Chapter 45 One Cannot Avoid Its Enemies
2199 Words
It was the autumn time of the Yufeng Mountain. The trees were lush. Layers and layers of golden and red leaves covered by frost interlaced with each other as if a fire-like sunset glow.
People from the Eastern and Western Depot rode on their horses and galloped in the woods. The howls of men mixed with the whipping sounds echoed to the clouds.
"Bros, follow me! There's a wild rabbit there!"
Seeing a prey panicking and running around in front of the horse, Xiao Xiaoshen was ready for action. He whipped the horse hard. The horse-hoofs crushed the dry branches, making rounds of ringing sounds.
Gu Yunxi was not resigned to playing second fiddle. She took the bow and shot two arrows, but none hit the target.
Yuan Qian saw it and laughed out loud. He took off the arrows and bowed on his back and said to her, "Yun Guaner, stop. You're scaring it off. Watch me shoot it. I'll make you a scarf with its fur. It'll be so warm in winter."
He kicked the belly of the horse with his legs. The horse neighed and rushed into the woods.
Seeing everyone riding the horses and rushing into the deep woods, listening to the sound of hoofs mixed with yelling, Gu Yunxi was thrilled and couldn't contain herself any longer. She had long forgotten the warning from the Master. She only remembered to hold the halter one hand and the bow and arrows in another to chase the prey.
She met two boars and one river deer along the way. The preys separated Gu Yunxi from the group.
In a moment, she couldn't see Xiao Xiaoshen and Yuan Qian anymore. The woods became denser as she went further. The crooked landscape made her scared.
Gu Yunxi halted her horse and walked around. She didn't see the people or horses from the Eastern Depot.
"Crap, I fell behind."
While Gu Yunxi was panicking, she heard sounds of horse riding from behind.
A servant riding a horse came to her and asked, "Are you the apprentice of Master Leng?"
Gu Yunxi saw he look flurried, and she had never met him before. She didn't suspect anything. She thought he was just serving in the Palace. She nodded,
"I am. What's wrong?"
"Master Leng's horse was hurt by a trap. He asked me to find you."
"Where is he? Take me there."
Hearing the Master had an accident, Gu Yunxi panicked. She whipped the horse hard and followed the young eunuch to the south of the woods.
They rode on the winding path for quite some time and finally, she saw some people underneath a tree in the front. Gu Yunxi relaxed a bit and shouted,
"Master, I'm coming!"
When she got closer, she found out those people were not the guards from the Eastern Depot, but the Western Depot.
One just couldn't avoid her enemies.
Gu Yunxi was surprised and then angry. She knew she was tricked to come here by that young eunuch. Now that his mission was finished, he suddenly turned the horse around and returned in the same way they came.
Gu Yunxi halted the horse. She held the horsewhip tightly in her hand and watched out for An Hong and his group who were closing in.
She participated in the incident of the Qingfeng Temple. Seeing the Western Depot here, she knew she was in great trouble!
"Hey, Yun Guaner? Why did the people from the Eastern Depot leave you behind?" An Hong rode the horse to the foremost and smiled eerily.
Gu Yunxi frowned. He was just fighting over a red fox with Xiao Xiaoshen. Not after long, he was by Ming Lan's side. It was not hard to see that they must have planned something and waited for her especially.
An Hong and the guards from the Western Depot rode around Gu Yunxi's horse ceaselessly. Soon her little red horse couldn't hold itself. It started to rub its hoofs on the ground and looked startled. Gu Yunxi herself was also dazzled by their act.
Gu Yunxi was furious. She threw her whip hard, yet it was caught by An Hong in the air. He pulled hard and pulled Gu Yunxi onto his horse.
An Hong held her tiny waist on the horse so she wouldn't slip away.
She raised her eyebrows and shouted harshly, "Get off me! Let me down!"
"Sweeties, out Master is waiting to see you. Why don't you come with me?" An Hong laughed and lifted her body and threw her at another guard.
"Ah!"
The scream of Gu Yunxi was still in the air when her body was caught by that guard. He laughed eerily and threw her at another guard.
"Let me go! You jerk!"
Gu Yunxi kept being thrown like a ball by the guards of the Western Depot. She was terrified but she was still thinking about how to escape.
When she was being thrown into the air again, she twisted her waist and landed herself on the ground.
Before she could breathe, Gu Yunxi crawled up and ran. She didn't get very far before An Hong caught her. He sat on the horse, grabbed her collar, and put her on his horseback.
Sitting on a big green rock, Ming Lan glanced at her lazily, "That's enough. No more horseplay. Bring her here."
An Hong rode the horse close to Master Ming and threw Gu Yunxi on the rock.
The rock was hard and cold. Gu Yunxi was hurt badly. She rolled in pain.
"Yun Guaner. Nice to see you again." Looking at her in a guard's clothes, Ming Lan laughed eerily. The greed in his eyes was mixed with a hint of uncontrollable resentment. He leaned over when she couldn't fight back.
"Lord Ming, what, what do you want?"
Gu Yunxi knew this was not going well. Before she could struggle, Ming Lan grabbed her two arms. She was embarrassed and angry. She kicked Ming Lan so hard that he tripped over.
"Master!"
An Hong and another eunuch came and held Ming Lan up. Another two came to Gu Yunxi and grabbed her arms and legs, pinning her down on the rock.
Ming Lan was kicked on his underbelly. He squinted his eyes in anger and stared at her. The endless resentment distorted his charming face, making him really ugly at this moment. Ming Lan watched her being pinned down on the ground, lying in front of him and twisting her body like a bug struggling. The evil thoughts that Ming Lan had suppressed for long were growing back up.
"Master, are you ok?" An Hong cleaned up the shoe mark on Ming Lan's white crane robe. He said angrily, "Let me s***k her some, so you can enjoy her when she succumbs."
"Shut up. What do you know?" Ming Lan disagreed. He rolled his eyes at An Hong and laughed eerily, "What's the fun in that? Taming the beast is the fun part!"
Sitting down smilingly, Ming Lan approached Gu Yunxi. He pinched her jaws hard and watched her face sweat. All of a sudden, all the old and new hatred rushed into his heart.
The humiliation in the Qingfeng Temple and the death of his favorite close guard Qin Zhong were all because of Gu Yunxi. Now that she was in the Western Depot's hand, he wouldn't let her go easily.
"Yun Guaner, you and I agreed on a date in the Qingfeng Temple. I went, but why did you play me and disgraced my reputation?!"
"I, I didn't!"
Under the circumstances, Gu Yunxi could only deny. She really didn't know what happened after the Western Depot was drugged by the Xiaoyao Ball.
Now there were more people from the Western Depot. Even if she fought them, she would not win.
"You didn't?" Ming Lan laughed eerily. Evil lights shone out of his eyes.
"Lying to me? I'll check myself today that whether you little prick is a girl or a boy!"
While Ming Lan was talking, he took off the belt outside of her robe.
"Ming Lan, if you dare to touch me, I'll bite your hands off!"
Gu Yunxi struggled with all she could. Her limbs were pinned down by the eunuchs of the Western Depot. Seeing Ming Lan actually going for her, she yelled harshly and opened her eyes wide.
"Sure, sure! I'll let you bite me. Bite me however you want." Ming Lan didn't stop but only got more excited.
The wet and slimy palm touched on Gu Yunxi's clothes and was ready to peel it off. Gu Yunxi suddenly yelled,
"Ah! Ghost!"
Ming Lan was startled by Gu Yunxi's sudden shout. After breathing intensely, he felt a bit relaxed. The memories of seeing the ghost in the Qingfeng Temple were fresh. But how could there be a ghost in broad daylight?
"Little Yun Guaner, you're playing some tricks again..."
Ming Lan thought she was funny. He touched Gu Yunxi's cheek and leaned over, trying to kiss her.
"There really is a ghost!" Gu Yunxi stared behind Ming Lan straightly and looked terrified.
Ming Lan was not going to fall for her tricks. After all, he had fallen quite some times before.
Just when he was about to continue, a neigh rang out. A heavy kick landed on Ming Lan's back and kicked him off.
In this crucial moment, Gu Yunxi's red horse came. This horse could perceive human emotions. Leng Qingtang specially asked people to train it and gave it to Gu Yunxi as a gift.
"Red Smoke!"
Gu Yunxi shouted at it. The horse twisted its body and kicked its hoofs to break up the two eunuchs holding her. Gu Yunxi took this opportunity, turned her back, and climbed on horseback.
The little red horse dashed out.
"Go chase it! I'm taking that b***h to his Majesty today!"
Ming Lan shouted, sitting on the ground and rubbing his broken nose. At his words, guards from the Western Depot also dashed out. The hoofs kicked up a cloud of dust.
Gu Yunxi was bumped around on horseback. Behind her, the people from the Western Depot was chasing closely. She turned her head backward and saw people catching up. Gu Yunxi whipped on the butt of the horse.
The horse galloped while avoiding all the trees. Suddenly a black shadow came out of the woods. It was a klipspringer. The horse was startled. It ran off into the alley grumpily and anxiously.
"It's a cliff going from here, right?" A guard asked.
His companion confirmed it, "Yes. Come on! Let's see where can she go now!"
...
Gu Yunxi halted the horse in time when she came to the cliff. When the guards of the Western Depot came, the little horse named Red Smoke was walking around on the spot, kicking off dust anxiously.
Gu Yunxi patted on its neck and finally calmed it down. Shen then got off the horse.
The guards of the Western Depot also dismounted and closed in on Gu Yunxi. They were laughing eerily, swearing, and cursing.
Gu Yunxi held the horsewhip tightly, preparing for a fight.
She turned over and looked at the horse. She patted on its back and said, "Red Smoke, go find the Master!"
The horse sneezed and ran off towards the path on the right side. The guards didn't chase after it but approached Gu Yunxi faster.
She didn't dare to step back anymore. Behind her was the cliff. It was bottomless. Stepping on the edge, when a stone fell, she couldn't hear the sound of it dropping on the ground.
Gu Yunxi frowned. She stared at the approaching enemies. She didn't show any fear on her face. Now she just had to fight!
She took the opportunity. Her lips slightly curled up and her eyes were full of murderous look. She kicked on the ground and jumped high. She twisted her wrist and threw off the whip. The whip drew a sharp radian in the air and went towards an enemy in the back, hitting right in his head.
With his painful howl, Gu Yunxi landed gracefully. She rolled frontward to stay away from the dangerous cliff.
An intense fight started. Gu Yunxi learned a couple of moves with Leng Qingtang, yet the guards were all good at martial arts. Because of Ming Lan's order, they didn't use weapons. They just fought with Gu Yunxi bare hand as if playing around.
Facing the siege of eight strong men, Gu Yunxi gradually lost her strength. Somebody attacked her from behind when she was not paying attention and crushed her onto the ground.
He didn't stand up. Smiling eerily, he touched Gu Yunxi's face with his dirty hand. Gu Yunxi yelled in anger. She opened her mouth and bit him while raising her left leg and kicking his butt.
He howled and punched Gu Yunxi on the face. She was dazzled. She lay on the ground dizzily. The guard was going to pull out his weapon and was stopped by his companion. His companion scolded,
"How dare you! Our Master had his eyes on her. How dare you touch her!"
- Writer
