Chapter 3 Truly, Men Are Unreliable

Chu Junyi half leaned against the wall of the cave, his eyes shone along with the flames. He looked at Shen Ninghua, who was gathering firewood. "May I know your name?"

Ever since she helped him into the cave, she had not uttered a word, and had neglected him thoroughly.

Shen Ninghua moved closer to the fire. She rubbed her twisted ankle with her fingers and frowned. This cave was secluded and she had also tried her best to remove the traces of the two of them along the way, so hopefully they wouldn't be found.

"We are now sort of in the same boat. I have told you who I am, but you haven't introduced yourself to me. Are you afraid that I will bother you in the future?"

Chu Junyi didn't care about Shen Ninghua's indifference at all and continued.

"I saved you for five thousand taels of gold. Once you give me the money, we won't have any business to do with each other. What good is there for you to know my name?"

"Oh, you don't want to tell me. It doesn't matter. You can recognize the token of the Xiao family so you must also come from the capital. It's easy for me to find out a person's identity when I get out. What's more, your features are so obvious."

Looking at her hands, Shen Ninghua acknowledged that her dark skin was indeed a distinctive feature. However, everyone knew about Shen Linghan, the beautiful and kind-hearted daughter of Shen family. Who would know her, the shame of Shen family?

"Huh? Looks like you don't think I can find you?" Chu Junyi raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Although your clothes are a little old, this material is not affordable for the ordinary people. You are at least the daughter of an official in the capital. Although I have lived in the capital for so many years, I haven't heard of any young lady whose face is so...particular. Well then, you must be extremely unpopular and neglected in your family. In this way, it is not difficult to find out who you are."

Chu Junyi slightly curved his lips and his face was full of smile.

"Well, then take your time to investigate."

Shen Ninghua finished saying and no longer paid attention to him. She took the clothes out of the baggage, carefully spread them on the hay and lay down.

After a long time, Chu Junyi heard her breathing was stable. He opened his eyes and glanced at Shen Ninghua's back. The girl's temperament would be quite to his taste if it were in normal times; but now, he was the one who was overlooked and the coldness with which she treated him made him feel uncomfortable.

He looked down at the wound on his body and frowned. Today, he was going to pick up Xiao Huanxi, his younger sister who had finished her prayers in the temple. However, he encountered assassination halfway. The assassins were large in number and fought to their death to accomplish their goal. The ordinary guards he brought were no match to them. To make things worse, there was a traitor in his guards. If it weren't for that guy's stabbing at him in the back, he would not be wounded so seriously and ended up in a cave worried about his safety. When he got out... Hum...

Just as he was lost in his thought, he saw Shen Ninghua sat up and gasped heavily. Her eyes were filled with hatred as deep as an ancient well, which made her whole body vaguely covered with a grayish atmosphere.

Chu Junyi's heart quivered: "What's the matter with you?"

Hearing his voice, Shen Ninghua turned around, but her expression already calmed down: "Nothing."

If Chu Junyi were skeptical of his eyes, he would have thought that the emotion of Shen Ninghua he had just felt was merely his illusion. Even if she was not favored in the family, she was just a teenage girl. However, she radiated with hatred like one who had just escaped from a sea of blood and mountain of corpses. So who on earth was she?

Shen Ninghua lay down again but she was no longer sleepy at all. She had dreamed that she was still lying on the cold bed in the cold palace, covered with dust, living like an animal every day... Shen Linghan, Baili Jinze, I must let both of you taste the pain you had inflicted on me!

At dawn the next day, Shen Ninghua looked at Chu Junyi and was very satisfied that he talked much less.

In fact, Chu Junyi was almost too weak to speak. He was so badly wounded that he suffered a fever and remained uncomfortable all night.

Shen Ninghua pulled him out and moved towards the north of the valley.

Her sprained ankle made it more difficult for her to drag a man along. Soon, she sweated a lot and began to pant.

Chu Junyi lay there, listening to her voice. Somehow, his heart was filled with strange feelings.

They had been moving for almost an hour. Since he had practiced martial arts, he was able to tell her physical state from her breath. Right now, she was short of breath and every breath seemed to be squeezed out of her chest. She must have become exhausted, but she was still moving on, most likely supported by her strong will. He had seen many firm-minded women, but there were few like her.

"You... can have a rest."

Shen Ninghua stopped at a stream and squatted down to take a sip of water. Her ankle was already swollen like a steamed bun. "Once we are out of the valley, is there anyone to pick you up?"

Half jokingly and half seriously, Chu Junyi answered, "I will be able to contact my people when we are out of the valley. But aren't you afraid that I will kill you and take back the token?"

"You can try."

Shen Ninghua's face was cold. "Did you think that I had not anticipated you doing that? I've hidden the jade pendant. You give me the gold and I'll tell you the location. We had better get along peacefully.

If you wanted to break your promise, be prepared to never find the jade pendant."

"That jade pendant is just a token. It's not a big problem if I can't find it."

Shen Ninghua looked up at him with a sneer. "Is it really just a token?"

Chu Junyi paused for a while and laughed in a low voice: "Haha, you are really not a simple girl. Rest assured. I like your character. For the sake of it, I won't kill you."

Shen Ninghua got up and stopped in front of Chu Junyi. She pressed her hand on his chest and used her fingers to squeeze his wound. Blood immediately flowed down. "It's easy for me to get nervous when someone threatens me. And when I am nervous, I don't know what kind of crazy things I will do."

Chu Junyi snorted sullenly, "My life is worth five thousand taels of gold."

"Hum!"

Shen Ninghua stood up with a cold hum. Suddenly, she felt a sting in her leg:

"Snake!"

She took two steps backward abruptly and sat on the ground. Her face turned pale, and memories billowed in her mind. When she was locked in the cold palace, those eunuchs loved tormenting her. As she couldn't move, they put her in a cloth bag and then put snakes in it. Thinking back, that feeling still filled her with extreme panic.

Chu Junyi frowned and struggled to get up: "It's a snake. Don't move. On the way we just passed, I've seen snake flowers and plants that can detoxify snake venom. It's not far from here. I'll be back soon!"

Snake's venom was very special. If the poisoned people did not move, they would be fine after taking antidotes within an hour. If they made any movements, the venom would spread through their body quickly, and they would get suffocated and die.

Shen Ninghua watched Chu Junyi get up. His hands were clenched on his breast while he staggered towards the direction where they had come from. But after she had waited for about an hour, nobody came.

"Men are truely unreliable."

Shen Ninghua sneered coldly. At this time, her legs and arms became numb and she could not stand up at all. She could only open her eyes and crawled forwards.

She still had a huge feud to avenge, so she couldn't die like this. She must live. As long as she could breathe, she would not give up!

In a fit of coma, she seemed to hear someone talking to her. The voice was hoarse, like the dry barks rubbing against each other:

"You want revenge?"

"Yes... Shen Linghan... Baili Jinze, I... want them to die a tragic death."

"Shen Linghan is supported by the Zhao family, and Baili Jinze the royal family. Do you think you can succeed?"

"Supported by the Zhao family... Then I'll bring down the Zhao family! The royal family, then... I'll stir up the court! I want them to pay the debt of blood with their own blood! "

The numbness of her body gradually disappeared. When Shen Ninghua opened her eyes again, a scarred face suddenly came into her view and she cried out "Ah!"