The rain drops falling on her head were blocked. Mo Zhizhang came to Jiang Mian's side with an umbrella in hand. But she didn't even have the time to thank him, her eyes fixed firmly on the mountain path ahead.
"Woof, woof, woof!"
The barking of dogs grew clearer, followed by human voices.
"It's getting dark. The mountain path is slippery. You must be careful not to fall."
"Carry it steadily. Don't jolt His Highness..."
There were still people!
Jiang Mian lifted her skirt and quickened her pace. Turning a bend, she indeed saw, in the dim twilight, many people coming up the mountain. And in front of and beside the crowd, there were many dogs.
Leading the way was a yellow dog with wet, golden fur all over.
It tilted its head slightly, its four paws stepping firmly on the ground. Even the rain couldn't dampen its valiant and high - spirited momentum.
The other dogs clustered behind it. The yellow, black and white mottled mongrel and the curly - haired dog with long limbs were all old friends that Jiang Mian had seen and fed countless times in Dongli Town.
Jiang Mian's eyes instantly welled up with tears. She shouted loudly, "Dahuang!"
The yellow dog stopped in its tracks, looked towards her, and its tail behind couldn't help wagging violently. It started running towards her on all fours. At first, it was a bit cautious, but with each step getting bigger, in the end, it almost threw itself into her arms.
Jiang Mian hugged the wet yellow dog tightly, rubbed its head hard with her hand, and said choking, "Dahuang, you're finally back. You scared me to death."
The other dogs also surrounded Jiang Mian, barking at her by her side.
Mo Zhizhang wasn't seeing for the first time how the dogs showed their affection towards Jiang Mian. Seeing it again this time, he couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
This junior niece of his was not only liked by people, but even the dogs were very friendly to her.
Zhao Hu was among the crowd. Hearing Jiang Mian's voice, he immediately stepped forward excitedly and shouted, "B - Big sister - in - law!"
Jiang Mian recognized Zhao Hu's face. Her heart skipped a beat. She didn't have the time to correct his address. She let go of Dahuang, stood up and asked, "Where's the Crown Prince?"
Zhao Hu's face stiffened. For a moment, he didn't know how to answer.
Behind Jiang Mian, Xiao Wuchen also rushed over with his guards.
"Zhao Hu, where's my elder brother?" Xiao Wuchen also asked.
Jiang Mian pressed urgently, "Speak!"
The yellow dog beside her couldn't help but turn its head to look at her.
Zhao Hu knelt down with a thud in front of Xiao Wuchen. "Your Highness the Crown Prince, His Highness he—"
Choked with sobs, he got stuck halfway through his words and looked extremely sad.
Behind them, four men carried a wooden board covered with tarpaulin forward and placed it in front of Xiao Wuchen and Jiang Mian. Others sobbed and said, "The Crown Prince, His Highness the Crown Prince is so pitiful."
Looking at the wooden board covered with tarpaulin in front of her, a sense of foreboding instantly enveloped Jiang Mian. She felt as if all the blood in her body had frozen, and her fingers couldn't help trembling.
Could this be...
Someone lifted a corner of the tarpaulin in front of Jiang Mian and Xiao Wuchen. Xiao Jingcheng's face appeared.
However, the man who had been calm and in command at night was now lying with his eyes tightly closed, blood still on his face, looking as if... as if he were dead.
Jiang Mian felt weak in the knees. She gritted her teeth hard and clenched her fists tightly to barely hold herself up and not fall.
How could this be?
Didn't Taoist Yuanzheng say that he was blessed with purple qi and could turn bad luck into good fortune?
Could it be that even he couldn't withstand this natural disaster?
Xiao Wuchen also felt a sudden wave of sorrow in his heart for no reason.
Although he and Xiao Jingcheng hadn't been very close before, they were after all brothers with the same blood. This time, the two of them had cooperated seamlessly to relocate the people in Dongli Town. Xiao Jingcheng hadn't suppressed his talent like Xiao Yixuan did. Instead, he had entrusted him with important tasks, which showed that he trusted him sincerely, believing that he could handle everything well.
He had just started to develop a feeling of near - admiration and respect for this elder brother, but now, were they going to be separated by death?
Only Mo Zhizhang's face remained unmoved. He just looked at all this indifferently, as if this matter had nothing to do with him.
The yellow dog got impatient. It rushed in front of Zhao Hu and slapped him hard with its paw. Zhao Hu almost got knocked down. Wiping the water off his face and seeing the expressions of Jiang Mian and Xiao Wuchen, he realized that he had made them misunderstand. He continued,
"Your Highnesses, His Highness the Crown Prince is still alive!"
Xiao Wuchen's heart was still filled with grief. Hearing Zhao Hu's words, he instantly got angry. "If the Crown Prince is still alive, why are you kneeling and crying?!"
Jiang Mian directly pushed Zhao Hu aside. She almost threw herself on the wooden board, grabbed the man's hand, and placed her fingers on his pulse.
The pulse, though weak, was still steady. And the skin on his fingertips was warm, which meant that Xiao Jingcheng was currently out of danger.
Jiang Mian then looked at his face. She first checked his breath. There was air.
Zhao Hu was right. He was indeed still alive!
However, no matter how she tried, his eyes remained closed and didn't even blink.
Something nudged her elbow. Jiang Mian turned her head and saw Dahuang nudge her with its snout. Then it walked around to the back of Xiao Jingcheng's head and barked at her.
Jiang Mian immediately understood. She held the man's cheeks with both hands and checked left and right in the remaining twilight. Sure enough, she found the problem.
There was a wound at the back of his head, and a large lump had swollen up nearby. Due to the rain, the wound was still oozing blood.
By her side, Zhao Hu was explaining the situation to Xiao Wuchen. "Last night, His Highness the Crown Prince led us to search for those who refused to leave in the town. After finally bringing out the last two people, it was time for us to leave."
"But just as we left Dongli Town, His Highness said that the water was rising too fast and the situation seemed wrong. He then led us and several boats to the villages downstream. Some of the villages had already evacuated in a hurry when they found the flood. Only the villagers in Xiaofang Village didn't have time to evacuate, and many people were trapped on the rooftops."
"His Highness said he wanted to save the people, so we all got on the boats. But unexpectedly, when His Highness was saving a child, a wave came, the boat capsized, and a floating log was washed over by the wave and knocked His Highness unconscious."
"After we rescued His Highness, we immediately rushed back. Along the way, we tried countless methods, but His Highness... still hasn't woken up."
As Zhao Hu spoke, he choked with sobs again. The others behind him also sobbed softly.
Xiao Wuchen looked at Xiao Jingcheng with his eyes tightly closed on the wooden board and remained silent for a long time.
He never thought that his Crown Prince elder brother could go to such lengths to save people.
As the heir apparent, he could have spared himself the trouble and just commanded from behind.
"His wound is still bleeding. We must stop the bleeding immediately. Quickly transfer him to a dry place. As for other things, we'll talk about them later." Jiang Mian's slightly trembling voice sounded around.