“Hah…” Qin Yu slowly got up from the ground, brushing the dust off her armor.
Chen Yufei took two steps back, her gaze still full of wariness as she looked at Qin Yu.
“What’s wrong?” Qin Yu asked. “Can you… relax a little?”
“No!” Chen Yufei said bluntly. “We are enemies right now!”
“But if we want to get out of this forest, relying on individual strength alone definitely isn’t enough, right?” Qin Yu argued. “To return to our respective forces, we have to cooperate with each other.”
“This is only a temporary cooperation,” Chen Yufei stated. “Our cooperation could shatter at any moment.”
“I know.” Qin Yu paused after saying this. “Do you have any food? I’m a little hungry.”
“I didn’t bring any.” Chen Yufei shook her head. “Who would have thought that just setting an ambush for you would lead to this situation?”
“But your warhorse is dead. Let’s just roast it and eat it.”
“…” Qin Yu hesitated. This warhorse had been carrying her all this time. Eating it so casually felt a bit heartless, but the hunger in her stomach urged her to make a choice.
“Alright.” Suppressing her pain, Qin Yu helped Chen Yufei cut meat from the warhorse’s corpse.
Surprisingly, the horse meat had a unique flavor after being roasted. The guilt in Qin Yu’s heart vanished with the delicious taste that entered her mouth.
“Shouldn’t we find a place to sleep?” Chen Yufei asked Qin Yu.
“Mhm.” Qin Yu was busy eating and had no time to pay attention to Chen Yufei’s words.
Chen Yufei helped Qin Yu transfer the belongings from her warhorse onto her own. Deliberately, she unloaded the bullets from her magic gun.
“Wow, I didn’t expect you to do that!” Qin Yu’s voice came from behind.
“Even for a temporary cooperation, I have sincerity.” Chen Yufei took a step back, facing Qin Yu. “I hope Your Highness will also show corresponding sincerity.”
“Let’s find a riverside. I want to take a bath before sleeping.” Qin Yu finished the horse meat, stood up, and kicked out the nearby campfire.
“So particular?” Chen Yufei couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I’m covered in sweat, I need to wash…” Qin Yu said, wiping the slick sweat from the back of her neck.
“Fine.” Chen Yufei mounted her horse and extended a hand to Qin Yu.
Qin Yu took Chen Yufei’s offered hand without hesitation and climbed onto the side of the warhorse.
Two people riding one warhorse was a bit cramped. To ensure Qin Yu wouldn’t fall off, Chen Yufei had Qin Yu sit in front of her, allowing her to hold Qin Yu and keep her from falling.
Qin Yu looked down at her waist. The golden armor on Chen Yufei’s arm and the silver armor at her own waist shone together.
Chen Yufei’s arms were slender but powerful. Completely different from Luo Shangyu’s late-starting training, Chen Yufei, a professional soldier by origin, moved with a resolute and unquestionable authority.
The warhorse began to run, a breeze blowing past, lifting Qin Yu’s hair. Chen Yufei’s riding skills were superb. The horse weaved left and right through the narrow spaces in the forest, its movements fluid, showing no intention of slowing down.
Chen Yufei held Qin Yu, the scent of her sweat mixed with her natural fragrance drifting into Qin Yu’s nostrils. It was like sunlight—intense, rich, lingering around her.
In the forest, small streams were not uncommon. Before long, Qin Yu and Chen Yufei arrived at a stream.
The stream water was clear, its flow not too fast—perfect for bathing.
Chen Yufei tied the horse to a tree by the stream, secured the reins, and helped Qin Yu dismount.
“Do you have a change of clothes?” Chen Yufei asked.
“What do you think?” Qin Yu made a shrugging motion.
“I have some here.” Chen Yufei took out a set of clean clothes from her personal storage magic device.
“Wash your clothes while you bathe and wear this set to sleep. Your clothes will be dry by morning.”
“Alright!” Qin Yu slowly took off her armor, simultaneously glancing back at Chen Yufei behind her.
Without her armor, Qin Yu was incredibly vulnerable. Chen Yufei could easily take her life.
“Don’t worry, I won’t try anything.” Chen Yufei said, raising her empty hands.
Only then did Qin Yu feel at ease and step into the cold river water.
The weather in the simulation world was almost identical to that of the Phantom World—both were autumn.
Autumn nights carried a slight chill, and the stream was icy cold. Qin Yu stepped into the water, the cold stream almost causing her to cramp and fall.
“So cold…” Qin Yu endured the cold, took a deep breath, and submerged herself in the water, quickly scrubbing her body.
Even without soap or shampoo, through repeated scrubbing and the flowing water, Qin Yu managed to clean herself.
The sticky sweat washed away, and Qin Yu felt her skin become clean and smooth again.
She stood up, water droplets clinging to her body, feeling especially cold in the gentle breeze.
At that moment, the sound of noisy hoofbeats came from the distance, shattering the forest’s nighttime tranquility.
Chen Yufei on the bank had also removed her armor. Hearing the hoofbeats, she froze just like Qin Yu in the water.
Whose troops were they?
For a moment, both were flustered, each hoping it was their own side.
Chen Yufei reacted first. Grabbing a dagger, she jumped into the stream and came to Qin Yu’s side.
Before Qin Yu could react, the sharp edge of the dagger was already pressed against her neck.
“Chen… Chen Yufei…” Qin Yu stammered. “Let’s… talk this out…”
The hoofbeats on the bank grew closer, sounding only a few dozen meters from the stream.
Chen Yufei, holding Qin Yu hostage, moved behind a rock in the stream, secretly observing the bank.
The hoofbeats came through the pitch-black thicket. Qin Yu and Chen Yufei couldn’t see the source, and the other party couldn’t see them either.
At this critical moment, the warhorse tied to the tree, perhaps sensing its own kind, lifted its head and let out a long, loud whinny.
“Over there!” A voice pierced the air. Two soldiers on horseback broke through the trees and arrived at the riverbank.
By the light of their torches, Qin Yu recognized them—they were Chen Yufei’s soldiers!
Without a doubt, with the help of her own soldiers, Chen Yufei could certainly find her way back to the military camp. This meant the bond of their cooperation had completely shattered.
Chen Yufei poked her head out from behind the rock and shouted, “What are you doing here?”
“General Chen! We are searching for you and hunting for the Crown Prince!”
Qin Yu, taking advantage of Chen Yufei’s distraction, tried to escape, but Chen Yufei grabbed her by the hair.
For the first time, Qin Yu missed her original short hair. If it were short now, she wouldn’t be so easily controlled, and she wouldn’t be unable to escape!
However, what made Qin Yu even more desperate was Chen Yufei suddenly exerting force, pressing her head underwater.
She couldn’t react in time and swallowed two large mouthfuls of stream water.
She wanted to struggle, but her hands and feet, soaked in such cold water, cramped as soon as she exerted force.
Under the intense pain of her limbs cramping, Qin Yu had no strength left to resist and could only let herself be held underwater.
With her brain deprived of oxygen, Qin Yu’s nerves were highly tense, extremely sensitive to her surroundings. Sounds from the river surface reached her.
“General, come back with us!”
“No need. Tell my deputy to reorganize the troops and advance according to my established plan,” Chen Yufei said loudly. “I have discovered Qin Yu’s trail. I am about to pursue her!”
“Let us go with you!”
“No! Qin Yu knows magic. It would be dangerous for you to go.”
“But…”
“That’s an order!”
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