An Eight-year-old Princess

Chapter 203 Sharing Weal And Woe

"What's that?" Yun Shang heard someone talking above them. She was startled. When Yun Shang and

Prince Jing heard someone talking, they panicked and dove into the water. They didn't have the time to

put away the rope. If the rope was seen by those people, they would know that someone must have

climbed up the mountain.

"Come on. Let's go and take a look." Yun Shang frowned at the conversation. Even though Yun Shang

and Prince Jing were hiding in the water, they could still be easily spotted if those people came closer

and looked into the water. Fortunately, it was the upstream of the waterfall, so the water was deep. Yun

Shang and Prince Jing could submerge themselves deeper before those people checked the water.

Yun Shang turned to look at Prince Jing. She found that he was frowning. His eyes were tightly closed

and he looked pale. Yun Shang was shocked. 'Prince Jing doesn't know how to hold his breath under

water!'

Then Yun Shang smiled bitterly at her thought. Maybe it was because Prince Jing had been so efficient

and resourceful in his daily life that Yun Shang had never thought there were things that he couldn't do.

The fact that Prince Jing couldn't hold his breath would be fatal to him and disastrous to their mission.

Just as Yun Shang was contemplating their options, she heard the faint sound of footsteps. She knew

those people were coming closer to the river's edge. Yun Shang didn't have the time to think. She

quickly swam to Prince Jing and placed her hand under his arm. With the Prince securely in her grasp,

she pulled him as she swam deeper.

When Yun Shang had swum deep enough to avoid being seen by the people ashore, she stopped to

check on Prince Jing. She became flustered when she found that he looked worse. Prince Jing's face

had turned blue due to lack of oxygen. 'Crap!' Yun Shang thought to herself. She was afraid that Prince

Jing couldn't stay in the water for too much longer.

Just then, she heard someone talking from the shore. Yun Shang listened attentively.

"Look. What's this?" Someone asked.

"It's a rope...... Someone must have climbed up the mountain. And there must be more than one

person." Another man answered. Yun Shang sighed. She wished that they hadn't found the rope. But

those people did spot it hanging from the tree. Yun Shang was worried about Prince Jing. She felt

anxious. 'Why don't they leave?'

When she felt that Prince Jing going limp, Yun Shang knew that the Prince couldn't hold his breath any

longer.

Yun Shang bit her lip as she thought over her options. Once decided, she swam closer to Prince Jing

and gently placed her lips on his. Then she released short puffs of breath into his mouth. After a few

seconds, she noticed that Prince Jing's face looked better.

"Take the rope. We need to report to the general." Then Yun Shang heard footsteps. To her, it sounded

like the people were headed away from the river. 'General? So these people could have been soldiers

from the hidden army that we discovered!'

Yun Shang felt relieved with the long silence that ensued. But she didn't swim up immediately. She

waited for a while longer to be sure that those people wouldn't return. As she waited, she puffed more

breaths into Prince Jing's mouth to keep him alive.

After a while, there was no sound from above the water at all. Yun Shang was so worried about Prince

Jing that she decided to surface. She dragged Prince Jing as she swam up. After Yun Shang reached

the surface, she looked around to ensure no one was standing guard. Then she dragged Prince Jing

toward the water weeds.

After they hid in the water weeds, Yun Shang thumped Prince Jing's back. Prince Jing spat out some

water before closing his eyes again. It took him some time to gather the strength to talk.

"It won't be long before they come back and search here. They've already found the rope. Now they

must know that someone who fears the miasma must have tried to climb up the cliff. If they search

along the river, they will find us." Prince Jing kept his eyes closed as he spoke in a soft and weak voice.

Yun Shang still felt awkward about what she had done under the water. Seeing that Prince Jing didn't

mention what had happened, Yun Shang laughed at herself for overthinking. But somehow, she also

felt disappointed.

Yun Shang stopped thinking about it and searched her clothes. She frowned as she took out a small

white jade bottle from around her waist. She smiled bitterly as she spoke, "Before we came here, I

brought antidotal pills with me. They should protect us against the poison in the miasma. But one pill

only works for two hours. Since I only have ten pills, you and I have ten hours to find the curing herb for

the poison."

Prince Jing opened his eyes and looked at Yun Shang. His mouth curved into a smile. "I told you that

you have skills which no one else has. If you hadn't come with me, I might have died here."

Then Prince Jing used what was left of his energy to pull Yun Shang from the water. As they walked

toward the thicket, Yun Shang thought the miasma made the forest look gloomy and frightening.

Despite her surroundings, Yun Shang felt quite warm inside, as Prince Jing had said something

encouraging to her. She smiled at his reassurance.

Yun Shang took out an antidotal pill and handed it to Prince Jing. Prince Jing swallowed it without even

looking at the pill. Yun Shang was surprised by his unconditional trust in her. She took out another pill

and swallowed it.

"Let's go." Prince Jing smiled and said, "We don't have much choice now. No matter what might

happen, we must take the risk."

Yun Shang nodded, and walked further into the forest without waiting for Prince Jing. Before she could

take more than a few steps, she felt a pair of cold hands pulling her back.

"Well?" Yun Shang turned to Prince Jing with a questioning look.

Prince Jing smiled, "The miasma is too thick. I don't want us to get separated."

Yun Shang nodded. She felt elated by Prince Jing's behavior.

After they walked into the forest, the Prince and Princess found that they couldn't see properly. The

forest floor was covered in rotting leaves and animal remains owing to which, the air smell like carrion.

Yun Shang frowned. Then she heard Prince Jing laughing, "This smell is so much better than human

corpses."

Yun Shang knew that Prince Jing was trying to comfort her, but she felt empathic toward him. Prince

Jing started to lead soldiers into war at a very young age. He was barely a teenager at that time. The

scars on his back showed the suffering he had experienced all these years at the border.

Suppressing what she felt for Prince Jing, Yun Shang said to him softly, "I know that winning wars and

being admired by civilians are hard things to do."

The Prince and Princess encountered no beasts in the forest. Perhaps that was because of the

miasma. Yun Shang felt quite relieved. But she was concerned that they wouldn't find the right

direction. Besides, they knew nothing about this forest, so the only thing they could do was wander

around and try their luck as time went by.

After they took their third pills, the Prince and Princess still hadn't found anything. Yun Shang felt more

and more anxious. Mount Kirin covered hundreds of miles. If they kept looking for the curing herb

aimlessly, they would be trapped in the woods.

It was not good to wander around like this.

And they both knew that.

Prince Jing stopped and said, "Your grandfather said that on the day that he found traces of the secret

troops, the miasma was not so thick. He also mentioned that the south side of Mount Kirin was clearer

as it had rained. Today, it looks like we don't have his luck."

When Yun Shang was about to say something, she saw Prince Jing close his eyes, as if he was

sensing something. Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Yun Shang looked at Prince Jing and asked, "What are you doing?"

Prince Jing answered softly, "When we were climbing the mountain, the wind was coming from the

north. Since we don't have any sense of direction inside the forest, I'm trying to feel the wind. If I can

feel the wind, we'll have a little help."

Yun Shang forced a bitter smile. 'Well, that sounds like a logical way to figure out directions. Right now,

we can only count on the wind.'

"This way." Prince Jing said in a low voice as he turned to his right.

After they took a few steps, the Prince and Princess heard some noises. It sounded like someone was

stepping on the leaves.