jumped down from the treetop and arrived in front of Huo Wujiu in the blink of an eye. A short dagger went straight for Huo Wujiu's throat.
It was actually the leader of this group of assassins. He had used a concealed weapon to attract Huo Wujiu's attention, and then took advantage of his distraction to launch a sneak attack.
Because Huo Wujiu had dodged just now, he was now facing the blade. Although he couldn't block it in time, he didn't panic at all. The sword in his hand drew back calmly, and in the next moment, that person's warm blood had already splashed onto half of his body.
However, the dagger also went straight into his shoulder.
Jiang Suzhou was very close to him. In the time it took for a spark to fly off a piece of flint, he didn't even see the two people's moves clearly. He only heard an almost inaudible groan after a few short exchanges.
It came from the chest that was pressed against the back of her shoulder.
His pupils constricted as he turned to look at Huo Wujiu.
He saw Huo Wujiu's eyes looking all around, and then he slowly let go of his sword. With a clang, he threw the sword to the ground.
"Are you injured?" Jiang Suzhou heard Huo Wujiu ask him in a low voice.
As for himself, he calmly raised his hand and pulled out the dagger from his shoulder.
Fresh blood flowed out and mixed with the assassin's blood.
For some reason, Jiang Suizhou's eyes instantly welled up with a warm feeling.
"… You're injured," he said.
— —
The Empress watched as the crazy horse led Jiang Suzhou into the forest. The forest in front of the hunting grounds was part of the Tianping Mountains. The terrain inside was complicated, the branches were dense, and the bottom couldn't be seen.
The surrounding imperial bodyguards and ministers all turned pale with fright. Only the Empress sat on the horse with her head held high, looking like a general who had returned from a victory.
"No one is allowed to go in," he said as he stared at the forest that looked like a man-eating beast. "I want to see if my fifth brother has the ability to hunt that deer for me."
Everyone in the imperial court knew that His Highness, Prince Jing, had never practiced martial arts since he was young because of his weak body.
Naturally, he didn't have the ability to hunt deer. He only had the ability to break his neck in the depths of the forest.
However, no one dared to say anything because this was the emperor's family matter.
If the emperor wanted him to hunt deer, then he had to hunt deer. If the emperor wanted him to die, then he had no choice but to die.
Everyone's expression was unreadable. Only the Empress slowly raised her head and looked into the distance behind the forest.
There were towering mountains and precipitous ridges covered by impenetrable trees.
His eyes were full of smiles.
He naturally wanted to kill Jiang Suzhou. It wasn't a rare thing. However, at the same time, he couldn't easily kill Jiang Suzhou because of the ancestral etiquette.
However, this time, his uncle had agreed to his request.
His uncle promised that this time, no one would have to make a move. Prince Jing wouldn't come back alive.
The back of the horse looked at the mountain ridge behind him from afar. After a moment, as if nothing had happened, he swung his whip and led the horse to change direction. He trotted towards the few prey scattered on the grassland in front of him.
"What are you all standing there for?" she asked.
Only then did everyone come back to their senses. They all pretended as if nothing had happened and continued to hunt with the Empress.
— —
Jiang Suzhou sat alone on a tree trunk that stretched across the ground.
Huo Wujiu came and went a few times and neatly cleaned up the scattered corpses on the ground. The terrain in this mountain was steep and there was a canyon not far away. Huo Wujiu moved very quickly. In a short while, the area in front of Jiang Suzhou was completely clean.
After a while, the sound of someone stepping on air could be heard. Jiang Suzhou looked up and saw Huo Wujiu land in front of him.
He didn't hide his legs in the slightest. He sat down on the ground in front of Jiang Suzhou and tore off a piece of cloth from his body.
Jiang Suzhou only stared at his shoulder.
After a moment of silence, Huo Wujiu laughed in a low voice.
"Ask whatever you want," he said. "What can you tell by staring at me?"
Jiang Suzhou paused and then said in a floating voice, "How about I bandage your wounds for you?"
Huo Wujiu put the strip of cloth on Jiang Suzhou's knee. He neatly untied his own robe and said, "No need. You don't know how to do it."
As he spoke, he had already torn off half of his robe, revealing half of his muscular shoulder. There were several old wounds on the exposed part of his skin, all of which had already formed light scars. The deepest wound was across his collarbone. Amidst the ferocity, it actually made his smooth and strong collarbone look somewhat charming and gentle.
In his shoulder socket, there was a fresh wound that was still bleeding.
The dagger didn't go too deep, but it still tore open the flesh. It looked quite frightening. Huo Wujiu covered the wound with the strip of cloth with one hand. He bit one end of the cloth and wrapped it around the wound a few times in a rough manner.
After a moment of silence, he bit the strip of cloth and looked at his shoulder. He said to Jiang Suzhou, "Aren't you going to ask when my legs healed?"
Only Huo Wujiu himself knew that under his lowered eyelashes, there was still some nervousness.
He jumped out of the back window of Jiang Suzhou's house, bypassed the surrounding guards, and entered the mountain. When he went up the mountain the day before, he found the right direction and headed straight for the hunting ground.
Sure enough, Pang Shao attacked Jiang Suzhou on the hunting ground.
The whip that fell on the horse in Jiang Suzhou was the one that whipped it. However, Huo Wujiu clearly knew that it was the hidden weapon that fell on him that made the horse go crazy.
If he fell off the horse at this time, his life would definitely be in danger. For a moment, Huo Wujiu couldn't be bothered to find the person who used the hidden weapon. He sneaked into the forest to chase after the horse, but just as he was about to catch up, he saw Jiang Suzhou fall into a trap that had been set up long ago.
Sure enough, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Pang Shao had already arranged everything one by one. He didn't plan to let Jiang Suizhou have any chance of survival.
Huo Wujiu couldn't care about anything else. He had to show himself immediately.
He knew that this was the only way he could save Jiang Suzhou's life. However, he also knew that if he did this, his legs would be exposed.
However, he didn't regret it.
He lowered his eyes and pretended to bandage his wound seriously. However, he couldn't help but tighten his grip a little, so much so that the wound started to bleed slightly.
However, he heard Jiang Suzhou speak.
"You don't have to ask," he said. "Li Changning was lying to me before, right?"
Huo Wujiu's hand paused.
"Yes," he replied.
"So, he's one of your men," Jiang Suzhou said. "The disciple who followed him, at first glance, I felt that he looked like someone from the military camp. When he saw you, his expression wasn't right either. However, I was sick at the time and didn't have much energy. Li Changning said that he was a farmer, so I believed him. "
Jiang Suzhou's voice was extremely calm.
However, Huo Wujiu only felt as if there was an extremely thin silk thread strangling his heart and tightening it bit by bit.
His hand, which was originally tying a knot on the wound, stopped in place. He couldn't move it anymore.
Sure enough. He thought to himself. He had always been smart. As long as he saw it, there was no need to explain.
However, Huo Wujiu felt a little bitter in his mouth.
He was like a prisoner waiting to be sentenced. He had been suspended all day long. Now that the dust had finally settled, he couldn't feel happy at all.
"Yes," he said. "So …"
So, I'm not an honest partner. You can be disappointed in me, but I'll still do what I promised before.
His throat was choked and he couldn't speak.
However, he heard Jiang Suzhou speak.
"So, your wound can't be bandaged like this," he bent down and said to Huo Wujiu. "Although I don't understand, I know that you can't cover it up. Even if there's no medicine here, you should first clean the wound, right? I vaguely heard the sound of water. Is there a stream nearby? "
Huo Wujiu paused. "Half a mile to the west. There's a stream."
"Let's go. We'll go to the stream first," Jiang Suzhou said and stood up.
He had been sitting for a long time. Just now, he had been held by Huo Wujiu. He had forgotten that his ankle was sprained. As soon as he stood up, he sucked in a breath of cold air in pain and almost fell to the ground.
Huo Wujiu raised his hand and caught him.
"What's wrong with your ankle?" Huo Wujiu asked.
Jiang Suzhou supported himself on his arm. His arm was muscular and felt as hard as a rock. When he supported himself, it was stable and gave him a sense of security.
"When I fell off the horse just now, I twisted it," he said.
Huo Wujiu paused. After a moment, he seemed to be helpless. He clenched his teeth and clicked his tongue.
"You can forget that?"
Jiang Suzhou was a little embarrassed.
Just now, Huo Wujiu's injury was too shocking. He had been so focused on Huo Wujiu that he actually forgot about his sprained ankle.
Huo Wujiu looked down and saw his expression. He immediately understood his thoughts.
He really didn't know what to do with the person in front of him.
After a moment of silence, he spoke again in a low voice.
"I said just now that Li Changning didn't tell you the truth," he said. "He takes orders from me, so it's me …"
However, Jiang Suizhou opened his mouth.
"So, it's a good thing!" Jiang Suzhou said. "I've been having a headache about your leg, but I didn't expect your people to come and treat it."
Huo Wujiu paused and looked down at Jiang Suzhou.
He saw that Jiang Suzhou was also looking up at him. His eyes were sparkling with joy. It didn't seem fake at all.
"So, why don't you hurry to the stream?" he said. "If you don't clean your wound, your leg will be fine, but your arm will be crippled."
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