Chapter 473: Chapter 172 Mad Dog
The woods were serene.
The air was thick with the warm, pungent scent of blood, and the dew scattered on the wild grass beside the fountain turned a deep crimson.
Lu Tong desperately fended off the sharp beak lunging at her, the gray hound vicious like a cheetah or wolf, growling low as it knocked her to the ground.
A sweetness rose in her throat, her whole body felt as if it were about to shatter.
The vicious dog, excited again, lunged at her, this time aiming for her neck. Lu Tong instinctively blocked with her arm, and the dog’s mouth clamped onto it, its sharp teeth easily tearing a bloody gash in her flesh.
Lu Tong’s face went instantly pale.
"Fine work, Hunter!" At the other end, Qi Yutai dismounted from his horse and watched, his eyes red with excitement as a dog and a person tumbled on the grass.
The Grand Preceptor, Qi Qing, used to love raising and fighting birds, putting two birds into a large cage to fight, calling it "rolling cage combat," not stopping until one of them was featherless, bloody, and lifeless.
Qi Yutai had seen bird fights a few times before but now found the struggle before him far more thrilling than any bird or beast fight.
The female Medical Officer was weak, like a white rabbit being ruthlessly mauled under Hunter’s claws.
Yes, a white rabbit!
Just like the one that was almost killed by Hunter when they first went up the mountain—beautiful, slender, gentle, and obedient.
A beautiful woman, without a strong background to support her, was like the wild rabbits in the forest, their throats always at risk of being bitten through by predators. Speaking of which, this woman was indeed beautiful; born a daughter of the Grand Preceptor, her sister’s prestige and nobility were like branches of jade and precious pearls from heaven, so lofty that even a Commoner dared not look at her. But Lu Tong was just a lowly Servant, and the same beauty became her calamity, her sin, her burden.
A beauty doomed to become a decayed mess in the mouth of a beast just because she offended his sister.
Thinking of that image, Qi Yutai sighed, truly a pity.
The hunting dog barked excitedly, and down among the trees, Lu Tong covered her head and face, curling and rolling on the ground.
The hunting dog was relentless, charging again to tear and bite. She heard Qi Yutai’s voice from not too far away, "Bite down on her, don’t let go!"
The hunting dog, with the order from its master, became even more agitated, gripping Lu Tong’s leg fiercely, refusing to release. It must have been specially trained by Qi Yutai to view her as its prey, and in this moment, Lu Tong remembered what Lin Danqing told her at the foot of the mountain about how this mad dog had injured the daughter of a farmer’s family, how the mad dog had eaten half of the little girl’s face. Now, as she struggled, she understood the pain of that little girl—tender flesh in the jaws of a vicious dog, being torn at will.
She fumbled to defend herself from the sharp teeth before her, her eyes falling on the medical box that had dropped to the ground in the scuffle.
There was poison powder in the box, and needles...
Through gritted teeth, she kicked the hunting dog off her body with all her strength, struggling to stand. She staggered towards the medical box.
Just as her hand touched the box, before she had time to open it, the hunting dog pounced from behind and bit her shoulder. Lu Tong groaned, her hand loosening—
The medical box fell with a thud, rolling down the slope and off the cliff.
With a dull thud.
It was gone without a trace.
...
The trail was deep with grass, and the sound of horse hooves stepping over fallen leaves was soft and rustling.
In the quiet mountain pass, the Dragon Guards were making their way down the mountain.
Lacking the thrilling excitement from the hunt up the mountain, the returning procession seemed much more peaceful.
Duan Xiaoyan rode on horseback and turned to ask the young man at his side, "Brother, are you sure you don’t want to tend to that wound first? Maybe there’s a medical officer around here who could take a look..."
"No need," Pei Yunmeng interrupted.
A feathered arrow had hit his left shoulder, and the shaft had been removed. He found some clean water on the mountain to wash the wound and sprinkled some antiseptic medicine powder on it, which seemed to make it look minor. But Duan Xiaoyan couldn’t shake his concern.
The Crown Prince, Yuan Zhen, was eager to get down the mountain and unwilling to delay a moment longer, so naturally, the Dragon Guard had no reason to stay.
"All right, then we’ll have a Medical Officer take a look once we’re back at camp," said Duan Xiaoyan, suddenly recalling something, "We’ll ask Doctor Lu to take a look! I saw her this morning at the entrance of the hunting camp’s tent. I would have greeted her if I hadn’t been with Ban Wei then."
Xiao Zhufeng, hearing this, displayed a surprised look: "She was there too?"
The number of medical officers accompanying the hunt was limited; most were senior officers, while the younger officers usually came from good families—it wasn’t a chance likely to be given to a Commoner.
Pei Yunmeng cast a glance at the two of them: "You’re both so concerned. Why don’t we all have dinner together after we go down the mountain?"
"Sure!"
Duan Xiaoyan didn’t catch the sarcasm, clapping his hands happily, "Then I’ll go change my clothes first. But we can’t bring Zhizi since Doctor Lu is afraid of him..."