Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 36: What a Female Thief
On the outskirts of the western city of Shenjing, fifty miles away from Shuyun Villa, there is a deserted mountain with few people.

Yesterday, Jia Cong's carriage was robbed. The thieves scared off Guo Zhigui and others who were chasing them, and drove the carriage away to some deserted mountains and hills where there were few people.

When they reached a stream, the thief abandoned the carriage, wet the wheel tracks with stream water, and then took Jia Cong into the woods.

After walking for a while, they heard the sound of horse hooves and chaotic shouting coming from behind.

The man pushed Jia Cong down behind a rock and poked his head out to look into the distance.

Jia Cong saw many people riding horses and cruising at the edge of the woods, and some people entering the woods to search and plunder. He thought that the people from the Magistrate's Office and Zhen'an Prefecture had caught up with them.

However, those people were some distance away from them, and Jia Cong estimated that if he shouted loudly, they might hear him.

But he dared not make a sound, because a sharp scimitar was across his neck.

The thief untied his belt and tied Jia Cong's hands behind his back, then stuffed a rag into his mouth and pushed him deeper into the woods.

Soon it was dark and Jia Cong could no longer hear the neighing of horses or the sound of people at the edge of the woods. He thought that these people had not found any traces and went back.

It seemed that there were only two people left in the world, stumbling in the forest, and hearing monotonous and tired breathing. On the way, they met several hunters who were hunting in the forest.

The thieves all stayed away. The sky gradually darkened, but there was a full moon, which cast strange shadows in the forest.

Jia Cong felt a chill in his heart. In such a remote and unearthly place, if the other party killed him with a knife, he would not even be able to find his body.

The man began to lead him up the slope, probably to the mountainside. Jia Cong had his hands tied, and it was very difficult for him to walk on the mountain road.

Fortunately, I improved my diet during this period and never stopped exercising, so I was able to hold on physically.

The thief was breathing even harder than himself, and his voice sounded a little weak.

When she got off the car just now, Jia Cong saw a red spot on her back. It was a knife wound. Although it had been bandaged, she probably lost a lot of blood.

If his hands had not been tied behind his back, Jia Cong would have even had the confidence to escape given the thief's injuries.

Suddenly he was kicked on the back, and that person seemed to know what Jia Cong was thinking.

"Don't even think about running away. Although I'm injured, my sleeve arrows can kill anyone at will within 20 steps. If you don't believe me, you can give it a try."

The voice was clear and pleasant, it was a woman's voice, but it was so cold that it made people shudder.

The two men staggered to the middle of the mountain and found a secluded cave to hide in.

When Jia Cong entered the cave, he deliberately hesitated for a moment, pretending to breathe, and looked around.

Standing at the entrance of the cave, you can have a panoramic view of the forest below the mountain, and there is an inconspicuous narrow mountain path on the side of the cave that leads directly to the foot of the mountain.

It is impossible to find such a place by chance. The female thief must have scouted it out long ago.

After entering the cave, the female thief kicked Jia Cong to the ground, pounced on him and pinned him down.

Jia Cong was terrified, thinking that the female thief would not be so unscrupulous as he was still a child.

The female thief tore off his clothes and tied up Jia Cong's feet.

Throw him into the cave like a dumpling and leave alone.

After a long time, Jia Cong saw a figure swaying at the entrance of the cave. He saw the female thief coming back with a pile of firewood. The clothes on her shoulders were wet, as if she had just gone out to clean her wounds.

Jia Cong was lying there with his limbs tied, and he was almost frozen to death. As the fire started and the heat in the cave rose, he gradually warmed up.

In the firelight, the female thief covered her face tightly with a scarf, revealing only her clear eyes. She held a porcelain bottle in her hand and seemed to be hesitant. Then she looked at Jia Cong and suddenly came over to untie the restraints on his hands and feet. Jia Cong felt a little uneasy, wondering what tricks she would play.

Then the female thief turned her back and began to unbutton her coat. Jia Cong's eyes widened, not knowing what she was trying to do.

“I have a knife wound on my back and I can’t apply the ointment myself, so please help me apply it.

If you dare to look around or play tricks, I won’t kill you, but I will dig out your eyes, chop off your limbs, and leave you in the snow to freeze to death.”

Jia Cong felt horrified when he heard how cold and cruel she spoke. He thought that if she treated him like this, he would rather die.

However, it had been quite some time since she was injured, and Jia Cong had never seen her apply any medicine. If she continued to wait, she would suffer from blood loss, infection, and sepsis, any of which could cost her life.

The female thief had no choice. The wound was on her back and she couldn't apply any medicine on the wound. She felt her body was getting a little hot, which was a sign of post-injury fever.

If the wound had not been applied with medicine in time, her life might have been lost, otherwise she would not have been naked and let Jia Cong apply medicine to her. Fortunately, she was still a child, so it was not a big deal and she could be killed afterwards.

Jia Cong saw that she had taken off half of her clothes, revealing a naked back. Her skin was as crystal clear as jade and as white as snow. Under the firelight, there was a breathtaking beauty.

Looking up along the back, there is a bright red blood mole on the back of the neck, the size of a little fingertip and shaped like a petal, just like a red plum blossom in the snow, which is stunning.

Jia Cong's heart was beating fast, and he recalled the day when he and Xiao Jindong met Zhou Junxing on the road. That day, there was an old woman who was pushed down on the road, and there was this strange blood mole on her neck.

There would not be two red moles in the world that looked exactly the same and were located in the same place. He concluded that the woman who disguised herself as an old woman that day was the female thief.

Then perhaps it was not a coincidence that she happened to appear on Zhou Junxing's way into the city.

The wound was cut diagonally from the left back shoulder. The wound had been cleaned, and the muscles on both sides of the incision were rolled up, looking white and a bit creepy. Fortunately, the wound was not too deep and the bone was not exposed.

The female thief handed him a black bottle with a long neck and a round belly. It felt heavy in his hand, as if it was made of some metal.

The medicine inside is black and sticky, with a heart-warming fragrance and a hint of spiciness.

"Just smooth out the skin and flesh on both sides of the wound, and then apply ointment to seal it." The female thief's voice was still as cold as usual. After instructing Jia Cong on how to use the medicine, she threw him a water bag.

In later generations, when encountering such knife wounds, they must be sutured with a needle. However, even if there were curved needles for suture wounds, Jia Cong did not have the technology.

When he was about to treat the wound, the female thief pulled out a scimitar and held it tightly in her right hand. Jia Cong naturally knew that if he dared to move while applying the medicine, the scimitar would chop him down without mercy.

He took a deep breath. After all, it was not a pleasant feeling to be pointed at with a knife. He washed his hands with the water in the water bag and dried them carefully over the fire. This was the only way to kill the bacteria.

Fortunately, he had practiced calligraphy for many years, and his finger movements were much more dexterous than those of ordinary people. Following the other person's instructions, he smoothed out the rolled up flesh on both sides of the wound little by little, and did it very neatly and meticulously.

When his fingers touched the back skin of the female thief, which was tender, soft, and smooth as silk, his heart couldn't help but be moved. The female thief twisted her body slightly, and her breathing became a little rapid.

Jia Cong saw her tighten her grip on the knife, narrow her eyes, and quickly collected his thoughts.

After the skin and flesh on both sides of the incision are smoothed, use a thick layer of black sticky ointment to seal the wound.

When the medicine touched the wound, the female thief's body twitched violently, and then trembled slightly.

A thin layer of sweat actually seeped out on the fair and smooth skin on her back, like the reflection of the morning sun or the dew on a beautiful jade, which made Jia Cong stunned.

It seemed that the wound was very painful when the medicine touched it. By the time Jia Cong applied the medicine, the female thief was sweating from the pain, and even her clothes were half wet.

Jia Cong saw her putting on her clothes, without even turning her head, and swung the scimitar in her right hand towards him. Jia Cong was horrified, wondering if she was going to kill him.

He was hit hard on the shoulder and neck by a hard object and lost consciousness. The moment he passed out, he cursed in his heart: You female thief, I just applied medicine on you and you did this to me!
(End of this chapter)