The man lay less than one zhang away from Lin Hao. That pair of hawk-like eyes on his twisted face stared straight at her, chilling to the bone.

Lin Hao’s gaze moved past him to the approaching young man, revealing a brilliant smile.

In just a few breaths, Qi Shuo had arrived before her, bending down to help her up.

“A’Hao—” He restrained his excited emotions as he called out these two words, his voice trembling.

The corners of Lin Hao’s mouth lifted high: “I’m fine. A’Shuo, your timing is perfect.”

“Are you injured anywhere?”

“No, I’m just thirsty and hungry, without much strength.” Lin Hao’s smile suddenly froze. “You’re injured?”

It was already early winter. Qi Shuo wore a dark blue cotton-padded silk garment, which now bore scratches everywhere along with patches of dark red bloodstains.

Qi Shuo casually glanced down and smiled: “This blood isn’t mine. I encountered a lone wolf last night and it splashed on me while killing it.”

Hearing this, Lin Hao breathed a sigh of relief: “That’s good—”

Before she could finish speaking, Qi Shuo pulled her aside. At the same time, he blocked outward with the longbow gripped in his left hand. The sleeve arrow flying silently toward them was directly deflected in another direction, piercing into the man’s neck.

The man had already been forcing himself to hang on with his last breath. He immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and stopped moving entirely.

Qi Shuo walked over, his stone-blue riding boots stopping before the man. Looking at the now-breathless man, his eyes were like ice: “I had intended to keep you for a few days.”

When he shot that arrow, he had deliberately aimed an inch off, originally wanting to leave someone alive to question whether there were accomplices. Naturally he’d been guarding against this person’s desperate final struggle.

“A’Shuo, what’s the situation outside?”

With the man dead, Lin Hao felt at ease asking about matters outside.

“Yesterday when I learned something had happened to you, I discussed with Old Madam and she agreed to hold back for now while I brought three guards into the mountain. We spread out to search for you.”

Lin Hao was shocked: “You spent the night in the mountains?”

During this season, prey decreased and ferocious beasts like jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards became even more savage. The deep mountains at night were full of danger at every turn.

“Don’t worry, they all have the ability to protect themselves.”

Lin Hao glared at him: “I think you entering the mountain rashly was too dangerous.”

“Otherwise how would I find you?” The young man looked at her, a gentle smile at the corners of his lips.

Hearing these words, Lin Hao’s heart felt sweet as honey, revealing a big smile: “That’s right, fortunately you came to find me.”

Surviving disaster, lovers meeting—after her rebirth, her luck seemed to have been consistently good.

“A’Hao, did this villain also kidnap two other people?”

Lin Hao was startled: “How did you know?”

Since A’Shuo had entered the mountain yesterday and hadn’t gone back out, he shouldn’t know about Zhu Jiayu and Chi Caiyun being kidnapped.

“How do you think I found you?” Qi Shuo glanced at the man on the ground and smiled. “I followed him here.”

As he spoke, he handed something over.

Lin Hao was both surprised and delighted: “My dagger?”

“I found this dagger in some grass and carefully searched the vicinity, then found that cave. After I went in and saw it was empty with three ropes scattered on the ground, I guessed this villain had kidnapped others besides you. Afterward, I left the cave planning to continue looking for you, but unexpectedly encountered this person first, so I simply followed quietly behind him.”

Wuyin Mountain was too vast. Rather than searching blindly like a headless fly, following the kidnapper gave a much greater probability of finding people. Taking a step back, even if he couldn’t find them, at least keeping the villain under his nose meant he couldn’t harm Lin Hao if she had escaped.

“No wonder that arrow came at such a timely moment.” Lin Hao looked at Qi Shuo with bright eyes, like stars in the sky.

Suddenly a shout came: “A’Hao—”

Second Miss Lin, whose heart was racing like a startled deer, had the smile at her lips freeze as she looked over.

Zhu Jiayu lifted her skirts and came flying over, embracing Lin Hao fully: “Thank goodness, I thought you’d been caught by that villain…”

This was followed by uncontrollable crying, though these were tears of joy at being rescued.

Having talked with Qi Shuo for a while, Lin Hao’s emotions had calmed considerably. She patted Zhu Jiayu and asked: “A’Yu, is Miss Chi with you?”

Zhu Jiayu’s crying stopped. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes: “No… When I heard your warning, my mind went blank and I just knew to run. Later I tripped and calmed down, then came back to find you.”

Speaking of this, Zhu Jiayu’s tears fell even harder: “I thought, if something happened to you, even if I avoided that villain I wouldn’t be able to survive. Might as well be together with you…”

Lin Hao raised her sleeve to wipe Zhu Jiayu’s tears, softly comforting her: “Everything’s fine now.”

To the side, Qi Shuo’s expression was somewhat subtle.

This young lady who wanted to share life and death with A’Hao seemed to be from the Yichun Earl’s Manor, right?

“Let’s go find Miss Chi.”

Zhu Jiayu nodded. Only then did she feel embarrassed about crying like this in front of Qi Shuo. Blushing, she curtsied and thanked him.

“Wait a moment first.” Qi Shuo gestured for the two to turn their backs.

Lin Hao guessed Qi Shuo’s intention, but Zhu Jiayu didn’t know. Pricking up her ears to listen, she seemed to hear the sound of cloth tearing.

Could Prince Jing’s Heir be stripping the villain’s clothes— As soon as this bold guess arose, Zhu Jiayu nearly turned her head.

After another moment, a sharp, long whistle sounded, startling nearby birds into fluttering flight.

“Let’s go. If the guards who entered the mountain with me aren’t too far away and hear the whistle, they’ll rush over. Then they can bring this person’s corpse out.”

Zhu Jiayu couldn’t help but glance at the corpse on the ground. Not daring to look too carefully, her gaze drifted to land on the refined and elegant face of Prince Jing’s Heir.

Ahem, she must have heard wrong.

The three rushed to where they’d hidden earlier. Upon arriving, they couldn’t immediately determine which direction Chi Caiyun had fled. Lin Hao simply cupped her hands to her lips and called out: “Miss Chi—”

The clear, long-carrying voice spread out, startling a pair of wild rabbits into swift flight.

“Let me.” Zhu Jiayu took a deep breath and shouted loudly: “Miss Chi—”

Lin Hao was stunned into silence.

Zhu Jiayu’s face reddened: “I didn’t expect my voice to be so loud…”

“I’m here—” Chi Caiyun stood up, waving vigorously.

Her location was actually not far from where they’d hidden.

“I couldn’t run anymore to begin with. Even trying my hardest I couldn’t outrun that villain, so I simply stopped running and hid here.”

“Then why didn’t you see us when we came by just now?” Zhu Jiayu asked in her quick-speaking manner.

Now it was Chi Caiyun’s turn to blush: “I kept my face buried in my knees the whole time, not daring to look anywhere. I only dared stand up when I heard your voices.”

Lin Hao and Zhu Jiayu exchanged glances and couldn’t help but smile.

That was something Miss Chi would do.

“Is this the righteous warrior who saved us?” Chi Caiyun’s curious gaze fell on Qi Shuo’s face.

“This is Prince Jing’s Heir, my betrothed.” Lin Hao introduced him openly and generously.

The corners of Qi Shuo’s lips lifted slightly: “Let’s go to where the bandit is first.”

Chi Caiyun walked behind, quietly asking Zhu Jiayu: “What about that villain?”

“Prince Jing’s Heir shot him dead with one arrow.”

Chi Caiyun drew in a sharp breath and said in a low voice: “Really can’t tell by looking.”

The group returned to where the man had died. Before long, two guards arrived.

After Qi Shuo gave them instructions, he distributed the dry rations and drinking water he carried to the three women. Once their stamina recovered, they headed toward the mountain’s exit.