Chapter 40 I will be obedient

Wen Xingluo's eardrums were shaken to the point of unbearable pain, his mind went blank, leaving only a faint buzzing sound after the explosion.

She covered her ears and curled up in a ball in embarrassment.

She waited until the pain eased a little before raising her scarlet almond eyes.

What the actors carried in was not a prayer prop, but a box of gunpowder!

No wonder she smelled saltpeter in the cage!

Someone mingled with the actors and attempted to blow up the pavilion.

But why?

Wen Xingluo thought of Xie Guanlan.

He should be having a feast here with other Shu County officials tonight.

Could it be that this explosion was aimed at him?

It was not advisable to stay here for long. Wen Xingluo stood up with the help of the wall. As soon as he took a step forward, someone pulled his sleeve.

She looked back.

Xie Yanchen squatted at the foot of the wall, hugging his knees with one hand and tightly grasping her sleeve with the other.

He raised his head, his clear eyes were blood red, as if there were tears.

He said hoarsely: "Don't go..."

The eighteen-year-old youth seemed like a pitiful and helpless child tonight.

Wen Xingluo noticed that something was wrong with him: "What's wrong with you?"

"Don't go..." Xie Yanchen just muttered these three words, his pale, slender hand climbed up along Wen Xingluo's sleeve and firmly grasped her wrist, "Don't go..."

The firelight illuminated his jade-like face.

The evil ghost mask with green face and fangs looked scary yet funny in the sea of ​​fire.

Wen Xingluo discovered that Xie Yanchen was trembling.

He seemed almost unable to breathe due to extreme fear.

She knelt down on one knee and untied the half mask for him: "Are you afraid of fire? Or something else?"

Xie Yanchen's thin lips were almost stretched into a line, and that beautiful and elegant Guanyin face was filled with fear, and suddenly two lines of tears fell.

He hugged Wen Xingluo tightly, his voice becoming more hoarse: "Don't go... Don't go..."

Wen Xingluo felt his trembling.

She didn't know what Xie Yanchen had experienced in the past that made his temperament so twisted and weird now.

He was very strong and held her so tightly that Wen Xingluo was almost suffocated.

She had to try her best to comfort him: "I'm with you, don't be afraid."

As I said this, a sense of unease rose in my heart.

The fire had spread from the top floor.

If I don't escape now, I'll inhale the thick smoke and become unconscious, and I won't be able to leave even if I want to.

She calmed herself down and said, "I'll take you out."

“No!” Xie Yanchen refused to leave, still curled up at the base of the wall, “I won’t leave… I can’t leave…”

Wen Xingluo gritted his teeth: "I don't know what you've been through in the past, what kind of trauma and shadows are left in your heart, I only know that if you don't leave, we will both die here! Xie Yanchen, my life is hard-earned, I will not die with you!"

She stood up and tried to pull Xie Yanchen away.

But even if she tried her best, the other party remained motionless, as if he wanted to hide his body in the wall.

Wen Xingluo used too much force and accidentally tore Xie Yanchen's sleeve.

She fell backwards exhausted, landing hard on her butt and gasping in pain.

Seeing the stairs starting to catch fire, she no longer cared about Xie Yanchen and turned away.

After running down half a flight of stairs, she couldn't help but look back.

The young man in snow-white clothes hugged his head tightly, his face was pale and his eyes were bloodshot, and he was muttering something quickly, as if he was trapped in an extremely terrifying nightmare.

In his arms, he was holding the fish lantern that Wen Xingluo bought for Xie Shian.

Wen Xingluo remembered that when she escaped from the top floor, she threw away the fish lantern and didn't know when he picked it up.

I can’t describe how I feel.

Seeing that the flames were about to burn the young man's white clothes, Wen Xingluo couldn't bear to give up on him, and returned to the stairs as if accepting his fate.

She heard Xie Yanchen's incoherent words: "Don't kill them, don't kill them... I'll be obedient, I'll be obedient... Please..."

His tone was filled with despair, and tears rolled down his face, wetting his clothes.

Wen Xingluo picked up a stick from the side and knocked Xie Yanchen unconscious.

She struggled to carry Xie Yanchen on her back and walked down the stairs step by step with difficulty.

The young man looks thin and strong, but the load he carries is so heavy.

Wen Xingluo used all his strength, his face flushed red, and he gasped, "It's all because of you that I turned back. If you kill me here, I won't let you go even if I become a ghost..."

Thick smoke billowed.

Wen Xingluo gradually found it difficult to breathe, and the scene in front of him began to blur.

When she escaped to the third floor, she thought she could finally see a glimmer of hope, but unexpectedly, fires broke out on the first and second floors below at the same time.

The fire spread along the stairs and walls, trapping them in the middle floor of the building. The person behind the scenes was determined to kill them, leaving them no way to survive, as if he wanted to burn them alive.

Wen Xingluo gasped and his knees went weak.

She tumbled down the stairs and was crushed by the unconscious Xie Yanchen.

The sea of ​​fire was filled with thick smoke.

The girl was disheveled and kept coughing, covering her lips.

She thought helplessly that thanks to Guanlan, she would probably die here.

When she was half conscious, she heard a crying voice begging for mercy from not far away:

"Thank you, Commander. These things were all done by my father. They have nothing to do with me! Please let me go, wuwuwu!"

Wen Xingluo forced himself to open his eyes.

At the end of the corridor, several black-clad secret guards with stern faces raised their swords and placed them on the necks of several officials, among whom knelt a young man in gorgeous clothes.

The young man burst into tears. "My father planted spies among the actors, and specially smuggled in gunpowder hidden in boxes. He also arranged for his henchmen to force you to drink, hoping to get you drunk and rest here, and then catch you off guard and burn you to death... This was all my father's idea. I was only responsible for putting cartilage powder in your wine. Please forgive me!"

Wen Xingluo immediately understood.

This young man is the son of Prefect Du.

Tonight's explosion was indeed the one used by Governor Du to kill Xie Guanlan...

Her eyes fell on Xie Guanlan.

The young man, wearing a crimson robe and a jade belt, leaned lazily against the carved window.

The firelight illuminated the lower half of his face. His bones were beautiful and noble, like a sculpture of gold and stone. His thin, pale red lips were curved in an indifferent arc. His complexion was extremely bright, and there was no sign at all that he had been injured in the training ground the day before.

He said regretfully, "Taishu Du has meticulously arranged such an enjoyable feast, but I'm sorry I have other things to do tonight and can't stay to enjoy it. Since you are his trusted confidants, why not enjoy it in this pavilion for me?"

The tone was so polite that anyone who heard it would praise the prince for being humble and courteous.

But just these words made everyone's faces turn pale in an instant.

Xie Guanlan ignored their pleas for mercy and slowly turned away.

Wen Xingluo was still lying on the ground.

Her eyes were stung by the fireworks and tears welled up in her eyes.

She forced herself to raise her eyelashes and saw a pair of black and gold cloud-patterned boots stopped in front of her.

She licked her cracked lips and slowly raised her head.

It’s Xie Guanlan.