Chapter 26 This is the True Heart

Jiaoran had never been sick for such a long time since she was a child, and the hot blood rushing through her body made her terrified.

She lay in bed, unable to move, and not even having the strength to lift her eyelids. Occasionally, she could vaguely hear the sounds around her, but they were all transmitted to her ears vaguely as if through the ripples of water.

She seemed to be trapped in this heavy body and could not be free at all.

She could feel someone repeatedly touching her forehead and neck, and the slightly warm hand covering her forehead made her even more anxious. She wanted to sit up and see who it was, but she couldn't move her body.

In panic, it seemed as if a hand was trying to smooth out the wrinkles between her brows.

Jiaoran began to have strange dreams.

After a while, she had obtained "Gao Shan Shou" and dreamed that she had returned to Huiying Inn. Her fellow disciples were still gathered together as before, and her elder sister was wearing new clothes, chatting and laughing with Bu Yue, returning to the past.

Later, she dreamed that because she had disappeared after taking the secret manual, the governor had focused all his anger on Mu Jin. Everyone knew she was a spy, and yet Mu Jin was so kind to a spy. Everyone in the palace demanded an explanation from him, but he said he had no idea why Jiao Ran was a spy. He was speechless, his eyes red with anxiety, but no one was willing to believe him.

Suddenly, she dreamed that the Gao Shan Shou was no longer in her possession, that the operation had failed, and that her senior sister, lying on the ground covered in blood, told her to run. Her senior brother, fearing punishment from the master, took Xu Mengchou and fled far away, never to return. As for her, after being captured, Mu Jin pointed at her nose and said disappointedly, "I never doubted you. You actually lurked around me for the Gao Shan Shou. I was wrong to trust you."

Countless people rushed up to kill her. She waved a knife, killing and killing with endless strength. The blood of the people she killed splattered on the handle of her knife, making it so slippery that she could hardly hold the knife.

In a trance, the blood turned into a ball on the ground, and it was wiped on her cheek. The little girl walked forward and saw the man killed by Senior Sister Mingguang. She vaguely understood that death and blood were linked.

Blood, lots of blood.

She started crying and making a fuss like she did when she was a child, asking her parents to come and comfort her.

She didn't want Senior Sister Mingguang to hold her, she wanted to go home to find her mother.

…

Tears and sweat mixed together, and the hand that was resting on her forehead moved to her shoulder. Then he lay beside her and held her in his arms, gently patting her back one after another to comfort her carefully.

After a series of heavy rains, the greenery in the mountains and forests is lit up again.

It was already very late at night. With the arrival of summer, the city's curfew had been lifted. In winter, this was the time when people should be asleep, but in summer, there were still many people strolling around the streets.

The pawnshop owner yawned, and the wrinkles on his face deepened.

Normally the shop would have been closed by this time, but the master had something to pick up, so he passed by and came to pick it up in person.

A few waiters were accompanying him at the back, and only the shopkeeper was at the front. He was yawning one after another. He was old and couldn't hold it in any longer.

There was a sound of footsteps in front of the store, and a woman ran here in a hurry. She hesitated at the door but finally came in.

His face was flushed and sweaty, and it seemed that he had been running very fast.

She told the shopkeeper, "I'm looking for someone."

Looking for someone late at night?

Are you looking for trouble?

The shopkeeper couldn't help but look at her with suspicion, "Madam, who are you looking for? We only accept objects here, not people."

"Excuse me, is there a man named Tchaicher here?" she said in a low voice. "I want to talk to him about something."

The shopkeeper glanced up and down and said calmly, "Madam, do you know him?"

"Yes, I'm in a hurry," she said.

"My lady, if you have anything to ask him, I can convey it to him."

"I..." she hesitated, "I want to borrow some money from him."

The shopkeeper sighed upon hearing this, "Unfortunately, this is a pawnshop, not a bank. Borrowing money..."

"I'm really in a hurry. Could you please deliver a letter to him and tell him I'm in urgent need of money? Oh, and tell him my name is Zhuxing." After a moment's thought, she added, "I met him in the bamboo forest some time ago."

The shopkeeper was getting impatient when suddenly, a cold light flashed and in the blink of an eye, a dagger stabbed out from the other woman's hand.

Zhuxing saw that it was her and asked hurriedly, "Xu Mengchou, what are you doing?"

Xu Mengchou's wrist twitched, nearly piercing his heart. Zhuxing hurriedly pulled it away, "Don't cause trouble again."

"Aren't you here to rob money?" Xu Mengchou asked.

"What do you mean by robbing money? I'm here to borrow money."

The two women looked at each other, both disdainful of each other.

Bu Yue got into trouble in the casino and owed a sum of money but refused to pay it back. However, there is always someone stronger than you and he has been caught.

Xu Mengchou was also kicked out and had to raise money everywhere. Zhuxing only found out about this the next day.

From her, Zhuxing heard that if Bu Yue couldn't raise 100 taels of silver within three days, the casino people would chop off his hand.

Xu Mengchou was still causing trouble, and Zhuxing was upset. "Do you have to be sent to the government before you behave yourself?"

She sneered, "There's no place that can trap me yet."

"Then why don't you go and rescue him?" Zhuxing mocked.

"You talk as if you have no responsibility at all. If it weren't for you, he would have been able to drink so much and hang out in the casino every day." Xu Mengchou blamed her.

Zhuxing stopped arguing and just looked at her with a calm expression, "I told you, he and I will just be from the same sect from now on."

Xu Mengchou smiled, a charming expression on her beautiful face. "You say that, but do you really mean it?"

Zhuxing ignored her and silently turned around to continue talking to the shopkeeper. "I only have three days to raise the money, and I've already wasted one day. If you know where Chai Che is, please help me pass on a message."

Xu Mengchou was most annoyed by Zhuxing's look, as if she was nothing but air. Before she could finish her words, she started fighting with Zhuxing in the pawnshop. Without Bu Yue, she knew that Zhuxing was no match for her.

Xu Mengchou drew a knife from behind her and slashed at Zhuxing quickly with continuous moves. She chopped the wood on the high platform in front of the shopkeeper, splitting it into a gap.

Zhuxing hurriedly retreated, but Xu Mengchou's swordsmanship was much faster than she had imagined.

Seeing her expression change drastically, Xu Mengchou smiled even more happily, "So, without him to protect you, you won't be able to act so arrogant anymore?"

Her smile suddenly froze on her face, her eyes suddenly turned cold, and a chilling air came from behind her.

Chache's sword was unsheathed, and his long and powerful hand tightly grasped the hilt, pointing at the back of the woman in front of him.

Xu Mengchou slowly turned around and saw a man with thick eyebrows, thin lips and a high nose, who seemed to be sculpted from ice and snow on a distant mountain.

"If you have something to say...please say it nicely..." She smiled playfully at Cha Che.

As soon as she finished speaking, she kicked out from under her skirt, and the tip of a dagger appeared from the toe of her shoe. The cold light in Chai Che's eyes became more fierce. He raised the sword in his hand slightly, cutting through iron like mud, and broke the hidden weapon on her shoe. Xu Mengchou looked down and found that fortunately her toes retracted quickly, so now none of them were missing, only a part of the shoe upper was cut off, and now three of her five toes were exposed in the air.

She held her breath, raised her hands and said, "Please spare my life, my dear. I'm new here and don't know the rules here. I hope you'll forgive me if I've offended you."

"What did the girl say?" he asked Zhuxing.

"She is...my friend. She was just joking with me just now. Please forgive me."

Upon hearing the sound, Chai Che put away his sword.

Zhuxing originally came to look for him, but now that he was in front of her, she was too embarrassed to speak.

It's a rare favor that people remember, but it's also human nature not to take it seriously.

Chai Che glanced at the shopkeeper, and the old man said, "Second Master, these two girls are here to borrow money."

Seeing Zhuxing was hesitant and embarrassed to mention it, Xu Mengchou suddenly rushed over and came in front of him. Just as he was about to stand on tiptoe and wrap his soft arms around him, he easily dodged.

Xu Mengchou's attack was in vain. He awkwardly touched his braid and smiled, "Since you all know the purpose of my sister and I's trip, I hope you will help me regardless of past grudges."

He looked at Zhuxing and said nothing.

Zhuxing hesitated for a moment and said, "I will find a way to return it to you as soon as possible in the future."

He said no need, "Let's just say we don't owe each other anything."

"Give her as much as she wants." Cha Che said to the shopkeeper.

After saying that, he took a small box and left.

A voice came from behind.

The shopkeeper said to Zhuxing, "Young lady, you asked for a hundred taels just now, right?"

Zhuxing nodded.

Xu Mengchou quickly said, "You heard wrong, it's five hundred taels."

Zhuxing widened his eyes and said, "No, we'll just borrow a hundred--" His mouth was covered by Xu Mengchou.

“Wuwuwu…you…”

"Five hundred taels! Take it out now!" Xu Mengchou glared at him fiercely, thinking to himself, "What a pity! I wish I had met someone like her earlier. Unfortunately, she already has Bu Yue." Although he was a little cold, at this late hour, the dim light shining on him made the entire pawnshop sparkle.

After leaving the pawnshop, Xu Mengchou asked tentatively, "How did you meet him?"

Zhuxing was extremely anxious, "Go and redeem Bu Yue first."

It was still dark, but the owner of Siyu Garden had not slept yet.

He took a book and sat at the desk to read it. A woman was lying behind a curtain not far behind him.

Su Su, who was on night watch, whispered at the door, "Master, the second master is here."

Mu Jin closed the book in his hand and said, "Tell him it's late and I'm already asleep."

"But……"

Mu Jin knew that he was behind Su Su, "Forget it, let him in."

Susu pushed open the door and sure enough, Chai Che was behind her.

There was a tea set on the table. Chai Che took out two teacups from it, placing one in front of him and one in front of himself.

Sitting cross-legged, opposite Mu Jin.

Seeing this, Susu slowly retreated and closed the door.

"A lazy person like you would walk as few steps as possible, but now you are guarding a woman?" Chai Che found him funny for the first time.

"What did you come to see me for?" He had been looking at Jiaoran for a long time, and his legs felt numb.

Chai Che had already filled two glasses. "We haven't had a drink together yet. I'll wait until the day you die before I offer you another glass of wine. It seems a little late."

Mu Jin was not surprised by his hostility, and asked Susu outside the door to bring some wine and snacks.

Chai Che said, "The world is vast and boundless. The year I left, you said that humans should not be compared to the world, even compared to a mountain or a river, they are too insignificant. Now look, after all these twists and turns, I am back again, and we can still sit together and drink. It seems that the bond between brothers has not been broken."

Mu Jin asked, "Are you just here to buy me a drink?"

"What do you think," he drank first, "I'm here for?"

Mu Jin said nothing.

Chache took out a small box containing a night-shining pearl, which was a wedding gift for him.

"Do you think I'm here to kill you?" He smiled disappointedly, raised his eyes and said helplessly, "Has the friendship between you and me only lasted until our childhood?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mu Jin said, "To be able to have a brotherly relationship with the Second Young Master for a while, Mu Jin is already very lucky."

Chai Che laughed and shook his head, "You are more hypocritical than before, but your heart is more cruel than when you were a child."

Mu Jin also smiled slightly, "You and I are the opposite."

"When you were young, you used flying birds as targets and killed countless birds and beasts. Now I see kindness in your eyes." Mu Jin said.

They have been separated by thousands of miles over the years, one in a border city and the other in the capital of Shengjing, at the feet of the emperor. No one talks about their own hardships. To grow up in these years, they must have experienced countless dangers, and they both know each other's hearts as clearly as a mirror.

"Maybe I'm tired," said Chaiche.

Mu Jin asked, "Everything has just begun, are you tired already?"

Chai Che suddenly poked the eyes of the person in front of him with a pair of bamboo chopsticks in his hand.

In a blink of an eye, the bamboo chopsticks were between his eyebrows.

Mu Jin sat still and refused to leave.

Just a little more and his chopsticks would have pierced into his brain and crushed his brains.

The bamboo chopsticks did not move forward, but suddenly struck down, hitting Mu Jin's wrist bone hard.

He suddenly lost his grip and the chopsticks fell to the ground.

The moment the bamboo chopsticks fell to the ground, Mu Jin seemed to have been thrown into an abyss from which there was no escape.

At this moment, the hatred between the two was suddenly exposed.

Those fleeting moments of beauty in our youth are worthless compared to this hatred.

Mu Jin slowly bent down and picked up the bamboo chopsticks that had fallen to the ground with trembling hands.

His hands were shaking, but his eyes were calm.

Chai Che slammed the table and said, "Don't pick it up. It will get dirty if you pick it up."

Mu Jin's expression changed in an instant.

"I don't mind you killing me, but if I find out you're doing anything that endangers the Chai family, I won't let you go."

Mu Jin wiped the chopsticks clean and asked, "So I should just endure the humiliation that the Chai family has brought upon me over the years?"

Chai Che could not answer this question. Of course he could not answer it. How could a person with a guilty conscience answer Mu Jin's question?

So he could only say, "Let it go, Mu Jin."

Let it go, they all told him to let it go, as if it would be his fault if he didn't let it go.

"This girl is very good and treats you sincerely. If you are willing, after you get married, I will ask my father to allow her to become your concubine and give her a formal status."

"Sincerity?" He couldn't help but sneer and asked, "Can you still tell if someone is sincere?"

"Her eyes."

"Um?"

Chaiche recalled her expression at the banquet, "The way she looked at you was restrained and forbearing, but her love could not be hidden."

The mountain breeze blew past, cooling the warm wine. Not until he left did he slowly turn around to look at the sleeping person.