Against the Current - Chapter 304

Chapter 304 - Ferocious (Part 4)

Shocked, Xianglan could only snatch up the hand-warmer in desperation and smash it down. The man, completely caught off guard by Xianglan's sudden burst of aggression, took a solid blow straight to the head, flying into a towering rage. He brought a heavy palm down in a vicious slap that made Xianglan's head ring with a roaring echo as golden stars burst before her eyes.

The man cursed bitterly, "Vile bitch—ah!"

Before he could finish his curse, Lin Jinlou, who had been lying flat on the ground, suddenly sprang up like a coiled spring. Locking his arms around the tall, lean man's head from behind, he gripped a dagger and drove it straight into the fellow's neck. Without waiting for a counterattack, he quickly withdrew, snatched Xianglan up, and pulled her into his embrace. He staggered backward a few paces, unable to sustain the movement, and leaned against a tree trunk, panting heavily as a fit of coughing seized him.

The tall, lean man clutched his neck with both hands, struggling and staring at the pair with eyes full of terror, hatred, and despair. He lunged forward with a sharp cry, but after taking a few steps, his legs buckled. He pitched face-first into the snow, convulsed a couple of times, and went completely still.

Lin Jinlou slumped down onto the ground. Xianglan hurried to retrieve the porcelain phial and fed him a medicinal pill. After resting for a moment, Lin Jinlou looked listless and murmured, "Go pull out the dagger. The sheath is in my left boot—slide it back in."

With no other choice, Xianglan forced herself to obey. Mustering her courage, she stepped forward, pulled out the dagger, wiped the blood clean on the dead man's clothes, slid it back into the scabbard, and tucked it securely back into Lin Jinlou's boot. She reached out to touch Lin Jinlou's face, finding it icy cold. Gritting her teeth, she stripped the thick fur coat off the corpse, returned to Lin Jinlou's side, removed his dark cloak, dressed him in the fur coat, and neatly tied the cloak back over it. Lin Jinlou said in a faint, weak voice, "Go strip a few thick garments from the dead to wear. It's too cold on a winter night; I'm afraid you won't last through it." With that, he closed his eyes once more.

Anxiety gnawed deep at Xianglan's heart, but there was no time for hesitation. She found a fur-lined jacket to put on herself, then stripped two more heavy fur garments and a cloak from the corpses, bundled them up in a thin blanket, and strapped the load onto her back. Suddenly, she caught sight of a large food container smashed to pieces near the carriage, with all sorts of pastries and fruits rolling across the ground. Hurriedly untying the brocade pouch from her waist, she shoveled the pastries into it until it was stuffed full, leaving her breathless and panting from the exertion.

Now that she had extra layers on and had busied herself for a while, she felt considerably warmer. She tucked her freezing hands against her neck to warm them up a bit. Noticing that several horses were still wandering about the area, she decided to lead one over for Lin Jinlou to ride. Just as she stepped forward, she heard a faint sound of groaning and whimpering. Catching sight of a dark mass writhing continuously on the ground out of the corner of her eye, she gave a start. Raising the single-edged saber, she cautiously crept closer, only to discover that the squirming shadow was none other than Zhao Yuechan! Disheveled and lying sprawled in the snow with her entire body bound tightly in ropes, Zhao Yuechan stared up with eyes wide in shock that instantly melted into sheer despair when she saw Xianglan approach. She began to struggle even more frantically, a look of profound, desperate pleading flooding her gaze.

Xianglan came to a halt. At this point, she could barely fend for herself; why bother entangling herself with this vicious woman? She turned away, intending to lead the horse off. But after taking a few steps, she stopped. On such a snowy night, even if no bandits remained, lying helpless on the freezing snow meant certain death from the cold. Her conscience plagued her; gritting her teeth, she turned back, used the blade to slice through the ropes binding Zhao Yuechan, and without sparing her another glance, led the horse back to Lin Jinlou's side and shook him awake.

Lin Jinlou glanced around his surroundings and shook his head. "There's no need to ride a horse. There's a river not far down from here, and the banks are densely packed with reed beds. Since dawn is about to break, let's head down to the reed beds and hide there first."

Xianglan nodded. Long since exhausted, starved, and drained, she managed to hoist Lin Jinlou up, picked up a sturdy branch to serve as a walking stick for him, and supported him as they staggered down the mountain. After walking for a while, unable to take another step, the two stopped to rest. When Xianglan glanced back, she was stunned to see a solitary figure stumbling and staggering along their tracks toward them. Her scalp instantly prickled. Looking closer, she realized with a shock that the person following them was actually Zhao Yuechan! With hair hanging loose and a cloak wrapped around her, she walked with a halting, unsteady gait. Seeing that Xianglan had spotted her, she froze in her tracks and stopped moving.

By this time, the reed beds were already close at hand. Too exhausted to worry about Zhao Yuechan anymore, Xianglan hoisted Lin Jinlou back up, and the two finally reached the shelter of the reeds, finding a wind-sheltered spot among the thick stalks to rest. Lin Jinlou could no longer hold himself upright and collapsed to the ground. Xianglan hastily spread out the two fur garments on the earth, pleading softly, "Master, please hold on just a little longer." As she spoke, she dragged him onto the furs and covered him with the remaining two garments. Wrapping the thin blanket around her own shoulders, she sat huddled with her knees pulled to her chest at his side. She was so utterly exhausted that the moment she relaxed, her whole body felt as though it were falling apart, while her heart remained heavy with lingering terror and panic. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down; with Lin Jinlou in such a weakened state, she was their only remaining hope.

Xianglan felt Lin Jinlou's neck, finding only a faint trace of warmth. Terrified that something might happen to him, she continuously rubbed his hands and face, calling out to him in a soft whisper by his ear. But she was far too tired; after rubbing for a while, her arms refused to move, yet she had no other options left. Her feelings toward Lin Jinlou had always been a tangled mix of gratitude, resentment, and obscure, unnameable emotions. Seeing him lying there motionless—so unlike his usual flamboyant, overbearing, and unreasonable self, looking instead like an eagle with broken wings, completely powerless, fragile, and helpless—the sight painfully evoked memories of her past life when she had cradled Xiao Hang's corpse during her exile, weeping bitter tears that could never call back her dead husband's life. This heart-wrenching, bone-deep agony broke what little restraint she had left. Throwing herself over Lin Jinlou's neck, she choked out through her sobs, "Master, Master, you... you... if you're awake, say something to me. Please, just say something to me..."

Opening her eyes wide, she saw the bright moon in the sky gradually sinking lower while the vast, desolate mountain ranges remained silent and unyielding. Wherever her gaze fell, there were only more mountains beyond mountains. In the distance, however, bonfires blazed brightly across several mountainsides, clearly marking ongoing battles and skirmishes. Straining her ears, Xianglan heard no sounds of combat—only the howling northwest wind sweeping through the reeds, bending them wildly from side to side.

Adrift and displaced here while hiding from rebel pursuers, she had no idea whether they would survive, nor whether Lin Jinlou could cling to life with his grievous wounds. Gripped by frantic anxiety and utter helplessness, she felt how infinitely small she was beneath the vast heavens, and how profoundly lonely and helpless the two of them truly were.

Lin Jinlou felt as though his entire body was submerged in freezing water, lost in a hazy, foggy delirium. An indescribable agony racked his frame. Someone was continuously rubbing his hands and face, while someone else murmured tearfully by his ear. Having exhausted every ounce of his strength from the pain, he forced his blurring focus to catch the sound of those urgent calls. Earlier, he had been freezing to death, but now that someone had covered him with blankets, his body felt somewhat better. Then, someone slipped a pill into his mouth; as he slowly sucked on it and felt it slide toward a deep slumber, he caught the sound of a woman weeping. Listening closely, it sounded like that foolish girl Xianglan. That silly bumpkin loved to cry; if he raised his voice in a roar, she'd end up all teary-eyed—though lately, she had been crying much less. Truth be told, her crying didn't sit well with him inside, either. He wanted to tell her to stop crying, that her weeping made his head ache, but he couldn't force his mouth open or squeeze out a single sound.