In the silent mountain forest, such a sudden noise broke out. The stones that fell into the water didn't sink but rolled and swam in the water...
If it were an ordinary woman, she would have been scared out of her wits.
Fortunately, Caiyu was from the Lan family. She had once spent the night in the mountains occasionally while hunting with her father and elder brother, so she wasn't frightened.
She quickly grabbed a torch and shone it towards the water pool.
The torchlight projected over, but the pool was so deep that it almost absorbed all the light.
Thankfully, the water was clear. Caiyu, with her sharp eyes, saw that those rolling and swimming "stones" in the pool were actually several rats with red - glowing eyes!
It was normal to have rats in the mountains, but Caiyu felt that the appearance of these rats here was extremely strange.
Rats living in the mountains must be very familiar with the terrain. They would never take the risk of crossing the waterfall only to be washed into the pool by the water.
Were these rats from outside?
To verify her suspicion, Caiyu stuck the torch back into the ground, picked up a long tree branch, and then some thin, flat pebbles!
She tilted her hand and threw the pebbles towards the pool, making them skip on the water like flying darts.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The pebbles skipped several times on the water surface and hit one of the struggling rats.
The rat was hit by the pebble and immediately turned belly - up in the water.
Caiyu was a bit stunned.
This rat seemed rather vulnerable...
She reached the branch towards the rat and hooked it over.
"Thud!"
The rat's body was thrown onto the grass and lay motionless, obviously dead.
Caiyu looked back at the pool. The other rats in the water also seemed unable to swim anymore. They struggled and rolled like dying fish, being carried downstream by the current.
She then turned to look at the rat on the grass.
It was emaciated, with black fur. Its size was about the same as that of a mountain rat, but Caiyu had seen the mountain rats scurrying around during her stay at Qixia Temple.
The rats on this mountain had light - gray fur, not black.
Caiyu felt even more suspicious.
Why were there rats that didn't belong to Qixia Mountain in this area?
She stared fixedly at the rat's body on the ground and then thought of the inexplicable outbreak of the plague this time. She had guessed that the source of the plague was related to the water source...
A strange suspicion welled up in her mind.
...
Sheng Jiangli didn't sleep soundly. He woke up with a start within two hours.
He suddenly opened his eyes and saw the narrow wooden roof close at hand.
His mind was in a daze for a few moments before he remembered why he was lying here.
As soon as he thought of it, his back burned with pain. He didn't know how he had turned over and ended up lying on his back in his dream.
No wonder he had dreamed of the raging fire on that night at Yanmen Pass burning on his back.
He struggled to prop himself up. His vision blurred for a few seconds before it cleared up.
After sleeping for a while, he felt much better, but his legs and feet were a bit weak.
However...
He suddenly looked around and shouted at the top of his voice, "Caiyu! Sister Caiyu!"
The door was pushed open just in time. Caiyu rushed in, holding a rough bowl in her hand. There was some unknown green paste in it, emitting the unique fragrance of grass.
Seeing Sheng Jiangli wake up, her tense expression relaxed.
She put down the bowl and felt Sheng Jiangli's forehead. Letting out a sigh of relief, she said, "Good. It's not as hot as yesterday. The fever has gone down a lot. Applying the herbal medicine one more time might make it go away completely."
Only then did Sheng Jiangli feel that his back was wet and sticky, which was very uncomfortable.
He reached back and touched his back, bringing back a handful of green herbal paste. Immediately, his face twitched:
"Sister Caiyu... Could you tie a cloth on my back after applying the medicine? My clothes..."
He could already imagine how horrible the back of his clothes looked.
Caiyu instantly felt embarrassed.
She was not good at taking care of people. Although she served as a maid beside Song Yinghuai, Song Yinghuai had never really let her take care of his daily life. All she did most of the time was seduction and making vegetarian meals.
As for bandaging...
However, the girl still pouted angrily, "I risked my life to collect the medicine at night. When I came back, I didn't even take off my clothes and just pounded the medicine for you. And you still pick on me!"
"Do it yourself!" She stamped her foot and then turned to leave.
A big hand grabbed her palm and stopped her from leaving.
Sheng Jiangli's demonic face was smiling as he coaxed, "I was just joking, joking... The medicine you applied to me, not to mention dirtying my clothes, you can even smear it on my face."
Caiyu didn't move and ignored him with her back turned.
Sheng Jiangli shook her arm again and said in a humble tone, "Sister Caiyu, I was being stupid. How about you slap me..."
Still no response.
Helplessly, the man suddenly lay down on the grass bed with a thud and groaned, "Ouch! It hurts! It hurts!"
Caiyu suddenly turned around. Seeing the man really hitting the bed with his back and his face turning pale again, she was so anxious that she grabbed him and pulled him up, "Are you crazy!"
Instead of getting up with her strength, Sheng Jiangli exerted force and pulled her towards himself!
Caiyu lost her balance and fell on him, being hugged tightly.
The man's chest was as hard as iron, and his heartbeat was like a booming drum. Caiyu was so flustered that she tried hard to support herself and avoid sticking to him as much as possible.
"Brother A Li! Let me go!"
Sheng Jiangli's big hands were burning hot, and there seemed to be flames in his eyes.
The naked desire in his eyes was terrifying.
Caiyu's pupils shrank. She didn't understand why Sheng Jiangli suddenly looked at her with a wolf - like look. She just struggled hard.
She was only used to Song Yinghuai looking at her like this and having such intimate behavior.
Even Brother A Li, who was as close as a brother, made her scalp tingle when he showed such an expression.
Feeling her desperate struggle, the man's burning gaze gradually lost its flames. He slowly loosened his big hands on her waist, tilted his head back, letting the back of his head hit the straw mat. There was a bitter smile on his lips.
It was indeed on purpose, but it was also an impulse.
After learning that Miss Lan San had taken care of him all night, the longing that he had been suppressing with all his might rushed into his mind like a turbulent flood.
He just wanted to try again.
To see if Miss Lan San could accept him.
As long as there was a glimmer of hope, he would not hesitate to snatch her from Song Yinghuai.
But now it seemed...
When Sheng Jiangli opened his eyes again, the flames in his eyes had completely disappeared. He watched as Caiyu's cheeks were puffed up, and she rolled off his body in a hurry.
He reached out his hand to stop her and supported her body that was about to fall again due to panic. He said with a light smile:
"What are you panicking about? Do you think I'll eat you?"
Caiyu glared at him fiercely.
She really had a moment when she thought he was going to eat her.
She was too familiar with this kind of look.
Wasn't this how Song Yinghuai always looked at her?
Sheng Jiangli propped himself up on his elbows, still looking like a rascal, "It's more likely that you'll eat me... Didn't you always beat me up so badly that I couldn't find my teeth?"
"Slap!"
Caiyu slapped him on the back of the head.
The girl was outwardly fierce but inwardly timid. As if to relieve the awkwardness between them, she raised her voice and scolded:
"I think you're looking for death!"
Sheng Jiangli groaned and covered his head, begging for mercy, "I don't want to die! Please spare me, my queen! I want to live a long life and serve you for the rest of my life!"
Caiyu was both angry and amused by his shameless look. She didn't know how to stay angry anymore. So she picked up the bowl of herbal medicine and said, "Come here. It's time to apply the medicine!"
"Okay!" Sheng Jiangli responded nimbly. He quickly took off all his upper - body clothes and stood still with his back to her.
After a while, there was no movement behind him.
Sheng Jiangli turned his head curiously and saw Caiyu's face was as red as blood, and the hand holding the bowl of herbal medicine was obviously shaking.
The man couldn't help but laugh:
"... Sister Caiyu, didn't you apply the medicine to me yesterday? It's not the first time you've seen my strong and perfect body. Why are you blushing... Ouch! Sizz! Help!"
"Aaaaah! Hit me gently!"