Chapter 36

In the suburbs of the West City of the Divine Capital, fifty miles away from the Shuyun Villa, there was a desolate mountain rarely visited by people.

Yesterday, Jia Cong's carriage was robbed. The thief scared away the pursuit of Guo Zhigui and others, and drove the carriage to run to the desolate mountains and ridges where there were few people.

Running to the side of a stream, the thief abandoned the carriage, used the stream water to wet the carriage tracks, and then escorted Jia Cong into the mountain forest.

Not long after walking, he heard the chaotic sound of horse hooves coming from behind, as well as chaotic shouting.

The man pressed Jia Cong behind a mountain rock, and he poked his head out to look into the distance.

Jia Cong saw many people riding horses and patrolling the edge of the forest, and some people entering the forest to search. It seemed that the people from the Tui Shi Yuan and Zhenan Prefecture had caught up.

It was just that those people were some distance away from him. Jia Cong estimated that if he shouted loudly, the other party might hear him.

But he didn't dare to make a sound, because a bright curved knife was lying across his neck.

The thief untied his belt, tied Jia Cong's hands behind his back, took a piece of rag to block his mouth, and pushed him to walk deep into the forest.

Before long, the sky darkened. Jia Cong could no longer hear the neighing of horses and human voices at the edge of the forest. It seemed that these people hadn't found any traces, so they went back.

Standing at the entrance of the cave, one could see the forest at the foot of the mountain at a glance, and there was a sheep-gut mountain path on the side of the cave that was not easy to notice, which could lead directly to the foot of the mountain.

Between heaven and earth, it seemed that only the two of them were stumbling in the forest, as well as the monotonous and tired panting. On the way, they met several hunters hunting in the forest.

That voice was extremely crisp and pleasant. It was a woman's voice, but it was cold, making people shudder.

If it weren't for his hands tied behind his back, looking at the thief's injury, Jia Cong even had the confidence to escape.

When Jia Cong entered the cave, he deliberately hesitated for a moment, pretending to pant, and examined the surrounding environment.

The thief avoided it from afar. The sky gradually darkened, but there was a full moon, illuminating the forest with strange shadows.

"Don't dream of escaping. Although I am injured, my sleeve arrows can take a life at will within twenty steps. If you don't believe it, you can try."

Throwing him in the cave like a rice dumpling, she left alone.

The man began to take him up the slope, wanting to go to the mountainside. Jia Cong's hands were tied, and walking on the mountain road was very strenuous.

Such a place couldn't be found by chance; it must have been scouted and found by the female thief long ago.

The female thief tore off her clothes and tied Jia Cong's feet as well.

Jia Cong was terrified in his heart, thinking that the female thief wouldn't be so unscrupulous, right? He was still a child.

The two stumbled and climbed to the mountainside, found a secluded cave, and hid in it.

Jia Cong felt cold in his heart. In such a desolate and ghostly place, if the other party killed him with one knife, even his corpse wouldn't be found.

Fortunately, he had improved his diet during this period and never stopped exercising, so his physical strength could barely support him.

Suddenly, his back was kicked. The person seemed to know what Jia Cong was thinking.

Entering the cave, the female thief kicked Jia Cong to the ground, pounced on him, and pressed him down.

When he got off the carriage just now, Jia Cong saw that her back was red, which was a knife wound. Although it had been bandaged, it was estimated that she had lost a lot of blood.

The thief was panting even harder than himself, and her voice sounded a bit weak.

After a long time, Jia Cong saw a figure flickering at the entrance of the cave, and saw the female thief return with a pile of firewood. Her shoulders and back were wet, as if she had just washed her wounds.

Jia Cong was lying there with his limbs tied, almost frozen. The fire was lit, and the heat in the cave rose, and his body gradually warmed up.

In the firelight, he saw the female thief covering her face tightly with a face towel, revealing only a pair of eyes overflowing with clear waves, holding a porcelain bottle in her hand, seeming a bit hesitant.

Then her eyes looked at Jia Cong, and she suddenly came over and untied the restraints on his hands and feet. Jia Cong felt a bit uneasy, not knowing what kind of trick she would play.

Then the female thief turned her back and actually began to untie her outer garment. Jia Cong's eyes widened, not knowing what the other party wanted to do.

"I have a knife wound on my back and can't apply the ointment myself. You come and help me apply it."

"If you dare to look around or play tricks, I won't kill you, but I will dig out your eyes, cut off your limbs, and leave you in the snow to freeze to death."

Jia Cong saw that she was cold and cruel, and felt horrified in his heart. If she treated him like this, it would be better to die.

However, many hours had passed since she was injured, and Jia Cong hadn't seen her apply medicine. If it dragged on, blood loss, infection, and sepsis—each one could take her life.

The female thief had no choice. The wound was right on her back, and she couldn't apply medicine herself. She felt that her body was already feverish, which was a sign of fever after injury.

If she didn't apply medicine to the wound in time, her life might be over. Otherwise, she wouldn't be naked and let Jia Cong apply medicine for her. Fortunately, he was still a child, so it didn't matter. It would be clean to kill him afterwards.

Jia Cong saw her take off half of the clothes on her back, revealing a piece of naked back, skin crystal clear like jade, white like snow. Under the firelight, there was a breathtaking beauty.

Looking up along the back, there was a bright red blood mole the size of a fingertip on the back of the neck, shaped like a flower petal, like a red plum in the snow, which was stunning.

Jia Cong felt a palpitation in his heart, remembering the day he met Zhou Junxing while riding in a carriage with Xiao Jindong. That day, there was an old woman pushed down on the road, and her neck had this strange blood mole.

There wouldn't be two red moles in the world that looked exactly the same and grew on the same part. He concluded that the person who disguised as an old woman that day was this female thief.

Then her appearance on the road where Zhou Junxing entered the city might not be a coincidence.

The wound was slashed from the left rear shoulder. The wound had been cleaned, and the muscles on both sides of the knife edge were rolled up, which was a bit scary, but fortunately, the wound was not too deep and hadn't reached the bone.

The female thief handed him a black bottle with a long neck and a round belly, which was heavy in his hand, as if made of some kind of metal.

The wound medicine inside was black and viscous, and the refreshing fragrance contained a hint of spiciness.

"You smooth out the skin and flesh on both sides of the wound, and then seal it with the ointment." The female thief's voice was still consistently cold. After pointing out the method of using the medicine to Jia Cong, she threw him a water bag.

In later generations, encountering such a knife wound, it must be sutured with a needle, but even if there were curved needles for suturing wounds, Jia Cong didn't have that technique.

When he was preparing to treat the wound, the female thief drew a curved knife and held it tightly in her right hand. Jia Cong naturally understood that as long as he dared to move while applying medicine, the curved knife would slash down without hesitation.

He took a deep breath. After all, being pointed at by a knife didn't feel good. He cleaned his hands with the water in the water bag and carefully dried them over the fire. He could only use this method to kill bacteria.

Fortunately, he had practiced calligraphy for many years, and his finger control was far more dexterous than ordinary people. According to the other party's instructions, he smoothed out the rolled skin and flesh on both sides of the wound bit by bit, and actually did it very properly and meticulously.

His fingers touched the female thief's back skin, which was delicate, soft, and smooth like silk. His heart couldn't help but sway, and the female thief's body twisted slightly, and her breathing was a bit rapid.

Jia Cong saw her hand holding the knife tighten, narrowed her eyes, and hurriedly restrained her mind.

After smoothing out the skin and flesh on both sides of the knife edge, he used the black viscous ointment to seal a thick layer on the wound.

When the wound medicine touched the wound, the female thief's body twitched violently, and then her body trembled slightly.

A layer of fine sweat seeped out on the moist and white skin of her back, like the morning sun shining, like beautiful jade carrying dew, making Jia Cong stare.

It seemed that the wound medicine was very painful when it touched the wound. By the time Jia Cong finished applying the medicine, the female thief was already sweating from pain, and even her clothes were half-soaked.

Jia Cong watched her put on her clothes without even turning her head, and her right hand holding the curved knife swung towards him. Jia Cong was terrified in his heart, wondering if she was going to kill him.

He was hit hard by a heavy object on his shoulder and neck, and he lost consciousness. At the moment he fainted, he cursed in his heart: What a female thief, I just helped you apply medicine, and you treat me like this!

(End of chapter)