In the eerie and cold dungeon of the Xiaolong Society, all was silent.
A dark and gloomy corner, where neither day nor night can be seen.
Only under the dim light could the shadow of a black iron prison door, half of which was tightly fastened by heavy iron chains, be vaguely seen.
Outside the door, two guards, one guarding the open door and the other the hidden door, stood there like two heavenly soldiers descending from the sky. No matter what happened around them, they remained silent, indifferent, and unmoved, as if the hustle and bustle of this world and the suffering of people had nothing to do with them.
Everything was eerily quiet, as if this place were a lifeless, terrifying, and chilling tomb.
Inside the prison, Wang Er and Yan'er lay sprawled on the same bitterly cold rocks, one sitting and one lying down.
Both of them had faces as pale as paper, dry lips, and were completely devoid of color and vitality. Their breaths were so weak that they seemed as if they might lose their last breath at any moment.
At this moment, Wang Er seemed to have already collapsed and fell into a deep sleep against the stone wall, while Yan'er also collapsed on the ground, lying on her side with her arms tightly wrapped around her upper body and her legs tightly curled up. Her thin and frail body was trembling incessantly, and her teeth were chattering.
In the last vestiges of her consciousness, she felt utterly exhausted, longing to close her heavy eyelids that could no longer support her. Her expression was indifferent, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the flickering oil lamp, and she had begun to hallucinate.
As she watched, she suddenly smiled, a smile so beautiful, so happy, so content, her lips seemingly uttering fragmented, deathbed murmurs: "Miss, you've finally come!... Yan'er knew, always knew, that Miss would come to save Yan'er!... Thank goodness, Yan'er has finally found Miss... Yan'er thought... in this life... she would never see Miss again! Waaah... Miss, farewell... in the next life... Yan'er will serve you again!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she slowly closed her desperate and exhausted eyes, reluctantly but helplessly giving up that last bit of waiting, and tears immediately slid down her face.
Just then, the guard outside the door, who was in the darkness, suddenly collapsed to the ground for no apparent reason.
Upon hearing the unusual sound, another guard, who was still unaware of what was happening and was being illuminated by the dim light, turned his head to look at it. He saw a dark shadow flash past his eyes like a beam of light, and then he himself fell heavily to the ground with a "thud" and immediately lost consciousness.
As soon as she closed her eyes, in a daze, Yan'er faintly heard what sounded like the thick iron chains on the prison door being opened, but she was too weak to open her eyes to take a look.
Just then, a pair of slender, delicate hands suddenly emerged from the darkness and reached for the iron gate. She stepped inside and peered down, her gaze falling upon the pitiful state of Yan'er, who had been tortured beyond recognition. The woman gasped in shock, covering her mouth and shaking her head, her eyes instantly filling with tears. She rushed towards Yan'er, scooping her up in her arms, and as she carefully examined her body, she wept bitterly, crying, "Yan'er, my dear Yan'er, I've finally found you! But what happened to you? What's wrong with you?!"
Seeing this, Ruoxi, who had just arrived with the woman, stared at the two dying people on the ground for only a moment before hurriedly instructing the older guard behind her to quickly lay Wang Er down. She herself quickly followed and checked their eyelids and pulses. Then, with a furrowed brow, she said, "Quickly go and get some hot water. They are exhausted because they have been deprived of food and water for too long, and the environment here is too harsh. We must give them some warm water as soon as possible."
Lanxiang looked at Ruoxi with pleading eyes. Upon hearing her words, she felt even more heartbroken and hugged Yan'er's shoulders tightly, pulling her into her arms and sobbing uncontrollably, "Yan'er, wake up, wake up! Look who's here! Open your eyes and look! Don't scare me. The young lady you've been thinking about all day, she's really alive! She's right here in front of you, perfectly fine! Open your eyes and see her! Yan'er..."
"Hot water's here! Hot water's here! How infuriating! The water's right there on the table in the corner outside the cell, just a dozen steps away, within easy reach. But these two just stood there and let them fend for themselves, even if they died of thirst, they wouldn't give them any. I'm going to take those two's lives right now!" The older guard quickly returned with two bowls of hot water, gritting his teeth as he spoke. As soon as he put down the bowls, he adjusted the sword at his waist, turning around angrily to go out and kill them.
Ruoxi then took the bowl from his hand, handed one of them to Lanxiang and briefly explained it to her. Then she stood up and angrily scolded Lanxiang's back, saying, "Alright, aren't we busy enough already? What's the use of killing them? They're just following orders."
Seeing the older guard suddenly stop, Ruoxi stepped forward and handed him another bowl of hot water, saying gently, "Quickly give him this bowl of water to drink slowly, and don't kill any more innocent people!"
The older guard then turned around and took him, walking quickly toward his target. He lifted the corner of his robe and sat down on the ground, gently lifting Wang Er's head so that he could comfortably rest his head on his lap. He and Lanxiang then each took care of one person and gave him water.
Ruoxi shook her head, hurried back, squatted down, took out silver needles from her sleeve, and began to needle the Hegu and Zusanli acupoints of Wang Er, whose condition was relatively more critical.
After an unknown amount of time, in the dark and gloomy dungeon, Ruoxi's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat.
Just then, the two people who had been in a deep coma finally opened their eyes one after the other.
"Ruo... Miss Ruoxi, it really is you! He really brought you here! I, Wang Er, have finally found you! That's wonderful! That's wonderful!" Wang Er, who was the first to regain consciousness, excitedly said as soon as he opened his eyes and saw the woman in front of him.
"So you're Wang Er? The one who first found me in that little river in Peach Blossom Village? You came to the Swift Dragon Society to find me?"
Just after Ruoxi regained her sight, she finally saw Wang Er's face for the first time. The two looked at each other, and Ruoxi was carefully examining him with gratitude and surprise when Yan'er, who was leaning against Lanxiang's chest, slowly woke up.
After blinking her bright eyes twice, she finally regained some of her spirits, but as if in a dream, she looked at the woman in front of her who was crying her eyes out and asked in bewilderment, "Sister Lanxiang, am I already dead?"
When Lanxiang saw that Yan'er had finally woken up, looking much better, she excitedly wiped away her tears and cried with joy, "Yan'er, you naughty girl, didn't I tell you to go back to your room to rest? Where did you run off to? You're finally awake! I finally found you! You scared me to death, you know?... Oh, right, look, who's that?"
"So I'm still alive!" Seeing Lanxiang's agitated state, Yan'er pinched her thigh with all her might, only then realizing that she really hadn't died.
So, following Lanxiang's gaze, he slowly looked over.
But upon catching a glimpse of the woman kneeling before Wang Er, her back to him, a woman draped in a pure white veil—a figure she knew all too well—she sat up abruptly, breaking free from Lanxiang's embrace. She lunged at Lanxiang from behind, tightly encircling her waist, and buried her face in her shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Miss, it really is you! Where have you been all these days? Do you know how hard I've searched for you, crossing mountains and rivers! I almost lost my life!"
Ruoxi was so startled by the sudden tight embrace that her heart seemed to skip a beat. She then slowly turned around, gently took Yan'er's hand, and slowly put it down.
All the actions seemed so familiar and warm to Yan'er at this moment, while Ruoxi gently patted her shoulder and explained with a light smile, "Miss, I am not your young lady, my name is Ruoxi."
Upon hearing this, Yan'er immediately stopped sobbing, quickly wiped away her tears, and then helped her up. She stared wide-eyed at her, circling her several times before exclaiming in surprise, "Miss, what are you saying? How can you say such a thing? You are clearly my young lady! The birthmark on your face, and... and this seven-colored gold and jade bracelet... don't you remember? The Yi family mansion in the west of the city? You've forgotten all of that?"
Seeing Ruoxi listening to everything she said with a blank expression, as if she were listening to someone else's story, and displaying such an unfamiliar expression, Yan'er seemed to believe Wang Er's words from that day. She secretly looked at Wang Er, who frowned and nodded at her. Yan'er then said, "Heavens! Miss, what's wrong with you? Could it be... that you really have amnesia?"
At this moment, Wang Er hurriedly began to recount in detail the events surrounding his discovery of Ruoxi that day. Yan'er and Lanxiang also shared their recollections of Ruoxi's true identity and past with him.
Adding to what the reclusive Empress Dowager in Peach Blossom Village had said, Ruoxi was clearly bewildered. This time, she neither refuted nor admitted anything to what the others had said. She simply took a deep breath and then asked Wang Er, "By the way, did you see that cold-faced man who dressed you up as a guard from the Xiaolong Society that day? He's also imprisoned here, and he's suffered a severe sword wound. If he doesn't receive timely treatment, he might die."
"What? My benefactor is injured? What happened?" Wang Er immediately stood up in surprise.
"It's all my fault. It's my fault that dragged him down..." Lanxiang silently got up, bowing her head in self-reproach.
"Saving lives is the priority. If he wasn't imprisoned here, where else could he be? Now, we only need him!" Ruoxi then looked at the older guard's face and asked.
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