An Eight-year-old Princess novel Chapter 202

Yun Shang selected ten servants who had performed well in several previous missions before turning to Prince Jing and asking, "Uncle, isn't there thick miasma in the forest on Mount Kirin? How can we get in?"

Prince Jing took out a map and pointed at a place on Mount Kirin, "There is a river here. We can climb the mountain along the river."

Yun Shang was surprised. She took the map and examined it for some time. "If its possible to go into Mount Kirin by climbing along the river, then why isn't there any information on the map? The map doesn't show the river's length, nor does it mention the terrain......"

"Because even with the help of the river, it is still difficult to get on Mount Kirin. There is a cliff halfway up the mountain. The river plunges into a waterfall at this point. The cliff is about three hundred and thirty three meters high and its slippery and smooth surface makes the cliff impossible to climb. Only a person with great Kung Fu can climb the mountain." Prince Jing said calmly.

"......" Yun Shang turned and looked at the ten servants who seemed stunned. She murmured to Prince Jing, "No wonder you didn't ask me to bring servants." Then Yun Shang couldn't help but get upset with Prince Jing. 'Why didn't you tell me earlier......' she thought.

Then Yun Shang turned to Prince Jing as she thought of something important, "Did you just say that a person needs to be good at Kung Fu to go up the mountain? So, if a person is not very good at Kung Fu, he or she can't go up?"

Prince Jing nodded. Then he heard Yun Shang's calm declaration, "That is unfortunate as I am not good at Kung Fu."

Yun Shang had learned some Kung Fu. But she was not great at it since she had been really ill as a child and her health conditions didn't allow her to practice much. She had been eating special herbs to strengthen her Kung Fu skills. However, despite the help, she found it hard to master techniques like Qinggong*.

(*TN: A Chinese martial arts technique that supposedly helps one lift and travel in the air.)

Yun Shang's statement astonished Prince Jing. On several occasions, she had surprised him with her abilities. He had, therefore, always wondered whether or not she had mastered certain Kung Fu techniques. He remembered being amazed with Yun Shang's Qinggong once and thought that the Kung Fu she practiced was a special kind.

Prince Jing kept silent for a while before he said, "If the cliff weren't so steep, I could have taken you with me. But......"

"Don't worry too much. We'll see what we can do after we get to the cliff." Eager to leave, Yun Shang stood and walked to her horse.

"Now is not the best time for us to go into the mountain. We didn't hide our traces, so even though Xia Houjing doesn't know our identity, he must have been informed that some strangers have come to Peach Stream Village. He will definitely place more guards. And I'm afraid that we have already been noticed by him. If we want to go into Mount Kirin, we need to take a detour and get rid of our stalkers." Prince Jing sat down and acted casual.

Yun Shang nodded. She blamed herself for the situation in which she found herself. When around Prince Jing, she followed his instincts and let him take the lead. It seemed that she didn't take the precautions she normally would have.

Fortunately for them, the secret guards were good at hiding themselves. After a while, Yun Shang and Prince Jing were alone as the guards had taken care of the stalkers. When it started getting dark, Prince Jing stood and said, "I'll go hunt for some food. Be careful while I'm gone."

Yun Shang nodded and watched Prince Jing leave. After a while, she stood and looked around for some branches to burn. When she was about to start a fire, Yun Shang found that she wasn't carrying any flint. Yun Shang forced an awkward smile and leaned against a tree as she waited for Prince Jing's return. It seemed that they would spend the night here.

It didn't take Prince Jing long to find them some food. After a short while, he returned with two pheasants in his hands. Prince Jing grinned when he saw that Yun Shang had forgotten to carry any flint. He knelt quickly and started the fire. Then he took the pheasants to the stream to clean them. After he walked back to the fire, he skewered the pheasants with branches and set the branches above the fire to roast.

"I'm starting to feel that I'm a burden." Yun Shang smiled and said to Prince Jing. Even though she had learned a lot during these years, she was never put in a position where she couldn't feed herself. So Yun Shang didn't have the experience of surviving in a forest. She might know what to do in theory, but when it came to practice, she was almost useless.

Luo Qingyan raised his eyes and looked at Yun Shang. "I don't think so. You have skills that no one else has. As I remember, you have valuable medical knowledge, which means you can tell poisonous herbs from harmless ones. I always believed that nature is balanced in its own way. If the miasma is poisonous, there must be a cure for it. The place near the miasma must also be the place where we can find a curing herb for the poison in the miasma. The soldiers of the State of Xia hold the advantage that they don't fear the miasma. So if you can find the curing herb, you will make a great contribution."

Yun Shang smiled. "I know that you're saying all this to comfort me. Thank you, for I do feel better now."

After the pheasants were roasted, Prince Jing took a crispy yet tender leg and handed it to Yun Shang. The Princess took a bite. She felt the fragrance of the pheasant spread in her mouth. Although there was no salt and not much taste, the meal still tasted good, as its original flavors had been preserved.

After Yun Shang and Prince Jing enjoyed their meal, they both leaned against a tree to rest.

As the night drew on, the forest seemed to come alive. Leaves rustled as small animals foraged for food. Yun Shang's ears pricked when the crickets began chirping. It wasn't long before the fire turned to embers and darkness enveloped the Prince and Princess. Secure in the knowledge that Prince Jing was by her side and shadow guards protected them, Yun Shang closed her eyes. A moment later, she heard a low rustling sound near them. Yun Shang's drowsiness disappeared. She kept her eyes closed and pulled her right hand into her sleeve. She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt her weapon, a silver needle.

Yun Shang slowly reached out with her left hand. She remembered that Prince Jing was on her left. As her fingers inched closer to where she remembered the Prince to be, Yun Shang first felt the cold steel of Prince Jing's sword. Then, as her fingers moved upward, she touched a hand which felt slightly cold. The hand held Yun Shang's hand. As fingers grazed her palm, Yun Shang noticed the words, 'Someone is here' being traced on her palm.

Yun Shang felt relieved that Prince Jing was awake. The Princess also drew comfort from the knowledge that the shadow guards were all awake and ready to fight.

A sharp noise suddenly rang through the forest. It was so loud that it made Yun Shang's ears ache. Whoever made that much noise must have wanted to wake Yun Shang and Prince Jing. So Yun Shang and Prince Jing opened their eyes. But it was too dark around them. There wasn't even the slightest glimmer from the moon.

A snowy white silhouette suddenly floated towards them from a distance. The dress seemed to shine, which reflected the person's pale and bluish face. As the person floated closer, Yun Shang realized that it had no eyes.

Before Yun Shang could react, she heard a sudden scream from behind her, "Ah...... Ghost......"

Yun Shang frowned as she identified who the voice belonged to.

Yun Shang shivered at the scream. Before she realized what had happened, she had been grabbed by Prince Jing and found herself being dragged toward the road. As they ran, Prince Jing kept shouting out loud, "Ah, ghost! There's a ghost! Run! A ghost......"

Yun Shang almost fell down. She followed Prince Jing and stumbled outside the woods with him. After they had run for a long distance, Prince Jing stopped. He turned and looked in the direction of Peach Stream Village. But it was completely dark and nothing could be seen.

Yun Shang turned her head to look at Prince Jing. She could only see a vague silhouette in the darkness.

But Prince Jing seemed to know that Yun Shang was looking at him, so he said in a soft voice, "It was the villagers from Peach Stream Village. I guess that they didn't know our real identities. They were worried that we would stay, but they didn't want to kill us to draw the officials' attention. That's why they came up with the idea of scaring us away by pretending there was a ghost in the forest.

Yun Shang nodded, "They must have thrown the firefly powder on themselves. That's why the person in the white dress was shining." She hesitated before she continued, "What they did to us was a good thing. It shows that Xia Houjing hasn't noticed us yet. Since the villagers from Peach Stream Village have seen us leaving, they won't follow us. That's exactly what we need right now. An excuse to leave."

"Let's go. The place that we need to reach is located between two ridges. It's a hundred and twenty kilometers from here. We can get there by horse. It will take us one day and a night. We'll get there by dawn." Prince Jing said in a soft voice. Yun Shang smiled at the gentleness in his voice.

Prince Jing whistled in the air, and soon, Yun Shang saw two horses running toward them. Yun Shang smiled and patted her horse, "This horse is obedient."

"This horse is called Cai Yun*. She's a mare, and quite obedient. Cai Yun and my horse, Ta Yun* are a couple. If you like her, I can give her to you as a gift."

(*TN: In Chinese, Cai Yun means colorful clouds, and Ta Yun means chasing the clouds.) Prince Jing explained softly. Then he mounted his horse and said, "Let's go."

Before Yun Shang could deliberate over Prince Jing's explanation, the Prince had galloped away on his horse. Yun Shang didn't have time to think. She mounted her horse as well. Then she patted her horse and Cai Yun chased Prince Jing.

It was just as Prince Jing had expected. At about 7 o' clock in the morning, they had arrived at their destination. Yun Shang frowned at the waterfall, which was more than three hundred meters high. The cliff looked quite slippery as it had been washed and eroded by water all year round. And the waterfall was located in the dense forest with the miasma.

Yun Shang carefully examined the waterfall for some time. Then she shook her head and said, "I'm afraid that I can't go up."

Prince Jing nodded. He had only heard about the cliff from his secret guards, so this was the first opportunity for him to examine it. Judging from its steepness, it would be hard for him to go up alone. And if he carried Yun Shang with him, it was highly likely that they would both fall and die.

Yun Shang stood beside the deep pond under the waterfall and looked around for a long time. Then she pointed to a tree at the top of the waterfall and said to Prince Jing, "If you can find a rope the height of the waterfall and tie it to that tree, I can climb the cliff. With the help of the rope, my guards will also be able to climb the cliff."

Prince Jing looked at the tree for some time, then he nodded. He turned and told his people to find a long rope. But the nearest town was a hundred kilometers away. It would take another day for the guards to purchase a rope at the town and return.

When Prince Jing's guards came back, it was already midnight. It was too dark for anyone to see anything clearly, and Yun Shang wasn't sure whether she could climb up the cliff at night. So they all found a place to rest. When the sun rose the next day, the Prince, Princess and the guards prepared to climb the mountain.

Prince Jing flew up to the top of the cliff using his Kung Fu. The leap that Prince Jing took was more than three hundred meters. Yun Shang was shocked. She knew that Prince Jing was really good at Kung Fu, but she didn't know that he was this good. She became troubled at a thought. 'This man is so scary. If we become enemies one day, I will have little chance to win.'

Prince Jing tied the rope to the tree that Yun Shang had mentioned. He carefully examined the knot before nodding. The tree was at least a hundred years old. It grew on the edge of the cliff, and some of its branches extended outward, beyond the cliff. The diameter of the branch on which Prince Jing tied the rope also assured him that it would be able to bear a person's weight.

Yun Shang jumped into the water and swam to where the rope dangled above the pool. She tied the rope around her waist and pulled the rope with both hands as she began her climb. The cliff was so slippery that Yun Shang couldn't put her feet on it. So she used the help of the rope to begin her slow climb up the cliff. Prince Jing saw Yun Shang struggle when climbing up. He frowned. 'This cliff is more than three hundred meters high. If she keeps climbing like that, not only will her hand ache for a long time, she will also have blisters.'

Thinking about that, Prince Jing used his Kung Fu to lift the rope and Yun Shang. Yun Shang was only a fifteen-year-old girl. It wasn't hard for Prince Jing to lift her. With the Prince's help, it only took Yun Shang two hours to reach the top of the cliff.

Just as the Prince and Princess were about to rest, they heard someone talking in the dense forest. Yun Shang and Prince Jing were surprised. They looked at each other before diving into the water to hide.