Chapter 562: The Secret About the Past (180)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Although the man was shot by the gun, his movements were not at all hindered by his bleeding wound. Instead, he swiftly picked up his gun and aimed it at Tuoba Gucheng.
An Xiaoning and the woman got into a scuffle as they both tried to pick up the gun on the ground.
The fight was intense and unstoppable.
The rest of them were greatly startled by the gunshot and turned around to take a look. Tuoba Gucheng waved at them and yelled, “You guys, flee now!”
The woman was no match for An Xiaoning at all.
She successfully picked up the woman’s gun from the ground and shot her in the temple without hesitation, causing instant death.
Noticing that the woman had died, the man had a gun in each hand and aimed both his guns at An Xiaoning and Tuoba Gucheng.
However, they managed to subdue and kill him before he could even manage to fire a bullet at them.
Just as they were heaving a sigh of relief, An Xiaoning looked up to discover that someone was aiming a gun at Tuoba Gucheng from the mountain behind him.
“Watch your back!” An Xiaoning fired a bullet in the direction of the mountain above and immediately leaped forward to push him away. In the midst of trying to do so, An Xiaoning took a shot to her body.
Once he recovered from the shock, Tuoba Gucheng fired a few bullets at the spot high above, none of which managed to strike his target.
At this moment, a few other people suddenly came down from the mountain via a rope.
An Xiaoning tried to bear with the pain in her back. Realizing how dangerous the situation was, she knew that the consequences would be dire if they were to go toe-to-toe against them.
She whipped out her rope from her waist and latched it onto a tree beside her. She then grabbed Tuoba Gucheng’s hand and exclaimed, “Grab it!”
Tuoba Gucheng immediately did as told and the two of them slid down the rope from the edge of the sidewalk. Once they got to the bottom, An Xiaoning gave the rope a tug and retracted her rope before the a.s.sa.s.sins made their way down.
They leaned closely against the wall of the mountain and ran sideways.
“Are you alright?” Tuoba Gucheng asked, turning as pale as a sheet while staring at her back, which was drenched in blood.
“I’m fine, hurry and run.” An Xiaoning broke out in cold sweat, though she still appeared to be cool and calm. At this moment, all she thought about was ensuring his and her own safety.
If Tuoba Gucheng were to die, she would not get a chance to live either.
They were a team.
Thus, there was nothing else she could think about at this point and she instead continuously sprinted ahead.
At the same time, there were people chasing them from above and below.
There were only two directions they could go. Thus, the people at the top would have to kill Tuoba Gucheng before the rescue team arrived.
Their mission today was to kill either one of Byron or Tuoba Gucheng.
Only then could they cause a conflict to arise so as to cease relations and all trading activity between both nations.
Noticing that no one was chasing them from behind, An Xiaoning knew for sure that there must be people chasing them from above.
In a moment of wit, she turned and said to Tuoba Gucheng, “There are people chasing us from above. There’s a bend ahead. Let’s not run toward the foot of the mountain later.”
“You call the shots.”
An Xiaoning was rather surprised to hear his answer. “I wonder how Her Highness and the rest are now.”
“We don’t have time to worry about them now. They should be fine, however. Byron will definitely call his bodyguards and send some men over in a helicopter. His bodyguards should be here very soon.”
An Xiaoning nodded and sped up.
Although she was barely able to catch her breath, she dared not slow down at all.
Once they reached the bend ahead, An Xiaoning and Tuoba Gucheng proceeded on another route that led to neither the peak nor the foot of the mountain directly.
They would have to walk on the flat ground for a long while before they could reach the bottom.
They proceeded along the path and ran toward the woods.
Both of them were exhausted after covering a great distance. An Xiaoning leaned against a tree and said, panting heavily, “I can’t go on anymore.”
“I’ll piggyback you, hop on,” he said, squatting down in front of her.
“You don’t have to…”
“Do you want them to catch up with us? Get up, I’ll piggyback you,” he urged, noticing that she seemed to be on the verge of fainting.
“You’re exhausted yourself, are you sure you can manage?”
“Cut the c.r.a.p!” he hollered.
An Xiaoning could no longer walk, especially since she was wounded. Thus, she leaned against his back and allowed him to piggyback her.
Feeling like her eyelids were getting heavy, An Xiaoning sighed and said, “I kinda feel like sleeping.”
“Don’t fall asleep…”
“But I’m so sleepy…”
“Even then, don’t sleep! Otherwise, I’ll dump you here alone!” he snapped.
“You’re so heartless. I didn’t run away without you earlier. You’re being too much… I may be your subordinate, but I’m also human.”
“Are your brains full of feces? Can’t you tell that I’m joking?”
Leaning her head against his shoulder, An Xiaoning closed her eyes and murmured, “Your brains are full of…”
He turned around and accidentally allowed his lips to touch her face.
“Country b.u.mpkin?”
“…”
“Ugly country b.u.mpkin?”
There was no response.
Tuoba Gucheng did not call her again and continued to move down the mountain while carrying her on his back.
Throughout the entire journey, he was filled with worry and fear that the hitmen would catch up with them. He finally heaved a sigh of relief upon sight of the people from the Autumn Palace and Byron’s bodyguards.
“Your Highness!”
“Brother!”
“Gucheng!”
They hurried toward him.
“Brother, what happened to Mu Ning?”
“She got wounded and pa.s.sed out. She was the one who led me down the mountain.” He then instructed the bodyguards to carry her into the car.
“Are any of you injured?” he asked.
“No.”
Tuoba Shuo’s heart sank at the sight An Xiaoning’s tightly-shut eyes.
“Fortunately, we left the mountains in advance. Otherwise, if we’d been trapped on the peak…”
“Mu Ning was the one who told me to go back earlier. She said that her sixth sense was spot on and that she was feeling fl.u.s.tered out of nowhere. I was rather apprehensive at first, but seems like it’s true…”
Zhi Yin refused to believe it and said, “Your Highness, her sixth sense can’t be that accurate. I don’t mean anything else, but I just wanted to say, could it be that Mu Ning is in cahoots with those people?”
All eyes were on her as soon as she finished speaking.
“Zhi Yin, how could you think that way? Why would she bother ganging up with others to harm my brother? If she really wanted to kill my brother, there are plenty of other chances for her to do so,” Tuoba Danxue chided.
“I was just making a casual remark, don’t take me seriously…”
“Can I casually accuse you of being in cahoots with those hitmen then?” Tuoba Gucheng questioned, glaring at her coldly.
Tongue-tied, Zhi Yin hung her head low.
“Brother, don’t be bothered by her. This little la.s.s speaks without thinking. I believe Mu Ning is innocent. But, Brother, how did you guys manage to escape? Our bodyguards couldn’t find those people on the mountain earlier. I reckon they must have discovered that we were here and thus decided to flee,” said Tuoba Danxue.
Tuoba Gucheng explained briefly and said, “I’ve never seen a woman who can run faster than me even though she’s injured.”
“She’s an impressive child,” said Tuoba Shuo.
Tuoba Gucheng and Tuoba Danxue stared at him in astonishment, slightly surprised by his remark. However, they remained silent.