Several more guards returned to report, but naturally they returned empty-handed.
Song Ting swept the tea set off the table and paced back and forth in the study.
"You're all useless! You're all useless! With so many of you, you can't even find a single person. What use are you to me!"
"Go look again! If you can't find it, bring me your head! I don't want to hear any more nonsense!"
The vicious dog has once again lost its treasure, a treasure so fragile that it could shatter gently at any moment when it cannot see it.
The vicious dog was just one step away from going mad.
But this step, like a strong thread, strangled Song Ting's last remaining shred of rationality.
A strange combination of Chu Huaixu, who falls ill at the drop of a hat, and a dog, and so many people searching day and night without finding a trace of them, is clearly suspicious.
If no one had helped me, I'm afraid I still wouldn't be able to leave the capital city by now...
Thinking of this, Song Ting's eyes darkened, becoming even more sinister than before: "Wait—"
...
Song Mansion.
A child of about ten years old sat in the courtyard, his face covered in snot and tears, his big, round eyes brimming with tears.
Two or three maids and servants stood around him, wanting to comfort him but not knowing how to start, so they could only stand there awkwardly, wiping his tears and feeding him water from time to time.
"Waaaaaah... Young master, give the young master back to me... Waaaaaah... Ahhhhhh..."
The child wailing loudly was Xiao An, and he had been crying like this for three days.
When he was still in Yingtian, he was already devastated when he heard that the young master was going to send Xiao An away. But the young master told him that he had to do something very important and could not take him with him. So, although he was reluctant, he agreed so as not to cause trouble for the young master.
His adoptive parents loved him dearly, but Xiao An still missed the young master all the time. When the news from the White Horse Temple reached Xiao An's ears, he was extremely anxious and thought about how to return to the young master's side every day.
He had been waiting for this opportunity for so long, and finally it came. He was able to return to the young master's side, and the young master actually agreed to let him stay. Xiao An was overjoyed.
But before he could even celebrate, he was devastated again—who could have imagined that when he woke up, this grown man was gone!
She didn't say anything, only left him a note telling him not to look for her, not to think about her, and that it was up to him whether he stayed or left.
Xiao An clutched the note and burst into tears. She cried until she was exhausted, then rested for a while before continuing to cry. She has been crying like this ever since, and she has lost a lot of weight from all the crying.
"Why are you still crying?" Xiao An was wailing so loudly that no one heard when Song Ting came in.
Before the servants could answer, Xiao An suddenly lunged forward and hugged Song Ting's leg, wailing even louder, "Waaah... Waaah... M-Master, have you found the young master?"
These words struck Song Ting squarely at the heart. The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard grew even more menacing, and the servants beside him trembled with fear, daring not to utter a word.
Xiao An, however, gleaned the answer from the man's expression and cried even harder: "Young Master is gone! Young Master is gone! He doesn't want me anymore! Ahhhhhhh..."
The young master doesn't want him anymore. He'd rather take a dog than him; he's not even as good as a dog. This realization was hard for Xiao An to accept.
"Don't cry, I will definitely find him." Song Ting squatted down and wiped away Xiao An's tears, though not very gently.
"Young Master is frail and didn't even bring much money with him. Where can he go by himself? Who will take care of his food and drink, and who will help him rest and sleep... Waaaaah..."
"What if the young master encounters bad people? Waaah..."
"Why did he leave? Did you bully him? Give me back my young master! Give me back my young master!"
Xiao An cried incessantly, and Song Ting's eyes were also red.
When Huai Xu learned the truth, he was very emotional and even broke down. Later, the two talked it out. On the surface, Huai Xu seemed to have accepted the matter and treated Song Ting gently as before, occasionally teasing him about it.
All of this was sweet to Song Ting, and in his view, he had indeed deceived Huai Xu, so it was only natural for Huai Xu to be angry with him.
Regardless, Song Ting always believed that Huai Xu had truly accepted the truth.
But it turned out that there was no truth. The truth stuck in the man's heart like a thorn, making him unable to eat or sleep, and he was unwilling to forgive himself, which led him to choose to leave.
And what did he do? He was so immersed in the happiness of regaining what he had lost that he completely failed to see the strangeness beneath the gentle facade and ignored Huai Xu's true emotions.
He really... deserves to die.
...
"It's been three days, and Lord Dong still hasn't figured out what to say?" someone asked in the dim light.
The voice was slightly hoarse and deep, as if a bloodthirsty beast was imprisoned within it, containing an extremely dangerous signal.
Dong Maolin opened his eyes with difficulty, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the dark flying fish robe gradually approaching.
The next instant, a sharp dagger pierced his palm.
"Ah..." Dong Maolin struggled in pain, but the dagger pierced through his entire hand and pinned him to the torture device behind him.
With that movement, the wound tore open even more violently, the bright red flesh was turned inside out, and the pain made Dong Maolin's vision go black, and he no longer had the strength to struggle or resist.
The emaciated man moved his cracked lips, a sharp pain shooting through his chest and abdomen. He paused, cold sweat beading on his forehead from the pain, but he sneered:
"I am here to rid the Great Yan of sinners. Chu Minghuan is not worthy to sit on that dragon throne, and a sycophant like you is not worthy to live!"
"As for Chu Huaixu, he is disloyal, unfilial, unkind, and unjust; he will go to hell after he dies!"
This name was Song Ting's Achilles' heel; no one could speak ill of this person in front of him. He suddenly grabbed Dong Maolin by the neck: "Where is Chu Huaixu?!"
If Dong Maolin hadn't been still useful, he would probably be dead by now.
Dong Maolin also realized this. He looked at Song Ting and suddenly laughed: "Why did I, the commander, go crazy like this? It turns out it was because of that scoundrel."
The dagger piercing the palm was suddenly pulled out, and then plunged into the other palm: "I'll ask you one more time, where is Chu Huaixu?!"
Dong Maolin burst into maniacal laughter: "I don't know, Song Ting, just wait to collect his corpse. The Gu poison in his body is about to take effect, he won't live much longer, hahahahaha..."
The dagger plunged into Dong Maolin's bloodied hand once more, and Song Ting's dark eyes surged with endless rage.
He had been thinking for a long time these past few days about the reasons why Huaixu had left him so quietly.
Besides harboring resentment, the use of Gu poison should also be one of the reasons, or even a crucial one.
He knew he was poisoned by a Gu, and he didn't want Song Ting to be hindered by Dong Maolin because of him.
The dagger twirled in his palm as Song Ting asked expressionlessly, "Where is the antidote for the Soul-Severing Curse?"
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