Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 85

Xia Heng and Chuqing stood at the third fork in the path, their faces blank with confusion.

Chuqing scratched her head and accidentally touched the large lump at the back of her skull again. She bared her teeth in pain.

Only after waiting for the ache to fade did she say to Xia Heng, “Why don’t you go answer nature’s call again?”

Chuqing could hardly be blamed for suggesting it. Every time they encountered a fork and did not know which way to go, Xia Heng would announce that she needed to relieve herself.

When she returned, she would know which path to take.

At one point, Chuqing had suspected this was some secret art for finding one’s way.

Unfortunately, it was a rather embarrassing secret art. She had to relieve herself before she could tell where to go. Could she be judging direction by the way it flowed?

Then what would happen if she had not drunk enough water?

This was one secret art Chuqing had absolutely no desire to learn.

Xia Heng was hesitating over whether she should tell Chuqing she needed to answer nature’s call again.

She had already gone to the “toilet” several times along the way…

Hearing Chuqing make such an understanding suggestion, Xia Heng pressed her lips together and nodded, then walked behind a tree a dozen or so paces away.

At that moment, she remained utterly unaware of how far Chuqing’s imagination had wandered.

After confirming the correct direction once more, Xia Heng and Chuqing took the path on the right.

The sun gradually sank westward, and the temperature in the woods dropped with it.

Their padded jackets were still damp, and both women had begun to feel chilled.

Xia Heng hugged her arms and quickened her pace.

They had to hurry back. Once darkness fell, even the map would not help her see the path.

*Swish!*

Chuqing’s dagger flew from her hand and struck the ground beside Xia Heng’s foot.

Xia Heng looked down.

A brown-patterned snake as thick as a wrist had been pinned at its vital point by Chuqing’s blade. It writhed in agony, its entire body twisting in upon itself.

“Aaaaaah! A snake! A snake!”

Xia Heng nearly leaped onto Chuqing.

Good heavens! This was the first time she had ever seen such a thick snake. It was terrifying!

Chuqing, on the other hand, rushed forward excitedly and deftly seized the snake behind its head before pulling out the dagger.

The snake coiled around her arm, but she did not panic.

She switched hands, gripped it behind the head once more, and gave it several violent swings.

Whether the snake died or merely lost consciousness, Xia Heng could not tell. It could no longer cling to Chuqing’s arm, and its movements grew much weaker.

Pressing her advantage, Chuqing calmly cut off the snake’s head under Xia Heng’s horrified gaze.

She dug a hole nearby and buried the head, then drained the blood from the body and carried it in one hand.

Xia Heng hugged herself and shuddered.

“Why are you carrying it? Don’t tell me you mean to take it back?”

“This is a black-flesh snake! They make the best snake soup. My father cooked it for me before!”

Chuqing held the snake out for Xia Heng to see. Xia Heng sprang away almost instantly.

“You’re actually going to make snake soup?”

“It’s usually so hard to find a snake this thick! Of course we have to take it back after finally finding one!”

With that, Chuqing happily wound the snake’s body around her own arm.

Its head was gone, but its nerves had not completely died, and its body was still slowly writhing. Chuqing simply wrapped all of it securely around herself.

“I should walk in front! You can’t even see snakes, so I’ll scout the way for us!”

And thus Xia Heng watched a soft, delicate, round-faced girl of sixteen skip along in front of her with a headless snake wrapped around her right arm and a spring-loaded dagger clutched in her left hand.

A headless-snake sleeve… Was this not far more terrifying than an armful of tattoos?

The two women gradually approached the main road, one walking ahead of the other. Suddenly, they heard people talking in front of them.

They crept closer to investigate.

“Mo Bai!”

The moment Xia Heng let her attention slip, Chuqing shot out from beside her.

*Good heavens, all you saw was your Mo Bai!*

*Did you not see the Emperor standing beside him?*

Xia Heng had no choice but to follow.

Dongfang Wei had just survived a wave of assassins. Some of the guards around him had died, and others were injured.

Fortunately, Cang Chuli had arrived with his men in time. Only then had they stabilized the situation and driven off the black-clad attackers.

Seeing Chuqing suddenly race out, Mo Bai almost mistook her for one of the assassins returning. He raised his bow to fire.

Then he heard the familiar voice and looked more closely. Was that his fiancée?

“Why are you here?”

Under everyone’s gaze, Xia Heng came forward as well and gave an awkward smile.

“Greetings, Your Majesty… General.”

Only then did Chuqing notice the Emperor standing nearby.

“Greetings, Your Majesty! General!”

Dongfang Wei and Cang Chuli were both surprised to see the two women emerge from the woods.

“Why are the two of you here?”

Chuqing hurriedly answered, “Your Majesty, we were washing pots beside the running water near the hunting grounds when someone knocked us unconscious.

“They took us to a cave in the woods, and we only just managed to escape.”

Dongfang Wei looked them over. Their hair was disheveled, their faces were dirty, and large patches of their clothes were wet.

The round-faced one even had a headless snake wrapped around her arm. She looked more wretched than he did, and he had just survived an assassination.

Seeing where Dongfang Wei was looking, Chuqing rushed to explain before he could ask.

“We caught this in the woods just now.”

Cang Chuli saw that neither woman appeared to have any external injuries. After glancing at the sky, he suggested, “It is not safe to remain here. We should return first and discuss the rest later.”

Dongfang Wei nodded his agreement.

Naturally, Chuqing shared Mo Bai’s horse. Xia Heng consciously walked over to Mo Qing.

Mo Qing glanced at Cang Chuli, then had no choice but to let her mount.

“Miss Ah Heng, hold tight.”

At his words, Xia Heng searched for a long moment before finally fastening both hands around Mo Qing’s belt.

“Er… Miss Xia, not quite that tight,” Mo Qing managed to say with difficulty.

“Heh. Sorry. This is my first time sitting behind someone else. I’m a little nervous.”

Xia Heng sheepishly loosened her grip on Mo Qing’s belt.

The shadow Huyan Lie had left over her at the training ground had yet to fade.

Why did this thing not come with a safety belt?

“Hyah!”

Cang Chuli and Dongfang Wei urged their horses into a gallop.

Mo Qing, Mo Bai, and the others followed on horseback.

Xia Heng pressed her lips tightly together, her face paling with fear.

Horseback riding was truly terrifying!

“How did you find the main road?” Mo Bai asked Chuqing while riding, somehow still able to spare attention for conversation.

By the time the group returned to the hunting grounds, Dongfang Wei took Cang Chuli directly into the imperial tent.

Xiao Yaqing had been unable to find Xia Heng or Chuqing anywhere and was anxiously running in circles.

The personal guards Cang Chuli had left at the tents were searching everywhere as well.

Only when they saw the entire group return together did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.

“When did the two of you leave? Why are you coming back from outside?”

Xia Heng climbed shakily down from Mo Qing’s horse.

“Hmm? Mo Qing, why is your face so red?” Xiao Yaqing asked in surprise when she noticed his complexion.

“Miss Xiao… It may be red now, but if she’d pulled any harder, it would have turned purple in another moment,” Mo Qing answered helplessly.

Miss Ah Heng had sat behind him clutching his belt, her hands tightening more and more as they rode.

It was the first time he had discovered that a man could be unable to breathe merely because someone strangled his waist.

“Sorry…”

Xia Heng had apologized so many times she felt numb. It was not as though she wanted to do it.

There was simply no frame around her to keep her in place, so her hands had desperately wanted to grip something tight.

Xiao Yaqing patted her shoulder and sighed.

“I’ll teach you to ride another day.”

Xia Heng gave her a bitter smile, then began recounting the story of her and Chuqing’s “half-day excursion through a wolf den.”