Chapter 52 The Childhood Betrothal of a Miao Girl (Twenty-Two)
After class, Jiang Yiqing declined her classmates' invitations to study together at the library and to study together in the evening. She read…
After class, Jiang Yiqing declined her classmates' invitations to study together at the library and to study together in the evening. She checked her schedule and realized she had no classes for the day, so she quickly returned to her dormitory.
"Host, since you have double the time during the day, you will have at least six hours of forced sleep at night. This is to ensure your health."
"Like Mingsheng right now?"
"Yes, Shui Mingsheng cannot wake up during the day, while you will definitely sleep for six hours at night."
"..." Jiang Yiqing hadn't expected the Gate of Daylight to be so powerful, but it also had many limitations. She had to start considering what would happen if Shui Mingsheng woke up after she fell asleep.
As things stand, she will fall asleep tonight, while Shui Mingsheng will likely wake up during the night out of concern for her. Tomorrow morning, their timelines will be aligned, giving them a daytime, which they must make good use of.
Jiang Yiqing wrote a note for Shui Mingsheng on her desk. After closing the bedroom, she locked the door and thoughtfully left some grilled cold noodles for Shui Mingsheng on the desk, afraid she would be hungry when she woke up. Of course, she also changed Shui Mingsheng's appearance back to normal.
"Yi Qing?!..." Shui Mingsheng cried out, waking up from his dream.
Upon waking, she found a soft, warm body beside her. Using her body's memory and intuition, she touched her hand. In the dimly lit room, she used the faint light emitted by the green lamp gu at her fingertips to see Jiang Yiqing's face clearly.
Jiang Yiqing was lying next to her.
Shui Mingsheng felt a ripple of emotion. She remembered that she lost consciousness after the sleeping powder was sprinkled. She had been worried about whether she could get back to the dormitory through the passage, but it seemed that she had succeeded.
The wooden box was placed next to her, but Shui Mingsheng didn't have time to notice it. She called out softly, "Yi Qing...?"
Jiang Yiqing did not respond. Shui Mingsheng stroked her cheek. She looked like Sleeping Beauty, her cheeks were fair with a rosy glow from sleep, her breathing was shallow, and her eyelashes were soft.
Jiang Yiqing couldn't help but lower her head and gently kiss those pale red lips. Only when Jiang Yiqing was by her side did she feel incredibly at ease. She tucked the blanket around Jiang Yiqing and carefully got out of bed from beside her.
The enticing aroma of food filled Shui Mingsheng's nostrils. He walked to the table and saw the grilled cold noodles in an insulated bag, along with a notepad placed to the side.
She picked it up and looked at it—
To my dear Mingsheng:
By the time you see this note, I should be in a six-hour forced sleep, but don't worry, I'll wake up.
I'm really looking forward to tomorrow during the day. I can do so many things with Mingsheng. If I get hungry, I'll eat some grilled cold noodles. I hope they're not cold yet.
Yi Qing [heart]
Shui Mingsheng felt a sweet feeling well up in her heart. She carefully put the note into her pocket like a treasure, picked up the grilled cold noodles, and realized that she had never tasted such a delicious snack before.
She sat quietly by the bedside, waiting for the night to fade, gazing at Jiang Yiqing's sleeping face, and couldn't help but smile.
Suddenly, the sound of a doorknob turning was heard at the door, followed by a tentative knock.
Shui Mingsheng became more vigilant. Looking through the peephole, he saw Zhao Xiran standing at the dormitory entrance with a strange expression.
Shui Mingsheng hesitated for a moment, then opened the dormitory door. Zhao Xiran walked in and her first words were, "Jiang Yiqing, are you alright?"
Seeing Shui Mingsheng through the corridor light, Zhao Xiran was somewhat surprised, but she didn't say anything. She closed the door behind her and then asked in a low voice, "Why are you still here?"
"What's wrong?" Shui Mingsheng found Zhao Xiran rather strange, but her concern for Jiang Yiqing seemed genuine. Could this person be trusted?
"You're asking me? I'd like to ask you the same thing. How come someone's been asking me about you guys?" Zhao Xiran was speechless. She had been hiding from the people her father sent to monitor her since she was little. She never expected that her counter-surveillance skills would come in handy at this time. She felt like someone was following her all day, and later she forced that person out at a street corner.
The man asked her in broken Mandarin if she knew where Shui Mingsheng had gone. Zhao Xiran instinctively felt that someone was trying to disturb the young couple, so she covered for them by saying, "Shui Mingsheng came to see his girlfriend, and then he went back, didn't he?"
Then someone met up with this person, and the two whispered to each other. Zhao Xiran listened carefully and heard Jiang Yiqing's name. Then they left without asking any more questions.
Fearing that someone might still be following her, Zhao Xiran lingered outside until nightfall before daring to head towards the school.
After listening to her story, Shui Mingsheng said, "Thank you."
"And then?" Zhao Xiran asked, puzzled. "You and Yi Qing, something must have happened, right?"
She glanced at the bed and saw Jiang Yiqing lying there. Given Jiang Yiqing's personality, it was impossible for her to be asleep without knowing anything. The situation between the two of them was quite strange.
"It's also for your own good; it's better if you don't know about this," Shui Mingsheng said.
"Oh," Zhao Xiran laughed, "Shui Mingsheng, I've also inquired about you. Although outsiders don't know about your Miao region, I actually found your name on a strange website. I didn't realize you were already the chieftain of such a large Miao village. I heard you can even use Gu poison, is that true?"
What website?
Zhao Xiran then took out her phone and showed Shui Mingsheng the webpage. Shui Mingsheng discovered that the website contained much more than that, with various new posts and revelations constantly emerging.
The first one listed is what happened at Daobei Ridge.
The number of people at the boundary stone changes in real time, analyzing all those who might have the King Gu, and even Shui Mingsheng is a popular term on the website.
Zhao Xiran said, "Shui Mingsheng, you're quite popular, but I have a feeling these people aren't here with good intentions."
Zhao Xiran showed Shui Mingsheng posts such as "The Youngest Female Village Chief in Miao Territory", "The Murderer Who Killed the Village Chief of Lianye Village and Elder Feng of Qingfeng Village", and "Where Did Shui Mingsheng Go?"
Shui Mingsheng browsed through the information on that website, then did some online research, and basically concluded that the company operating the website was connected to Li Shan.
The targeting was obvious, and Shui Mingsheng knew that there must be many eyes secretly watching her behind the scenes.
"Can you do me a favor?" Shui Mingsheng asked.
"You want me to help you?" Zhao Xiran seemed to have guessed that Shui Mingsheng would say this. Using her family's power, it wouldn't be difficult to do anything, but if she asked her family, she would have to swallow her pride. She might be forced to complete some tasks, and she was most afraid of trouble.
"After it's all done, I'll do you a favor too."
"Okay!" Zhao Xiran was also quite interested in the Gu poison of Miao territory, and naturally didn't want to miss such a good opportunity to learn about it: "So what is it?"
"Find a reliable hacker and hack this website."
"Is that all?" Zhao Xiran said. "How about I get someone to create some new posts for you to confuse them? You can send me some photos of your previous dates with Yiqing."
"Thank you so much. And try to stay away from N City as much as possible," Shui Mingsheng said. "The farther away you are, the better. I may need to use your identity to stay in N City for a while."
"...Okay, okay, I'm really impressed. It feels like I've become someone who works for you."
"Like I said before, once it's done, Yiqing and I will both be grateful to you, Zhao Xiran," Shui Mingsheng said earnestly.
Her sudden seriousness made Zhao Xiran feel embarrassed. She tossed her hair and said, "Seeing how sincere you are, I'll be a good person this time."
She gave Shui Mingsheng her student ID, campus card, and other belongings, and then quietly left through a small gate on campus.
Jiang Yiqing woke up promptly at six o'clock in the morning.
She felt a little dizzy, perhaps because she was still a bit unaccustomed to spending two days and one night together for the first time, compared to ordinary people. However, when she saw Shui Mingsheng's face very close to hers, she immediately came to her senses.
"Mingsheng, what are you doing?"
“Miss Sleeping Beauty, I’d like to try and see if I can wake you up with a kiss,” Shui Mingsheng said with a smile.
Jiang Yiqing blushed slightly and said, "Then I woke up early?"
"I'll definitely kiss you awake next time," Shui Mingsheng said. "But I stole a kiss from you last night too. Yi Qing is so cute, I couldn't control myself."
"...But I just can't bring myself to eat it."
"Why?" Shui Mingsheng looked at her with innocent, puppy-like eyes, looking quite pitiful.
“When I’m in class, I’m afraid someone will come in to check the duty roster and turn you into Zhao Xiran,” Jiang Yiqing said.
"As expected of my dear wife, we are truly in sync." Shui Mingsheng waved Zhao Xiran's ID in front of her and told Jiang Yiqing that Zhao Xiran had come and talked with them.
"As expected, someone is looking for you," Jiang Yiqing said. "Should we go back to Miao territory first?"
“We’re already looking, so there’s no need to rush.” Shui Mingsheng didn’t care what others thought. She said, “Yi Qing, I’ll pretend to be Zhao Xiran now, so no one can suspect me. Let’s go find Aunt Xia first. Besides, I’m worried that those people will also come after Aunt Xia.”
"good."
After washing up, combing their hair, and getting dressed, the two ate a casual breakfast at the school gate. Since no one was around, they moved to Xia Yi's place.
They arrived too early and were wondering if Xia Yi was still resting when they knocked on the door, which opened without being closed at all.
As they walked in, they saw Xia Yi eating pastries while flipping through documents. She looked better than the last time they saw her, and the two of them breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yi Qing, who is this?"
Jiang Yiqing said, "That's Ming Sheng. Someone is looking for her, so she can't be seen."
"Aunt Xia, are you alright? Has anyone come looking for you?" Shui Mingsheng asked.
“…Yes, there is.” Xia Yi smiled, looking somewhat gentle. “But Ming Sheng, I have my reasons for living here. These are all old houses, and there are many stray cats that are prone to turning into cat-like Gu. Unless they are pure-blooded humans, any other strangers will be attacked by packs of wild cats. Even if they are not afraid of cats, the tree Gu will not let them go. Besides, I am an ordinary human and am protected. The people of Miao territory wouldn’t dare to do anything to me.”
“That being said, some ruthless people might not care about such things in order to obtain the treasure,” Shui Mingsheng said. “Tree Gu, you must protect Aunt Xia and keep our agreement within these ten days.”
"Hmph." The tree gu seemed to think she was making a fuss over nothing; most gu masters wouldn't be a match for it.
Shui Mingsheng and Jiang Yiqing exchanged a glance and asked the purpose of their visit: "Aunt Xia, we actually wanted to ask you, do you know anything about the Deathly Silence Gu?"
“Dead Silence Gu.” Xia Yi’s expression remained unchanged, and with a hint of familiarity, she asked the Tree Gu, “Isn’t that an old friend of the Tree Gu?”
In the desolate, dense forest, besides various tree worms, there was only eternal silence. These tree branches, which had become sentient, were very familiar with this silence worm.
Why should I tell you this so that you can fulfill your agreement and then use it to control me?
“Tree Gu, you’re mistaken. Being our enemy won’t help you achieve your wish of becoming an immortal,” Jiang Yiqing said. “Have you ever heard the saying in the mortal world, ‘To gain something, you must first give something’?”
"That little girl is full of lies; I'm not so easily fooled."
“I think Yiqing is right,” Xia Yi said. “I’m helping you two because I know that by helping others accomplish what they want to do, I can get closer to my own goal.”
"..." Tree Gu pondered that the Deathly Silence Gu wasn't some huge secret, and telling the two wouldn't have any impact. Besides, very few people would even mention this Gu, so who would want to use the Deathly Silence Gu?
This kind of thing is neither auspicious nor lively; on the contrary, it makes people feel uncomfortable and depressed. This is the Gu that has accompanied the tree Gu in the deep forest for many years. It can be said that before it possessed Xia Yi, it lived this kind of lifeless life.
If the Deathly Silence Gu could be used by people, perhaps it wouldn't feel so deathly silent?
"The home of the Deathly Silent Gu is a snow forest beside a black river. It is deathly silent all year round. Only when the snow melts and flows into a stream will it make a sound. No animal can survive there. The Deathly Silent Gu I encountered came from there. Go and find it." The tree Gu pointed out the location to the two of them and then went into hibernation.
Jiang Yiqing also left a pre-set entrance to the Gate of Daylight in Xia Yi's room, so that the pre-set entrance could be used when the two current entrances were unusable.
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