Eine eisige Aura - Kapitel 45
Pang Wan looked back at him and sighed deeply for the twenty-fourth time, a sigh that was most meaningful.
"I wonder... does the young master still remember when I asked you, if you had a very precious treasure that the whole world coveted, where would you put it?" A look of sorrow appeared on her face.
He Qinglu quickly recalled the scene in his mind—when he was impersonating Wang Gang, the location was an inn.
“Yes, that’s true.” He nodded. “I remember my answer at the time was that if the treasure couldn’t be taken away, we should build a maze and have the fiercest rare birds and the most elite subordinates guard it; if the treasure could be taken away, we should keep it with us at all times.”
Pang Wan's distress deepened: "If we've observed it multiple times, even searched it thoroughly, and still haven't found a single clue in the other person's personal clothing, where else can we hide this treasure?"
He Qinglu's eyes lit up, and she answered calmly, "Are you sure the item is on the other person?"
Pang Wan nodded without hesitation: "The whole world knows that the item is on him." The Jade Dragon Token is a symbol of the martial arts alliance leader's status, and Gu Xiju would not possibly not carry it with him at all times.
"Well, there are two possibilities."
He Qinglu lowered her long eyelashes, and the corners of her lips began to slowly curve upwards in an almost imperceptible arc.
"The first option is to do the opposite. Since the whole world knows that the treasure is on him, for safety's sake, he can entrust the treasure to someone else—someone he can absolutely trust completely," he said calmly.
Would Gu Xiju have someone who would risk their life for them? Pang Wan blinked in confusion.
"The second possibility is that the item is indeed hidden on him, but no one will find it."
He Qinglu's smile turned eerie.
"If the treasure is small enough, he can cut out a piece of his own flesh, embed the treasure inside, and then apply a special medicine. After a long time, the wound heals, and his own body becomes the best vessel to hide the treasure—as long as he is alive, the treasure will never be lost."
He spoke slowly and deliberately, his words sending chills down his spine, while a look of delighted admiration spread across his face.
"This is terrifying!!" Pang Wan screamed. "Who came up with such a wicked idea?!" Isn't this self-harm?
The smile faded from He Qinglu's face, and he gave her a serious look: "It is indeed this young master."
"I never imagined you were so bloodthirsty!" Pang Wan looked him up and down with the eyes of someone looking at a monster—this guy might actually have masochistic tendencies!
However, He Qinglu was not angry. He simply said coldly, "Although the method was my idea, I will never use it." He was the most self-respecting person in the world. "A person who would use such a method must meet two conditions: First, he must be extremely powerful, otherwise even if the treasure remained in his body, it would be easy to be stolen; second, he must be extremely distrustful of people, otherwise he would not be forced to use this move—it can be said that he does not trust anyone in the world except himself."
At this point, he gave Pang Wan a meaningful smile: "What? I wonder if the person who has been making you sigh over and over again these past few days meets the criteria?"
Pang Wan was lost in thought when he was suddenly stung by the question. He immediately bared his claws and said, "I didn't sigh because I was looking for any treasure!"
"Why try to cover it up?" He Qinglu clearly disagreed with her answer.
Blood gushed from his cheeks. Pang Wan puffed out his chest, glared at him, and bared his teeth, saying fiercely, "I sighed because my first love didn't get married; his fiancée suddenly died! I'm feeling a little sad for him!!!"
"What do you know!" she glared at He Qinglu angrily, then turned and jumped out of the window and ran away.
He Qinglu's smile and his very being froze on the spot.
"Your first love?"
He subconsciously murmured the same phrase over and over, a rare look of confusion appearing in his eyes.
Jin Family Hairpin
As He Qinglu said, Pang Wan has been rather absent-minded these past few days.
A large part of what made her absent-minded was the sudden death of Mei Wu.
Previously, she had stubbornly believed that as long as she became as beautiful as Bai Lianhua, her future life would be smooth sailing. But now, seeing Mei Wu's tragic end, her original firm belief has been greatly shaken.
In the Mary Sue continent, there is a very powerful nation called the Kingdom of Tortured Love, or simply Torture Kingdom. The noblewomen living there are strange; they always enjoy playing high-difficulty tropes with the male protagonists, like "you stab me, I stab you," "heartbreak today, amnesia tomorrow," and "faking death, jumping off a cliff, and being reborn." Although Pang Wan wasn't from the Torture Kingdom in her previous life, she had heard about their peculiar habits. She wondered, could it be that Miss Mei is from the Torture Kingdom? Is her love for the Southern Barbarians a pretense, and her true purpose the revenge? Mei Wu deliberately chose to die when the Southern Barbarians were at their happiest, to avenge some legendary "clan hatred and family feuds." Naturally, her death was faked; naturally, she would reunite with the Southern Barbarians; naturally, there would be a happy ending with a reconciliation.
No matter how she tried to subtly or overtly probe Nan Yi, she received only one answer—Mei Wu was truly dead, and even her body had been burned by the sect leader (cremation is a fine tradition of the Moon Worship Sect). Nan Yi himself even confirmed Mei Wu's burial.
—I would still recognize that beautiful face even if it turned to ashes.
The southern barbarians said this with considerable pain.
Pang Wan dared not touch upon this painful matter of the Southern Barbarians again, and all his speculations had to be swallowed back into his own mind.
—Could it be that this story will ultimately take the reincarnation route? Will Mei Wu's soul be reborn into a woman's body, rekindling her past romance with Nan Yi? Following the principle of Mary Sue tropes—if it's not going to be angsty, then it's angsty to the extreme—Mei Wu is very likely to be reborn into the woman Nan Yi hates the most, and without a doubt, that woman is herself!
—Damn it, she didn't want Mei Wu to use her body to teach the male lead about the transformation from "hate to love." Since the female lead's path hadn't been successful yet, Comrade Saintess would continue to work hard! She had to save her life and couldn't let anyone take her body away!
With this strange idea in mind, Pang Wan's top priority recently has shifted from learning the Soul-Hooking Technique to a paranoid thought: "I want to see who dares to harm me."
"You're looking nervous again," Jin Buyao sighed once more.
Pang Wan touched her slightly stiff face and gave her an awkward, bleak smile.
"The so-called bewitching art should be used casually and effortlessly. With you so guarded, how can anyone open their heart to you?" Jin Buyao shook her jade-like arm at her, looking somewhat disinterested.
"I'm sorry, Granny, I was distracted for a moment." Pang Wan was afraid that the beauty would storm off, so she quickly apologized obediently.
Fortunately, Jin Buyao simply responded with a nonchalant smile.
"You're still young, and everything is written all over your face." She gazed at Pang Wan with eyes as clear as water, as if looking through her.
"Does Granny have someone she likes?" Pang Wan suddenly remembered what He Qinglu had said and couldn't help but become curious.
"Yes, I do." Jin Buyao smiled generously. After all, she had lived most of her life, how could she not have?
"Then you must have gotten him, right? Are you getting along well now?" Pang Wan asked matter-of-factly, she really couldn't imagine what kind of blind man would refuse Jin Buyao.
"No, I have spent my whole life trying to get him." Jin Buyao maintained her smile, calm and relaxed.
Pang Wan's expression froze instantly.