The Second Ambush
Meanwhile, when ShuangAi and FangFang approached Prince Li, they noticed that TanTan hadn't returned with him.
"Where is MuTan Jie? Why didn't she come back with you, Li Ge?"
"I don't know, and I don't want to know anything about that woman anymore. Let's go..."
But ShuangAi immediately scolded him for leaving Hua MuTan behind.
"What are you doing, Li Ge? Don't you remember that MuTan Jie is still wounded? She hasn't fully recovered yet. How could you leave her alone? Let me go find her!"
FangFang, who was standing beside them, tugged at ShuangAi's hand.
"...Pretty JieJie, I'm sleepy. I want to go home..."
Prince Li felt cornered by ShuangAi's persistent stare.
"All right, all right! I'll go find her. You take FangFang home first. Don't worry about Hua MuTan, okay?"
After instructing ManQi to escort ShuangAi and FangFang home, Prince Li reluctantly returned to the hillside to look for Hua MuTan.
When he arrived, he saw XiaoRue running around in a panic, desperately calling out for her young mistress. Prince Li immediately sensed that something was wrong and hurried toward her.
"What happened?"
"XiaoJie is missing! I only found her handkerchief in the woods..." XiaoRue said, showing him the handkerchief, which was now dirty with soil.
Prince Li examined the ground and noticed traces of blood.
He immediately ordered XiaoRue to return home and tell ManQi to come to the hillside.
Although XiaoRue was extremely worried and wanted to search for her XiaoJie herself, she knew there was little she could do. In the end, she had no choice but to obey Prince Li and leave.
Meanwhile, TanTan and the masked man had reached the other side of the hill, near the edge of a cliff. Once he was certain they were safe, the masked man released her.
TanTan quickly regained her footing and stepped away from him.
"Who are you?!"
"Seems you have a lot of enemies, Hua MuTan..."
"You know my name?! Are you one of my enemies too?"
"Hmm... That depends."
"Depends? Depends on what?"
TanTan couldn't finish her question because the two assassins who had been chasing them had caught up. They were already preparing to attack.
"Give me a weapon!" TanTan demanded.
She knew she had to fight. There were two enemies, and there were two of them. Two against two. That seemed fair enough.
"What weapon?" The masked man was surprised. He hadn't expected TanTan to want to fight alongside him.
"Anything! Quickly!" TanTan urged as the assassins drew closer.
The masked man handed her a short dagger.
"Thanks!"
At last, TanTan and the masked man each faced an opponent.
With her quick reflexes, TanTan managed to dodge the incoming attacks. Using her modern sword-fighting techniques, she also managed to wound her opponent with the dagger.
Meanwhile, the masked man easily overpowered his own opponent.
Throughout the fight, the masked man kept glancing at TanTan. He was curious about how Hua MuTan had become such a skilled fighter. He was even more surprised when she managed to overpower her opponent as well.
TanTan held her dagger against the assassin's neck.
"Tell me... Who sent you to kill me?!"
But before the assassin could answer, both attackers chose to end their own lives by biting down on the poison pellets hidden in their mouths.
TanTan was startled. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her back. Her wound had reopened, and she began to lose her balance.
The masked man quickly caught her and held her steady.
"Hey! Are you all right?"
At that very moment, Prince Li arrived. Seeing the masked man holding TanTan, he assumed the stranger was one of the assassins. Without hesitation, he drew his sword and attacked.
The masked man managed to dodge the strike, but he had to release TanTan in order to defend himself.
Prince Li caught TanTan with his free arm, holding her securely.
The masked man immediately stepped back, putting some distance between himself and the prince. He didn't want Prince Li to discover his true identity.
Prince Li is here now. She'll be safe... It's time to leave.
With that thought, the masked man disappeared into the darkness of the woods.
Prince Li was still holding TanTan. Only then did they seem to realize how awkward their position was. He immediately released her, causing her to nearly fall before she managed to regain her balance.
Prince Li glanced at her briefly, then turned his attention toward the woods.
"Do you know who is trying to kill you?"
He doesn't even ask if I'm all right. What a 'gentleman'... Ugh, my back...
"How should I know?"
TanTan tried to hide her pain by turning her body away from Prince Li. She walked a few steps, only to realize that she was standing dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. Her attention was momentarily distracted as she looked down.
It's not that deep... but it would still be terrifying if someone fell down there.
"Ah, of course you don't know. You've forgotten everything, haven't you? But even if you hadn't lost your memory, I doubt you would know which of your enemies is desperate enough to take your life. There are simply too many of them to count. Well, tonight is over. Let's go back. ShuangAi and FangFang are waiting for us."
Once again, TanTan felt a knot of unease in her heart.
All right, enough already! It's perfectly clear that you hate Hua MuTan. I get it! But you should at least understand that I'm not the same Hua MuTan anymore!
TanTan turned around.
"Listen... I'm not—"
"WATCH OUT!"
Prince Li noticed a dagger flying straight toward TanTan. He reacted immediately, trying to pull her away from its path. However, the dagger struck him in the left shoulder instead.
Then another group of assassins emerged from the darkness.
Leading them was the wounded assassin who had been poisoned earlier. Although the poison had affected him, he was a professional killer and had managed to slow its effects with an antidote. Now he was determined to complete his mission. He had even brought reinforcements who had arrived just before the masked man carried TanTan away.
There were now around five assassins surrounding Prince Li and TanTan.
The two fought desperately to defend themselves, but they were outnumbered, and neither was in good condition.
The assassins gradually forced them toward the edge of the cliff.
Just as things seemed hopeless, help arrived from behind the attackers.
"Master!"
It was ManQi!
He launched an attack against three of the assassins at once. However, the remaining two, including the wounded assassin, continued focusing their attacks on Prince Li and TanTan.
Prince Li and TanTan struggled to hold their ground, but they were reaching their limits.
Realizing they could no longer withstand the attacks, Prince Li made a desperate decision.
They had to jump off the cliff to escape.
He grabbed TanTan's hand and pulled her toward the edge.
But TanTan wasn't prepared for what he was about to do.
Before either of them could react, both their bodies plunged over the cliff and tumbled down the slope.
ManQi wanted to rush to their rescue, but he was still occupied fighting the remaining assassins. He had to eliminate the attackers as quickly as possible before he could go after Prince Li and Hua MuTan.