However, a hand suddenly crept over. Su Xiaoying didn't move, only saying with slight annoyance, "What are you doing?"
The hand showed no sign of stopping, and a voice asked softly, "Where's your head? Which side is your head on?" After a while, it seemed to have found its way, and with a rustling sound, his head also lay down.
"Are you thinking about Xie Yuanlan?" the voice asked.
Su Xiaoying gave a mumbled "hmm".
"Let's think about it tomorrow. There's no point in wasting time."
Su Xiaoying stared at a star in the sky and asked lazily, "How did you know I was here?"
“I went to look for you, but you weren’t there, so I came here.”
Su Xiaoying said, "You're really capable; you managed to find it even with all that."
The voice chuckled, then suddenly made a rustling sound and asked, "What is this?"
Su Xiaoying said, "It's an old vine, don't kick it, my foot is stuck there."
"Aren't you afraid of snakes lying like that?"
Su Xiaoying said impatiently, "What's wrong? Why are you suddenly talking so much nonsense?"
The voice suddenly turned fierce, saying, "Su Xiaoying, how dare you talk to me like that? I'm your boss's wife!"
Su Xiaoying said, "Does the landlady really come here in the middle of the night to bother people like this?"
The voice shouted, "Where are you bothering me?"
Su Xiaoying said, "If you're not going to bother me, why are you putting your hand on mine?"
"There's not enough space here, I have nowhere to put it."
"Why come here if you know the space is cramped?"
"Let's discuss the matter of Half Spoon Manor," the voice said earnestly, becoming serious.
Su Xiaoying said, "Is this the time to discuss Banshao Manor? How can we have a discussion like this?"
"Why can't we discuss this?"
Why do you think so?
"have no idea."
Su Xiaoying said seriously, "You're pretending to be stupid."
"I never... um... what do you want to do..."
There was another rustling sound, and Su Xiaoying had already gotten up. Then she leaned down and kissed Yimei on the lips. It was so dark, yet he found her very accurately.
Yi Mei's breathing became a little labored. "I said," she said earnestly, panting slightly, "that there is one excellent benefit to our practice."
"What are the benefits?" Su Xiaoying asked absentmindedly.
"A kiss can last a long time."
Su Xiaoying reached out and gently pressed the back of her head. Neither of them spoke, and they kissed passionately.
After a long while, Su Xiaoying finally said, "I have a question for you, and you must answer it, and you must tell the truth."
Yi Mei's voice became very soft and gentle, "What is it?" she asked.
Why are you so shameless?
“Because I am not an ordinary woman,” Yi Mei said calmly. “I also want to ask you something, and you have to tell me the truth.”
"good."
"Were you feeling homesick just now?"
"Nonsense."
"That's it! That's it! You were sighing so sadly just now..."
"If I hadn't sighed, would you have found me so quickly?"
Yi Mei smiled mysteriously and said, "How could I not find you? I know exactly when you left Banshao Manor."
"So you had this planned all along."
"You haven't answered me yet..."
Su Xiaoying covered her mouth, and the rustling sounds began to grow louder. "Don't spoil the fun," he said. Yi Mei gave a soft "Mmm" and wrapped her arms around his waist. The two easily pressed together, entwined.
"Oops, I bumped into something..."
"Don't move, that's an ancient vine..."
Yi Mei rested her head against Su Xiaoying's chest, gazing at the starry sky. The night was still so dark. The stars were still so low.
"Xiao Ying," Yi Mei suddenly asked, "what do you think about this?"
Su Xiaoying replied absentmindedly, "I didn't look at it much."
Yi Mei asked, "Don't you have any opinions at all?"
Su Xiaoying thought for a moment and honestly replied, "A little."
Yi Mei asked, "What?"
Su Xiaoying let out a satisfied sigh and said gently, "...You are my woman...Ouch, why are you pinching me!"
Yi Mei retorted angrily, "What are you thinking?"
Su Xiaoying said, "What are you thinking about? What else can you be thinking about when things are like this?"
Yi Mei was speechless with anger and said, "It turns out that men have a talent for thinking about these kinds of things."
"That's how it is."
Yi Mei was about to jump up when Su Xiaoying quickly pulled her back, saying, "Alright, you're asking about Xie Yuanlan, aren't you?"
Yi Mei said, "Mm."
Su Xiaoying said, "Well... you need to let me think about it carefully. At least the wind needs to dry my sweat."
Yi Mei was taken aback and said, "You still say I'm shameless? Your skin is definitely no thinner than mine."
Su Xiaoying said, "If I don't do this, how can I be your man?"
Yi Mei said, "I would still prefer to be your boss's wife."
Su Xiaoying said, "Not only will you be the boss's wife, but you'll also be the mother of my child... Ouch, you're pinching me again!"
Yi Mei said, "Don't think too much. Overthinking is bad for your health."
Su Xiaoying said, "No, I still need to think about Xie Yuanlan's matter."
This time, it was Yimei's turn to remain silent.
Then neither of them uttered another word. Their breathing gradually became long and even. Yi Mei felt that although Su Xiaoying often deliberately said things that would infuriate her, the way he hugged her was truly powerful.
The mountain breeze was a bit chilly at this time, but the cool breeze did not stop them from drifting into a sweet dream.
Su Xiaoying and Yi Mei woke up at almost the same time. When they woke up, a thin mist was rising in the mountains, but the sun had already peeked out, and the shimmering light pierced through the mist, making the whole mountain glow faintly.
Su Xiaoying and Yi Mei sat up and realized that their vantage point offered a panoramic view of the entire Banshao Mountain Villa. The villa, shrouded in the morning mist, should have been a magnificent sight, shrouded in mist and clouds.
They were still close together, Yi Mei's hand still clasped in Su Xiaoying's. They had a great time last night, so they looked a little disheveled now.
However, neither of them felt embarrassed. They looked down at Banshao Mountain Villa at the foot of the mountain for a very long time.
“Xiao Ying,” Yi Mei murmured, “I was really out of my mind last night. I’m still having a dream. Try pinching me. This dream is really long.”
Su Xiaoying didn't hold back at all and pinched her hand hard.
Yi Mei didn't cry out in pain. She suddenly turned her face to look at Su Xiaoying and exclaimed in an extremely surprised tone, "Su Xiaoying!"
The two of them then hurriedly tidied their clothes with movements faster than drawing a sword, and ran down the mountain as fast as they could.
What should have been a place of thick walls and tall vermilion gates, Banshao Manor, was now nothing but a pile of rubble. Yimei thought she had gone to the wrong place. Looking back, the beautiful, rolling hills were still there, with the cold spring at their base still flowing and forming a small pool. The once rustic Banshao Manor before her had been reduced to scorched earth and ruins overnight. A few wisps of smoke still curled from the ruins, emitting a pungent smell.
The image of this Banshao Mountain Villa still standing before our eyes makes this ruin seem even more like an illusion.
"How is that possible!" Yi Mei exclaimed. "Even if the villa was on fire, how could we not have felt it at all!"
Su Xiaoying's face was very pale. He squatted down and touched the rubble on the ground.
Yi Mei said, "Half Spoon Manor is not an ordinary manor, but a famous martial arts family. Many of the people in the manor know martial arts, so it's impossible for them all to have been burned to death inside. But Xiao Ying, look, there are no people from the manor lingering around nearby."
Su Xiaoying nodded and said, "You're right. This place is deserted, it's like a burned-down, empty manor."
Yi Mei said, "Of course not, there are corpses ahead. Half Spoon Manor, a business built up over decades, as the saying goes, even a centipede with a hundred legs doesn't fall down when dead. Logically speaking, it's not so easy to destroy it. Such a large manor, with a hundred people, if they were to openly slaughter and burn it down, how could it be so quiet?"
The morning breeze ruffled their clothes, carrying with it a stench of burning flesh. Looking around, the mangled, charred corpses lay mixed in with the brick and earth ruins, their forms and ages impossible to discern. Not long ago they were fathers, wives, lovers; suddenly, they were nothing but rubbish in the ashes.
"Everyone in the entire village has been ambushed," Su Xiaoying suddenly realized, and whispered, "They've been drugged with a very potent sleeping potion."
Yi Mei shuddered and her eyes widened instantly. "That's right! Su Xiaoying! Even we were drugged! That's why we slept so soundly yesterday!"
“Maybe it wasn’t yesterday,” Su Xiaoying shook her head and said, “Maybe we didn’t even wake up this morning and slept for a whole day. How could such a big manor be completely burned down in one night?”
Yi Mei was horrified. After a while, she said, "We almost burned to death inside too."
Su Xiaoying asked, "What should we do now?"
Yi Mei said, "You're asking me?"
Su Xiaoying said, "You're my boss's wife, of course I have to listen to you."
Yi Mei said, "Let's look around, maybe we'll find some clues." Even so, she knew that finding such clues would be extremely difficult. How could there be any clues left after everything had been burned to ashes? The two of them walked around the ruins, and the tragic scene was shocking.
Su Xiaoying sighed softly, "I watched him build a tall building, I watched him entertain guests, and I watched his building collapse. This whole scene is truly like a dream!"
Yi Mei lowered her head and remained silent. Suddenly, her expression changed, and she put her finger to her lips, signaling Su Xiaoying to be quiet.
"Someone's there." She listened intently for a while, then whispered. Su Xiaoying's experience in the martial world was far inferior to hers, and she immediately followed Yi Mei into the rubble.
Yi Mei leaped a few times, her lithe figure abruptly halting, then she gasped in shock.
This place was originally a pool where Banshao Manor dug a water source and introduced it into a cold spring. Because the pool was connected to the cold spring, it had not dried up. Beside the pool, a round head rolled around, and pieces of flesh were scattered all over the ground.
Su Xiaoying couldn't help but bite her lip; she had already recognized the head.
"Xie Yuanlan! Xie Yuanlan!" Yi Mei cried out, "How could he be so cruel! The person was already dead, yet he didn't even spare the corpse!"
Su Xiaoying suddenly pulled Yi Mei aside and pointed to the side, saying, "Xie Wangyi!"