Song Yihuan washed all the cloth strips by the stream before returning to the cave.
Ji Lingchuan had already put out the fire they had lit the previous night and put back on the outer robe that had covered her.
Walking back into the cave, Song Yihuan picked up her jasper bow and then walked out of the cave in silence.
But as she passed by Ji Lingchuan, he grabbed the collar of her clothes. When she turned back, there was a hint of hidden anger in her eyes. "What do you want?"
Ji Lingchuan sneered inwardly. She clearly had been hiding a lot from him. He had just asked one question, yet she was quite temperamental and was still sulking with him.
"You're going the wrong way. That way will only lead you deeper. This is the way out," Ji Lingchuan said.
Song Yihuan felt a bit embarrassed. She let out an "oh" and changed her direction, intending to walk towards the place he had just pointed at. But Ji Lingchuan grabbed her again and said, "There are many wild beasts in the mountains. You don't know martial arts. Don't take risks. Just follow behind me."
After saying that, he walked past her.
The two of them walked one in front of the other in search of the way out of the valley. To guard against the wild beasts in the mountains, Ji Lingchuan held a long stick in his hand and beat the grass along the way.
Song Yihuan followed behind him. Watching his smooth movements, her expression softened a bit.
Ever since he had saved her in the market, she had known that he was very tolerant. Even when he was injured, there was no sign of it on the surface. No wonder he was the God of War of the Yu State who had experienced many battles and led the soldiers to victory.
Forget it. Why was she arguing with him? He had saved her life so many times. Logically, she should repay him. They had even done the most intimate things several times. It was just a few kisses. Why was she being so fussy?
But... he still didn't know the person who had been intimate with him in the Prince Ning's Mansion. She wondered if he would still treat her so amiably after he knew everything.
Thinking of her plan, Song Yihuan tightened her sleeves.
Ji Lingchuan's action of beating the grass did have an effect. From time to time, they could hear the sounds of the animals in the mountains retreating. Among them, there was also a bright green poisonous snake, which scared Song Yihuan and made her take a few steps forward and get close to Ji Lingchuan in front.
Feeling her approaching, Ji Lingchuan turned his head and glanced at the girl behind him. The corner of his lips curled up slightly.
Suddenly, Song Yihuan exclaimed, "Rabbit!"
A fat and big yellow rabbit scurried out of the grass in a panic. After running a short distance and finding that the two of them didn't chase after it, it stopped and turned back to look at them. Its cute and naive appearance really interested Song Yihuan.
"Didn't you just eat half a rabbit? Are you hungry again?" he said.
Although his expression was serious, his words somehow carried a hint of teasing. Song Yihuan glanced at him and said, "I just think it's very cute. It's clearly very scared, but it still can't resist its curiosity and is sizing us up."
After a pause, she added, "Of course, mountain rabbits do taste quite good."
Ji Lingchuan looked at her serious expression. The corner of his lips could hardly be contained. In his eyes, at this moment, she was no different from that panicked rabbit that wanted to leave but still endured and stayed.
As for the taste...
Ji Lingchuan subconsciously looked at her plump red lips, and his Adam's apple moved slightly.
He shifted his gaze, coughed twice, and asked, "Do you want to try the jasper bow in your hand?"
"Me?" Song Yihuan widened her eyes slightly. She took the bow off her back and held it in front of her with both hands. Looking at Ji Lingchuan with a bit of grievance, she said, "But all the arrows were lost on the way when I fell off the cliff."
"That's no problem," he said calmly. He picked a few straight branches from a big tree beside them, cut off the small twigs on them, and a simple long arrow was made.
He handed it to her. Looking directly into her eyes, Ji Lingchuan asked, "Have you ever learned horseback riding and archery?"
Song Yihuan shook her head gently, took the branch from his hand, and smiled self - deprecatingly. "I never had the chance to learn horseback riding and archery."
For the horseback riding and archery classes, one had to change into riding clothes and take off the veil hat. She didn't dare to take the classes on behalf of her elder sister. So whenever there were horseback riding and archery classes in the Imperial College, she would always find ways to skip them.
Ji Lingchuan didn't know what she was thinking. Instead, he remembered that Song Nanxin had once said that she had never taken the horseback riding and archery classes either. He thought that the two of them must have been worried that their identity - swapping would be exposed.
"It doesn't matter. I once served as a horseback riding and archery teacher in the Imperial College. I'll teach you," he said.
Song Yihuan's eyes lit up. "Really?"
Ji Lingchuan held back his smile and started to teach her how to shoot arrows on the spot.
Of course, this was also what he had wanted in his heart. When he saw her idea in the letter, he had wanted to make the kind of bow and arrow she described and then teach her step by step.
"Stand up straight. Open your legs as wide as your shoulders. Pick up the bow with your left hand. Hold the long arrow with your right hand and place it on the bowstring. Pull it to the limit you can reach. Put your center of gravity between your legs."
He taught her word by word, and she did it seriously according to what he said. After getting into position, she couldn't wait to shoot the arrow in her hand. However, the arrow turned halfway and flopped softly into the grass.
She looked at Ji Lingchuan helplessly, with a pitiful and innocent look on her face. Ji Lingchuan gently tapped her wrist with the branch in his hand and said, "You did very well before, but when you shot the arrow, you relaxed your strength, so you missed the target. Try again."
Song Yihuan picked up the second arrow, held her breath, and placed it on the bowstring again.
This time, although her arrow didn't fall to the ground limply, it still missed the target and hit three meters to the right, a long way from the fat and big rabbit.
She was a bit discouraged. "It's so difficult."
Although she had a photographic memory and was good at embroidery, maybe she just wasn't the material to learn archery?
The next moment, a warm body leaned against her from behind. The man's hand completely covered her hand that was holding the bow, and the same with her right hand. This sudden closeness made her heart beat heavily twice. She felt as if she was being held in the man's arms.
Just as she was about to turn back to look at Ji Lingchuan behind her, she heard his deep voice in her ear.
"Concentrate. I'm teaching you how to control the strength in your hand."
Song Yihuan quickly composed herself and focused on the bow and arrow in her hand.
Ji Lingchuan held her hand and pulled the bowstring. This bowstring was the silk string he had searched for everywhere on the border. It had great elasticity and was not too strenuous, so it was pulled very full. Song Yihuan felt the feeling of pulling the bow from Ji Lingchuan's palm and had a different understanding in her heart.
Suddenly, Ji Lingchuan let go of her hand. The long arrow made of the branch shot towards the rabbit hiding under the tree like lightning.
The rabbit sensed the danger and immediately turned around to run, but it was too late. The long arrow passed through its body and nailed it firmly to the ground.
"We hit it!"
Song Yihuan turned around excitedly and jumped up and down in front of the man behind her. Her eyes were full of Ji Lingchuan's figure.