"Lord Guan, he's so famous, who doesn't recognize him?"
Famous? I had no idea. Although I vaguely felt that he had some connection with Li Mu, that wasn't the point right now. The point was that Nangong Ling was avoiding me!
"Don't glare at me! I didn't expect him to run so fast either. As for his current whereabouts, don't ask me. I have no idea."
"How about I help you find it?" the man with peach blossom eyes interjected.
Zhiyu and I both turned to look at him, and he gave us a charming wink.
Suddenly, I felt a churning in my stomach, which prevented me from eating a proper meal for the next three days.
Chapter 94
This person's surname is Xiao, given name Lianjue, identity and background unknown. She possesses a foxy face, truly a captivating and alluring beauty, bewitching men effortlessly.
Having seen so many men with such good looks, I've become indifferent to them. So no matter how many faces he's made blush, I just find it an eyesore.
Looking at the table full of dishes in front of me, I had no appetite. Even the ginger fish slices didn't appeal to me. It's not like it's the height of summer, so it's really quite unusual.
"Aren't you going to eat?" The beautiful woman had a bamboo shoot between her lips; even in the mundane details of daily life, she exuded charm.
"I have no appetite when I'm around you."
He wasn't annoyed; he simply chewed the bamboo shoot slowly and then began to eat his meal and drink his soup in a leisurely manner.
Do you know where your three older brothers are right now?
"My eldest brother lives a vegetarian diet and chants Buddhist scriptures on Mount Jiuhua, my second brother travels all over the world with an uncertain whereabouts, and my third brother has retired to the mountains and forests, no longer concerning himself with worldly affairs. Are you satisfied with this answer?"
"Since it's true, what do I have to be dissatisfied about? But how long has it been since you last contacted them?"
"It's been years, why are you asking this?"
After eating and drinking his fill, he took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped his mouth, then spread out his five fingers and wiped them one by one.
"So you're saying you have no idea what they've been doing these past few years?"
Upon hearing this, my heart skipped a beat, and I immediately sensed something was wrong.
"Don't be so nervous."
Who exactly are you?
"What good will it do you to know? It won't do you any good, and it will probably only bring you a lot of trouble."
Don't you know that the more you say things like that, the more you arouse people's curiosity? You're doing it on purpose.
I took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Fine, I won't ask. But why should I believe you can find him?"
"I have a way. I'll get news this afternoon. Anyway, you're not in a hurry."
That tone was incredibly annoying, so confident, like they had me wrapped around their little finger.
But this time, I actually waited patiently until the afternoon.
An eagle flies in from afar, its eyes sharp as blades, and its swooping down seems to cleave the sky.
Xiao Lianjue raised his hand, and the eagle folded its wings and landed on his hand. He didn't even wear gloves.
A small cylinder, about the size of a little finger, was tied to the eagle's foot with a red string, inside which was a small roll of paper.
Just as I was about to lean closer to take a closer look, the perfectly intact piece of paper instantly crumbled into powder and scattered away in the wind.
"Why did you have to marry your own enemy? Your older brother is very disappointed in you."
I was suddenly struck by a warning – this person is dangerous!
"That letter from earlier..."
"Oh, it was written by Rong Cheng."
"You know my older brother?"
His silence was an admission of consent.
"As for Nangong Ling, you don't need to chase after him. Knowing that you are most afraid of the cold, why did he run to Jade Dragon Mountain? Is he hiding from you?"
Why bring up something you shouldn't talk about? I glared at him fiercely, but he seemed completely unfazed and just kept smiling.
"It's none of your business."
He finally couldn't help but sneer, "You really think I want to talk to you? It's true that anyone who touches a prickly person will get hurt."
"This is not simple. It would be best to break up completely. Zhiyu, let's go."
"You really believe him?" Zhiyu pulled me back. "You believe a random person who suddenly appears out of nowhere and says just a few words?"
"Alright, Zhiyu, you've gone this far, stop acting."
"What are you saying?!" Zhiyu looked at him incredulously.
“What’s there to be embarrassed about? Li Mu has countless admirers, and there are many like you who have sacrificed themselves for him. Be more generous…” Xiao Lianjue curled her lips lightly, “Or do you have another plan even if I beat you to it? Oh, sorry, did I say something too much?”
"You, you, you..." Her delicate hands trembled as she pointed wildly, her face turning green with embarrassment. "You're spouting nonsense!"
"A bloody mouth?" Xiao Lianjue widened her eyes dramatically. "She clearly has cherry-like lips, okay?"
Ah, Gemini, you've met your match! That was my first thought at that moment.
That was a ruthless move; did it intend to shake morale? The guards in the distance must have heard it all clearly.
"Your eyes are darting around so fast, what are you up to?" Before I knew it, he was right next to me, staring intently at my eyes with a curious look.
"It would take at least a month to get from here to Yulong Mountain. I should never have given Li Yu the money."
"Are you really going to chase after them?" He raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.
"Oh right, Gemini Ann still owes me money!" I actually forgot about something so important.
"Hello!"
Finally, the man I had completely ignored narrowed his alluring eyes dangerously.
"Come with me, your brother wants to see you."
"Get away!" I hurriedly pushed his hand away, feeling my heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.
His hand froze in mid-air. "What's wrong? Why is your face suddenly so pale?"
Chapter 95
At that time, snow was falling everywhere, and everything was buried under a thick layer of white. Even the winter plum, which always defies frost and snow, could not unfold its branches and bloom with its former crimson color.
The child stood under the snow-covered eaves, the sunlight reflecting off the snow and casting a lifeless face. The shadow behind his thin body was like a raging flood, bringing an air of despair that left me, a seven-year-old at the time, completely blank. Before I could react, all I could see was the desolate white snow.
Perhaps it was from this point onward that his appearance began to blur, as if he were deliberately avoiding that terrifying aura of death.
But it wasn't like this not long ago.
I remember it was because this child openly glared at me in the hall. At the time, I just wanted to understand why he would use such a murderous look when we had no grudge against each other. He was very attached to his father, and the man in green initially let him pull his sleeve and follow him. I followed him all the way, but I didn't rush out to question him because the way the man in green was gently and carefully picking up the child at that moment stunned me so much that I couldn't move. The child was smiling happily, and his squinting phoenix eyes were like a new moon, incredibly beautiful.
The man in green softened his gaze, his lips curving into a beautiful arc before he gently kissed the child's fair, jade-like cheek.
There was a swallow's nest on the eaves. A late-born swallow hadn't even learned to fly yet when the winter snow came suddenly that year. The swallows' hasty southward migration ultimately left it behind.
As the child uttered that word, the young swallow's cold body fell from the eaves, breaking the spell and leaving only the silent, falling snow in the courtyard.
In that brief moment, everything that had just entered my vision was overturned. The feeling of suffocation came so suddenly that even in the many years that followed, when many things became blurred, only that suffocating feeling etched into my bones remained as clear and vivid as if it were yesterday whenever I thought of it.
The man's face suddenly twisted into a hideous and terrifying grimace. Before the man could even react, he slammed the thin, frail body to the ground, his figure a mixture of rage and dishevelment as he walked away.
Unfortunately, the man in green did not turn around, and thus did not see that in the previously lifeless white, a flower of blood was slowly spreading, so vivid that it seemed to break through the surface frost, bringing with it an eerie feeling that seemed to make one's eyes bleed.
How breathtaking! Even though the blood flower was quickly buried in the snow, it left an indelible mark on the eyes of all who saw it, a vivid and powerful image of its fleeting bloom.
I unconsciously took a few steps back, perhaps because of the shock, or perhaps because of the gloom surrounding that child. In any case, it was the first time in my life that I experienced what fear truly meant.
I should have run away, but for some reason my feet seemed rooted to the spot. Even after the child left, I couldn't look away or pull my feet away.
The older brother said this child was too dangerous and would have to be eliminated sooner or later.
I've forgotten what I was thinking at the time; all I know is that by the time I came to my senses, I had already said those words in front of everyone.
"Is it worth it? He doesn't even deserve to get his brother's hands dirty."
This single sentence marked the beginning of everything that followed.
At seven years old, I naturally didn't notice the meaning behind my older brother's pursed lips and smile, since the sharp blade wasn't aimed at me anyway.
People who suffer humiliation are bound to hate. I thought I had saved his life, but I didn't realize that I had destroyed his only value. However, I only understood this much later when I learned about his situation.
Before I understood, I used to think that there were people in this world who didn't know how to be grateful. My older brother would pat my head and laugh, saying that it was no use arguing with him and that it would lower my status.
Sometimes the elder brother would grumble, "It's such a pity to waste such a good piece of material. Rather than letting it go to waste, we might as well use it for ourselves. Lian'er, how about doing your elder brother a favor and giving him two strings of candied hawthorns?"
Apart from the eldest brother, no one knew that some people and some things had been led into a predetermined situation because of these two strings of candied hawthorns.
The Rong family's daughter may be showered with love and affection, enjoy endless wealth and luxury, be arrogant and domineering, and be unruly and willful, but she will never be happy.
"Does Lian'er like him?" It was the elder brother's questioning voice.
A chill ran down my spine. I didn't dare turn around, and I watched without blinking as the slender figure turned and left, his dark eyes still cold and unwavering.
"How could that be? I'm just afraid he might commit suicide at any time. It would be so unclean if he died at home."