Ink Burns

Chapter 89 Damn Old Dog
The eyes under the bed were frightened by Shan Yue's sudden appearance and trembled slightly.

Over the years, the instincts accumulated from brutal hunting training quickly took over.

The killer's eyes immediately turned into a murderous look.

She has always had three things she won't kill: civilians, women and children, people she has never seen blood, and people who don't kill her.

But now, self-preservation comes first. To survive, she is willing to massacre all the civilians, women and children in the village!

Shan Yue keenly sensed the murderous intent in the other's eyes. He took a half step back imperceptibly, his nose filled with the rusty smell of blood.

"Miss Lan, you are seriously injured."

Shan Yue said calmly: "We don't have to both lose. You want to escape and I want to survive. It's all instinct. If you and I, the weak, can't help each other in times of trouble, this world will always be in ruins."

The killer Lan blinked, and the murderous intent in his eyes weakened by more than half.

Shan Yue was the first to extend his hand: "Everyone has gone to the east. If you hide here, it will be dark even under the lamp. No one will come to search for you for a while."

Lan looked at Shanyue silently, took the hand that Shanyue extended, and slowly came out from under the bed.

Shanyue had already closed the doors and windows. He turned aside to blow out the brightest candle, suppressing his fear. He used only the small candle flame and the moonlight pouring in from the crack in the door to see Lan's injuries - he was badly injured, his entire back was a bloody mess, and there was a deep wound on his right arm that could see the bone, with blood gushing out.

Due to excessive blood loss, Lan's lips turned pale. Her life was not in danger for the time being. She looked dazed, like a spent bow.

Shanyue took out a plain silk handkerchief and tied it tightly around the wound on his right arm to barely stop the bleeding.

There is no other way.

"You need to be searched before entering the fort. I don't have any medicine except a white jade ointment for treating burns." Shan Yue's mind raced: "We have to ambush first and find a way to get out of the fort."

"It's useless—" Lan took a breath, exhaling white air: "If the bleeding doesn't stop, I can't force myself to break out of the formation."

Lan lowered her eyes and glanced at her bleeding arm: "At this rate of bleeding, I will fall into a coma in two hours. Tomorrow morning, when the sun rises, I will be buried."

Shan Yue: In this situation and this mentality, it is really admirable.

Lan gritted her teeth, tore open the plain silk handkerchief that Shanyue had used to tie her hair, and looked up to ask, "Do you still want this handkerchief?"

Shan Yue shook his head.

Lan twisted the handkerchief into a strip, opened her mouth and bit it, then reached out to take the candle from Shanyue's hand: "Can I borrow the candle?"

Shan Yue: This person not only has a good attitude, but is also quite polite.

Shan Yue handed over the candle.

With a "sizzle" sound, Lan tore open his sleeve with one hand, revealing his right arm with the bones faintly visible. He then picked up the candle and used the hottest flame to close the wound.

The flame burned the wound, making a "sizzling" sound.

Shan Yue's face was gloomy, and he stood up uncomfortably. Lan closed his eyes tightly, tilted his head back with a distorted face, and bit his back teeth hard, making his lower jaw very clear!
After burning for about ten breaths, Lan moved the candle away, gasping for breath with sweat all over her forehead, and the handkerchief stained with blood and tears fell to the ground.

As Shanyue just said: Medicine is divided into five categories, one of which is roasting.

At the critical moment when there was a shortage of medical care and medicine, all one could do was to press a red-hot iron on the wound, and the flesh would be burned and solidified into a ball, and the bleeding would stop - this was the method used by the lower class people to do whatever it took to survive.

Shan Yue pursed her lips tightly, turned around, took out a few ginseng slices from the bottom of the bag, soaked them in hot water, and handed them to Lan: "Drink it, chew the ginseng slices until they are soft, at least it will prevent you from fainting tonight."

Lan was sweating profusely. He took a deep breath and looked at Shanyue. After a while, he took the teacup and drank it all in one gulp.

Shan Yue asked, "Why did you run away today?"

"If we don't get selected, we will all die except Wen." Lan chewed the ginseng slices tenderly and said softly, "You guessed it, didn't you? All of our life stories are true except Wen's. We are all 'Qingfeng', we don't have a father who is a juren to support us. If we fail, what awaits us is those coffins in the backyard - I am just a shoddy sent by Jinling Prefecture to fill the number. I was raised as a death warrior since I was a child. I took a three-month intensive painting course before the selection. Even the painting I handed in to the capital was painted by someone else."

"I'm bound to fail. Since I'm going to die anyway, why don't I try my best and find a way to survive?"

Lan slowly raised her eyes and said, "Unfortunately, all my weapons were confiscated before I entered the fortress. If I had a knife, I might not be able to escape today."

"I have been observing for three days. Every evening after dinner, the second gate of the fortress would change guards. I took advantage of their unpreparedness and hid in the deep forest. I wanted to climb eastward to the top of the mountain and then find a way out, but I was discovered on the way and chased all the way to the back of the forest. One fist is no match for four hands. I really couldn't escape, so I simply made a feint to the east and returned to the wing room to hide. I didn't dare to go back to my original house. Wen and I are not of the same kind. Gu is very cunning and scheming. Only you."

Lan paused for a moment and said, "The fire you painted is very beautiful. I can feel your anger in it."

So among the three rooms, she chose Shan Yue's room as a shelter.

Lan sighed softly: "Don't worry, I will never drag you down. When the ginseng tablets take effect, I will fight my way out - I will exchange ten for one. Even if I am buried, I will drag a dozen people to be buried with me!"

The light flickering in Lan's eyes was like nutrients slowly being injected into dry soil.

Shan Yue looked at Lan with an unclear expression.

She wants to live, why can't she live?
By taking away her knife, does that mean she will lose her chance to survive?!
Is this how superior people think?

"I have a way to send you out before tomorrow." Shanyue said in a deep voice.

Lan narrowed his eyes slightly.

The next morning, the search of the mountain was over, and more than 30 guards returned from the mountain. The gate of the fortress was opened, and a gold-stamped Suzhou embroidery sedan chair slowly entered from the gate and went directly into the most magnificent central hall of the fortress. He Wuma greeted it respectfully and held the delicate hand that stretched out from the quilted door curtain with both hands.

"Madam, you must have had a hard journey. I prepared a bowl of peach gum, wolfberry and pear soup for you this morning."

He Wuma's back was arched like a river shrimp, and she kept mumbling: "It's cold on this mountain. It would be better if you came at noon. There would be warm sunshine above your head, and your body wouldn't be so weak--"

"Shut up."

Madam Zhu put the bowls and cups on the small stool, raised her delicate eyebrows slightly, pursed her thin red lips like pears, showing a bit of dignity and restraint: "You are not careful in doing things. It's only been four days, one ran away, one died, the dead one was stabbed in the throat, and the one who ran away disappeared without a trace - just four 'Qingfeng', but they played all kinds of tricks. How do you, an old dog, manage the family? How do you make the decision?"

"There is still a long way to go! ——In the end I chose to post one more chapter."

(End of this chapter)