Reunion with the Herons

"The sky is filled with solemnity! The Dao is broken! Released!"

Lan Zhuochi suddenly appeared at the corner in front of her, and a piece of yellow talisman paper was thrown out like a dart, flying onto Yun Qique, and her immobilization spell was immediately released.

"Aque! Come here!"

Yunqi Que ran towards his outstretched hand without hesitation, clasped it tightly with both hands, and tried to escape desperately.

Behind him, the old man standing still calmly broke the lame leg, straightened it, and reconnected it. The bones rubbed against each other, making a continuous "creaking" sound.

When he ran again, his legs and feet were nimble, his steps were fast and steady, and he seemed to be more familiar with the palace road, so he chased even faster.

Yunqique hadn't been running for long when she began to lose strength. In a hurry, Lan Zhuochi pushed her into another intersecting palace road. "Que, run! Get out of here! I'll take care of everything. I'll meet you later."

After saying this, Lan Zhuochi quickly locked the palace gate.

Yunqi Que knocked on the door anxiously, but instead of calling Lan Zhuochi, he called someone else.

"Aque! I finally found you."

She shrank back in fear and defensiveness, her back pressed against the palace gate, and moved away from him little by little.

Yun Jinglu was extremely puzzled. Looking at her expression and posture, her dirty and torn dress and her slightly messy hair, Yun Jinglu felt extremely distressed. He didn't dare to think about what kind of suffering Ah Que had endured during the days of forced separation.

"Aque, why are you looking at me like that? Are you... afraid of me?"

Seeing this face again, which was so familiar that he could clearly recall the eyebrows, eyes and small moles even with his eyes closed, Yun Qique's mixed feelings of sorrow and sadness turned into tears that slowly welled up.

She quickly wiped away the tears that were overflowing and fell, and tried hard to hold back her tears. She met his eyes that followed hers, and her voice trembled, "Brother, are you really going to kill me?"

"How could I possibly kill you? Absolutely not, absolutely not!"

Unable to stop sobbing and holding back tears, Yun Qique knew that she was alone in his hands. If he was determined to kill her, she would have no chance of survival. So, she gave up struggling and chose to clarify her doubts in this final moment.

"Yun Jinglu, when you treated me like that, despite the casual interactions, was there ever a single moment where you truly loved me?"

"A Que, what are you talking about? I don't understand. Can you please tell me the whole story of how you misunderstood that I wanted to kill you?"

"You don't understand? I'm the one who doesn't understand you! Since my brother is determined to play dumb, there's nothing more to say between you and me."

Yunqi Que closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and completely exposed her fragile neck to him.

"Yun Jinglu, no matter what your purpose was in picking me up and raising me, you have saved my life. I have no way to repay you except with my life."

"A Que, I really didn't. Why... won't you listen to anything my brother says anymore? I know I'm not unreasonable. If you're angry with me, it must be because of what you think and see. I've done something wrong. Even if the government wants to behead you, you should confess and sign. You should die knowingly. A Que, if you have something, just tell me. I'm stupid and can't figure it out."

Yun Qique ignored him. Yun Jinglu was so anxious that he grabbed her hand and shook it gently left and right, trying to make her open her eyes and look at her again.

"A Que, look at me, what happened? Can you tell me? A Que, I really like you, not just for a moment. It started because I was attracted by your beauty, but the promises we made later on were all out of my true love."

"If I hadn't seen the cruel look in your eyes when you tried to strangle me, and if I hadn't seen you use the demon summoning talisman, I might still have believed everything you said to me, just like before."

"Saw it with my own eyes? How could that be possible... Someone must have set me up and framed me! They're trying to drive a wedge between us!"

Yun Jinglu was both shocked and puzzled. He looked as if he had no idea what she said, and was helpless and innocent. He also looked surprised and puzzled as if she had hit upon a long-hidden secret.

She really couldn't understand Yun Jinglu's current state, but it didn't matter anymore. Listening to the loud noise of fighting behind the door, she had a bad feeling in her heart.

Her new place...

Is this going to be lost too?

Rather than wandering in the desert, where she would either be killed by Yun Jinglu or captured by passing Hu merchants and sold as a dancer or prostitute, it would be better to end her life cleanly and efficiently.

Yun Qique completely gave up the thought of survival. She slowly pulled out the dagger that had been hidden in her sleeve for a long time. Her hands, held behind her back, slowly pulled it out. Her fingers touched the ruby ​​inlaid on the dagger, and she instantly recalled Yun Jinglu's smiling face when he gave her the dagger.

"A Que, I really didn't do the things you said. You should escape from here with me first. I will explain and prove it to you clearly. I promise, okay?"

Yun Jinglu stretched out his hand towards him, but did not dare to get too close, for fear of scaring A Que, who was already afraid of and misunderstood him.

Afraid that she would think... he was going to kill her...

"Yun Jinglu, since the identity of Yun Qique no longer belongs to me, the contract between you and me is now useless." She quickly pulled out the dagger and stabbed it into her chest.

The moment the tip of the dagger pierced her chest, she felt a piercing pain, but it did not make her cowardly or hesitant.

The sudden change caught Yun Jinglu off guard. Before he could touch her suicidal hand, he was shaken away by the light shield that emerged from her body.

He was caught off guard and was blown away, crashing into the still solid palace wall, injuring himself internally and causing him to spit out a mouthful of black red blood.

Without caring about himself, he was about to climb towards Yunqi Que.

Fortunately, the light shield on her body not only repelled him, but also deflected the dagger before it could hit her vitals.

A red rope tied with many small copper bells appeared on her wrist, and the door behind her was opened. Zhuo Chi, with blood all over his body, used his Qinggong skills to approach her quickly without hesitation.

The walls and floor of the long corridor behind the door were covered with splattered blood. The old monster's body, which had been chopped into several pieces, lay scattered on the ground, with only a disgusting eyeball rolling in the pool of blood.

Lan Zhuochi intimately supported Yun Qique and let her lean against his arms. He frantically took out a small porcelain bottle and sprinkled medicine powder on her chest. He then took out a clean handkerchief from his chest and gave it to her, letting her cover the wound that was still bleeding.

"Did he hurt you, Master?"

Lan Zhuochi returned to her alive. She seemed to have a new temporary place to go, and the possibility of escaping from Yun Jinglu, so she didn't want to die anymore.

After all, she is quite afraid of death...

Yunqi Que's face turned pale and he shook his head weakly.

"I thought you, I thought you would die... It was me who was desperately seeking death. I wanted to return the life I saved to him, to offset the grace of saving my life. It has nothing to do with A Lu, so please don't take your anger out on him. I'm a little short of breath, I want to, I want to sleep for a while. Lan Zhuochi, take me away from the Western Regions, anywhere is fine."

"Don't sleep, don't fall asleep, hold on a little longer, I'll take you home, back to our home."

Listening to their conversation and seeing their intimacy, Yun Jinglu became extremely jealous.

He recognized that the red rope tied between the two people's wrists was a unique item created by the head of the Lan family, who was known as the top monster catcher - the red bell rope.

It is said that only the current head of the Lan family can use this method and this thing.

The news that the spy brought back some time ago was, of course, news that the Lan family deliberately released. It was said that the head of the Lan family had an extremely gifted only son with stunning looks and great talent, who was well hidden by the head of the Lan family.

It seems that the so-called homeless man Zhuo Chi is actually the well-hidden only son of the head of the Lan family.

Lan family!

It’s the Lan family again!

Let’s settle all the new and old grudges together!

Yun Jinglu clenched his fists in anger and resentment, veins bulging, and tried his best to restrain his rage, fearing that his fierce side would be exposed in front of Yun Qique and would disgust her.

"A Que, I can explain everything to you clearly, why can't you trust your brother like before?"

Unable to hold back, her tone rose a little. Yun Jinglu stopped in time to adjust himself, and spoke to her again in a gentler tone: "A Que, I swear to the spirit of my late mother in heaven that I, Yun Jinglu, have never had any murderous intentions towards you, nor have I ever made any move to kill you."

Ever since she was held horizontally in Lan Zhuochi's arms and leaned her head against his chest, she closed her eyes tightly and stopped looking at him, as if she was determined to leave him.

As they passed by him, Yun Jinglu grabbed her arm tightly, not caring about her frown in pain. He just wanted to keep her and apologize to her.

"Aque, are you planning to leave the Western Regions forever?"

"Let go! You're hurting her. She's free to go wherever she wants. She's a person, not a kitten or puppy that has to obey your wishes just because you brought her home!"

Yunqi Que still didn't open his eyes to look at him, nor did he speak.

"Aque! You don't mean to leave the Western Regions, you mean to leave me forever! Isn't that right? Aque, say something, don't ignore me... Don't leave me... Say something..."

Yunqi Que ignored his pleas, closed her eyes, and said coldly to Lan Zhuochi, "Achi, shake him off and let's go."

"Okay, Master, hold me tight."

Freeing up one hand, Yun Zhuochi quickly threw out a demon-summoning talisman and summoned a hippopotamus demon to wrap around them, thus becoming invisible.

Watching her disappear in front of him, invisible and untouchable, Yun Jinglu completely broke down.

He looked around anxiously and said loudly to her, "Aque, you were the first to stir my heart. You were the first to ask me to be your husband and stay with you forever. You can't just say you don't want me... and then you don't want me. That's unfair to me... Isn't the accusation of separation from me a false accusation?"

"A Que, I was wrong. Everything is my fault. Can you please come back and listen to my explanation? I will do whatever you say. Please don't leave me, Yun Qi Que!"

"A Que, tell me what I did wrong... what I did wrong..."

"A Que, how could you...how could you just say you don't want me anymore..."

He couldn't get her response, couldn't feel her presence, couldn't hear her voice, and could only be abandoned by her helplessly.

Yun Jinglu slumped on the ground, doubting herself and wiping away the tears of grievance that she couldn't hold back.

"A Que, I can't guess what I did wrong in your eyes. What exactly did I do wrong..."