Countless hands grabbed at my body, as if they were about to tear me apart.
The pain made me scream. I tried desperately to break free, but the more I struggled, the more ghostly hands there were, pulling me tighter.
Just as my whole body was about to sink into the red cloth.
Suddenly, my body jolted, and the tinkling sound of a silver bell rang in my ear. A powerful wave of energy vibrated out from my wrist.
Those hands were directly sent flying several meters by this wave of energy, with severed limbs and broken arms scattered all over the place.
My body fell heavily to the ground. I almost lost my breath.
I didn't dare to stay a moment longer. Even though I was in excruciating pain, I still managed to roll over and crawl towards the exit.
Su Xiaoxiao had a sly look on her face, which looked extremely terrifying under the glow of the red cloth.
Her eyes had completely turned black. There seemed to be something wriggling in her chest. A large amount of fresh blood gurgled out from her chest, flowing down to her abdomen and finally dripping from her ankles to the ground, leaving a long trail of blood wherever it went.
Su Xiaoxiao's body had long been occupied by the monster in the jar. Despite being so terrifying, she still flaunted her figure, looking very seductive.
Her red nails hooked at the corner of her mouth. She stuck out her tongue and licked the blood on her fingertips, making a sound like nails scratching on glass, which sent chills down my spine.
"Yin Bone. With you in my possession, why would I need to eat hearts? Even if there's a celestial protecting you today, I'm going to fight him for you..."
Her body slowly floated towards me. I lay on the ground and kept crawling towards the exit.
I didn't dare to look back, afraid that if I did, I would see her terrifying face. At this moment, I was already desperate. The silver bell had just exerted its power, which meant that Gu Yuan had sensed that I was in danger. But now, no matter how much the bell rang, there was no reaction.
Was I about to bid farewell to Gu Yuan forever?
Just as Su Xiaoxiao stretched out her long red nails and hooked them towards my ankle, my arm was grabbed by someone outside and pulled out.
The red nails scratched a gash on my ankle. The pain made me cry out. My body directly fell into Long Lin's arms. He put one arm around my waist to prevent me from slipping, and with the other hand, he quickly drew a yellow talisman on the exit and slapped it in.
Then he set up a barrier here to prevent Su Xiaoxiao from escaping.
I was so scared that I went limp in his arms, shivering.
Seeing that I was covered in wounds, he frowned. He waved his fan, which turned into a golden light, and took me to a guesthouse.
Maybe it was because of the excessive blood loss. I felt weak and extremely cold.
He picked me up horizontally and was about to put me on the bed in the bedroom, but I refused.
"Just put me on the sofa. I don't want to dirty your bed." My voice was weak and listless.
"It doesn't matter. I don't mind."
"But I do."
Long Lin couldn't persuade me, so he put me on the sofa.
I lay down on it. My eyes began to lose focus, and it seemed even difficult to breathe.
"Please call Gu Yuan for me. Thank you."
"If you wait for him to come, you'll be dead."
I was too weak to argue. I closed my eyes. I didn't know what Long Lin took and stuck it on my neck.
A bone - piercing pain spread from my neck to my whole body. I trembled all over in pain. I gritted my teeth so hard that I thought they would break, and my limbs were almost twisted together.
"If it hurts, just cry out. If I don't do this, you'll have scars." Long Lin's hand was on my neck, which was already covered in sweat. His hand was also a bit shaky. I didn't know if it was out of pity or for some other reason.
I curled up in pain. He moved my body a bit to make me lie flat.
The wounds on my abdomen and chest were even more serious than those on my neck.
I was extremely scared because it had been so painful just now. Every time I got injured, Gu Yuan never made me suffer like this.
I was so scared that my lips were dry. I bit my lips hard.
He handed me a towel and told me to bite on it.
"Endure it. It'll be over soon."
Just as he was about to untie my top, I quickly raised my hand to stop him.
Long Lin said helplessly, "If you don't get treated quickly, you'll have a long scar on your chest."
Just as I was still struggling mentally, a white light flashed in front of my eyes, and Gu Yuan's figure appeared in front of me.
Seeing Gu Yuan, a surprised smile spread across my lips. Then my nose twitched, and tears streamed down my face.
My breathing suddenly became a bit rapid. I weakly raised one hand, wanting to grab his hand. My voice trembled as I said, "It's so good to see you..."
I thought that it would be worth dying at this moment if I could see him for the last time. Suddenly, my vision went black, and I fainted.
...
"Princess, wake up. Don't sleep anymore. The heir of the Great Liang Kingdom has already arrived. Don't you want to go and take a look?" It was that maid pushing me again. How annoying! I just wanted to sleep a bit longer.
I turned over and said, "There's nothing worth seeing. No matter how good - looking he is, I'm not interested."
"But he might be your future husband. I heard that His Majesty intends to betroth you to the heir of the Great Liang Kingdom. Aren't you even a bit interested in what your future husband looks like?"
"I already have someone in my heart. Why should I be interested in him? If Father insists on arranging a marriage for me, I'll just run away. Anyway, you know that he has extraordinary powers." Just thinking about it made a faint smile appear on my lips.
"I heard that this heir is very handsome and is no less good - looking than the one in your heart." The maid lifted the quilt off me. I was quite unhappy.
"It's so cold. Give the quilt back to me."
The maid laughed happily and quickly put away the quilt, saying, "I won't give it back to you."
I played around with her in the room for a while. Suddenly, the voice of an old woman came from outside the door.
"Princess, His Majesty invites you to the back garden to enjoy the snow. He told you to change your clothes quickly and not to keep the guests waiting."
That old nanny was really a killjoy.
"Xiaoying, go and take the clothes in." It turned out that the maid who often appeared in my dreams was called Xiaoying.
Xiaoying opened the door. The old nanny gave Xiaoying a helpless look. Xiaoying stuck out her tongue embarrassedly and carried the clothes in.
"This dress is so beautiful." Xiaoying stroked the beautiful clothes and said.
"If you like it, you can wear it." I said.
"No no no. I'm just a sickly person. I'm not worthy of wearing such clothes."
"Hurry up and help me put it on. Don't keep them waiting." Xiaoying helped me dress up and put the red dress inlaid with white fox fur on me.
The two of us then followed the old nanny to the viewing platform in the back garden.
It was the first snow since winter began. The snow was falling quite heavily. The whole imperial city was covered in a layer of frost. The white snow and red walls set off the red plum trees outside the wall that were bent low by the snow. Coupled with me wearing a red dress and stepping on the white snow, it looked extremely poetic. I couldn't help but break off a branch of red plum and hold it in my hand.
When I reached the viewing platform in the back garden, there was no one there.
I looked curiously at the old nanny beside me. She lowered her head and said, "His Majesty just told me to bring you here. Then we'll leave first."
The nanny bowed and pulled Xiaoying away from the viewing platform together.
At this moment, the snow was falling thick and fast outside. I stood alone under the plum tree, playing with the snow on the branches.
The snow hit the bridge of my nose. It was so cold. I was amused by my stupid action just now. I couldn't help but push the plum tree a couple more times and then quickly took a few steps back.
Suddenly, I bumped into something with my back. I was startled and quickly looked up.
A white oil - paper umbrella was held above my head, shielding me from the snow falling from the plum tree.
I quickly pulled away from the person's chest and apologized to him.
The person let out a hearty laugh, seemingly not minding at all.
Only then did I dare to slightly raise my head and look at the person holding the umbrella. However, with just one look, I was lost.