Je vends des vêtements et j'achète du vin à boire avec toi

Chapitre 54

"No need," the man said. "I am not a citizen of Xia Kingdom and will not stay any longer. I will be returning soon. I am not afraid of Juehun Tower. I was just caught in a trap and that's why they ambushed me."

"Go back? Go back where? Didn't you just say you wanted to look again?"

The man in the blue shirt smiled bitterly: "Actually, I already know the outcome, but I'm not reconciled, I still have hope." The emotion in his voice made Long San's heart tremble. He had experienced this before, being in despair but having to deceive himself, finding a thousand reasons and excuses to give himself hope.

“I ran away from home. She said she was going out to take care of some family matters, and I was a little worried, so I secretly ran away from home to find her without telling my master. I never expected to hear the news of her being attacked and killed from the Soul-Slaying Tower.” The man in blue said, “I avenged her, but unfortunately I didn’t have time to tell her what I wanted to say. I really regret it.”

Long San clenched his fist quietly and said, "She will definitely understand what you're trying to say."

The man in the blue shirt nodded: "Yes, she must understand my feelings for her. I originally planned to tell her after she finished her business, but I never thought that this one wrong decision would cause me to miss the opportunity. However, she must understand. We have been best friends since childhood, and she will definitely understand."

Long San stood there, speechless. An unbelievable possibility terrified him, and he dared not even seek to verify it. How he had once longed for this possibility to exist; if it were true, there would be no more obstacles between him and Feng Ning. But now, if this possibility truly existed, he would lose her.

Long San didn't want to continue; he was afraid of knowing the truth. But his reason made him ask, "What family matter did she say she wanted to handle? Perhaps I can help you find out."

The man in blue shook his head: "I don't know either. She insisted on coming to Xia Kingdom alone. I shouldn't have listened to her; I should have come with her." He lowered his head and grieved for a while, then composed himself, patted the mud off his clothes, and said to Long San: "It's fate that we met by chance. Thank you for your help, brother, but there's really no one who can help me with this. My master forbade us to get involved in Jianghu affairs, and my feud with Juehunlou this time has already violated his instructions. I'm in a bad mood today, and I've told you so much; I hope you won't take it to heart. I'm leaving now; we probably won't see each other again. This bow is my way of thanking you for saving me."

After he finished speaking, he bowed deeply to Long San, then raised his head and said, "Farewell." With that, he actually turned and left. In his haste, Long San called out, "I haven't even asked your name, brother!"

The man in the blue shirt turned around and replied, "My name is Nianyi."

"Then the girl you're looking for..."

He read aloud, "Xiao Wu, her name is Xiao Wu. We six siblings are all orphans. Master was lazy and named us from one to six." He said to Long San, "Brother, you really don't need to worry. Actually, I already guessed the outcome. Once the Soul-Slaying Tower makes a move, they won't stop until they achieve their goal. Since they've confirmed it, that's how it is. It's just that I arrived too late. It's all my fault..." He murmured to himself, then turned and left.

He took two steps and then suddenly turned back: "How should I address you, brother?"

"Long Fei".

Nian Yi clasped her hands in thanks and said, "Thank you, Brother Long." This time, she turned and left for good.

Long San stood there, stunned, staring blankly at Nianyi's lonely figure. He knew that if he rushed up to her now, grabbed her, and told her everything, and they went over it again, many truths might come to light. But he didn't dare; he could only watch Nianyi disappear step by step before his eyes.

Author's Note: Alright, a whole night has passed, dawn has broken, and I've finally finished this chapter. This chapter doesn't feature Feng Ning; it's all about Long San. However, the truth you've all been waiting for has been partially revealed, haha.

The 8 PM drama series will be on hiatus tonight. I've made some adjustments to the plot, and I need to organize and sort things out today, otherwise it will still cause problems later on. So, there will be no updates for today. The 8 PM drama series will resume tomorrow. Please understand.

40

40. Third Master Long, forced into marriage...

Feng Ning had been restless ever since Long San left. She originally thought she would be able to adapt to life without him soon, after all, she had been encouraging herself every day and preparing herself mentally for Long San's absence. But when Long San was really gone, she found that her life was really hard to bear.

She missed him more than when she ran away from home with Bao'er. Whenever she had a moment to herself, she would think about where he was, what he was doing, whether he was hungry, whether he was cold, and whether he missed her as much as she missed him.

Time passed quickly, and two months flew by, but Long San hadn't returned. Feng Ning was worried; had something happened to him?

But she received a letter from Long San. The letter was very simple, saying that he was doing well and that she should take good care of herself and Bao'er. He said he still had some things to finish and would be back soon.

Feng Ning thought that it was probably because his situation was difficult to handle that he couldn't meet the earliest deadline he had mentioned. She comforted herself, reminding herself that Long San had said he should be back in three months at the latest.

Three months passed, and Long San still hadn't returned, not even a letter. Feng Ning's worry turned to displeasure; men's words were indeed unreliable. He had promised to return in three months at the latest, and he was confident he'd be home in less than three months, and that Bao'er would call him "Dad" then. And what happened? The appointed time had come, but there was still no word from him.

Bao'er quietly asked Feng Ning, "Your Majesty, will Uncle come back?" Bao'er's sad and pitiful appearance made Feng Ning's heart ache. She hugged Bao'er and comforted her, "Uncle has something to do and will not be back for a while. Don't worry, Bao'er."

She cursed Long San a hundred times in her heart. She knew that if he got too close to Bao'er, Bao'er would definitely be sad.

Another month passed, and Feng Ning's anger subsided, replaced by anxiety and worry. Long San shouldn't be such an inexplicable person; could something have really happened to him?

Feng Ning didn't recognize any martial arts figures, nor did she know who Long San's friends were, so she had to question Zhong Sheng. However, Zhong Sheng also didn't know Long San's whereabouts. Seeing that Feng Ning and her daughter were anxious, he went to inquire with his friends in the martial arts world. Several days later, news finally came back.

"Sister-in-law, something bad has happened. I heard that my elder brother is being harassed by the Biyun Palace again."

"What is Biyun Palace?" Feng Ning was startled by Zhong Sheng's flustered appearance.

"It's an organization within the martial arts world."

"The underworld?"

"They control most of the stone and jade trade, and are only interested in profit. They don't have a good reputation in the martial arts world."

"Trade people from the martial arts world?" Feng Ning frowned. "What did Long San do to offend them? Did the Long family steal business from their Biyun Palace?"

Zhong Sheng slapped his forehead and said to himself, "Sister-in-law, this is my fault. My elder brother made enemies with Biyun Palace because of me."

Feng Ning narrowed her eyes and shouted imposingly, "Tell me honestly, what exactly happened?"

Zhong Sheng was startled by Feng Ning's fierce appearance and shrank back before speaking. It turned out that Zhong Sheng had gotten into a conflict with the people of Biyun Palace, and was subsequently pursued by them. During the struggle, he happened to encounter Long San, who, disgusted by the unreasonable and arrogant behavior of the Biyun Palace people, intervened to help. However, the Biyun Palace was relentless, and to prevent Zhong Sheng from getting into trouble later, Long San arranged a meeting with the Biyun Palace manager to try and settle the matter.

Unexpectedly, this incident brought Yun Ranxiang, the mistress of Biyun Palace, into the spotlight. Yun Ranxiang fell in love with Long San at first sight and could not forget him from then on. The trouble with Zhong Sheng was gone, but Long San was now entangled with Yun Ranxiang.

Feng Ning's brows furrowed after hearing this, but her expression remained even more stern than if she had frowned. Zhong Sheng, feeling uneasy under her glare, cautiously said, "Sister-in-law, my elder brother is handsome, charming, highly skilled in martial arts, and has a good temperament. He's easily popular with girls, but he hasn't mentioned any other girls to me besides you. Therefore, it seems my brother's feelings for you are different from others… um, what I mean is, although that wicked woman from Biyun Palace has ulterior motives towards my brother, he definitely doesn't like her. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been injured by the people from Biyun Palace recently…"

"You were injured?" Feng Ning was furious and ignored Zhong Sheng's awkward explanations and attempts to comfort her, focusing directly on the key point.

"Ah?" Zhong Sheng was a little anxious. Did his sister-in-law not know about this before? Did he let it slip?

How did you get hurt?

"I heard it was a sneak attack, and the most despicable thing is that the arrow was poisoned with muscle relaxant. I suppose that woman from Biyun Palace would rather injure my elder brother than not capture him."

Feng Ning was furious. "You, Long San!" she thought. "You must have known who the other person was when you were injured last time, yet you dared to hide it from me. He's gotten himself into this mess of romantic entanglements, and I've felt guilty about his injury for so long." Feng Ning took a deep breath and continued, "Then what happened when you said you were being harassed again? Where is Long San now?"

"I don't know where my brother is yet, but I've already asked my friends in the martial arts world. They'll let me know if they have any news. Right now, there are rumors everywhere in the martial arts world that my brother has been captured, but I don't know if it's true or not. However, my brother has many friends, and everyone will do their best to help him."

"Captured? Weren't you entangled with them? How did you become a captive?"