Beauty Bones (Part Six)

Chapter Six

Xie Yuan led Tao Su to the small clinic that Song Ling had taken her to yesterday.

The young man was fiddling with an antique-style lantern at the entrance of the clinic. Dressed in a simple blue robe with a wooden hairpin and black hair, he looked nothing like the disheveled man who had been woken up in the middle of the night. Anyone who didn't know him would think he was a refined gentleman from the water towns of Jiangnan. Compared to the wind, sand, and desert of this frontier, he was quite out of place.

Before she even got close, the young man spotted her from afar and waved enthusiastically, "Miss, Miss! Over here!"

What are you doing?

Xie Yuan walked over, and Tao Su, holding onto the hem of her skirt, peeked out from behind, looking on curiously.

The young man was wiping his precious lantern with a piece of silk cloth. Judging from the quality of the lantern, it was indeed a rare treasure, an ivory palace lantern. She had seen it before at a banquet in the Northern Zhao Imperial Palace. Ordinary people could not afford such a thing.

"Miss, what do you think of this lantern?"

The young man smiled and showed her the exquisite lantern in his hand.

"Ivory, white jade, and sandalwood—these are undoubtedly top-grade treasures."

Xie Yuan quickly made her assessment after just a glance. In her previous life, she had seen all sorts of treasures. She had turned her master's treasure cave upside down and knew all the treasures inside like the back of her hand.

"Miss has a good eye," the young man's admiration was evident. "Yesterday's events were sudden, and I was slightly out of line. I'll make up for it today. My name is Cang Yue. It's a pleasure to meet you." Cang Yue hung the lantern she was holding on the hook by the door and bowed.

"Thank you, Yuan." She returned the courtesy of a martial arts master. "I have come today because I have an important matter I would like to ask Young Master Cangyue for help with."

"Then, miss, please allow me a moment to speak."

Cang Yue stepped aside and gestured for them to proceed.

After Xie Yuan and Cang Yue went behind the curtain, Tao Su sat obediently on the wooden stool next to the counter, her legs dangling in the air, swinging back and forth.

——

Behind the curtain lies a hidden world, an extremely elegant courtyard with artificial hills, flowing water, and the fragrance of apricot blossoms.

"Young Master Cangyue, have you replicated your entire home here in this pass?"

Cang Yue smiled and said, "Miss, you are mistaken. People like us have no home to speak of. All of this is just for the sake of the mission."

"You're certainly being frank, but this concerns your mission, and you're just telling me like this? Aren't you afraid your boss will blame you?"

Cang Yue shook her head firmly and said, "No, the way the boss looked at you was not simple."

"Your boss and I are just strangers who met by chance, it's not as complicated as you think."

Xie Yuan sat on the swing under the apricot tree and explained helplessly.

In her opinion, her little apprentice most likely suspected that she had ulterior motives for approaching him.

However, she did indeed have ulterior motives.

It's not wrong for her, as the master, to care about her disciple, is it? It's just that it's not convenient for her to tell him right now.

Before we fully understand her rebirth, we must keep it a secret. It's entirely possible that it's just a temporary resurgence of energy before death. After all, in her memory, the original owner didn't die in any accident, and she didn't accept the original owner's memories after her rebirth. It was very sudden; she just came back to life.

What if, just when she's finally cleared up the misunderstanding and reunited with her little apprentice, the original owner of this body suddenly returns?

That would definitely be a major accident.

"I would like to ask Young Master Cangyue to take care of Xiaotaosu for me temporarily. She is a mute girl who was sold to bandits by her own parents and almost suffered a terrible fate. Although she escaped in the end, she was still poisoned and made mute."

"I'm new to this business and haven't thought of a better place to stay yet. Don't worry, I'll pay for it and won't let you work for free."

“It’s not that it’s impossible. Anyway, I’ve been quite free lately, so I’ll take on some side jobs. I don’t think the boss will mind. But,” Cang Yue said meaningfully, “didn’t Miss go back with the boss yesterday? Why didn’t the boss go back with Miss this morning?”

Mentioning this, Xie Yuan sighed with a headache: "Last night, while we were chatting, I accidentally drove your husband away, and I haven't seen him since this morning."

Do you know where he went?

A crack appeared on Cang Yue's handsome face, and he repeated, clearly not quite believing it, "He ran away in anger?" Who in the world would dare to do such a shocking thing to their lord? Is this still the same decisive and ruthless lord?

The fact that his boss, whom he hadn't seen for many days, came late at night had already startled him. What was even more terrifying was the bright red clothes he was wearing and the silver ornaments in his hair. These things might have been acceptable on anyone in the past, but they would never have appeared on his master.

Not only that, but his temperament has also undergone a dramatic change, completely subdued. Isn't he just a dashing, spirited young man?

If he hadn't witnessed his master's "methods" within the organization firsthand, he would have seriously doubted his own eyes, but when he spoke, it was still that familiar, chilling tone.

The Lord did not say much to him.

He only gave three instructions.

1. Get up and go see a doctor.

Second: Do not address him as "Master" in front of a young lady.

Thirdly, from today onwards, he will be the Ninth Protector of Bu Zhichun, and no matter what, he must make Miss believe him.

Don't try to guess what the Lord is thinking; just follow orders.

But even Chunye, who is ranked number one, doesn't know the Lord's whereabouts.

It is unknown that there are eight guardians in Spring, belonging to different secret agencies and departments, and carrying out different tasks. The eight guardians are ranked in order of power as follows: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon.

Each Dharma Protector's name contains one of the above characters.

He ranked eighth, hence the name Cangyue (Azure Moon).

Cang Yue hesitated for a moment, quickly organized her thoughts, and sighed heavily: "Miss, you don't know, our boss is the Ninth Protector of the organization, the most thankless and demanding position, with a lot of work to do. We lower-ranking members are only responsible for following orders, how could we possibly know his whereabouts? And as you've seen, our boss has a cold and aloof personality, doesn't like to talk, and keeps his injuries to himself. Sigh, he's almost died several times..."

To convince the young lady, you absolutely have to exaggerate the tragedy of your master's life, the more tragic the better. After all, no one knows what your master went through in the past, but it certainly wasn't simple.

Cang Yue never expected that his casual improvisation would unexpectedly lead to such a perfect outcome.

These descriptions are indeed consistent with her understanding of her young apprentice. He used to be the type who kept everything bottled up inside, never complaining even when he had troubles.

"And besides, the boss will be going on another mission soon, and he'll probably be leaving soon..."

As expected, Xie Yuan frowned slightly and asked, "Then your boss..." She was about to continue inquiring about her little apprentice's past when Song Ling lifted the curtain and walked in from outside. Her eyes had a faint dark blue tint, as if she had been busy all night without sleep.

"What are you doing?" His voice was still cold, clear and melodious like the moon's reflection in a pool, exceptionally pleasant to hear.

"Boss! You're here! I'll be going now!"

“............”

Cang Yue ran faster than a rabbit. Before Xie Yuan could react, the person who was standing not far from her suddenly darted out, almost leaving a blur.

Xie Yuan didn't pay attention. When she saw Song Ling, her eyes crinkled and she jumped off the swing with a big smile. She ran up to him, tilted her head up at him with a grin, and asked, "Young Master Song, are you still angry?"

"What's it to you?"

Song Ling glanced at her briefly before looking away and walking straight past her toward the well.

Xie Yuan (//_//): Look, look, here we go again. Even if the sky falls, my little apprentice's mouth will hold it up.

But what can you do when she's his master? What can you do but coax her? She's done this kind of thing plenty of times before.

"Young Master Song! Young Master Song!" Xie Yuan ran up, her skirt billowing like blooming crabapple blossoms. "I have something to tell you!"

The sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl was radiant and beautiful, with sparkling eyes and a radiant smile, just like many years ago...

"actually........"

"If you want to apologize to me..."

"Oh, alright, alright, I'm not apologizing to you. Come on, sit here." Xie Yuan pulled his wrist and walked towards the swing, forcibly making the boy sit on it.

Song Ling's lips tightened into a straight line as she looked up to meet her gaze: "What are you trying to do?"

Although the young apprentice was forced and clearly unwilling, sitting on the swing softened his aloof demeanor and added a touch of vibrant human energy.

"Young Master Song, I want to discuss something with you." Xie Yuan nodded seriously.

Song Ling crossed his arms. "No discussion." The swing was really too low for him, and his long legs had nowhere to go, making him look rather cramped.

"Let's discuss it for a bit."

Xie Yuan leaned closer to him, winked playfully, and held up two fingers to show a length about the size of a thumbnail.

"impossible."

Xie Yuan showed no sense of defeat; on the contrary, she became even more determined after each setback.

“Young Master Song, I just want to make friends with you. It’s so boring to always have such a long face. Young people should smile more.”

"Then go find someone else."

Xie Yuan: "?" Is that the point? The point is making friends!

"I'm serious. How do you know we can't be friends if you don't even try?"

"We can never be friends."

After Song Ling finished speaking decisively, she seemed unwilling to waste any more words with her and was about to get up.

Xie Yuan didn't catch the hidden meaning in his words. "No, I haven't finished yet!" In desperation, Xie Yuan grabbed his arm tightly, closed her eyes, steeled her resolve, and said recklessly, "Actually, I wasn't telling the truth at all! Give me another chance!"

Suddenly, a pendant was attached to Song Ling's arm. Just as he was about to shake it off, he looked down and met Xie Yuan's expectant gaze. She hugged his arm tightly, clasped her hands together, and made a pitiful pleading gesture.

"you say."

Song Ling was so annoyed by her that she finally stopped.

Xie Yuan's almond-shaped eyes lit up upon hearing this. Oh dear, there's hope!

"Well, actually..."

"three......."

Xie Yuan: !!! Hey, so impatient? You brat!

According to Cang Yue, her little apprentice will be leaving soon. Now that she has no martial arts skills or internal energy, the world is vast, and if he leaves, where will she find him?

So no matter what method she uses, she's determined to cling to him today!