Chapter 6

Before Murong Xuanlie and his men arrived, Mei Lin had done some arrangments in the forest near them according to Murong Jinghe's instructions, just in case. Of course, it is indeed difficult to deal with Murong Xuanlie and his men with this simple setup, but it is more than enough to deal with one guard who was wary.

When Mei Lin saw that the guard had stepped on the trap and was entangled in vines and hanging upside down in the air, her guard against Murong Jinghe deepened. If the fates of the two of them were not connected at this moment, she is afraid that she would have taken the opportunity to escape.

She drew her dagger and walked towards the guard.

Tangled with vines, the man was not hung very high, with his head barely reaching Mei Lin's shoulders. But because his hands and feet were entangled in vines and the ground was covered with sharpened wooden stakes, he did not dare to use his internal force to break the old vines on his body.

Several bonfires not far away were still burning fiercely. They were lit by the fire starter Mei Lin borrowed from him. Before he could understand what was going on, he was surrounded by a strange formation and panicked, falling into their trap.

When Mei Lin put the dagger against his throat, which was more prominent due to hanging upside down, he felt that his life was lost unjustly, but it didn't seem that unjust.

Unexpectedly, Mei Lin paused for a moment, then turned around and walked away, leaving him alone and confused, being blown around by the wind.

Mei Lin put out the fire, took the clothes with two holes poked from the tree, walked back to Murong Jinghe, threw them on him, and then turned around to pull the pergola hidden in the grass. He helped Murong Jinghe up and put on her own clothes.

"Why don't you kill him?" Murong Jinghe asked, he thought she was cruel enough.

"I just don't want to." Mei Lin didn't even glance at him, fastened her belt and bent down to pull the vine rope.

Murong Jinghe was stunned for a moment, and suddenly remembered that he had said this line not long ago. She learned things very quickly.

Mei Lin tested her strength, then looked up at the sky. After confirming that the evil bird was gone, she put the vine rope on her uninjured shoulder, and then pulled it down the stream with great difficulty. She didn't think she was a soft-hearted person, but when she saw the helpless and resigned look in the guard's eyes, she suddenly didn't want to take action. After all, that person didn't pose a threat to them, so why should she kill him?

If possible, Mei Lin would not want to talk to Murong Jinghe. She always had an indescribable fear of this person in her heart, and wanted to stay away from him. There were many reasons that she was too lazy to trace them all. Murong Jinghe obviously didn't have much energy to chat, so the two of them remained silent along the way until nightfall.

Mei Lin dugged out a cave big enough for the two of them in the middle of a dense clump of vine bushes, and built a bonfire at the entrance using the fire starter he got from the guard.

There were yam vines sandwiched between those vines, so she dug up two pieces of yam as thick as an arm and buried them in the ashes under the fire. Then she stuck out the remaining raw snake meat on her body with a dagger and roasted it on the fire.

Murong Jinghe was not happy to see his precious weapon being ruined like this.

"Stupid woman, don't you know that burning it like this will make it dull?"

Mei Lin ignored him and placed the almost burned snake meat on a leaf, skewered two or three more pieces and continued.

Except for the Yan Emperor and Muye Luomei, he had never been treated so lightly by others. In addition, the crisis had passed. Murong Jinghe finally couldn't help but get angry and said angrily, "How rude of you a lowly servant. Have you forgotten your status?"

Hearing this, her eyebrows raised. Mei Lin felt as if her temples twitched, and then she looked up at the man sitting on the vine opposite her. Seeing his face full of rage, she was a little unsure whether he was pretending or really angry. But no matter what, she no longer had to be humble to him.

"Man, you'd better learn to keep your mouth shut from now on." She warned him, with an evil look in her eyes. There was no other threatening action, but it made people know that she was not just talking.

If Murong Jinghe could move, he would have probably kicked her over, but at this moment he couldn't move. He could only glare fiercely at the woman who turned back and continued roasting snake meat, and said bitterly; "You bitch, there are always one day, I will make you pay for what you said today."

Mei Lin yawned and took a piece of roasted snake meat with a dagger. She chewed it and said, "Let's wait until that day. Your Majesty, you are a useless person now. You have to rely on me to eat, and drink, so it's more practical to think about how to please me and live a more comfortable life." Even without salt, the roasted snake meat is already delicious for people who haven't eaten cooked food for two days. After eating two pieces in a row, she seemed to remember of the other person. Without thinking, she picked up a piece of snake meat placed on the grass and stuffed it into the man's mouth, blocking the words he was about to say.

Murong Jinghe had been hungry for a day and a night. Although he was extremely dissatisfied with Mei Lin's bad attitude, he did not resist the food that was put in his mouth. He chewed it in a few times and then swallowed it. He said without any politeness, "I want more."

Mei Lin didn't want to torture him, she just fed him and eat at the same time. But roasting two or three slices at a time was really exhausting, so she simply sharpened a bunch of new branches, peeled the skin, and skewered the meat together and roasted it.

There was nothing to eat for the time being. Murong Jinghe's appetite who had just been aroused were suddenly overrun. Looking eagerly at the woman who was grilling meat without saying a word, he couldn't help but urge her, "Stupid servant, you are so slow, are you deliberately trying to starve me to death?"

Mei Lin had never met such a noisy person before, and she couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. She picked up a bunch of under-cooked meat and put it in his mouth. Murong Jinghe was startled, and hurriedly turned his head away, annoyed: "How dare you give me something uncooked?"

Mei Lin suddenly became angry, took back the skewer of meat and continued to roast it. "If you keep nagging, don't eat it." If she hadn't learned his methods before, she would have thought that he was just an ignorant and pampered dandy.

Murong Jinghe couldn't help but widen his eyes when he heard that, but seeing her serious expression, he was afraid that she would do what she said. For the sake of his stomach, he finally forced himself to hold it in.

The vines bushes suddenly became extremely quiet, and the only sounds that could be heard were the sizzling sound of snake meat grilled in flames, and the dreamy cries of night birds from time to time.

Mei Lin immediately felt refreshed. For the first time since leaving the dark factory, she felt the freedom and relaxation of leaving everything behind, no matter the mission or the antidote. Now that she had come to this point, there was no need to worry anymore.

When the aroma of the roasted snake meat became stronger, she suddenly remembered that it was impossible for Murong Jinghe not to notice that she was different from what she had shown before in the palace, but he never asked a single question, and she couldn't help but have some strange thoughts in her heart. Could it be that he really ignored her to the point that he didn't even notice her big change, or was there another reason?

"How did you become like this?" She asked, but the question she was asking was not the question she was thinking about.

Murong Jinghe was probably still sulking about his previous anger, so he simply closed his eyes and ignored her.

Mei Lin smiled and didn't care much. After thinking about it, she suddenly stood up and searched his body. Murong Jinghe was startled, opened his eyes suddenly, and shouted; "What are you doing?"

Mei Lin didn't answer immediately, and after searching for a long time, she found nothing except a jade pendant. She retracted her hand angrily, but did not take the item that she knew was untouchable at first glance. She complained, "Why you didn't bring anything with you?" She had only stayed in the palace for a few days, and she didn't even get her salary. Now, what would she do after leaving the palace?

Murong Jinghe was so angry that he almost fainted after his dignity was violated repeatedly by a woman who was of low status in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, "What should I bring or did not bring? Do you think it's your turn to ask?"

Hearing this, Mei Lin just raised her eyebrows and said with a smile, "I think I should tell you that before you can move around on your own, you have to be with me whether you want it or not, and you have to go wherever I go." She knew that he would not let her go easily after he returned to his own place safely. On the other hand, Murong Xuanlie and his men will definitely continue to look for them in the future. With him here, she has some protection, otherwise a hundred lives would not be enough for those people to hunt her down.

The snake meat was already roasted and had a light brown color. She took her hand back, divided it into two equal parts, and then brushed one part into the grass. While doing these things, she raised her head and glanced at Murong Jinghe's not-so-good-looking face, and continued, "Perhaps I should make it clearer, that is, from now on, we have to depend on each other. I eat meat and you eat meat, I eat bran and you have to eat bran. If you don't eat, you will definitely die first. Therefore, whether you carry silver or something that can be exchanged for silver has a lot to do with you. "

"Of course, I don't mind you calling me a bitch slave, if that makes you happy." As she said that, she cut the wooden stick used to skewer the meat into two pieces to use as chopsticks, and then picked up the snake meat and began to feed it to the man who was so angry that veins were throbbing on his forehead.

Although he looked like he wanted to refuse, he still opened his mouth after hesitating for a moment and eat it obediently, and she added: "But you don't have to expect that a lowly slave like me to spend a lot of money to hire a doctor to treat you." She would never do such a thing to dig her own grave

Maybe he was too angry, but Murong Jinghe calmed down and ate his share of meat quietly, then closed his eyes to rest, which suddenly gave people an unfathomable feeling. Until Mei Lin took out the yams buried under the fire, peeled off the charred outer skin, and fed him to eat, he fell asleep leaning against the densely woven vines behind his back, and never caused any unhappiness again.

Mei Lin had said everything she needed to say, and was happy to finally have some quiet time. She added some firewood to the fire, made sure not to burn the surrounding vine leaves, and leaned back to relax.

When her breathing gradually became heavier, Murong Jinghe opened his eyes and looked at her thoughtfully for a while, then turned his eyes to the fire that was not too big. The dancing flames reflected in his dark eyes, and he couldn't help but recall what happened in the past two days, and thought of Muye Luomei who was driven away by him.

After all, was she also involved in this conspiracy?

He found this problem intolerable just thinking about it. If it is true, he would probably do something that even he himself could not predict.

Before seeing Mei Lin's true character, Murong Jinghe had doubted Muye Luomei, who had attacked him the day before for no reason and forced him to spar with her, and felt deeply sad because of it. Of course, this suspicion gradually faded away after getting along with Mei Lin. He was more inclined to believe that Muye Luomei was so angry with Mei Lin that she lost her mind and suffered a loss, so she came back to vent her anger on him.

The current situation is that no matter what the reason is, he has suffered a big loss because of this incident.

Since five years ago, he rarely fought with others. Even if he does fight occasionally, it is only for hunting and other activities that do not require the use of internal energy. Everyone said that he was deprived of his military power and was unable to recover, but they did not know that he was actually assassinated and almost died. Although he managed to hide it from everyone and survived, he also suffered from a chronic disease and his meridians were weak and unable to withstand strength.

Muye Luomei's attack was relentless and without mercy, leaving him no chance to refuse, so he could only accept it with all his strength. Under normal circumstances, he could have used all his energy to subtly give in, but this situation was extremely dangerous for him, so he naturally hoped to end it as soon as possible, so he attacked extremely ruthlessly, hoping to force Muye Luomei to give up automatically.

Unfortunately, he was too impatient to be wise. He forgot that Muye Luomei was strong-willed and cared about her reputation. Asking her to stop under pressure would be like asking her to show weakness and give up, which would never happen. Therefore, in the end, he gritted his teeth and took a blow from her, and the fight between the two of them stopped. However, his concession was seen by her, causing her to leave in anger.

Of course, he would not chase after her to ask for forgiveness as he had done in the past. The surging blood and ruptured meridians made it difficult for him to even sit on the horse. At that moment, he knew that he could not go back, and he could not let Murong Xuanlie who had been watching him saw a slightest clue of his injuries. So he took the opportunity to show his anger and told Murong Xuanlie that he would continue hunting, and then rode his horse into the dense forest. After walking far away, he could still feel Murong Xuanlie's eagle-like eyes staring at him, like a vulture eyeing on it's prey.

He had to straighten his back, hoping to regain some energy while riding and alleviate the damage on his meridians. But in the morning, he learned that Murong Xuanlie was also actively promoting this hunt. At that moment, his bad premonition came true. After darkness completely shrouded the mountain forest, he was ambushed.

His father had explicitly prohibited him from wearing armor and participating in any military operations, but this time he would make an exception. It was really hard for him not to be on guard.

Fortunately, there were only two people who ambushed him, and it was more of a test than an assassination. Presumably, the fact that he was suffering from a chronic disease had already been heard by someone with ulterior motives, and they were looking for an opportunity to confirm it. Before it was confirmed, they were still wary of him and did not dare to push him too hard.

Under such circumstances, he had no choice but to make a desperate move. Knowing that he would repeat his previous mistakes and his meridians would rupture, he still used his ultimate move to kill the two men in one fell swoop. Then his energy backfired, and he fell from the frightened horse that was running wildly in the dark forest. When he woke up, he was squeezed together with Mei Lin and the other man.

From the conversation that he heard between the two he judged that although Mei Lin was not a good person, she has a soft heart, not to mention the young man, so he simply pretended to be unconscious and used them to lead him out of the mountain.

For him, this is a great opportunity to leave Zhaojing. Although the price he paid is high and the future is uncertain, it is worth it.

The road out of the mountain is not smooth. There are places where the pergola cannot pass. Mei Lin can only get Murong Jinghe through by half dragging and half carrying, so the pergola has no choice but to give up.

However, no matter how difficult it was, just when Murong Xuanlie's bald eagle appeared in the sky again, they finally arrived at the edge of the mountain forest, which took them five full days.

However, when they saw the military camp stationed outside the mountain forest, they had to retreat.

"It's the Lucheng Army." Murong Jinghe closed his eyes and said calmly. Although he didn't say much, Mei Lin could roughly guess that Emperor Yan must have ordered the blockade of Zhongshan, otherwise who would dare to mobilize the army without his authorization? It can be deduced from this that Zhongshan's other outlets must have been blocked.

The mountains were sealed but not searched. Father, you are really guarding against me! The bitterness on the corners of Murong Jinghe's lips disappeared for a fleeting moment, and was instantly replaced by determination.

Mei Lin didn't know much about these court affairs, but she knew that she would definitely get no good out of going out like this, so she quietly dragged Murong Jinghe back. Murong Jinghe didn't object, he must have the same concerns as her.

"What should we do?"Mei Lin asked as the two of them huddled in the crevice of the rocks.

"If I don't go back for a long time, they will definitely launch a massive search of the mountain soon. We can't stay in the mountain for a long time." Murong Jinghe muttered.

Mei Lin frowned slightly, thought for a while, and said, "I can send you to the edge of the forest, but I won't go out."

With Muye Luomei around, she is afraid that she has become the most wanted criminal now, so how could she dare to throw herself into the trap?

When Murong Jinghe heard this, his eyes which were always half-open and half-closed, as if he had never had enough sleep, immediately widened and said, "How dare you!" After several days of friction, he finally changed his tone of calling her a slave.

"I think we can give it a try." Mei Lin couldn't help laughing.

Murong Jing was silent, then he moved his fingers and grabbed her ankle which was placed next to him, as if he was repeating the scene on that day, but he didn't say anything.

Mei Lin suddenly lost her temper.

"I remember there is a legend here in Zhongshan." Murong Jinghe spoke slowly, with a thoughtful look on his face, "It is said that someone once lost his way in Zhongshan and walked into a mountain crevice. After passing through the crevice, he unexpectedly reached the border of Anyang."

"Anyang?" Mei Lin was stunned for a moment, then shook her head, thinking that the legend was ridiculous. Anyang was more than 200 miles away, and it would take several days for a carriage to travel. How could it be possible to get there by passing through a mountain gap?

"It's not impossible..." Murong Jinghe whispered when he saw her disapproving expression. She knew that in order to escape from Zhaojing, he had not let go of any possibility for several years. Even this legend, which was completely impossible to become a fact in the eyes of the world, was actually investigated by his confidants.

Seeing his expression, Mei Lin couldn't help but shudder and realized that they might really have a way out.

After grabbing some wild fruits to eat, she followed Murong Jinghe's instructions and the two of them headed towards the legendary stone forest while avoiding the flat-haired beast in the sky.

The so-called Stone Forest is a barren rocky beach in the southwest of Zhongshan Mountain, known as the Burning Field. The place was full of charred stones, with no grass growing on it, as if it had been burned by fire, hence the name.It stands out among the lush green mountains and forests, with its back against the highest peak of Zhongshan Mountain and facing the endless jungle.

However, whether they are visitors looking for secluded places or hunters who is used to walking in the mountains and forests, they will try to avoid it and are unwilling to approach it. Because it is rumored that anyone who enters the Burning Field will never come out again. Some people even say that the Burning Field is actually a maze, and people who enter will quickly lose their way and even starve to death.

"Are you sure our luck will be better in a place like that?" Mei Lin asked. Rather than putting herself in an unknown and dangerous situation based on a legend, she would rather face the soldiers who sealed the mountain. Even though she thought so, she still struggled to half-carry Murong Jinghe towards the stone forest.t.

People are so strange sometimes. They do things that are against their will without any reluctance. If you trace the reason, it is probably because of trust. Mei Lin found it incredible that she trusted Murong Jinghe. But she had to admit that the ability he showed was not to be underestimated.

"At least so far, our luck is not too bad." Murong Jinghe rested his chin on her shoulder, just enough to see the small mole on the corner of her eyebrows. Just because he couldn't move, otherwise he would have kissed her. But even so, it was enough to distract him from the severe pain of his meridians. "Lower your head."

"Huh?" Mei Lin was leaning against an oak tree to rest, thinking about the fact that her luck was not too bad. Upon hearing this, she lowered her head without thinking.

Murong Jinghe raised his head slightly, but found that he still couldn't reach it, so he said, "Lower down."

Mei Lin had come to her senses at this time, straightened her neck, and wondered, "What do you want to do?" They are only the two of them here, what was it that they have to get so close to each other to say it? So close, not to mention that the distance between the two of them is not that far.

"Of course it's a very important matter. Just be humble when I ask you to. Why are you so long-winded?" Murong Jinghe said unhappily. Even though he had to rely on others for his actions, he still maintained that condescending attitude.

After spending a few days together, they had some understanding of each other's temperament, so Mei Lin was not angry. Seeing her insisting like this, she thought it was really an important matter, and it was probably related to the two of them discussing how to find a way out of the stone forest. So she stopped asking questions, lowered her head, and took the initiative to put her ear close to his mouth.

Murong Jinghe immediately smiled and narrowed his eyes. His lips brushed against her earlobe and lightly pressed the little red mole that he had coveted for a long time.

When the warm breath sprayed on her eyelashes, and after waiting for the other party to speak for a long time, Mei Lin finally came to her senses and knew that he was having a mole fetish again.

It had to be said that when she was treated with such care and love, she couldn't help but feel her heartbeat tremble, but she had learned from her past experiences that such an action meant nothing to this man. So she calmed down, raised her head calmly, and continued their difficult journey.

"It's really ridiculous that a majestic prince would be obsessed with a small mole." Mei Lin looked forward, and deliberately curled her lips into a sarcastic arc to hide the strange feeling in her heart, and at the same time wanted to provoke him to reveal the clues of his obsession. She knew that it would be impossible to get an answer if she asked directly.

However, unexpectedly, Murong Jinghe did not get angry, but still staring at the corner of her eyebrows, as if he didn't hear anything.

Mei Lin was helpless and too lazy to continue testing. She put all her energy on the road and picked some wild fruits, herbs and other things while walking. It didn't take long for sweat to break out on her forehead, and the bright water droplets slid over the bright red mole, making it even more beautiful and charming. 　　

Murong Jinghe moved his fingers, then sighed regretfully and said slowly, "This prince loves beauties, fine wine, and all lovely things. When is it your turn as an ignorant woman to judge?"

Mei Lin, who had some kind of detoxifying herb stuffed in her mouth, almost choked. She swallowed it with great difficulty and licked her numb teeth while wondering whether the word "slave" was more pleasant to the ear, or the word "ignorant woman". None of them seem to sound pleasant.

Just when she came to the conclusion, Murong Jinghe finally noticed that she was stuffing various familiar and unfamiliar herbs into her mouth while walking, and he couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing eating so many random raw herbs?" Many medicinal herbs have conflicting properties. Isn't it obvious that she is seeking death?

Her lips seemed to be starting to feel numb. Mei Lin pursed her lips and said calmly, "Treat the disease if you are sick, and strengthen the body when it's not." After saying that, she took out a seven-leaf blue flower from her arms and handed it in front of his mouth, "Would you like some too?"

"That's poisonous, right? "Murong Jinghe said suspiciously, then turned away with disdain, and finally stopped staring at the corner of her eyebrows.

Mei Lin smiled and suddenly felt flustered. The scene in front of her began to have double images. She hurriedly held on to a tree trunk next to her and lowered her head to catch her breath.

"What's wrong?" Murong Jinghe noticed something unusual and asked.

Mei Lin shook her head, feeling that her chest was so tight that she felt like vomiting, so she had to carefully put him on the ground next to the tree trunk. She knelt down weakly on the ground, gritting her teeth to endure the waves of discomfort.

Murong Jinghe looked at her increasingly pale face and the sweat on her forehead, and he immediately realized what was going on.

"Are you poisoned? Stupid woman." His tone sounded more gloating than worried. He thought how could she not be poisoned if she ate randomly like that?

Mei Lin finally took a breath, and when she heard what he said, she said angrily, "I'm poisoned, and you're not in any good situation either." Although she said so, she knew in her heart that he was right, and she knew that what she did was too reckless. But she didn't have much time. Although the poison in her body would not kill her for the time being, it would consume her body's functions. Every day she enduring the poison would cause irreparable damage to her body. She had no confidence that she would be able to find an antidote before her vitality was exhausted.

"If you want to die stupidly, I have no choice but to accept your fate." Murong Jinghe noticed that her complexion had improved slightly and secretly sighed in his heart, but he refused to give in.

Mei Lin found that everything in front of her slowly became clearer again. She calmed down, wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, picked up the man who was half sitting against the tree and continued on their way. After the numbness in her mouth and tongue completely disappeared, she continued to walk and eat various grass leaves and flower stems as before.

Murong Jinghe felt that this woman was hopeless and couldn't help but ridicule: "Do you really want to die?"

"Of course not." Mei Lin answered straightforwardly, but she did not stop trying the herbs. This time, she not only eat them herself, but also stuffed some extremely bitter or strange ones into Murong Jinghe's mouth from time to time.

"Rather than being starve to death here alone after I die of poison, or be torn apart alive by wild beasts, it would be better for you to be poisoned to death with me." she said.

Murong Jinghe wanted to refuse, but he could not bear her persistent feeding again and again, so he could only swallow it obediently, naturally he was full of resentment and anger while eating. Fortunately, until they arrived at their destination, they did not eat anything poisonous.

"I hope your good luck will continue forever." Mei Lin murmured as she looked at the extremely abrupt group of charred black boulders a few feet away outside the forest.

Murong Jinghe frowned and did not respond.