Struggling to open her eyes, Zhao Pei saw a dark sky. There was a clamoring pain in her body, attacking her head from all directions. Every time she took a breath, her chest would ache, which was very uncomfortable.
In fact, she still doesn't know what happened, she only remembers some fragments. Her horse went crazy, Xiao Tong grabbed her and rolled down the hill, and then... .. she lay here. Oh, where is Xiao Tong? !
He started and tried to sit up, but found that he had no strength at all.
"Xiao Tong..." He yelled, but it was like sobbing and he couldn't hear it clearly. "Xiao..." He was afraid that he had fallen to the bottom of the valley. Fortunately, he was still alive, but what about him? Zhao Pei panicked and turned her head to look around with difficulty. "Xiao Tong..."
I called out several times but got no response. My heart immediately became confused and tears kept flowing out.
"Hmm..." A faint sound of blood came into her ears. Zhao Pei was startled and quickly searched around carefully: "Xiao Tong! Xiao Tong!" Finally, she saw Xiao Tong lying on the side about seven or eight steps away from her. He was lying on the ground with his eyes closed. His white shirt was stained red with blood. Zhao Pei was frightened and didn't care about anything else. She crawled towards him desperately, digging her way to him. It was just seven or eight steps, but she felt like she had been crawling for more than half an hour.
"Xiao Tong..." After his eyelashes fluttered for a while, Zhao Pei called his name with the last bit of her strength and fell into a darkness with a sweet and fishy smell.
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It seemed like she had returned to a long time ago, when she was lying under her brother's desk flipping through an old book, raising clouds of dust. The dust was flying wildly in the sun, getting into her nose and causing her to sneeze. He Ruhua carried Zhao Li to the backyard, set up a clay pot and burned weeds. The dry wood was burnt with a crackling sound, and sparks flew out, almost burning the backyard.
Later, she met some people she would never forget in her life. That night, the lights were as bright as day, she recognized the wrong person but formed a bond with him. When the fireworks were blooming all over the sky, she saw his clear self as the moonlight, and from that moment on, she lost herself. The candlelight was flickering, casting a gentle halo on his cheeks. Everything seemed so warm and peaceful, but his words chilled her heart.
My chest hurts...
Faintly she could hear the sound of rain. She stood in the rain all night. At dawn she dragged her cold body back to her room and waited for the young monk to knock on the door. She knelt in front of the hall all night, feeling hungry and cold.
She shivered all over, feeling so cold... It was as if she had fallen into an ice cellar, her whole body was falling continuously, with ghosts surrounding her and shouting everywhere.
Zhao Pei frowned and struggled, vaguely seeing the gentle face under the soft firelight. She reached out to grab it, but couldn't. This damn dream.
It was already late when Xiao Tong woke up. He had only a bruise on his back and nothing else. He thought that they would not be found before the hunt was over, and it seemed that it was going to rain. Fearing that there was no place to hide at night, he quickly dragged Zhao Pei to find a small cave and picked up some dry firewood, which should be useful.
It was late at night, the rain was still falling outside, and the cold wind was blowing in. The face of the unconscious woman was red, and there were several bloody cuts on her legs and shoulders. Xiao Tong had no choice but to tear off his clothes to bandage her, only to find that her whole body was burning hot.
He added more firewood, which made a crackling sound, and the small cave seemed to be warmer. He stared at the huddled, sleepy woman and sighed. She looked very smart, but she was stupid at the critical moment. Fortunately, he was with her today, otherwise we wouldn't even be able to find her body. The horse seemed to be crazy. Maybe someone had drugged it, and the target was her? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shudder. After all, she was inexperienced. How would she face the bloody storm when she entered the palace? Could the seventh brother protect her
"Cold..." Zhao Pei murmured with a frown.
Xiao Tong came back to his senses from his reverie and took a few steps closer to touch her forehead. It was still burning hot, and the wound must have become inflamed. However, with the continuous rain outside and the terrain he was not familiar with, he didn't know if there were any herbs. But even if there were, it would be useless.
Zhao Pei saw his swaying figure in a daze, and suddenly opened her eyes wide. Xiao Tong smiled and looked at her: "Are you awake?"
Zhao Pei stared at him, making sure it wasn't an illusion. "Brother Xiao... Is it really you?"
"Yes, it's me." The flickering firelight illuminated half of his face, and he couldn't see his expression clearly against the light. "How do you feel?"
"Where is this?" Zhao Pei looked around. It seemed to be a cave and it was raining outside.
"It's about four miles away from the hunting grounds in the valley." Xiao Tong said helplessly: "The situation is not good now. I'm afraid we can only go out when the weather clears up tomorrow."
"Are you injured?" Zhao Pei thought of the blood on his body, but now his outer robe was gone, and he was only wearing a Yuanqing inner garment. Zhao Pei blushed, but looking at his pale face, she was more worried about his injury.
"I'm fine." Xiao Tong smiled.
"You're lying." Zhao Pei retorted, but her voice was very low, as if she was talking to herself.
"It's really okay." Seeing her heart tremble like this, Xiao Tong smiled bitterly, helped her half sit up and rubbed her head, "Silly girl. Look at yourself." The action was so intimate that Zhao Pei shuddered all over. Xiao Tong also realized his impoliteness and smiled awkwardly.
Zhao Pei lowered her head and saw her right leg was exposed, wrapped in white cloth, blood still seeping out. Her face flushed, and she was so embarrassed that she wanted to find something to cover it, but there was nothing around her. Then she felt pain and screamed.
As she was calling out, she saw Xiao Tong taking off his undershirt and wrapping her up. Zhao Pei was startled to see him dressed like this, with only a dark undershirt on, the collar slightly open, revealing the lower half of his collarbone. Her face was so red that blood could drip out.
Xiao Tong was also very embarrassed at the moment, and he explained, "You have a high fever, you can't catch a cold again." Zhao Pei nodded and tightened her arms. Xiao Tong sat down not far from her, and there was silence for a while, no one spoke.
Zhao Pei curled up in a corner, watching Xiao Tong squatting beside the fire and adding firewood. Her eyes were a little blurry, and she felt like she was dreaming. She and he, just the two of them, in a small space, for the whole night...
She was shivering all over, feeling extremely cold. The wound was itchy and painful, so she reached out to lift her clothes, biting her lip and not saying anything, fearing that it might be... inflamed.
Xiao Tong came over after adding more fuel to the fire. Seeing her shaking violently and frowning tightly, he murmured, "This won't do. If it keeps burning like this, it will... Zhao Pei, wait for me here, I'll go find someone." Zhao Pei quickly held him back. She had no strength to speak, so she could only shake her head vigorously. Are you kidding? Who are you looking for in this deep forest? It rained again at night, and going out alone was like a clay Buddha crossing a river.
He thought for a long time, and finally sighed. He said slowly: "I... offended."
Before Zhao Pei understood what he meant, she fell into a warm embrace. She was slightly stunned, and when she looked up at him, she bumped into his chin. His unique and extremely light osmanthus fragrance lingered around her, on her fingertips and the ends of her hair.
He seemed to want to stop her from shivering, so he hugged her tighter and asked, "Are you still cold?" In fact, even the remaining body temperature of Xiao Tong could not warm her up, but Zhao Pei was so happy that she couldn't stop crying. She huddled in his chest, listening to his strong heartbeat and letting his breath surround her, just like she had imagined more than once.
So happy. So happy that she almost died. Zhao Pei couldn't help shedding tears, murmuring, "It's not cold anymore. It's warm."
He felt his chest getting wet, looked at her deeply, and turned his head away. "I just hope that the fight can stop sooner, so they can find us sooner."
Later, later... She kept repeating to herself, but she shuddered again and felt her consciousness gradually blurring out. She wanted to sleep...
Zhao Pei leaned in his arms, intoxicated by the unreal reality. She thought, if there hadn't been this chance encounter and this fall off the cliff, then everything now was just her fantasy.
"Brother, are those all true?" Zhao Pei asked him nervously.
"Huh?" The question without any warning made Xiao Tong unable to react at once.
Zhao Pei took a deep breath and looked up at him with difficulty, seeing herself with unusually red cheeks in his eyes: "Sixth brother told me... He told me that you compromised with him, and that the portrait that Sixth brother gave me for my coming-of-age ceremony was actually painted by you. Is... true?" She looked at him with infinite expectation and uneasiness, and her watery eyes were a little blurred.
Xiao Tong's whole body stiffened, and his arms became a little weaker. He turned away from her and just stared at the rain that had not yet subsided.
Zhao Pei was afraid that he would say something hurtful again, so she struggled to sit up from Xiao Tong's arms and held his shoulders, saying tremblingly: "Please, tell me if it's true. I just want to know the truth, maybe I won't live to see the dawn. I just don't want to have any regrets, even if it is... I want to hear it from your own mouth."
Xiao Tong felt a pain in his heart and turned back to look at her. At this moment, her clothes were disheveled and her expression was dazed. She no longer had the charm she had before. She stared at him like that and refused to let go, as if it was the last bet.
After staring at each other for a long time, he opened his mouth and said in a very light but firm voice: "This is true." (To be continued)