Reborn and Pampered

Chapter 246 Don't Be Afraid

If Ning Yan had planned everything from the start, then why stay at the bottom of the cliff? Since someone had clearly set things up here, it meant he knew the way out. He could have left—why risk being found?

“You… Ning Yan!”

Bai Qingqing had just opened her mouth to ask when she saw him suddenly sway and stumble beside the stone platform. He barely managed to prop himself up with one hand, or he would have toppled headfirst to the ground.

Light filtering down from above struck his arm, and Bai Qingqing’s pupils shrank—his dark sleeve was soaked through and glistening in the light.

She rushed to his side, carefully lifting his sleeve. But the fabric was already clinging to his skin, mingled with blood. The flesh around the wound was tinged with an unnatural hue.

“You’re really poisoned? But… wasn’t this all part of your plan?”

Ning Yan tried to flash a careless smile at her pale, stricken face, but his consciousness was already slipping.

“This poison… had to be taken… Don’t worry, I’ve had the antidote… I won’t die…”

He gave his head a slight shake, struggling to stay lucid. “Can you… take care of yourself…? This place… is safe enough, you…”

Bai Qingqing’s thoughts were in turmoil. She understood what he meant—only by being poisoned and falling off the cliff would it be believable that something had truly happened to him, even if no body was ever found. To deceive Prince Ping, this poison had to be taken.

But if she hadn’t fallen with him, would he have had to endure the pain of the lingering poison alone?

“Stop talking. Is there medicine here? Wen Jiang must’ve left something, right? Did he leave anything else? Is there more of the antidote? Do you need to take more?”

Hearing the urgency in her voice, Ning Yan knew exactly what she was thinking. “...Don’t be afraid. I’ve always had a stubborn life…”

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He had known from the start what kind of poison Prince Ping’s men would use, and had taken the antidote Wen Jiang prepared. But the poison was still real, and potent. According to his original plan, it would keep him conscious long enough to reach this place. After that—his fate would be up to fate itself.

He had always enjoyed gambling with his life. There was something thrilling about dancing on the edge of a blade. And he truly believed he was hard to kill—he’d heard those words every day since childhood, and after a while, he simply began to believe them.

Only in that final moment, as consciousness slipped away, did a flicker of regret rise in him. He should have planned more thoroughly, should have considered more carefully. To pass out from the poison and leave Bai Qingqing here alone—knowing her temperament, how terrified must she be…

Bai Qingqing eased Ning Yan’s unconscious body flat onto the stone platform. The silence around them was absolute, no trace of life to be heard. Apart from Ning Yan and herself, there was likely no one else alive.

His complexion was ghastly pale, not a hint of blood left in his face. The once-unstoppable Commander of the Embroidered Guards now lay weak and unconscious. Bai Qingqing pressed her numb hand hard to regain feeling, then pulled a small, delicate dagger from her boot.

A gift from Qi Yue—sharp enough to slice through gold like soft clay.

She held the dagger and leaned close, carefully, meticulously, cutting open his sleeve.

The blood-soaked fabric made a dull, heavy sound as it fell to the ground. Bai Qingqing recalled how he had carried her all this way in such a state, and her grip on the dagger turned so tight her knuckles went pale.

Just above the wound, a strip of cloth had been tied tightly—it had clearly been treated, at least a little. Bai Qingqing turned to the stack of supplies and began to search, slowly and carefully. Sure enough, she found what she needed.