At this moment, the carriage began moving again, and the two men outside, busy with their journey, ceased their conversation.
Ren Yaohua thought to herself that no matter what the woman who wanted to kidnap her intended, she could not let her succeed. But how could a weak woman like her, with no strength to even tie up a chicken, escape from these ruthless, murderous desperadoes? Ren Yaohua glanced at the male corpse lying not far to her right. The man had been ambushed from behind, stabbed in the back with a dagger, and his slightly dark blood had seeped onto the carriage’s floor covering. The interior of the carriage was filled with a nauseating smell of blood. Ren Yaohua closed her eyes for a moment before turning her head away. This scene only fueled her growing desperation to escape.
The carriage traveled for another half an hour or so before stopping again at a highland area with dense trees. The driver said, "Let’s find a spot in the woods ahead to bury the dead man. That way, the carriage can move faster."
The man on horseback grunted in agreement and dismounted.
As the wind was strong here, Ren Yaohua peeked through the fluttering carriage curtain and saw that they had stopped on a relatively high plateau. To the right was a dense forest, while further ahead to the left was a steep slope. Below the slope seemed to be a vast expanse of farmland.
Ren Yaohua’s eyes lit up as she thought of a way to escape, though it seemed quite challenging.
She planned to move closer to the carriage door and, when the carriage reached the slope ahead, jump out and roll down the incline. Since there was farmland below and it was still early in the day, there would surely be people working in the fields. Though she would likely get injured and might even lose her life, it was still better than falling into the hands of those with ill intentions.
As for the two men outside, they certainly wouldn’t follow her down the slope. Given the steepness, it would be difficult for them to find a way down to search for her. If she survived the fall, she might just manage to escape from them.
The more Ren Yaohua thought about it, the more feasible the plan seemed, and she couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.
However, Ren Yaohua knew she couldn’t give anything away at this moment, so she closed her eyes again and waited for the men outside to come in and remove the corpse from the carriage.
Unexpectedly, the two men outside were alerted by several figures suddenly emerging from the woods. They exchanged a glance. To avoid drawing attention and quickly hand Ren Yaohua over to their employer, they had come with only two people, and their reinforcements were still in Zhuozhou. If these newcomers were targeting them, they couldn’t risk a direct confrontation without knowing their strength. Yet, the group was heading straight for their carriage, spreading out as if to surround them.
The two men inwardly cursed their luck and exchanged a meaningful look. The driver gave the horse’s rump a hard whip, urging the carriage forward.
The other man quickly mounted his horse, urging it to keep up with the carriage while bending down to retrieve a bow and arrows from under the saddle. He was so focused on keeping an eye on the figures emerging from the woods behind them that he failed to notice the row of iron caltrops hidden in the grass ahead.The driver's warning of "Watch out—" came too late. The horse's hoof landed squarely on a caltrop, causing its front legs to buckle and throwing the rider heavily to the ground.
Seeing this, the driver knew things had taken a turn for the worse, but he couldn't stop the carriage to rescue his companion. If he did, not only would he fail to save the man, but he would also be captured by the ambushers. He could only silently apologize in his heart before delivering another heavy whip to the horse, urging the carriage forward at full speed while keeping a vigilant eye on the ground for more caltrops.
Inside the carriage, Ren Yaohua was somewhat bewildered, but she clearly heard the sound of the man falling from his horse. A flicker of hope stirred within her—could someone have come to her rescue?
Yet the next moment, a sudden, gleeful laugh from ahead felt like a bucket of cold water dousing her heart.
At the same time, the driver let out a muffled groan for some unknown reason, and the carriage tilted violently before overturning.
Ren Yaohua was thrown out of the carriage after hitting her head twice, tumbling onto the ground. She swallowed a mouthful of dust, choking and coughing, while a sharp, piercing pain shot through her left calf, nearly causing her to faint.
Instinctively, she glanced at her left leg, and the sight of blood staining her skirt made her dizzy. It turned out that when she was thrown from the carriage, her left leg had been pierced by a protruding wooden rafter from the overturned vehicle. Ren Yaohua wanted to reach out and check the wound, but her hands and feet were still bound.
The driver lay not far ahead, struggling to get up and flee, only to be pinned to the ground by someone.
Ren Yaohua sensed a figure approaching, blocking the sunlight and casting their face in shadow.
She instinctively tried to shuffle backward but was met with a sharp pain that forced a muffled groan from her lips.
The person crouched down in front of her, and Ren Yaohua finally saw his face—ugly as a demon's.
"Tsk, how could you be so careless? You've lost so much blood—will you end up lame?" Zeng Kui spoke as if regretful, but his tone was unmistakably gleeful.
Ren Yaohua was drenched in cold sweat from the pain, yet her eyes remained icy as she glared at Zeng Kui.
As if suddenly remembering, Zeng Kui tapped his forehead. "Oh, I forgot your mouth is gagged, so you can't speak." He grinned, reaching over to pull the cloth from Ren Yaohua's mouth, then studied her face with keen interest. "You look quite disheveled, but still beautiful! No wonder Wu Yiyu said she'd give me a grand gift. It truly is a grand gift!"
"Wu Yiyu? So it was her?" Ren Yaohua gritted her teeth.
She never imagined that Wu Yiyu, with whom she had no grievances and had barely met a few times, would send someone to kidnap her.
Zeng Kui nodded happily, then reached out to pinch Ren Yaohua's chin. "So you know Wu Yiyu too? She said she'd make you as ugly as me before giving you to me, so we could be a perfect pair."
Ren Yaohua frowned in disgust, dodging his hand. "Don't touch me!"Zeng Kui was taken aback for a moment, then his eyes turned cold, though the smile on his face grew even brighter: "Don’t touch you? But if I don’t touch you, what will happen to your leg? It’s pierced so deep—one careless move and you’ll be crippled."
As he spoke, his hand suddenly and heavily pressed down on Ren Yaohua’s wound.
Ren Yaohua couldn’t help but scream in pain, while Zeng Kui laughed heartily as if witnessing something that delighted him.
After Zeng Kui’s helpers quickly finished cleaning up the battlefield, they all approached. Someone even drove a large carriage out from the woods and reminded Zeng Kui, "Young Master, it’s best to hurry on our way. We’ll only be safe once we return to Ningxia."
"That’s right, Young Master. This time, you sneaked away under the pretense of recuperating, hiding it from the master. We must return before he finds out, or we’ll all be in deep trouble."
Zeng Kui glanced back at them, and they fell silent.
Zeng Kui wiped the blood from his hand onto Ren Yaohua’s face, then stood up with a grin. "Let’s head back then. We can take our time playing after we return."
"Young Master, should we bandage this young lady’s leg wound first? It’s so severe—if not treated promptly, she might have difficulty walking in the future..." someone reminded Zeng Kui.
Zeng Kui turned to look at Ren Yaohua, then waved his hand cheerfully. "I just remembered—if she becomes a cripple, she’ll be an even better match for an ugly fellow like me! So no need to bandage it. Once she’s a cripple, I’ll marry her."
Upon hearing this, the subordinates exchanged glances, all breaking into a cold sweat.
They had thought Zeng Kui had traveled day and night, hiding from his father and rushing over to rescue this woman from Wu Yiyu’s hands out of affection for her. Little did they expect he’d be delighted to see such a beautiful girl, whom he’d worked so hard to save, become a cripple.
Indeed, the thoughts of Young Master Zeng were beyond the comprehension of ordinary mortals like them.
"Young Master, what should we do with these two?" the subordinates asked, pointing to the two people lying on the ground.
Zeng Kui replied, "Take them back, turn them into human pigs, and gift them to Wu Yiyu. Didn’t she want to give me a grand present? I should return the favor, shouldn’t I?"
Human pigs?
The subordinates looked at the two unconscious figures on the ground and swallowed hard. Yet no one dared disobey. Someone fetched two burlap sacks from somewhere, stuffed the two inside, and tossed them onto the horse’s back.
Zeng Kui turned to carry Ren Yaohua onto the carriage, but she struggled to move backward, glaring fiercely at him. "Get away from me!"
Zeng Kui smiled at Ren Yaohua. "Don’t want to come with me? Then what will you do?"
Ren Yaohua glanced toward the nearby slope. Unfortunately, injured and bound hand and foot, she couldn’t possibly make it over there.
Zeng Kui followed her gaze and suddenly clapped his hands with a laugh. "Ah, you want to go down there? That slope is covered with sharp stones and broken tree roots. If you roll down, your face probably won’t survive. As for your feet? Well, you’re going to be a cripple anyway, so whether your legs break or not doesn’t really matter."Before Ren Yaohua could answer, Zeng Kui crouched down, fixing his lifeless fish-like eyes on hers as he grinned, "Alright, since you enjoy playing this way, how about we make a bet? You have a quarter of an hour to crawl over there and roll down from the top. If neither of your legs breaks or only your right leg breaks, you win. If both legs break or only your left leg breaks, you lose. If you win, I'll let you go. If you lose, you'll obediently come with me to Ningxia. What do you say? Care to bet?"
Hearing Zeng Kui's words, Ren Yaohua found it laughable. She had actually once considered what it would be like to follow the Ren Family's arrangements and marry him.
The title is shouted on behalf of Sister Hua... 〒_〒
Fans of Sister Hua, direct your anger at Zeng Kui, not at the author. The author is innocent...
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