CH 107

After separating from Wei Chongrong, Jun Hua wrapped his arms around Ruan Ning tightly and ran in the direction of Muyun Mountain without hesitation.

Although most of the chasing soldiers had already been led away by Wei Chongrong, Jun Hua didn’t dare to take it lightly. After all, the only thing he could compare with Wei Chongrong in was his qinggong, but his martial arts were much inferior. He had almost no chance of winning in a head-to-head combat with the opponent.

The sound of horse hooves coming from behind them was getting closer and closer, but their horse was obviously exhausted due to a long period of intense run and was about to fall. Seeing that Muyun Mountain was already visible in the distance, Jun Hua swung his whip fiercely.

Hurry up, faster…

As long as no one caught up with him before he reached the mountain, they wouldn’t be able to catch up with him, Jun Hua thought in his heart.

Unfortunately, the horse’s physical strength really reached its limit. It suddenly vomited blood and fell forward abruptly.

Thanks to Jun Hua’s quick reaction, he picked up Ruan Ning and leaped forward in time before the horse fell to the ground.

After calculating the speed and distance of the pursuers, Jun Hua frowned and used his qinggong continuing to run towards Muyun Mountain.

If he was alone, it was highly possible to get away from the other party, but with Ruan Ning, he could only pray for God’s blessing.

The continuous bumps woke Ruan Ning up. He was startled to find himself hanging head down, his body constantly swaying back and forth while being carried on someone’s shoulder. Involuntarily, he reached out and gripped Jun Hua tightly, asking in a trembling voice, “Where are we going?” 

“Don’t talk too much, it’s important to escape.” Jun Hua exerted his qinggong to the extreme, and it was hard to squeeze out even a few words.

Although Ruan Ning felt very uncomfortable, he could hear that Jun Hua’s voice was very strained, so he obediently shut up.

Chasing them, a group of horse riders flew forward, the leader of the group saying loudly: “Quickly go up, everyone speed up, he has no horse, he can’t run too fast. He must be caught before he enters Muyun Mountain.”

Muyun Mountain was not high, but it covered an extremely wide area and was overgrown with various vegetation. If someone hid in it, it would be very difficult to find them.

“Aye-aye.” Everyone waved their whips, their speed significantly faster than before.

Not long after, they rushed to the foot of Muyun Mountain, but who knew that the people they had seen a while ago would disappear.

“Everyone, dismount and search. He carries a child and can’t go far.” For a moment, the leader could almost see Jun Hua’s back clearly, but unexpectedly, Jun Hua moved extremely flexibly, stepped into Muyun Mountain and immediately disappeared without a trace.

There weren’t many people in the group, only a dozen in total, and most of them were mediocre, except for the leader who was a bit scary.

Jun Hua put his arms around Ruan Ning and lay down in the tall grass, not daring to move.

In fact, he had had a chance to get rid of them. If only he was a little faster, the search scope of these people would have to be expanded tenfold.

But when he reached the end of his energy, he suddenly felt throbbing pain in his lower abdomen. He didn’t know what that meant, but instinctively slowed down, resulting in being almost caught before he entered the mountain, and now he was still being searched all over the mountain.

Ruan Ning, pressed under Jun Hua’s body, could barely breathe. He turned his head with difficulty and asked in a low voice, “Are you not feeling well?” Jun Hua’s face was too pale, his forehead was covered in cold sweat and he looked very bad.

Maybe it was because he was too nervous. Jun Hua didn’t feel that there was anything abnormal with his body. He was just worried that if he didn’t get rid of the dozen or so chasers, he and Ruan Ning wouldn’t be able to rest today, so he shook his head gently and motioned to Ruan Ning to be quiet.

After all, Ruan Ning was still a child. Although he wasn’t familiar with Jun Hua, he knew that he was the one who came to save him, so he pursed his lips tightly.

At this moment, two chasers approached them. With a flick of Jun Hua’s right hand, two poisonous silver needles flew out, and the two chasers fell to the ground. The sound of their falling caught the attention of their companions, and the others gathered around.

Ruan Ning asked nervously without blinking: “They are all coming here, what are we going to do?” 

“It’s good that they all are here, just in time to kill them all. Close your mouth and pinch your nose tightly,” Jun Hua said as he hugged Ruan Ning with his left arm and spun around. His right hand scattered a handful of colourless and odourless poisonous powder spreading out like snow falling from the sky.

The leader of the group shouted loudly: “Hold your breath, hold your breath!” Unfortunately, his reminder was a step late. Not only did his subordinates fall to the ground poisoned, but he himself also felt paralysed from inhaling a little of the poisonous powder before he could hold his breath.

He frowned and stared at Jun Hua with a deadly stare, as if he had not expected him to use such a vicious trick.

Jun Hua hugged Ruan Ning and took a few steps back, sneering: “Should I call you Brother Qingcheng or should I call you Hou Pingnan? But no matter what your identity is, you don’t seem to be qualified to be my opponent.”

Li Jing was taken aback for a moment, and then said thoughtfully: “Young Shizi has good eyes, so you can recognise me even like this…” His original appearance was very different from Qingcheng’s. Jun Hua had only seen his disguised appearance but he was able to recognise his real face, which was really something.

Jun Hua raised his eyebrows and said disdainfully, “No matter how one disguises oneself, the distance between one’s eyes won’t change, doesn’t Hou Pingnan know that?”

Li Jing was the grandson of Shangguan Yi and the son of Li King. Both Shangguan Yi’s title of Hou Zhennan and Li Kang’s title of Hou Pingnan came from military merits of fighting against Zhuxia and regaining the lost territory. Who would have thought that today, Li Jing actually defected to serve the King of Zhuxia?  It was simply too ironic.

“The people of the Wei family are the most ruthless in their hearts. I advise Young Shizi to turn back as soon as possible so as not to regret it.” Li Jing’s expression was quite calm as he completely ignored Jun Hua’s sarcastic words.

Jun Hua smiled indifferently: “Sorry, I am also from the Wei family.” He had married Wei Chongrong and his name had also been recorded on the jade plate by the Minister of the Imperial Clan. Whatever way you looked at it, he was also a member of the Wei family.

“In that case, we have no room for negotiation?” Li Jing’s tone was slightly regretful.

Jun Hua shook his head quickly: “Why not? If you want an antidote, we can still discuss it.”

If possible, Jun Hua didn’t want to fight Li Jing. Wei Chongrong said that Li Jing’s skills were comparable to those of Dongfang. Even though he was poisoned at this time, Jun Hua had Ruan Ning with him. It was best to be able to resolve things peacefully.

Unexpectedly, Li Jing didn’t think so. He drew out his sword and said in a deep voice: “The order I received is to bring the Prince of Nanyue back to Jing’an City in one piece without failure. If Shizi doesn’t want to hand him over, please forgive me for being rude.”

Hearing Li Jing’s words, Ruan Ning subconsciously hugged Jun Hua tighter: what if he didn’t want him anymore?

“It’s fine, Little Ning’er, I won’t leave you,” Jun Hua said, drawing his soft sword wrapped around his waist. What he used wasn’t ordinary poison, but the one he specially asked Sun Ye to prepare before leaving Yujing. He wanted to see how long Li Jing could last.

While speaking, Li Jing stabbed with his sword, and Jun Hua dodged, blocking it with his soft sword infused with internal energy.

If both sides were in normal physical condition, Jun Hua was probably no match to Li Jing but would still be able to defend himself. However, at this point, Li Jing was poisoned and had to resist the spreading of toxins in his body. Meanwhile, Jun Hua was unwell and holding Ruan Ning in his arms. His handicap was bigger. He could only run while parrying and pray that Li Jing’s hard work would accelerate the effect of toxins so that he could have a chance to take a breath.

The two started fighting from the bottom of the mountain, and Jun Hua kept running up the steep side of the mountain. The two sides went back and forth for dozens of rounds in a flash.

“Agh!” Struggling to block another blow from Li Jing, Jun Hua suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen, which made him break into sweat all over. Suddenly he had no strength left. The soft sword that had lost the support of his internal energy, flew away. Jun Hua hugged Ruan Ning and the two fell to the ground together.

Seeing Li Jing’s sword coming at him again, Jun Hua had no weapon, so he could do nothing but protect Ruan Ning, rolling helplessly on the ground.

However, it was also the end of the line for Li Jing. His blow missed Jun Hua. He was about to strike again when suddenly, there was a dull pain in his chest and he hurriedly supported his wobbly body with his sword stuck in the ground. He raised his hand to cover his chest and spurted out a mouthful of blood.

Jun Hua seized the opportunity, picked up the fallen soft sword and ran deep into the dense forest.

Not willing to give up, Li Jing forcibly sealed several vital points in his body and continued to chase after him. Compared to Jun Hua, Ruan Ning was nothing. With Jun Hua in his hands, whether it was Wang Changning or Wang Qin’s Shizi, they would have to be much more restrained when making a move.

Unfortunately, Jun Hua’s qinggong was excellent. Li Jing delayed just for a short while but actually lost his trace.

Under the cliff, Jun Hua was holding Ruan Ning in one arm while clenching the vine in the other hand. His face was frighteningly pale.

He didn’t expect that after all at this time Li Jing still would have the strength to chase after him. Could it be that when Li Jing lived in Gong Yue’s residence, he studied medicine with Shangguan Xiang, so he wasn’t afraid of poison? If this was the case, they were in trouble.

Jun Hua couldn’t beat Li Jing, and he couldn’t run anymore, so he had to find a way to hide.

He looked around, and finally saw a crooked tree growing on a cliff. In his normal state Jun Hua would jump down there directly, but at this moment he was holding Ruan Ning and his belly hurt so much that he could only slide down slowly. As soon as he hid, he heard the footsteps above.

Jun Hua hung under the tree, using one hand to hold, and soon he felt he couldn’t hold on anymore. But he didn’t know if Li Jing was gone and he didn’t dare to move. What he was even more afraid of was that Li Jing might go look for him under the cliff, and then he would be found.