The cliff face was rough and uneven, studded with jutting rocks that could easily tear through skin and flesh. But those same outcrops also gave anyone falling time to react.
The moment Xie Yun fell after him, Song Liang tried to drive his blade into the cliff. They were dropping too quickly, however, and even he struggled to apply enough force. The blade scraped against the rock with a piercing screech, throwing sparks and leaving the web of his hand burning with pain.
The man falling with him was clearly worse off. An arrow still protruded from his chest, and he seemed briefly dazed as they plunged over the edge. Only after Song Liang had used his blade to arrest his descent farther down the cliff did Xie Yun drive his own dagger into the rock and steady himself.
The difference in their weapons became obvious. Song Liang’s blade had acquired several chips; at a glance, it almost looked as though someone had inlaid a row of pearls along its edge. Xie Yun’s dagger, by contrast, looked ancient and substantial, yet sliced through the stone with almost no resistance. Thus, although Song Liang had reacted first, they ended up stopping at the same height.
The cliff was steep but not particularly high. Clouds and mist had obscured the ground earlier, but from here they could make out a broad field of jagged rocks below. Only in one corner stood a dense clump of shrubs, just large enough to cushion one person’s fall.
Song Liang looked across at Xie Yun. His face was beginning to pale—no, it was growing even paler. He had already looked somewhat pale when they met outside Zhaoyang Palace. Now the blood loss had drained still more color from him.
His luxurious black riding robes, patterned in muted gold, had been torn in several places by the rocks. Scrapes marked his face and jaw, while veins stood slightly raised on his forehead from the strain in his arm. His green eyes remained fixed heavily on Song Liang, his breathing labored.
Song Liang spared him only a glance before kicking off the cliff behind him and dropping down. Xie Yun’s expression sharpened. He immediately pulled out his dagger and jumped after him.
Song Liang landed on the shrubs first. The branches caught his back, and he raised a foot to kick at the man above him.
But Xie Yun had anticipated the move. The moment he landed, he caught Song Liang’s ankle and flung him outward. Song Liang was tossed over, his brow stopping barely an inch from a sharp point of rock.
【Host!】 3085 sounded another warning.
Song Liang’s pupils contracted. He seized the robes of the man above him to steady himself. Looking up, he saw Xie Yun’s face mere inches away—and the dagger poised to descend on him.
Fury blazed through Song Liang. He caught Xie Yun’s wrist, hooked his left leg around the man’s waist, and abruptly forced him underneath.
A pained grunt sounded beside his ear. The heavy breathing betrayed the restraint of the man beneath him, yet Song Liang only seemed more delighted. Mercilessly, he pressed his hand over the arrow wound in Xie Yun’s chest. Meeting those green eyes blazing with anger, he smiled with wild defiance.
“Hate me? Want to kill me? Hmm? Can you do it, Your Highness?”
As the final syllable fell, he pressed harder. Pain reddened Xie Yun’s eyes, and the veins on the hand gripping Song Liang’s waist rose sharply.
The grip made Song Liang grit his teeth, but he stubbornly refused to lift his hand from the wound. They remained locked together, one above the other, their heavy breaths mingling until neither could be distinguished from the other.
“Does it hurt, Your Highness? You’re almost out of blood. How pitiful. Beg me. Say something sweet, and I’ll let you go. All right?”
“…”
Xie Yun stared at him coldly. His handsome face grew ever paler, his thin lips drained of color. The hand holding his dagger trembled slightly from their struggle.
“You can also keep this up until my dagger pierces your heart.”
Song Liang clenched his back teeth. Staring into his eyes, he demanded bitterly, “I saved you up there, and this is how you treat me?”
“If I remember correctly, I saved you too.”
“You mean when you threw me onto the rocks and nearly had a stone driven through my skull?”
“…”
Xie Yun stared at him, forcing the words out through gritted teeth. “If I hadn’t thrown you off, do you think I would have survived your kick sending me down onto those rocks?”
Song Liang: “…”
3085: 【He wouldn’t have survived, host. The arrow would have pierced his heart, causing fatal arterial bleeding. Nothing in the current scenario could save him.】
Song Liang: “…”
Xie Yun was still staring at him. Cold sweat covered his pale face, trickling down his forehead into his hair, and his lips had lost all color. Clearly, the impact and the pressure on his wound had nearly made him pass out from pain.
Song Liang lifted his hand from the wound. Catching sight of those bloodless lips, he could not resist leaning down to kiss them.
“Sorry.”
“You—”
Xie Yun’s pupils contracted. He seized Song Liang’s collar, looking as though he wanted to beat him senseless. But when he met the eyes gazing earnestly back at him, he swallowed his words. In the end, he abruptly coughed up a mouthful of blood and lost consciousness.
Song Liang: “…”
He sighed, bent down, and lifted Xie Yun into his arms.
【Host, you’re bleeding.】
“Mm.”
【Host, you have a fractured rib.】
“It’s fine.”
【Host—】
“Scan the surrounding terrain. Find somewhere to hide.”
【…All right.】
The cliff stood where the southern and northern peaks met, above an uninhabited valley overgrown with wild woodland and strewn with rocks. Here and there, claw marks betrayed the presence of beasts. Song Liang could only be grateful that winter had yet to arrive and the cave 3085 found contained no hibernating animals.
3085 was puzzled. 【You’re afraid of wild beasts?】
Wasn’t he the sort who, upon learning there were beasts nearby, would excitedly declare himself lucky to have found wild game to barbecue even after falling off a cliff, then charge in and take them down? Since when had he become so cautious?
Song Liang glanced at the unconscious man in his arms and replied languidly, “I’m not afraid. But he is. If he gets bitten or eaten, killing the beast afterward won’t do any good.”
3085 spat in disgust at his sappiness.
Song Liang merely smiled instead of arguing. He truly had no strength left. He had, after all, fallen off a cliff and sustained numerous injuries. Apart from the cuts and scrapes, he had several fractures. Carrying Xie Yun here had nearly exhausted him.
After laying him in a corner of the cave, Song Liang leaned against the rock wall and slid to the ground. He let out a long breath, then turned to look at the man beside him, his gaze moving from that handsome face, pale as jade, to the brows drawn tightly together in pain. Finally, he reached out to stroke Xie Yun’s cheek, brushing it gently with his fingertips. Then he touched those beautifully shaped but bloodless lips, pressing them a few times as though trying to coax some color into them.
A hand immediately caught his wrist. The closed eyes opened halfway, their green depths cold and wary as they turned toward him.
Song Liang showed no trace of guilt. “You have a fever.”
Xie Yun flung his hand aside and slowly pushed himself upright. He pressed several points on his chest, then grasped the broken arrow shaft Song Liang had snapped off earlier and yanked it out.
Blood spurted from the wound, a few drops landing on the ground. Song Liang glanced down instinctively. Perhaps it was the dim light inside the cave, but those drops seemed somewhat black. Before he could examine them more closely, a fit of coughing sounded beside him.
Looking up, he saw Xie Yun clutching his chest as he coughed softly, his other hand clenched into a fist and pressed tightly to his lips.
Song Liang watched him for a while, then stood. “I’ll find some medicinal herbs. Your arrow wound has brought on a fever—”
“It has nothing to do with you.”
“…”
Song Liang stopped and turned back. With an impatient lift of his brow, he looked at the man sitting in meditation with his eyes closed.
“What did you just say?”
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