Chapter 553: A Future Hidden Danger
"I know I’m useless, but I’m strong. I can carry you," Sang Zhi said, his voice thick with tears.
"It’s not that I won’t let you. Look at my injuries."
Sang Zhi rubbed his eyes and looked up.
Ye Qianning spread her arms, revealing three mangled claw marks stretching from her shoulder to her chest. "If you want me to die faster, then by all means, carry me."
Hearing this, Sang Zhi choked back a few sobs, but the tears started flowing again.
"Alright, alright, let’s go. If we don’t move now, we’re going to be burned alive."
The upper half of the forest, including the area they had just left, was already billowing with thick smoke. The fire was spreading quickly.
It hadn’t rained in a long time, and the weather had been hot lately, making the blaze ferocious.
Sang Zhi bent down, about to lift her.
Ye Qianning’s eyes narrowed. She grabbed his shoulders, forcefully threw him aside, and raised her short blade to block her face.
Caught off guard, Sang Zhi was thrown two meters away, sliding until he slammed into a large tree. He looked up just in time to see a man in black standing before Ye Qianning, his longsword aimed at her small face.
Ye Qianning was already exhausted. She desperately pressed the hilt of her short blade against the sword’s tip, her feet sinking into the soft earth.
With a flick of his wrist, the man in black sent Ye Qianning’s short blade flying, and she was thrown backward.
Quickly, Sang Zhi raised his arms to catch her.
THUD.
Ye Qianning landed squarely on top of Sang Zhi.
Sang Zhi grunted, the impact knocking him back, and they both tumbled to the ground.
The man in black glanced coldly at the dead tiger, his gaze skipping over Sang Zhi to land on the blood-soaked Ye Qianning. "A six-year-old child who can kill a giant beast... I doubt there’s another one like you in this world."
Ye Qianning stared at the man. He was dressed in black, but he was different from the men who had been with Chu Yue earlier. For a moment, she wasn’t sure if he was from East Shu or served another master.
"I must say, your talent is astonishing," the man in black added coldly. "If a child as gifted as you isn’t killed now, you’ll surely become a great threat to us in the future."
Ye Qianning remained silent, observing him secretly. She hadn’t sensed his approach at all, just as she had failed to detect the Xi Yan Crown Prince’s Shadow Guards on the mountain.
"The Xi Yan Crown Prince and I have an agreement. You can’t kill me," she said softly.
"So that’s how it is. I was wondering why the Xi Yan Hidden Guards, all of them masters, would let someone up the mountain," the man in black said, his tone hostile.
At that moment, Ye Qianning confirmed that the man in black was from East Shu. His skills were far superior to those of the men in the cave; she was no match for him at all.
’Not even a lucky break is possible!’
"Run. I’ll hold him off. Run as far as you can," she whispered, leaning against Sang Zhi.
"I won’t," Sang Zhi refused.
"Run? Neither of you are getting away." The man in black had exceptional hearing.
Ye Qianning pushed herself up from the ground.
Sang Zhi also got up quickly, positioning himself in front of Ye Qianning. This time, he wouldn’t hide. Not even if it meant death.
Ye Qianning stared at his back. It was small, yet it felt like a wall. He had no martial arts skills, but for some reason, his presence was reassuring.
’Perhaps it’s that resilience and determination that makes me feel safe.’
"Eighth Prince, you’d best be obedient and step aside," the man in black said, advancing step by step, his longsword gleaming.
Sang Zhi didn’t move an inch, his gray eyes fixed on the approaching man.
"It doesn’t matter if you don’t. We only want your eyes. As long as you don’t die, losing a few limbs is no great loss." Before the man in black could finish his sentence, his longsword was already lunging forward.
As the longsword lunged toward him, Sang Zhi didn’t even blink.
He wasn’t afraid of death. Not in the slightest!
As long as he could protect the person behind him, even for just a moment... he would never move aside!