Marrying the Crown Prince

"Your Highness..."

Huo Cheng raised his head, his sharp gaze fixed on the person in front of him.

He didn't say it explicitly, but Li Zixiao understood what he meant: "Let's hide for a while."

I don't know who this person is. They don't look like ordinary people. If they are one of our own, that would be great, but if they are someone else...

That's hard to say.

They didn't have time to put out the fire; they mounted their horses and rode away.

Soon, the group arrived at the spot where Li Zixiao and the others had been resting.

The leader made a gesture, and the dozen or so people immediately stopped. One of them dismounted, checked the campfire, and then reported, "Boss, there were people here just now, and they haven't gone far."

"Chase!"

"Yes!"

After a long investigation, they finally encountered the captured bandits in a remote mountain valley. Based on the wounds on the bandits' bodies, they quickly concluded that they were the Yang family army.

There weren't many members of the Yang family army who had gotten separated, and even fewer with names and surnames. There was only one: the Princess.

Back to Li Zixiao's side, the two of them ran wildly, but they still couldn't shake off the group of aliens. Someone even drew a bow from behind and shot an arrow at them.

The arrow pierced the ground a full ten centimeters deep; if it hit a person, they would be seriously injured, if not killed.

The leader immediately lashed out at the man next to him with a whip, yelling, "You bastard, kill him alive!"

What use are dead people?

They wouldn't stoop to using a woman's head to humiliate the enemy.

They need a princess of real value, someone they can use for negotiation, someone of high status.

Hearing the sounds behind them, Li Zixiao and Huo Cheng exchanged a glance—in the end, they were just too unlucky.

They ran and fought all the way until sunset. They hadn't caught anyone on this side, nor had they shaken off anyone on the other side. It was really quite a headache.

However, things eventually come to an end.

Li Zixiao and Huo Cheng were forced to the edge of a cliff, both of them injured. As for the other side, their numbers had increased from more than a dozen to seven.

"Your Highness and this gentleman, stop struggling in vain. You should know that if you fall from here, you won't even get a whole corpse."

"Pah!" Li Zixiao cursed back fiercely, "Do you think falling into the hands of you beasts will bring you a good life?"

The two sides engaged in a very in-depth "friendly exchange," after which one of them became enraged and charged forward with a sword.

A head-on confrontation would either result in being captured alive or being able to commit suicide before being captured.

Therefore, Huo Cheng and Li Zixiao did not linger in the fight.

They fought and retreated, then leaped down.

Huo Cheng's sword plunged fiercely into the cliff face, the blade striking the stone and emitting a blinding flash of light.

Unfortunately, when people are down on their luck, even drinking cold water can cause problems, let alone jumping off a cliff.

The two people were hanging on the cliff, and their weight was not to be underestimated. The sword could not bear the weight and eventually broke.

The two fell into the bottomless lake at the bottom of the cliff at almost the same time.

Li Zixiao couldn't swim and had no martial arts skills. The huge impact when she fell into the water made her dizzy and disoriented, and she couldn't remember how to surface.

Seeing this, Huo Cheng took a deep breath and disappeared into the water.

Soon, he found Li Zixiao, who looked like a dead fish.

Looking at the pale lips and delicate hands of the person before him, he finally closed his eyes and touched her lips to his.

The icy lake water enveloped him, stimulating all his senses and making his consciousness incredibly clear and profound.

"vomit--!"

Once out of the water, Li Zixiao collapsed to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of lake water before gasping for breath.

When Huo Cheng saw that she had recovered, the weight on his heart finally lifted.

He knelt before her, "In this moment of crisis, I offended Your Highness. Please forgive me!"

Li Zixiao looked up at him and saw that his wet features looked even more handsome in the pale moonlight.

Feeling uneasy being stared at like that, Huo Cheng felt a little awkward.

Li Zixiao chuckled and sat up straight. "In urgent situations, it's alright to act expediently."

Seeing that she didn't say anything more, Huo Cheng seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

As night fell, they hid in a cave.

The entrance to the cave is small, requiring one to bend down to enter. As you walk further in, the space gradually widens, enough to accommodate four or five people.

To avoid catching a cold, they all took their clothes out to air, leaving Li Zixiao with only an undergarment.

Huo Cheng turned his head to the side and said, "I'll go find some food."

After saying that, he left without waiting for Li Zixiao's reply, looking like he was fleeing in panic.

Li Zixiao: "..."

After a good night's sleep, as dawn broke, Li Zixiao opened her eyes with difficulty and found herself covered with Huo Cheng's clothes.

She got up, put on the clothes that had already dried beside her, and climbed out of the cave.

Sleeping in this shabby place, so damp, Li Zixiao rubbed her shoulders and neck as she walked, feeling that her waist was no longer a waist.

She walked around but couldn't find any trace of Huo Cheng. Of course, she saw plenty of frogs and flying insects.

Li Zixiao calmly poked and killed the giant grasshopper that flew onto her with a tree branch.

She indifferently looked away and walked back—her scalp tingled!

Halfway there, suddenly, a large hand shot out from the bushes beside her!

The hand moved incredibly fast, grabbing Li Zixiao in an instant and pulling her forcefully into the bushes.

Li Zixiao had no time to react. She only felt her body suddenly tilt to the side, and then she was held tightly by a powerful force.

The other person was extremely strong, holding her tightly in place, making Li Zixiao unable to move.

What terrified her even more was that the man covered her mouth tightly with one hand, preventing her from making any sound.

"it's me……"

Huo Cheng's voice was low and soft, as if he was hiding something.

Upon hearing his voice, Li Zixiao finally relaxed, her heart pounding with fear.

Once Huo Cheng was certain that Li Zixiao had recovered, he released her from his control.

He pulled her down to a squatting position and explained in a low voice, "Someone has come down."

Li Zixiao nodded slightly, trying to curl up and minimize her size to reduce the traces of her existence.

Soon, the sounds of a search could be heard from the side.

The sunlight, filtering through layers of barriers, had become dim; the wind howled through the valley, echoing in my ears.

As the footsteps drew closer, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

Using the light, Li Zixiao looked at the road in the distance and saw several figures that were faintly visible.

She slowed her breathing, sweat trickling down her forehead and dripping onto the blades of grass.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by, and a rustling sound came from the edge of the grass.

Instantly, their hearts pounded wildly.

They looked at each other.

Huo Cheng lowered his body and moved closer to Li Zixiao.

His powerful aura swept over her, drawing her entirely under his control.

This powerful and domineering aura brings a strange sense of security, like when someone is still alive.

She was a little stunned.

Then, she gave a self-deprecating twitch at the corner of her mouth, turned her head slightly away, and tried to escape this feeling.

Just then, footsteps were heard—someone was nearby!

She held her breath, and her heart began to race.

Boom!

Boom!

The footsteps are getting closer!

Li Zixiao involuntarily held her breath, and her palms became sweaty.

She instinctively tried to grasp something to calm herself down.

Finally, a voice came from above—"Boss, it's a frog."

fortunately!

that's nice!

After an unknown amount of time, the figures dispersed.

Huo Cheng made a hand gesture, carefully flicked the pebble in his hand, and observed his surroundings.

“They’ve gone far,” he said.

Upon hearing this, Li Zixiao breathed a sigh of relief, her whole body relaxed, and then she realized...

Did she just grab Huo Cheng's clothes?

She pretended to be calm and let go of his hand.

Unbeknownst to her, Huo Cheng beside her subtly curved his eyebrows – her little gestures were exactly the same as before.