A piece of Japanese incense

The carriage finally came to a stop at the edge of a low bush. It wasn't Zhi Yihe who was controlling it, but rather the horse, exhausted from exhaustion, foaming at the corners of its mouth. Its front hooves gave way, and it collapsed to the ground with a thud, dragging the battered carriage sideways into the mud. After a groan, it was silent again.

Zhi Yihe was thrown out of the car, his body hit the car wall, his forehead hit the gravel, and stars appeared in front of his eyes.

Dead silence.

There was only the deafening sound of rain and the clatter of the pursuing horses' hooves... which seemed to have vanished. It was unclear whether they had been thrown off, or if they had simply lost track of them.

Zhi Yihe struggled to sit up, the rain washed away the blood on his forehead, and the pain and fatigue all over his body.

With the dim light from the sky, she saw a messy carriage, "Yutuan!" She crawled over using her hands and feet.

Scattered bows and arrows, overturned bundles, broken wood chips... and in the deepest part of the carriage, two curled up, motionless figures covered in rain and mud.

Yu Tuan was pressed under Tingzhu, "Tingzhu! Wake up! Tingzhu!" Zhi Yihe shouted anxiously.

Yutuan was lying face down, with a dark red spot under her ribs. That was the wound caused by the killer who stabbed her while trying to save her. "Yutuan! Don't scare me! Please wake up!" Zhi Yihe cried and felt her pulse.

Faint... almost unnoticeable...

The will to survive overwhelmed all fatigue and fear. Zhi Yihe dragged Tingzhu aside and searched the messy carriage. He crawled in the mud and water, frantically untied the wet brocade bundle, grabbed his softest moon-white silk undershirt from it, and tore it apart fiercely with his teeth and his only remaining hand.

"Yutuan, bear with it...it will be fine soon..."

Brown medicine powder was sprinkled on the gaping wound, and the unconscious Yu Tuan's body twitched violently, letting out a clear groan of pain.

She urgently needed to tilt Yutuan's body sideways so that she could wrap the cloth around her ribs. Zhi Yihe felt that her strength had been exhausted. She supported Yutuan's body with one hand, and the cloth slipped from her injured hand again and again.

"Tingzhu, please wake up, I really need you!"

Zhi Yihe collapsed and cried loudly. Seeing that Yu Tuan's breath was getting weaker and weaker, she re-energized her will, gritted her teeth, and supported Yu Tuan's body. One circle, two circles, three circles...

"You must hold on... Don't leave me..." Zhi Yihe lay exhausted beside Yu Tuan, snuggling up to her tightly, trying to use his body temperature to warm her cooling body.

"Brother...I killed Mother...Brother...what should I do..."

"Tingzhu? Tingzhu!" Zhi Yihe, who had not yet recovered from her shock, was too weak to move. She nudged Tingzhu with her knee.

Tingzhu shuddered, and the biting coldness rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

Memories flooded back to her, and just as she was about to collapse, a sharp pain pierced the palm of her left hand. She lowered her eyes in confusion.

"what--"

"Tingzhu." Zhi Yihe called her weakly.

All the whimpers and sobs were forcibly stifled deep in her throat. She looked at everything in front of her, clenched her teeth tightly, and her teeth chattered uncontrollably.

"Ah He! Yu Tuan...brother...brother..."

Zhi Yihe moved his fingers slightly towards her, and Ting Zhu finally couldn't bear it anymore, so she threw herself into Zhi Yihe's arms and cried loudly.

The three girls clung to each other as the sky gradually brightened and the wilderness fell silent.