Chapter 69 Jealousy He knew that everything was difficult at the beginning, but he didn't expect...

After a few moments of silence, no one responded, only the sound of a dog barking.

Shen Changfeng walked forward again, stretched out his hand and knocked on the doorknob several times, and listened closely to the door, but he didn't hear any human voice.

It was getting dark and it was time to go home, so how come no one was around?

Shen Changfeng wanted to climb over the wall and find out what was going on, but he was afraid that if Lin Meizhu was inside, she would definitely get angry again, and today's plans would be ruined. Thinking of this, Shen Changfeng ran back to Huishengtang, but found it deserted. He asked the neighbors, but no one gave him a good look. How could they tell him where Lin Meizhu had gone?

He knocked on the door relentlessly, occasionally asking questions to people he caught on the street like a wandering soul. However, he looked so dejected and dazed that people who were questioned suspected he was a madman and avoided him like the plague. In the end, even the dog inside the door was too lazy to pay attention to him.

As dusk deepened, the sound of wheels rolling on the gravel road came.

The man sitting on the dung cart gently tugged on the reins and headed for the side door at the corner of the alley. A moment later, he emerged carrying two heavy buckets of filth. It was almost dawn, and many candles had burned out, leaving only the pale moonlight bathing the courtyards in a chill. As the man walked, he suddenly heard a faint rustling sound. He listened again, but the sound had faded.

The dung collector poured out the filth and closed the lid of the bucket when he heard a rustling sound behind him. Gradually, a faint clanging sound was heard in the darkness, a bit like the sound of a child squatting in the corner playing with something. It seemed extremely sad in the desolate night, and it was like the sound of a soul calling out.

Following the sound, he saw a dark shadow at the foot of the door, pressing heavily in the deep corner. The dung husband stood beside the shadow. He could clearly see the shadow of the tree moving, but he could not feel any wind.

Even though he had seen a lot of strange things in this line of work, he was still chilled to the bone.

Just when he was about to pretend nothing happened and leave on tiptoe, he found that the edge of the shadow had begun to spread, as if the ghost had absorbed enough essence and was growing bigger and taller. The shadow falling on the ground also became distorted, and slowly its hands and feet emerged, revealing a pale face, staring at him quietly.

The dung man's scream got stuck in his throat, his heart pounding. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "It's so scary! I thought it was a stone spirit!"

It turned out that there was just a person squatting by the door. Because the man was tall and strong, with his body hunched over and his head lowered, his knees pressed against his chest, he looked like a huge stone.

The stone spirit said quietly, "Why don't you take this family's filth?"

"Ah, they told me they were away for the past few days." The porter's words did not have a strong accent, so Shen Changfeng did not have to guess when he heard it. He guessed that the person opposite him was not a local.

Shen Changfeng's eyes slowly focused, chasing the back of the person who replied, and gently coaxed: "Where did she go?"

"Hasn't Huishengtang been closed? The owner went to Xiangyang Prefecture to visit relatives."

"Do you have something urgent to ask Dr. Chen?"

He leaned over to look at Shen Changfeng, who had huge eye bags and red eyes. He didn't know if it was because of hunger or something else, but his fingertips kept trembling, and even the few steps he took were weak and stagnant. He thought to himself: He looks so bad, it seems that this guy is not only sick, but also seriously ill. He advised with good intentions: "His two doctors won't be back so early. If you really have something to do, don't delay!"

"When did she leave?"

"It's been about four or five days."

On the fourth or fifth day, the day the Jade Lion of Zhaoye disappeared, she left. The people at Huisheng Hall had been ordered not to let him see the sign. She knew he would look for her, so she deliberately kept her whereabouts hidden from him. Everyone was covering for her; no one sympathized with him; they were all helping her hide from him.

The bitterness and toil of the past few days surged up his throat, and even the breath he exhaled felt bitter and spicy. He knew that everything was difficult at the beginning, but he hadn't expected it to be this difficult.

"I heard that some high-ranking officials came to Xiangyang Prefecture! Oh, what a grand ceremony, eh? Who were they? What was their name? It's that one, you must have heard of him. I heard that the King of Chu had just built a Wuhou Temple, and that one came to pay homage... Haha, look at my memory, I suddenly forgot!" The dung man continued to ramble on as he carried the toilet bucket to the next house. "I heard there was a temple fair, with lanterns and acrobatics. My kids are clamoring to see it. Don't you think this is just annoying me?"

Shen Changfeng walked quickly to the manure cart at the corner of the alley, unfastened the buckle and leather rope in a few seconds, and the horse began to neigh.

The man with the pointed legs laughed and said, "A Chou, what's your name? Do you want to go see the lanterns too?"

When he turned around, he saw the horse's reins had broken in two and were thrown to the ground. He was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening. He was shocked and angry, and shouted, "You heartless horse thief! Stop it... Ah Chou, Ah Chou!"

Shen Changfeng had already mounted his horse and with a powerful swing of the whip, he and his horse rushed rapidly into the darkness until their voices could no longer be heard.

Although Jingzhou Prefecture and Xiangyang Prefecture are adjacent to each other, it would take even a fast horse two or three days to reach them. Shen Changfeng urged the horse forward desperately and rushed into the territory of Xiangzhou Prefecture just before the city gate closed the next day.

Shen Changfeng is a ruthless man, and the horse named Achou is also a ruthless horse. It did not fall down after being tortured like this. The first thing it did when it stopped was to ask Shen Changfeng for food.

Shen Changfeng had already squandered all the fodder he had bought along the way. Now he was anxious to find someone, so he just told the people at the post station to feed the horses, and went to the temple fair without even looking at them.

From afar, one could see a newly built temple with red walls, black tiles, and upturned eaves. On a shiny black plaque were inscribed the three golden characters "Marquis Wu Ding". On both sides of the temple gate hung two horn bows, one large and one small. The bowstrings were old, and the arrow shafts had no arrowheads. They were used to scare away evil spirits.

Smoke curled up inside the temple. A half-human-high incense burner obscured most of the central statue, leaving only a pair of fists gripping a sword. The figure stood solemn and majestic in the misty smoke, her presence unmistakable and heroic. Conversely, beside the pillar on the left side of the shrine, the face of a shorter warrior was clearly illuminated by the slanted candlelight. She wore silver soft armor, standing sideways, her hand on a sword. The red tassels on her head were clearly visible, and even a breeze seemed to flutter.

She also folded her hands on the hilt of her sword. The corners of her slightly raised eyes held the restrained sharpness of a military commander, but under the warm yellow candlelight, her whole body seemed to be bathed in the gentle light of the morning sun, and even her slightly furrowed brows seemed to soften. Her lowered eyelids were filled with autumn water, and her eyes seemed to be filled with melancholy and compassion. She was remembering the people caught in the war, and also observing the various joys and sorrows of the people rushing to and from the palace. She looked straight at him, and when their eyes met, Shen Changfeng was stunned for a moment. He had a strange illusion that her black pupils were constantly reflecting star-like lights, as if she was very surprised to see him. The smile on her lips deepened.

He suspected that he was hallucinating due to lack of sleep after running around for so many days. He turned away awkwardly, hid the strange feeling in his heart, and continued walking forward.

Everywhere he looked, there were tourists. Searching aimlessly like this was too time-consuming. He needed a vantage point. This place had to be near dense crowds of people, had to have suitable cover, and most importantly, it had to be famous, so that everyone passing by would stop and take a look. Shen Changfeng silently turned back and walked towards the shadow of the trees behind the Wudinghou Temple.

Suddenly there was a commotion on the street. Shen Changfeng looked in the direction of the sound and saw a dark horse rushing into the street. Tourists screamed and tried to get out of the way. When the horse saw that everyone was looking at it, it deliberately slowed down its pace and wagged its tail proudly. Seeing that it understood human nature, everyone was no longer afraid. After a few glances at it, they all suddenly laughed.

Shen Changfeng lay on the roof, sipping his liquor. He was exhausted and needed a drink to refresh himself. He lifted his eyelids and took a look, thinking to himself: This horse is really ugly.

More and more people gathered around the grinning black horse, giving it pointers. Shen Changfeng heard someone say, "This horse is so weird, and so conceited. I really want to see what its owner looks like."

Shen Changfeng curled the corners of his mouth, squinted his eyes and looked again. His eyes were fixed on the two lanterns on the horse's belly. He couldn't smile anymore: Isn't this the horse he rode here?

It turns out there's a reason why it's called Achou.

Achou was surrounded by the crowd and walked onto a gentle slope behind the temple. The lights there were dim, and after Shen Changfeng adjusted himself a little, he realized that the grass had been trampled by horses' hooves and was actually a horse racing slope. At this time, several big men were driving their horses to the starting point. Achou also stuck his butt out to join in the fun, squeezing into the middle and taking a seat, which made everyone laugh continuously.

He was just about to shift his gaze back to the bright lights when he caught a glimpse of a white shadow passing by quickly. His eyelids twitched suddenly and he crouched down to chase it. The crisp and rhythmic sound of horse hooves in his ears was exactly the same as he remembered. Shen Changfeng's heart beat faster and faster. When he saw the horses leisurely stepping on the grass under the bamboo shadows, he felt ecstatic and the smile on his face suddenly widened - it was the Jade Lion Zhaoye!

But the next moment his smile fell, because he saw a figure that was so familiar that he couldn't be more familiar, a man he could recognize even if he turned into ash! He saw that shameless man actually feeding his horse, touching his horse openly, and completely treating himself as the horse's owner!

Shen Changfeng's teeth were clattering, but that was not the end. The man in the moon-white robe touched the Zhaoye Jade Lion, chuckled, turned around and stretched out his hand, as if he had eyes on the back, and supported the woman in the jade skirt who was following behind him.

Needless to say, that was Lin Meizhu, whom Shen Changfeng had been looking for these days.

Chu Qi seemed to be teasing her for being reckless. Lin Meizhu was obviously not convinced. She looked around and saw that no one was paying attention and was about to step on his foot. Chu Qi had completely anticipated her move and took a step back. Lin Meizhu missed her step and jumped hurriedly to chase after his other foot.

Shen Changfeng didn't know who would win or lose in the end, he only knew that Chu Qi never let go of Lin Meizhu's arm. If sight had substance, his burning gaze with anger would have burned the clothes that were entangled and caressed each other to ashes.

Seeing the intimate and tacit interaction between the two, Shen Changfeng felt the hot blood in his body surge up from his neck, spreading to his ears, and his whole face was abnormally flushed.

When he regained consciousness, the two had reached the open river bank. The sudden light of the fire coincided with the red light in Shen Changfeng's eyes. He looked at the Kongming lantern that was gradually expanding between the two of them, feeling angry, hateful, and a little unnamed panic in his heart.

God knows what wishes will be made on the seventh day of the lunar year! He must not let this lantern float away in the air! Not even a slight chance of it coming true! Absolutely not!

He subconsciously touched his back, but found nothing. His mind raced, and he suddenly jumped over the ridge, taking cover in the shadow of the eaves. He clasped the top of the column with his right hand, swung his body like a pendulum, and reached out to grasp the bowstring hanging on the side of the door.

The people under the temple felt that a dark shadow flashed above their heads, but when they looked up, they found nothing. When they looked back again, the bowstring used by Song Lingyi was gone!

Just as everyone was discussing whether the Marquis of Wuding and his wife had appeared, Shen Changfeng had already returned to the roof, picked up his bow and arrow, and the moment he looked up at the sky, he was dumbfounded.

There are dozens of Kongming lanterns in the sky, and it is impossible to tell which one belongs to whom!

Shen Changfeng was dazed for a moment, and his gaze slowly fell on the person standing side by side with Lin Meiju on the river bank.

There are only three arrows, which are not enough to shoot all the sky full of Kongming lanterns, but it is more than enough to kill one person.

Once the murderous thought came to his mind, it was like a flood bursting through a dam, impossible to contain. He once again put the arrow on the bowstring, but this time the target became a living person.