Finally, the two men reached the vicinity again, this time stopping on the other side. It seemed they genuinely weren't sure where she was, which was why they had been wandering aimlessly through the woods.
Ju Mu'er finally heard the truth. They lowered their voices and said, "It seems she's not in this forest, but where could she have gone?"
"Alright, stop looking. We were just doing a job for money. Now that the one who paid us is dead, we've got our money and no future trouble, isn't that great? Who cares if that blind man lives or dies? It's none of our business. We've already lost a few brothers, so we've done right by that woman. We're all injured like this, if we keep going we'll just bleed to death anyway. My injuries are really bad, they hurt like hell, let's go back."
Ju Mu'er's heart pounded as she listened, biting her lip to suppress a scream. Thank goodness she was suspicious! Thank goodness!
The two men whispered among themselves for a while longer, then left.
The woods fell silent. But Ju Mu'er still dared not move. She didn't know if the two people had really left or not, she didn't know if they would turn back, and she didn't know if they had any accomplices.
So she could only continue waiting.
She was blind and couldn't see her surroundings, so she couldn't hide when someone was around and run away when no one was there. She thought she had to wait a little longer, long enough for someone else to come. Someone else would definitely come; the guards would bring people to rescue her. They knew where she was, and someone she recognized would appear.
It was quiet around her, and she imagined it must be very dark. But she wasn't afraid of the dark; long ago, her world had been nothing but darkness. So it didn't matter; she could think of pleasant things to keep her waiting.
She thought of Ryuji's warm hands, his broad shoulders, and how comfortable it felt to lie on them. She thought of his pleasant scent, how he liked to pinch her ears and poke her forehead. She thought of his exasperation when he was forced to climb through the window, how he spanked her, how he ruined her bed…
A drop of water fell on her face. Ju Mu'er was stunned for a moment. She came to her senses and realized how cold she was, shivering and numb to the bone. She didn't know how long she had waited, or if she had fallen asleep. She felt she hadn't cried, so why was there a drop of water?
As the raindrops fell one by one, she finally realized it was raining!
Oh no, this is even colder. To make matters worse, she felt like she couldn't move, and she was so sleepy. Her eyes were closing, and she thought, "Second Master, please come quickly, or I'll really fall asleep."
As the urgent smoke bomb streaked across the night sky, the Dragon Mansion awoke.
The guards of the Long residence hurriedly knocked on the door of Steward Tie's room. The master of the Long residence was not present; Steward Tie was in charge.
About twenty fine horses quickly rushed out of the side gate of the Dragon Mansion, carrying lanterns and torches, heading towards the tavern. They arrived at the place with lightning speed, only to find that it was already too late.
The fire at the wine shop alarmed the neighbors, who rushed to help with buckets and basins. The front of the wine shop was alright, but the backyard was completely destroyed. There were also several corpses in the yard, which terrified everyone, who immediately shouted for the authorities to be notified.
The railway manager arrived with his men and saw Su Qing trying to rush into the burning house. Several neighbors were desperately pulling her back, but Su Qing cried loudly, "Let me in and see! My sister might still be inside..."
The guards quickly split into two groups. One group searched the area for suspicious persons and counted the bodies of the deceased. The other group grabbed buckets and basins to help fight the fire.
Many hands make light work, and with the help of favorable weather, a heavy rain fell, and the fire was extinguished in no time. But the extinguished fire clearly told everyone a tragic story.
Inside Ju Mu'er's room lay a charred female corpse. The body was burned beyond recognition, its features completely obliterated. Su Qing cried out in anguish and fainted.
The Iron Steward's legs trembled, and he hurriedly ordered someone to ride quickly to inform Long Er.
A day later, just as dawn broke, Long Er, his face ashen, arrived at the Jujia Wine Shop, accompanied by Li Ke and the messenger.
Throughout the day, the Jujiu Wine Shop was bustling with people. Prefect Qiu Ruoming personally led a team to thoroughly inspect the wine shop, meticulously recording every detail. The coroner set up a shed for corpses in the backyard of the Jujiu family and conducted an on-site examination. Because several lives were involved, officials from the Ministry of Justice also came to inquire. However, on the surface, it appeared to be a case of burglary, which only resulted in a fight with the guards of the Long family, leading to multiple deaths.
When Long Er arrived, the minor official from the Ministry of Justice was leaving. He bowed and greeted Long Er, but Long Er didn't even glance at him. Long Er entered the burned-out courtyard and asked Steward Tie directly, "Where is he?"
The head steward's heart skipped a beat, and he pointed to the morgue over there. Before he could speak, Long Er suddenly turned around and strode towards the morgue.
Qiu Ruoming and the railway manager quickly followed behind and went together.
The morgue reeked. Long Er's brows furrowed but he didn't flinch; his face was stiff, cold, and hard. He immediately spotted the charred female corpse at the very back. He walked over, stood beside the body, and stared at it. That look sent chills down the spines of everyone else present.
Long Er stared for a long time, then suddenly asked, "How can you be sure it's her given how she's become like this?"
Long Er's tone silenced everyone in the room. He paused, then uttered a single word in a very soft voice: "Speak!"
The iron steward was startled, then realized what was happening and quickly said, "The female corpse was found in the lady's room."
"Is she the one in her room?"
"Madam's cane is also here." The implication was that if Ju Mu'er went out, she would be carrying a cane. With one person and one cane in the room, it was naturally her.
"Bring me the cane." Ryuji's voice remained devoid of emotion.
The iron steward hurriedly turned around and went out, quickly bringing back Ju Mu'er's walking stick.
The cane was badly damaged by the fire. Long Er held it in his hand and examined it closely, then suddenly asked, "Where's the dagger?"
The coroner hurriedly said, "The female corpse was indeed holding a dagger. I haven't pulled it out yet."
Long Er didn't turn around to look at him, but instead leaned over to examine the woman's hand. As he carefully examined the dagger, Steward Tie said again, "The door wasn't burned, and you can see marks from it being bolted from the outside."
Is the door to that room closed?
"It was open; the guards probably opened it, but it was too late to save them."
Before the Iron Steward could finish speaking, Long Er interrupted him. "She is not Mu'er. This is not Mu'er's dagger."
Everyone was startled. Long Er touched his cane and said, "She must still have wounds on her body. Open her up."
"Open what?" Everyone was stunned again. Long Er glanced at the coroner, making him tremble with fear, and he immediately understood. He quickly came over, pried open the charred corpse, examined it carefully for a long time, and finally cut it open with a knife, finally seeing a small dart in her abdomen.
Upon seeing the dart, Long Er turned and walked away.
The railway manager was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly followed.
Long Er rushed into the courtyard and checked every room in the front hall, front yard, and back yard. Confirming there were no bodies and nowhere to hide, he withdrew. Manager Tie, following beside him, hurriedly reported, "We've checked every room in the wine shop..."
"Where's the door?" Long Er ignored him and asked instead, "Is the door open?"
After thinking carefully, the iron steward realized: "The lady's room door and the back gate are open, but the other doors are closed."
Long Er looked around. So, it seemed she only had one path to take.
Long Er walked towards the back gate, where Ju Mu'er's thick rope was located. He remembered that the rope led all the way into the woods. Following the rope, Long Er noticed bloodstains on the ground. The head steward reported from the side, "We've already sent people to follow the bloodstains. There are quite a few bloodstains in the woods, and they even lead to the main road. But they stop there; perhaps they were transported by carriage or the bleeding was stopped with bandaging."
Long Er didn't speak; he kept looking at the thick rope and then at the bloodstains. The bloodstains followed the rope for a while, then wandered aimlessly through the woods.
"They didn't find Mu'er." Long Er's words sounded like a sigh of relief.
Just as the Iron Manager was pondering the meaning of those words, Long Er asked again, "Why is the rope here broken?"
The ironworks manager frowned, his gaze sweeping from one end of the thick rope to the other. Not far from the edge of the woods, the rope had indeed been cut.
"Perhaps the bandits were afraid that the lady would escape, so they cut the rope beforehand to make it impossible for her to find her way."
“There were several burly men there, well-prepared. Why would they be afraid of a blind girl escaping into the woods to find her way? Besides, even if she did escape, leaving a rope would make it easier to find her.”
The iron steward fell silent; he didn't understand what was going on either. Like Long Er, he picked up the broken rope between the two trees and examined it. The cut was clean, clearly severed by a sharp weapon.
Long Er murmured again, "They always thought Mu'er was blind and useless, so they must have looked down on her and would never have gone to the trouble of cutting her guide rope."
The ironworks manager frowned and looked around. What was going on with all these ropes?
"This is a message Mu'er left for me."
As Long Er spoke, he stood up, looked around, and suddenly shouted, "Mu'er!"
His voice echoed through the woods, but no one answered him.
Long Er called out several more times, his voice urgent and sorrowful, making Iron Steward's heart tremble. But still, no one answered him from the woods.
The iron steward hurriedly said, "Second Master, I'll send men to search the woods; we're sure to find it."
Long Er shook his head: "Those bandits have searched, but they can't find her. Mu'er won't let them find her. She's waiting for me. She used to be like this. She's right here. She can't see, and she can't run far. She's just waiting for me to find her."
He crouched down and looked at the ropes again: "She wanted to tell me where she was; she left me a message."
The railway manager opened his mouth, but the old man could only think of the phrase "cut in two" when he saw the broken rope, and he really couldn't figure out what location it represented.
What exactly did she tell the Second Master?
82. Just when I was about to lose my soul, my savior arrived.
At this moment of confusion for the railway manager, Long Er closed his eyes.
He retreated to the edge of the woods, following the thick rope with his eyes closed as he walked. He imagined Ju Mu'er's actions back then; she had been running while holding onto the guiding rope. She knew this place well; she must have known where she could get by following the rope. So when she reached this spot, she cut the rope.
Does this mean she's stopped running forward?
Long Er opened her eyes. She had cut the rope between three trees. If cutting one could be an accidental act, then cutting all three was definitely intentional.
Did she want to tell him that she stopped running along the rope once she got here?
Long Er touched the thick tree. She wouldn't recklessly rush into a place without a rope to guide her; she wouldn't let herself get lost. Besides, this grove wasn't large, and there wasn't much to hide in. Running around would only expose her.
But where else could she go?
She chose a place where no one could see her, where she could quietly wait for him to arrive.
Ryuji looked carefully at the three trees, then he stopped. He raised his head and looked up at the treetops.
The head steward, Iron, watched in astonishment as Long Er leaped up a tree and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Iron looked up, but the dense foliage obscured his view. After a while, Long Er jumped down from another tree nearby, and without uttering a word, dashed off towards the gate where the horses were parked.
The head steward gaped, seeing Long Er carrying someone in his arms. He could hardly believe it, but he quickly realized what was happening and ran towards the courtyard. He grabbed a guard and shouted, "Quickly, return to the manor immediately and have the doctor prepare. We've found the madam!"
The young guard received the order and mounted his horse, hurrying off. He returned to the Long residence a step ahead of Long Er and relayed the orders, making arrangements.
At this moment, Ju Mu'er's body was stiff, her face was ashen, and her breath was weak; she was already unconscious.
Long Er dared not let the horse gallop wildly, fearing he might shake her to death, but he was also afraid that there wouldn't be enough time and it would delay her treatment. She had been hiding in that tree for a day and two nights without food or water, and had been frightened and soaked in the rain. Her body was covered in blood, and he didn't know exactly where she was injured.
Long Er grew increasingly frightened, channeling his inner energy into her body to protect her heart meridian. Even so, when they arrived at the Long residence, Ju Mu'er still showed no signs of waking up.
The doctor arrived quickly and took his pulse for a long time, his expression growing increasingly grim.
Long Er was frantic, like an ant on a hot pan. In front of the doctor, he shouted repeatedly, ordering his servants to fetch all the famous doctors in the capital. The doctor didn't dare to be careless; the patient's condition was extremely dangerous, and it would be good if other doctors could come and examine him together. Otherwise, if something really happened to this person, he couldn't bear the responsibility alone.
Before long, three more doctors arrived. The four of them examined the pulse and the injury, and each of them frowned deeply.
Ju Mu'er was struck in the back and was seriously injured, but the situation was critical at the time, and she endured it without realizing it. However, she was extremely frightened, and then she was exposed to the cold and rain, and she did not eat or drink and was exposed to the wind all day. Even a man of iron would not be able to withstand it.
The four doctors discussed the matter, prescribed medicine, administered acupuncture, and also prescribed some external ointments to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis.
On the first day, Ju Mu'er's body was not so stiff. Although she was still unconscious, her breathing became smoother. But before everyone could be happy, she started to have a high fever. She vomited everything she drank, and the vomiting was so severe that it seemed like she was about to die.
The doctors quickly said they couldn't force-feed the medicine anymore and would instead use acupuncture.
But by the third day, Ju Mu'er's condition kept fluctuating; the fever would subside and then return, her jaw would clench, and she couldn't drink any medicine or water. She was so ill that she was barely recognizable as human.
The doctors were at their wits' end and could only stammer, "Do your best and leave the rest to fate."
Long Er stayed by Ju Mu'er's side for days without sleep or rest. He held her in his arms and spoke to her, telling her that she was safe and no one could hurt her anymore. He told her he was back, and this time he wouldn't leave no matter who called him. He said it was all his fault; he shouldn't have assumed that if they acted as if nothing had happened, the other would remain indifferent as before. He begged her to wake up quickly, saying he would never tease her again, never bully her again. He would buy her whatever she wanted, and as long as she was alright, he would do whatever she wanted.
Long Er talked to Ju Mu'er for a long time, until his voice was hoarse and his eyes were red, but Ju Mu'er still showed no signs of waking up.
Every day, people come to persuade Long Er to eat something and take a nap.
He ate. Looking at Ju Mu'er's sunken cheeks, he thought that he couldn't collapse too. He was Mu'er's support. He had made a mistake this time, and he couldn't make the same mistake again. So he swallowed all the food without tasting it.
He told her to sleep, and she did. He held Ju Mu'er in his arms and told her that they would rest together for a while, but she should wake up when he did. Unfortunately, he couldn't sleep soundly, and he had to check on her every now and then after closing his eyes. But no matter how many times he looked at her, she never opened her eyes once.
Three days passed, and Ju Mu'er's condition worsened. Including the day and night she spent hiding in the tree, it had been nearly five days. Five days without food or water, five days of forced medication followed by vomiting—everyone's hope dwindled.
Several doctors came and went, but none of them dared to say they could cure the patient. They tried every method they could think of, but there was no improvement.