Chapter 55 Whoever finds Yunxi will be rewarded with a thousand gold pieces

Yunyu Pavilion

The man in the blue robe sat in the main seat, drinking tea. His carefree and unrestrained demeanor was so captivating that it was as beautiful as a painting.

Inside the main hall, a man in black knelt on one knee and reported, "Master, Yun Liu just came to report that Lord Gu looked anxious and led a large number of guards to force his way out of the city, as if he were looking for someone."

Qi Jinxiu put down his cup and solemnly ordered, "Go and find out the truth immediately, and report back as soon as possible."

If Gu Nanxiao is on official business, he wouldn't deploy his personal guards, so it must be something that happened at his residence. But if it were the prince and princess in trouble, they could get assistance from the government; there would be no need to force their way through the city gates.

The other people in the Prince Yong's mansion weren't enough to make Gu Nanxiao look anxious. The only remaining possibility was that something had happened to Yunxi!

A short while later, Yun Yi brought back another message: "Reporting to Master, we learned from the North Gate that Lord Gu rode out of the city on horseback with a woman in the afternoon."

When he returned in the afternoon, he was alone. Moreover, I heard that Lord Gu looked particularly grim, as if he were very angry.

Upon hearing the report, Qi Jinxiu almost instantly imagined the scene of Gu Nanxiao abandoning Yunxi in the woods outside the city. Enraged, he smashed the teacup on the table to the ground.

He hurriedly stood up and, as he walked out, ordered, "Gather a thousand guards and come with me to find our master outside the city!"

Qi Jinxiu and his men dared not force their way through the city gate, so they sought out some officers and soldiers at the South Gate with whom they had some connections. They bribed four guards with a thousand taels of silver and secretly opened the city gate to let them out.

He led his guards and rode towards the northern suburbs.

In just a moment, Qi Jinxiu had prayed to every god and Buddha he could remember. He also cursed Gu Nanxiao in his heart—how dare he? How could he possibly do this? It was utterly outrageous!

North Suburbs Woods

The veins on the back of Gu Nanxiao's hand, which was gripping the reins, were bulging. He had already driven back and forth on the suburban road, but still hadn't seen Yunxi.

It was now completely dark, and the faint howls of wolves could still be heard in the woods. Gu Nanxiao, his eyes bloodshot, gave the order:

"All guards, light your torches and split into two groups to search along the official road into the woods on both sides. Today, whoever finds Zhao Yunxi will be rewarded with a thousand gold pieces!"

Upon hearing this, the guards raised their torches and headed deeper into the woods.

Gu Nanxiao headed in the direction of the wolf howl, hoping to arrive in time to save Yunxi before the wild beast harmed her.

Mo Yu understood his master's intentions and, fearing for his safety, followed closely behind with Qian Yu. Whenever they encountered wild animals along the way, they shot and killed them.

But the more wild animals they killed, the more alarmed Gu Nanxiao became. He hadn't expected there to be so many wild animals in the suburbs, including some enormous ones. Just now, the three of them, armed with knives, had managed to kill a black bear together.

He couldn't imagine how Yunxi, a frail woman, would escape if she encountered these wild beasts...

At this moment, a guard came to report: "Reporting to the master, another group of guards has been discovered in the woods on the northern outskirts of the city. There are about a thousand of them, and the leader is the head steward, Qi Jinxiu."

Gu Nanxiao tightened the reins, trying to catch his breath. He knew Qi Jinxiu wasn't so simple, but now wasn't the time to think about that. Having another team searching for Yunxi would be beneficial. So he gave the order:

"Don't get into a conflict with them, finding someone is the priority. Go and tell Qi Jinxiu the location where I abandoned Yunxi, and the route to the experimental forest."

The two groups searched all night long. As dawn broke, Gu Nanxiao found a pool of mottled blood and fragments of Yunxi's clothes at the foot of a mountain.

This scene almost shattered Gu Nanxiao's last bit of hope. He staggered off the horse, grabbed the fabric on the ground, and examined it carefully, confirming that it was undoubtedly the fabric from Yunxi's clothes.

The blinding crimson surroundings felt like an invisible hand gripping his throat, making him feel utterly suffocated. Even when surrounded on the battlefield, he had never experienced such a chilling sensation throughout his body.

Gu Nanxiao wanted to follow the bloodstains to find the person, but there were no other bloodstains around, leaving him with no way to search.

Gu Nanxiao no longer cared about his image and shouted hoarsely in all directions, "Yunxi, where are you? I've come to get you. Yunxi... you... you can't be hurt..."

The only response he received was the chirping of birds startled from the forest. Gu Nanxiao's mind raced through the days and nights he had spent with Yunxi; at this moment, he finally understood what it meant to experience excruciating pain.

At this moment, Qianyu suddenly pointed to the mountainside and shouted, "Master, there's someone over there, it looks like Miss Zhao!"

Gu Nanxiao looked in the direction of the sound and, sure enough, saw a man in a green robe carrying Yunxi down the mountainside. He immediately gathered his inner strength, flew over, and blocked the man's path.

Qi Jinxiu's path was blocked, and he looked back at the person coming from the opposite direction with a dark face. He had just heard Gu Nanxiao calling for help at the foot of the mountain, and he had originally planned to take the person away quietly.

Since Gu Nanxiao doesn't know how to cherish her, let him protect Yunxi from now on. It's just revenge, isn't it? He's perfectly capable of helping Yunxi achieve that; she doesn't necessarily have to submit to Gu Nanxiao.

God knows what he felt last night when he couldn't find anyone. And what he felt when he found the blood-covered person in the cave just now, following the coded message left by Yunxi.

When Gu Nanxiao reached out to catch him, Qi Jinxiu took a step back, turned around decisively, and took another route.

Gu Nanxiao wasn't about to let him take the person away. He turned around, grabbed Qi Jinxiu's shoulders, and restrained him. His voice, tinged with anger, commanded, "Give him to me!"

Seeing Gu Nanxiao's self-righteousness, Qi Jinxiu could no longer suppress his anger. He pulled Yunxi closer to him and questioned her without any politeness:

"If it weren't for Lord Gu, how could Yunxi have been injured like this? Since you could so heartlessly abandon her outside the city, why are you pretending to be so worried now?"

If Yunxi hadn't had the means to deal with it, how could she have bandaged herself up and stopped the bleeding in time after being seriously injured by a wild animal, and known to find a cave to stay in for the night?

Despite her injured arm, she set a trap at the cave entrance and had to find a way to start a fire for warmth without a tinderbox. It was her self-rescue that kept her alive.

Otherwise, when we find her, Yunxi will already be a corpse. Lord Gu, please tell me, on what grounds should I hand her over to you?

Gu Nanxiao was terrified by what Yunxi had experienced last night, and he was speechless when Qi Jinxiu asked him questions. But what worried him even more was Yunxi's attitude.

Since the confrontation with Qi Jinxiu began, Yunxi had remained expressionless, leaning against Qi Jinxiu's chest, and had never given him a single glance.