beginning

Tang Feng climbed down from the iron frame, his eyes immediately landing on the doors. If Qin Liuliu were inside, Tang Feng thought it was quite possible; the guard post was so small, where could she possibly hide? Tang Feng dusted off his hands, picked up the candlestick from the table, and walked towards the bronze doors. He touched the doors; it seemed only the middle one could be opened. With a push, the door opened slightly a crack. Tang Feng squeezed in, raised the candlestick slightly, and then called out in a low voice...

"Qin Liuliu, Qin Liuliu, where did you run off to, you little brat?" Behind the bronze door was an exceptionally long corridor, with landscape paintings from different eras hanging on the stone walls on both sides. Tang Feng had no time to think about anything else; he was only concerned about where Qin Liuliu had gone. Tang Feng didn't know how long he had been walking and still hadn't seen the end. At this point, he was starting to doubt whether Qin Liuliu had even come in. Tang Feng scratched his head in frustration, standing in the long corridor, unsure whether to go back. But then he remembered that the soldiers outside had locked the doors, so it was probably safe to assume that Qin Liuliu hadn't come back. It seemed impossible, so Tang Feng had no choice but to continue forward. Then he turned a corner and saw the familiar iron rack and guard post—tall iron racks, each shelf filled with various offerings in boxes. Tang Feng bent over, afraid he might miss Qin Liuliu. Suddenly, he heard a bell ring and whirled around, but saw nothing. Thinking he'd misheard, he called out softly again, "Liuliu? Qin Liuliu?? That's enough, stop hiding!"

Seeing no response, Tang Feng figured Qin Liuliu had probably really gone home, maybe just hadn't told him. He turned to leave, but then noticed a faint light emanating from a corner at the far end of the iron shelf. Seeing that his candlestick was almost burned out, Tang Feng decided to go over and borrow a light.

Tang Feng didn't know why, but ever since he entered the room, he kept hearing the sound of bells. He rubbed his ears and continued walking. After turning the corner, he saw a large round plate exactly like the one at the guard post, with several small tables on it. Qin Liuliu was leaning on one of the tables, looking at the offerings. Tang Feng didn't know where these offerings came from, but he knew that putting them back would be very difficult.

"Qin Liuliu!" Hearing Tang Feng's angry roar, Qin Liuliu's hand trembled, and she almost dropped the five-colored glass box. "Brother... you're here? Want to... take a look together? It's quite interesting..." Tang Feng went up and snatched the five-colored glass box from Qin Liuliu's hand, then carefully placed it inside the box. He then grabbed Qin Liuliu's ear and scolded, "Who gave you the guts! What did I tell you!"

"You...you told me not to run around," Qin Liuliu said, clinging to Tang Feng's hand that was pulling his ear. "Brother...be gentle, it hurts..." Qin Liuliu had never been hit by Tang Feng before. From childhood, Qin Liuliu had always thought Tang Feng's temper was impeccably good. In the manor, Qin Jiujiu usually kept a strict eye on him, and beatings and scoldings were inevitable, but Tang Feng would usually say some nice things to Qin Liuliu, and that would be the end of it. He just didn't expect Tang Feng to lose his temper like this today.

Tang Feng kicked Qin Liuliu in the butt. "How many times have I told you? This pawnshop isn't a royal residence. If anything happens, our whole family will be beheaded! And you still say it hurts? You're going to be the death of me!" After saying that, Tang Feng sat down on the steps. After calming down for a while, he asked, "Where did you get all these boxes from?"

Qin Liuliu's mind was still replaying Tang Feng's words, "If anything happens, our whole family will be on the guillotine." She grabbed Tang Feng's arm and asked, "Brother... what do we do now?" Hearing the trembling in Qin Liuliu's voice, Tang Feng coldly snorted, "Now you're scared? What were you doing before? Tell me! Where did you get these boxes from?"

"I... took some from that shelf."

Upon hearing this, Tang Feng nearly choked, pointing at Qin Liuliu's head and yelling, "Qin Liuliu! Do you think this is a buffet? Taking a little from everywhere! Confess now! Where did you get it from?"

Qin Liuliu pointed to the boxes. "I...I'm not really sure either, I just...I was looking at this ledger, and I saw something I liked, so I took it." Then Qin Liuliu took out a stack of ledgers and slapped them in front of Tang Feng. Tang Feng picked them up and flipped through them, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. If he had to find everything in all of these boxes and put them back in their places, it would take forever! Fortunately, each box was labeled. Tang Feng followed the labels to find the ledgers, and then put the boxes back according to the numbers written on them.

"Let me tell you, Qin Liuliu, if this happens again, I won't be cleaning up your messes anymore." Tang Feng climbed the ladder, took the box from Qin Liuliu, then opened the ledger and checked each item against the box before putting it back.

"Brother... I didn't mean to, I just didn't expect it."

"Didn't expect what? I didn't expect anything! Can't go home, can't eat, just wait and see how your sister scolds you tomorrow!" Tang Feng put the box back, then sat on the ladder to rest for a while. After catching his breath, he asked, "Why did you stop talking? What didn't you expect?"

"I didn't expect there to be a kitten in the pawnshop," Qin Liuli pouted, feeling a little upset after Tang Feng's scolding, but she didn't dare to retaliate for fear of further angering him. "Actually... actually, the other kittens are fine, but... that one is different. I've never seen a kitten that's completely black before! I saw it go through this door, and I originally wanted to call you to come and see it with me, but... but you fell asleep."

"So you followed me here? Then why aren't you looking after your kitten? What are you doing messing around with all this stuff?" Tang Feng rubbed his aching temples.

"I... tracked it all the way here... but I couldn't find the cat."

Seeing Qin Liuliu's aggrieved expression, Tang Feng realized he had gone a bit too far today. After all, she was still just a child. Tang Feng sighed, "Fine, I won't pursue this matter. But if it happens again, I really won't take care of you anymore." Qin Liuliu nodded, and seeing Tang Feng's expression soften, she grinned, "Brother... when are we going out? I'm starving!"

"Eat, eat, all you do is eat! The doors are locked, and you're still hungry? I'm hungry too!" Tang Feng climbed down the ladder, dusting himself off. "Let's go back! It's not safe for us to stay here. If someone finds us, we might get into trouble." Tang Feng, carrying the candlestick, led Qin Liuliu back to the guard post. Since they had nothing else to do, Tang Feng wrote down what had happened in Qianghu, thinking the Crown Prince would ask him for it later. As he was writing, he heard Qin Liuliu call him, "Brother... Brother! Look, it's that little cat!" Tang Feng stopped what he was doing and looked up. It really was a black cat, squatting in front of the bronze door they had just come from, meowing at him. Tang Feng squinted and saw something hanging around the cat's neck. Just then, the bell sound he had heard from inside the door started again. Tang Feng smiled. It was the bell around the cat's neck that was making the sound! At this moment, the cat walked towards Tang Feng, unafraid of people. Tang Feng frowned, suddenly recalling the night he arrived in Yanyun, when he fell from the windowsill and lay on the lawn, it seemed that a black cat with a bell around its neck had also been there.

At that moment, the black cat jumped onto the table and sat there, staring at Tang Feng without moving. Tang Feng felt a little scared, thinking that the cat he had seen before he lost consciousness seemed to be this one. Tang Feng noticed that the bell looked unusual and couldn't resist touching it. Just as he was about to touch it, everything went black. When he opened his eyes again, Tang Feng found himself surrounded by a strong smell of disinfectant, and there was a beeping sound nearby. Tang Feng slowly raised his hand and found an IV drip in it.

"Doctor! When will this child wake up?" Tang Feng vaguely heard Uncle Li's voice. He tried to speak, but found that because he was wearing an oxygen mask, he couldn't make a sound at all.

"That depends on the patient himself. He fell from the sixth floor, and it's a miracle he didn't die. He has multiple fractures. You should come and pay the fees first!" Tang Feng was shocked when he heard the doctor's words. Had he returned? Had he not died?

At this moment, Qin Liuliu was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, pacing around in circles. Tang Feng had suddenly fainted for some unknown reason and couldn't get up no matter how much she called him. Qin Liuliu held Tang Feng's hand, not knowing what to do. Fortunately, at that moment, Qin Liuliu heard the sound of a lock being opened and hurriedly shouted, "Help! Help!" The soldiers who opened the door saw Tang Feng lying on the ground and their hearts sank. They had clearly checked yesterday and there was no one there. How did Tang Feng get in?

Seeing the two people not moving, Qin Liuliu hurriedly said, "My brother has fainted! What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and carry him upstairs!" Tang Feng was sent back to the Tang residence. Qin Jiujiu didn't know how someone who was perfectly fine yesterday could suddenly fall into a coma. She asked Liu Yiwan to find a doctor. Qin Jiujiu glared at Qin Liuliu and said, "I'll deal with you when your brother wakes up."

After the doctor arrived and took Tang Feng's pulse, he said, "Insufficient qi and blood, weak breathing... This is not good!" Upon hearing this, Qin Jiujiu leaned back, and if Liu Yiwan hadn't supported her, she would have probably fallen to the ground. "Doctor! What... what do you mean by that?"

"If this continues... he might die from breathing difficulties... Here's what I'll do: I'll prescribe some medicine to see if it helps." The old doctor handed the prescription to Qin Jiujiu. "This illness is strange; we can't find the cause, but his breathing difficulties and prolonged unconsciousness can indeed lead to death."

Qin Jiujiu handed the prescription to Liu Yiwan, "Go quickly! Go get the medicine!"