Chapter 466: Encountered Danger
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
in the mountains, Su Ying seemed to have sensed something and suddenly woke up from her dream.
What she saw was the pitch-black darkness. After walking for a while in the cave, she found a place to rest for the night before continuing to move forward.
She switched on a dim light and illuminated the surrounding area within a 3-foot radius. Zhou Qing was sleeping beside her, and the official on night duty had also fallen asleep.
Su Ying took out her binoculars and looked at the dot of white light in the distance. She had thought it was quite close when she looked at it previously, but contrary to her expectations, it turned out to be much farther when she tried to walk toward it.
Su Ying washed her face with some water. As soon as she got up, Zhou Qing was also woken up by the noise.
“Your Imperial Highness?”
Su Ying stepped on the smooth rocks and walked up. “You’re awake?
As it was pitch black inside the cave, they didn’t know what time it was and whether it was day or night outside.
“Are you hungry, Your Imperial Highness?”
“Mm-hmm. Let’s eat some dry food before we continue walking.
“Alright.” There was no firewood in this cave, so they could only eat some dry food and dried meat to fill their tummies.
Zhou Qing handed out the dry food to Su Ying before waking up the official.
“Get up. We’ll be on our way soon.”
Zhou Qing gave him a push but the official did not react. Zhou Qing was a little puzzled. When her hand touched the skin on his face, she found that it was cold. Zhou Qing got a shock. She pressed her fingertips on his pulse and found that his pulse had already stopped beating!
“Your Imperial Highness, he’s not breathing!
Su Yong’s expression froze as she quickly walked over.
The official was sitting on the ground with his head lowered. He was still holding his saber in his hand. He looked like he was asleep, but when she got close, she could not sense any life from him.
Su Ying checked his body temperature. The temperature in the cave was relatively low. Before they went to sleep, she had pasted a heating pad on the two of them to prevent them from getting sick from the cold in the middle of the night. However, now that the body was completely cold, the heating pad would lose its effect completely when it could not detect any signs of life. However, the warmth would not disappear immediately. It would only slowly dissipate. From this, she could tell that he had been dead for at least four hours.
Su Ying examined the official’s body. Other than a few minor scratches, there were no other external injuries.
“Lay him down flat.”
Zhou Qing laid him flat on the ground, and Su Ying removed all his clothes.
Zhou Qing was very surprised as she watched from the side. She was already very astounded that the Empress knew martial arts skills, but now it seemed that the Empress knew more than she had imagined.
Su Ying used her flashlight to scan the official’s entire body. Finally, she found a red dot on the artery on his neck. This red dot looked like a slightly larger version of a mosquito bite. It didn’t look like anything special, but Su Ying couldn’t help feeling suspicious when it appeared on the artery.
Just as Su Ying was examining it seriously, Zhou Qing suddenly let out a low cry and jumped up.
Su Ying raised her head and saw a red bug that Zhou Qing had shaken off to the ground.
She pulled out the dagger from her waist and stabbed the bug into a crack in
the stone.
“So it’s this guy.”
“It’s a poisonous spider.” Zhou Qing looked at the bugs on the ground in astonishment.
Su Ying pulled out her dagger and frowned deeply at the spider on it. “This isn’t a spider. It’s just a venomous insect that looks like a spider. It’s called a venomous leech.” She had seen it during the rainy season in Sky Alpha City. The guardian of Sky Alpha City had told her that this thing was called a venomous leech. It looked like a spider, but its body acted like a leech. It could quietly lurk on the body of an animal and then inject its venom into the body of the host, causing the host’s body to become paralyzed within a short period of time. In this way, it achieved its purpose of parasitism.
In other words, it did not intend to kill its host, but the venomous leech did not know that its venom could be fatal, especially when it attached itself to the main artery on the official’s body.
After the venom entered the main artery, it would quickly spread through the entire body. It was estimated that the process did not take more than fifteen minutes from the time the official was poisoned to the time he died.
Su Ying rummaged through his clothes, but she couldn’t find the packet of insect repellent she had given them before they went to sleep.
In the wilderness, Su Ying would never go to sleep just like that without worry. She would have made sufficient preparations. If he had that packet of medicinal powder, ordinary insects and snakes wouldn’t be able to get close to him. However, she didn’t find the packet of medicinal powder on his body.
At any rate, he was already dead, so it was too late to talk about anything else. He had died while leading the way for her. After sending Zhou Qing away, Su Ying placed the official’s body into her interspatial store. She would bring him back for his family to give him a proper burial.
The official’s sudden death made Zhou Qing nervous all over. She was worried that another accident would happen and wanted to walk in front, but Su Ying mercilessly rejected her suggestion.
“Let’s go. Don’t waste time.”
“Your Imperial Highness, you have to be careful.”
“Shh.”
Su Ying suddenly hushed Zhou Qing.
Zhou Qing subconsciously shut her mouth.
Soon, the two of them heard whooshing sounds. Zhou Qing exclaimed in surprise, “It’s the wind.”
When the sound of wind got louder, it meant they were getting closer to the exit.
“Mm-hmm. We should be able to get out soon.”
Zhou Qing continued to walk forward, but she suddenly slipped and fell into the water.
“Argh!”
Su Ying heard the commotion and turned around in time to see Zhou Qing falling into the water. She reached out to pull her back, but she was too late. She could only watch helplessly as Zhou Qing sank into the water.
Su Ying remembered that Zhou Qing said that she didn’t know how to swim, so she jumped into the water to save her.
As soon as she entered the water, Su Ying opened her eyes in surprise. The surface of the water looked calm, but the water current below was extremely rapid.
Fortunately, she was going with the flow of the current. She quickly swam in Zhou Qing’s direction, but the current was too fast, and Zhou Qing’s figure was quickly swept into the undercurrent.
Su Ying’s face clouded over. She gritted her teeth and swam faster. She finally managed to catch hold of Zhou Qing.
Splash!
Su Ying and Zhou Qing broke out of the water surface and tried to get onto the river bank, but the water current was too strong, and they were washed all the way downstream.
Su Ying gripped Zhou Qing’s chin and lifted her face above the surface of the water. When she saw that Zhou Qing had already fainted, she could only bring her into the interspatial store for emergency treatment.
Su Ying covered Zhou Qing’s eyes with a cloth and brought her into the interspatial store to perform CPR. Just as Zhou Qing was about to wake up, Su Ying quickly brought her back into the water.
Under the stimulation of the icy river water, Zhou Qing woke up with a jolt.
“Your… Your Imperial Highness?”
“Don’t talk. Lift your chin up and relax your body. I’ll lead you along.
Zhou Qing felt extremely annoyed when she heard this. She blamed herself for being too careless. She had promised to protect the Empress, but in the end, the Empress had to come and save her.
However, she was very obedient. After following Su Ying’s instructions, she felt her body floating up.
Su Ying flowed downstream along with the current. Finally, she saw an obvious bright light source ahead. This time, the light could be seen without binoculars.
Su Ying suddenly said, “Cover your eyes.”
Zhou Qing did as she was told instinctively. In the next moment, a blinding light struck her..