Before long, the rain poured down even harder, the water droplets forming a curtain that made it nearly impossible to see the outside scenery.
Xi Fuhong lay back on the edge of the bed, her mind calculating a plan.
If she wanted to escape, she had to do it soon.
The heavy rain provided a rare opportunity that she couldn’t afford to miss!
She got up and stretched her limbs, trying her best to ignore the chills inside her and the stinging pain on her back.
She tore off a piece of her clothing to bandage her arm, and after catching her breath by the bed for a while, the outside was no longer bright, as dark as night.
Now was the time to leave without being noticed by the Cao Sisters.
With that thought, Xi Fuhong gathered her courage and stepped outside.
The rain soaked her clothes as she stood quietly under the eaves, observing.
The lights flickered in the main house, but no one came out, so she decided to dash down the mountain!
She started running with all her might, sprinting out of the courtyard as fast as she could.
The sound of her footsteps was mostly drowned out by the heavy rain, but there was still a chaotic splashing noise.
Xi Fuhong’s heart tightened, and without looking back, she headed straight for the peach blossom forest.
“Damn it!!
Stop right there!!”
A chaotic shout came from behind, and Xi Fuhong knew it was Cao Er chasing after her.
She dared not stop, not even to catch her breath.
With a push of her legs, she leaped over a large mud pit.
She knew Cao Er couldn’t catch up with her, but Xi Fuhong didn’t let her guard down.
She knew that if she were caught, she wouldn’t survive, so she had to succeed, no room for failure!
The rain was both a blessing and a curse, pouring down as if it were being dumped from the sky, making Xi Fuhong’s body heavy and her vision poor.
Several times she nearly crashed into the peach trees, and even though she managed to dodge them, her hands and feet were cut in many places.
If she weren’t numb to the pain, she would have been rolling on the ground in agony.
Just when Xi Fuhong thought she had shaken off Cao Er, a sudden shout came from behind: “Stop!
You’re going to die!!”
The words “stop” Xi Fuhong could understand, but “you’re going to die” was…
“Fool!!
There’s a cliff ahead!!”
Listening to the rain, Xi Fuhong remembered that her grandmother used to love listening to the rain.
That poetic and artistic interest was something Xi Fuhong once longed for, hoping to experience it when she grew up.
But now, she hated it.
How could the sound in her ears be called rain?
The rain mixed with dirt and stones pounded on her, making her feel like her whole body was falling apart.
The only thing she could be thankful for was that she wasn’t dead…
oh, and that she had regained her senses.
“…Ugh…” She twisted her neck, groaning in pain.
At this moment, she was in a very dangerous situation, having fallen from the cliff and been caught by a tree trunk in mid-air.
Above her was a steep, loose cliff, and below was a dark, bottomless gorge.
Sometimes she didn’t know if she was lucky or unlucky, being stuck in this in-between place.
What should she do?
The rain was no longer pouring, just a fine drizzle hitting her cheeks.
Xi Fuhong lay on the tree, resting.
After taking two pills and running for her life, she had no strength left to plan her next move.
She closed her eyes, memories of the peaceful times in Wu Feng Valley surfacing in her mind, making her long for that beauty.
All she wanted was to find her grandmother and return to the valley to live, to go up Li Jiang Mountain and tell Sister Cui’s father about her…
Why was it so difficult?
But what good was sighing?
Xi Fuhong knew that self-pity wouldn’t help.
Her experience in farming taught her that if you wanted radishes to grow big, it wasn’t enough to just coax them.
Besides turning the soil, fertilizing, and pest control, you had to water them daily.
She thought that finding her grandmother and going to Li Jiang Mountain would be the same.
Isn’t there a saying…
“Without enduring the cold to the bone, how can the plum blossoms smell so sweet?”
Yes!
That’s it!
She got up and moved her arms, seeing the clouds retreat.
She seized the moment to descend the valley, knowing that if another storm came, she wouldn’t be able to hang on the tree safely.
Carefully slowing her movements, she moved her legs towards the edge of the cliff, her hands steady on the rock face, her legs stepping on the protruding rocks, holding her breath and focusing as she began to climb down.
The rain-washed rock face should have been too slippery to hold onto, but Xi Fuhong didn’t slip and fall.
However, it took her a great deal of effort, over two hours, to safely reach the bottom of the cliff.
Fortunately, there wasn’t a lake at the bottom, or she would have had no place to stay.
So when she reached the valley floor, the first thing she did was kneel, raise her hands, and prostrate herself in gratitude to the heavens for sparing her life.
After thanking the heavens, Xi Fuhong walked along the rocky path at the bottom of the valley, finally hearing the sound of a stream between the cliffs, bringing joy to her heart.
By now, it was late, and she could vaguely see the shimmering light of water ahead.
She knew the water source was just ahead, and she stumbled forward.
Just five feet away, her foot suddenly caught on something, and she fell flat on her back, clutching her nose in pain as she struggled to sit up.
She thought it was a vine or a piece of wood that had tripped her, but when she turned around, she saw a human face.
Startled, Xi Fuhong scrambled back several steps.
When she looked closely, it was indeed a person, and a woman at that!
In the cold moonlight, the woman lay in the grass with her eyes closed, her long eyelashes casting slender shadows in the moonlight.
Her hair was neatly tied with a jade crown at the back of her head, with only a few strands drifting by her neck.
Her lips were lightly pursed, lacking the rosy hue a woman should have, instead appearing slightly purple as if from hypothermia.
Xi Fuhong approached to check her breathing and found that the woman was still alive.
She worried that the woman, lying in grass as tall as her calves, might become prey to snakes, so she decided to move her to a safer place first.
With that thought, Xi Fuhong moved forward.
Unexpectedly, the woman’s body, though tall, was surprisingly light, as if Xi Fuhong were carrying a skeleton.
It didn’t take much effort or time for her to lay the woman safely by the riverbank.
After settling the woman, Xi Fuhong turned to the clear stream, immediately cupping her hands to drink a few mouthfuls.
The bitterness in her mouth quickly dissipated, and she bent down to wash the dirt from her face, tidying her hair, which was as messy as chicken feathers.
After a few adjustments, she finally looked human again.
“…Ugh…”
A weak groan came from behind, and Xi Fuhong turned to see that the unconscious woman seemed to be waking up, so she immediately went over.
“You’re awake?”
she asked tentatively, seeing no response from the woman.
“I saw you lying in the grass and was afraid you’d get bitten by a snake, so I brought you over here.”
“Thank you.”
The woman’s voice was very gentle, neither high-pitched nor hoarse, like a spring breeze, making one feel comfortable.
“No need to thank me, I didn’t do much.”
Xi Fuhong awkwardly waved her hand, shaking her head.
She watched as the woman struggled to sit up, then crossed her legs and placed her hands on her lap, looking just like the illustrations of meditation she had seen in her little books.
Xi Fuhong didn’t understand the purpose of this posture, only thinking that the woman was injured and couldn’t go down to the water, so she thoughtfully fetched a leaf to hold some water and handed it to her.
“Have some water.”
Xi Fuhong stood in front of the woman, offering the leaf in her hands.
The woman hesitated for a moment before reaching out to take it.
“Thank you for your kindness, miss.”
Xi Fuhong had never met someone so polite, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
She watched the woman drink the water slowly and sat down to observe her.
From the beginning, she noticed that the woman’s eyes had never opened, not even while sitting and drinking water.
Xi Fuhong couldn’t help but ask, “…What’s wrong with your eyes?”
The woman wasn’t offended, just shook her head and smiled.
“It’s nothing, just a little injury.”
Injured?
Find a doctor, this thought flashed through Xi Fuhong’s mind, but she immediately dismissed it.
Find a doctor?
Divine Doctor Xue?
Thinking of her gentle yet charming demeanor that made Mu Er scold her, she felt her whole body…
