Half incense stick later, Ling Qi was feeling her breathing getting shallow. Hiding inside the pile she did not move an inch and blood was coming out of her mouth as she was choking on her own blood.
Soon she heard little footsteps, she hoped it was the little girl because she was in no position to move let alone fight.But while waiting she was at a stage where death was the only option for her and while closing her eyes she kept thinking of La Kun her heart filled with love but her brain full of anger for him.
Slowly , she came back to reality as the pile was removed from her body, a small voice whispered in her ears
" it's curfew hour those men should have left as the royal troops are marching". A cloth with some herbs packed inside was placed on her lips.
The little girl whispered "bite it hard, this cloth has brahmi leaves placed inside this will slow down the blood loss.
She placed her hands on her shoulder " I am small but we need to make do and also we need to reach the courtyard fast enough to hide from the royal troops and that men".
The little girl was trembling as she carried Ling Qi to 100m west. There she saw the back wall of some mansion.
Little girl prodded the was as she skillfully loosened the bricks and removed them to form a dog hole. Pointing towards the hole she motioned for her to crawl.
Looking at her crawling Little girl whispered "take shelter in the corner I will retrace our footsteps to remove our traces".
Ling Qi spotted some pile of woods as she hid behind them waiting for little girl or death to reach her.
Little HwaHwa saw the few blood trails on the way and swiftly covered them with dirt.
She looked around to ensure no one was looking for them. Reaching the house she found Ling Qi and started dragging her to the small shabby shed built for her as her courtyard.
While she huffed and puffed , HwaHwa felt that she had no strength to do anything but still she persisted. Pulling her to the red carpet she removed the clothes from her body to find the source of blood. There she found gushing would on left side of the chest.
Amount of blood loss and still seeing Ling Qi trying to stay awake made her impressed for her strength
She had enough injuries in the past to know the basic wound management and Brahmi plant was used by her for severe injuries.
Next few hours she cleaned the wound of her mouth and filled it again with brahmi paste filled cloth and same to the other knife wound.
Ling Qi was burning hot for 2 days before her fever broke. Finding food for herself was difficult for HwaHwa now she had to care for another.
Though Go courtyard gave her clothes and some jewelry to show off they cared for the orphan but she would be caught if anyone found her selling those jewelries. But they never cared for her food. Letting her go hungry for few days.
In the extreme hunger she started steeling and scavenging for food in waste buckets of ministers residing in their area. People inside the Go courtyard were cruel enough to make her see them as they enjoyed the meals while discarding the scraps to the dogs to make her feel more helpless and desperate.
Just like that seven days passed when Ling Qi opened her eyes with blurry vision she looked at little girl huddled in the corner. A small blanket covered her injured body probably belonging to the little girl as the girl was sleeping without any cover.
She opened her mouth when pain covered her senses. Both her mouth and chest hurt just then HwaHwa opened her eyes.
"Injuries inside the mouth heal on their own when kept clean and supported by Brahmi which not only stops the blood but also heal the wound. You will be sore but will be fine after few days".
Ling Qi moved her hands in desperation to ask the Little girl " why did you save me".
HwaHwa smiled " if you survived you will serve me and if died I will use your body to distract dogs from the food buckets placed outside the mansion. You will be delicious enough for me last atleast 2 weeks".