Yun Manman felt unusually hot all over, her mind growing hazier by the moment. Her gaze flicked to the knife at her feet.
She picked it up and sliced her arm. Blood immediately seeped from the wound, and her head instantly felt much clearer.
She certainly couldn't return to the village in this state. There should be a pool or something in the mountains, right?
After taking a deep breath, Yun Manman picked up the knife and headed deeper into the mountains behind the village.
She kept her hand clenched tightly around the blade, trying to stay lucid this way.
Along the way,
Yun Manman saw nothing but slopes of all sizes. When she spotted the large cave before her,
she blinked repeatedly, confirming once again that the cave hadn't vanished before letting out a soft sigh of relief. She had really been afraid she was seeing a mirage.
She stumbled into the cave. Cool air instantly washed over her face, immediately easing the scorching heat in her body.
Just as she lifted her foot to head farther inside, a white figure rapidly closed in. A sword gleaming with cold light thrust straight toward her heart.
Irritated enough to want to swear, Yun Manman raised her knife and blocked the incoming sword.
Sparks flew as the blades collided. Yun Manman thrust her knife diagonally toward her attacker's waist and abdomen.
But the attacker flickered aside, a fierce streak of sword qi sweeping from the weapon in his hand.
Yun Manman felt her arm going numb.
"I actually ran into an expert!"
Watching the sword thrust toward her again, Yun Manman felt like killing herself. Gritting her teeth, she raised her knife and knocked the sword aside, shouting angrily,
"Fuck, I just came to find a pool! Are you ever going to fucking stop?"
The cave fell silent for a moment. A clear, cool voice came from ahead.
"Who are you?"
Yun Manman bit her lower lip hard and raised her eyes toward the speaker.
The man's sword pointed at her. His robes were white as snow, his bearing noble and effortlessly graceful. He had sculpted features, sword-like brows, and starry eyes, his deep-ocean-blue gaze icy.
Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead, as though he were enduring something.
Clear, pale-purple eyes met cold, deep-blue ones, and both their breaths briefly stalled.
(You can imagine them like colored contacts. You wouldn't notice unless you looked closely; their irises were still black, just with a hint of color!)
Looking at the white-robed man before her, Yun Manman felt her mind grow even foggier and couldn't help murmuring softly,
"What a beautiful eye color!"
She had thought her own eye color was the most beautiful.
Who would have thought!
An even more beautiful eye color existed in this world. Digging those things out and making them into charms to carry around would surely be one of life's great pleasures!
Surprise flashed through the white-robed man's eyes. Miraculously, he had actually understood.
This woman wasn't afraid of his eyes, and even wanted to dig them out and treasure them?
Yun Manman shook her foggy head, yet one sentence emerged clearly in her mind!
"That's the antidote. Go!"
Watching the girl throw herself at him, the white-robed man gathered internal energy in his hand and struck.
Sensing danger, Yun Manman gritted her teeth and dodged with her heavy body.
She raised her gaze toward the man before her. There were traces of pain in her eyes, yet their depths were utterly icy. Her voice was cold and indifferent.
"Either submit to me or get the hell out."
The white-robed man looked at the girl's dazed eyes, and the power gathered in his hand unconsciously dissipated.
He stepped forward and caught Yun Manman's arm, his voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of impatience.
"You brought this on yourself!"
Yun Manman only felt herself draw close to a source of heat, yet miraculously, it eased the scorching heat in her body.
With a clatter, knife and sword fell to the ground together.
At their touch, hearts fluttered for an instant.
White silken robes fell to the ground, and sounds that made one tremble drifted through the cave.
The sun gradually sank.
The man in the cave slowly opened his eyes, confusion lingering in their blue depths. It had been a long time since he had slept so soundly.
For an instant, he didn't even know where he was. Just as he was about to turn over and sit up,
the earlier intimate scene surfaced in his mind, and disbelief filled his blue eyes.
His body stiffened for a moment before he turned to look beside him.
??? Where was she?
There was nothing there at all. He reached up and rubbed his temples. If not for the unmistakable sensations in his own body, he would have thought it had all been a dream.
"Did she... run away?"
He stood and dressed himself neatly, then noticed the white robe spread across the ground and the vivid smears of red upon it. An unreadable emotion flashed through his icy blue eyes.
Bending down, he gripped the white robe tightly, an inscrutable chill curling at the corners of his lips.
"Woman, well done!"
Hearing footsteps behind him, the guard stationed at the cave entrance hurriedly dropped to one knee.
"Master."
The man's cool, clear voice spoke indifferently. "We're going back."
Somewhat astonished, the guard pressed his lips together before cautiously asking, "Master, should we bring the person inside back to the prince's estate?"
Displeasure flashed through the man's blue eyes. His gaze swept over the cave's other exit, his voice threaded with coldness.
"We're going back."
The guard's eyes widened slightly. He couldn't quite understand his master's actions.
This...
What was his master doing?
He had bedded the young lady, and now he was pulling up his trousers and running?
Was his master dissatisfied with this young lady,
or was his master incapable?
But hadn't his master found this young lady himself?
The guard was rather puzzled. He had just gone to find an antidote, only to hear the sounds inside when he returned. Thinking his master had finally blossomed, he had assumed the antidote would no longer be needed.
But now, this...
Watching the departing figure, the guard dared not think any further and hurried after him. Their figures gradually disappeared into the mountains behind the village.
Meanwhile,
Yun Manman ran some distance before stopping and softly exhaling a few breaths of stale air.
She murmured uncertainly,
"He... he shouldn't be able to find me, right?"
Yun Manman covered her pounding heart, looking toward the mountains behind the village with complicated emotions hidden deep in her eyes.
"Ugh, how did I do something this stupid right after arriving? Luckily, I woke up early. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare imagine the consequences!"
Thinking of everything that had happened today, Yun Manman pressed her forehead in irritation and lightly pursed her lips.
Silently savoring that earlier intense scene, she looked a little regretful.
"I'd better not marry in this lifetime either. I'm better off being beautiful on my own, and my current identity really isn't suited to giving him an official place by my side.
Unfortunately, I'll just have to be a scummy woman."
A breeze carrying a chill brushed past, and Yun Manman slowly closed her eyes.
Her aura was peaceful and serene as she breathed deeply of the scent in the air. This was the scent she had pursued her entire previous life-freedom!
"In this lifetime, family missions and affairs of state have nothing to do with me. In this lifetime, I, Yun Manman, will experience the smoke and fire of mortal life!"
Yun Manman hugged the knife to her chest, completely forgetting the blue eyes she had wanted to treasure, and started toward the village.
Just then, a delighted, excited voice rang out.
"Scummy woman, here I come!"
Yun Manman stopped in confusion. Who was calling her?
Pah!
No, who was insulting her?
No, where had that voice come from?
She looked up and saw a mass of white vapor swirling as it rapidly approached her.
It charged straight toward her face, as though trying to disfigure her.
Yun Manman's heart tightened.
There really was danger everywhere in ancient times!