Luo Qizhe on the left, Shen Muzhou on the right, Lin Yanxi was sandwiched between them.
Without much hesitation, she directly took Shen Muzhou's hand and was helped onto the carriage, sitting in front of him.
Once settled, she adjusted her skirts and looked at Luo Qizhe somewhat apologetically, saying, "Your Highness, I should still... eh."
Before she could finish speaking, Shen Muzhou had already ridden the horse into the forest.
Lin Yanxi muttered softly on the horse, "At least I should thank Luo Qizhe."
"What thanks are due? He approached you for no reason, who knows what he's plotting."
"Oh." She nodded, sensing his jealousy and deliberately said, "But I think he's quite nice."
"Nice?"
Shen Muzhou reined in the horse slightly, and it ambled slowly through the hunting ground's forest, with Xiao Liu and the Dark Night Guard following at a distance.
Unlike others, he wasn't in a hurry to find prey, nor did he seem to care about winning or losing.
Lin Yanxi, unaware of the dangerous look in his eyes, said dismissively, "Yes, I think he's very nice."
"And don't you think... mmm..."
Before she could finish, Shen Muzhou bit her earlobe, his teeth nipping gently with a hint of fierceness.
Her skin was so fair that under the sunlight, her thin earlobes took on an alluring pale pink hue.
"The Dark Night Guard is still behind us, are you crazy?" Lin Yanxi turned to push him away.
He had been too much lately!
Shen Muzhou said, "Mm, I wanted to bite you."
He stated his actions plainly, without embellishment.
"Shameless," her voice, though laced with indignant shyness, sounded more like a spoiled whine, "If you continue like this, I'll be truly angry."
Her threat was like a furious kitten extending its little claws, lacking any real force.
Yet, he decided to let the little cat go for now.
They rode a few more steps, and Lin Yanxi thought about mentioning the Scarlet Deer.
"What do you want?" he suddenly asked.
"Women usually like raising rabbits. Shall I catch a live rabbit for you?"
Most of the rabbits in this spring hunt enclosure were caught and given to young ladies; it was a most common gift.
She shook her head, "I don't want a rabbit."
"Then what do you want? A snow mountain fox?"
When Luo Qizhe mentioned the snow mountain fox in the cave the other day, he distinctly saw Lin Yanxi's eyes flash with intense desire.
It was understandable; which woman wouldn't love a fluffy, snow-white, intelligent little fox.
However, snow mountain foxes were difficult to hunt, let alone capture alive.
Lin Yanxi lowered her head and remained silent. From the distance, the hurried sound of hooves occasionally reached her ears, someone must have found new prey.
She thought for a moment and said, "A snow mountain fox... is nice, but I want something else more."
"After my master visited the Jiang residence, he returned with severe injuries, and the wounds refused to heal. I heard, I heard there was a deer."
Shen Muzhou couldn't stand her stammering and said directly, "A Scarlet Deer?"
"Yes."
"Do you know that besides being difficult to hunt, the Scarlet Deer is also a sacred tribute from Xizhou, and hunting it is forbidden? Who told you to hunt a Scarlet Deer?"
Lin Yanxi hesitated and said, "It was the imperial physician, but I think he didn't know it was sacred. He only mentioned that no one had hunted it in recent spring hunts."
"Imperial physician?" Shen Muzhou pondered for a moment. "Let's go, I'll check the depths of the forest. You wait here. This is a hunting area, there's no danger."
Lin Yanxi said, "No, someone deliberately lured us into the depths of the forest, there must be an ambush. You can't go, what if you get hurt again?"
"Let's go back and report to His Majesty that someone has trespassed into the forbidden hunting grounds."
Shen Muzhou chuckled, "You're starting to care?"
"But if the imperial physician is truly problematic, then whoever bribed him likely knows that Jiang Mingsheng, who has been wanted for so long, is in my residence. I don't mind, but I fear your good master might not be safe then."
In truth, he could choose not to go, but he wanted to know who could bribe his imperial physician.
"If we must go, then we go together," Lin Yanxi said.
Shen Muzhou initially wanted to persuade her not to come, but unable to resist her insistence, he took her with him towards the forbidden area.
On the way, Shen Muzhou asked, "Did you think about what I asked you yesterday?"
Lin Yanxi thought for a long time and asked with a puzzled expression, "What did you ask?"
He knew some things couldn't be said plainly, and she wouldn't understand. "Stay, stay by my side, don't leave, alright?"
"The things you worry about will never happen. The Grand Tutor's mansion will be safe. You cherish freedom, and I allow you to not abide by the rules of the Prince's mansion. And if one day... you won't have to abide by the rules of the harem either. The imperial palace will never be a cage that can confine you."
His voice, carried on the wind and masked by the sound of hooves, still reached her ears clearly, word for word. Her heart wavered; she knew too well that overly beautiful promises often failed to materialize.
She kept her head down, silent, sitting obediently in front of him.
The group ventured into the depths of the forest and rode for a while.
"Your Highness, there seems to be nothing unusual," Xiao Liu said, urging his horse forward.
Shen Muzhou nodded. This part of the forest was also within the forbidden zone, but it wasn't the deepest part yet. Going further might lead to encountering some fierce beasts.
After much deliberation, he decided to leave first.
"Turn around..."
He only got halfway through his sentence when the trees began to tremble violently, and the birds perched on the branches flew away with chirping cries, as if startled.
Animals were always more sensitive than humans.
A bad feeling rose in Shen Muzhou's heart. "Let's go, we should leave this place."
He spurred his horse and galloped outwards with his men. Lin Yanxi also sensed something was wrong, and the ground beneath her feet was trembling.
"Giddy up!"
The horse suddenly neighed and stopped its galloping hooves. The inertia caused Lin Yanxi to lurch forward. When she looked up again, her small face had turned ashen with fright.
Two powerful, ferocious tigers blocked their path.
The white tigers' gazes were fierce, and they looked at the people before them in a restless, agitated manner. They sniffed the air, as if sensing something, or perhaps on the verge of an attack.
There seemed to be clusters of black energy attached to their bodies.
Curses?
It was different from what she had seen before. Her master had said there was only one curse master, and his curses were unlike those of the figures in black cloaks.
The ability to cast curses on them must be related to the person who colluded with the imperial physician.
Shen Muzhou and Lin Yanxi sat on horseback, with Xiao Liu and others behind them.
"Everyone, stay still."
Shen Muzhou said in a very low voice.
He had heard that fierce beasts like tigers were highly attracted to movement, so the more you ran and panicked, the more likely they were to attack.
The white tigers sniffed the air, and then charged forward, letting out a roar as they fixed their eyes on Lin Yanxi.
The sound was deep and terrifying, filled with a certain excitement, and an invisible pressure bore down on them.
Shen Muzhou felt the person in his arms trembling slightly. He whispered in her ear, "When I draw my sword, you will quickly dismount and run backwards. Don't be afraid, I will block the tigers for you."
"No," she replied without thinking.
What a joke. Two tigers, and he, Xiao Liu, and the Dark Night Guard were only five people. How could they possibly block the tigers? This was no different from sending them to their deaths.
Worst of all, her talisman arts had not yet recovered, rendering her unable to use them.
The tigers roared again, shaking the very forest.
Shen Muzhou slowly drew his broadsword, inch by inch, his gaze never leaving the tigers.
The tigers, looking at them like a pack of small animals, were soon impatient. They roared and charged forward!
"Yanxi, run!"
He drew his broadsword, leaped off his horse, and fearlessly charged at the two tigers.
"Your Highness!"
Xiao Liu and the guards also drew their swords and followed closely.
Lin Yanxi dismounted with difficulty. She saw that in this situation, she would be of no use if she stayed, and would only be a hindrance. She had to leave first and get help.
As she hesitated, one of the tiger's claws swiped at Shen Muzhou. Fortunately, he was agile and rolled away, but a deep bloody gash was left on his body.
He dodged an attack and gained a moment to breathe. He glanced at Lin Yanxi and said, "Go quickly!"
"I'm fine." After days of looking at her with a gloomy expression, he managed a rare smile.
Lin Yanxi gritted her teeth and no longer delayed, rushing out of the forbidden area.
The two ferocious tigers, driven mad by the curses, were brutal. Soon, a Dark Night Guard was snatched by the waist in a tiger's mouth and shaken.
He was instantly torn in half.
But as the tigers saw Lin Yanxi run, they immediately spat out the guard's mangled remains, let out a roar in her direction, and even disdained to engage with Shen Muzhou and the others, charging directly towards Lin Yanxi.
She ran ahead, feeling the fierce beasts chasing her from behind, the ground shaking. The distance between them closed rapidly until she could feel a shadow overhead and the foul breath spewing from the tiger's mouth.
Lin Yanxi frantically made hand seals with her hands, but there was no reaction. She glanced back; the tiger was already upon her.
The tiger opened its bloody maw, about to bite her and tear her to shreds, when Shen Muzhou rushed out in time, grabbing her and rolling away a few times.
Shen Muzhou held his sword in front of him and thrust it into the tiger's neck. Its fur was incredibly tough, and the sword went in very deep, leaving a bloody hole. Its black and white fur was instantly stained red.
But this was far from enough. The tiger, controlled by curses, was now even more enraged by this wound.
Fortunately, it didn't charge at Lin Yanxi again, but instead surrounded Shen Muzhou.
The two tigers circled him, while Xiao Liu and the guards attacked from the outside.
Lin Yanxi scrambled to her feet, her legs feeling weak. She ran out in a disheveled state. The tigers, ignoring Shen Muzhou and the others, once again charged directly towards Lin Yanxi.
She had only taken a few steps when she was knocked down by a tiger.
The tiger's claws pressed down on her, shattering her shoulder instantly, breaking bones, and her hand was also covered in blood.
Shen Muzhou leaped up, landed on the tiger's back, and stabbed down with his sword, again and again!
"Shen Muzhou, hurry and leave, they're coming for me."
She couldn't understand why the tigers were charging at her, perhaps it was due to the influence of the curse.
The tiger shook its head in pain, throwing Shen Muzhou several meters away. His actions caused the tiger to bare its fangs and roar at him, gradually closing in.
Shen Muzhou coughed up blood, his injuries serious, with internal damage to his organs.
He was too weak to stand and flee, and could only watch as the tiger approached him helplessly. With his last ounce of strength, he said, "Yanxi, go!"