Chapter 30 Chapter 30 Pei Lang, Save Me

The southeast wind howled, and the monkeys on both sides of the river seemed to be crying.

The wild geese were flying in pairs, going against the two galloping white horses with silver saddles. The sun was glaring, and the smooth saddles were darting and darting like shooting stars.

After about three days of riding, they finally arrived at Fanxi. Pei Zhiji was so tired and exhausted that a few tiny and flamboyant hairs were raised on his meticulous temples.

A stranger of unknown origin riding a horse in the street was too conspicuous, so the two of them sold the horse to a pawnshop owner when they were about to enter the county town.

Xiao Feng shook the purse in his hand and bit it carefully with his teeth. The money was indeed real, but the price for selling these two horses was too little.

"Young Master, why do I feel like we've been tricked?" In order to avoid exposing his identity, Xiao Feng changed his address on the road.

Pei Zhiji took a quick look at the purse Xiao Feng handed over and frowned for the first time, but did not express any opinion on it. The son of a wealthy family had never pawned anything in a pawnshop.

Moreover, in order to keep a low profile on this trip, the two of them did not pick the best horses from the stables of the Pei Mansion. They bought these two horses at random in a small town on the roadside outside Shangjing.

How would he know the market value of these ordinary things?

"You follow the clues to find Suo Ye, and I'll go to the county government office to find out about Pei Wuyou and the others."

After nodding his head and accepting the order, Xiao Feng's agile figure quickly disappeared into the crowd.

There was only one county government office in Fanxi. He asked the common people along the road and they were very enthusiastic to show him the way since he was a stranger.

"Young man, you are so handsome. Maybe your family doesn't agree with you eloping with a girl?" The flower-selling aunt lowered her voice deliberately, covered her upper lip with one hand, looked around at the other side of the wall, and then spoke mysteriously.

Pei Zhiji heard it clearly: "?"

"Oh, sir, don't be ashamed. I've seen this kind of thing many times. Every year, young masters and young ladies from wealthy families come to live with us. At first, they definitely feel uncomfortable, but after a while, they have a baby and their lives are harmonious and beautiful."

"I see your clothes are quite valuable, and you have an extraordinary demeanor. It's obvious that you don't come from a humble family like ours. Tell me the truth, and I will definitely help you if I can."

Pei Zhiji looked a little uncomfortable under the aunt's repeated scrutiny. After hearing these ridiculous words, he naturally distanced himself from the flower stall. His tone was quite cold and hard.

"You misunderstood."

"Hey, Mr. Lin, stop talking nonsense. You're still so unruly at your age."

After scolding, she turned around and said to Pei Zhiji: "Don't be afraid, sir. She just likes to joke with young men. You can just walk along the foot of Xiaofeng Mountain and return to the county. Then ask anyone and you will definitely find her." The aunt who was selling watermelons at a stall next to the tea stall laughed as she spoke.

"Thank you very much."

Some of them who were not familiar with the technique took out some change from their purses and put it aside, and Pei Zhiji went in the direction they had pointed.

Only after he had walked a long way did he feel a little surprised as to why he had been standing there listening to the flower-selling lady's nonsense for so long.

How can eloping bring happiness and joy? It's ridiculous.

The outskirts of Fanxi are still a short distance away from the county. There are many people gathered at the foot of Xiaofeng Mountain, chattering as if they are talking enthusiastically.

"There's miasma on the top of this mountain. Going up there will be poisonous to death!"

"Oh no! That girl has been in there for a while now. Is she okay?"

"I think that girl looks like Magistrate Shen's daughter. She just came back from Shangjing. She must not know that there is miasma on the top of this mountain. No, no, we must report it to the authorities immediately!"

Everyone chatted in a flurry and quickly verified the identity of the person entering, and then someone trotted towards the county government office.

"Brother, who did you just say went up the mountain?" Pei Zhiji called out to the man who was panting.

"Oh, that girl seems to be called... Shen Wenjia. I won't talk to you anymore. I have to call for help."

After saying this, his feet were like burning wheels, he ran very fast, and kept muttering: It’s terrible, it’s terrible...

Wenjia, Shen Wenjia.

The people at the foot of the mountain were still shouting, and when no one paid attention, Pei Zhiji had already gone deep into the forest along a small path on the side.

As his long legs crossed the winding and narrow road, the lush and overgrown weeds pulled down and bent the branches, hitting his skin and soon leaving his face covered with tiny scars.

He used his wide sleeves to push aside the layers of tangled branches, and in an instant, a dense pain came from the back of his hand.

"Oh my! Why is there another man up there?"

"A fool just went in, and now another one comes in."

"Master - you can't come in, Master, come back quickly -"

The deeper we went, the weirder the atmosphere became. Apart from the cuts, our entire bodies felt as cold as ice, as if we were soaking in a deep pool of water. Breathing became increasingly difficult, and our anxiety grew.

"Lu Suizhu——"

There were fewer and fewer trees, and the empty forest seemed to echo in a deep valley. The fog visible to the naked eye also appeared faintly black. Pei Zhiji shouted as he walked, and his steps became heavier, not as calm as when he came.

His half-closed, wrinkled eyelids were becoming increasingly difficult to open. He looked around in the light, but a hazy gray powder was half-floating, blocking his way. He uncontrollably reached out and grabbed it.

His sleeves fluttered, and suddenly Lu Suizhu's face appeared in front of him. She was holding a cup of tea with a smile on her face, and her voice was sweet.

"Master Pei, this is the pear soup I cooked."

He stretched out his scarred hand with great effort to grab Lu Suizhu's sleeve, shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

"Suizhu, come back with me. This miasma is poisonous."

His fingertips were about to touch Lu Suizhu, but she suddenly turned around and changed direction.

The hands, so white that they seemed transparent, slowly took off her clothes layer by layer, revealing her snow-white skin.

His eyes hurt more and more, as if a sharp knife wrapped in sand formed a whirlwind and went straight into his eyes. Pei Zhiji half-knelt down in pain, the blue veins on his neck wrinkled into a ball, his waist collapsed into a line and struggled to support himself, his hands still struggling to grasp the blurry light and shadow in front of him.

The clothes had fallen off, revealing the veil, revealing the woman's shoulders, but her chest was a bloody mess, which was extremely horrifying.

"Lu Suizhu" suddenly shed tears, and the hand covering the wound was also bleeding, dripping from the fingertips into Pei Zhiji's palm.

Tighten it and feel that drop of warmth.

"Master Pei, it hurts so much."

His eyes were in sharp pain as if being cut by a knife. Apart from the blurry red color, the only thing left in his ears was the echo of the woman's sobs. With each cry, his heart would shrink, and his collapsed body would lean forward a little.

The sound of wind, bamboo leaves, and sobbing. Pei Zhiji didn't know where he was, but felt his heart shaking and falling.

The inexplicable emotion after Lu Suizhu died in Pei's mansion while blocking the knife for him surged into his heart again. He painfully grabbed the fabric of his shirt on his chest, and the blood and energy that was densely packed like a silk net was torn off and thinned into a piece, spreading everywhere in his chest.

Something liquid flowed out from the corner of his lips, leaving a salty and fishy taste between his teeth.

Since Lu Suizhu's death, he has been thinking about her every day and unable to sleep every night. His dreams are filled with the woman's unwilling waiting and tearful farewell.

The traces of tears at the corners of her eyes and the warmth of her fingertips reminded him all the time that a woman had lost her life for him in vain.

For a long time, he was trapped in deep self-doubt and torture, unable to extricate himself. He didn't know why he felt this way, but he thought that it was the indelible guilt that was destroying him.

"Pei Lang, come and save me."

Tears welled in her eyes, but the sign of weakness faded away in an instant. Her voice was sharp and filled with anger: "Just because I'm not even the Second Young Master's concubine, you guys just casually set me on fire?"

Yes, in the wilderness, with corpses everywhere and rockets flying...

Even though they knew that the woman in front of them was not Lu Suizhu, those who entered the game could not help but follow her unpredictable emotions.

After a serious illness, he went to the outskirts of Beijing to check. Just as Ah Ren said, the person behind the scenes did things cleanly and properly. A fire burned down the entire dense forest, and not only were there no intact corpses, but not even a bone residue was left.

"No, that's not the case."

I wanted to explain, but found that I had nothing to refute, and the words I could say were so pale.

He knew that he felt guilty, but Lu Suizhu was not an important person to him, so why should he torture himself over and over again?

I hate this kind of inexplicable feeling, and I hate this kind of loss of control even more.

"Pei Zhiji, you are a selfish, hypocritical, and cold man. No one will love you. Your mother, father, your brother, your grandmother, no one truly treats you."

His body was getting colder and colder, as if he was in an icy place with no one around. He couldn't get out, but he didn't want to get stuck any deeper either, so Pei Zhiji stopped struggling.

The tragic death of his mother, the immorality of his father, and the visit of his aunt were all played out. Little Pei Zhiji, dressed in mourning clothes, knelt in the mourning hall without crying or making a fuss. The north wind was howling at night. His father and aunt were getting married. When the white candle burned out, the servant accidentally offered a red candle.

No one cared about him, and what if he was weak? He was still the most outstanding son of a noble family.

No one can disturb his mind.

*

Chen Zhuo and Lin Yan were still in Yunshui, so Lu Suizhu took the initiative to help the county government with some trivial work. She would settle accounts from time to time and sometimes resolve some "minor conflicts" between villagers.

It had just rained a little, and the room was a little damp. I was wet all over and felt uncomfortable. The climate in Shangjing was dry, which was very different from here. Lu Suizhu went forward and opened the window to ventilate.

The sweet breeze after the rain blew on my face, and a smile appeared on my face. Before I could turn back, I heard someone shouting anxiously.

"County Magistrate Shen, this is terrible, this is terrible, someone has died in the county!"

The man walked past the chief clerk and a group of yamen runners holding sticks, and when he saw Lu Suizhu here, he suddenly stretched his neck, his eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost, pointed at her, then pointed in the direction of Xiaofeng Mountain, and his voice slowed down.

"You are here, who is that girl on the mountain?"

Everyone was confused. After finding out what had happened, Lu Suizhu went to the herbal medicine clinic with several yamen runners and took some anti-poison herbs to wrap around a face towel.

Hurry to Xiaofeng Mountain to rescue people.