Chapter 64: Going Crazy in Jiangnan
Rainy night, ruined temple.
On a table beside the ruins, someone had placed a stick of incense before a Buddha statue. The incense glowed faintly in the darkness, dimly illuminating the hand of the golden Buddha. Luo Qingling hid behind the statue, his knees huddled together, trembling all over.
Just now, the monster disguised itself as Qin Yanheng and tricked Luo Qingling out of the governor's mansion. Fortunately, she was already accustomed to carrying the Golden Dragon Sword with her, so she was able to escape from the monster. The monster must be afraid of this magic sword, otherwise how could he be frightened in place the moment she swung out the golden dragon.
Luo Qingling was afraid that the monster would catch up with him, so he turned around and ran away. Now he didn't know where he ran to, but at least he had gotten rid of the monster.
She rubbed her arms to try to keep warm, but she didn't put on an outer coat before going out tonight, so her arms were exposed, her white skin was slightly wet with rain, and she felt cold all over.
Above her head, the eaves were broken in half, and raindrops dripped from the bricks and tiles onto her feet. Luo Qingling retracted her feet and huddled further into the corner.
So cold...
When had she ever suffered such hardship? Even when she lived in the frontier in the past, her father would always have charcoal sent to her room no matter how cold it was, and she would be warm all winter. Now, she has only been in Beijing for a few months, and she is either sleeping in the open air or catching monsters and ghosts. When will this life end?
If her father hadn't been seriously ill and urgently needed to return to the capital for treatment, she wouldn't have given up her free life in the frontier. However, she had traveled thousands of miles to the capital to seek help, and now her father's problem hadn't been solved, and she had even gotten lost. She had suffered so much in vain, and no one knew where the little prince was now.
Wait, speaking of the little princess, she should be more than ten miles away from the governor's mansion by now, so why is there no reaction from the Golden Dragon Sword?
Thinking of this, Luo Qingling took out the Golden Dragon Sword from his sleeve. The sword was gray and without a trace of luster.
It was obvious that the Golden Dragon Sword that had originally bound the two of them had become ineffective since some point in time. In other words, even if Luo Qingling ran to the ends of the earth, Qin Yanheng would not be affected at all.
The bond that the two of them had tried so hard to untie in the past had just disappeared.
Luo Qingling clutched the Golden Dragon Sword tightly. The blade shone brightly for a moment, then fell silent again. She looked up at the dark sky. The downpour was still pouring, and braving the rain wasn't a good idea. She decided to take shelter in this dilapidated temple for a while and figure out a solution after the rain stopped.
But it was already late at night, and how could a young woman, alone in a deserted Buddhist temple, not feel anxious? Luo Qingling tightly grasped the Golden Dragon Sword in her hand, her ears paying attention to every sound around her. She had been extremely nervous since the beginning, and now she was a little tired.
“Da da da—”
The sound of someone walking!
Luo Qingling suddenly got up from her squatting position. She knelt on the ground, covered the golden Buddha with one hand, and slowly stretched her head to look, her heart pounding with rage.
Outside the eaves, raindrops were dripping, and outside the rain curtain, bamboo leaves were swaying in the wind, but no human figure was seen.
Maybe it was an illusion... Luo Qingling breathed a sigh of relief and was about to sit down, but she caught a glimpse of a dark shadow appearing outside the temple. She suddenly widened her eyes and stared at that place, holding the Golden Dragon Sword tightly in her hand, fearing that a monster would jump out from somewhere in the next moment.
The yellow color under the black clothes came into view, and then the girl's beautiful face appeared in front of him, and she looked at Luo Qingling for a moment.
Before Luo Qingling could speak out to stop her, the girl turned around and shouted out, her tone filled with surprise: "Sister, there's a young lady here!"
"Madam, are you here to hide from the rain as well?"
The girl took off her straw raincoat and skipped to Luo Qingling's side. She looked up at her with a playful tone and a smile in her eyes: "Don't be afraid, my lady. My sister and I are not bad people."
Luo Qingling lowered her eyes and looked at the girl in front of her, who was about twelve or thirteen years old. She was a few years younger than herself and spoke with a sharp tongue, much like her distant cousin. Luo Qingling immediately relaxed her guard. She couldn't help but bend down and touch the girl's head. She replied in a gentle voice, "I'm lost. Do you know which way to the Governor's Mansion?"
"Madam, are you going to the Governor's Mansion?" The young girl stared at the angel-like woman in front of her with wide eyes, puzzled. "This place is already the eastern suburbs of Si'an City. The Governor's Mansion is to the west of the city. Why are you going so far away?"
Luo Qingling was silent for a moment, not responding to the girl's question. He hadn't expected her to have escaped so far, darting east and west. She must have been more than ten miles away from Qin Yanheng by now. The Golden Dragon Sword's restraint had indeed lost its effect.
"If you have nowhere to go, why don't you come home with me and my sister? I'll take you back tomorrow morning when you go to the market!"
The young girl tugged at Luo Qingling's sleeve and led her out of the dilapidated temple. She then pointed to the carriage under the bamboo forest. A woman about Luo Qingling's age poked her head out and waved at the two of them. "Don't be afraid, my lady. My sister and I are not bad people. We just left the city late and were caught in a rainstorm, so we stopped here."
Perhaps because the two girls she met on the road were about the same age as Luo Qingling, she immediately felt relieved and walked forward, wanting to ask about their identities, but the girl in the carriage had already prepared a story.
She said sincerely, "My sister, mother, and I live in a nearby village. We came to the city today to sell some snacks to make money. Don't be afraid, my lady. We won't harm you."
Luo Qingling followed the girl's gaze and saw lights on in several low houses not far away. This must be the village the two sisters had mentioned.
She nodded and said with a smile, "Thank you both for your help. I am very grateful."
Rather than spending a night in a dilapidated temple where someone might come at any time, she would rather go home with the two sisters. After all, if something happened, she would have the Golden Dragon Sword with her, so she would not be able to escape the tiger's claws.
It was this night that Qin Yanheng completely understood how Luo Qingling, this piece of jade, had conquered him.
At the same time, at the Governor's Mansion.
Governor Su stood aside with his hands behind his back, looking nervously at the young man in the hall who was holding his forehead with one hand. No one dared to make a sound in the huge main hall.
Two hours ago, the news that Miss Luo was abducted by a monster in the governor's mansion had already spread, and the whole mansion was in panic. Even the governor Su, who was usually high and mighty, was standing in the corner like a turtle, staring at the servant on duty, not daring to say a word.
"Your Highness..." A servant on night duty came forward.
"Get out of here!"
Qin Yanheng waved his sleeves and swept the things on the table to the ground. He looked at Governor Su with red eyes. Just when the latter was trembling and about to be unable to withstand such majesty, Qin Yanheng cast his gaze on Xuan Ying who was standing upright in the hall. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the anger that surged in his heart, and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Where's Luo Qingling?"
Qin Yanheng looked around and no one responded. He laughed at himself and sat down on the couch as if exhausted, with his head resting on the back of the chair and his eyes closed, not daring to let anyone see his panic.
For two whole hours, Qin Yanheng sent all the soldiers on patrol in the south to dig deep in the city of Si'anzhou to search for the person, leaving no house untouched, but why couldn't they find even a piece of Luo Qingling's clothes?
How could a living person suddenly disappear in the city? Now that the restraint of the Golden Dragon Sword has disappeared, Qin Yanheng can't sense Luo Qingling's whereabouts, so naturally he doesn't know whether she is safe at the moment.
"Your Highness, now the only thing left to search is the wilderness east of the city. But how could Madam Luo, a weak woman, run so far?" An attendant stepped forward to report.
"Then why don't you hurry up and find someone for me!" Qin Yanheng raised his hand and pointed at the door, roaring, "Luo Qingling is the future princess. If anything happens to her, can you bear the responsibility?"
"Go find them all for me! Search them till they die!"
Qin Yanheng threw away his sleeves, strode past the crowd into the stable, jumped on his horse, and disappeared from everyone's sight in the blink of an eye.
The city was in chaos.
In a low house beside the red wall, an old woman sat at the table, lighting a lamp and embroidering. Beside her, an old man leaned on a recliner, fanning himself intermittently. The sound of horse hooves and occasional calls could be heard in his ears.
"What's going on tonight? It's been a long time since curfew, why is the city so noisy?" The old woman gave a stitch and threaded the needle.
"I just heard from Xiaoqi's mother next door that the little princess of Prince Rong'an who came to the city today has disappeared." The old man closed his eyes to rest and spoke casually.
"Little Princess?"
The old woman put down her needlework, patted the old man lying in the rocking chair, and asked with a gossipy look on her face, "When did Prince Rong An get engaged? Why have I never heard of the identity of this little princess? Whose family is she from?"
The old man brushed the old woman's hand away and turned over with an impatient look on his face: "Even if they are engaged, it is the business of the nobles in the capital. How can we ordinary people in this remote corner know about it?"
"Indeed, we dare not inquire about the little prince's affairs."
The old woman was about to continue her needlework when she heard a series of knocks on the door. She put down the embroidery cloth in her hand and hurried forward to open the door. She saw a very handsome young man standing in front of the door. He was wearing a brocade robe and a white jade pendant around his waist. It was obvious that he was a nobleman from the capital.
"Old lady, have you ever seen a young lady in a pink gauze dress at midnight?" the young man asked with red eyes, his voice clear and mellow, with a Beijing accent.
“You…you are…”
The old woman was about to kneel down to pay her respects, her body trembling, but Qin Yanheng stopped her with his hand. He whispered, "If you haven't seen her, then I'm bothering you two."
"She is yours—" the old woman suddenly called out to the thin figure and asked about the doubts in her heart.
He paused, then walked out of the old woman's sight. The young man jumped on his horse, waved his sleeves like clouds, and ran straight to another place.
She was his favorite young lady.
The little princess Yu Lu Tuanzi, the daughter of a wealthy and powerful prince in the capital.
Qin Yanheng wanted to reply openly, but now that the two of them were not in a proper relationship, how could he have the courage to call her that?
He sneered in his heart. He claimed to be the Taoist immortal's only disciple in the world, but he couldn't even protect the person he loved. All the Taoist skills he learned were in vain!
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