Chapter 406 – Fierce Tiger (1)
Ye Zhen and Mo Rongyi galloped into deeper parts of the forest. They needed to first avoid the assassins, then find another path to leave. The path they had just taken had already been blocked by the assassins.
“Yaoyao, those assassins haven’t followed us.” Mo Rongyi’s little face was a little pale. He was truly terrified. He had never once experienced anything so dangerous in his life.
“Those guards might have stopped them. We should find another road to leave, and find Tang Zhen and the others as soon as possible,” Ye Zhen said quietly, trying to guess the origin of the assassins.
How could there be assassins in the hunting grounds? This place was guarded by the imperial family’s guards. It wasn’t like anyone could come here. When had those assassins hidden in the woods?
The more she thought, the stranger this matter seemed. Even more oddly, none of those assassins had continued chasing them. Even someone with no knowledge of martial arts like her could tell those guards were no match for the assassins. It was impossible that they would be able to completely stop them.
“Yaoyao, it’s really quiet here.” Mo Rongyi anxiously leaned against Ye Zhen. They had already made it down the mountain. Apart from the road up the mountain, they hadn’t found another path. It was so eerily quiet all around that it was a little scary.
Ye Zhen’s eyes closely examined the broken fence before them. That was the fence to the hunting grounds. It had originally separated them from the wilderness behind, but now the fence was broken. The other paths seemed to have been purposefully hidden. They couldn’t find another road, and their surroundings were eerily quiet, without even the sound of insects. Everything seemed strange.
“Sit here and don’t move. I’ll go see if there are other paths.” Ye Zhen quietly ordered, holding her crossbow in her hands, her arrows slung to her waist.
Mo Rongyi immediately followed her down the horse. “I’ll go with you.”
Seeing as he had already dismounted, Ye Zhen didn’t say anything else. “Bring your sword with you.”
They were surrounded by mountains and forest here. There was a little lake before them, and not a single animal around. Ye Zhen reached out to tightly grasp Mo Rongyi’s hand. “A’Yi, it’s odd here. Follow me closely. Don’t worry, if Tang Zhen can’t find us, he’ll certainly come look for us.”
Mo Rongyi stiffened his body and remained still. His face was already ghastly pale from fright, his eyes staring unmovingly before him.
Ye Zhen noticed something amiss, and looked back at him, scared by his expression, “A’Yi, are you all right?”
“Yaoyao, run….” Mo Rongyi’s voice was shaky. He let go of Ye Zhen’s hand and pushed her.
Ye Zhen traced his gaze and was shocked by what she saw.
A strong, beautifully colored tiger walked in from outside the fence. Its steps were slow and graceful, but even so, the two steeds still felt the threat, neighing with fright, and freeing themselves of their ties to the tree, sprinting away.
Suddenly, the tiger roared, and began running, pouncing up to take down a steed, using its sharp teeth to bite at the horse’s neck. Fresh blood spewed out.
Ye Zhen’s breath stopped from fear. She grasped Mo Rongyi’s hand, and while the tiger had yet to discover them, took the chance to grab the reigns of the escaped steed. “A’Yi, hurry and run!”
“Let’s go together!” he said in tears.
“No, if we go together, it will be more dangerous. Go back on the road we came, and maybe you’ll run into Tang Zhen.” There were threats on both sides, but the only thing Ye Zhen could gamble on was that there were already no assassins on their only way out.
“Yaoyao.” He fought back his tears. “If you don’t leave, I won’t either.”
She was about to call him a dummy, before seeing that the tiger had already noticed them, and was walking their way.
“I’ll lead it away. Leave!” The little path was behind the tiger. If she didn’t lead it away, none of them would be able to escape. “Go find Tang Zhen for help. I’ll… I’ll try to keep it at bay.”
Mo Rongyi looked at her. “Yaoyao, then you… have to wait for me to come save you.”
“All right!” Ye Zhen flashed a brilliant smile.
The tiger had already reached them, the horse by Mo Rongyi grew evermore unsteady. Ye Zhen helped Mo Rongyi up the horse and hit the horse’s back with force.
The steed galloped away. The tiger growled, even more domineering. It opened its bloody mouth, a pair of terrifying eyes looking greedily at Mo Rongyi.
Ye Zhen shot an arrow with the crossbow in her hands. The tiger dodged to the side, avoiding it. She quickly attracted its attention. Its sounds of enraged roars shook the area around them.
Mo Rongyi had already escaped onto the little path. She tightly gripped her crossbow as she backed up. Behind her was the forest. She could stall for longer there.
But… Could she wait until her backup arrived?
Mo Rongyi rode, crying uncontrollably. If something happened to Yaoyao, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.
“A’Yi!” Mo Rongzhan’s voice sounded from ahead. He wielded his sword in one hand, racing over on his horse with a cold expression. “Where is Yaoyao?”