Chapter 43: Dream

"What's wrong?" Qiandeng asked him.

He evaded the question, saying only, "This must be something Meng Lanxi treasured very much. She might have hidden it here out of fear of losing it."

"Well, this jade looks good. He lives with his mother, and their family has little money. He would be more cautious with such a rare piece of jade. However, it seems this jade pendant has nothing to do with the case..."

Before she finished speaking, she suddenly felt dizzy, felt dizzy and fell to the ground.

Ling Tianshui was quick to support her and pulled her to sit on the couch beside him: "What's wrong with you?"

Qian Deng's eyes were dazed, his throat was dry and he couldn't speak. He just breathed hard to prevent himself from fainting.

She opened her eyes blankly. In the darkness before her, the light illuminated vague and illusory figures, and warmth filled the air.

She only felt her heart warm, as if she was immersed in warm water in the cold winter, and her whole body felt soft as if it was about to melt.

The figure in front of her also leaned down gently and gave her a long-lost smile: "Deng Deng, why are you waiting for us here?"

She raised her hands, hugged the man in front of her tightly, and pressed her face into his strong chest: "Dad... Dengdeng has been looking for you... Where's Mom, where's Grandpa, where's Grandma?"

The person in front of her turned sideways, and she vaguely saw her family members walking towards her with smiles on their faces, bathed in bright candlelight and shrouded in illusory light, holding her in their arms.

She smiled through her tears, murmuring to them and letting herself be immersed in joy. The gentleness and beauty before her made her forget to explore why her loved ones appeared beside her, gathering together in a harmonious halo just like in the best times of the past.

"Father, they all say you died under the Danbi, but I never believed it. I know you are still by my side..."

Qian Deng hugged the illusory shadow in front of her tightly, buried her face in his broad chest, and let her tears soak into the thin shirt of early autumn, leaving a warm imprint on the heart of the person in her arms.

"Also, Mother, you haven't told Deng Deng who the husband you suggested to me that night was... I still haven't figured out the one you liked... the one I should marry..."

Which one...

Ling Tianshui lowered his eyes and looked at Qiandeng who was holding him tightly in her arms. Her eyes were vacant and her mind was blurred. The sound of her mumbling was murmured in her ears, and it was obvious that something was wrong.

Thinking about it now, he was one of the people her mother pointed out that night.

Her hands were tightly wrapped around his waist and back, and she raised her face to stroke his collarbone. The disordered breath caused by crying with joy lingered in his neck, making his usually calm heart difficult to control at this moment, and his mood became a little faster along with hers.

"But mother, I don't want to get married... I want to continue the glory of the Changhua Palace. I want to glorify my ancestors, even if it means I have to keep my hair uncut and practice cultivation at home to protect my Bai family..."

In the darkness, under the flickering lights, she was confused and dizzy, mumbling vaguely her deepest thoughts.

The unspeakable heat in Ling Tianshui's chest subsided slightly, and his expression became gloomy because of her mumbling about not wanting to get married.

He held her waist with one hand and her arm that was tightly wrapped around him with the other, trying to push her away from him and prevent her from getting too close.

"Father, Mother, why..." Qian Deng, lost in delusion, had tears in her eyes. She raised her hand that he had pushed away with a wronged look. Because her fingers were burning and stinging, she unconsciously put them to her lips and pressed them tightly, wanting to lick the red and swollen fingertips.

Ling Tianshui was quick-witted and quick-handed. He immediately grabbed her hand to prevent her from touching it and took a look under the light.

Her fingers were burning and trembling, appearing unusually red under the light, and her whole body temperature had risen a lot.

He entered here earlier than Qiandeng and turned over many things, but found nothing unusual. The only thing she touched more than him was the drawer where the jade pendant was hidden.

Ling Tianshui immediately grabbed the jade pendant, pulled her up again, and dragged her outside.

Qian Deng lost all his strength and leaned limply on him, raising his hands to hug his waist tightly to support his body which was about to fall.

Ling Tianshui pulled down her arms that were wrapped around him, and regardless of her dazed murmurs of her loved ones' names, he passed one hand under her armpit and the other around her knees, and lifted her up sideways.

He strode to the flowing spring outside and pressed her whole body into the water, hoping to wake her up.

Unfortunately, the medicine had already penetrated into the skin and traveled throughout the body with the blood. Qiandeng's eyes were dazed and he unconsciously slapped the water surface, looking as confused as a child, even more bewildered.

The spring water was icy cold in the autumn night. She was shivering with cold and struggled to get ashore, holding onto his hand.

Ling Tianshui had no choice but to pull her out of the water again.

She hooked her arms around his neck and murmured aggrievedly. Because she felt cold, she buried her face in his neck to absorb the warmth, which made her stick closer to him.

Both of them were wet and looked really miserable.

There were footsteps coming from the side. It was Ji Linyou who was worried. He heard the sound of water and came over with a lamp to check.

Ling Tianshui frowned, picked up Qiandeng, strode around the spring, groped his way through the bushes, and came to Yuansongju where he lived.

This is the most remote corner of the backyard, and no one ever passes by.

He laid her on the couch, and seeing that her hands were still clutching his sleeves, he pried her fingers apart one by one.

Her fingers were slender, and her nails were trimmed long, round, and clean. Because of the medicine, they had an abnormal reddish hue.

The moonlight filtering through the window lattice gave her nails, her hands, and her skin a pearly, soft sheen. Her wet body seemed limp, and her open collar revealed a patch of snow-like skin.

Those usually steady hands paused unconsciously, and he quickly turned his head away.

But the snow seemed to burn fiercely, almost burning into his heart.

Qian Deng, however, was like an intellectually undeveloped child. She raised her hands and hugged him tightly from behind, calling out "Dad" and "Grandpa" in grievance, talking nonsense.

He couldn't bear it any longer, so he simply raised his hand and slapped her on the back of the neck.

His moves were naturally steady, accurate and ruthless, and the relentless struggle finally stopped. Qian Deng slid down his chest drowsily and fell asleep on his knees.

He lowered his head and stared at her face for a moment, brushing away the ambiguity that permeated the air before him. He grabbed the quilt beside him and threw it on her, covering her completely with only half of her face exposed.

Huo Ran stood up and walked out. Ling Tianshui stood outside the door for a moment with a sullen face. After hearing no sound from inside, he called out the secret guards: "Go to Yilan Pavilion and remove all traces of the crime there."

The secret guard respectfully agreed, then took out a letter from his pocket and said, "This is from Captain Zhang."

He was in a state of anxiety at the moment. He took the letter and glanced at it. Seeing that it was not a military secret from the northwest, he threw it into the drawer.

Originally placed in the drawer was Yu Guangling's autopsy file. He picked up the file, grabbed the green cloak beside it, put it on, and hurried out of the Changhua Palace into the darkness.