Le voyage d'un mendiant à travers le monde

Chapitre 105

"Mo Li?!" Jiang Shuying exclaimed in surprise.

Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Divine Pearl's Clear Light Illuminates the Stream

Everyone present was shocked. Mo Li had been tracking Yu Hezhi all along, but now Yu Hezhi's whereabouts were unknown, and Mo Li had suddenly died. Moreover, there were still many mysteries surrounding him that had not been solved. How could he have died like this?

Lan Baichen stepped forward to examine Mo Li and saw a deep, bloody gash across his neck; it was this sword that had taken his life. Lan Baichen looked up at Lian Junchu, "Young Master Lian, did he die by your sword?"

Lian Junchu slowly shook her head and said, "When I found Mo Li, he had already been dead for a long time."

Lan Baichen was taken aback. "Where did you find his body?"

Lian Junchu said, "Deep in Chaohu Lake. I've been searching for him for the past two days. Last night, I spotted someone acting suspiciously near Chaohu Lake, so I followed them. When we got there, there was no sign of him. My men searched everywhere and found his body floating in the reeds."

Jiang Shuying suddenly frowned and said, "He's been searching for his senior brother's whereabouts. Could it be that the two of them fought?"

"If He Zhi is here, why is he nowhere to be found?" Lan Baichen pondered. "Now that Mo Li is dead, has Young Master Lian found the divine pearl that he stole?"

Lian Junchu remained silent. Jiang Shuying, seeing his expression, guessed that he hadn't found the Beauty-Preserving Pearl and felt a slight sense of disappointment. But she had never hoped that the people of Seven Star Island would find the pearl. Even if they did, who would own it? Rather than causing trouble, it was better to avoid conflict for the time being.

So she turned to Lan Baichen and whispered, "Perhaps Mo Li didn't bring the Divine Pearl with him, and besides... even what Lian Junchu said might not be the truth."

Lan Baichen also felt that Jiang Shuying's words made sense. At this moment, Lian Junxin stepped forward and said, "Mo Li died under mysterious circumstances, so what about his subordinates? Where are they now?"

Lian Junchu pondered for a moment and said, "There are some corpses of subordinates around, but I didn't see Su Mucheng."

"I think Mo Li must have been killed by the person hiding in the bushes that day..." Lian Junxin said, glancing at Jiang Shuying, "Perhaps, that person was Yu Hezhi!"

Jiang Shuying said calmly, "Even so, Senior Brother Yu was forced to retaliate."

Lian Junxin raised an eyebrow and said angrily, "Easy for you to say! Do you know that my eldest sister was killed by that person hiding in the bushes?! If it really is Yu Hezhi, I will absolutely not let your Yinxi Xiaozhu get away with this!"

Jiang Shuying's face turned cold. Lan Baichen said, "This matter is currently unsubstantiated. He Zhi himself doesn't even know if he's safe or not. You can't make such a hasty judgment."

Lian Junxin scoffed at his words and ignored them. Jiang Shuying, however, frowned and pondered. Seeing that Mo Li was dead and Yu Hezhi had not appeared for a long time, and that Ruzheng's injuries could not be delayed, the only way was to return to Yinxi Xiaozhu in Luzhou so that Ruzheng could rest quietly and wait for Wei Heng to find the disciples of Shenxiao Palace. In addition, seeing that the people from Seven Star Island were also here, she was even less willing to let Ruzheng meet with Lian Junchu again.

Thinking of this, she immediately said to Lian Junchu, "Young Master Lian, let's discuss these matters later. You must know that Ruzheng is injured. If we delay any longer, her injuries will worsen. Can you bear the responsibility?"

Lian Junchu looked at the crowd blocking her way and saw the wary looks in their eyes. A bitter smile appeared on her lips.

The people from Seven Star Island have left.

Jiang Shu had thought that Lian Junchu would use force to stop her from taking Yue Ruzheng away, but to her surprise, he left silently without saying a word of objection or request.

Even Junxin looked at him with suspicion and disdain.

--I don't know why Ruzheng is so attached to him...

As Jiang Shuying walked back, she sighed inwardly, while Lan Baichen kept his brows furrowed, seemingly lost in thought.

The commotion startled those around her, but Yue Ruzheng was fast asleep, and with the door tightly shut, she was unaware that Lian Junchu had come to the inn. When she awoke again, she was jolted awake and realized she was no longer in her room. Looking around, she found herself in a carriage. Sitting directly opposite her was Jiang Shuying.

"Master?!" Yue Ruzheng was startled. The sunlight streaming through the carriage curtain shone into her eyes, making her feel dizzy for a moment.

Jiang Shuying bent down and pressed her down, "Don't get up, we're already on our way."

"On the way?... " Yue Ruzheng was extremely surprised, desperately trying to sit up, but she was too weak. She looked sadly at the stuffy carriage curtains, "You mean, we've already left Chaohu?"

Jiang Shuying sighed and said, "Yes, in about half a day, we should be able to return to Luzhou."

Yue Ruzheng felt a void in her heart. Thinking of Lian Junchu, she couldn't help but ask, "Master... when we left Chaoxian, did anyone come looking for me?"

Jiang Shuying lowered her eyes and looked at her, saying, "No. Ruzheng, nothing is more important than healing your injuries. Wei Heng has already set off for Luofu Mountain, hoping to find someone from Shenxiao Palace to heal your internal injuries."

Yue Ruzheng closed her eyes, letting the carriage bounce around, her heart heavy with sorrow.

That night, the group from Yinxi Xiaozhu stayed at an inn in the small town. Yue Ruzheng lay on a simple bamboo couch, gazing at the flickering candlelight. Though her mind was hazy, she couldn't fall asleep. In a daze, she seemed to be back in the mountain valley of Nan Yandang, where snow-white pear blossoms drifted down before her eyes, swirling and being blown away by the wind. She wanted to run after them, to reclaim that last vestige of purity, but an invisible force gripped her throat, relentlessly dragging her backward.

This scene jolted her awake from her daze. She instinctively reached for her neck, touching the necklace. In the cold night, the pearls on the necklace radiated a chill that seeped into her skin. Yue Ruzheng sensed something, struggled to her feet, walked to the window, gently pushed it open, and looked down.

The vast wilderness stretched out before them, bathed in moonlight like water.

She stood by the window and immediately spotted the person sitting on the low wall opposite.

Dressed in plain white and wearing mourning clothes, he seemed to be feeling very tired. He no longer sat upright as before. He had been looking down at the shadows of the trees on the ground until he heard her open the window, at which point he slowly raised his head.

Yue Ruzheng never expected that Lian Junchu would appear here. She almost called out his name, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she remembered that her master was in the room opposite, so she quickly stopped talking and waved to him.

Lian Junchu bent her left leg and braced herself against the wall to maintain her balance. Yue Ruzheng leaned against the window and waved vigorously at him, but he didn't move, just stared at her quietly.

The moonlight was faint and pale, a hazy, empty expanse in the center.

She gazed at him for a long time, then, as if remembering something, took something out of her bosom, placed it in her palm, and carefully reached out her hand towards him.

The tattered seashell, the one he had bitten through its threads to try and take with him, finally returned to her hands, and she refused to let go of it no matter what.

A night breeze swept by, and Yue Ruzheng shivered slightly. Lian Junchu spoke in her direction in a very soft voice, "Go back."

Yue Ruzheng stared at him blankly. Seeing that she still wouldn't go back to her room, he seemed anxious. Just as he was about to say something more, Yue Ruzheng heard someone knocking on her door. Startled, she quickly turned around. Jiang Shuying's voice came from outside: "Ruzheng, why aren't you resting yet?"

As they were talking, the door opened, and Jiang Shuying walked in. Seeing Yue Ruzheng standing by the window, she said unhappily, "It's freezing outside, why is the window open?"

Seeing her approach, Yue Ruzheng hurriedly closed the window tightly without turning around, and stammered, "I just feel a bit stuffy in the room."

Jiang Shuying glanced at her a few times, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she only gave her a few simple reproaches. After watching Yue Ruzheng lie back on the bed, she blew out the candles and left the room.

After she left, Yue Ruzheng lay quietly for a while, but couldn't contain herself any longer. She quietly got up and went to the window in the dark. She gently pushed the window open again. It was still quiet outside, but only the faint moonlight was scattered on the ground.

On the way back to Luzhou, Yue Ruzheng kept thinking about the scene from the previous night. She felt that Lian Junchu seemed to have many worries on his mind. Perhaps it was because his eldest sister's death was too sudden and difficult for him to accept, Yue Ruzheng thought.