Shao Mingyuan was stunned for a moment before realizing he was still bare-chested.

He silently put on his clothes, thinking: Habit truly is a terrifying thing.

“Miss Li, let me escort you to Dafu Temple first, then I’ll come back to find them.”

Qiao Zhao firmly refused: “There’s no time. You wait here for me, I’ll go find the herbs.”

Did this man think he was invincible? At a time like this, he still wanted to escort her back to Dafu Temple, not realizing his body would soon be unable to hold on.

Qiao Zhao turned to leave, but Shao Mingyuan grabbed her arm.

“General Shao?” Qiao Zhao was greatly surprised.

In her opinion, this man was quite rigid. For him to take the initiative to grab her like this was truly unprecedented.

“I said there’s time, so there’s time.”

Qiao Zhao rolled her eyes at him: “Does General Shao think he’s made of iron? Please let go of me, I need to find herbs—”

Shao Mingyuan turned a deaf ear. With a forceful pull, he dragged Qiao Zhao back the way they came.

“General Shao, what are you doing?”

“Stop making a fuss!” Shao Mingyuan scolded coldly.

Qiao Zhao was stunned, completely unable to believe that Shao Mingyuan would speak with such stern authority.

In the time she was dazed, she had already been brought to the bottom of the slope.

Shao Mingyuan crouched down halfway and said calmly: “Get on!”

He wanted to carry her up?

Qiao Zhao was completely shocked.

Did he think he had superhuman strength? Clearly about to collapse from exhaustion, yet he still wanted to carry her up such a steep mountain slope?

“General Shao, don’t force yourself—”

Before she could finish speaking, Qiao Zhao suddenly found herself airborne, actually lifted onto Shao Mingyuan’s back. The man beneath her said in a low voice: “Hold tight to my shoulders.”

As his words fell, he leaped upward in one bound. Qiao Zhao had no choice but to wrap her arms tightly around him, saying angrily: “Shao Mingyuan, I’m a physician!”

While climbing upward, Shao Mingyuan replied: “Usually, yes. Not now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Right now, in my eyes, you’re just a young woman.”

If he couldn’t protect her properly, what kind of man would he be?

Qiao Zhao gritted her teeth.

So arrogant!

“General Shao, I’m very clear about your physical condition. You simply can’t hold on much longer. If the cold poison attacks halfway up and you lose strength, wouldn’t we both fall? While we haven’t climbed too high yet, let’s hurry back down.” Qiao Zhao lay against his back, not daring to move carelessly. Finding him uncharacteristically unreasonable, she could only patiently persuade him.

However, the man carrying her upward seemed to have made up his mind with iron determination, saying calmly, “I know my physical condition best. Miss Li, rest assured, I won’t let you fall.”

Qiao Zhao was so angry that she opened her mouth, wanting nothing more than to bite his shoulder.

This stubborn, single-minded bastard!

Though furious, in this situation, she didn’t dare even struggle, fearing she would add to his burden.

By now, she could see that Shao Mingyuan was usually a wild wolf disguised in the gentle, jade-like exterior of a noble young master. When truly facing trouble, even if nothing else remained, he would still have that fierce determination.

Qiao Zhao had to settle for second best: “Then put me down, I’ll climb myself.”

“No.”

Qiao Zhao pressed her lips together.

How could this also be unacceptable?

“There’s a possibility of losing footing and falling.”

Qiao Zhao secretly took a breath and said, “General Shao has forgotten, I came down by myself.”

The man replied matter-of-factly: “I wasn’t there then.”

Qiao Zhao: “…” She hadn’t realized before that he was such an unreasonable person!

“General Shao, this counts as intimate physical contact between us. Are you prepared to marry me?” When Qiao Zhao asked this question, she intended to provoke him into putting her down, yet for some reason, her heart stirred.

She could feel the man’s entire body stiffen, then he said lightly: “If that were the case, I would need to marry no fewer than a hundred women.”

In the Northern Territories, how many vulnerable women had been harmed by the Tartars? He had saved more than a hundred, and had even covered clothes over women who had been brutally violated…

Qiao Zhao lowered her head and bit Shao Mingyuan’s shoulder.

Then let him go marry them all!

Hanging on the steep slope, Shao Mingyuan didn’t move for a moment, then spoke with difficulty: “Miss Li?”

But Qiao Zhao suddenly regained her composure, her cheeks burning hot.

She had truly lost her composure just now. Yes, it was all because this bastard was being so obstinate that her mind became chaotic.

“Sorry, I accidentally bumped into you just now.” Miss Qiao explained in a calm tone.

Shao Mingyuan continued climbing upward, somewhat hesitant in his heart: A bump didn’t quite feel like that—

But he didn’t dare think further, explaining: “I have always believed that in situations where there’s no choice, no etiquette is more important than human life.”

“What if some young women believe their reputation is more important and want General Shao to take responsibility?”

“Uh, I haven’t encountered such women in the Northern Territories.”

Years of warfare and life where one couldn’t be sure of seeing the next day—perhaps it was precisely because they could lose their most precious lives at any moment that people in the Northern Territories took everything else lightly. What could be more important than staying alive?

“This isn’t the Northern Territories, this is the capital.”

“But Miss Li isn’t that kind of person.”

He trusted his judgment of people.

Qiao Zhao lay on Shao Mingyuan’s back and stopped talking, thinking: Fool, you’ll encounter such people sooner or later.

The two gradually climbed to the halfway point when suddenly a thunderbolt struck and heavy rain poured down in an instant.

Shao Mingyuan stopped, his tone grave: “No good, we can’t climb anymore.”

His decision to bring Miss Li up wasn’t showing off, but based on absolute confidence. However, this sudden heavy rain disrupted his plans.

Climbing upward in the rain, the chances of success were minimal. If he were alone, he might still take the gamble, but now there were two people—he couldn’t bet with her safety.

Before Qiao Zhao could respond, Shao Mingyuan reminded her: “Miss Li, hold on tight!”

After saying this, he stretched his foot downward and quickly slid down the steep slope.

Climbing up had been so difficult, but sliding down seemed to take only an instant before they both landed on solid ground.

Shao Mingyuan leaned against the mountain wall and caught his breath.

“General Shao, how are you?”

Shao Mingyuan set Qiao Zhao down and turned around: “I’m fine. We need to quickly find somewhere to shelter from the rain.”

The mountain air was cold. Even in summer, if they kept getting rained on, they wouldn’t be able to bear it, especially since he was already nearly unable to control the cold poison raging through his body.

The rain poured down torrentially. The mountain stream, already abundant with water, surged even higher, rushing like a roaring water dragon toward the distance.

Qiao Zhao’s heart grew heavier.

Adding insult to injury—did Chen Guang and Binglu still have a hope of survival?

However, she and Shao Mingyuan were now barely able to protect themselves and had no ability to search for them.

“Come, let’s go this way.”

Fearing Qiao Zhao might lose her footing and fall into the mountain stream, Shao Mingyuan tightly held her hand as they walked in one direction. Finally, after walking for two quarters of an hour, they discovered a cave.

“Wait here for me.” After giving this instruction, Shao Mingyuan bent down and entered the cave. Soon, he emerged with a relieved smile: “It’s safe inside. Let’s go in.”