Chapter 73 Negotiation: Ask, ask, ask! Talk, talk!
"Do you know the whereabouts of the sinner, Lord Yinyue?"
Shen Mi's throat tightened, and he realized almost instantly that he had given himself away.
She not only knew them, but they were also very familiar with each other, so familiar that they could sit down hand in hand and chat idly.
Shen Mi froze, and a deathly silence fell around her. In that moment of silence, she had already missed her chance to deny it.
The person opposite her was no longer the kind person who had helped her out of the illusion when they first met; he was now a blade filled with boundless anger and hatred, seeking death.
Ren slowly raised his head, a meaningful smile curving his lips. The smile was extremely faint, yet it was like a cold needle piercing Shen Mi's heart.
“…Little girl, so you knew.”
His voice was low and hoarse, carrying a threatening tone that seemed to have struck a nerve.
Shen Mi clenched her fists, forcing herself to calm down. She couldn't say too much, nor could she say too little. She meant no harm, yet she had to deal with someone whose demonic possession could flare up at any moment.
“I… don’t know much.” She spoke frankly, her tone as gentle as possible. “Shence Mansion doesn’t reveal too many secrets to people of my level. I’ve only seen information about Lord Yinyue in a few sealed documents, and I don’t know the whole story. As for the traces you mentioned, I know even less.”
As she spoke, she tried to maintain a calm tone, even deliberately meeting his gaze, even though his eyes were empty.
"Your relationship with Jingyuan... seems less than pure. Hasn't he mentioned Yinyue-jun to you?"
Shen Mi took a deep breath, a hint of anger rising in his heart. His tone became increasingly firm as he spoke, "The general is a man who clearly distinguishes between public and private matters."
Blade's smile faltered.
It should have been an ironic curve, but it cracked quietly after hearing Shen Mi's words, "The general is a man who clearly distinguishes between public and private matters."
His eyes were empty, yet they seemed to see through all emotions. The smile on his face gradually faded, leaving only weariness and coldness.
"Keep public and private matters separate?" he seemed to be repeating, or perhaps pondering.
After a moment of silence, he chuckled softly, his voice like broken metal scraping against the ground: "Do you know him? Have you heard the story of the Five Heroes of the Clouds? How upright can someone who associates with that group of lunatics like Jin Youyu and Kun be?"
Shen Mi frowned as he listened to Ren's words. A strange feeling crept up his heart like ivy slowly climbing the walls of his heart.
He spoke casually, yet every word was sharp. The phrase "Five Valiant Warriors Above the Clouds" and "Golden Friends and Jade Brothers" seemed like a summary, but in reality, every word was sarcastic.
The more Shen Mi listened, the more he felt that Ren was like an outsider, judging and mocking the passion and beliefs of everyone back then with a detached indifference.
They used all harsh words and harsh language to crudely attribute all past experiences to mistakes.
However, Shen Mi astutely discovered the reason behind his words.
"Enough!" she suddenly interrupted him, her voice not loud but carrying an undeniable firmness.
"Back then, we each had our own difficulties. I believe in the general, and I also believe that his old friend is not the villain that the world says he is."
She paused, her gaze fixed on the other person's empty, bloodstained eye sockets, her tone slightly tense: "You are not them. Since you were not involved, why are you mocking their lives and choices?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Shen Mi carefully observed the expression on the man's face. Seeing his cold, indifferent demeanor soften slightly for a moment, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes lit up, and she pressed her advantage, quickening her speech, her voice carrying a genuine urgency and defiance:
"Although you saved me, I will not bow down to you or obey you in everything because of that. You can laugh at me or be sarcastic if you want. But I want to say that I do not agree."
Upon hearing this, the burning, surging, and uncontrollable emotions within me were suddenly put on hold.
Ren paused, following the sound to find Shen Mi's direction. His face was expressionless, but his voice was low and deep, as if he were retrieving a long-forgotten manifesto from a scarred memory. He mechanically read it aloud: "There are five people, and three prices. The culprit, Yin Yue, acted recklessly, using the miraculous technique of dragon transformation to bring the dead back to life, changing his form and causing a great disaster, disgracing the honor of warriors; the follower, Ying Xing, was arrogant and conceited, tainting the flesh and blood of the abundant divine messenger, aiding Yin Yue's reckless actions, and ultimately falling into the state of an immortal abomination; the sinner, Jing Liu, committed demonic acts, murdering his comrades and betraying his alliance."
He paused for a moment, turning his head as if to listen to whether she still dared to look directly at the horrifying charges.
"You said I didn't know the whole story and shouldn't make judgments..." Blade's voice suddenly chuckled softly, carrying a twisted sarcasm.
"What if I told you that the one standing before you is the 'Ominous Star'?"
"What?"
Seeing the incredulous panic in the other person's voice, Ren smiled with satisfaction. That's more like it. How could hearing his name elicit resentment? Fear, terror, and keeping a respectful distance are the truly appropriate and correct reactions.
"Little girl, are you scared?"
*
In the woods outside the city —
Holding burning torches, the group moved in small groups, making their way through the darkness woven by the night and the dense shadows of the forest. The firelight flickered on every face; some were filled with anxiety, some discussed in hushed tones, and others gripped their detectors tightly, seemingly eager to tear through the darkness and find the two missing people.
A gentle breeze rustled through the leaves in the woods, making a soft "whoosh" sound, as if countless eyes were hiding behind the night, mocking their overestimation of their abilities.
"There was a noise over here!" someone shouted, grabbing a light source and quickly chasing to the left, his footsteps crunching on fallen leaves and dead branches.
"Wait for me, I want to go take a look too!"
"Don't stray too far! Keep in touch!"
"Is there any news from Lord Qingcui?"
Anxious shouts echoed from the crowd as several small teams moved in crisscrossing patterns, constantly scanning the edges of the path for heat sources and energy fluctuations using detection equipment. They were no ordinary outing group, but rather a specially dispatched Cloud Cavalry force from the Shence Prefecture—well-trained and well-equipped, each member of which had come for one purpose:
—Searching for Shen Mi's whereabouts.
The person who had just shouted "There's movement over here" parted the half-person-high haystack and saw a snow-white rabbit squatting inside.
The rabbit stared at him with its round, red eyes, its ears twitching as if startled by the sudden appearance of a person. It held its paws to its chest, motionless, its furry body trembling slightly, as if it was about to run away at any moment, or as if it was frozen in place, terrified.
Just as the people by the bushes were about to approach, the rabbit suddenly curled up into a ball, its whole body pressed against the ground, its little nose twitching as it nervously stared at the crowd.
Just then, a tall and imposing figure walked out from the woods.
He walked slowly through the crowd, seemingly out of place with the surrounding clamor. His silvery-white hair fluttered gently in the breeze, his robes trailed on the ground, and his steps were steady. Moonlight fell on his shoulders, as if gilding him with a soft glow.
Jingyuan.
He stood at the front of the crowd, his gaze calm, his eyes golden, a cold sharpness tinged with a restrained glint. He lowered his eyes to the trembling, snow-white figure on the grass, his gaze unfathomable.
The rabbit seemed to sense something, looked up at him, its red eyes filled with wariness and fear. But for a moment, it seemed to freeze, its previously tense hind legs slightly relaxing, and it didn't run away.
"...General?" someone asked tentatively, but received no response.
Jing Yuan didn't speak, but slowly bent down, his movements extremely gentle, as if afraid of disturbing the tiny creature in front of him. He reached out his hand, his fingers almost touching the rabbit's soft forehead.
The rabbit twitched its ears, but still didn't flinch; a hint of...unfamiliar calm flashed in its eyes.
“It’s just an ordinary rabbit,” Jing Yuan said in a low voice, his tone calm but with a certain firmness.
He paused for a moment, his fingertips still hovering in mid-air, and after a long while, he slowly straightened up and looked into the deeper woodland.
"Continue the search."
Just as everyone was about to turn into the deeper woods and the torches parted the grass, an impatient voice suddenly came from the forest, breaking the surrounding silence.
"We'll search you, but can you let us go first?"
The voice wasn't loud, but it carried obvious complaints and dissatisfaction.
As soon as the man finished speaking, Jing Yuan suddenly turned his head, his gaze like a sharp arrow, and through the flickering light of the torch, he stared straight in the direction where the man had spoken.
On the forest path, several figures were illuminated by the firelight—men and women, all dressed in casual clothes, with neatly packed bags on their shoulders, looking at the alarmed Shence Mansion personnel with blank and wary expressions.
Every one of them, without exception, wore a pair of snow-white rabbit ears pinned to their hoods—identification items that Bai Xuan had distributed to everyone after Shen Mi's disappearance, originally intended to help identify their identities, but now appearing particularly glaring at this moment.
Jing Yuan's eyes darkened slightly as he subtly swept his gaze across each person's face.
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps sounded from behind the crowd.
"Everyone, please calm down, please calm down," Bai Xuan said, catching up with a hint of calming the panic in her voice. "Once we find Chen Mi, we'll arrange for our return immediately."
As soon as he finished speaking, Qingcu returned from another forest path. She deftly took out her portable identification device, scanned the group of people from a distance, and the screen lit up, displaying a series of identification information.
She glanced at the data, took two steps closer, and whispered in Jing Yuan's ear:
"The one who just spoke is named Nanqiao Gantang, a short-lived girl from the Nanqiao family. The boy next to her is Songhou, her younger brother. According to the records, Songhou is a student at Xingcha Academy, but... Gantang is not on the driving school's registered student list, so she must be traveling with them temporarily."
Jing Yuan didn't speak, but his gaze narrowed slightly and fell on Gan Tang's face.
Jing Yuan remained silent, but his gaze sharpened and fixed on Gan Tang.
Gan Tang felt his gaze, paused slightly, then took two steps forward, her tone neither humble nor arrogant, clearly prepared and wanting to gain some initiative for everyone.
"As a fellow short-lived species, I deeply regret the disappearance of Shen Mi and sincerely hope that she can return safely soon."
She spoke sincerely, her eyes never wavering, as if she was trying her best to show understanding and consideration.
But then she changed the subject, her tone carrying a hint of questioning and unease: "But... a whole day has passed. You can't just keep us all here because you have a close relationship with Shen Mi, can you? Many of us originally came here only for the Spring Bathing Festival."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over the equally exhausted students in the woods: "If she can't be found soon, are we all going to be left behind as well?"
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Author's note: I feel like dying... I posted the wrong chapter. I put the originally planned Chapter 73 as Chapter 72. I have corrected it and moved Chapter 72 back.
How could such a ridiculous thing happen to me?! [Sobbing][Sobbing][Sobbing][Sobbing][Crying][Crying][Crying]
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