Hao Xuan was battling with his heart and mind. His heart was screaming to go out of his hideout and help her while his brain told him to calm down and wait for her screams. Along with this battle with himself, the condition of his wound worsened and he felt as if his left upper arm became numb.

Finally, he decided to listen to his heart. But just then a doubt covered his conscience. 'Why Zhang Mei Xiang isn't screaming? She isn't letting out a single scream! Even no sound of her struggles could be heard. Did they really catch her or are they trying to fool me?' Hao Xuan pressed his lips together while a frown formed on his face. 'Just scream for once Zhang Mei Xiang, I will surely rescue you from their clutches.' Hao Xuan leaned back while his ears listened to every single sound.

"Master, I think he isn't present here." A man said. "How can one enter through this small entrance. Let's go. We don't have the girl with us."

"I know." The known voice was heard. "That General Xue will only come out if we capture that girl. Let's go. Search the entire woods. I want them tonight!"

Hao Xuan heaved a euphoric sigh of relief when he heard the heavy footsteps going away from the cave entrance. His right hand rested on his left side of the chest, soothing his heartbeat. A faint smile appeared on his lips. 'Zhang Mei Xiang is one of the kind.' But suddenly another new fear appeared in him with the thought of the Xiongnu tribes capturing Zhang Mei Xiang.

°°°°°°°°°°

The sun sank beneath the horizon, inviting the darkness to conquer the sky. Zhang Mei Xiang was walking through the woods searching for the herbs that would cure Hao Xuan. While searching, she entered darker and denser part of the forest. The trees proudly spread their crowns covering the sky, claiming themselves to be the rulers of the forests. Zhang Mei Xiang's bare feet carefully stepped forward to avoid the thorns and sharp stones. But the evil thorns didn't show pity on her. They got pierced into her feet making her flinch from time to time. Though her legs felt week enough to move forward, but her heart controlled her mind and supported her to move forward and collect the herbs.

Fortunately, she found the herbs in the middle of the dense forest. A triumphant smile appeared on her face. But the next moment her smile vanished when she remembered that they needed woods for campfire. Letting out a deep breath, she put the herbs carefully in her robes and moved forward to get out of the denser part. Blood flowed from her feet continuously while unbearable pain took over her body. She dragged her body and collected dry leaves, things and a few kinds of wood for the fire.

'Finally, I got what I require.' Zhang Mei Xiang heaved a sigh. As she was about to head towards the cave, sudden neighs of horses stopped her. 'Xiongnus.' Zhang Mei Xiang thought and she covered her face and hid behind a big tree.

"Xue Hao Xuan is really tricky!" The man who lead the Xiongnu troop spat. "How did he suddenly used his powers? I have never heard before that someone from the Qin empire can use powers."

'They are talking about Hao Xuan.' Zhang Mei Xiang pressed herself to the tree trunk, trying hard not to get discovered. Her brows got knitted together as she concentrated on every single word of the Xiongnu leader.

"Hao Xuan will be dead within a few hours." That man laughed like a lunatic. "Search for him. I want him tonight."

'Hao Xuan is going to die in few hours!?' Zhang Mei Xiang gasped at the words. A unknown feelings engulfed her and she felt a sudden tightness at her chest. Unconsciously, her foot moved a step back, resulting in the rustling of leaves. The sound pulled her out of her daze and she realized her mistake.

That rustling of leaves also grabbed the attention of the Xiongnu troop. "Who's there?!" The leader shouted. The members of the troop quickly followed the direction of the sound.

Zhang Mei Xiang tiptoed and moved to the other tree. As she hid at another tree, she felt the footsteps proceeding towards her. Zhang Mei Xiang's breathing became heavy and drops of sweat covered her entire forehead. 'Zhang Mei Xiang, think of something fast!' Her eyes wandered at the ground, searching for something. Suddenly a rough thing touched her soft palm. 'Got it!' Zhang Mei Xiang took the stone in her hand and carefully peeped from the tree. Her eyes quickly examined the location of the Xiongnu people and her brain did a quick calculation about it. Pressing her lips together, she raised her hand and threw the stone in another direction to divert their attention.

As the stone landed in the bushes, it successfully did it's work and diverted the Xiongnus' attention. Under the leader's command, they ran towards the bushes to check the presence of Xue Hao Xuan and Zhang Mei Xiang.

Seizing the opportunity Zhang Mei Xiang fled from there. After about thirty minutes, she reached the cave. She lowered herself and entered the cave. Her eyes widened on watching the sight that welcomed her.

Hao Xuan's eyes were closed while his head was resting on the wall of the cavern. His face looked paler with sweat covered his entire face while his parted lips looked dry.

"Hao Xuan!" Zhang Mei Xiang rushed to him and started before him.

Hao Xuan opened his eyes slowly due to her shrill voice. "Zhang Mei Xiang..." He uttered breathlessly as his weary eyes looked at her. "You are back." His lips curved upward forming a faint smile.

"Yes, I am back." Zhang Mei Xiang quickly took out the herbs from her robes. "Just hold on a little, I will make the paste." Her eyes quickly scanned the place and luckily she found a big stone and a sharp one.

Zhang Mei Xiang brought two types of herbs. One type was to apply to the wound to stop the bleeding and prevent the infection while the other was effective against that deadly poison.

First, she put the effective herbs on the big rock and using the sharper stone to make the paste. She put all her strength on the sharp stone to make the medicine. Her soft palms weren't used to those types of work. As a result, the sharp edges of the stone formed nasty cuts on her palm. She gritted her teeth to avoid making any sound due to the pain. But Hao Xuan's eagle-like sharp eyes didn't miss her expressions.

"Your hands..." He said in a low voice as extended his hand to hold hers.

"Let them be." Zhang Mei Xiang didn't pay much attention to his words. "Don't move." She said in a commanding tone and Hao Xuan didn't have other option than to obey her. She took the paste in her hand and pressed her thumb against the fingers to feel it's texture. When she felt that the medicine was ready, she palmed up making it hollow so that the medicine remained on her palm.

"Hao Xuan..." She helped him to sit straight. "Drink it." She gently reached her palm to his mouth until his lips touched it. When she felt the pair of lips parted a bit, she slowly tilted her palm so that the medicine would get into his mouth.

Hao Xuan closed his eyes and let the liquid fall into in mouth and pass through his throat. Zhang Mei Xiang withdrew her palm after Hao Xuan drank the medicine. She wiped the extra medicine that was stuck to the side of his lips with her long sleeves. A frown appeared on her face when Hao Xuan didn't open his eyes.

"Hao Xuan..." She gently shook him but he didn't respond. Her eyes widened as she didn't receive any response when she shook him for the second time. "Hao Xuan opened your eyes!" She screamed as she shook him even more harshly but the later didn't even move a bit. "Hao Xuan..." She lightly tapped on his cheeks with her slender fingers. Her brows got knitted as she felt that Hao Xuan's temperature was hotter than normal people. 'Why is he so hot?!' She exclaimed and quickly held his wrist to check his pulse. Thanks to her medical skills which she learned during her high school days.

Zhang Mei Xiang's heart skipped a beat when she felt his pulse rate got decreased. She raised her fingers and put it near his nose, only to feel his breathing became shallow. 'Did I give him wrong herbs?' Zhang Mei Xiang's heart clenched painfully at the thought of losing Hao Xuan. She shook all the negative thinking from her mind and rushed outside to bring some water for him.

Luckily a small stream was flowing nearby. She carefully walked towards the stream that was flowing gently through the woods. The moon shone gently providing the only source of light in the dark forest. She lifted her long robes and slowly sat at the edge of the stream. She looked around for something to collect water. Suddenly her eyes fell on some colocasia leaves. She took some broad leaves of colocasia and bent them to form a conical shape. Then she dipped it into the cold waters of the stream and collected some water.

A faint smile appeared on seeing the water. She rushed to the cave to attend to Hao Xuan. Zhang Mei Xiang stood thunderstruck on witnessing the scene before her. Hao Xuan was lying flat on the floor with his eyes closed.

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