smuggling

After driving away the troublesome ex-lover, Yuanli tidied the bed and spread the quilt smoothly before going out to check the dewdrops hanging on the petals of the white flowers in the yard.

As Yuanli squatted down, she heard Caidai's screams and calls to stop coming from the wooden building opposite.

"Mr. Li Jishan, this flower can only be viewed from a distance and not touched. The water droplets on the petals are especially poisonous. One drop can corrode through bones."

Yuanli looked up and saw Caidai sitting leisurely in a rocking chair on the third floor balcony, fanning herself with a white jade fan.

"Thank you for the reminder, City Lord. I thought it was dew left over from watering the flowers and almost touched it."

"Water is the most precious thing in the desert, so why would anyone bother using it to grow flowers? This flower was transplanted from outside the city, and I rarely water it. Even the water I use for watering it is so dirty that the city residents can't use it. I'm shocked that it can survive so well."

"Are these water droplets the juice secreted by the flowers?"

"That's understandable."

"They look exactly the same, so why don't the white flowers outside Floating Disc City secrete this kind of juice and water droplets? Furthermore, the flowers don't have the fragrance of the ones in this courtyard."

"I only have a vague understanding of this flower. I don't know when it began to emit a fragrance that became increasingly strong, and even began to secrete this poisonous sap."

"If it's so dangerous and poisonous, why not relocate and clear it out? I remember the city lord said this wooden house and courtyard is used exclusively for entertaining distinguished guests. Isn't the city lord afraid that a distinguished guest might accidentally get poisoned?"

"Life and death are determined by fate, and wealth and honor are determined by heaven. I never interfere with the cause and effect of others' life and death. As for reminding you, it's because I don't want Ayao to be sad because your friend died in my place. I have things to do. I will chat with Li Jishanjun another day. Excuse me."

After saying that, Cai Dai stood up and looked down at her downstairs. She nodded slightly as a polite greeting, then turned around and went back into the house.

After thinking for a moment, Yuanli returned to the house and knocked on Hengjin's door. After only two knocks, he opened the door.

Ever since she entered this courtyard, Yuanli always felt vaguely uneasy, as if someone was secretly watching her, so she used telepathy to chat with him privately.

"My magic power is low, and I'm afraid of being discovered. Please help me find out if there are any dead bones under the white flowers and green vines. Cai Dai said that the juice of the white flowers is extremely poisonous. One drop can corrode through bones. I can't just dig it up and check."

"I secretly investigated before I arrived, and there were no remains. However, there was some sticky pus oozing out from the corner of the room you were staying in. If my guess is correct, there might be a hidden room or tunnel beneath the wooden house. Are you sure you want to stay in the room that was said to be effective for praying for a child tonight?"

"Of course I have to stay here. If I don't stay here, how can I explore the strangeness here?"

"Then I suggest that you let me live with you."

Yuanli's expression changed, and Hengjin quickly explained through telepathy, "What I mean is, if you're in danger, only I can completely ensure your safety and that your identity isn't exposed."

This reason alone is enough for Yuanli to have no reason to refuse.

"Let me be frank with you. If the Emperor behaves like a hooligan again, I won't guarantee anything..." As she spoke, her threatening gaze slowly moved down to his most sensitive and vulnerable spot.

"I dare not."

After discussing with Heng Jin, it was still early and several hours before nightfall.

Yuanli and Jiuwei had not been in the room for long when they felt an inexplicable strong and irresistible sleepiness, and their eyelids felt heavy.

Not long after falling asleep, Yuanli heard two children, a boy and a girl, behind her constantly calling for their mother. The voices were long and ethereal, and were getting closer and closer to Yuanli.

It was pitch black in front of her. Yuanli turned around and couldn't see them at all.

As the child's voice got closer, Yuanli felt someone suddenly hugged her waist. She looked down, but it was still pitch black.

"Mother, mother, my brother and I finally see you. We will meet again soon."

Yuanli thought of the twins, a boy and a girl, that Fanjian and Wen Yici had never had time to be born.

In the underworld or in dreams, when they threw themselves into her arms to hug her, they were so warm and kind. Yuanli will always remember the wonderful feeling when they hugged her.

It was completely different. The hug between the two children who were hugging her and calling her mother was so... uncomfortable.

Goose bumps accompanied by sweat spread from the back of her neck to her entire body, and she felt a chill all over.

They held her hands, one on each side, and their small hands were surprisingly strong.

Even though Yuanli resisted in her heart and was unwilling to follow them, she did not take a step forward.

After they pulled a few more times to test their strength, they pulled her away easily.

Her steps were out of control and she followed them as if possessed by some mysterious force.

After walking in the darkness for a long time, the fear became stronger and stronger. Yuanli bit her tongue hard, but felt no pain. She must be dreaming.

She was both relieved and scared.

Such a real dream, and such a strange and intense sleepiness, no one could tell what the two things holding her hands were.

The two children slowed down their pace, and the girl suddenly asked coldly, "Mom doesn't want to have us anymore, right?"

The displeasure and anger in the fairy girl's voice were extremely obvious.

After hearing this, Yuanli felt goosebumps all over her body due to cold sweat. She didn't dare to anger them at this moment, so she had to ask back to buy time.

"No, why do you ask?"

"We've been in the cold underworld for a long, long time. All this time, we've been groping forward in this endless darkness. The underworld messenger said that if one day we touch a woman, it means we have the opportunity to reincarnate. As long as we lead our mother out of this darkness and see that warm light, it means we have successfully reincarnated into her womb. We have been walking for so long, and we are still in this darkness. Doesn't it mean that our mother doesn't want us anymore?"

The boy tightened his grip on her hand, "It doesn't matter. With such a warm mother, even if we don't reincarnate, I'm willing to have you holding our hands like this and accompanying us forever in this underworld."

They began to giggle, walked faster and faster, and sang nursery rhymes that Yuanli had never heard before.

Yuanli knows the underworld very well.

She knew that what the two children said about the underworld and hell, and even what the underworld messenger said to them, were all fabricated.

Yuanli wanted to shake off their hands, but she couldn't. Instead, the more she struggled, the stronger the two children held her hands.

She tried to use the red string to shorten the distance between her and Heng Jin, so that he would rescue her. She tried two or three times, but the red string around her wrist seemed to have disappeared, making it completely useless.

It's like crying out to heaven and earth, but no one helps.

Suddenly, she felt suffocated, and Yuanli seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. She felt uncomfortable and panicked from holding her breath.

There were many noisy voices in her ears, constantly persuading her to give up trying to breathe again.

She even said that all this was just a dream. Dreams are the opposite of reality. Even if she forgot to breathe, she wouldn't die. She just needed to wait quietly for the dream to wake up. There was no need to be afraid. There was no need to be afraid. All this was just a dream...

Yuanli could clearly feel her body lying on the couch, almost suffocating.

Once again, she was inexplicably driven to go against her own will and actually began to stop breathing. Just when she felt she was about to suffocate and pass out, she woke up from her sleep.

Sitting up in shock, Yuanli began to breathe heavily and violently. Her whole body was soaked with sweat and felt sticky. Large beads of sweat slid down her forehead and onto her face.

The strong sleepiness came again, and this time, Yuanli was completely unable to resist it. As soon as she closed her eyes, Yuanli could hear the giggling sounds of the two children again.

"Nine-Tailed Fox" sat behind her, gently stroking her back to help her breathe. Yuanli wiped the sweat off her face, turned back, and fearfully threw herself into "Nine-Tailed Fox"'s arms.

"I was so scared. I dreamt that two children were holding my hands and walking me around, calling me mom and talking to me about the underworld, hell, and reincarnation. In my dream, I even forgot how to breathe and almost suffocated. I was so scared, but I'm still so sleepy now, so sleepy that I can't open my eyelids. I feel like if I close my eyes, I'll fall asleep again and be back in that nightmare that makes me uncomfortable."

When Yuanli's face rubbed against the fabric of his clothes, Yuanli was shocked to realize that the Nine-Tailed Fox she had mistaken for was Heng Jin.

She no longer had the energy to push him away, and all her strength was used to resist sleepiness.

Heng Jin grabbed her hand, bit her index finger, and squeezed the tip of her index finger hard, forcing out a drop of dark red blood. Only then did Yuanli's drowsiness slowly dissipate.

"I'm not afraid anymore. Are you feeling better?"

The moment she was able to resist the sleepiness, Yuanli forced herself to leave his arms with her weak body.

"Where's the Kyuubi?"

"I tied her up, and since I couldn't wake you up, she was so anxious that she wanted to go across the street and kill Cai Dai. Wait until you've fully recovered, and then go and talk her down, and I'll let her go. Don't worry, I won't hurt her."

"Why are you here?"

"Jiuwei came to me and said that you started sweating after falling asleep and couldn't be woken up. You kept repeating, 'Aci, don't abandon our child.' Your expression became more and more painful, and your breathing became weaker. Jiuwei couldn't wake you up, so he came to me in a hurry."

"Oh, I'm fine, you can go now."

Heng Jin sent a telepathic message to her, "There's something dirty in the room watching us. I have to put on a show again. Sorry for the inconvenience, please cooperate with me."

After tucking her in the blanket, Heng Jin gazed at her lovingly, then softly said, "The tiger king clearly loves me the most, but just because of a little angry word, he hurriedly found a fox to marry, just to spite me. I heard everything the tiger king said in his sleep just now, so how could I not want to have a child of ours? The tiger king refused to forgive me. Even though we have come across this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have a child, he still refuses to live with me out of spite. Even if I want a child, I can't. It's really unfair. Tiger king, are you really still angry with me, your husband?"

Yuanli couldn't put herself in Li Ji and Ci Yan's shoes, so she had to put herself in her own and A Ci's shoes in the first life. Tears fell down in an instant, and even when she opened her mouth, she was choked with sobs full of grievances.

"You're saying something out of anger and you think you're right, huh."

Heng Jin lay on his side on the quilt, hugging her waist through the quilt. "It's all my fault, my husband. I shouldn't have said those angry words. I shouldn't have had any misunderstandings with you, which led to this... unfounded grudge. I pushed you into the arms of another man, and only then did I realize how wrong I was. Madam, please punish me however you want, but give me a chance to forgive all my mistakes, okay?"

The moment she heard his words, Yuanli subconsciously felt that he was speaking to her as Heng Jin. The sincere plea in his eyes was genuine.

Based on her understanding of him, this was most likely what he meant.

She was stunned and didn't answer him immediately.

Yuanli sent him a telepathic message: "I remind you, you can put on a show, but you are not allowed to smuggle in any illicit goods."

"How do you define it as smuggling? If you're saying that I'm using Li Ji and Ci Yan to put on a show, and that the truth I want to tell you, Yuan Li, as Heng Jin, is smuggling, then I'm already smuggling. If you're saying that I'm not allowed to use the role of Li Ji and Ci Yan to take the opportunity to do the intimate things I desire, then I wouldn't dare to really smuggle. So, what kind of smuggling is A-Li talking about?"