Wolf-Raised Cub with a Space: Surviving the Disaster Years
Chapter 177: She’s Lost, and He’s Frantic
Tan Xiang said, "Second Madam heard about the situation over here with the Eldest Young Master and was terribly worried, so she sent me to inquire."
"How is that little girl? Is she doing any better?"
The maid sighed. "How could she get better that quickly? She has the plague. Last night, the Eldest Young Master and the Divine Doctor didn’t sleep a wink. They took turns giving her acupuncture, but nothing worked."
Tan Xiang covered her mouth in fear. "It’s that serious? This must be so hard on the Eldest Young Master. The plague isn’t just deadly, it’s contagious."
"If the Eldest Young Master gets infected and then passes it to the Emperor in the palace... I can’t even imagine it. The entire Xie Mansion will be implicated and condemned. What would we do then?"
The maid shushed her. "Don’t say such things. It won’t get that serious."
"The Eldest Young Master isolated himself in the side courtyard for two or three days. He only went to the palace after confirming he was fine."
Tan Xiang shook her head, looking helpless. "The Eldest Young Master is just too responsible. He’s staying behind even though he knows she can’t be cured."
"If he gets the plague, his bright future will be... Sigh. Anyway, I won’t say any more. Since nothing has changed, I’d better hurry back and report to Second Madam."
Silence returned to the doorway.
But inside the room, Shen Ningning opened her haggard, bloodshot eyes and stared blankly at the canopy above her bed.
’So I have the plague!’
’I can’t stay here and ruin Brother before I’m fully recovered.’
’Brother is such a good person. I can’t let him get sick because of me.’
「An incense stick later.」
A maid wearing a mask came in and helped Shen Ningning drink her medicine.
The little girl suddenly said sweetly, "Miss, I’d like some porridge."
Seeing how frail and pitiful she looked, the maid quickly said, "Of course. I’ll go tell the kitchen. You should get some more rest."
After the maid left, Shen Ningning forced herself to sit up.
The little girl left a note, then, leaning weakly against the wall, she began to edge her way outside.
She struggled for each breath, her head feeling as heavy as if a stone were tied to it.
Thankfully, she had drunk the Spiritual Spring Water, so her legs still had some strength.
It was noon.
Most of the servants were resting and not busy in the courtyards.
Leaning on the wall, Shen Ningning slowly made her way to the gate.
The gatekeeper spotted her.
"Young Miss, what are you doing out here?"
"I’m going home. I already told Brother," the little girl explained with a smile.
Looking at her pale face and colorless lips, the gatekeeper was suspicious.
"Did you really tell the Eldest Young Master?"
Shen Ningning nodded.
’I left a note.’
And so, the gatekeeper didn’t feel he could stop her. He could only watch as she struggled out of the Xie Mansion.
Meanwhile, from around a corner in the corridor behind them, Xie Yuanjiu stood with a maid, taking it all in.
She pursed her lips, a faint look of satisfaction in her eyes.
After leaving the Xie Mansion, Shen Ningning made her way alone down a long alley.
The path, which was normally an easy walk, now felt as arduous as climbing to the heavens.
With every step she took, a painful tightness constricted her chest, forcing her to gasp for air.
Her small face, already pale, turned as white as paper from the struggle.
WHOOSH—the sound of the wind passed overhead.
Shen Ningning still had the presence of mind to look up curiously.
She saw a swallow-shaped kite drifting carefreely against the blue sky.
The autumn wind rustled past, bringing with it a deep, profound quiet.
A weak smile touched Shen Ningning’s lips. ’I really love autumn. When I’m better, I want to go fly kites with my brothers.’
Suddenly!
Strength suddenly drained from her limbs. Before she could react, she had already fallen heavily to the ground.
She struggled, but she couldn’t get back up.
Her breathing grew ragged, and a swelling sensation seemed to crawl up into her throat.
She was in agony, like a dying fish gasping for air but finding no relief.
The light in Shen Ningning’s dark, limpid eyes grew dim. A sense of panic stirred deep within her.
’If I die,’ she thought, ’what will happen to Grandma Qin? To Langlang?’
Just then, a carriage burst abruptly into her line of sight, screeching to a halt in front of her.
A figure leaped from the carriage.
All sounds seemed to reach her through a thick fog, but she could feel the person anxiously calling her name.
Then, hurried footsteps arrived in front of her.
The first thing the little girl saw was the horned dragon embroidered on the hem of his robes, soaring through clouds.
"Shen Ningning! Shen Ningning!" His voice finally broke through the haze.
The next moment, he swept her into a tight embrace. "Shen Ningning!"
It was Mo Lingwei.
His face came into sharp focus.
"Brother, I’m so dizzy," she said weakly.
Mo Lingwei was still pale from his own recent illness, but he paid it no mind. He quickly lifted Shen Ningning into the carriage.
He barked at the driver, "To Wolf Mountain! Quickly!"
Although he didn’t know what was wrong with Shen Ningning, Mo Lingwei remembered that the spring water there could cure many incurable diseases.
The carriage could only go as far as the foot of Wolf Mountain, where the road ended.
Without a word, Mo Lingwei carried Shen Ningning out of the carriage and ran up the mountain path.
His guard, Wu Fang, shouted anxiously, "Your Highness, you’ve only just recovered..."
Before he could finish, Mo Lingwei had already vanished from sight.
Along the path, Mo Lingwei tripped on a thick vine.
He crashed hard to his knees, but his arms instinctively tightened around the unconscious Shen Ningning, shielding her completely from the impact.
Mo Lingwei’s expression was grim. Ignoring the searing pain in his knee, he gritted his teeth and forced himself back to his feet.
He shouted into the forest, "Black Wolf King, come out! Shen Ningning is sick!"
Mo Lingwei was racing against time; his own two legs were no match for the Black Wolf King’s speed.
Mo Lingwei kept running and shouting, and in a moment, a massive black shadow shot out like the wind and appeared before him.
Upon seeing the unconscious Shen Ningning, the Black Wolf King let out a furious roar.
Mo Lingwei placed the little girl on its back. "Get her into the spring water. Quickly."
The Black Wolf King vanished like a bolt of lightning.
By the time Mo Lingwei reached Shen Ningning’s home on the mountain, the little girl was already submerged in the Lotus Pond.
Grandma Qin knelt by the pond, tears in her eyes. "What’s happened to my Ningning? She was perfectly fine when she left, wasn’t she?"
The Black Wolf King glanced back at Mo Lingwei, then let out a low whine to Grandma Qin.
Alerted, Grandma Qin turned to look and gasped.
The area below Mo Lingwei’s left knee was a bloody mess, staining his white boot crimson.
"Child, you’re hurt too! Quickly, come inside so I can treat that wound." In her distress, Grandma Qin had completely forgotten his royal title.
But Mo Lingwei moved to the edge of the pond. "I’m staying right here. I’ll watch over her."
Grandma Qin had no choice but to bring the medicine kit to him.
A long thorn was embedded below his knee. He didn’t even flinch as it was pulled out, his brow furrowed only with worry as he watched Shen Ningning.
The little girl’s face had been deathly pale, but after soaking in the Lotus Pond for a while, some color finally returned to her cheeks.
However, she remained unconscious.
After treating Mo Lingwei’s wound, Grandma Qin had him soak his injured leg in the pond as well.
「Meanwhile.」
The Xie Mansion was in chaos.
The Divine Doctor, Sima Han, was pacing back and forth anxiously.
"Where is she? A living, breathing person, someone gravely ill, and you’re telling me she just walked out on her own?"
"Don’t you understand? Someone with the plague cannot be moved! Any exertion could cause them to suffocate and die!"
The gatekeeper and the maid kept their heads down, their faces pale with fright.
To one side, Xie Mingxu clutched the note Shen Ningning had left behind.
It read—
"Brother, I’ve gone home to get better. Please take care of yourself."
Xie Mingxu closed his eyes. Just as Sima Han thought he had accepted the situation, Xie Mingxu suddenly drew the treasure sword from his waist.
The tip of the blade pressed against the gatekeeper’s throat.
"Why did you let her leave the mansion? How dare you, without my command?" he snarled, his dark eyes blazing with a black fire.
Xie Yuanjiu, who had just reached the doorway, froze when she heard this.
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Her eldest brother, Xie Mingxu, had always been calm and self-possessed, the type to remain perfectly composed even if a mountain were to collapse before him.
But now, he looked as if he was losing his mind with worry over Shen Ningning’s disappearance!