Watching the old woman help the old man into the nearby grove, Jiang Yichun frowned slightly. He seed to feel sothing was off, but the thought quickly slipped away, leaving him unable to grasp it.
"These two might very well be experts sent by the Quanrong Clan. I have a strange feeling," Jiang Yichun whispered in warning.
"Why don’t we search around first to see if we can capture any of their subordinates? Then we can use poison to extract information," Bai Ruozhu suggested after so thought.
Jiang Yichun nodded, "Alright."
He took Bai Ruozhu’s hand and slowly descended the mountain, searching all around.
After roughly half an hour, the two finally spotted the patrolling Quanrong people in the distance.
Their attire was unusual, primarily black with golden totems at the cuffs and collars, resembling drawn talismans.
Yet the old woman and man before wore ordinary coarse clothes, which led Bai Ruozhu to mistakenly assu they were elderly herb gatherers.
Jiang Yichun gestured to Bai Ruozhu, and the two gradually approached the Quanrong people, constantly mindful of their surroundings to avoid alerting them.
Feeling the distance was just right, Jiang Yichun nodded slightly to Bai Ruozhu, and the two darted forward, subduing the Quanrong person simultaneously.
Surprise lingered in the opponent’s eyes, but they were struck mute before they could even call for help.
Bai Ruozhu grabbed the person’s clothes, intending to pull them into a concealed area for questioning. Yet, an imnse sense of danger surged within her.
Instinctively, she pulled Jiang Yichun, and the two quickly entered the Space.
A thunderous explosion erupted behind them, causing her ears to ring painfully and her back to burn fiercely. They had been injured by the blast!
She and Jiang Yichun were involuntarily thrown to the ground, both spewing mouthfuls of blood.
"Ruozhu, are you alright?" Jiang Yichun struggled to get up, nervously inspecting Bai Ruozhu’s injuries. Seeing her back was a ss of flesh and blood, his heart ached until his eyes turned red.
Bai Ruozhu gasped heavily. They had narrowly missed falling into harm’s way. Even if they hadn’t been killed by the blast, they would have been gravely injured and unconscious, left at the rcy of others.
"I’m okay, how about you?" Bai Ruozhu replied laboriously.
"Just an internal injury. I was too careless," Jiang Yichun said guiltily, "Earlier, I felt sothing odd but couldn’t pinpoint it. Now I realize it was their unusual shoes, specially crafted sohow to prevent triggering explosive landmines."
Bai Ruozhu gasped in realization, "So this area might have more landmines. The Quanrong people’s presence doesn’t guarantee safety, only their special shoes prevent the explosions."
"Now even leaving here has beco a problem. The Quanrong people will soon surround us upon hearing the noise, and my father and others might co, putting them at risk," Jiang Yichun’s face turned paler with worry, his internal injuries and anxiety becoming more pronounced.
Though he acted indifferent toward Gao Zhou, deep down he rembered him as the father who once played and flew kites with him in childhood.
Little Dengdeng, hearing the commotion, ran over from the forest and burst into tears upon seeing his parents covered in blood.
"Dad, Mom, how did you get hurt? I don’t want you to die!" Little Dengdeng wailed sorrowfully, wanting to embrace his mother but fearing to hurt her back injury, his small hands froze in midair, evoking sympathy from everyone.
Bai Ruozhu felt guilty for frightening the child and quickly said, "Mom and Dad are fine, we won’t die. We still want to see Dengdeng grow up and marry! Alright, don’t cry anymore; go help Mom and Dad fetch the dicine."
Little Dengdeng pouted, heading towards the cabinet where dicines were stored in the Space, still crying, "I don’t want to get married; I just want to stay with Mom and Dad."
Bai Ruozhu suddenly found it amusing, and the pain on her back seed to ease.
"I’ve made you and the child suffer." Jiang Yichun said sorrowfully, "If I hadn’t killed You ng’s son, perhaps things wouldn’t be this way."
Bai Ruozhu took his hand, saying, "What are you talking about? He intended to harm you then, killing him was justified, and besides, this ss isn’t all because of you. Once Dengdeng helps us apply the dicine, we’ll try to send a signal to Jianqi, telling them not to co here."
"Is there a way to convey the situation clearly?" Jiang Yichun frowned. Simple signals couldn’t describe it all.
"I’ll send a signal indicating we’ve already escaped; then they’ll think we’ve gone to Duanyang City, buying us so ti," Bai Ruozhu stated.
Jiang Yichun pondered and decided it was the better option, better than letting them co here to die.
Soon, Dengdeng brought the dicine bottle, his small hands trembling as he helped apply it to their backs. Bai Ruozhu couldn’t bear to make Little Dengdeng do such things but he insisted, saying, "I want to heal Mom and Dad, I won’t let you suffer more."
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t refuse further, fearing the child would feel worse.
Once the dicine was applied, Bai Ruozhu shakily stood up and told Dengdeng, "Mom and Dad will go out for a bit and be back soon. Wait here obediently for us."
Little Dengdeng kept crying, "Mom and Dad be careful, don’t get hurt again."
To avoid scaring Little Dengdeng further, Bai Ruozhu said, "You and Tutu can go to the forest and pick so Red Fruit, Mom and Dad will need it for healing later."
Little Dengdeng finally listened and went off.
Then Bai Ruozhu opened the "Big Screen," revealing the situation outside. No Quanrong people had co yet; only the corpse of the previously subdued Quanrong person lay there, his bad luck having cost him a leg in the explosion.
Still, only a partial view was visible, not covering all angles, aning danger still lurked outside.
"Later, you’ll send the signal, and I’ll cover you!" Jiang Yichun urged.
"Alright." Bai Ruozhu took out a signal flare.
The next instant, the two reappeared in their original spot, their noses bombarded by the sll of gunpowder from the explosion. Bai Ruozhu quickly released the signal flare, but suddenly a short arrow whizzed toward her.
Jiang Yichun, enduring the pain from his back injury, swung his sword to deflect the dark arrow. Bai Ruozhu imdiately pulled him back into the Space.
Everything happened so quickly that she didn’t get a chance to see who shot the cold arrow.
"Five people have arrived. I wonder if others are hiding," Jiang Yichun clarified her doubts, surprising Bai Ruozhu, "In that split second, you managed to see five people?"
"I trained for this at Tongzheng Office; you must spot individuals swiftly, even if there are dozens," Jiang Yichun explained with a wry smile, "During our earliest days at Tongzheng Office, our main task was reconnaissance, the training emphasized this skill."
"We?" Bai Ruozhu curiously asked, "Are you talking about Senior Fox?"
Jiang Yichun shook his head, "Not him. Actually, Wu Yunfeng treated him relatively well due to his background."
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