Chapter 17: Lifting Up the Clothes
Su Xiaoyun was indifferent to this; she smiled in response and said no more.
The atmosphere between them gradually grew silent.
As they ventured deeper into the mountain ridge, the path ahead became increasingly steep.
Seeing a sharp bend approaching, Su Xiaoyun instinctively slowed her pace.
Beneath her feet were sharp, jagged stones, and slippery moss covered the ground. “Only a few more miles, and we’ll—”
“Watch out!”
Before Su Xiaoyun could finish her sentence, her slender arm was suddenly grasped firmly and yanked backward.
She barely had time to cry out before she was pulled into an embrace filled with the cold scent of pine.
The hard chest pressed painfully against her back.
Su Xiaoyun let out a soft cry of pain, clutching her arm in surprise. “What’s happening?”
Crackling sounds rang out.
Countless small stones mixed with yellow earth tumbled down.
Beside them was a sheer earth cliff, and the rustling noises grew louder.
A bad premonition surged in Su Xiaoyun’s heart.
Sure enough, the next moment, she heard Huo Congjing’s deep voice, tense and urgent: “The mountain path ahead is collapsing. Don’t look up!”
His grip on her arm tightened suddenly, and with a swift leap backward, he pulled them both away from the spot.
At the very moment where Su Xiaoyun had stood, a massive boulder crashed down.
With a thunderous roar, the previously unstable earthen cliff above collapsed violently.
Su Xiaoyun’s eyes widened in shock. “Why would the path just collapse like that for no reason?”
She felt the hair on her back stand on end.
If not for Huo Congjing’s timely reaction, she would have been struck by the falling debris.
Amid the chaos in her mind, she recalled the system’s words: “No other tasks or restrictions, just make sure to survive and draw the lottery every day…”
Survive…
Su Xiaoyun’s temples throbbed with veins bulging. No one told her survival meant this kind of existence!
Natural disasters and calamities, one after another?
An instant mountain collapse as a starting move—how was she supposed to dodge that?
Seeing her stare blankly ahead, Huo Congjing mistook it for fear. “It’s okay. It should be a small-scale collapse. It will pass soon.”
“Let’s find a place to take shelter and wait until the noise quiets down before moving on.”
Su Xiaoyun’s gaze darkened. “We can’t go forward. There’s no guarantee there won’t be secondary collapses.”
“Let’s head back the way we came and find a more solid spot.”
They both thought alike.
---
Su Xiaoyun watched warily as the collapsed area lay before them.
What had once been a narrow, winding dirt path was now a chaotic field of rubble, the collapse completed in an instant.
Human beings were truly insignificant in the face of nature.
Sharp broken branches jutted out of the muddy, decayed leaves.
By the force and speed of the fall, these branches could easily pierce a person.
Su Xiaoyun’s cheeks paled slightly as she tightened her grip, turning to follow Huo Congjing to a cave in the cliff.
This mountain section was thick and solid, and the aftershocks of the collapse had yet to fully subside.
Within a short distance, this was the best refuge they could find.
Su Xiaoyun bent slightly forward, patting her chest to steady her breath. “That was close. Huo Congjing, you saved me again.”
Her clear, almond-shaped eyes sparkled with a bright smile.
Her face, dusted with specks of dirt, was exquisitely delicate.
Huo Congjing cleared his throat, expression unchanging as he picked up a wooden stick and brushed aside a pile of leaves on the ground. “It’s my duty as a soldier to protect the people.”
At that moment, Su Xiaoyun suddenly caught a faint scent of blood in the air.
Her heart skipped a beat as she looked toward the arm Huo Congjing had tucked behind his back. “You’re injured!”
Huo Congjing merely glanced casually. “It’s nothing serious. Just a simple dressing when we get back.”
“Wait about a quarter of an hour; we should be able to move then. Don’t worry.”
If the timing weren’t so tense, Su Xiaoyun would have rolled her eyes.
Ignoring any decorum, she seized Huo Congjing’s arm. “If you don’t treat it in time, it could get infected.”
Seeing the injury up close gave her a shock.
Su Xiaoyun gasped softly.
On the man’s sturdy, tanned forearm was a deep, jagged wound still oozing blood.
It must have been from when he pulled her away from the falling debris and was pierced by a sharp branch.
An inexplicable surge of guilt rose within her.
Her eyes hardened with resolve. She had never liked owing anyone since childhood.
“Wait here. There are hemostatic and anti-inflammatory herbs in the bushes ahead. I’ll go gather them.”
Before Huo Congjing could object, Su Xiaoyun swiftly slipped out of the cave.
Only her slender yet determined figure remained.
Ahead, the silent, stifling forest still occasionally echoed with distant rumbles of collapsing earth.
Su Xiaoyun leaned against tree trunks, avoiding the thorns of the bushes.
She had some knowledge of herbs—knowing which could stop bleeding and which could reduce inflammation.
Holding a thick branch, she parted the grass carefully to avoid snakes or rats hiding within.
Suddenly, she spotted a deep green, serrated plant. Her eyes lit up. “Found it!”
---
Next to it was a small wild jujube tree.
Perfect timing.
Green light sparkled in Su Xiaoyun’s eyes as she stood on tiptoe, pulling the branches down and stripping the tree clean of its sour jujube fruits.
Her pockets and clothes were filled to the brim, and she even gathered an extra handful in her blouse.
As for the herbs, she quickly found two plants. “This should be enough.”
It took her no more than ten minutes to return to the cave.
Even Huo Congjing was amazed by her speed.
“It wasn’t far, and I found some sour jujubes,” Su Xiaoyun said, offering him the black fruits in a coaxing manner before starting to grind the herbs with stones.
The clinking of stones echoed softly.
The herbs quickly released their juices, darkening into a thick, blackish-green paste.
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