The barbarian's blade struck fast, piercing Xia Xun's chest in the blink of an eye, and he could even feel the chill on the blade.
Yuzhu jumped out from behind, swooped up, and bit the barbarian's wrist.
The man threw it hard, and the brown Fushi dog was thrown high. If it landed like this, its sternum would definitely be broken.
He was an old sick dog, and he couldn't stand the fall.
Xia Xun saw nothing else in her eyes, and rushed towards the place where Yuzhu fell desperately.
He caught Yuzhu steadily, but exposed his back to the barbarian sword.
Before he could turn around, the man had already chased after him with a knife in his hand. He only needed to send the dagger down to pierce Xia Xun's heart.
Qi Yan's exclamation reached Xia Xun's ears:
"Xia Xun?! Where are you?? Xia Xun—?!"
His voice came from the courtyard, full of panic, he must have seen a terrible scene.
Xia Xun suddenly thought that since he yelled several times and no one responded, something must have happened in the mansion.
Qi Yan's exclamation interrupted Hu Ren's movements, he stopped abruptly, and held the knife backwards in front of his chest.
Qi Yan walked quickly and came to the door in the blink of an eye.
He kicked open the door, anxiously looking for Xia Xun's figure.
The barbarians immediately gave up attacking Xia Xun and turned to attack him.
Qi Yan drew out his saber and fought several moves with him.
After a short fight, the Hu people realized that Qi Yan's skills were not inferior to his.
Without the slightest bit of nostalgia, he feinted his gun and used a trick to draw Qi Yan's attention away. Taking advantage of his unpreparedness, he jumped out of the window and disappeared into the vast night within a few breaths.
Qi Yan didn't go after her, he quickly stepped forward and helped Xia Xun up from the ground.
Xia Xun was still in shock, holding on to Yuzhu tightly.
At this time, Qi Hui rushed in with someone.
Qi Yan was wearing pajamas and her hair was half up, so she should have already rested.
For some reason, he came so fast, and he discovered the abnormality in Xia Xun's courtyard before the guards.
Xia Xun looked outside the house, and saw that the servants fell to the ground in disorder, and Zhigui was lying beside the door.
They had no obvious trauma, and they should have been fascinated by drugs.
Xia Xun couldn't calm down for a long time, her hand holding Yuzhu kept shaking.
Qi Yan pulled his shoulders and watched him carefully from beginning to end.
Seeing that Xia Xun was holding a piece of cloth in his hand, he asked anxiously:
"You are hurt?!"
Xia Xun's hand trembled, and the piece of cloth fluttered to the ground.
He took a breath and whispered, "...no."
Qi Yan picked up the cloth:
"Is this torn from the assassin?"
Xia Xun shook her head: "No, it's on my belt."
Qi Yan asked:
"He cut it off? Did he attack you? Have you seen his face?"
Xia Xun collected herself and said:
"He was covered. I couldn't see his face clearly, but I saw his eyes and hair. He is a barbarian."
Qi Hui took a deep breath and said quickly:
"My lord, it seems that he really belongs to the Duke of Chen! There are rumors that the Duke of Chen secretly feeds the barbarians and specializes in assassination!"
Qi Yan didn't answer, he pressed Xia Xun's shoulder, very scared:
"That barbarian is very skilled in martial arts, if I come one step later, the consequences—"
Xia Xun didn't make a sound.
He knew that the Hu people came for Qi Yan.
He lived in the main room of the Qi Mansion, that person must have thought that the person sleeping in the room was Qi Yan, after entering the room, he found something wrong, so he used the night pearl to identify the facial features of the person in the room.
But why did he pick up the cloth that Xia Xun dropped? Why did Xia Xun go with him? Was it him who hid the note
Xia Xun was at a loss as if falling into the clouds.
Outside the house, the servants are cleaning up the mess, and the unconscious servant has not yet woken up.
Qi Yan paced back and forth in the room, trying to find the marks left by the barbarians.
Yuzhu stood on the ground, clinging to Xia Xun's legs, trembling all over.
Xia Xun thought it was scared, so she knelt down and stroked its fur, trying to calm it down.
Its heart was beating fast, and its breathing was getting thicker and louder, as if all the strength in its body was used to breathe.
Its exposed gums were pale, and it stared blankly ahead with straight eyes.
Xia Xun's heart sank suddenly.
"Jade beads?"
He called it's name and wanted to hug it.
Before he could use any force, Yuzhu's neck suddenly stretched forward, her whole body froze, and she fell to the ground straight, her tongue fell out from the corner of her mouth.
"Jade beads?!"
Xia Xun gasped in surprise.
He had heard it said that a dog would not fall if it had not been excruciatingly painful.
Xia Xun rubbed its head vigorously and kept calling its name.
It was limp like a pool of mud, and its whole body was twitching violently.
Qi Hui ran out to find the doctor, Xia Xun squatted beside Yuzhu, anxious and at a loss.
Qi Yan immediately pulled out the hairpin from her head, put it into Yuzhu's mouth and let it bite, so that it would not bite off its tongue due to convulsions.
Xia Xun kept his hand on it all the time, and he could clearly feel that the heartbeat under his palm was getting slower and slower.
Xia Xun paled in panic, and couldn't care less, she asked Qi Yan for help:
"Its heart is about to stop beating!"
Qi Yan was calm and composed.
"I come."
He knelt aside, put his hands on Yuzhu's heart, and kept pressing up and down.
Xia Xun was bewildered, and asked in a panic:
"Is this really useful??"
Qi Yan's subordinates kept moving:
"The last time it got sick, I was the one who rescued it."
He was concentrating on it and kept pressing hard. Beads of sweat dripped down from his forehead one after another. He didn't care to wipe it off, and let the sweat flow into his eyes, causing pain in the eye sockets.
Yuzhu's heartbeat was suspended by a thread, until the doctor arrived in a hurry.
The doctor was quite familiar with Yuzhu's illness, so he threw off a roll of cloth, pulled out the silver needle wrapped in the cloth, and quickly inserted it into several big acupuncture points of Yuzhu.
After the silver needle was inserted into the body, Yuzhu's convulsions were quickly relieved.
Its heartbeat slowly came back, its breathing gradually stabilized, and its nose returned to its color.
After a while, its consciousness has been restored.
It opened its eyes, smacked its lips, spat out the hairpin that was stuck in its mouth, and stood up unsteadily with silver needles all over its body.
Qi Yan let out a long sigh of relief.
It was only then that Xia Xun noticed that this doctor was the one who healed Qi Yan's heart disease.
After Yuzhu's condition gradually stabilized, the doctor withdrew the needle and did not give it any other treatment.
Xia Xun was worried and asked:
"How can Yuzhu be cured?"
The doctor shook his head:
"It's too old, you have to be prepared, my lord. It won't have much time. It may last for two or three days, or it may last for a few months. No one can say for sure."
Xia Xun was full of bitterness and melancholy.
Qi Yan stood up, wiped off the sweat from his forehead, asked his servants to fetch money, gave the doctor a large reward, and asked Qi Hui to personally send him back to the clinic.
Xia Xun sat on the ground blankly, and Yuzhu licked his hand with her wet tongue.
It was so happy that it didn't remember what happened just now.
Qi Yan could not bear it:
"Get up, the ground is cold."
He wanted to help Xia Xun, but he avoided him.
Yuzhu was full of hostility towards Qi Yan, and as soon as she saw him approaching, she immediately barked and growled, not grateful for his life-saving grace at all.
Qi Yan took two steps back.
Yuzhu stared at him warily.
After a while, seeing that Qi Yan didn't move, it slowly relaxed its guard and lay down on Xia Xun's lap.
Xia caressed its head, and it stared at him with innocent eyes.
Xia Xun touched its ears, hugged it off her lap, and stood up propped up.
Yuzhu looked at him inexplicably, and wagged her tail at him.
Qi Yan watched Xia Xun's every move, very worried.
Xia Xun said to him:
"Have you nothing else to do?"
Qi Yan's face darkened, and said:
"Then... I'll go first, you have a good rest, you don't have to worry about the outside affairs, I will take care of it."
He walked outside the door, still worried about Xia Xun, and looked back at him several times.
Xia Xun was indifferent, standing in the dim candlelight, motionless, like a stone statue.
Qi Yan secretly sighed, closed the door, and left with a full heart.
The night passed on their backs, the mess in the courtyard had been cleaned up, Zhigui hadn't woken up yet, and was sleeping in the wing room where the servants lived.
Xia Xun walked to the bed and sat down stiffly, her mind still in chaos.
Yuzhu jumped up on the bed, found a place among the quilts, and lay down in a ball.
It was so sleepy that its eyes were blurred, and it still refused to close it, wanting to stare at Xia Xun.
Even if the room is dimly lit, Xia Xun can still see that its pupils are covered with white shadows, which is a common eye disease for old dogs.
It may have long lost sight, so it is no longer as alert as it was when it was a child.
But when it sensed the danger, it still went forward bravely, throwing away life and death, and rushed to save him against the blade.
Yuzhu blinked, and after confirming that Xia Xun would not leave, she gradually fell asleep.
Xia Xun didn't feel sleepy at all, staring at the candlelight for a long time.
—He tried to bring himself to accept the fact.
Yuzhu spent a carefree life in the Qi Mansion, unlike its owner, it has not suffered, and it has lived a long life at this age, even if it passes away tonight, there is nothing to regret.
Xia Xun lay gently beside Yuzhu, listened to its heavy breathing, and murmured to herself:
"There's nothing I can do about it... I can't do anything..."
He put his hand on Yuzhu's soft belly and slowly fell asleep.
On the second day, Xia Xun found that many guards had been added to the mansion.
After what happened last night, Qi Yan stepped up his defenses.
He even sent Qi Hui to Xia Xun's side, his closest attendant, who is now standing outside Xia Xun's room.
The sun shone on the surface of the lake, and the shimmering light reflected on the handle of his knife, making Xia Xun unable to open his eyes.
Qi Hui saluted him, but he pretended not to see it.
After breakfast, Yuzhu woke up from her lethargy.
Zhigui brought its food plate, and the meat inside was specially prepared for it.
Its teeth are not very good, and it can't chew things that are too hard, and the meat is chopped into fine meat paste.
It smelled it, but didn't move a mouthful, didn't even lick it.
It can't eat anymore.
Xia Xun's heart skipped a beat, he remembered what the doctor said last night.
After a while, he asked softly:
"... Yuzhu, what else do you want to do?"
Yuzhu moved her ears, looked at him sideways, as if she really understood, tilted her head to think for a moment, stood up and walked outside the house.
Walking halfway, he looked back at Xia Xun, as if signaling him to follow.
Xia Xun got up, followed it, and walked into the courtyard.
Yuzhu walked out the door without hesitation, and walked northeast.
Going around the curved corridor, you came to the wall of Qi Mansion, which is the place where Xia Xun used to climb over the wall.
A few days ago, he dug out from there to find He Cong.
Now, a new part of the once low wall has been added, and the flowering tree beside the wall that can be used for strength has also been cut into a short tree.
Now that I want to climb over the wall and get out, I'm afraid I can't do it.
With the lesson learned from the past, Zhi Gui never dared to leave Xia Xun's side, and followed behind him not too far or too close.
Even the newly added guards around would often look at him pretendingly or unintentionally, and then quickly look away, obviously all attention was on him, but they had to pretend to be indifferent.
The destination of Yuzhu is not the wall, but the grass in the corner.
It used its two front paws to plan the soil on the grass in turn, and soon dug a hole, exposing the root of the wall.
Xia Xun thought it had buried something underneath, so she knelt down to search for it.
When it saw the bottom of the wall, it immediately gave up digging the soil, and moved its nose to the wall to sniff back and forth.
"What's on the wall?"
Xia Xun gently touched it with her hand, and the plaster on the wall fell off one after another, exposing the inner wall.
There should have been a hole here, but it was repaired later, but the traces are still left on the wall.
Yuzhu kept digging out the wall with her claws, trying to dig out the hole again.
Xia Xun suddenly woke up.
Qi Hui said that after the Xia family's accident, Yuzhu entered the Qi mansion through the dog's hole.
This location is probably the dog hole back then.
——And on the other side of the cave is the Xia family.
Yuzhu has lived in Qi Mansion for seven years, but she never considers it her home.
At this moment, relying on instinct, it feels that the end is approaching.
It wants Xia Xun to take it home, to the place where they first met.