Chapter 57 "Father, he didn't mean to..."

"Father, wasn't he going to give us the wooden plaque? Why are we giving him money?"

Clutching the newly acquired sugar figurine, Xie Baoqiong glanced at Li Yi's departing figure, then asked indistinctly, biting the fox's head.

Xie Zhuo raised his hand and pressed it against Xie Baoqiong's fluffy hair, his expression wistful yet serene, and softly explained:

"Giving us the wooden plaque was merely a statement he made under duress, not his true intention."

People's circumstances differ. He's not a bad person; perhaps he did this out of desperation. If his heart were set on good, perhaps with this money...

Xie Zhuo's voice was interrupted by a creaking sound.

He glanced down at the sound and saw Xie Baoqiong trying hard to eat the candy. Her cheeks were puffing out, and almost half of the candy fox was in her mouth. He wondered if she was even listening to him.

"Is it tasty?"

His subordinates' heads bobbed up and down, their puffed-out cheeks refusing to deflate.

Xie Zhuo chuckled at Xie Baoqiong's childlike nature, but found her adorable. He tied the wooden plaque in his hand to Xie Baoqiong's waist, and then picked her up with his free hand.

The weight in her hand was very light, which was inconsistent with Xie Baoqiong's still chubby face, and she looked almost the same as when she first returned to the Marquis's mansion.

He tenderly brushed away the strands of hair that had been blown onto Xie Baoqiong's cheek by the night wind.

A fleeting, delusional thought crossed my mind...

Xie Baoqiong was eating intently when his body suddenly lifted into the air, causing the fox head in his mouth to briefly touch the air again. His gaze swept over the person who had picked him up before he put the candy back into his mouth.

When the strands of hair stuck to his face were brushed aside, Xie Zhuo's warm fingertips brushed against his face, making him feel a little itchy, which made him shrink closer to Xie Zhuo's arms.

Amidst the bustling streets, Xie Zhuo, carrying Qiongyu, weaved through the crowd.

To the side, a shimmering river flows into the distance, its surface dotted with patches of fluorescent light.

Lanterns floated downstream like small boats.

Held in Xie Baoqiong's arms, his field of vision was much higher than before, and a large expanse of candlelight reflected in his eyes.

The few scattered river lanterns that had been there just moments before were now floating downstream in large numbers, their reflections gleaming in his eyes.

"Dad, there are so many lights on the river. Why are we putting lights on the water?"

Xie Zhuo, carrying Xie Baoqiong, happened to walk to the bridgehead. He stopped by the bridge railing, raised his arm to block the latter's outstretched body, and prevented Xie Baoqiong from rushing into the river.

Xie Baoqiong's gaze followed her eyes to the flickering firelight in the long river.

A short, white candle is fixed in the center of the river lantern, carrying its fiery light and longing as it is blown away by the wind.

"The Ghost Festival is just around the corner. These river lanterns are for mourning the deceased. People who release the lanterns write their thoughts on them, hoping that the lanterns can carry their longing to the other side."

Xie Baoqiong had only a small piece of candy left on the bamboo stick in his hand, which looked a lot like the white candle on the river lantern. He looked at the river lantern again through the candy with a puzzled expression.

Death is death, but humans always have some strange and unusual customs.

How can a paper lantern made by mortals convey what they want to say to the deceased?

The scenery before them suddenly began to move, and Xie Zhuo carried him toward the stalls under the bridge, stopping in front of a river lantern stall.

The river lanterns were all roughly the same in style. Xie Zhuo took four lanterns and paid with copper coins.

Seeing his generous decision, the stall owner gave him another lamp, which Xie Baoqiong, who had returned to the ground, took in her hand.

"Young master, we have pen and ink here." Seeing that Xie Zhuo looked like a scholar, the stall owner didn't offer to write for him, but pointed to the table next to him.

Xie Zhuo took the pen, dipped it in ink, and hovered the nib for a long time before finally putting down the pen after making only a few strokes on one of the lanterns.

Xie Zhuo's handwriting was not as neat as when he was taught. Xie Baoqiong only saw it once and did not see what Xie Zhuo wrote clearly.

Xie Zhuo turned his head and saw the lantern in his hand, and asked:

Do you want Dad to write it for you?

"I want to write it myself." He's a prodigy who can write now, so Xie Baoqiong immediately refused Xie Zhuo.

But as soon as he grasped the pen, Xie Baoqiong's movements froze, just like Xie Zhuo's. He was unaware of what Xie Zhuo was thinking when he paused.

He paused because he didn't know who to write to. He could write to Princess Huayang, but he had never met her and had no idea what to write.

His gaze drifted toward Xie Zhuo, as he tried to copy some "lessons".

Standing beside him, Xie Zhuo was incredibly patient, holding the unfinished sugar figurine for him and quietly waiting for him to start writing, while the lantern in his other hand made the writing completely illegible.

But... Sugar Man, he thought of someone he could write to.

Ah...

But then there was silence after that one word.

To be honest, he didn't know which character was the last character of Amei's name.

Since she is a bewitching demon… Xie Baoqiong’s hand paused again. How is the character “魅” (mei) written again?

But having already put down what he had written, he could only add a word that he knew how to write.

"Dad, I've finished writing."

Xie Baoqiong picked up the lantern and took the lead in walking down the steps beside the bridge.

"Ah (Mo Tuan), sugar figurines are tastier than candied hawthorns."

Five river lanterns gathered together and drifted away from the shore.

Xie Zhuo's thoughts, which had been drifting away with the river lanterns, were pulled back by the force of the sleeve.

"What did Father write on the river lantern?" The river lanterns drifted too fast, and Xie Baoqiong hadn't even seen which lantern had words on it before it drifted far away.

Xie Zhuo pulled Xie Baoqiong back, his soft words drifting into Xie Baoqiong's ears along with the steam from the water:

"Tell your mother and father that they have found you."

Xie Baoqiong's gaze swept to the side, following the river lanterns they had released, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

It's just an ordinary river lantern that can't communicate between the living and the dead.

—

It was late at night when the two returned to their lodgings.

The courtyard was brightly lit, and several figures hurried past them. One of them stopped when he recognized Xie Zhuo.

"Lord Xie, Lord Rong said that he would like you to come over after you return."

Seeing that they all looked rushed, Xie Zhuo first turned to look at Xie Baoqiong:

"Qiong'er, why don't you go back to sleep first?"

"I want to go with Dad." Xie Baoqiong's voice trailed off with sleepiness, softening her tone and subtly hinting at a coquettish tone.

He knew that Xie Zhuo and Rong Feng had come here to investigate the whereabouts of the kidnapper, and he also knew that Xie Zhuo being called away in the middle of the night must mean something serious had happened, so he naturally had to follow them to find out what was going on.

Xie Zhuo had no choice but to take Xie Baoqiong with him and follow the guide, while asking what was going on:

"What happened?"

"The 'fox spirit' that was captured is about to die..." The person leading the way glanced at Xie Baoqiong, but answered without comment.

Xie Zhuo frowned. After spending many days together, he knew that Rong Feng was a man of principle and not a tyrannical person.

There's no reason why the 'fox spirit' that was caught at noon would be on the verge of death in just one afternoon.

"What happened?"

The man leading the way looked increasingly grim, and simply said:

You'll see when you get there.

The courtyard isn't very big; it's only a few steps away.

The guide pushed open the door, and Xie Zhuo led Xie Baoqiong into a cramped room that was not lit.

The room was pitch black. Xie Zhuo was only human, and before he could even see the furnishings, Xie Baoqiong's gaze had already locked onto Rong Feng in the corner and a lump of life on the ground.

Soft but cool light emanated from Rong Feng's fingertips.

A glowing yellow talisman floated into the sky, and the room gradually brightened.

Xie Baoqiong and Xie Zhuo's eyes were drawn to the light.

Immediately afterwards, Xie Zhu noticed a patch of "creatures" on the ground.

The fur, whose original color was no longer discernible, was stained with a reddish-brown liquid and tangled together in clumps. The creature's body was shriveled, as if the bones and organs that supported her had disappeared.

Its pointed yet blunt mouth was still panting, but it would occasionally vomit out a large, bloody, mangled fragment, mixed with white fleshy worms. The worms were still gnawing on the fragments the moment they left the living organism, but they stopped moving after a few moments.

A low moan escaped as the light shone on her.

Upon seeing the scene before him, Xie Zhuo suddenly stepped to the side, blocking Xie Baoqiong's view.

"This is?"

Rong Feng's gaze had fallen on the father and son without him noticing:

"She is the 'fox spirit'."

Rong Feng snorted: "She has Gu worms inside her body."

Before they could get much information out of him, after asking a few questions about what Young Master Xie had mentioned during the day, they were attacked by the Gu worms inside their bodies.

"What questions does Lord Xie wish to ask? We should answer them as soon as possible."

Xie Zhuo looked down and saw that the creature on the ground did not resemble a fox spirit at all.

Although Rong Feng said that, creatures on the ground that take in little air and exhale much air probably have difficulty even speaking.

"Who planted the Gu worms inside your body?"

Following Rong Feng's words, Xie Zhuo asked a question that was exactly what Xie Baoqiong was concerned about.

But Yingyue, who was lying on the ground, only let out a few primal howls of pain, and could not utter any useful information.

Xie Baoqiong, who was being shielded by Xie Zhuo, peeked out halfway and looked at the white worm near Yingyue's mouth. Her eyes flickered. It seemed that the Sang siblings who had given him a bottle of medicine earlier were skilled in Gu magic.

I suppose we still don't know what the purpose of that bottle of medicine is?

But right now he doesn't seem to have any excuse to use.

Xie Baoqiong secretly took out a special porcelain bottle from her sleeve.

The porcelain bottle wasn't large; it was held in his hand, and with his sleeve covering it, it wasn't visible at all.

His fingers uncorked the bottle, and the still-living insect that Yingyue had just spat out seemed to sense fear and suddenly fled in another direction.

Although the speed was slow, it was steadily moving away from him.

Yingyue's breathing also weakened, and she managed to squeeze out a few words that gradually became clearer:

"Help me, help me..."

As death approaches, only the purest desire to survive remains.

But as Yingyue cried out, bloody fragments kept spitting out of her mouth, and the white hair at the corners of her mouth was stained with blood, making it impossible to see its original color.

Her body was slowly withering away.

The three people inside the room remained silent; in Yingyue's condition, even a god couldn't save her.

Xie Zhuo turned around, covered Xie Baoqiong's ears with his hands, and led her out of the house.

Xie Baoqiong tilted her fair face up, her eyes clear and bright, like the crescent moon overhead.

Xie Zhuo placed his hand on his ear, as if holding his face in the palm of his hand.

Xie Zhuo said nothing. He waited until the sounds inside the room subsided before lowering his hand.

"Qiong'er, don't take Rong Shaoshi's words to heart, it has nothing to do with you."