Chapter 239 The Original Owner’s Memories

He smoothly extended his long arm, wrapping it around Su Hewan’s slender waist, and with a light tiptoe, they instantly retreated dozens of yards, landing steadily on a safe boulder.

Su Hewan’s back pressed tightly against Shen Jue’s broad chest.

“Are you okay?”

Shen Jue lowered his head, his warm breath brushing against her ear.

Su Hewan’s ears flushed red. Forcing down the fluttering in her chest, she shook her head.

Shen Jue’s lips curved into a faint smile, but the hand around her waist tightened slightly.

“This formation isn’t right.”

His long, narrow phoenix-like eyes narrowed as he scanned the triggered mechanisms.

“Neither the vine net just now nor this nerve-paralyzing hallucinatory powder is lethal.”

Lu Yan helped Yu Qing over, his cold, rigid face showing a hint of puzzlement as well.

“Could it be that they didn’t intend to kill us?”

“They really don’t want to kill anyone,” Su Hewan analyzed rationally, her gaze chillingly calm.

“Judging by all these traps, they must want to capture someone alive!”

And her intuition told her that the target was very likely herself!

The continuous life-and-death trials had made them more alert and united than ever.

Lu Yan entrusted his back to his sworn enemy, Shen Jue, without worry.

Shen Jue, after seeing him injured, had also taken on the responsibility of protecting them!

Night fell again.

The four of them lit a small campfire at the entrance of a hidden cave.

Although Lu Yan’s wound had stopped bleeding, he inevitably developed a high fever.

He leaned against the rock wall, eyes tightly shut, breathing heavy and burning.

Yu Qing paced anxiously, repeatedly using a wet cloth to physically lower his temperature.

“I’ll go see if there are any anti-inflammatory or fever-reducing herbs nearby. This terrain should have the Seven-Leaf One-Flower plant.”

Su Hewan stood up, brushing the dust from her hands.

“I’ll go with you.”

Shen Jue almost immediately replied, his tone firm and unquestionable.

“No need. It’s just around the cave entrance, not far. You stay alert here—if those people sneak up, Lu Yan doesn’t even have the strength to draw his sword right now.”

Su Hewan pointed to the still-unconscious Lu Yan and insisted.

Shen Jue looked at her deeply, but in the end, he relented.

“Take this. Pull it if there’s danger.”

He placed a signal arrow into her palm.

“I’ll go with you too!” Yu Qing said, her eyes red.

Su Hewan nodded, gripping the arrow tightly, and turned into the dim forest.

The night wind was cool, and moonlight dappled through the tree shadows.

By the faint moonlight, Su Hewan finally found a few plants with whorled leaves and small flowers at the tips beneath a damp rock wall.

“Found it!”

Her heart lifted, and she crouched to carefully dig them up.

The surrounding silence was broken only by the chirping of insects.

For some reason, in this intense quiet and slightly oppressive environment, a completely unfamiliar melody suddenly appeared in Su Hewan’s mind without warning.

As she dug up the herbs, she unconsciously began to hum softly.

“Dragon in the clouds, flowers in the mist, Golden Terrace Jade Pavilion is my home…”

“Ninefold Heaven, dare not climb, blood stains rivers and mountains, laughing into mud…”

It was an extremely old, mournful nursery rhyme, its tune graceful yet plaintive.

Su Hewan didn’t even realize that as she hummed the song, a tear slipped uncontrollably from the corner of her eye.

Yu Qing leaned closer, her eyes odd as she stared at her.

“Wanwan, what song were you humming just now?”

Yu Qing lowered her voice, curiosity lacing her words.

Su Hewan’s hand, clutching the herbs, suddenly froze.

Her face turned pale in an instant, and a sharp, stabbing pain shot through her mind.

Her pupils dilated slightly.

Just now… had she been singing?

That melody, engraved deep in her bones, that fluency that slipped from her lips—it was completely beyond her conscious control!

“Wanwan? What’s wrong? You look terrible!”

Seeing that she didn’t respond, Yu Qing shook her arm anxiously.

Su Hewan took a deep breath and abruptly turned her head, gripping Yu Qing’s wrist tightly.

She lowered her voice to a whisper only they could hear, speaking each word deliberately:

“Qingqing…”

“That song… it’s not my memory.”

“It’s… the memory of the original owner of this body!”

At her words, Yu Qing gasped in shock.

She understood immediately!

“Wǒcào!”

Yu Qing’s eyes widened in terror as she stared at Su Hewan.

“Wanwan, are you okay?”

What if the original owner came back—what would happen to Wanwan then?

Not ten zhang away, atop a towering ancient tree, two masked figures in black robes, hidden like phantoms in the darkness, trembled violently.

The one leading them, the head of the Dragon-Seeking Guard, narrowed his pupils sharply, fixating on the frail figure digging herbs below.

The eyes beneath his mask shifted in an instant—from cold detachment to utter astonishment, then to a fanatic, almost religious excitement!

“That melody…”

His voice shook violently with excitement.

“That’s… that’s the ‘Sacrifice to Heaven Ballad’ of the former Great Yong royal family!”

“No mistake! The Dragon-Rising Jade Pendant, and this song!”

The other Dragon-Seeking Guard was so excited he nearly jumped from the tree.

“She’s the one we’ve been looking for! The sole true Dragon bloodline!”

“Your Highness! We’ve finally found Your Highness!”

The leader pressed down hard on his comrade’s shoulder, forcibly suppressing the urge to rush forward and pledge allegiance.

“Don’t act rashly! She’s still surrounded by the East Depot and the Embroidered Guard—we can’t spook her!”

“Send word to the High Priest immediately. Tell him the target is confirmed. Even if it costs every last man in the Dragon-Seeking Guard, we must bring Princess Highness back unharmed!”

In the shadows, the movement went unnoticed by Su Hewan.

Night was deep, and she forced down the terror surging in her chest from hearing the Sacrifice to Heaven Ballad.

Quickly, she washed and crushed the seven-leaf-one-branch flower she had dug up.

By the time they returned to the cave, Lu Yan was already burning with fever, his consciousness blurred.

Shen Jue took the herbs without hesitation, using his internal energy to catalyze the medicine, applying it roughly but effectively to Lu Yan’s wounds that were deep enough to see bone.

“Ugh…” Lu Yan groaned in pain, his brows tightly furrowed.

Yu Qing stood beside him, tears welling in her eyes from worry, but she bit her lip and stayed silent, afraid of disturbing Shen Jue.

“This medicine is extremely cold. If he can endure tonight, his life will be saved.”

At last, a faint light appeared on the horizon, and the dense miasma in the heart of the Ten Thousand Mountains gradually dispersed.

Lu Yan’s fever finally broke. Though his face remained pale, he could now grip his embroidered spring knife and stand.

“Let’s go. According to the map, passing through this misty forest should lead us to Shennong Valley.”

Su Hewan carefully tucked the sheepskin map into her bosom, her gaze clear and resolute.

Supporting one another, the four of them stepped carefully over the slippery moss, inching deeper into the gorge.

The further they went, the stranger the vegetation became.

The once-vibrant green leaves gradually turned a dark purple, and the scent in the air began to shift.