Women disguised as men went to the battlefield and the emperor bowed down in submission.

A man clad in golden armor, escorted by over a hundred cavalrymen, fled into the depths of the mountains. A hail of arrows rained down, clearly indicating they had fallen into an ambush. The nearby hillside was teeming with soldiers, densely packed together.

Lin Ruoshui felt that the man in the golden armor couldn't escape, and that was the thought that crossed her mind.

An arrow whistled past and struck the horse beneath him. The horse, hit in the eye, collapsed to the ground in pain, rolled over, and then galloped wildly into the forest.

The man in golden armor leaped into the air before his horse collapsed, landing steadily on the ground. His sword flashed as he continuously deflected the rain of arrows that pierced the air.

A torrential downpour of arrows rained down on the target; so many arrows must have been prepared for days. More and more men were struck by arrows. Soldiers and guards used their flesh and blood to hold back the man in golden armor, retreating while shouting, "Prince, run!"

The prince moved slowly, seemingly reluctant to leave. A soldier rushed in front of him, channeling his inner strength to force the prince to retreat into the distance. Seeing the enemy troops shouting and charging down the hillside, the prince had no choice but to leap onto a tall tree in the distance.

Baili Heng watched as his childhood friend Wei Qingyang, in an attempt to stop the soldiers, single-handedly took on ten men, piercing two with a single thrust of his red-tasseled spear. However, he was attacked from both sides; several soldiers ambushed him from behind, their cold steel blades slashing his back, while others pierced his chest with long spears. He did not fall, but instead looked in the direction of the Crown Prince and shouted, "Crown Prince, run! Avenge our brothers!" Then, he died with his eyes wide open, kneeling on the ground, breathless.

Another group of people rushed down the mountain, including his personal bodyguard, Feng Liang.

He had practiced martial arts with him since childhood. He was highly skilled in martial arts. With a single swing of his knife, he cut off the ankles of four soldiers, and with another, he cleaved a soldier in two.

The general on the mountain ordered his men to fire arrows at Feng Liang, and all the arrows were aimed at him alone.

He couldn't dodge in time, and an arrow struck him in the chest. Countless arrows followed, and soon his body was riddled with arrows. He coughed up blood and couldn't make a sound. He mouthed the words "Run!" to the prince.

Baili Heng punched the tree repeatedly, his eyes wide with rage and deep sorrow.

Perhaps moved by the loyalty and courage of those people, Lin Ruoshui was overcome with compassion and ordered Yingyi to lead the guards to help.

Lin Ruoshui moved with agility, leaping and darting among the tree trunks. In the blink of an eye, she was in front of the Crown Prince, taking his hand and saying, "Come with me!"

The prince stared blankly at Lin Ruoshui, who didn't have time to look at him closely.

The prince said nothing, and followed Lin Ruoshui, leaping among the dense branches of the tree, while numerous soldiers chased after them from below.

Lin Ruoshui had been jumping all the way and felt a little tired. She stepped off course and almost fell.

The prince leaped up and scooped her up, holding her waist as they fled quickly in the direction she pointed.

Reaching a high vantage point, Lin Ruoshui looked around and was surprised to find that there were so many soldiers chasing them, covering the entire mountainside.

Lin Ruoshui pointed in the direction of the cave where they were staying. The prince and his companions leaped to the cave. When Lin Ruoshui went inside, she found that no one was there. Where were her helpers and her saviors?

Lin Ruoshui sighed in exasperation. Unbeknownst to her, her father and Xiuyi had noticed something amiss in the mountains and rushed out to search for her.

"The Crown Prince is here! Quick, follow him!" An enemy soldier spotted them.

Lin Ruoshui grabbed the prince and ran for her life. The prince hugged her and ran with his lightness skill. Lin Ruoshui said, "There's a lake over there. Let's hide there first."

The prince and Lin Ruoshui slowly slid into the lake, afraid that the sound of falling into the water would attract the pursuers.

"I am not good at swimming," the prince said.

Seeing the pursuers approaching, Lin Ruoshui pushed his head into the water. She casually snapped off two reeds, holding one in her mouth and letting it sink, while stuffing the other into the prince's mouth.

The two remained motionless in the lake. Half an hour later, Lin Ruoshui felt short of breath and suffocated. She slowly surfaced, looked around, and seeing no one nearby, reached out to grab the prince.

At this moment, the crown prince's face was ashen, clearly indicating that he had drowned.

Lin Ruoshui dragged him ashore, removed his helmet, and took off his armor.

She looked closely and realized it was Baili Heng. She sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation. This was an enemy of their Chishui Kingdom; should she save him or not?

After thinking for a moment, Lin Ruoshui remembered that Baili Heng had saved her back in the capital, and she decided to repay that favor to him.

So she placed Baili Heng on her lap and patted his chest. He spat out a few mouthfuls of water but still didn't breathe.

Lin Ruoshui listened to his chest and found that he still had a heartbeat. She then performed artificial respiration on him. After several attempts, Baili Heng finally started breathing, but he still did not wake up.

Lin Ruoshui kept blowing air into Baili Heng's mouth, and Baili Heng finally regained consciousness and woke up.

Baili Heng opened his eyes groggily and saw Lin Ruoshui's lips, like rose petals, gently pressed against his lips, the fragrance of orchids filling his heart and lungs.

Baili Heng cupped her mouth, which was about to rise, and put his tongue inside to taste her flavor.

Lin Ruoshui was startled. This stinky man was awake and even tried to kiss her forcefully. She bit Baili Heng's tongue hard, and Baili Heng pulled back in pain.

Lin Ruoshui pushed him away, stood up, kicked him, wiped her mouth, and turned to leave.

Bai Heng staggered to his feet, looking at the person he had longed for day and night, who had miraculously appeared before him. He didn't know how to describe his feelings.

That feeling should be called pleasure, extreme pleasure.

He quickly caught up with Lin Ruoshui and hurriedly explained, "Yingying, I was wrong. I shouldn't have treated you like that just now."

Lin Ruoshui rolled her eyes at him and continued walking away angrily. Baili Heng was amused by her lively expression. He was so happy, he wanted to hug the person in front of him, but he didn't dare. To her, they were enemies now.

Baili Heng clenched his fists, trying hard to suppress his excited emotions.

A tall, slender figure appeared on a hillside not far away. The bowstring in his hand was taut, twice as thick as an ordinary bowstring; without extraordinary strength, one simply could not draw that bow.

The tall, slender man was aiming at his prey. The arrow, drawn by the bowstring, contained all the man's strength. With a flick of the bowstring, the arrow, carrying all its power, accurately struck Baili Heng in the back.

Baili Heng was completely focused on Lin Ruoshui and didn't notice the arrow. He was knocked down by the powerful arrow and knelt on one knee.

Lin Ruoshui turned around and helped Baili Heng up.

Baili Heng fell into her long-awaited embrace, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but he still smiled and said, "I'm fine!"

Seeing that the arrow was twice as thick as a normal arrow, Lin Ruoshui deduced that it probably couldn't be easily pulled out. So she took out her dagger, which could cut through iron like mud, and swiftly cut off the exposed part of the arrow shaft.

She held Baili Heng down and lay down with him to observe their surroundings.

It was quiet all around; no one came forward, and no more arrows were shot at.

She said, "Don't stand up, try to minimize the target, we crawl forward."

Baili Heng didn't understand what crawling meant. Seeing her slowly crawling forward, he figured she was going to roll down the slope and hide, so he followed suit and moved slowly.

The sounds of their breathing and heartbeats were amplified. Baili Heng didn't understand why he, with his considerable martial arts skills, had to accompany this woman as she slowly moved along, but he just wanted to go along with her wishes.

Another whooshing sound came from the air. This time, Baili Heng focused his attention and quickly stood up, grasping the arrow containing internal force in one hand.

To everyone's surprise, the arrow was poisoned, and Baili Heng's palm visibly turned bluish-purple.

Dozens of arrows flew over at the same time, and Baili Heng rolled down the hillside with Lin Ruoshui in his arms.

Lin Ruoshui's head was tightly held against Baili Heng's chest. What looked like a gentle slope was actually covered with layers of branches and weeds. Only when people landed on it did they realize that the gentle slope was very steep.

Lin Ruoshui thought to herself, "Is this the legendary Mercury retrograde? Why am I having such bad luck today?"

Both Lin Ruoshui and Baili Heng felt dizzy and disoriented. Baili Heng held Lin Ruoshui tightly, trying to wrap her up with his body to minimize her injury.

After tumbling for a long time, they finally stopped. Lin Ruoshui saw stars, shook her head, and her vision gradually cleared. They had actually rolled to the edge of a cliff.

She took two steps forward and saw that the cliff was steep, with jagged rocks below, and there was no chance of survival if she fell.

Lin Ruoshui glanced at Baili Heng, who was still lying on the ground.

Baili Heng was pale from blood loss. Lin Ruoshui roughly rolled up his sleeve; the poison had already spread to his arm.

Lin Ruoshui tore off a corner of Baili Heng's robe and tied it tightly around his arm to slow the spread of the poison.

Baili Heng struggled to sit up and said, "Yingying, you should leave quickly. Their target is me. I'm the one who's dragged you into this."

Lin Ruoshui suddenly realized that what he said was right; she wasn't experiencing Mercury retrograde, but he was.

Lin Ruoshui looked at the man in front of her with sympathy, then shook her head and helped him up.

Baili Heng forced himself to stand up and looked around. He found that there was no way forward and he could only choose to climb up. If he climbed up, he would likely encounter pursuers.

Caught in a dilemma, Lin Ruoshui said to him, "I'll go draw the pursuers away. You wait here." After saying that, she stood up and started climbing up the hillside.

Baili Heng grabbed her and said, "No, I'll go. As long as they see me, they won't come down to catch you."

"Neither of you can escape!" As soon as the words were spoken, the tall figure appeared, gathered his inner strength, and struck out with a palm. Baili Heng and Lin Ruoshui were sent flying by the shockwave, and Lin Ruoshui fell into the cliff instantly.

Lin Ruoshui thought to herself, "It seems I'm going to be reincarnated again. I wonder if Xuanyuan Yu will be very sad if he finds out I'm dead."

Thinking she was doomed, Lin Ruoshui tightened her grip on her wrist and looked up. Baili Hengda had half his body hanging over the edge of the cliff, and he was holding onto her tightly with his right hand.

Lin Ruoshui gripped Baili Heng's arms tightly with both hands, and Baili Heng pulled her upwards with all his might.

Just as Lin Ruoshui was about to climb to the edge of the cliff, that slender figure appeared and gently poked her with his finger, causing Lin Ruoshui to fall again. Baili Heng was still holding her wrist tightly and did not let go.

Lin Ruoshui angrily cursed, "Don't make me go up there. If I do, I'll cripple you first."

The tall, slender figure laughed heartily and said to Baili Heng, "I never expected that the Crown Prince of Lanling Kingdom would have homosexual tendencies."

At this moment, Lin Ruoshui was still wearing Xiuyi's loose robes, looking like a beautiful and refined young man.

“Ouyang Huaide, release her, and I will do whatever I want with you,” Baili Heng said, his face ashen and his voice hoarse.