A Chanting Night in the Clear River

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Play Me A Song

Lan Zhan blurted out, "You...!"

Now bearing Lan Zhan on her back, Wei Ying broke into a mad dash.

Hovering on her rear, "Let me down!" Lan Zhan's tone had a strange and noticeable fluctuation.

'I already look bad enough before this, if I let you down just because you asked, doesn't that make me look even worse?'

His already broken leg was worse for wear from racing up to her rescue.

She caused him a mark on the chest due to the branding iron, too.

It happened when Wei Ying was trapped with a swarm of Wen Disciples attacking her, but she, of course, managed to fight them off, even crashing the branding iron charging at her way. However...

With her quiver, she nocked all three of her remaining arrows at once, pulling the bow to full draw as she aimed. The bowstring creaked against her ear, but just as she was about to let go, a frightened cry came from behind her.

'Aaaaaccckk!'

It was a truly panicked scream.

When Wei Ying looked over, Wang Lingjiao was giving orders to three servants. Two of them wrestled Mianmian and held her head still for the third, who had a branding iron directed at her face!

The tip of the iron rod was sizzling, and glowing red with heat. Wei Ying was some distance away, but the instant she discerned this scene, she switched her aim and released her grip on the bowstring. Three arrows shot out at the same time and met their three targets -- they collapsed backward without so much as a grunt.

The bowstring hadn't even stopped quivering when Wang Lingjiao suddenly snatched up the branding iron that had fallen to the ground. She lunged forward and grabbed Mianmian by the hair, aiming the rod at her face once more!

Wei Ying was out of arrows. With no time to grab more, she ran over.

Everything seemed hurried.

The next thing she knew, she was assaulted by the stench of scorched cloth and flesh, and the horrifying smell of cooked meat. She was expecting severe pain beneath her collarbone, but it never materialized.

She blinked open her eyes. What met her was Lan Zhan with his teeth clenched.

'...Lan Zhan?'

Just watching this happen, Wei Ying felt burn sparking in her own chest, but Lan Zhan was... shockingly, still expressionless. All he did was slightly wrinkle his brow.

'I'm sorry.'

'Stop crying.'

'Because of me... you got hurt.'

She felt awful.

'Duibuqi, Lan Zhan.'

"Lan-er-gongzi, just let me."

Jiang Cheng spoke up ahead of them. "You one lucky bastard. Won't you just be grateful?!"

"Graar!"

The roar of the beast behind them reverberated dreadfully through Wei Ying's ears and chest. An influx of blood rushed up her throat. She resisted the urge to vomit.

'A-Ying!'

'Shijie!'

'Wei Ying!'

Once again, her thoughts returned to the events of the past minutes.

With an arrow wound in her right arm, Wei Ying answered to the distressed calls, 'Shijie, please take them.'

The 'them' pertaining to the crowd of disciples stuck inside the cave.