09. Night Attack (2)
She was stretching her legs slightly when Murong Yan suddenly opened his eyes.
He grabbed Yu Qingjia by the shoulder and forced her downward.
Yu Qingjia was startled.
Her elbow slammed against the carriage seat, sending a sharp pain through her arm.
Then, almost at the exact moment the two of them ducked down, two arrows sliced through the air and flew through the side curtain.
They embedded themselves firmly in the carriage.
Even after a long while, the trembling of their fletching could still be heard.
Yu Qingjia lay crouched inside the carriage, completely stunned.
Those two arrows seemed to be some sort of signal.
Immediately afterward, arrows rained down like a swarm of locusts.
Shouts of battle erupted from the forest.
The footsteps outside the carriage became chaotic and panicked as the guards hurried to assemble and defend against the attackers.
But they had been caught completely off guard. In their haste, they couldn't even form a proper formation.
All Yu Qingjia could hear were the sounds of arrows repeatedly striking the carriage.
She didn't even need to look outside to know that the entire carriage must have been turned into a porcupine.
Yu Qingjia had never experienced anything like this.
She covered her ears tightly, tears welling in her eyes as she looked helplessly at Murong Yan.
“What happened outside?”
Murong Yan's expression was frighteningly cold.
Yu Qingjia had experienced his coldness countless times, but this was the first time she had ever seen him look so terrifying.
His eyes weren't completely black.
There was always a faint blue light hidden within them.
Now those eyes were deep as whirlpools, becoming even more mesmerizing, dangerous, and alluring.
There was very little space inside the carriage, and arrows were raining down from every direction.
Although most were blocked by the carriage walls, some arrows with exceptional aim still managed to pierce through at strange angles.
Murong Yan grabbed one of Yu Qingjia's arms and practically hauled her upright, pulling her rapidly into a blind spot where the arrows couldn't reach.
There was hardly any room to begin with.
Terrified, Yu Qingjia hugged her knees and pressed herself tightly against Murong Yan, one hand still clutching his clothes.
In such a dangerous situation, Murong Yan couldn't be bothered to argue with her about it.
Inside the carriage, time seemed to stretch endlessly for Yu Qingjia, as though half a lifetime had passed.
In reality, the entire incident had lasted only a few moments.
The instant Yu Wenjun realized they were under attack, he knew things were bad.
He immediately ordered someone to fetch his daughter and the young master from the carriage.
But the carriage driver had already been shot dead.
The horses panicked at the sight of the arrows and let out a terrified whinny.
With no one controlling them, they followed their instincts and bolted.
Yu Wenjun watched helplessly as the carriage lurched away, his heart nearly leaping out of his chest.
He wanted to immediately send people after them.
But at that moment, another thought suddenly occurred to him.
This attack was most likely aimed at the young master.
The attackers clearly didn't know whether the Prince of Langya was actually in the convoy. That was why they had chosen to investigate them along the road.
Otherwise, if the current Son of Heaven had been certain of Murong Yan's whereabouts, he could simply have issued an execution order.
Why go to all the trouble of laying an ambush?
Yu Wenjun felt his heart pounding violently in his chest.
The Prince of Langya was with Jia-jia.
Everyone would instinctively assume that the two were female members of the household.
If Yu Wenjun sent a large number of men after the carriage, he might actually be endangering them.
The spies would certainly assume that Yu Wenjun had disguised the Prince of Langya as a guard and hidden him among the traveling guards.
Their attention would therefore be focused on those men.
The fact that the enemy hadn't sent many people after the carriage was proof of this.
Yu Wenjun gritted his teeth.
He did not send anyone after the carriage.
Instead, he gathered all his men and ordered a retreat.
Seeing Yu Wenjun's actions, the attackers became even more convinced that Murong Yan was hiding among the group.
Inside the carriage, the cabin swayed violently from side to side.
It nearly overturned several times.
Yu Qingjia was so frightened that she didn't even dare open her eyes.
She clung tightly to Murong Yan's arm, her fingernails nearly digging into his flesh.
Murong Yan was far calmer than Yu Qingjia.
Especially after realizing that no one was pursuing them, he felt considerably more at ease.
He was just about to look through the carriage window and examine the terrain when he realized that Yu Qingjia was still clinging tightly to his arm.
He tugged.
She didn't let go.
He tugged again.
Still nothing.
He was exasperated.
“Let go.”
Yu Qingjia kept her eyes closed, pretending to be dead.
Murong Yan was practically amused by how foolish she was.
“The carriage is out of control. What good does closing your eyes do? Let go. I'm going to control the horses.”
Yu Qingjia opened her eyes suspiciously.
Only then did she realize that the horses had been running wildly for quite some time, and they had no idea where they were anymore.
She stared blankly around her.
When she saw Murong Yan glaring at her, she lowered her head.
“Oh.”
She released his arm.
Even inside the carriage, which was shaking so violently it felt as though they might be thrown into the air, Murong Yan remained as steady as if he were standing on solid ground.
When Yu Qingjia saw him kneel and start moving toward the front, she panicked.
She hurriedly grabbed the edge of his clothing and slowly followed him.
The moment Murong Yan stood, he realized there was resistance behind him again.
He lowered his eyes.
Yu Qingjia was curled into a small ball, looking up at him pitifully.
The enemy was simply too weak.
In the end, Murong Yan couldn't bring himself to pull his clothes away and allowed her to follow him.
Seeing that he didn't refuse, Yu Qingjia happily grabbed his clothing with both hands and crawled after him.
Murong Yan moved through the carriage with remarkable agility and ease.
Yu Qingjia, on the other hand, could only crawl forward shakily.
Several times, she nearly lost her balance and fell.
If she hadn't been clutching Murong Yan, she would probably have rolled right out.
After much difficulty, they finally reached the outside of the carriage.
Murong Yan knelt on the edge and tried to control the horses.
But several arrows had already struck them.
How could a horse in such a frenzied state possibly be controlled by human strength?
Murong Yan noticed that the vegetation around them was becoming increasingly sparse.
The rocks were also gradually merging into broad stretches of exposed stone.
If he wasn't mistaken, there was probably a cliff ahead.
Murong Yan needed only a moment to make his decision.
“Jump from the carriage. We're about to go over the cliff.”
Yu Qingjia clung tremblingly to the wooden frame, completely unable to process what she had heard.
“The carriage is moving this fast, and you want us to jump?”
Murong Yan narrowed his eyes toward the road ahead.
He could already faintly see the edge of the cliff.
He reached out and scooped Yu Qingjia up with one arm, speaking impatiently.
“Why do you talk so much?”
Before Yu Qingjia could even react, she felt herself being thrown out of the carriage.
“Ah!”
She screamed.
She rolled twice across the grass.
Even then, she couldn't believe that the vixen had actually thrown her out of the carriage.
A moment later, the grass beside her sank slightly.
Murong Yan had jumped down as well.
He landed lightly and gracefully.
By comparison, Yu Qingjia had rolled several times through the grass.
Her hair was full of weeds, and she was covered in dirt, looking utterly miserable.
Yu Qingjia scrambled to her feet and angrily pulled a piece of dry grass from the corner of her mouth.
“Why is your heart so vicious?”
“Be grateful you're still alive.”
Murong Yan had already risen to his feet.
He looked around.
Yu Qingjia followed his gaze.
The mountains and forests stretched endlessly around them.
Dense greenery covered the land, the treetops forming an enormous emerald sea that made it almost impossible to see the ground below.
Not far away came the mournful cry of the horse.
The carriage had plunged to its destruction.
They had no idea where they were.
Now, beneath the vast expanse of Heaven and Earth, there were only two people left—
Yu Qingjia and the vixen.
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