Snow falls and the wind blows

Chapter 61

Duan Chen, however, remained calm and replied in a low voice, "Because he doesn't understand disguise."

The two were completely taken aback by this answer and were momentarily stunned. After a while, Zhan Yun smiled wryly and sighed, "As expected, Chen'er was the most thoughtful. Now that the enemy is in the dark while we are in the light, and the three of us have exposed our faces in the battle just now, if we want to sneak out of the town without alerting their spies, we really need your skillful hands, senior."

Xiao Changqing smiled smugly again: "Who said I was going to sneak away? I'm going to leave this Bitter Water Town openly and honestly!"

Author's Note: There will be an update tomorrow at 9 AM.

Next up is some time alone for Zhanzhan and Chenchen! ~\(≧▽≦)/~ I'm such a loving mom~

It's not that Prince Zhao didn't want to come; in fact, he was quite unlucky~ %>_<% You'll see later~

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Seeing familiar faces from the past couple of days felt really nice. Thank you all for pointing out typos and asking other questions!

I've already marked several of these as featured comments. When you're reading, please look at the bottom right corner; all the featured comments are there.

As Yueyue and Yangyang mentioned before, they won't be used as bait, but they should be allowed to get hurt a little. It was Zhanzhan who applied for it himself!

A warm welcome to all the new members! Seeing so many guests is incredibly exciting! Please look into my sincere eyes! ~( ⊙o⊙ )~

59

Chapter Six: Overt Tides and Hidden Currents...

Zhan Yun handed over a cup of piping hot strong tea, a faint smile appearing in her crescent-shaped eyes: "Senior Xiao's disguise skills are truly amazing, his every move is imitated so perfectly."

Duan Chen smiled slightly, took a sip of hot tea, but kept his eyes fixed on the window. As dawn broke, Xiao Changqing, dressed in a grey cotton robe, walked calmly northwards, one hand clasped in front of him and the other behind his back. Having met Xia Luzhen twice, Xiao Changqing had perfectly imitated her gait and facial expressions; it was truly admirable.

Duan Chen closed his eyes briefly, his voice slightly hoarse as he spoke: "I'd like to go into the woods later."

Seeing that her eyes were slightly red and her face looked tired, Zhan Yun knew that she hadn't slept well for two nights in a row and was just trying to stay awake. So he softened his voice and advised, "You should get some sleep first. Anyway, there's nowhere to eat here if you get up early. I'll wake you up when it's bright."

Last night, he tossed and turned for half the night, constantly thinking about the Seven Sheng Sect. This morning, he got up before dawn to help Xiao Changqing prepare the facial paste, which took almost two hours to finish. In total, he only rested for about an hour, and Duan Chen was indeed quite tired. He turned around to tidy up the utensils on the table, but Zhan Yun quickly stopped him and pulled him to the bedside: "You were busy just now, and I was asleep the whole time. I'll do these."

Duan Chen didn't refuse anymore, pulled down the bed curtains, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep. Zhan Yun quietly wiped all the utensils clean and put them away, poured himself a cup of strong tea, drank it, and turned to look at the sleeping person on the bed. Behind the hazy white gauze, he saw that the person was lying on his side, his phoenix eyes, which always showed a cool expression, were now tightly closed, his pink lips were slightly pursed, his expression was very peaceful, and his delicate features showed a touch more gentleness than usual.

Zhan Yun watched quietly, a smile gradually appearing on her lips. She poured herself another cup of tea, sat down at the table, and began to carefully consider the events of the past two days.

About an hour later, Zhan Yun walked to the bedside and softly called, "Chen'er, wake up." After calling several times, the person on the bed slowly woke up. Opening his still slightly sore eyes, Duan Chen thanked her and sat up, supporting himself on the edge of the bed. The two tidied themselves up a bit and then left the inn together.

The sky was already bright, but a gray haze hung in the air, creating an inexplicable sense of oppression. Reaching the site of last night's fight, they saw broken cart planks scattered on the ground, but the four corpses were nowhere to be found. The two exchanged a glance. Zhan Yun calmly surveyed their surroundings, then whispered, "Looks like we've been targeted."

Duan Chen pursed his lips and moved his feet: "After eating, let's go see Doctor Xia first."

Zhan Yun had the same idea, and as the two walked side by side, she deliberately adjusted her pace to cleverly block Duan Chen. After walking for a while, Zhan Yun gently moved her lips and whispered, "Let's go."

Duan Chen knew his internal strength was far inferior to Zhan Yun's, so he stared straight ahead expressionlessly and asked, "How many people are there in total?"

Zhan Yun smiled, but his crescent-shaped eyes seemed more profound than usual: "One just left, and now two more have arrived."

The two walked all the way to the same porridge shop as yesterday, ordered two bowls of porridge and two steamers of dumplings, and ate quietly. Seeing that the two were still in town, the old woman didn't say anything more, just sighed, put down her food, and went to the back.

Neither of them ate quickly, chewing slowly and swallowing gently, without saying a word. Partly, it was a deliberate delay; partly, they both understood that after this meal, they might not have another chance to have a proper meal, so they wanted to make the most of it.

They placed the coins on the table, got up, left the shop, and headed towards Xia Luzhen's house. As they neared the alley entrance, Zhan Yun whispered, "Everyone's gone."

Duan Chen raised her chin slightly, her phoenix eyes looking directly at the handsome man beside her with a faint smile: "When did you begin to suspect him?" She had barely slept a wink last night, carefully going over the events that had transpired since the three of them arrived in town, and couldn't help but secretly blame herself for being careless. Although everyone in town was afraid of the so-called evil spirit's curse and worried that the three of them might encounter danger, no one had repeatedly tried to dissuade them from leaving as quickly as Xia Luzhen had.

Recalling his account of the constable from Suzhou Prefecture yesterday, it seemed more like intimidation than remorse or well-intentioned advice. The three of them had traveled to the woods by carriage with A-Wen yesterday, but Xia Luzhen, unusually, made an excuse not to come. According to his and A-Wen's previous accounts, it seemed the two of them would always rush to the woods to help after an incident. That's why A-Wen rushed to Doctor Xia's house as soon as he received the news, while the others, including the elder surnamed Liu, had already driven to the woods.

Zhan Yun blinked and said gently, "This morning while you were sleeping, I went through everything that had happened in the past two days, and I felt that this person was quite suspicious."

Duan Chen glanced at her with his cold phoenix eyes, saying nothing more, but he knew in his heart that this person wasn't entirely telling the truth. Zhan Yun walked beside him, his gaze softening slightly as he felt that look, and the corners of his lips curved into a slight smile. After spending so many days together, he had discovered that this person actually had quite a temper, not as cold and indifferent as she appeared on the surface. It was just that she knew how to hide her emotions, and her face rarely showed any fluctuation, but if one observed carefully, one could still see some clues.

A slight upturn of the lips indicates amusement or sarcasm. A tightly pursed mouth signifies restraint, a slight furrow of the brow indicates doubt, half-closed eyes indicate deep thought, and a cold, fixed gaze suggests suspicion. Only when extremely pleased does one display a normal smile. A sidelong glance, like just now, indicates disbelief and some anger.

Zhan Yun was somewhat lost in memories of the beautiful woman beside him when he heard Duan Chen say softly, "We're probably too late."

Zhan Yun snapped out of his daze and looked up to see Awen standing not far ahead, scratching his head in front of Xia Luzhen's door, looking like he was about to climb over the wall. Seeing the two of them arrive, Awen rushed over, his face full of anxiety: "Doctor Xia isn't home! I came here half an hour ago, knocked on the door for ages but no one answered. I just went to his pharmacy again, but no one was there either. Da Liu and the others are looking for him house to house too!"

Seeing that the two remained silent, Awen was so anxious that tears were about to well up in his eyes: "What should we do? Didn't they say that bad guy only wanted young people? How come he arrested Doctor Xia too? How could this happen..."

"Besides Doctor Xia, has anyone else been found missing?" Duan Chen asked softly.

Awen rubbed his eyes, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke: "I haven't heard about it from others. But there are a few villages below Kushui Town. If they disappear there, we won't get any news for a while, so Da Liu takes people to those villages every few days."

Zhan Yun had already climbed over the wall and opened the door from the inside. Awen ran quickly into the yard, calling out "Doctor Xia" repeatedly.

The two followed him into the house and saw Awen standing blankly by the table, her eyes already red. Duan Chen and Zhan Yun looked around and saw that the room was furnished as before, with no apparent changes. Awen, however, seemed to remember something. Rubbing her eyes, she walked to the chest of drawers against the south wall, moved a large celadon vase aside, and squatted down to pull out the small drawer in the lower left corner near the base of the wall.

As soon as the two followed, Awen jumped up, so excited he could barely speak: "Dr. Xia is alright! He once told me that there was a treasure he would take with him even if it meant death, and he would never let it leave his side. If he were kidnapped, he definitely wouldn't have time to take that thing out and carry it with him!" The two looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that the small drawer was already empty.

Zhan Yun asked quickly, "What is it?"

Awen bit her lip, her brows furrowed tightly. "I've never seen it before either. It's just a small pouch, about the size of a palm. It's dark red and looks quite old. It's stuffed full, I don't know what's inside." As she spoke, Awen's eyes widened, her face serious. "But Dr. Xia treasures it! I've only seen it once. Dr. Xia usually keeps that pouch here and doesn't even carry it with her."

Duan Chen glanced at the small drawer that had been pulled open, then stared intently at Awen: "You've only seen it once?"

Seeing Awen nod emphatically, Duan Chen continued, "Did you see it by accident, or did Doctor Xia show it to you on his own initiative?"

Awen blinked, somewhat puzzled, "Of course, it was Dr. Xia who took the initiative to examine me." He then waved his hand and added, "You two don't know, Dr. Xia is a very meticulous person. If he hadn't examined me, I would never have known about this."

The two exchanged a glance without saying a word. Zhan Yun patted Awen on the shoulder and said gently, "Awen, what you've said is very important. It might help us find Doctor Xia. Think carefully, did Doctor Xia say anything else when he showed you that purse?"

Ah Wen was also visibly excited. He tilted his chin back and thought for a moment before speaking somewhat indistinctly, "It seems he said that if something happened to him one day and he couldn't take this thing with him, he wanted me to throw it into the 'Sulfur Fire Spring' for him..." As Ah Wen spoke, he pounded his head, looking quite annoyed, "Sigh! We were both a little drunk at the time! I, I'm such a blockhead! He seemed to have said something else... I thought he was just confused from drinking, talking about something happening to him, so I didn't take it too seriously..."

Zhan Yun patted his shoulder reassuringly again: "It's already very good."

Duan Chen listened quietly the whole time. After Awen finished speaking, he bent down, took out the drawer, sniffed it, and handed it to Zhan Yun while asking Awen, "About how long ago was this thing you were talking about?"

Awen frowned and replied, "It's been almost a year."