Chapter 119 "You'll never find her." ...

"Come on, let's drink!"

In the private room of Fengyue Tower, Liu Yirong dismissed the maids, leaving only her and Jiang Ling'er to enjoy wine and conversation.

During the siege, Jiang Ling'er was seriously injured and was protected by Fengyue Tower. Not only did she and Pei Xuan receive protection, but Fengyue Tower also protected many elderly, weak, women and children.

Jiang Ling'er clinked glasses with her: "You are the true heroine!"

Liu Yirong smiled and poured her more wine: "I'm just a courtesan, Young Master, you're too kind."

"Don't call me 'Young Master Escort,' just call me 'Ling'er.'"

Jiang Ling'er downed the liquor in one gulp, the strong liquor quenching her thirst, her face flushed, and she seemed somewhat drunk.

"This wine is strong, drink it slowly." Liu Yirong watched her down cup after cup and tentatively asked, "Young...Miss Ling'er, is something on your mind?"

Jiang Ling'er paused, then downed another mouthful of wine: "...It's alright. Let's continue!" Jiang Ling'er wiped her lips with her sleeve, "It's been so long since I've felt this good! It's so refreshing!"

Seeing that she didn't want to talk, Liu Yirong didn't press the matter further and asked with a smile, "Where is Master Pei? Why hasn't he come?"

"That scoundrel Taoist priest?"

Jiang Ling'er paused, holding her wine cup, when she suddenly remembered a rumor that had been circulating within the escort agency.

Liu Yirong and Pei Xuan were old friends, and it seems they had a rather... close relationship. The fact that she was able to hide in the brothel and be rescued despite being seriously injured was also due to this relationship.

Jiang Ling'er put down her wine glass, almost grasping Liu Yirong's hand, and said to her with utmost seriousness:

"That scoundrel Taoist priest spends a lot of money, don't let him fool you."

"You...you mean Master Pei Xuan?" Liu Yirong was stunned for a while, suspecting that Jiang Ling'er was joking, but judging from her appearance, she didn't seem to be joking.

"I didn't know... I didn't know that Master Pei..." Liu Yirong chuckled, holding her forehead. She just couldn't believe that such a virtuous and aloof person would act like a hooligan towards anyone... towards anyone?

"And what about that young Master Liansheng? I haven't properly thanked him yet."

Jiang Ling'er paused, then looked up: "Hmm?"

"I don't know why that little monk offended the True Lord of Wenshan in Danxia Cave and was kidnapped here, and even dressed as a woman... But we are also very grateful to him."

"You mean... Liansheng?"

Jiang Ling'er put down her wine glass, her brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.

"On the day the city was sealed off, it was laughable. Because the demoness Kong Wu from the Demonic Sect stayed here, the Fengyue Tower became a secluded haven. Even though I hid the girls in the wine cellar early on, it was to no avail. The Jin soldiers eventually broke in. Fortunately, my little master was there and managed to hold them off until the young heroes came to rescue us."

Jiang Ling'er frowned even more deeply: "He doesn't know martial arts, how can he stall?"

"Yes, I'm curious too. He's so thin." Liu Yirong rested her chin on her hand, as if recalling something. "How could he withstand it? He's just flesh and blood. You don't know how he was beaten up while protecting the girls in the building... I really can't understand how someone as thin as him, who doesn't look much stronger than the girls in our building, could endure it?"

As Liu Yirong spoke, she suddenly swirled her wine glass and chuckled very softly: "It's laughable that Fengyue Tower has so many patrons, so what? They all run away faster than anything else. Although he doesn't know martial arts, he has more guts than many men who call themselves heroes of the martial world. I... sigh, I should thank him properly in person."

Jiang Ling'er suddenly remembered Lian Sheng's slightly bluish lips and the unusually tightly wrapped, wide monk's robe...

Actually, upon closer reflection, he was just a teenager.

Although born into nobility, he was born into a life of constant wandering and fear, never a moment without fleeing.

Jiang Ling'er's long eyelashes trembled slightly as she gripped the cup in her hand.

He then downed the cup in one gulp. Not satisfied with just that, he poured more wine, and as if a small sip wasn't enough, he picked up the wine jar and drank it down in one go.

The fragrant wine trickled down his lips, quickly soaking the front of his shirt.

Liu Yirong was startled: "Oh, what's going on all of a sudden? Drink slowly..."

Liu Yirong couldn't stop her and watched helplessly as she downed the entire jar of wine in an instant.

"happy!"

Jiang Ling'er put down the wine jar and wiped her lips with her sleeve. Her beautiful and spirited face was now flushed red, clearly showing signs of intoxication. However, her almond-shaped eyes were bright and clear, no longer as gloomy and somber as when they first met.

Looking into Liu Yirong's eyes, she thanked her again with utmost solemnity:

Thank you!

Liu Yirong was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled: "...Thank me for what?"

Jiang Ling'er's voice was loud and clear: "For no reason!"

The renowned courtesan of Fengyue Tower, known for her understanding and empathy, choked for the first time. Liu Yirong stared at her for a long while, observing her emotional turmoil, so childlike, with sadness and joy written all over her face: "Miss Jiang, you really are... really..."

After pondering for a long time, Liu Yirong finally managed to utter a sentence:

"What a wonderful person."

Jiang Ling'er accepted the compliment and toasted her: "How strange, I grew up in Jinling and have never met you before. We should have known each other long ago!"

The wine in the glass sloshed, and a few drops landed on her slender fingertips.

Liu Yirong felt a little hot and withdrew her fingertips:

"You are the first person who wants to befriend a courtesan like me."

Her voice was too soft, and Jiang Ling'er, also a little tipsy, tilted her head and asked her:

"What?"

Liu Yirong smiled, rubbing her forehead: "It's nothing."

The courtesan, usually so elegant and graceful, even imitated Jiang Ling'er by rolling up her sleeves and giving a sharp rebuke:

"Dry!"

Jiang Ling'er: "Okay!"

The two men toasted each other, and after a few rounds of drinks, they were both a little drunk.

Liu Yirong, resting her chin on her hand, gazed at Jiang Ling'er, who was standing just a few feet away, her eyes blurry with drunkenness, and murmured:

"So similar...so similar."

Jiang Ling'er was also drunk, rubbing her temples with her knuckles, and mumbling:

"Like what?"

"Like an old friend, a friend of mine."

Jiang Ling'er remembered that it seemed like when they first met at the Fengyue Tower, Liu Yirong had said something similar.

“…Like me?” Jiang Ling’er pointed at herself and laughed foolishly. Then she placed her hands on the table, her face flushed like the sunset. She was like a blooming begonia exuding the fragrance of wine, swaying as she walked toward Liu Yirong. “How much like me?”

She was clearly quite drunk, her steps were unsteady, and she was about to fall to the ground. Just as Liu Yirong was about to help her up, a jade-like hand stepped forward, one hand supporting Jiang Ling'er's cheek, and the other hand familiarly wrapping around her waist.

A strange, distant, yet somewhat familiar, cool fragrance instantly enveloped her. She wasn't someone who couldn't drink, but she had drunk a bit too much today. Although her steps were unsteady, her mind was still relatively clear. But for some reason, she suddenly felt increasingly dizzy, and for a moment she couldn't open her eyes. She vaguely saw a pair of dark, peach-blossom eyes…

Jiang Ling'er frowned slightly. She grasped a sliver of clarity and tried to use her internal energy to force out the effects of the alcohol, but it was like punching cotton. She couldn't mobilize her internal energy and instead fell into a deeper state of dizziness.

The wine is poisoned.

Sensing her resistance, the hand around her waist tightened its hold, so tight that Jiang Ling'er almost felt pain. Something soft pressed against her ear; first, she heard a long, drawn-out sigh, as if something had been lost and then regained, followed by a warm breath brushing against her ear:

"Go to sleep."

"A good night's sleep will do the trick."

As the newcomer's clear, melodious voice rang out, an overwhelming sense of despair washed over Jiang Ling'er, and she uncontrollably plunged into darkness.

Liu Yirong had already stopped being drunk when the man appeared. She saw him carefully and gently lift the woman into his arms, his fingers clenched tightly, his eyes lowered.

"Young Master, we're still in Jinling City, within the territory of the Number One Escort Agency. Isn't this going too far..."

"You did a great job. You don't need to worry about the rest."

The young man in the fox fur coat didn't even glance at her. His voice was calm and indifferent, without a trace of joy or anger, yet it inexplicably made the woman shudder and lower her head, no longer daring to look at him.

When Liu Yirong looked up again, the two figures had already disappeared.

She looked at the mess on the floor and the broken wine glasses, and said softly:

"...I'm sorry."

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Time returns to early morning. Behind the century-old tree, the young monk suddenly looks up and meets a pair of aloof phoenix eyes.

He didn't know when the young Taoist had discovered him, nor how long the young Taoist had been watching him like that.

But he did indeed sense murderous intent in him.

As soon as Pei Xuan moved, Lian Sheng instinctively stepped back, only to see the young Taoist smirk and chuckle.

"How can you be so timid?"

Pei Xuan brushed past him without saying another word.

Lian Sheng felt her whole body go limp.

He really wanted to kill him.

The young monk took a deep breath, and cold raindrops fell on his neck, making him shiver.

It started raining sometime during the day.

He stood silently in the rain for a long while, then suddenly, as if he had made up his mind, he walked towards a small room, which was Jiang Ling'er's residence.

He knew Jiang Ling'er had already left and didn't dare to go in without permission; in fact, he had no intention of going in. He just...

I just wanted to say one thing to Miss Jiang.

Just one sentence.

He just stood there in the rain, like a silent stone lion guarding the door.

...

Jiang Ling'er finally returned after a full four hours, until the moon rose above the willow branches.

She raised an eyebrow at the soaking wet young monk:

"Were you waiting for me?"

The young monk didn't even dare to look her in the eye, his gaze lowered, his knuckles clenched so tightly behind his back they were almost white.

“Miss Yuan Zao was injured by the Demonic Sect because of my womanly compassion, and...and your father, and others...I...I know you hate me..."

He had spent half a day rehearsing his speech, but unfortunately, he was freezing in the night rain, and his words were trembling and stumbling, though they were still clear.

"I wonder what you wanted to say to me."

A soft laugh suddenly reached his ears. The young monk was slightly startled, and looked up to meet the woman's smiling face. His previously dull eyes gradually brightened, thinking that Jiang Ling'er had forgiven him. As the woman looked at him, the smile on her lips seemed to ripple and grow wider.

"Since you knew that, I thought you would be smart enough to leave on your own."

He still appeared cheerful and smiling, but every word he uttered was piercing.

The young monk's face turned deathly pale. He remained silent for a long while before finally speaking:

"You...you once said you would..."

"If I were you, I wouldn't say anything more."

Upon hearing Jiang Ling'er's words, the young monk's face drained of all color.

After a long while, he left like a ghost, disappearing into the rain.

Jiang Ling'er chuckled softly, her face expressionless. Just as she was about to return to her room, a clear, crisp voice came from behind her:

Why did you do that?

Jiang Ling'er paused, turned slightly to the side, and saw the person who had just arrived raise an eyebrow in surprise, then quickly smiled:

"What, you were waiting for me too?"

I don't know when it happened, but the drizzle stopped, and the moonlight peeked through the clouds in a hazy glow.

The young Taoist priest secretly emerged and, looking at the woman's smiling face under the moonlight, frowned for some reason.

Especially when he saw the woman looking him up and down as she approached him, her fingertips lightly touching his waist and abdomen down to his Adam's apple, his brows furrowed even more deeply.

"And you're talking about me. If the people of the Lingxiao Sect knew that the Xiaoyaozi they revered was once a ruthless child from the Valley of Villains who killed without hesitation, what would they think?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a dagger hidden in his sleeve was pressed against Pei Xuan's throat!

The young Taoist priest ignored the dagger pressed against his throat and instead answered irrelevantly, "She won't hurt me."

It didn't sound like he was talking to her; it sounded more like he was talking to himself.

In the blink of an eye, the woman glanced to the side, and Pei Xuan had already snatched the dagger from her hand, pressing it against her throat. His voice was cold, and his gaze, fixed on her, was even colder than his words.

"I'll only ask you once: Who are you? Where is she?"

Jiang Ling'er was stunned for a long time before she smiled faintly. She ignored the dagger pressed against her throat, turned slightly to look at the young Taoist, and her hand involuntarily touched his handsome face.

"What a handsome man! What a pity, you are just like me, a pitiful person who can't have what you want."

A barely perceptible glint of darkness flashed in Pei Xuan's phoenix eyes.

Jiang Ling'er suddenly changed the subject, a charming yet eerie smile playing on her lips:

You will never find her.

As soon as he finished speaking, he plunged the dagger into the young Taoist's throat, and hot blood splattered onto the young Taoist's jade-like face.

Pei Xuan's pupils contracted slightly. He had already thrown the dagger away when the woman attempted suicide, but the blade still cut the skin on her neck. Although it looked gruesome, it was not a fatal wound.

He pried open the woman's lips with two fingers, and the colorless and odorless poison had already melted between her teeth.

She was smiling even as she died.

"Pei Xuan, what are you doing!"

A heart-wrenching roar of fury echoed through the sky as Yuan Wenkang and his men from the镖门 (镖门 is a type of security escort agency) surrounded the young Taoist priest with their weapons.

The night, which should have been peaceful, was brightly lit, but a murderous intent, like a raging flood, was about to erupt.

Pei Xuan looked at his hands covered in blood, then at the lifeless "Jiang Ling'er" in his arms, and finally at the enraged members of the镖门 (镖门) surrounding him.

He actually laughed in this situation.

However, the smile did not reach his eyes; his phoenix eyes were filled with darkness.

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When Jiang Ling'er opened her eyes again, she saw carved beams and painted pillars, dragon and phoenix quilts, and a faint fragrance.

It felt both familiar and terrifyingly strange...

Jiang Ling'er felt as if she had been punched hard on the head, and was a little dazed. She stared at the lily of the valley hanging above the bed curtains, which was emitting a faint fragrance, blinked, and blinked again.

"woke up?"

A clear, melodious voice rang out, and Jiang Ling'er paused, looking in the direction of the sound—

Ji Yunshu held the wooden basin in one hand and pushed open the door with the other. He put down the basin filled with warm water, sat on the edge of the bed, lifted the quilt, grabbed her ankle, and placed her feet on his knees.

With his eyes lowered, his eyelashes long like fans, he focused intently on untying the strips of cloth wrapped around her calves, muttering to himself:

"Did you tie the cloth strip yourself? Why is it wrapped so tightly? It's all bruised and purple. Don't wrap it like that next time, okay?"

As he finished speaking, his jade-like hand caressed her smooth and shapely calves, his amorous peach blossom eyes gazing intently at her.

The lilies of the valley above the bed curtains were fragrant, like an old dream that I hadn't yet woken from.