allonlinenovel Chapter 132 Encountering a Bear
Chapter 132 Encountering a Bear
The Duke of Chu's family was originally sentenced to be executed along with their entire clan for treason, but thanks to someone's intervention, they were only exiled.
Others assumed that His Majesty was simply remembering past affections, unaware of the complexities involved.
Don't they realize that the Wang family is now the only dominant family in the country? How could they possibly tolerate a Duke's mansion that holds a large army and is extremely prestigious?
"Thank you for your advice, Lord Xie Lu. I will remember it."
Chu Qingyin's expression darkened. For some reason, she felt that Lu Zhiheng's words today were meant to be pointed.
Could there be more to the story of the Duke's mansion being framed?
However, those testimonies were indeed submitted by him. If he hadn't found those framing letters of treason in his brother's room, things would never be like this now.
Lost in thought, Chu Qingyin bumped into the back of the person in front of her. She hissed, rubbed her forehead, and muttered softly, "Lord Lu?"
"Don't speak." Lu Zhiheng drew his soft sword from his waist, instantly becoming alert to any movement around him.
Suddenly, a deep roar came from ahead, startling a flock of birds into flight.
Lu Zhiheng's expression hardened as he saw a huge black bear slowly emerging from the darkness and walking towards them.
Chu Qingyin's face turned deathly pale. She gripped Lu Zhiheng's sleeve tightly, her voice trembling, "Lord Lu, what do we do..."
Lu Zhiheng took a deep breath, shielded Chu Qingyin behind him with one hand, and whispered, "Don't be afraid."
The black bear stared intently at the two of them with its large, bell-like eyes.
Lu Zhiheng's eyes narrowed, and he gripped the soft sword in his hand tightly. Veins bulged on his forehead, and the two of them retreated step by step, wary of the black bear's movements.
Chu Qingyin's heart was in her throat, her eyes grew colder, and she was ready to fight to the death at any moment.
The black bear seemed to realize that they were not aggressive, and let out a series of low roars before suddenly pouncing!
Before it could even get close, Lu Zhiheng had already charged forward with his sword and entangled with it.
Under the bright moonlight, the man moved with incredible speed, dodging the black bear's attacks time and time again. His soft sword grazed the bear's body, leaving only shallow wounds.
Lu Zhiheng's expression grew increasingly solemn. The black bear's hide was so thick that it couldn't be harmed in the slightest.
Annoyed, the black bear grew increasingly agitated, its heavy paws lashing out and whipping up gusts of wind. Lu Zhiheng found it rather difficult to cope.
Unable to dodge in time, he was struck hard on the back, his clothes were torn, blood gushed out, and a deep wound revealed the bone.
"Lord Lu!"
Chu Qingyin's expression hardened, but she was no longer as panicked as before. She quickly took the bow and arrows off her back, seized the opportunity, and shot them fiercely into the black bear's eyes.
At this moment, she no longer needs to hide her talents.
The daughter of a military family, with her true archery skills, wielded an arrow with a sharp, piercing sound as it cut through the wind. In the next moment, the arrow pierced the black bear's pupil.
"Awooo—"
The beast roared in pain, pounded its chest repeatedly, and turned to pounce on Chu Qingyin.
"Run!" Lu Zhiheng shouted through gritted teeth, throwing his soft sword forcefully into the soft flesh of the black bear's neck.
The black bear, severely injured twice, stood still and roared incessantly. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lu Zhiheng endured the pain and rushed out, forcefully pulling the soft sword stuck in the black bear's body. Blood spurted out several feet instantly.
Chu Qingyin's expression darkened, and she nocked another arrow, but this time she aimed it at the black bear instead.
It was Lu Zhiheng.
The man drew his soft sword, retreated, and then charged forward again, striking the black bear in its weak spot!
The black bear was no match for the enemy and slowly collapsed to the ground, revealing an unusually long wound on its neck that extended all the way to its abdomen.
"Lord Lu! Are you alright?"
Chu Qingyin snapped back to reality, tears welling up instantly. She ran forward, whimpering, no longer caring about the pain in her ankle.
Upon seeing the horrifying wounds on his back, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, overwhelmed with mixed emotions. He had just endured excruciating pain to kill the black bear in order to save him...
Including this time, Lu Zhiheng has saved him twice now, but he...
She hurriedly tore a strip of cloth from her skirt to bandage Lu Zhiheng's wound, her hands trembling slightly.
"It's alright."
Lu Zhiheng's face turned ashen. He forced himself to stand up despite the pain. "We can't stay here any longer. Let's leave quickly."
"Please sit down first, I'll bandage you up a bit." Chu Qingyin's voice was tinged with a sob.
Lu Zhiheng shook his head slightly, "No need, let's leave this place first to prevent further danger."
Having said that, he forced himself to walk forward. This was clearly the black bear's territory; the smell of blood on them was too strong, and it was not safe to stay anywhere.
Chu Qingyin quickly followed, the pain in her ankle becoming more and more obvious and dim, but at this moment she was full of worry for Lu Zhiheng and could not care about anything else.
The torches had been extinguished during the fight, so the two could only walk in the dark.
"Lord Lu, we can't keep going like this. We need to find a place to rest first," Chu Qingyin said softly, anxious but helpless.
Lu Zhiheng stopped and looked around, noticing a cave not far away. "Let's go over there."
Bathed in moonlight, a recessed area could be vaguely seen at the foot of the cliff not far away. Chu Qingyin quickly helped him walk over there.
Once inside the cave, Chu Qingyin helped him sit down, limping slightly. She then gathered some dry firewood from the cave, took the tinderbox Lu Zhiheng carried with him, and started a fire.
By the firelight, she looked at Lu Zhiheng's bloody and mangled wound and couldn't help but hiss.
"Lord Lu, your injury is too severe; you need stitches."
Chu Qingyin's worry grew even stronger; the injury was far too severe, and if it wasn't treated soon, it could be fatal.
Lu Zhiheng took out a bottle of wound medicine from his bosom and handed it to her, his voice growing weaker, "Thank you for your trouble, Consort Qiao."
Chu Qingyin took the medicine bottle, pondered for a moment, and finally spoke, "Lord Lu, if you trust me, I can stitch up this laceration for you."
She had gone to the military camp with her brother and learned some life-saving bandaging techniques, but if she did so, her identity might be exposed.
Well, I can't worry about that now.
Lu Zhiheng's face was deathly pale. He must have suffered internal injuries from the bear's paw.
Hearing that the woman before him could stitch up wounds, he endured the pain and said in a hoarse voice, "At this point, what's the point of talking about trust or not? Consort Qiao, please proceed."
"it is good."
Chu Qingyin nodded and added some more firewood to the campfire, making the cave even brighter.
She pulled a hairpin from her hair that held her hair up, removed a thin gold wire from it, and twisted it into the shape of a curved needle.
"It will hurt a little, but you'll have to bear with it."
Chu Qingyin plucked a thick, black hair, and suddenly inserted a needle, piercing through the top of the wound. Blood flowed out, which was particularly gruesome.
Lu Zhiheng groaned, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. His muscles were tense, and his exposed back was covered in cold sweat. Chu Qingyin's hands trembled slightly as she tried her best to calm herself and focus on her movements.
After stitching him up, Chu Qingyin carefully applied wound medicine and bandaged him properly with a strip of cloth.
In short, the bleeding has stopped.
Throughout the entire process, the two remained silent, with only the occasional crackling of the campfire breaking the silence.
After a long while, Lu Zhiheng finally raised his deep, dark eyes and looked steadily at the person in front of him: "Miss Qiao, thank you."