CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 54: YUE’ER, I’M SORRY...

Qian Yi was stunned for a moment, not expecting Li Qingmu to ask this question, but soon he let out a disdainful laugh: "Want to know? Haha, you’re not worthy!"

With a wave of his hand, he roared ferociously: "Catch him, I want to cut the meat off his body piece by piece and feed it to the dogs! No! I want to throw him into a cage full of wolves and let him watch as they tear him apart alive!"

"Capture him alive!"

The leader of the men in black shouted, and a group swarmed forward!

Li Qingmu took a few steps back, the sound of gravel crunching from below, behind him was a sheer cliff, he looked at the approaching men in black, and suddenly gave a desolate smile.

"Haha, hahaha... Qian Yi, do you think you can decide my life or death? No, no! My life is always in my own hands, no one can decide my fate! No one!"

He yelled fiercely, with madness in his scarlet eyes, he took one last look at Qian Yi, then leaped!

"He jumped off! Below is an abyss, he’ll be smashed into pieces, he won’t survive!"

"Shoot, shoot! I want to see him die in unbearable pain even in death! Damn it, jumping off a cliff is such a bargain for him!"

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"

Countless arrows appeared in the air, one of which struck Li Qingmu’s back, he groaned, intense pain swept over him, instead making his somewhat blurred consciousness clearer.

He slowly opened his eyes, surrounded by the sound of the wind and fierce gusts, stinging his flesh painfully, tears flowed from his eyes as he looked at the rapidly changing scenery around, suddenly he steeled his heart, and stabbed the cliff beside him with his dagger!

He didn’t know if this would work, just trying with the mindset of giving it a shot, he was unwilling, truly unwilling to die like this, even if he knew the chances were slim, he wanted to try anyway!

It’s said to find life in the face of death, perhaps this is the only chance for survival!

"Clang! Crack, crack, crack..."

"Ah—"

The sound of the dagger scraping against the stone wall was intense, the severe friction made the dagger’s temperature rise and sparked flames, the intense pain, accompanied by the agony from his arm rubbing against the stone wall, made Li Qingmu scream horribly!

The flesh on his arm quickly wore down in the friction with the stone wall, and after the flesh wore off, white bones were exposed, this kind of pain was unbearably gruesome, even with Li Qingmu’s firm will, human strength has limits, his consciousness once again blurred.

The wind sound around remained, the gusts entered his wounds, adding injury to injury!

His consciousness grew increasingly fuzzy, his mind flashed with Long Yue’s charming, yet angry face.

"Yue’er... I’m sorry... I failed... but I tried my best..."

"I can’t be there with you till the end, it’s my fault..."

"Yue’er, Yue’er, I don’t want to leave you, really don’t want to, Yue’er..."

"Yue’er..."

"Bang—"

A loud crash sounded, he felt himself hit a hard stone wall, but then a wave of cold swept over him, his consciousness slipped completely into chaos.

...

"Hyah, hyah, hyah!"

"Prime Minister, Prime Minister, where are you, I’ve come to find you, wait for me!"

On the official road through a dense forest, a black horse galloped, atop was a stunningly beautiful young woman, at this moment, worry filled her brow, her gaze kept scanning, searching for clues along the way.

She hoped she was overthinking, so she followed the official road Li Qingmu would take, now calculating the time, the imperial exams should be over, he ought to be back, but nearing Ling City, there was still no sign of him.

Could he still be in Ling City?

As she pondered this, she suddenly saw a young man ahead, with two guards behind him, flanking him.

The young man’s expression was urgent too, looking left and right, seemingly searching for someone.

Long Yue was fully worried about her husband, with no mood to care about others, so she passed by him.

"Look over there, he should’ve gone that way!"

Behind came the urgent voice of the young man, "His cloak fell onto the water, estimated he ran into the woods. Running there is right, using the forest as cover to avoid being hunted, but those are elite killers, not so easily deceived. Pursue, hurry!"

The young man’s voice was louder due to haste, plus the wind direction favored Long Yue, so she heard it.

She turned abruptly, looking at the young man.

My husband! He must’ve been talking about my husband! Sure enough, the worst has happened, someone wants to kill him!

A woman’s intuition is always the sharpest, so Long Yue didn’t hesitate, she reined in her horse, turned its head to chase.

She didn’t ask the young man, being unsure if he’s friend or foe, so she swiftly overtook the young man, then dashed into the forest on one side.

"Crazy!"

The young man looked at Long Yue running back and forth, thinking this woman’s brain is fried, ignored her, and continued their search and rescue nearby.

"Thud, thud, thud!"

Long Yue spurred her horse into the forest, then desperately searched the area, considering the direction Li Qingmu might take, then followed the trail.

"To avoid enemy pursuit, surely you must find treacherous paths, best with many trees and forests for cover..."

Long Yue analyzed as she searched, soon penetrating deep into the dense forest, now the trees and vegetation were thick, the roots tangled, she couldn’t ride, so walked the horse.

Suddenly, she saw a dry blood stain, her pupils shrank abruptly.

"A Mu!"

She cried out, rushing to the stain, examining it carefully, there were disordered footprints beside, belonging to three or four people.

"This is bad!"

Seeing this blood, it was likely her husband’s, Long Yue’s heart leapt to her throat, she finally understood why in a previous life her husband came back looking half-dead, suffering fever, nearly dying,

He was attacked on the road, surviving is nothing short of miraculous.

"Husband!"

She shouted loudly, but only the wind and rustling of vegetation responded.

"Husband, you must be alright..."

Long Yue gazed at the blood stain, closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down, then pondered carefully.

If I were him, facing pursuit by killers, what would I do?

Find life in the face of death?

Long Yue opened her eyes sharply, then immediately hurried in a certain direction.

"Whoosh—"

A river gurgled, reflecting the sky’s verdure and blue, Long Yue walked along the river.

This was a narrow canyon, with steep cliffs on both sides, a thousand feet deep from the crest. If someone fell, certainly they would be shattered!

But there are exceptions, like falling into the water.

But... falling from such height, even into a pool, it’s as hard as stone, still fatal.

"Husband..."

She murmured, nervously heading deeper into the canyon.