Chapter 42: A Maiden's Thoughts

  A bright moon hangs in the sky, its pure light turning the ground into a silver white, as if a layer of frost had been scattered on the earth.

  The mountain road was rugged, but with the help of torches and moonlight, it wasn't difficult to walk. When Wang Xichen arrived at the middle of the mountain, he saw a delicate figure in the distance. Wang Xichen was curious and slowly approached, hearing a faint sobbing sound. Wang Xichen sighed and judged from her physique that it was Fang Huan's daughter, Fang Gu Xue.

  "Who?" The girl turned around cautiously, aiming her bow and arrow at Wang Xichen, who was holding a torch. Looking at Fang Yuxue's appearance, with snowflakes on her hair and rain on her face, Wang Xichen felt a pang of sympathy. He said in a warm voice: "Miss Fang, it's so late and you're a girl alone here, it's not safe at all. Why don't you go back? Don't make your father worry."

  Fang Gu Xue put away his bow and arrow, turned around, and coldly said to Wang Xi Zhen with his back to him: "As expected of a superior, you're indeed overly meddling."

  Wang Xichen worried and took a step forward, speaking in a warm voice: "Be careful behind you, come over here quickly." Fang Gu Xue's heart was filled with sorrow and extreme bias, how could she listen to Wang Xichen's words? She retreated a step, panicked and said: "Don't come over!" The stones under her feet rolled down the mountain cliff.

  Wang Xichen was startled in her heart, and suddenly reached out to grab Fang Guoxue. Fang Guoxue panicked, not expecting Wang Xichen's sudden action, and instinctively struggled with all her might. Suddenly, her foot slipped, and she fell backwards, followed by Wang Xichen, who had been pulled down by the momentum. The torch dropped to the ground, extinguished without a sound. The moonlight continued to illuminate the mountain path, as if nothing had happened at all.

  Wang Xichen and Fang Yuxue did not fall completely, Wang Xichen grasped the rock on the mountain with one hand, and pulled Li Yuxue's arm with the other. Wang Xichen's fingers slowly moved on the rock, his fingernails had already broken, blood flowed freely, ten fingers connected to the heart, Wang Xichen endured the severe pain and grasped the stone firmly.

  Fang Gu's heart was already divided into four parts, and when he saw Wang Xizhen's fingers dripping with fresh blood, his heart ached even more. He said in a low voice, "Let me go, you might still be able to live, don't bother about me anymore."

  Wang Xichen's face sank as he said in a low voice, "How can you be so selfish and weak? Is this how you repay your parents who raised you for many years? Is this how you honor the memory of your deceased mother and brother? This is weakness. Is it not because one person hurt you that you deny everyone else? This is selfishness."

  Fang Gu Xue was stunned for a moment by Wang Xi Zhen's words, and looking at Fang Gu Xue's depressed mood, he softened his heart and said in a warm voice: "I won't abandon you."

  Fang Guo raised her head dazedly, looking at Wang Xizhen with eyes that were still slightly red and a bit bewildered.

  Wang Xichen was just about to give Fang Gu Xue an encouraging look when he suddenly felt his fingers slip and the two of them fell down together.

  After an unknown period of time, Wang Xichen slowly came to, shaking off the splitting headache. He reached back and felt a warm, wet sensation on his hand. Bringing it back in front of him, he looked at the fresh blood on his palm, speechless. In his heart, he thought, 'So much blood, I'll have to replenish my energy when I get back.'

  Looking at Fang Yu Xue who was still unconscious under him, the two were stuck together in an ambiguous posture. Wang Xi Zhen's face turned slightly red with embarrassment, it was very impolite to press down on a girl like this. Just as he was about to move his body away, a sharp pain suddenly came from his body, Wang Xi Zhen broke out in cold sweat and couldn't help but groan.

  Wang Xichen was shocked to find that her legs seemed to have lost all sensation. Wang Xichen's movements startled Fang Guoxue, who frowned and struggled to open his eyes despite the intense pain. He looked at Wang Xichen, who was right in front of him, and felt both ashamed and angry. With a swing of his hand, he slapped Wang Xichen. Fang Guoxue seemed to have used up all his strength and could only stare at Wang Xichen, panting heavily.

  Wang Xichen was beaten by Fang Gu Xue until he was a bit dizzy. He had already lost too much blood and almost fainted. Wang Xichen helplessly said: "It's not that I wanted to be rude to Miss Fang, but my whole body can't move, please don't blame me."

  "Really... really?" Fang Yu Xue felt a little regretful.

  The two fell silent for half a day. Wang Xichen was the first to break the silence, saying: "I don't know if Miss Fang can move, otherwise we will really be trapped here to death."

  Fang Gu Xue just wanted to move, but the severe pain coming from behind her made her eyes well up with tears. Fang Gu Xue shook her head.

  Wang Xichen sighed inwardly and observed the surrounding environment, which was located in a relatively low-lying area. The surroundings were lush with fragrant grass, except for a few protruding rocks. Fortunately, they had fallen into the grass, otherwise they would have died if they had fallen from the mountain. At this time, being unable to move was already considered lucky.

  Fang Gu Xue gazed blankly at the sky, it had been too long since she last carefreely watched the clouds on the horizon and the birds flying freely. Suddenly, Fang Gu Xue felt extremely tired, her eyelids slowly becoming heavy.

  "Wake up quickly, you can't sleep!" Wang Xichen shouted.

  Fang Gu's snow was startled by Wang Xizhen and finally came to his senses, saying weakly: "What are you disturbing me for?"

  "Hurry up and talk to me, I see that your back is heavily injured, I need to give you an emergency bandage." Wang Xichen said urgently.

  "You dare touch me and I'll kill you." Fang Gu Xue said angrily.

  "It's already like this, if you want to kill me, wait until you're done first." Wang Xichen said softly.

  After finishing, he didn't care about Fang Xuegu's fiery eyes, one hand propped up his body, and the other gently turned Fang Xuegu over. A deep wound that could see bone was constantly gushing out blood. Wang Xichen also couldn't care about the etiquette of men and women not being close, and tore off his entire sleeve.

  Gently lifting Fang Gu Xue's shirt, Fang Gu Xue's skin was as white as silk, smooth to the touch. The bright red wound on her back was quite eye-catching. Fortunately, Wang Xi Zhen knew some basic first aid and wrapped a bandage around Fang Gu Xue's body, applying simple pressure to the wound to slow down the heavy bleeding.

  Although Wang Xichen was very careful, he still accidentally touched Fang Gu's body, causing Fang Gu to tremble slightly.

  After bandaging Fang Gu Xue's wound, Wang Xi Zhen was already drenched in sweat. He gently turned Fang Gu Xue's body over and covered him with his shirt.

  "Thank you," said Fang Gu Xue in a soft voice.

  Wang Xichen thought she was teasing her, "Didn't hear clearly, what did you say?"

  Fang Gu Xue: "I said thank you."

  "What did you say?"

  "Ah...!"

  "So tell me, what have you been through and why are you in so much pain?" Although Wang Xichen had learned about Fang Yuexue's past from Fang Qincheng, many painful experiences can only be alleviated by speaking them out.

  Fang Gu Xue's face was deathly pale due to excessive blood loss, and with a sorrowful tone, she said faintly: "I once thought it was fate, but later I realized it was just my one-sided wish. He said he would marry me, give me happiness... I waited foolishly, yearned stupidly, but what I got was brutal mountain bandits. Many people died before my eyes, including my mother and younger brother. I will never forget that day. I hate myself for being so foolish to believe him." Fang Gu Xue's eyes were already brimming with tears.

  Wang Xichen gently hugged Fang Gu Xue and let her cry out thoroughly.

  Wang Xichen also said: "Do you know, my mother was also killed by mountain bandits, and my father raised me up. I didn't know that my father had become a bandit until later, the pain in my heart is unspeakable. It wasn't until I followed Zhao Yun that I truly found happiness. Actually, I have a younger sister, unfortunately she can't come back now, maybe one day after I complete my mission, I'll be able to save her life."

  Wang Xichen also felt a little sad, he was helpless about his sister's affairs, this torture made him unable to face it, and could only choose to escape. Wang Xichen knew that if he didn't become strong, weakness would be seen by others, but today he said all the words in his heart.

  The sun sets in the west, and time has passed unknowingly. Fang Gu Xue is muttering to herself, and Wang Xi Zhen reaches out to touch her forehead, suddenly startling. Fang Gu Xue's severe fever due to excessive blood loss causes Wang Xi Zhen to feel anxious, but his own legs have lost sensation and he cannot move, unable to go find a water source to cool down Fang Gu Xue.

  Wang Xichen gritted her teeth and picked up a relatively sharp stone from beside her, cutting a small wound on her wrist.

  Wang Xicheng placed his wrist against Fang Guoxue's lips, and fresh blood spurted out, flowing into Fang Guoxue's mouth. The bloody smell made Fang Guoxue frown, but soon after drinking the fresh blood, her complexion improved slightly.

  Wang Xichen tore a strip of cloth from his body and tightly bound the artery, holding his wrist above his heart. The massive blood loss made Wang Xichen dizzy, but he told himself that he couldn't die, as he still had many things to take care of.

  Just then, a rustling sound came from afar, and someone nearby complained to the person next to him: "These Song soldiers are like mad dogs, chasing us until we're exhausted. What's the point of killing just a few civilians?"

  "Stop complaining, let's hide in the mountains and wait for the storm to pass, then we'll go back to Western Xia."

  Wang Xichen was shocked, these people were speaking the Western Xia language. He had learned it out of curiosity before and didn't think he would use it today. Wang Xichen leaned his body into the grass, the Western Xia soldiers slowly approached, with over ten people in the group, they were tall and sturdy, with a fierce and ferocious appearance.

  Wang Xichen broke out in a cold sweat, secretly praying that the Western Xia soldiers wouldn't come this way. Perhaps it was heaven's blessing for Wang Xichen, as the Western Xia soldiers went off in another direction. Wang Xichen secretly rejoiced, thinking that if he could return home safely, he would definitely burn two more sticks of incense.

  But what happened next made Wang Xizhen's face turn pale, and all he heard was a Western Xia soldier saying, "I'll go over there to relieve myself, you guys wait for me."

  Another soldier impatiently replied: "Hurry up and go, you have a lot of things to attend to."

  The soldier rushed over in the direction of Wang Xicheng, Wang Xicheng clenched the stone in his hand, no matter what, he had to protect Fang Guoxue.

  The soldier ran over, just about to take advantage of the situation, and saw the two people hugging each other on the ground. He was taken aback for a moment. Wang Xichen used all his strength to throw the stone in his hand at the soldier. The soldier didn't react in time and was hit by the stone on the head. Suddenly, blood burst out, and the Western Xia soldier fell to the ground, covering his wound and screaming in pain.

  More than a dozen Western Xia soldiers from afar heard the commotion and immediately drew their swords and ran over. Wang Xizhen let out a sigh in his heart, this time he was surely doomed to die.

  At this moment, a rain of arrows suddenly arrived, and the Western Xia soldiers who were running over were shot down on horseback. The survivors hastily sought shelter. Hundreds of Song army soldiers rushed up, and the Western Xia soldiers saw that they had no hope of escape and charged forward against the charging soldiers, and soon they were beheaded by the Song army.

  The Song army began to sweep the battlefield, indifferently giving a final blow to the Western Xia soldiers who had been shot by arrows but were not yet dead. A Song soldier walked over and gave a final blow to the Western Xia soldier who had been injured by Wang Xizhen. The Song soldier saw Wang Xizhen and shouted: "General, there are two seriously injured Han people here."

  A burly and powerful general walked over, this person was full of murderous aura, obviously a seasoned military commander. Wang Xizhen saw the man panting heavily and said: "Quick... save her." After finishing speaking, he fainted.

  "What should they do, General?"

  "Of course, move them out, bring people, lift them away, be careful, they look seriously injured." The general said.

  "Yes sir!" Several burly Song soldiers acknowledged the order.