Chu Lian frowned and stood up to check her surroundings first. She then squatted down and placed the herbs she had just picked into her mouth, chewing them into a paste. She fed half of it to He Changdi and applied the other half to the wound on his neck.
He Sanlang’s brows were tightly furrowed, perhaps due to his sickly condition. Chu Lian touched his forehead a few times and tried to rub away the crease between his brow, but in the end, she could only leave him to it.
Chu Lian went out to search for another hour and finally found a crude cave near a pile of earth. Even though the cave wasn’t big, it was enough for at least a temporary shelter.
It was the start of winter, and to make matters worse, they were in the middle of a mountain forest. They were still fine during the day, but when night fell or if the weather changed, even the healthiest man wouldn’t be able to withstand the bitter cold.
Well, you know what they say- speak of the devil and he shall appear. Just as Chu Lian finished checking around the cave, she poked her head out and heard the telltale pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the canopy above.
Chu Lian cursed at the heavens and hurried back to where she had left He Sanlang.
When she saw that her saviour was still safe under the shade of the pine tree, she heaved a sigh of relief.
Ignoring the rain pelting her face, Chu Lian lifted He Sanlang by the arm and prepared to head towards the cave.
Unfortunately, He Sanlang was taller than Chu Lian by a whole head. He was also a strong, burly military officer with long limbs. How was a weak young lady like Chu Lian supposed to carry him over?
But Chu Lian braved the icy rain anyway and used all the strength she had to heave the heavy weight on her shoulders towards the cave. The physical exertion quickly made her break out into a cold sweat. When she turned back to check, she had only shifted the man less than five metres in total…
When she realised this fact, her remaining energy threatened to seep out of her limbs.
Chu Lian wailed and collapsed on the ground. Without any support, the comatose He Changdi also fell- right on top of her.
Chu Lian wanted to cry from frustration. She stared at the man’s broad shoulders and hit him twice, complaining, “Why do you have to be so big?”
Her complaints were just to vent some frustration. Chu Lian really couldn’t bear to leave her saviour out in the rain, especially not in a random forest in the mountains. He had already been poisoned and was currently comatose. If he really got drenched by this bout of winter rain, he definitely wouldn’t wake up at all.
So, Chu Lian gritted her teeth and climbed up, pushing herself off the dry leaves of the forest floor.
She managed to prop the man up against a nearby tree trunk, and after a moment of thought, she also took off her large cloak and wrapped it around the man.
Although the cloak wouldn’t be able to keep all of the rain off him, she couldn’t let him get battered by it directly.
After Chu Lian finished doing all that, she rubbed her trembling arms and walked deeper into the forest.
This time, it took her an hour before she came back. Right at this time, He Changdi woke up for a short moment. He tugged groggily at the cloth obscuring his vision. His eyelids felt like they were covered in lead, and as he squinted through them, he caught sight of a familiar little figure dragging a crudely fashioned stretcher made from vines behind her.
He wanted to stay awake a little longer, but his body felt like it was on fire. He couldn’t control his mind and quickly fell back into unconsciousness.
Chu Lian didn’t think to check the man’s condition. She placed the crude stretcher next to He Sanlang and rolled him onto it. The rain was getting heavier now, and as Chu Lian looked up at the sky, she knew she would have to hurry. After heaving a hapless sigh, she took up the vines to pull the stretcher and started heading towards the cave she had found.
With the help of the stretcher, it was much easier to shift the man. However, even so, an hour had passed before they managed to reach the entrance of the cave.