The group walked for another half a month, and the weather became hotter and hotter, gradually turning from early summer to midsummer.
The weather was getting hotter and hotter, especially around noon. The carriage was like a big steamer, making it hard to breathe.
Even though people can overcome the hot weather by drinking water, horses can't stand it and need to drink water. Otherwise, if a horse gets heatstroke, let alone whether you can buy a new one, most of the towns along the way are small towns, and there is no place where you can buy such a sleek horse.
In fact, along the way, the carriage alone was equivalent to a group of people driving a supercar through the city, so it did attract people with ulterior motives.
It wasn't the bad guys' fault; it was just that everyone in the group, with the exception of Su Qingluan, was exceptionally skilled and agile. Especially Yaoguang and the other two secret guards, who, though not part of the "Big Dipper," were still incredibly skilled, had practically developed a habit of detecting malicious glances from behind, and their every strike was a surefire hit.
Sometimes, before Su Qingluan even realized what was happening, the people who wanted to cause trouble had already been dealt with. It can be said that there was no suspense at all.
So Su Qingluan was a little nervous about these kinds of bandit black shops at first, but later she was just looking forward to it. When all the bad guys were dealt with at once, Su Qingluan didn't even have any expectations anymore, because... she was used to it.
However, due to various reasons, the group's progress was delayed a lot - after all, there was no way to travel at noon, and there were curfews in the morning and evening.
They even occasionally slept in deserted temples in the mountains, but they did so out of necessity.
Su Qingluan once secretly asked Mu Xingzhi if this was a big deal and whether it would delay his trip. Su Qingluan just laughed and said, "Isn't it normal for a sickly person like me to not be able to walk fast?"
Su Qingluan thought to herself, okay, she was overthinking it.
So what happened next seemed unexpected yet logical. On the evening of the day before the group arrived in Xunyang County, Mu Xingzhi disappeared because the group was once again "robbed". It is said that the place where he disappeared was beside a flowing river, and the direction of the river flow was towards Jingzhou City, which is the capital.
Su Qingluan: ...Well, the person might have been washed away, so we have to look for him in the direction of the river, no problem!
Yaoguang beside him was also diligently reciting her lines and following the routine: "Cousin, please don't worry. My cousin is a lucky man. Let's go home and find my father first. See if he can find a few more people to help find him!"
In fact, when Su Qingluan learned that Mu Xingzhi disappeared by the turbulent river, she was a little worried - after all, from the outside, Mu Xingzhi was in a wheelchair and "had difficulty walking", and she was not sure who was real and who was fake among the many bad guys she met on the road. What if?
As a result, when Su Qingluan heard Yaoguang reciting the lines, she thought: Okay, this is the established process, no need to worry about it, it’s time for her to follow the process.
Then she stayed up late to read a book that I had heard was very tear-jerking - well, how should I put it, the plot was quite old-fashioned, but the description was delicate, so Su Qingluan still shed a few tears.
The number of tears is not important. What is important is the effect of a haggard face and red and swollen eyes.
Yaoguang "comforted her cousin's wife all day and all night", so she knew how Su Qingluan became so "haggard", but the rest, especially the coachman duo, once again expressed their sincere admiration for Su Qingluan's "acting skills" that were so detailed.
Su Qingluan looked at Yaoguang, who was speechless beside her, and whispered, "Don't look down on the storybook so much. At least it worked, didn't it? But try to control your expression—now is the time to be sad and worried."
"I... I can't worry..." Yaoguang had been rigorously trained before, but this obviously did not include acting.
Su Qingluan told her: "At least keep a gloomy face and don't roll your eyes." Although Su Qingluan herself could not tell that she was anxious, she had seen many anxious and worried faces in the wards of her previous life. They had collapsed, but in the end they gradually became dull because they knew that they were powerless to change the gears of fate.
Now Su Qingluan thought rationally: if she and Mu Xingzhi were truly in love, and strictly speaking, they were newlyweds, she understood that her husband would likely be buried in the surging river, with little hope for survival. However, emotionally, she felt that "if he's alive, I want to see him; if he's dead, I want to see his body." She would be unwilling to accept the news without seeing his body, and she held on to a glimmer of hope.
So even though Su Qingluan couldn't "act", she remembered the numb and desperate expressions of those people, so she just had to do as they said.
But thinking about it this way, she still felt a little fortunate: Fortunately, Mu Xingzhi is not the real "Mu Xingzhi", otherwise how desperate would she be when she just realized that she liked him?
The group entered Xunyang County the next day and, led by Yaoguang, came to Mu Xingzhi's "uncle's" home.
Then Su Qingluan was a little dumbfounded - the old man on the hospital bed not only looked terminally ill, but his appearance was also about 60% similar to Mu Xingzhi!
It's the kind where no one would believe them if they said they were not related at all!
Even all the relatives in the family who have a close blood relationship with this "old uncle" have some connection with him!
Su Qingluan was completely stunned: As expected, no matter what Mu Xingzhi did, he would make it so real that it was indistinguishable from the real thing - she had not forgotten at all that the person "Mu Xingzhi", as well as his appearance, were all disguised!
Of course, these people are good at singing and reciting. The dying one is almost dead. When he heard that Mu Xingzhi and his group were coming, he was full of joy at first. But after hearing the bad news that Mu Xingzhi "might have fallen into the river", he beat his chest and stamped his feet, crying breathlessly.
Even because of the serious illness, the crying was the kind of weak feeling of being out of breath and unable to even cry out loud, which is very appropriate!
Is this... is this really an act? Su Qingluan got closer and saw that the other person's face was sallow and his spirit was exhausted. She wondered if this old man was really ill...
Soon, she lost the mood to complain. Because as Mu Xingzhi's only relative so far, and with a high probability of becoming a "widow", Su Qingluan, the old woman burst into tears again, making Su Qingluan, who was not good at acting, think that it was a good thing that she had applied onion water on her handkerchief beforehand.
As a result, every time she felt her tears were running dry, she would wipe her eyes with a handkerchief, which made her tears flow more.
In fact, if you apply onion water on a handkerchief from a distance, it won't be a problem, but the smell of onion is very strong. At least the old uncle who is standing nearby can definitely smell the strange smell on the handkerchief. It is not the smell of fragrant ointment, but a smell of onion.
Su Qingluan was also certain that the other party had discovered this. However, it was obvious that the old uncle was different from Su Qingluan, a rookie. He was a veteran actor. Not only did he not expose her, but he also covered up the situation when people around him wanted to help her.
This made Su Qingluan wipe her tears with an onion handkerchief, while she admired in her heart: Look at his lines, his movements, his expression, and his ability to respond on the spot, this old man has really outstanding acting skills!
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