Chains were clanking weirdly clear in this cavernous cave.

Gu Qiang sat on the rock aside, her legs were still in great pain. But the woman opposite her was like being out of her mind, pacing around in great unease and staring at her as though she wanted to kill her.

In fact, she was fully capable to kill Sun Linhua if she wanted to. But sadly, killing a woman who was already like a trapped beast was never her way of doing things. She didn’t want to take advantage of the woman’s perilous situation.

She would have thought this way in the old times. But now, for her unborn child, she found there was nothing she couldn’t do.

How strange. A teenage girl as she was, she had gotten ready to be a mother.

Life was never an easy journey. If there was a chance to help her future self, it must be a blessing bestowed by heaven.

Gusu Liang wanted to comfort Sun Linhua, but she changed her mind before the words could slip out of her lips.

After all, she was here to take Sun Linhua’s life. Any kind words at this moment would be nothing different from giving out a Greek gift.

“Get out! I don’t want to see you!” cried out Sun Linhua, her voices echoed in the cave and made Gu Qiang’s ear tingle. She dug her ears with her finger, looked up to Sun Linhua, and said, “I am here because I have to. Put simply, I am here to kill you.”

For a moment, Sun Linhua couldn’t believe what she had heard. After all, it had been ages since she heard a human talking last time. Then she burst out a laugh. “Is this your idea? Or master’s?” asked her in a dismal tone.

Gu Qiang instantly got what she meant. It seemed that Shen Qianshan was very important to Sun Linhua; he was everything that she lived for. Although Gu Qiang couldn’t remember the exact relationship between them, she felt this way and knew this might be the fact.

Since she lost her memories, Gu Qiang always felt very empty. Without any knowledge about the future or the past, she felt lost and aimless. But all the things that happened recently made her understand that as long as she wanted to do something, it was the correct thing to do.

They were the things that she tried so hard to remember, the difficulty of which only she could tell.

“It’s mine. Your master doesn’t know anything about it, which means you could die remembering all your master’s goodness.” If Sun Linhua had still cherished some desire for Shen Qianshan, Gu Qiang didn’t want Shen Qianshan to be the scapegoat.

Hearing this, Sun Linhua uttered a sigh of relief, looking less heartbroken and nervous. Then she changed into a very disdainful tone. “If it is not master’s idea, do you know that you are no way enough to kill me? Besides, even if you luckily made it, my master would avenge me,” said Sun Linhua, full of pity on her face.

She laughed so hard while speaking, her whole person like a cranky madcap.

Gu Qiang raised her eyebrows, then she said to Gusu Liang, “Let me do it myself.”

Gusu Liang opened her mouth, but let out no sound, her eyes full of sadness.

She turned to look at Sun Linhua, finding that she was still in her crazy laugh.

“If you have to kill her, my lady, can you let me take my leave first?” Gusu Liang couldn’t imagine what Shen Qianshan would think if Gu Qiang had really done this.

Even though Gu Qiang was Shen Qianshan’s beloved woman, he wouldn’t turn a blind eye to this.

Gu Qiang was indeed a bit haughty due to Shen Qianshan’s love and indulgence for her. Although Gusu Liang knew this, and that Gu Qiang had always been like this, she thought it couldn’t justify the killing of Sun Linhua, who only had committed a few mistakes. But Gu Qiang didn’t want to explain.

This time, Gusu Liang thought she couldn’t just stand by anymore.

“Of course you can take your leave first,” replied Gu Qiang as she walked towards Sun Linhua, taking out the knife Gusu Liang sent to her from a pocket around her waist.

In Sun Linhua’s eyes, what Gu Qiang said was only intimidation. It was only until she saw the indifference in Gu Qing’s eyes that she felt a sense of panic coming from nowhere and stopped laughing. This woman really wanted to kill her.

“I am a bit nervous. Because this is my first time killing someone. Please do forgive me if it makes you pain,” said Gu Qiang as she dashed to Sun Linhua and stabbed her stomach with the knife.

Suddenly, Sun Linhua felt overwhelmed by an avalanche of pain; she looked down, and found her stomach bleeding, with blood dripping to the already dirty ground.

“How dare you really did it!” said Sun Linhua slowly after the shock, her eyes were still full of astonishment.

Before she could finish the rest, she fell to the ground. The pain was so strong that she even had no strength to cry.

Gu Qiang’s eyes were cold. She didn’t give up the idea to kill this woman simply because she was totally outgunned.

As she was trying to make the second stab, Gusu Liang caught her hand and stopped her. “That’s enough,” said Gusu Liang in a trembling voice, her face was full of terror.

“No, it’s not!” replied Gu Qiang coldly.

There was blood flowing down her hand. Everything was like a dream, a nightmare, and she was going to wake up before finishing it.

Gusu Liang was covered in chill sweat. Gu Qiang didn’t notice that she was now like a demon that was eager to kill.

“She indeed had tried to hurt you, but she failed. You can’t simply kill her for that. That would be unfair. I have always taken you as a person of justice and haven’t seen you do such a disgraceful thing before. Tell me why you have to do this. If not, don’t blame me for interfering,” said Gusu Liang softly.

But Gu Qiang ignored her words; she shook her hand off and tried to attack Sun Linhua again.

Sun Linhua was covered in filthy water and still groaning. The pain made her bathe in a cold sweat.

She raised her eyes and closed them when she saw the knife sticking at her. She smiled, “Fine, you can kill me, Gu Qiang, but it won’t change anything.”

But the knife came down before she could finish her words.

However, there was no screaming like what Gu Qiang had imagined. She felt a sense of cold around her neck and then went blackout.

When she woke up, she felt it seemed to have been ages, and her lips were extremely dry.

The sky was still dim, everything around her was misty. Beside her, there was a fire, and someone was roasting something.

It took Gu Qiang some effort to get to her feet. She smelled food but couldn’t tell what that was.

Hearing the sound, Gusu Liang quickly came to help get her up and passed her the food. “My lady, are you hungry? Here is the food I found. Eat it, and then we can head down the mountain,” said Gusu Liang with a smile.

She talked like nothing had happened. Was it really just a dream?

“Why did you stop me?” asked Gu Qiang coldly. She didn’t take the roasted sweet potato despite its tantalizing smell.

The temperature was still low in the morning. Gu Qiang sniffed her nose, feeling there was something different with her body, but which place she couldn’t tell.

Gusu Liang didn’t answer, her eyes were still fixed on the ground, and her face was shining in the flickers of the flame. She had washed before and now looked very clean.

“I am afraid you would regret it, my lady,” said Gusu Liang after a long silence suddenly, her head raised.

The sincerity in her words was obvious. She was really considering Gu Qiang’s interest.

Gu Qiang responded with a sneer. She got up and found that her legs were feeling better. Though someplace was still red and swollen, she had no trouble walking now.

She patted her clothes and headed off down the mountain.

Gusu Liang followed up as if she wanted to make up for her.

“My lady, what you were trying to do was killing. Don’t you afraid that you would regret it?”

“Gusu Liang, do you still remember that you are only my maid? No matter whom you serve, my orders come first if you are with me. If you can’t do that, I may ask you to leave.”

Being transfixed by her words, Gusu Liang stopped there and looked at Gu Qiang’s back, which kept growing more obscure in the morning fog. It seemed Gu Qiang’s attitude was very clear.

She was no longer Gu Qiang’s most trusted maid, but someone who had disobeyed her master, the kind of person who would end up being abandoned if Gu Qiang found out.

A voice in her heart kept saying she must catch up with Gu Qiang as if Gu Qiang would give her a second chance as long as she explained. But she didn’t do it.

Fog down the mountain was getting thicker, and the sun hadn’t risen yet. Everything around was so clean and fresh, like in a fairyland.

After a few steps, Gu Qiang saw many officers searching for something along the barely trodden road.

Realizing that they were from the court, Gu Qiang felt her heart clenched. She didn’t know whether they were here to rescue her, or to capture her.

Whatever the answer would be, she thought she had to ask them first at least. She could never run away from her fate. If she were doomed to end up here, she would accept it without any complaint.

She tried to get her clothes cleaner, which was stained by blood, water, and dust, making her look like a refugee.

“Your Royal Highness, there was no sign of the Infanta,” reported the soldiers loudly to someone in the distance after a careful search.

The Third Prince, Prince Shen Zhongbai?

How could he be here?

There was a short silence, then Shen Zhongbai’s voice arrived. “Keep searching, until you find her!”

Gu Qiang took a deep breath. If it were to be found by him, she would have to be grateful for him. And this favor…

Before she knew it, a soldier stopped in front of her, who rubbed his eyes as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. “Your Royal Highness, we’ve found the Infanta!” he yelled.

All people searching on the mountain suddenly gathered around her, their faces were alive with joy. It seemed to find her was something worth being happy for.