On our way there, I found myself stumbling around as if I was drunk or something like that, my mind kept on buzzing me for some reason, I went to the tent where Ji Xi should have been kept and I saw that it was well guarded, so I couldn't help but release a breath of relief .
But just as I was about to enter while still suffering from my dazzled mind, I was suddenly jolted awake by the malicious gaze that I suddenly found locking on me, the weird thing was that it did that for nothing more but a mere second, but it was so intense that I couldn't help but turn over to see from where it was coming .
But after I turned, I found myself in the center of their camp, tents were everywhere and so were the people who stayed in those tents, the malicious intent I felt just now disappeared without leaving a trace .
Is everything okay ? .
Seeing me standing in front of the tent, unmoving while looking as if searching for something behind me made Chu Jian a bit wary of me doing this, so he couldn't help but ask this question while furrowing his eyebrows, he sensed something was off .
Hearing his question, I found myself stopping what I was doing and turned to him beside me and said :
" Nothing, it seem that I was just being an alarmed over nothing .
The look on his face was enough to tell me that he hadn't bought the lie, I indeed believe that there seem to be something or most likely someone who harbored evil intentions for the siblings or maybe the whole camp, but I still decided not to tell him the truth about it and I had my reasons for that .
I wasn't able to find to whom did the gaze I just felt belong, but I was certain that whoever was responsible he was already inside the camp, but even after I tried to discern who might be the person who exposed his evil intentions just now .
I still wasn't able to get any satisfactory results, I got nothing at all, so I believed that it was better not to alarm him and as a result the person who was lurking in the shadows like a snake might become a bit more wary with his actions, he even might decide to do something even more dangerous, since the enemy was unknown, I preferred not to make him become wary of my existence .
These were the reasons that I can think of at the moment, I was clear about the fact that I would need to practice cautious with how I deal with things here, else there might be a devastating incident happening here today, which was something that I didn't want for it to happen .
My mind was luckily stimulated by how tense the situation was, so much in fact that I had forget thinking about all the weird things that I should be trying to process and hopefully understand .
I loosened my guard a bit and even though, my reaction should have already alarmed the person lurking around, I still decided that it would be better if I do something to make him loosen his guard again, I took a deep sniff of air and smiled at Chu Jian and said :
" I can already smell the delicious food that had been prepared from all the way here, my mouth is getting watery already .
With furrowed eyebrows he looked at deeply, then he eased down as well and said with a similar smile to mine :
Well, if you hadn't insisted on coming to check on my sister, we could have already been eating and drinking quite well, but we can still go to the banquet first, then come back here right after, what do you say ? .
I thought about this preposition for quite the time, but in the end I shook my head and gave a tired sigh then said :
" Well, I'm a bit famished, but since we had already came here, then I believe this should be over with first, so after that we can have anything that we need .
He simply nodded his head and I was about to enter the tent, but then saw that he wasn't coming in with me, I couldn't help but turn around to ask about what was going on, but he just gave me a forced smile that in my eyes appeared to be more of a frown than an actual smile, then he said :
Well, I had already checked on her and understood clearly that she was fine, completely fine, so I'm not going in with you to check on her, I, cough, cough, trust you, you can go inside without me .
Hearing his words, allowed me to understand that he too seemed to become aware of something being wrong, if I'm not guessing wrongly here, I might even say that he decided to keep watching outside while I go inside and finish checking on Ji Xi .
It's just, his weird look as he said he trusted me that made me a bit unsettled, I didn't understand if he truly meant it, or was he just trusting my own thoughts regarding Ji Xi and nothing more, either way, it was still good to hear that someone had some faith in you, even if that faith and trust sounded a bit weird .
Not willing to dwell here and making the enemy become vigilant, I went inside the tent and saw Ji Xi laying down on a bed and her body, skin, bones, seemed to be a bit glowy, she looked fine, her breathing was normal, for those who hadn't had a clue about what happened down there, she might seem to be just sleeping soundly .
Of course excluding the green glow that engulfed her body, the doctors were in nowhere in my sight, either they had retreated or they maybe just taking a rest, who knows .
I closed the distance and stood there by her bed, she had a smile on her face, that same smile she gave when she was at the verge of death, as I thought about it, I couldn't help but squeeze my fist intensively, so intense that even my joints began to release a crackling sounds .
Even though I felt relieved to see laying there peacefully and hoping that next time when she woke up, she will be completely okey, I still felt a bit angry at myself for having here go through all that damn situation, I couldn't escape blaming myself for it .
The glow on her body suddenly become more intense as my anger began to rise, subsiding me instantly, I felt that my soul seemed to be calmed down, I couldn't help but think that maybe she still conscious about what was happening around her .
As I calmed down and released my tensed fists, I took a deep breath and shook my head, I was the one who made her fell into that situation in the first place yes, to evade things like this happening in the future, I would need to make sure that I'm always strong enough to protect those that I care about .
I couldn't help but look at her as the thought about her being one of those who I care about, I find myself wondering about when she would wake, what will she do after waking up, will she recognized our promise, she technically could be said to have come back to life .
Could this second opportunity of life she got be considered another life, will she even be okay with me, by the time she woke up, she might even completely forgot about me, then those damn people, those envoys will surely happy about this kind of development .
In the deepest parts of my heart, I find myself liking this kind of development, I just seemed to accept this as a fact, but all what it was, nothing, it was nothing but my guilty conscience, I was feeling a bit guilty towards Zi Xue, we hadn't even met or discussed properly how would I take responsibility for my actions, yet here I was making yet another similar mistake .
But even though it was merely a possible outcome, something inside me kept forcing me to compare between her current brilliant smile and the sad smile she had on while offering to help me before, I couldn't help but reach for her hands, wanting to hold them .
().
But as I touched her hand, I heard a loud notifications sounds going off in my mind and it wasn't stopping, I saw that there was a flash of green energy that seemed to be mixed with electricity current, that seemed to prevent me from touching her, not particularly me, it seemed to have been set to shock anyone who tried to touch her .
The shock travelled through the body then it will start to wreck a havock, but I had no problem dealing with something like that, in fact I began to feel like my beating heart was becoming tempered slightly by this, but even though it was a mere possibility that if I continued to absorb this, I might endanger her ongoing transformation .
I still cupped her hands in mine once, then I had let go, Chu Jian and the team of doctors should have already got a clue about this, him not telling me was either because he wanted to hurt or he might be just pulling a prank on me, a classic older brother's move, perhaps .
After I held her hands for a while, I finally let go and once again I felt her body glow even more intense than before, so my suspicions about her being somewhat conscious of her surroundings were confirmed .
" Well, I don't know what could I exactly say, I just hope that you wake up soon, I'm planning on honoring my promise to you, as lone as you still want me to, you don't need to worry about me, I'm capable of fending off against any threat that came my way, so you don't need to worry, just focus on getting back soon, okay ? .
As of my words had some echos in her heart, the glow dimmed slightly then it lit brightly once again, I nodded at this then I got out of the tent and saw that at the entrance, Chu Jian was waiting for me there, I saw the knowing smile on his face and felt a little bit embarrassed .
So, should we head to the banquet now ? .
I nodded my head and the atmosphere became a bit tense once more, the person lurking in the shadow should have labeled us as targets he needed to deal with first, this could also entail that he know about the energy that covered and protected Chu Ji Xi, that's why he didn't dare to attack recklessly and that also entailed that he got the news about this from someone here .
Or he might have been someone of some importance here, maybe even one of those doctors, it was daunting just to think about this, we had reached the tent where we will be having a banquet, Chu Cheng was there to welcome us, there were a few guards whom I had recognized from back in that underground cave .
We exchanged simple greetings, then we all sat down to eat, the banquet he ordered to be prepared was quite extravagant, I don't even know how many gold or silver taels would be needed to have similar plates of food as the one in front of me .
You can eat to your fill today, we are all friends here, so there is no need for you to act refined .
He said this to all the people who sat at the table and at his words, the guards cheered, Chu Cheng gave a simple smile and nod and I nodded at his words too and held a big piece of meat in my hand without caring about table manners much .
Just as I was about to eat it, I suddenly sensed a bad premonition, that bad premonition came from the piece of meat I was holding, I couldn't help but frown at this, but I still put it in my mouth and took a bite, then the next second a bunch of notifications sounded in my mind, the meat was rich in Blood Qi so it was helpful for practice .
But among the notifications that were telling me about the food getting digested, there was one notification that made me pause slightly and wonder what exactly was going on here, that notifications was telling me that the food in my hand was poisoned by someone, that someone had quite the cruel heart, the poison he used was enough to had me killed after 5 minutes from eating it .
That was the time needed for me digesting this food, after 5 minutes I would have lost my life, the poison he used was odorless, tasteless, which made it quite terrifying, I couldn't help but suspiciously look at the people sitting on the table .
Chu Jian wasn't touching his food, but he wasn't the only one like this, Chu Cheng too hadn't touched the food in front of him, the guards on the other hand were indulging in the food and paid no much attention to this, Chu Jian wasn't someone who would use such a method, at least that what I was starting to believe .
As for Chu Cheng, the middle-aged man hadn't liked me in the slightest from the start, but I don't believe that he would do such a thing after all he didn't have a strong motive nor he was determined to attack his young master, so I couldn't help but think that the one who had poisoned this food is most likely someone from those who served it .
Or maybe even the people who made it, but seeing that Chu Jian was about to reach for the food, I said :
" Don't, the food is poisonous .
At this revelation, I saw that everyone present was shaken, the sounds of spoons had stopped and soon the guards who had already ate everything they got their hands on before had started to panic, thinking that they were going to die .
Chu Jian comforted all of them and called for somone to go and get the doctors to come here quickly, but no one outside seemed to be responding, one of the guards lost his patience and opened the entrance of the tent, but just as he did, an arrow suddenly whistled in the air and pierced his chest, he fell down dead after a few seconds .
Everyone present was dumbfounded at this, then all of the people present brandished their weapons and got up, Chu Jian said that they might have a traitor among themselves and that we seemed to have been surrounded, hearing this, the faces of those guards become even more paler, whether it was due to fear or due to the poison, either way, everyone was currently agitated and concerned about what might be happening .
I looked at Chu Jian and saw that he was in deep thought, but as if not giving us any time to think about anything, another arrow whistled through the air and pierced the tent walls and claimed yet another guard's life, only 7 people were left currently alive and standing, 4 of them were already poisoned .
This can't go on for long, we need to get out of the tent now, let's encircle each other .
I understood what he was trying to do, he was trying to try and find where those arrows were coming from and us encircling one another should indeed allow us to protect ourselves from all sides, but it could also create a situation where we will all be targeted by whoever was outside .
And that exactly what happened, just as we grouped together, the sounds of arrows whistling through the air came yet again, this time it was like a rain of arrows, the tent kept getting pierced and at least luckily this time we were more guarded, else we might have been already suffered a huge damage .
Be quite .
Chu Jian said this and we all quietened down after we parried the attacks just now, I understood that he seemed to be setting something up for those who were responsible and I nimbly tried to reach where that first guard fell before .
Reaching his side, I tried to see through the hole that first arrow had pierced, but a cries of pain suddenly sounded behind me completely alarming me, turning backwards, I saw that the guards remaining all held their necks and seemed to be suffocating, I couldn't help but get goosebumps at this scene and as if given some kind of a signal .
A bunch of arrows whistled through the air and got those guys accurately in the back and in the chest, after that was over, we began hearing a few footsteps sounds heading our way, then a familiar voice came from outside the tent, that familiar voice belonged to none other than Gu Yi from the City's Lord Mansion, he was saying :
Chu Cheng, everything should have gone according to the plan, why aren't you coming out ? .
At this, both me and Chu Jian had chills running down our spine, we turned to Chu Cheng and saw the latter had a cold smile on his face, one that reeked of danger and evil, Chu Jian was the one who got hit hard by the look on Chu Cheng's face .
I on the other hand started to connect the dots together and found that Chu Cheng was indeed responsible for all that happened today, I got ready to fight him to death but just as I was about to take the initiative in attacking, I saw that he was suddenly started by how I currently looked, he couldn't help but say :
How are you still alive ? .