Chapter 375: Within the Palm

Chapter 375: Within the Palm

The moonlight fell upon the sea of sand like frost descending.

Su Youyue had lain in the room for a long time. No one came in again, and the noisy voices outside gradually quieted down. She heard the people from Dongrong entering their rooms to rest.

No one was watching her, as if they were certain she would stay here obediently, not daring to go anywhere.

After a long while, all was silent.

Su Youyue, who had been lying on the bed for a long time, slowly sat up, facing the moonlight through the window. She gradually bent her wrist back into place.

Unconsciously, she was drenched in sweat from the pain, but she did not make a single sound.

A moment later, she moved her wrist, which had returned to normal, got up from the bed, and looked out the window.

The silver sand sea stretched endlessly, like the Milky Way spread across the earth. Yet Su Youyue knew all too well that behind this enchanting beauty lay countless dangers.

She hadn't planned to escape at first.

After all, her chances of escaping were minimal, and surviving after escaping would be an even greater challenge.

But when she heard that Tuoba Xiao wanted to take her back to Dongrong, she immediately made up her mind.

She could not go to Dongrong. She had a strong feeling that once she arrived there, it would be nearly impossible to return to Great Shen.

She had already figured out Tuoba Xiao's intentions.

He intended to use her to threaten Xie Yuan.

Su Youyue did not want to give him that opportunity.

Moreover, the look in the eyes of the hirsute man from Dongrong today made her very uneasy. She felt he might take advantage of the situation... just like he did with the woman who died today.

Looking at the unguarded window, Su Youyue slowly clenched her hand, lowered her head to confirm that her wrist had fully recovered, and then walked towards the window...

The wind in the desert at night was cold, the sand was cool, and the air was filled with a misty fog like white smoke.

Su Youyue slipped out of the inn, stole some water and food, and even took a whip used for camels. However, she forgot a crucial piece of information—the temperature difference between day and night in the desert was extreme. What had been scorching hot during the day turned bitterly cold at night.

She left the oasis and hadn't traveled far before she started shivering from the cold.

In the distance, wolf howls echoed, one after another, chilling her to the bone.

She had forgotten that there were desert wolves in the sands. They roamed in packs, with keen senses, and if they encountered her, they would tear her apart.

Su Youyue touched the whip she had brought with her but felt no sense of security. She asked herself,

"Do you regret it?"

"No..."

She would rather face the wolves alone than return to Tuoba Xiao.

Just as Su Youyue took another step forward, she stepped into quicksand on a sand dune, lost her balance, and tumbled down.

The sand was soft, like freshly fallen snowflakes, so she didn't feel any pain. But when she lifted her head, she saw a pair of eerie green eyes staring at her from atop the opposite dune.

One pair, two pairs, three pairs... countless green and yellow eyes appeared on the dune, fixated on her.

Su Youyue's breath caught in her throat.

Coming back to her senses, her first reaction was to run, but she realized that she had dropped her only weapon, the whip, when she fell.

She swallowed hard and lunged to retrieve the whip, but at that moment, the wolves moved.

The wolves, like shadows gliding swiftly, charged towards her like spiders with multiple legs. Her hand was almost touching the whip when the pack surrounded her.

In that life-or-death moment, many thoughts flashed through Su Youyue's mind.

Xie Yuan, Father, Mother, Grandmother, Sister, Jin'er... memories from her childhood, her past life, and this life exploded in her mind.

Her pupils almost contracted into sharp ellipses.

She was going to die—

Suddenly, a figure appeared atop the dune.

Bathed in moonlight, his silhouette was fluid and graceful, every line of his body perfectly defined—bones, muscles, and sinews. Even the flowing ribbons on his clothes seemed favored by the Creator, their lines as smooth as flowing clouds under the moonlight.

Though Su Youyue was dazed, she did not mistake him for a hallucination of Xie Yuan before her death.

Their figures were distinctly different.

Xie Yuan had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, but his build was much wider. His waist seemed slender but was actually thick and sturdy. She loved to touch his waist at night, finding it inexplicably comforting.

The figure before her was also robust but more slender than Xie Yuan, with a narrower waist, making the contrast between his shoulders and waist even more pronounced.

Most noticeable were his arms. As he seemed to wear only half of his clothing, one arm was bare, revealing clear muscle lines that undulated like the gentle dunes of the desert, while Xie Yuan's muscles undulated like mountains.

The young man approached slowly, his blue-green eyes illuminated by the moonlight, like freshly cut crystal, ethereal yet otherworldly.

As he drew closer, the wolves dispersed, surrounding him as if he were the wolf king commanding them.

"Still running?"

The young man exhaled a puff of warm breath, still wearing that teasing smile.

For Su Youyue, the current situation was far from amusing.

She thought she had temporarily escaped.

But she didn't expect to still be in his grasp; this escape was merely for Tuoba Xiao's amusement!

Moreover, since Tuoba Xiao has the ability to command the wolves on the vast desert, it means that she will be dragged all the way to Dongrong by him, with no chance of escape.

For now, she had nothing to say and could only remain silent.

Tuoba Xiao's footsteps crunched through the sand as he approached her. The moment he stood before her, Su Youyue suddenly became alert, awkwardly retracting her right hand.

The young man, however, noticed this and smirked, "I didn't realize you could set your own bones."

Seeing that Su Youyue remained silent, his gaze roamed over her, pausing at her bare feet.

Although her feet had some small scabs from minor wounds, they did not detract from their beauty. Her skin was fair, and her feet were shapely, with faint blue veins visible on her insteps. Between her rounded, pale pink toes were tiny grains of silver sand.

"Don't want to talk?"

She didn't respond, and his smile suddenly turned cold.

"Since you escaped using your feet this time, perhaps I should make sure you can never run away again?"

With that, his eyes turned icy, and he grabbed her ankle.

Su Youyue, who had spent two lifetimes in a wheelchair, was particularly sensitive about her feet and legs. Alarm bells rang in her head, and she hurriedly tried to pull her foot back.

"Tuoba Xiao!"

This time, she was truly panicked.