The princess only wants to survive, and the cold-faced king of hell begs for mercy

Seeing the enemy getting closer and closer to her, the shadow of death gradually loomed over Yun Shang. A layer of fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and her body trembled slightly because of extreme fear.

At this critical moment, another sound of footsteps suddenly rang out in the quiet forest without any warning.

The sound of the footsteps was like a violent storm, with a brisk and light rhythm, as if the person was running towards them from the other side of the woods at lightning speed.

In an instant, the sound of fierce fighting broke out suddenly, accompanied by a horrifying "swish" sound of a knife blade entering flesh. One of them seemed to have suffered a fatal blow and let out a short and shrill scream.

However, the scream only lasted for a moment before it stopped abruptly, because someone quickly covered his mouth, forcing the scream back into his stomach, turning it into a dull hum.

Unexpectedly, although the battle was over, the man did not walk straight towards Yun Shang, but stopped only one meter away from her.

There was dead silence all around, with only the sound of breathing, so soft that it was almost imperceptible, filling the air.

"Yun Shang, is that you?"

Finally, a familiar voice broke the silence. Although the voice was very soft, it hit Yun Shang's heart like a heavy hammer.

Hearing this haunting and all too familiar voice, the fear that had been surging in Yun Shang's heart instantly vanished, replaced by endless grievances and sorrow.

She didn't care about her miserable appearance at the moment. With her hair full of messy vines and leaves, she stood up from the narrow hiding place with difficulty. She ran towards the direction of the sound without hesitation and threw herself into the warm and broad arms of the person behind her.

"Zhao Qiyan, I'm so scared..."

"Brother Liu...Aunt Liu, and Zhuzi, they, they were all...all killed..."

"Those people were so scary... I thought I couldn't find you, I was so scared..."

Zhao Qiyan took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. God knows how scared he was.

He didn't even dare to imagine what he would do if Yun Shang was unfortunately killed by those cruel people?

When he thought of this, his body trembled uncontrollably. He had witnessed with his own eyes the ruthless slaughter of innocent people in the entire village, and he felt heartbroken and anxious.

He ran towards the Liu family like crazy, with only one thought in his mind: he must find Yun Shang!

However, when he arrived at the Liu family, he saw that Brother Liu and his family had been brutally murdered and were lying in a pool of blood.

Although the tragic death of Brother Liu's family made him heartbroken, he couldn't help but feel relieved when he found that Yun Shang was not among the dead.

He guessed the direction Yun Shang might have escaped and searched along the river. Finally, his efforts paid off and he found traces of Yun Shang here.

If he had come a little later, or hesitated a little, Yun Shang would have died.

Recalling the thrilling scene just now, Zhao Qiyan still felt a lingering fear.

He quickly stretched out his hands and used all his strength to hold Yun Shang tightly in his arms, as if he was afraid that she would disappear if he let go.

He murmured, "It's okay, don't be afraid, I'm here."

After Yun Shang calmed down a little, Zhao Qiyan pulled her deeper into the woods.

"Let's get out of here as soon as possible. They'll definitely come looking for us when they find out we're missing. It's very dangerous here."

After he finished speaking, he pulled the man's body into the small space where Yun Shang had hidden and covered it with vines.

The two walked upstream along the river bank until dawn, when they finally walked out of Tongshan.

There was a fork in the road in front of them, one leading up the mountain and the other leading down the river, which was the direction they came from.

Zhao Qiyan took a look and continued walking forward with Yun Shang. "We are already at the foot of Tongshan Mountain. Go a little further and there is a village. After passing that village, there are still a few miles to enter Tongshan County and find Qinghuan and the others."

Yun Shang was silent all the way. Zhao Qiyan pulled her and she followed.

When she heard Qinghuan at this time, she finally reacted, "Yes, Qinghuan should still be waiting for me. I wonder if she will run out to find us."

Zhao Qiyan knew she was still thinking about the Liu family of three, so he comforted her, "Shang'er, the death of Brother Liu's family was not your fault. It was the fault of those time travelers. They are the murderers, not you. You don't have to keep blaming yourself."

Yun Shang looked up at him with her big, wet eyes, her eyes full of helplessness and bewilderment, "But, I'm also a time traveler..."

Zhao Qiyan was immediately distressed. He pulled the person into his arms and comforted him, "This has nothing to do with you. You are different from them."

"From the day you entered the palace, I realized you were a time traveler, but you are different from the time travelers I wanted to kill, so I never took action against you."

"Yun Shang, they are not your companions, and you don't have to be responsible for what they do."

Yun Shang nodded, "Yeah, I understand."

They couldn't delay too long. Yun Shang was in a better mood, so Zhao Qiyan continued to take her on the journey. After arriving at a small village near Tongshan County, the two of them sat down to rest beside a big rock at the entrance of the village.

They didn't have anything valuable on them, and it was not convenient for them to borrow a place from the villagers to rest. Fortunately, there were people living here, so they could borrow a bowl of water to drink.

Zhao Qiyan asked Yun Shang to sit on a rock and wait while he went to borrow water and food from the villagers. When the villagers saw the bloody knife on him, they dared not refuse to lend it to him.

Soon, he came back with some water and two black steamed buns. He handed one to Yun Shang and said, "It may not taste very good, but this family is not rich, and there is nothing better."

Yun Shang took a bite of the steamed bread. It was a bit hard and was made of black flour.

She ate a few bites, but didn't dislike it. She was just confused. "The Tongshan Iron Mine is here. Logically, Tongshan County's economy should be much better than other counties, right? But why are the villagers of Tongshan so much less wealthy than Beishan Village in Linshan County?"

Although Brother Liu's family was not rich, they had enough rice to eat and a two-bedroom apartment to live in.

But the villagers in Tongshan County eat steamed buns made of the lowest quality rice and flour. Are they deliberately unwilling to give them better food?

Zhao Qiyan finished his own in a few bites, then squatted down and took off Yun Shang's shoes. "Let me see if your feet have blisters. You are so fragile, it must be hard for you to walk on the mountain road all night."