HLnovel Chapter 955 Extra: A Young Man's Journey 8
Chapter 955 Extra: A Young Man's Journey 8
...
Before the campfire had even died down, Zong Lin sensed something was wrong.
He quickly extinguished the fire, pulled Yan Chengyue to her feet, and shielded her behind him.
Several pairs of dark eyes peeked out from the darkness.
"I just saw them eating. There were only two of them, it was them!"
With a shout, a small group of about twenty or thirty refugees, carrying weapons made from tree branches, rushed towards Zong Lin and Yan Chengyue.
Zong Lin drew his longsword and engaged the group of refugees in fierce combat.
Yan Chengyue only knew some simple moves, but fortunately, Zong Lin protected her every step of the way. Moreover, they had developed some tacit understanding during their escape. After struggling for nearly half an hour, they finally managed to shake off these people.
Zong Lin pulled Yan Chengyue along as they ran through the woods, while also keeping a close watch on their surroundings; it wasn't an easy task.
When the two got close, Yan Chengyue grabbed Zong Lin's arm and realized that he was injured at some point: "You're injured?"
"It's alright, we'll deal with it once we find a place. The news that the relief grain arrived in Liangzhou today must have already spread. All the refugees will flock to Liangzhou regardless of the consequences. If we don't find a way back quickly, we'll be in great danger. Let's go!"
Zong Lin grabbed Yan Chengyue's arm, and just as he had predicted, they encountered another group of people after running only a short distance.
He stopped and carefully pulled Yan Chengyue behind him, then cautiously moved inch by inch towards the slope behind them.
Just as she hid behind the slope, Yan Chengyue's legs suddenly gave way, and she instinctively gripped Zong Lin's sleeve tightly.
Zong Lin quickly turned to look at her.
By the dim moonlight, Yan Chengyue looked down at his feet.
At this moment, she was stepping on a person, or more precisely, a corpse.
A woman, her eyes wide open in death, carefully and tightly held her child in her arms.
The child seemed oblivious to her mother's passing. She looked tiny, lying in her mother's arms, her mouth tightly covered by her mother's hand. Her face was covered in a mixture of mud and blood, and only her gently trembling eyelids proved that she was still alive.
Yan Chengyue bent down, and Zong Lin subconsciously pulled her back.
Zong Lin lowered his voice, "Be careful of traps."
Yan Chengyue nodded to him, but still bent down and moved the mother's hand away from the child. Then she saw a series of gruesome wounds, with almost no flesh left, horribly turned outwards.
She repeatedly slashed her wrists, trying to use her own blood to prolong the life of her poor child.
But in the end, it couldn't hold on.
The child's breathing was weak, and there were dried bloodstains on the corners of his lips. His lips were not dry, but swollen from being soaked.
It seems like it hasn't been touched in a long time.
Yan Chengyue couldn't describe her feelings at that moment. Reason told her not to interfere, not to interfere, but looking into those blank eyes, she couldn't help herself and picked up the poor child.
She was so tired, but she couldn't feel the weight of the baby in her arms.
He looked to be about four or five years old, but he was skin and bones with protruding eyes. Judging from his actual age, he was probably older.
Even when she picked him up, he didn't react at all.
"There are people over there! Hurry!" Another person caught up.
They quickly surrounded them, and when they saw the child in Yan Chengyue's arms, the refugees' eyes lit up as if they were seeing food, not people.
Along the way, even though Yan Chengyue had seen far too many afterimages, none of them could compare to the bone-chilling impact of this moment.
The commotion quickly attracted the attention of more people; if the stalemate continued, they would all die.
At the critical moment, Zong Lin gripped Yan Chengyue's wrist and suddenly threw half a pancake out.
In an instant, most of the displaced people were drawn to the scene and rushed forward.
Taking advantage of this moment, Zong Lin grabbed Yan Chengyue and ran out.
They ran for an unknown amount of time, until they finally stopped, panting heavily. Zong Lin turned around and saw tears falling from Yan Chengyue's eyes.
They rolled down one by one, like beads from a broken string.
Zong Lin thought she was frightened, so he disregarded etiquette and pulled her into his arms with one hand, gently stroking her back: "Don't be afraid, it's alright. They won't be chasing us for a while. I checked the terrain during the day. This area is mountainous and prone to landslides. People familiar with this area won't dare to come here easily. We'll rest for a while and then continue on our way. The moon will rise tonight, so it won't rain. This area is safe."
Yan Chengyue's voice, however, was unusually sorrowful.
"Ah Lin, she's dead."
The little girl in her arms, the frail little girl barely clinging to life, the child her mother had nurtured with her blood and protected with her life, had already lost her breath on their escape route.
Zong Lin paused slightly as he gently stroked Yan Chengyue's back. After a long while, he spoke up to comfort her, "You've done your best."
Yan Chengyue closed her eyes in despair.
Yes, I tried my best.
But in the end, they still couldn't save her.
The two found a spot, dug a hole, and buried the little girl's body in it. Yan Chengyue sat on the ground, looking at the grave without any mounds, and said softly, "I hope that one day, someone can save her."
Zong Lin looked down at Yan Chengyue, wanting to ask how to save her since she was already dead, but he didn't ask.
Because he was stunned.
The rising moon was beautiful, but Yan Chengyue, sitting on the ground with his hands covered in mud and his face smeared like a cat's, was, for some reason, more beautiful than the moon in his eyes.
It is probably like the celestial moon in the heavenly palace.
Fairy Moon.
Zong Lin silently memorized those two words.
As dawn broke, Yan Chengyue forced herself to bandage Zong Lin's wounds. Zong Lin broke off a small piece of bread for her and said, "Eat quickly. We'll set off after you finish eating. We should be able to get into the city before dark. Once we reach Liangzhou City, we'll be safe."
Yan Chengyue nodded, but she remembered that last night, in order to attract the attention of those refugees, Zong Lin had thrown out most of a piece of bread. And from last night until now, he hadn't eaten a single bite or drunk a drop of water. She remembered that there wasn't much water left in his water bag.
"You eat too," Yan Chengyue said, looking at him.
Zong Lin shook his head: "It's only one day, I can still hold on. We must get back today, it will only get more and more dangerous outside Liangzhou City. Hurry up, it will be more troublesome if we are discovered."
Yan Chengyue had no choice but to eat the dried-out pancake in her hand bit by bit.
After finishing their meal, Zong Lin led Yan Chengyue on their journey.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, probably just as the sun was about to rise, Yan Chengyue could no longer hold on and vomited up everything she had eaten. Her face gradually turned pale, and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Zong Lin immediately sensed something was wrong. He placed his hand on Yan Chengyue's forehead and realized that her forehead had become burning hot without him noticing.
"Yan Chengyue, how... how could you?" Zong Lin looked at Yan Chengyue in a panic.
Yan Chengyue shook her head at him: "Ah Lin, I might not be able to leave."
If the shock of last night was too great and she hadn't reacted yet, when she felt intense discomfort in her body this morning, she already knew that she had probably contracted the plague.
On the way, Wenren Jing had already told them that the most important thing after the flood was to prevent the spread of disease.
The mother and daughter who died last night were actually infected with the epidemic.
However, in the midst of the disaster, no one had the mind to pay attention to this.
Yan Chengyue knew that if she asked Zong Lin to abandon her and leave, he would not listen. So she remembered the method Wenren Jing had told her, tore off a piece of her inner garment and covered her mouth and nose. Zong Lin thought she was just afraid of being seen and getting into trouble, so he did not suspect anything.
She has been enduring it all this time.
She was completely exhausted and could not take another step.
If this continues, she will die and also drag Zong Lin down with her.
Zong Lin looked into Yan Chengyue's eyes and instantly understood everything.
He heard everything Wenren Jing said on the way, and he knew that Yan Chengyue was in such a serious condition because she had been enduring it.
Without a moment's hesitation, Zong Lin bent down and carried Yan Chengyue on his back: "Your friend, Wenren Jing, didn't she say she has a prescription? As long as we return to Liangzhou City, you won't die. Yan Chengyue, hold on! You are the future Crown Princess, the future Empress. You can't die here! Didn't you see? Your brother likes Wenren Jing. No matter how magnanimous you are, you can't let someone steal your position as the Empress. So just bear with it. As long as we get back, you'll be saved!"
Zong Lin carried Yan Chengyue on his back, walking step by step towards Liangzhou City. He had to deal with the refugees who wanted to rob them, and also give Yan Chengyue some water from time to time so that she could hold on. But the water ran out quickly.
Later, Zong Lin remembered the mother who protected the child. He cut his wrist and fed her the blood, saying, "Look, I'm fine. You can't die either. I will definitely bring you back."
Yan Chengyue's mouth was filled with the metallic taste of blood. Her chin rested weakly on Zong Lin's shoulder as she looked at his profile, which still retained a childish innocence, and a thought she had never considered before arose in her mind.
She thought that if she survived, there was one thing she wanted to do.