The red leaves on Fragrant Hill painted the sky red, and the maple forest was like a sea of fire.
Song Yinghuai took big strides and, with his lightness kung fu, soon left Caiyu far behind.
Caiyu trotted in the distance, struggling to keep up the climb, gasping for breath.
When she looked up, his figure was almost out of sight.
Caiyu cursed the man in her heart for not knowing how to be gentle with a woman. But wasn't this the perfect opportunity?
Taking advantage of Song Yinghuai's distance and the fact that he wouldn't notice her small actions for a while, she patted the red-chain snake on her chest.
The sleeping snake was startled out of its sweet dream and, very displeased, opened its mouth and bit down!
A sharp pain shot through her, and Caiyu let out a startled cry. "My Lord! Ah! Help!"
Although the distance was far, she knew that with Song Yinghuai's martial arts skills, he would surely hear her cry for help.
Sure enough, Song Yinghuai heard it. He stopped in his tracks, slowly turned around, and frowned slightly.
He saw Caiyu sitting slumped on the steps in the distance. With his sharp eyesight, he caught a glimpse of a red-and-black figure flashing past her.
Was she bitten by a snake?
Song Yinghuai flitted down the steps. His eyes scanned her ankles. "Which foot was bitten?"
Caiyu said, "Here."
Song Yinghuai looked in the direction she pointed, and his eyebrows twitched again!
On her heaving snow-white bosom, there were two shallow blood holes. The blood oozing out was black-purple, and the skin around the wound quickly wrinkled and sank in.
Although it was a mildly venomous snake, Caiyu still felt a sudden dizziness.
She cried, "It's over. This servant has been poisoned. I feel so dizzy now..."
Song Yinghuai let out a sigh and watched her act.
If the bite had been on her ankle, he might not have suspected anything. But the fact that it was in this position made him suspicious.
However, although it was an act, the poisoning was real. He couldn't really just ignore her.
He picked Caiyu up in his arms and leaned her against a maple tree by the roadside. "Did you see clearly what kind of snake it was?"
It had been too far away before. Even with his good eyesight, he couldn't have seen clearly what kind of venomous snake it was.
Caiyu was just waiting for this opportunity. Otherwise, if Song Yinghuai had seen that it was a mildly venomous snake, wouldn't all her efforts have been in vain?
She shook her head, looking panicked. "This servant didn't see clearly... I only saw a black and white section. It looked very poisonous..."
Song Yinghuai stared at her moving lips and had an urge to strangle her.
It was clearly a red snake with black patterns!
Caiyu felt nervous under his stare.
This man, wouldn't he still be suspicious?
She had really sacrificed herself and been bitten. Why was this man still doubting her?
Caiyu immediately pretended to slide down weakly against the tree trunk, looking as if she couldn't hold on anymore. She gasped weakly and urged, "My Lord, don't worry about what kind of snake it is. Save this servant..."
With great effort, she straightened her body a little. "Suck out the poison... Suck out the poison... This servant feels so stuffy in the chest... I can't breathe..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Song Yinghuai's two fingers moved like the wind and tapped on four major acupoints on her chest.
Caiyu felt a tightness in her body. Half of her body seemed to be numbed. She looked at Song Yinghuai in disbelief. "My Lord, what are you doing?"
She wanted him to suck out the poison!
She didn't believe that a man could remain composed while doing this for her.
But why wasn't Song Yinghuai playing by the rules?
Song Yinghuai said, "This place is close to the heart. I'll first apply acupressure to stop the toxin from flowing into the bloodstream and back into the ventricles. Then I'll find a doctor to detoxify you."
His eyes casually swept over the wound on Caiyu's body.
Her bosom rose and fell slightly with her breathing, creating a strong impact in Song Yinghuai's eyes.
Song Yinghuai suddenly felt a bit dizzy, as if he had been bitten by the snake himself.
But soon, the coldness in his eyes covered up the surging darkness.
Not to mention that this girl's attempt to seduce him was too obvious. Even if she had been accidentally poisoned, he couldn't suck out the poison for her in broad daylight.
After several encounters, he knew his own self - control.
Facing a beauty like Caiyu, he wasn't confident that he could completely control himself.
The spies from the Eastern Depot had been following them and were lurking around.
If he really lost control, all his efforts would be in vain.
Song Yinghuai's reaction was completely beyond Caiyu's expectations.
With a beauty in front of him, he actually applied acupressure to her and was going to go down the mountain to find a doctor?
The whole family had gone out today, and there must have been a doctor accompanying them. But the doctor had been left with Concubine Yao to take care of her.
If Song Yinghuai went to find a doctor, he would have to go back down the mountain the way they came.
Seeing Song Yinghuai already standing up, Caiyu's lips twitched. She grabbed the corner of his robe and rolled her eyes:
"My Lord! This servant is afraid there's no time... I'm about to faint..."
After saying that, taking advantage of the poison (half real, half fake), she rolled onto the ground and "fainted".
She held onto the corner of his robe tightly, determined not to let him go down the mountain.
Song Yinghuai's eyebrows and temples twitched.
Facing Caiyu's repeated and unreasonable behavior, he was really annoyed. He wanted to forcefully pull out his robe, but seeing Caiyu's prone body as it rolled over, he softened his strength.
In just this short moment, her wound had swollen up like a small hill, bulging like a leavened bun. The blue - purple color was even more terrifying.
Song Yinghuai frowned deeply and was at a loss for a moment.
Could it really be an accidental snake bite?
She wouldn't be joking with her own life, would she?
He squatted down, lips tightly pursed, and searched Caiyu's body.
There was nothing. Caiyu didn't have any antidote hidden on her.
At this time, Caiyu was really only half - conscious and silently groaned in her heart.
She thought that the so - called mild poison would at most cause a bit of pain and dizziness.
She didn't expect that the mild poison of the snake could be so powerful. Now she felt completely numb in her chest.
She struggled to open her eyes on the ground, and what she saw was the big, black, and swollen "bun".
Caiyu almost burst into tears.
What a miscalculation.
Swollen like this, no man would feel any amorous feelings, would they?
She had really stolen the chicken but lost the rice. Not only had she failed to seduce him, but now she was in danger.
Caiyu didn't care about acting anymore. She tugged weakly at the corner of Song Yinghuai's robe and pleaded, "My Lord... This servant doesn't want to die..."
"You won't die!" Song Yinghuai replied in a deep voice. He picked her up in his arms again and looked around.
It seemed that there wasn't enough time to take her down the mountain to find a doctor.
There happened to be a cave not far away.
Song Yinghuai used his lightness kung fu and, in the blink of an eye, landed in front of the cave.
Before entering the cave, he issued a killing order to Han Fen and the other secret guards hiding nearby:
"Clean up all the spies around!"
Suddenly, the wind rose all around. The red leaves in the maple forest fluttered like a red wave, and from afar, they were like dancing red butterflies.
Song Yinghuai carried Caiyu into the cave, took out a fire starter from his bosom, and lit a fire.
A bright yellow light illuminated the cave.
This was a place where hunters took a break on their way, and it was quite dry.
There was nothing but firewood and straw around.
Song Yinghuai went back to Caiyu and patted her face. He found that she had completely fallen into a coma.
This was actually good. Since she was unconscious, he wouldn't have to listen to her chattering.
Without her alluring voice, Song Yinghuai was more confident that he could control himself.
He quickly took out his dagger and sliced through her clothes.
"Rip!"
Large patches of snow - white skin were exposed. The bright yellow light poured unreservedly on her skin, and her fair skin glowed faintly.
Her long eyelashes were tightly closed. At this moment, she was like a night - blooming cereus in full bloom in the summer night or a thousand - year - old snow lotus on the top of an ice - capped mountain. A hazy and illusory feeling surrounded her, making her seem like a dream.
Song Yinghuai's mind went blank for a moment, and his Adam's apple rolled violently.