The speed of punting is far inferior to that of riding a horse.
Coupled with the resistance of the water, when we reached the mountain not far away, the sky, which was not very bright at first, became darker and darker.
Chu Yue took out the bamboo tube again with great hope. She opened the bamboo tube with slightly trembling hands. When she looked at the Gu insect in the bamboo tube again, she found that the Gu insect that was originally huddled motionless in the bamboo tube fluttered its wings.
Seeing this result, her eyes suddenly turned red and she cried with joy.
"It's moving, the poisonous insects are moving!" She hurriedly covered the bamboo tube to prevent the poisonous insects from flying away, and then looked at Ningdong, "Ningdong, let's paddle together and speed up."
"yes."
Ningdong took the wooden oar on the side and paddled back quickly with Chu Yue.
The three of them worked together, and after a quarter of an hour, the boat finally docked. Because they were afraid that the boat would be washed away by the flood, the three of them pulled the entire boat to the shore and tied it tightly to a big tree.
Not only that, the three people also covered the boat with branches and weeds to prevent others from discovering it and rowing it away.
After doing this, the three of them went up the mountain.
As Chu Yue walked, she would open the bamboo tube from time to time to see the condition of the Gu insects.
The more the wings tremble, the closer the other Gu insect is.
However, after searching for a long time in the rainy mountain forest, the mountain road was rugged and slippery under the erosion of mud and water. Chu Yue slipped and fell several times, leaving several traces of bruises on his body. His palms were even scratched by stones. Blood dripped down his fingertips.
Ningdong saw it in his eyes and felt anxious in his heart.
"Princess, your hands..."
"I'm fine. Since the Gu insect reacted when he got close to here, it means my husband is nearby. Let's continue looking."
After Chu Yue finished speaking, she continued to climb up the branches, ignoring the bleeding palms, as if she didn't know the pain.
Ningdong understood Chu Yue's temper. Although she looked weak, she was more stubborn than anyone else when it came to her decisions.
He bit his lip and continued to follow her footsteps.
Half an hour later, several people finally found the baggage that Chu Yue handed to Lu Xinghe before he left.
As for people, there was no trace at all.
"how so?"
Chu Yue frowned, and she didn't know whether it was tears or rain running down her face.
She staggered forward and reached out to pick up the bundle from the ground. She didn't know whether it was because of fatigue or fear, but her fingertips were trembling slightly.
She knew that since it was something given by her, Lu Xinghe would never throw it away easily. Now that there was only the baggage but no one there, she was afraid that something had really happened.
Chu Yue looked around helplessly.
"Ms. sir! Where are you?"
In the darkening rain curtain, there was no response.
Looking at her like this, Ningdong's eyes turned red, and she stepped forward to help Chu Yue's shaky body.
"Princess, please don't worry. Maybe my uncle just lost the baggage in a hurry. Since the baggage appears here, it means that my uncle has been here. Let's look for it again. What if he is taking shelter from the rain somewhere?"
Chu Yue sniffed, touched her face, and regained her composure.
"You are right. Since the baggage appears here, it means that he has been here. Heimu, let's look for it separately. You go over there. Ningdong and I will go over here to have a look. We will also look for any caves nearby. Regardless of whether I find it or not, I’ll meet you here in half an hour.”
It is estimated that in half an hour, it will be completely dark, and you will be unable to see your fingers. Even if you want to find someone, you will not be able to see the way.
Kuroki nodded.
"Be careful." He then looked at Ningdong with a cautious face, "Protect the princess well."
Ningdong nodded hurriedly.
"I will."
The three of them searched in two directions and drifted away.
…
In a dark cave somewhere, Lu Xinghe frowned and looked at Wu Yong, whose arm was injured beside him.
"Did you hear anything?"
Four days ago, after he arranged for local officials to lead people who were proficient in water properties to go into the water to dredge the river, he turned around and led a team of people with Wu Yong to search and rescue people in the disaster-stricken area. By the way, he explored the terrain of the mountains here and dug tributaries for the later period. prepare for.
Unexpectedly, they were followed and chased all the way. The boat they were on was broken, Wu Yong's arm was injured in the fight, and everyone fell into the water one after another.
Fortunately, Lu Xinghe's water quality was pretty good, and he even dragged the injured Wu Yong up the mountain range.
It's a pity that the dozen brothers they brought with them on this trip did not die on the battlefield, but died in the officialdom's overt and covert struggles.
Wu Yong covered his injured arm and bared his teeth and said, "Besides the sound of rain outside, where else can there be other sounds? Your boy led the rest of the brothers to explore the terrain of the mountains. Even if he comes back and finds us missing, I'm afraid he won't Find us quickly."
Lu Xinghe said nothing more, picked up the bamboo hat and coir raincoat on the side and put them on.
"I'll go out and take a look."
Wu Yong hurriedly stood up. Because he hadn't eaten for several days and suffered from excessive bleeding due to previous injuries, his body swayed slightly when he stood up and he almost fell.
Seeing this, Lu Xinghe hurriedly stepped forward to support him.
"Don't move!"
Wu Yong looked at him, his brows furrowed.
"Those men in black will definitely not give up until they see our bodies. Do you want your life?"
"It's been a day and a night, and the man in black hasn't found us. Maybe he has left." Lu Xinghe patted his shoulder, "I'll go out and take a look. I'll wait and see. I'll look for Yueyue before." If you find the medicine I gave you, your injury will heal faster."
After he finished speaking, he walked directly towards the entrance of the cave.
Wu Yong sighed, sat down again, and stared in the direction of the cave entrance.
If his arm hadn't been injured, the two of them would have been able to move more easily, but now that he was injured and his movements were restricted, he was far from a match for those men in black.
Lu Xinghe moved forward in the slightly dim rain curtain, using the cover of trees, looking for something along the way he came.
A quarter of an hour later, he saw two thin figures appearing not far to the left.
The rain was too heavy and the sky was dark, making it difficult to see the appearance. In addition, Chu Yue was dressed as a man, so he did not connect the two thin figures to Chu Yue and Ningdong.
He hid behind a big tree and quietly looked at the two approaching figures. Upon closer inspection, he felt that the figure in front of him was somewhat familiar.
Are you here to save them?
Suddenly, a bright silver light in the distance entered Lu Xinghe's line of sight. He raised his dark eyes slightly and saw a man in black holding a crossbow, aiming at the two thin figures walking towards him.
ready!
When Lu Xinghe saw this, he panicked for no reason.
He walked out from behind the tree, trying to attract the attention of the man in black, and shouted to the two people in front, "Be careful, run!"
At the same time, the man in black curled his lips slightly, raised his arm and pointed the crossbow arrow at Lu Xinghe.
With a "whoosh" sound, the crossbow arrow penetrated the rain curtain and hit Lu Xinghe's chest.
