"At the Yun Pavilion Poetry Competition that day, Miss Yin's talent was witnessed by everyone in the world. Qingyi's absolute answer should not have been difficult for her. Also, when she conceded defeat, she was restless and muttered to herself, saying only, 'I can't answer,' instead of 'I can't answer.'"
"You mean... she doesn't fail to answer, but rather she's afraid to?" Yuwen Hongying asked curiously, her face full of contempt.
"Manager Cen, you just said that there was no need to investigate Miss Yin's whereabouts anymore, why is that?" Baili Qingyi turned to Cen Lu.
“That’s because she’s already dead,” Cen Lu said casually.
"What?" everyone exclaimed.
“If she were alive, she would surely come back. Since she hasn’t come back, she must be dead.” Cen Lu said, emphasizing each word.
The two Baili brothers exchanged a strange look.
Shui Wu'er swayed, as if about to collapse. Her heart was filled with boundless sorrow. "You cold-faced beast," she thought, "you can't insult me like that..."
Baili Qingyi quickly reached out and caught her.
"It's poisonous incense!" he suddenly exclaimed.
Everyone was shocked. What poisonous incense could be in this perfectly good inn?
However, since the young man in blue had said so, he must be right, so everyone held their breath.
Shui Wu'er stared at Baili Qingyi's solemn expression, sensing that something was amiss. Poisonous incense? Fine, then let's poison her to death.
Baili Qingyi took out antidote pills and gave them to everyone, then said, "Hanyi, take everyone's pulse."
Baili Hanyi snapped out of his daze and hurriedly nodded in agreement. He then saw Baili Qingyi holding Shui Wu'er's hand and pulling her in front of him: "Let's check her pulse first."
Shui Wu'er asked blankly, "Why?"
“You don’t know martial arts, so you’re the most likely to be poisoned,” Baili Qingyi said with certainty.
Shui Wu'er opened her mouth, "Yuwen Cuiyu doesn't know martial arts either."
Baili Hanyi looked back and forth between the two of them, then suddenly smiled and said, "Alright, I'll check her pulse first."
He reached out and touched Shui Wu'er's wrist, and in an instant, his expression became extremely solemn.
Shui Wu'er abruptly pulled her wrist back, forcing a smile: "My body has always been very strong, how could there be any problem, hehe." She took two steps back as if avoiding a snake, and also moved away from Baili Qingyi's reach.
"Young Master Hanyi, you should quickly check the pulses of the others. I think the way this poisonous incense was placed is very strange... Uh... well, I'd better leave first..." Before anyone could react, she jumped out of the door and made her escape.
Thank goodness, we finally escaped.
This Baili Qingyi is so unreliable! He says it's poisonous, so it's poisonous; he says he can take a pulse, so he can take a pulse. It's unbelievable that everyone in the world believes him. It's truly baffling.
She walked onto the street and suddenly heard someone calling her from behind. When she turned around, it was that sorrowful Baili Qingyi again.
"Is there anything else, young master in blue?" Shui Wu'er managed to muster the last bit of patience.
"Miss, Qingyi still owes you a calligraphy piece." Baili Qingyi smiled gently.
Shui Wu'er was momentarily stunned by his charm when a piece of paper was slipped into her hand. She shook her head, not bothering to read what was written on the paper, and tucked it into her sleeve, smiling as she said, "Thank you so much."
Baili Qingyi stopped her again: "Miss, this is the Ten Brocade Dew from my Baili family. It has miraculous effects in healing injuries and detoxifying. Please keep it with you and you can use it in an emergency."
Shui Wu'er remained silent.
“Young lady, if you ever encounter any difficulties in the future, please come to Baili Prefecture. I will go through fire and water for you, even at the cost of my life.”
Shui Wu'er felt ashamed. She had actually said those words.
She said slowly, "Young Master in Green, the martial world is so vast. If everyone encounters difficulties, are you willing to risk your life for them?"
Baili Qingyi was speechless.
“I’m not a member of the martial arts world, so I don’t need any healing or antidote medicines. You should keep it for yourself, young master. It will be very useful for saving lives in the future.” She handed the medicine bottle back to Baili Qingyi, thought for a moment, and then said, “Young master Qingyi, you are truly a compassionate and righteous hero. I will admire you from afar for the rest of my life. Don’t worry.”
She chuckled dryly twice, turned around, and walked away without looking back.
Baili Qingyi held the medicine bottle, her expression complex and uneasy.
Chapter Seven: Snow Easily Delights the Soul (Part Two)
Over the past three years, she has often tried to recall what she was like before, but her memories have always been very vague.
“Aunt Nan, I will not marry Brother Fenglang,” she said.
The wet nurse shook her head helplessly: "Of course I know. No one can force you to do something you don't want to do, but this is your Aunt Yun's wish for many years, and also your parents' wish. Can you bear to disappoint them?"
“Aunt Nan, this is the most important thing in my life!” she said stubbornly. “Aunt Yun herself has not been doing well, and her husband has never loved her! As for my parents… I have never met them.”
"Xiao'er, oh Xiao'er, you are such a spoiled child." The wet nurse sighed for more than a decade.
Then she saw the wet nurse fly up, float up lightly, and then crash heavily into the beautifully decorated wall.
Then, the whole house took off...
Ah, no, she flew up.
There's blood, lots of blood.
"Miss, you can't marry anyone, don't worry." A voice, both familiar and unfamiliar, spoke with such ruthlessness and decisiveness.
"How could it be you? Why? Why?" It was she shouting, or perhaps it was Aunt Nan shouting.
Life slowly faded from her body, and countless sounds rose up in chaos: the wind, thunder, screams, and cold laughter... She didn't even have time to realize that she was about to die.
She should have gradually forgotten everything, but at the moment her consciousness was about to fade, she was suddenly jolted awake.
Something was stuffed into my mouth and naturally slid down my throat.
It's sweet.
It's Aunt Nan! It's Aunt Nan, clinging to someone's legs and shouting, "Xiao'er, run! You have to live! Live!"
"Aunt Nan?" she murmured.
Suddenly, a stream of heat splashed onto her face.
Her strength returned, and she found herself running wildly, but running into the distance, further and further away from Aunt Nan.
No, she wants to go back! She wants to go back to find Aunt Nan and Aunt Yun!
She heard herself screaming in agony, but her feet wouldn't stop. But she should have run back, why, why…
In that instant, she realized what she had just eaten.
The flower's soul is sent to its resting place, a mound of earth covers the slope of heartbreak.
A monument was erected after three years.
The tombstone is still brand new, but the soil on the graves is already old. Endless stretches of withered grass cover the top of each grave.
Shui Wu'er is Yin Wuxiao; and Yin Wuxiao is Shui Wu'er. Water is the heavy rain that night, and Wu means non-existence, which is death.
She knelt before the tombstones of the twenty-two members of the Yin family and softly asked:
"Do you think I should continue living?"
"Aunt Nan, I'm tired."
“I used to think that my life was bought with yours, and that I had to live no matter how pathetic my life was. But it doesn’t work. Life is too tiring. It’s not worth it at all. Aunt Nan, when you fed me the ‘Unfulfilled Desire’ pill, did you ever think about this?”
“Cen Lu said I have no heart. In his heart, I am already dead. I think even if I see Man Si again, she won’t admit that I am the friend she grew up with. These three years have passed, and I am no longer myself. I don’t even know who I am anymore?”
Her fingertips trembled as she touched the cold tombstone.
“I should have been lying here with you.”
A soft voice suddenly sounded from behind, not a question, but a statement of certainty:
"So, you are Yin Wuxiao."
Yin Wuxiao slowly turned around, and Yin Bitong, dressed in green, stood gracefully on a tombstone.
"So, you are the most talented woman in the world." Yin Bitong said with a hint of sarcasm.
Yin Wuxiao withdrew his gaze and looked into the distance.
“Get down here, those are my family’s tombstones.”
Yin Bitong blinked and jumped down from the tombstone: "They were just servants in your household."
"No, they are my family."
Yin Bitong did not argue with her. He walked over to her with his hands behind his back, looked her up and down with great interest: "I really didn't expect that you were actually Yin Wuxiao. You were able to hide under everyone's noses for three whole years. It's not easy, really not easy. Everyone knows that Yin Wuxiao is the number one talented woman in the world. She is fierce, competitive and loves to show off. I never thought that she would be willing to associate with beggars."
"What do you want to do?" Yin Wuxiao asked directly.
Yin Bitong raised an eyebrow: "Me? I don't know what I want to do either. Little Yin, don't be so nervous. I still like you quite a bit, I won't kill you."
I like it again.
This assassin is quite the classy one, spouting nothing but romantic tales.
"Didn't your master order you to kill me?"
Yin Bitong was very surprised: "My master? I, Yin Bitong, have no master."
“I’m referring to the owner of ‘Traceless’.”
Yin Bitong suddenly realized, "Him? He did go to great lengths to find you, but he never said he wanted to kill you. I heard you're very precious, you absolutely can't die. Oh, right," he exclaimed, "did you lose the thing I gave you last time?"
Yin Wuxiao said, "I gave it to Baili Qingyi."
Yin Bitong covered her mouth in horror: "Why did you give it to him? Have you fallen for him?"
"..."
Yin Bitong chuckled again: "It's only natural for you to give it to him, I don't blame you. But from now on, you must love only me wholeheartedly."
He reached out to pull her, but she slapped him away.
"Huh?" Yin Bitong picked up a piece of paper from the ground; it had fallen from Yin Wuxiao's sleeve.
"Isn't this the Absolute Green Robe?" He waved the paper, making a big fuss. "Did Baili Qingyi give this to you?"
Yin Wuxiao was shocked. The calligraphy Baili Qingyi had written for her was actually "Qingyi Absolute"? She grabbed the thin paper; the handwriting on it was full and restrained.
The moon returns and the wind blows, the mountains and rivers are adorned with white silk, the gate welcomes the red lips, and the flute player dances intimately.
She was suddenly mesmerized.