Su Yanxi rose quietly, preparing to leave the dilapidated temple.
But the moment she moved, the Marquise sleeping beside her woke up.
She asked softly, “Yan Xi, what’s wrong?”
Su Yanxi replied, “I need to relieve myself.”
“I’ll go with you.” The Marquise immediately got up as well.
Her movement woke Su Houye sleeping on her other side.
Upon learning that Su Yanxi needed to relieve herself, he struggled to get up too. “It’s not safe for two women to go alone. I’ll accompany you.”
Su Yanxi wanted to refuse.
But considering that if they argued here, they might wake others and cause more trouble, she nodded. “Thank you, Father, Mother.”
“We’ll keep watch here for you. Go quickly!”
With the severe drought plaguing the land, not even a patch of trees could be found for cover.
Su Yanxi had no choice but to go behind the ruined temple.
After walking some distance behind the temple, making sure Su Houye and the Marquise guarding the corner could no longer see her, she immediately slipped into her Space.
Once inside, she paid no attention to the supplies filling the Space and quickly used her mind to move the only container holding living creatures in front of her.
As she reached to open the box, her heart was pounding in her throat.
But what shocked her even more was that there was a person lying inside the box!
A man covered in blood.
An arrow was still embedded in his chest, though the fletching had been cut off.
The arrowhead remained buried in his flesh.
Judging by the angle, if the arrow had been just slightly off, it would have pierced directly into his heart.
Then he would surely be dead by now.
Su Yanxi was so stunned her heart nearly leaped out of her chest.
Since when could living people be transferred into her Space?
In her previous life, even when her affection for Xiao Lingyou was deepest, she had tried to bring him into the Space to save him.
But no matter how she attempted it, she couldn’t enter the Space with Xiao Lingyou.
Later, she tried with different people, but none worked.
Not just people—she couldn’t even bring living animals inside.
So, this man…
Su Yanxi frowned deeply.
What was so special about him?
She immediately began searching the man’s body.
Soon, she felt something hard in his chest pocket.
She quickly pulled it out.
One look at it shocked her even more.
Xiao Xuanzheng!
The Eldest Prince of the current dynasty, who, because his birth mother was of low status and he had no claim to the throne, had always been stationed at the border!
What was he doing here?
Su Yanxi recalled that the person escorting the cartload of items was a eunuch.
That meant those things came from the palace.
So, Xiao Xuanzheng must have also come from the palace.
Shouldn’t he be guarding the border at this time?
Why would he be coming from the palace?
Had the struggle for the throne already begun?
After pondering for only a moment, Su Yanxi decided to save Xiao Xuanzheng’s life.
Because she owed him!
In her previous life, to help Xiao Lingyou, she had gone to negotiate with Xiao Xuanzheng.
She convinced Xiao Xuanzheng to cooperate with Xiao Lingyou.
Just after Xiao Xuanzheng agreed to the alliance, as she was leaving his camp, an arrow shot out from nowhere, heading straight for her.
At that time, it was Xiao Xuanzheng who took the arrow for her.
The arrowhead was coated with a deadly poison.
Xiao Xuanzheng died from that arrow.
Moreover, when he died, he issued an order not only commanding his subordinates not to trouble her because of his death, but also giving her his military tally and entrusting his entire army to her.
She had been utterly astonished at the time.
Because it was her first meeting with Xiao Xuanzheng.
She simply couldn’t understand why Xiao Xuanzheng had treated her so kindly.
Even now, she still couldn’t comprehend it.
Su Yanxi drew Spirit Spring Water and cleansed the bloodstains from Xiao Xuanzheng’s face.
Only then did she clearly see his peerlessly handsome features.
Although Xiao Xuanzheng and Xiao Lingyou were half-brothers sharing the same father, they looked completely unlike each other.
Xiao Lingyou had fair skin, delicate features, and carried an elegant scholarly aura about him. It was only later, when they fought across the lands, that his scholarly demeanor gradually faded.
Xiao Xuanzheng, however, had a wheat-complexioned skin, sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, a tall straight nose, and facial contours as sharp as if carved by axe and chisel. His physique also differed from Xiao Lingyou’s lean build – his muscles were clearly defined, unmistakably revealing someone long-trained in martial arts.
Looking at Xiao Xuanzheng’s face, Su Yanxi still couldn’t help wondering why he had done what he did before his death in her previous life.
But only for a moment.
She cast all her doubts from her mind.
The events of her past life were over.
By saving him this time in her current life, she considered his kindness from the previous lifetime repaid.
The next time they met, they would be strangers.
Everything in this Space could be controlled by Su Yanxi’s will.
After using the Spirit Spring Water to clean Xiao Xuanzheng, she summoned a delicate dagger with a wave of her hand.
Simultaneously, a flask of liquor and an oil lamp appeared beside her hand.
After sterilizing the dagger, she made a cross-shaped incision around Xiao Xuanzheng’s arrow wound.
Then she gripped the exposed portion of the arrow shaft and, with a sudden forceful pull, extracted it in one swift motion.
As the arrowhead came out, a spurt of blood followed.
Su Yanxi quickly retrieved high-quality Golden Sore Medicine and liberally applied it to his wound until the bleeding stopped, before carefully bandaging it.
She was so absorbed in her task that she didn’t notice when Xiao Xuanzheng opened his eyes.
Xiao Xuanzheng watched her, his heart inexplicably racing uncontrollably in his chest.
There was excitement and joy.
Simply seeing her made him inexplicably happy.
His entire heart was beating for her.
But only for a moment.
Once he became aware of it, he immediately suppressed all these emotions.
Then, without moving his body, he began surveying his surroundings with peripheral vision.
What appeared before him was like a massive treasure vault, filled with countless chests.
To his left was a small spring, surrounded by flowers and plants of various colors competing in beauty.
On the other side stretched a rice paddy.
Though there was no wind, the flowers, plants, and rice stalks swayed gently as if moved by a breeze.
It was beautiful!
But so beautiful it felt unreal, making him wonder if everything before him was an illusion appearing as he approached death.
He wanted to ask the girl bandaging his wounds where this place was.
But before he could speak, an irresistible drowsiness overwhelmed him.
Though unwilling, he uncontrollably closed his eyes.
Even with closed eyes, he seemed to still perceive everything around him.
By this time, the girl treating his injuries had finished bandaging him.
Then her light voice reached his ears, “Done. We’re even now.”
After the girl’s voice faded, his consciousness grew hazy.
Su Yanxi had already washed up when she first entered.
Now that she was about to leave, she deliberately tousled her hair again and smudged ash on her face.
Then, she swiftly brought Xiao Xuanzheng out of the Space with her.
After leaving the Space, she placed Xiao Xuanzheng in a hidden corner behind the dilapidated temple.
She also gathered some dry grass to cover him.
Just then, a group of officers holding torches rushed into the temple.
“Get up, get up, everyone get up!”
“Have any of you seen this man?”
Inside the temple, the exhausted travelers, who had been sleeping soundly after a long day’s journey, scrambled to their feet.
After examining the portrait by the light of the officers’ torches, everyone shook their heads, indicating they hadn’t seen him.
The officers’ sharp eyes swept across the temple.
They realized there was truly no place to hide anyone inside.
They turned to leave.
At that moment, Shen Qingyan suddenly cried out, “Officers, three people are missing from the Su Family!
They must be the ones hiding the fugitive!”