Under a large tree with withered branches and leaves, several dead twigs loosely blocked a small cave just big enough for one person. Faint breaths could be heard from inside.
"Ow~" Wolf howls echoed nearby.
The somewhat heavy breathing suddenly stopped.
Even though the person inside the cave held their breath, the wolves still showed up. There were more than one, and they seemed to have smelled the blood. They slowly surrounded the tree, closing in.
Zhao Zongying covered his abdomen where the knife wound had reopened.
Sensing the approaching wolves outside, he twitched the corner of his mouth. In the darkness, his eyes began to lose focus.
He never thought he would end up in the jaws of wild beasts.
At this critical moment, he was surprisingly calm. Memories flashed through his mind like frames of a movie.
When the wolves came into view, the image that froze in his mind was a bowl of porridge.
The plain - looking white porridge contained a few pieces of meat - on - bone, and it tasted surprisingly savory and delicious.
He had eaten many delicacies after leaving the Shadow Camp, but the most vivid memory was of that bowl of savory bone porridge.
"Amang—" A familiar voice suddenly sounded.
Zhao Zongying perked up his ears and listened intently to the commotion outside.
"Miss, there are wolves!" A Hua's loud voice came.
"Aman must be in there. Hurry and drive the wolves away!"
The voice that used to annoy him now sounded unexpectedly pleasant. The urgency in it was like a gentle feather tickling his heart.
Zhao Zongying slowly relaxed his hand that was gripping a twig.
The dead twigs in front of him were removed, and a lantern approached. The light made him squint slightly.
"Miss, the young master is here!!" A Hua's excited voice boomed.
The light dimmed as Zhen Xiaoyu stood in front of the cave like a screen, blocking the light with her plump body.
The next moment, she crouched down and looked at him lying against the cave wall against the light.
A relaxed smile appeared on her chubby face.
"I'm glad we weren't too late." She visibly let out a sigh of relief.
She was really worried about him. Zhao Zongying felt a bit strange at this moment. He couldn't help but say, "Without me, you could easily find another man to be your husband."
Hearing his hoarse voice, Zhen Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment, then shook her head and said, "To me, you're different from others."
"How are you different?" Zhao Zongying wasn't a man who liked to dig deep, but at this moment, he just wanted to know why she had chosen him.
"Miss, it's not safe here. We have to leave quickly." One of the attendants reminded.
Zhen Xiaoyu also heard the wolf howls that hadn't faded away. She didn't have time to answer Amang's question. She quickly told someone to carry Amang on their back and prepared to go home.
Suddenly—
[80 points of killing intent obtained!]
[100 points of killing intent obtained!]
[100 points of killing intent obtained!]
[100 points of killing intent obtained!]
Zhen Xiaoyu was shocked.
What had happened?
Why had she suddenly received so much killing intent?
Was the system malfunctioning?
[The system is operating normally.] The system replied in a cold tone.
Zhen Xiaoyu: Eh, can you hear my thoughts, system?
The system didn't respond again, as if the previous reply had been just her imagination.
"Miss, what are you standing there for? Let's go quickly. The wolves are still watching us!" A Hua's voice brought her back to reality.
Zhen Xiaoyu suppressed her uneasiness and quickly left with everyone.
Thankfully, they returned to the Zhen Mansion safely.
Master Zhen, who had been waiting for them, let out a sigh of relief when he saw Zhen Xiaoyu. Then his eyes scanned the group and lingered on Amang who was being carried on someone's back.
"Yunqian didn't come back with you?" Master Zhen noticed someone was missing.
Zhen Xiaoyu was stunned. "Haven't they come back yet? I left Uncle Dawang to escort her. If there were no accidents, they should have arrived home earlier than us."
So, had an accident happened?
She thought of the sudden killing intent and felt restless.
"Could it be that the men from the mountain stronghold came back and captured Uncle Dawang and the eldest miss?" One of the attendants guessed.
"Mountain stronghold? Did you go to the stronghold behind the stone forest in the north of the mountain?" Master Zhen's expression changed.
"Grandpa, you know about that stronghold too?" Zhen Xiaoyu quickly looked at the old man.
Master Zhen looked serious. "Sweetie, tell grandpa how you found them."
"Grandpa, Amang's wound has reopened. We should call a doctor first." Zhen Xiaoyu said.
Master Zhen helplessly looked at his beloved granddaughter who was still concerned about the "wild man" at this time. He arranged for someone to find a doctor and told the person carrying Amang to take him back to his room.
"Is this okay now?" the old man said lovingly to Zhen Xiaoyu.
Zhen Xiaoyu showed an ingratiating smile and told the whole story of how she had found Zhen Yunqian in the stronghold through some kind of indescribable telepathy.
Of course, she also mentioned that Zhen Yunqian had refused to tell her Amang's whereabouts, so she had asked Uncle Dawang to stay and escort Zhen Yunqian home while she and the others continued to search for Amang through that telepathy.
The reason of telepathy sounded absurd, but no one seemed surprised. After all, Zhen Xiaoyu's search process had been too smooth. Without telepathy, it would have been strange.
Master Zhen was very patient. He waited until she had finished speaking before carefully asking, "Are you sure all the people in the stronghold were imprisoned?"
"We can't rule out the possibility of someone hiding in the dark. That's why I left Uncle Dawang, who has the most experience, to escort Zhen Yunqian back." Zhen Xiaoyu shrugged.
"Sweetie, you must be very tired after searching all night. Go and rest first. Leave the rest to grandpa." Master Zhen reached out and stroked Zhen Xiaoyu's head.
Zhen Xiaoyu yawned. She was really exhausted. Her two thick legs could hardly move.
After watching Zhen Xiaoyu leave, Master Zhen immediately arranged for people to go up the mountain to search.
Zhen Yunqian was, after all, the child brought back by Zhen Dafu. No matter how biased he was, he had to find her.
In the backyard, Zhen Xiaoyu, who should have gone back to her room to rest, turned towards Amang's room.
She had to take this opportunity to make some rules with Amang to prevent him from running away again.
When she got to Amang's room, she saw the doctor bandaging the wound on Amang's waist and abdomen. She walked over. When her eyes fell on the numerous and terrifying scars on his half - naked body, her breath caught in her throat.
How many battles had this god of death gone through to bear such a body full of scars?
It was unimaginable!
"Cough, it's better for a young lady like you to avoid this." The doctor glanced at her in a daze.
"Why should I avoid it? He's my husband." Zhen Xiaoyu replied directly.
The man, who had been closing his eyes, suddenly opened them and looked at Zhen Xiaoyu beside the bed. His calm gaze was made a bit sinister by his hideous appearance.
But Zhen Xiaoyu didn't hear the system's prompt about obtaining killing intent.
That meant that although the god of death looked like he was about to kill someone, he didn't actually have any killing intent towards her in his heart.
She didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.