Chapter 561: Heaven-Sent Rain 3
Ying Ge’s face turned deathly pale. Without a moment’s hesitation, she leaped into the air to flee.
Chu Yue gave her no chance to escape. Another crack of a whip tore through the air.
Ying Ge had barely flown ten feet high when her ankle was suddenly snared, and in an instant, her body was yanked violently downward.
She was holding Ye Qianning in her arms. The force yanking on her ankle rendered her helpless. If they crashed, the girl in her arms would be crushed flat.
Mustering all her strength, she threw Ye Qianning clear before crashing heavily onto the ground herself.
SPURT.
Blood sprayed from her lips.
Ye Qianning was like a kite with its string cut, arcing through the air as she plummeted toward the ground. She was falling face-first, and her eyes reflected a sharp, jagged tree root directly below.
The tree, as thick as a child’s arm, had been severed by a sword at an angle. The break was incredibly sharp and pointed directly at her face.
Ye Qianning’s head spun. Her injuries left her unable to move. Even if she could turn over, landing on that sharp root would still pierce her skull.
Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Gu Shuo rushing toward her, but he was too late.
’When truly facing death, I don’t feel much of anything,’ she thought. ’Just like in my past life.’
She slowly closed her eyes.
WHOOSH.
A sudden gust of wind swept past at an astonishing speed. Ye Qianning’s eyes snapped open to a flash of crimson filling her vision.
She was being held, soaring back into the air. ’Is it him? The madman in red I met after leaving the city.’
The man in red landed in a large tree. He looked down to meet the little girl’s gaze, a roguish grin spreading across his lips. His charming eyes were captivating. "No need to be so moved, little girl."
"Thanks," Ye Qianning said, turning her gaze to the scene below.
From their high vantage point, the view was unobstructed, and she could clearly see everything below.
"Is a simple ’thanks’ enough?" the man in red asked, his voice melodic.
"I’ll repay you properly once we get out of here," Ye Qianning said, her eyes scanning the ground before turning to the massive fire that was now drawing perilously close.
She could already feel the searing heat on her cheeks. Once the fire crested the broken peak, there would be nowhere left to hide.
"And you think we can still get out of here?" the man in red asked, also looking toward the fire.
It was said that the broken peak of Four-direction Mountain overlooked a bottomless abyss. The chasm plunged deep into the earth; no one had ever gone down, and no one knew how deep it was. Jumping meant certain death.
But if they didn’t jump, the inferno would surge to the summit and burn every living thing to cinders.
Ye Qianning ignored his words, her gaze fixed on the area behind them.
"Who are you?" Zhan Chi demanded as he rushed to the spot below them.
The man in red shot him a cold glance before his eyes returned to the small child in his arms.
The wounds on her body and legs were gruesome. He was struck by how a child could be so calm, not crying or making a fuss. He had just taken a look at the dead tiger.
It was twice the size of a normal tiger, and its murky blood reeked of a foul stench. Clearly, it had been driven into a frenzy before it died.
’For someone so small to kill such a formidable tiger... there probably isn’t another child like her in the entire world.’
"Zhan Chi, I’m fine! Go check on Luo Wen!" Ye Qianning said, her gaze fixed on the direction of the fire’s edge.
The Hidden Guards from the East Shu Imperial Family came from that direction. Luo Wen was knocked down over there, but he should still be alive.
"But you..."
"He won’t hurt me! The fire is about to reach where Luo Wen is!" Ye Qianning yelled.
Zhan Chi shot the man in red a probing stare for a moment longer, then turned and headed toward the back left.
"And how do you know I won’t hurt you?" the man in red asked, his tone playful.
"If you wanted to kill me, would you have gone to all this trouble?" Ye Qianning retorted, her gaze still fixed on the scene below.
"Or maybe... I want to give you a fate worse than death?"