Reborn Spoiled Girl Tames the Regent

Chapter 20 Returning to the Wilderness

The air was filled with the scent of earth. Yuezhu Ridge was rugged, surrounded by bamboo mountains, and the bamboo forests soared into the clouds, blocking out most of the sunlight.

He stepped on the withered leaves, the slight sound startling birds and shaking down a few bamboo leaves.

Through the bamboo shadows and thin mist, a dark shadow can be seen.

Xiao Hengzhi spoke softly, his tone revealing a hint of scrutiny: "You suffered such a serious injury, yet you seem perfectly fine today."

The shadow turned and approached him.

After a moment of silence, he said, "You saved me."

Xiao Hengzhi raised an eyebrow and said indifferently, "Yes, how do you intend to repay me?"

Shadow's face remained expressionless as he calmly replied, "From today onwards, I am at your beck and call."

Unsurprisingly, he had anticipated the man's answer.

Xiao Hengzhi smiled slightly: "Okay."

He had met this person here in his previous life, but the difference was that he had let him go in his previous life.

The moment they met eyes, they knew he was a Red Slave who had escaped from the beast field.

Red slaves were the lowest class of slaves.

Raised in captivity from a young age, they are trained to kill, engage in bloody battles, and kill each other. Those who survive to the end are sent to the beast arena to fight beasts, where the powerful and wealthy place bets and spend lavishly.

That was the place where Xiao Hengzhi had almost lost his life to escape; it was his nightmare, and he didn't want to have anything to do with it again.

Whether he lives or dies is none of his concern.

Unexpectedly, after Jiang Mian became the Crown Princess, he resolutely plunged back into that hellish place.

......

He snapped out of his daze, looked at the person in front of him, and asked, "My surname is Xiao, and my given name is Hengzhi. Do you have a name?"

He shook his head.

Xiao Hengzhi lightly pinched his knuckles, thinking to himself, "That's normal."

Most of the Red Slaves were numbered by name, and they lived a life of constant fear of being killed. Not everyone remembered their own name like he did.

After a moment's thought, he smiled and said, "The phoenix is ​​startled from its cage, the beast awakens and returns to the wild... From now on, you will be called Guiye (Return to the Wilderness)."

“Return to the wilderness…” Shadow murmured, then said, “Yes.”

Xiao Hengzhi looked at his attitude and a hint of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.

He continued, “Your injuries are not fully healed, but now that you can walk, I have something for you to do.”

"what?"

"Help me find something; it's extremely important to me. And then, do me another favor..."

Then he leaned close to Guiye and whispered in his ear.

A moment later, he patted him on the shoulder: "Go ahead."

Guiye quickly disappeared into the bamboo forest.

A gentle breeze rustled through the bamboo grove, and a raindrop landed on the back of Xiao Hengzhi's hand.

He looked up and squinted through the gaps in the bamboo leaves to look at the sky. The sky was covered with dark, heavy clouds, hanging low as if a heavy rain was imminent.

He murmured, "This is truly divine intervention."

......

After a long journey in the carriage, Jiang Mian and Cong Shuang took a nap on the plush blanket.

The wind outside lifted the curtains, and Jiang Mian woke up with a shiver, her sleepiness dissipating.

She rubbed her eyes and asked the driver, "How far is the nearest town? Can we get there tonight?"

"Reporting to Second Miss, the town is not far beyond this bamboo forest, and we should be able to arrive tonight."

Jiang Mian looked up and saw a dark bamboo forest ahead, with layers of bamboo shadows intertwined in the dim light.

A strange unease welled up inside her, but this was the only way to get to Zhuoyue Villa.

Cong Shuang woke up groggily and saw her sitting beside her rubbing her eyes. She asked with concern, "What's wrong, Miss? Are you feeling unwell?"

Jiang Wan shook her head: "It's nothing. I guess I slept too long and my eyes are a little sore."

"It's getting chilly at night, Miss, you should put on another coat."

After saying that, she picked up an outer garment and wrapped it around Jiang Mian.

Suddenly, a horse's neigh broke the silence, the carriage lurched, and then the coachman screamed.

Jiang Mian's heart tightened. She steadied herself and suddenly pushed open the sedan door. She saw a masked man in black severing the reins of the sedan in a flash of light.

The moment he saw her, he instinctively wanted to stab her with his knife, but at the critical moment, he seemed to remember something, and with a swift turn of the blade, he sheathed the knife.

He then flipped over and leaped onto the horse's back, galloping away. His speed was astonishing; Jiang Wan only had time to catch a glimpse of his fleeting figure, and didn't even get a clear look at his eyes.

The coachman was kicked off a cliff, and Jiang Mian quickly turned around to check on Cong Shuang's safety.

"Cong Shuang," Jiang Mian called out.

No one answered. Turning around, I saw that she was so frightened that she had lost her composure and was sitting there stiffly.

Jiang Mian forgot that Cong Shuang was still just a little girl at this time.

She went inside, waved her hand in front of her eyes, and only then did the girl come to her senses and shout, "Miss! Are you alright!"

Jiang Mian shook her head: "I'm fine. That person just now seemed to only want the horse and didn't intend to hurt anyone. Perhaps he was in a hurry or escaping for his life..."

She sighed and said, "It's my fault. I thought that bringing guards would attract attention when we passed through several villages and towns. I never expected to run into such martial arts figures."

Cong Shuang asked anxiously, "What should we do now? The banquet is in three days, and we don't have any horses. How can we make it in time?"

Jiang Wan pondered for a moment, then frowned and said, "This road is the only way to the manor. Besides us, there will definitely be others passing through. If we go to ask for help, someone should be willing to help."

Cong Shuang nodded: "Okay, I'll go down and wait right away."

After she finished speaking, she noticed that Jiang Mian's face looked off, her lips were pale, and she kept covering her head.

"Miss, you don't look well. Please sit down and rest."

She reached out to help her up and touched her arm, which was unusually hot. She quickly touched her forehead and found it burning hot, as if it had been roasted by fire.

In a panic, Cong Shuang pulled her to lie down on the couch.

Jiang Mian's illness came on suddenly; she soon began to have a splitting headache, and her mind felt like a jumble of mush.

Seeing this, Cong Shuang quickly gave her medicine to relieve the fever.

However, after a long time, Jiang Mian's body was still very hot, and she even closed her eyes and could not speak, which was more serious than before.

As darkness fell, and there was no village in sight, the area became increasingly dark.

Cong Shuang was so upset she was about to cry. She felt it was because she hadn't taken good care of her mistress that she had caught a cold.

Just then, a light drizzle began to fall.

A fierce wind was blowing outside the sedan chair, causing the doors to flap back and forth and the candles to go out.

As Cong Shuang got up to close the door, a bolt of lightning struck, and she could vaguely see a figure approaching from the depths of the bamboo forest.

Her heart leaped into her throat, fearing that the bad guys had come again.

After closing the door, she quickly covered Jiang Mian with a blanket, holding a wooden stick in her hand, her eyes fixed on the sedan door.

The rain and wind continued unabated, tears welled up in her eyes, her body tense and trembling with nervousness, as she kept Jiang Mian behind her.

After a long while, there was a knock on the door.

Then all that could be heard were voices outside.

"Cong Shuang, it's me."

She recognized the voice. Startled, she rushed over and opened the door.

Upon seeing who it was, he immediately collapsed to the ground, his strength gone.

“Young Master Xiao…” Cong Shuang gasped for breath, tears finally rolling down her cheeks.

"What happened?" Xiao Hengzhi took off his wet outer robe.

Before Cong Shuang could explain, she wiped away her tears: "Please look at Miss... Miss, she..."

Xiao Heng's heart tightened, and he took two steps in instead of three.

He had been waiting in the bamboo forest for a long time. Knowing Jiang Mian as he did, he knew she would come out to check the surroundings after her horse was stolen, but he had not seen her at all.

He had a vague feeling that something was wrong, so he came over.

Sure enough, when the blanket was lifted, Jiang Mian was burning up terribly.

"Did you give her any medication?"

Cong Shuang lit the candle, took out the medicine box, and said, "This is medicine for clearing fever. I just gave Miss one pill."

Xiao Hengzhi took the medicine and smelled it. The medicine was correct, but why was the fever still not gone down?

Could it be?

He asked Cong Shuang, "Is the Second Miss here for her period?"