Chapter 55 Plague: Time is running out

We will depart tomorrow for Nanyue.

Ultimately, since it concerned the Wang family, Tang Yu still sent someone to call Wang Shanyue and the other man into the house.

While waiting for the person to arrive, Shi Wuduo felt as if his body and mind were being pricked by needles.

The room was unusually quiet, the sky was somewhat gloomy due to the rain, and only the gentle scent of medicine remained.

Tang Yu sat beside his bed, her expression cold and silent. Her silent pressure and faint killing intent made him feel a chill.

He cautiously raised his eyes to look at "Su Yutang".

But whether it was the charming young man who used to be so composed and shrewd, or the smiling and unflappable woman from the southern border, they were both very different from the man before them.

This stark contrast made Shi Wuduo feel uneasy and a sense of crisis arose, giving him the illusion that he was drowning and had difficulty breathing.

There were footsteps outside the door, and Wang Shanyue rushed in.

Ignoring Shi Wuduo's injuries, he grabbed him by the collar and demanded sharply, "What happened to my sister!"

Although the aggravation of his wounds caused him great pain, the tears welling up in Shi Wuduo's eyes were mostly out of gratitude for the Second Young Master Wang's timely rescue, which allowed him to catch his breath.

Xiao Fangliang tapped Wang Shanyue's wrist with his folding fan. Only then did he notice that Shi Wuduo's pale face was covered in cold sweat and tears, making him look utterly wretched.

Wang Shanyue frowned, disdainfully releasing his grip, but his emotions were still unsettled. He urged, "Tell me quickly! What exactly happened to my sister?"

Despite the excruciating pain of his torn wound, Shi Wuduo struggled to lift his head and looked around the room.

When his gaze met Tang Yu's cold, sharp eyes, he couldn't help but shiver. He hurriedly raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his chin and stammered out his words.

"At first, a group of strange, dark figures appeared at the entrance of the Wangyuan Escort Agency like ghosts. They had no breath, didn't cry out, and felt no pain, thus catching the Wang family completely off guard..."

Tang Yu frowned. Based on this description, she was almost certain that those were the Gu people created by Nan Yue.

Although the watchmen of the Wang family were highly skilled, the Gu people could not be killed unless their heads were cut off. And when encountering such a monster that could not die despite having a fatal wound for the first time, even a seasoned镖师 (bodyguard/escort) would feel a chill in his heart and fear would grow in his heart.

This led to the situation where, as not much was said, the night watchman, upon discovering the strange shadow, urgently blew the whistle. The majority of the Wang family, upon hearing the whistle, rushed to the main gate to defend themselves.

Unexpectedly, this played right into the hands of the people of southern Xinjiang.

"At the time, almost everyone was at the main gate, which gave a small number of others the opportunity to sneak into the Wang family and head straight for the room where the little girl was being held," Shi Wuduo sighed.

He looked up and asked in a trembling voice, "Do you still remember when we went down to the market, that group of people from southern Xinjiang were ringing bells?"

Tang Yu nodded: "The bell has the effect of manipulating insects and bewitching people's minds."

“Exactly.” Shi Wuduo shook his head helplessly. “They know the Wang family has a deep foundation and is not easy to deal with. Even with those unkillable shadows, they won’t last long. It’s only a matter of time before they realize this diversionary tactic.”

"Therefore, those who infiltrated had no desire to engage in combat or entanglement with anyone; they only cared about one thing."

He paused, swallowed, and lowered his voice: "It's about handing the bell to the little girl."

Everyone's expression tightened, and they exchanged a silent glance.

They now understand better than ever that the bell is dangerous, capable of killing silently, without even drawing blood.

"What did she do with the bell?" Wang Shanyue asked anxiously.

Shi Wuduo was so frightened that he shrank further into the blankets. After a long while, he finally spoke: "When the little girl got the bell, she shook it. The few Wang family bodyguards who had been chasing after them seemed to have had their souls ripped out. Their eyes instantly became dull and empty, and they couldn't even hold their swords properly..."

“Originally, this little girl should have escaped so easily. Who would have thought that your sister would be so capable.” He coughed lightly, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and glanced at Wang Shanyue beside the bed with a complicated expression.

"She followed you. She knew the bell was cursed, so she brought people to chase after her, and even had their ears plugged..."

"There's something I don't understand," Xiao Fangliang suddenly said coldly, "How do you know all this so clearly?"

Shi Wuduo was speechless for a moment, cold sweat pouring down his face. He stammered for a long time before finally giving up and weakly saying, "I... I was entrusted by someone to secretly monitor that 'Little Dream'."

"Who is it?!" Wang Shanyue exclaimed in shock.

Tang Yu raised her hand to signal him to calm down.

She narrowed her eyes, her face expressionless, and leaned closer, saying with certainty, "It's Lu Ya."

This time, Shi Mei was greatly alarmed. Her voice trembled with nervousness: "You, how did you know?"

"How I know isn't important; what's important is how you're going to explain yourself," Tang Yu said with a detached and inscrutable expression.

Actually, she only had a guess in her mind.

When they arrived at the market town, Lu Ya barged in to steal the credit. Except for her, who escaped thanks to Xie Xingzheng's protection, Lu Ya took over all the people and things. Given his ruthless methods, she didn't believe Shi Wudu could escape or even come out unscathed.

However, it was unexpected that this cunning fellow, who had been navigating the world for so many years, would be so easily deceived. He was easily intimidated by Tang Yu with just a slight show of his attitude.

Shi Wu smiled obsequiously and recounted how, after being captured in the Lower City, Lu Ya first arranged for him to monitor Tang Yu; and then, after the group returned from their ordeal in the Upper City, he changed his assignment to monitor Xiao Qimeng, revealing everything at once.

Xiao Fangliang suddenly realized: "No wonder, back then Lu Ya knew which direction to go to find you."

Tang Yu also pieced together the whole story. It turned out that when she sneaked out of the escort agency late at night, went to Yaohua Pavilion to find evidence of Yueying's crimes, and was then tied up and taken to the Blood Pool, it was all under Shi Wuduo's surveillance.

She sneered, "You do have some skill."

In the past, Shi Wuduo would have been quite pleased with himself for saying that. After all, he had been entrenched in Zhongjing for many years, and even Lu Ya had "invited" him to do things on behalf of the emperor.

But now he's covered in injuries and at the mercy of others, how could he dare to act recklessly?

So he hurriedly shook his head and said with a wry smile, "I'm so sorry. I'm from no particular sect and I rely on the brothers in the underworld. How could I possibly keep up with you great heroes?"

Tang Yu didn't respond, but instead said, "Go on, what happened after Wang Yunxi caught up with him?"

Shi Wuduo recalled, "Miss Wang disappeared shortly after chasing after them. When the Wang family went to search again, they only found a few corpses of servants in the middle of the road. Those people from the Southern Frontier were like rats in the gutter, acting discreetly. With the Wang family making such a big fuss, they definitely wouldn't be able to find them."

He scanned the crowd's eyes, but couldn't resist showing off, saying, "But in Zhongjing, with my intelligence network, even the commotion in the ditch can't escape my notice."

Tang Yu shot him a sharp look, and he immediately dropped his smugness and continued, "I followed the trail to an abandoned house on the outskirts of Beijing, and sure enough, I found the group of Southern Xinjiang people who had kidnapped the little girl and Miss Wang."

"It's strange, really." At this point, Shi Modu paused slightly, a hint of confusion in his expression. "Although my martial arts skills are mediocre, I'm confident in my ability to hide myself. Who knew that as soon as I got close, they noticed me and grabbed me."

Tang Yu wasn't surprised. "Humans might indeed have difficulty detecting your movements. But they are adept at using snakes, insects, and poisons. These creatures are several times more sensitive than humans, so how difficult would it be for them to find you?"

Not long after, he recalled that there were indeed many poisonous insects around the house at that time, and he felt a chill run down his spine. A trace of fear flashed across his eyes, and he tightened the blankets around himself.

"After I was captured, they tortured me severely. I..." He took a nervous breath and secretly glanced at Tang Yu several times.

After noticing their impatience, he gritted his teeth and said in a hoarse voice, "Now that things have come to this, I won't hide anything from you. I did tell you some things to protect myself, but I also know that the people of the Southern Frontier are ruthless, so I didn't tell you everything. Originally, they still wanted to kill me, but Yueying, the top courtesan of Yaohua Pavilion, wanted to spare my life and told me to come to Tangmen to deliver a message to you."

"What are you saying?" Tang Yu's gaze was as cold as frost. It had been a long time since she had heard anything about this vicious woman.

She said, "See you in the south."

The air inside the room suddenly became still, as if even the sound of the wind had stopped.

Realizing what had happened, Wang Shanyue was filled with rage and rushed forward to grab his collar again.

Why didn't you tell me sooner that this was so important!

Shi Wuduo was on the verge of tears: "If I had said this right away, would you have believed me?"

That's true.

Seeing that Shi Mo had confessed everything he could, Tang Yu stopped trying to persuade Wang Shanyue and let him grab him by the collar and shake him a few more times, hoping that the betrayer would be in so much pain that his eyes would roll back and he would faint.

Tang Yu stepped out of the house, looking at the overcast sky and the fine drizzle. Her mind kept replaying the three words Yueying had left her:

See you in the south moon.

The meaning is self-evident.

This was a blatant conspiracy orchestrated by Yueying for her.

Knowing the bond between the group, the people of Nanyue had even less reason to kill Wang Yunxi. Instead, they used her as bait, taking advantage of the brief time to deliver a message, and openly lured her to Nanyue.

"What are your plans next?" Xiao Fangliang stopped beside her and looked up at the rain.

Whether it's a trap or a dangerous place, she would never ignore it.

Tang Yu smiled slightly: "Naturally, we will set off for Nanyue tomorrow."

"Alright!" At this moment, Wang Shanyue strode over, clenched his fist, and said loudly, "Let's go together to Nanyue to rescue my sister!"

*

They only had time to say a quick goodbye to the Tang Clan members before the three of them hurriedly embarked on their journey to Nanyue.

After several days of travel, the group was about to enter the territory of the final capital.

As the carriage rumbled along, Wang Shanyue reached out and caught a falling, withered leaf, sighing, "I never imagined that in less than half a year, we would be returning to the place where we first met."

Xiao Fangliang, unusually, did not mock his melancholy and sorrow for spring. Instead, he lowered his eyes and straightened his fan, clearly feeling deeply moved as well.

Starting from Ghost Cry Village in the End Capital, the three of them experienced all sorts of strange and bizarre events together, and went through several life-and-death situations. They never imagined that one day they would be able to return to the land of Xia Nan together.

"Do you really think we don't need to write a letter to inform our senior brother that we're going to the Southern Frontier?" Wang Shanyue tossed away the fallen leaf in his hand.

He asked about it more than once along the way.

Xiao Fangliang had run out of patience and simply sat back in the carriage to rest, too lazy to answer.

Tang Yu, however, remained good-natured and explained gently, "At the time, we couldn't deliver the letter before he returned to the capital. Once he arrived in Zhongjing, the people from the escort agency would surely explain the situation to us. Even if we wanted him to know beforehand, could he possibly turn back and accompany us to the Southern Frontier while he was on imperial orders?"

“That makes sense.” Wang Shanyue shrugged and muttered to himself, “Even if Senior Brother is anxious, he can’t come to Southern Xinjiang to find us. This time, we three will have to rely on ourselves again.”

Tang Yu smiled and pointed ahead: "Look, not far ahead, that's the village where the ghosts were wailing."

Looking towards the mountains, he was excited but suddenly asked curiously, "Hey, have you guys noticed that there are far fewer people on the official road heading south compared to before?"

Tang Yu thought about it and realized that was indeed the case. She frowned slightly and said, "Indeed. It's understandable that there are fewer caravans in the autumn when trade is not booming, but we haven't seen any travelers coming and going recently."

It had never started; the surroundings were a little too quiet.

At this moment, the group had already arrived outside Ghost Cry Village, so they put aside their superstitions.

Ghost Cry Village remains as desolate and eerie as ever.

Suddenly, Tang Yu caught a glimpse of several wisps of black smoke drifting out from the distant woods to her side, with faint sparks flickering within them.

She twitched her nose and smelled the smoke of burning paper mixed with the unique fragrance of burning white candles.

Is someone... visiting a grave?

But the Ghost Festival has long passed, so why are we offering sacrifices here and now?

Moreover, the scent of these paper candles is very strong, so there may be more than one person needing to offer sacrifices.

The wind suddenly turned cold, causing the withered yellow leaves to flutter and fall softly from the branches.

Tang Yu's suspicions resurfaced, and she immediately ordered a halt to Wang Shanyue's search.

The three exchanged a glance.

The next moment, they all dismounted, wanting to go and test the waters.

[Author's Note]

Map being used repeatedly :D