Chapter 90. The following day...
The next day.
As usual, Xie Zhuo took Xie Baoqiong to the clinic where Cheng Ling worked.
It was still early, and Xie Baoqiong, who had just been pulled out of bed, looked sleepy. She was dressed and put into a carriage.
A scent of incense with gardenia as the main note wafted into his nostrils. His eyes were not clear; his dark eyes, half-open and half-closed, were covered with a layer of damp mist, clearly not yet struggling to wake up from his drowsiness. But his furry head followed the familiar scent and nuzzled towards it.
Support him with one hand, letting him lean against you.
The fragrance of gardenias grew increasingly rich, blooming in abundance in Xie Baoqiong's half-awake, half-asleep dream.
The morning sunlight shone through the gaps in the carriage window onto his face, like warm sunlight shattered into tiny fragments by the branches and leaves, melting and flowing over his body.
He seemed to have turned back into a pebble, resting under a tree with lush foliage and blooming flowers.
Petals drifted down from the tree and landed on his cheek.
His cheek? He suddenly became more alert.
The misty vapor in front of him dissipated, and he looked down to see Xie Zhuo's hand supporting his head as it slid down.
"Dad, why are you up so early today?"
Her voice, still slightly nasal from just waking up, softly reached Xie Zhuo's ears.
"today……"
Xie Zhuo's words came to an abrupt end as the carriage stopped.
Through the gap in Xie Zhuo's sleeve, Xie Baoqiong saw the figure revealed after the carriage curtain was lifted; it was none other than Chisong, whom she hadn't seen for many days.
Xie Zhuo's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly the moment he saw who it was: "What is it?"
“I haven’t seen Cheng Ling in a long time, and I have something to discuss with her.” Chishong entered the carriage on his own and chose a seat.
There should be more than one carriage in the courtyard.
Xie Zhuo's gaze swept over Chishong from head to toe, his unwelcoming tone quite obvious, almost pointing out that Chishong had no need for a carriage at all.
"We'll be visiting the prefect's residence together later, that would be more convenient."
Chishong understood the implication in Xie Zhuo's words, but remained seated without moving an inch.
Having witnessed Chishong's shamelessness, Xie Zhuo stopped chasing people away, withdrew his attention, and continued to inform Xie Baoqiong of today's itinerary.
Xie Baoqiong's attention had been diverted since Chishong mentioned the prefectural governor's mansion, and he had been frequently visiting the vicinity of the mansion recently.
The reason is simple: Cao Zhuangling's whereabouts were seen nearby.
He interrupted Xie Zhuo's calm voice: "Dad, can I come with you today?"
Xie Zhuo touched the child who had turned into a sticky rice cake, his heart feeling as if it were being stuck to the soft, sticky white rice cake. The freshly made, sticky rice cake was warm and cozy, enveloping him in a cozy embrace.
His face, however, remained serious.
"Good boy, Daddy is busy with important business today."
The subtext is that he can't be brought along.
Xie Baoqiong did not press the matter after being rejected, but she had other plans in mind.
His gaze shifted from Xie Zhuo's profile to Chi Song opposite him. As for Xie Zhuo, with Chi Song by his side, he should be safe.
His gaze lingered for a while, until it met Akamatsu's deep eyes.
He thought he would be choked again, but he saw Chishong's gaze linger thoughtfully on him and Xie Zhuo for a moment before moving to the window.
—
The carriage stopped in front of the clinic's side gate. Xie Baoqiong bid farewell to Xie Zhuo and walked skillfully towards the backyard.
Akamatsu lagged a few steps behind him and slowly followed.
"Oh, a rare guest." Cheng Ling had just greeted Xie Baoqiong when he saw who was behind him and spoke with a cold face.
Xie Baoqiong watched as Cheng Ling and Chisong walked under the trellis of climbing vines. The shadows obscured their faces, and the sounds coming from them became muffled.
Cheng Ling was the first to speak:
What are your plans for the child you originally left with me?
The shadows cast by the trees left a deeper imprint on Chisong's brows and eyes. He remained silent for a long while, seemingly finally remembering the person Cheng Ling had mentioned:
"Naturally, like everyone else who enters this clinic, she will return to where she came from."
Cheng Ling's face flashed with disapproval, but she did not argue with Chi Song about the issue: "If you don't intend to get involved, I will decide how to handle this matter. I will ask her later. If she intends to leave, let her go. If she wants to stay, I will teach her some skills to make a living."
Akamatsu had no objection to what she said, only offering a word of advice as an elder: raising children is troublesome.
As he spoke, his gaze drifted unintentionally toward Xie Baoqiong, occasionally meeting her eyes.
Xie Baoqiong couldn't hear anything after that, she only saw Chishong's mouth opening and closing, and Cheng Ling nodding with a surprised expression.
He realized that Chishong had most likely used magic to isolate them.
Xie Baoqiong couldn't read lips, so she stopped trying to embarrass herself and went with Erqiao to the dining hall next to the backyard for breakfast.
When he returned to the backyard, Chishong was nowhere to be seen.
Cheng Ling no longer studied the pile of ancient books as usual, but instead used the communication jade disc to send messages.
As he and Erqiao stepped into the courtyard, they happened to see Cheng Ling putting away the jade disc.
Cheng Ling waved to the two of them: "I have to go pick up some guests later. You two will stay in the clinic today. If you need anything, go to the front yard to find other people."
It seemed that this was Chishong's order. Xie Baoqiong watched Cheng Ling leave in a hurry and stayed quietly in the clinic for the whole morning.
After lunch, he used the excuse of taking a nap to separate from Erqiao and headed towards the prefectural governor's mansion.
The clinic was in the north of the city, and the prefectural governor's mansion was in the south. Unlike Chishong, he didn't have the magic to shrink the distance between places, so it took him some time to get from the clinic to the prefectural governor's mansion.
The prefectural governor's mansion covered a large area. After scouting the area several times, he had figured out the surroundings. He chose a place with weak guards, transformed into his original form, shrunk to the size of a pebble, and leaped onto the wall.
There was a magic array above the wall to block evil spirits, but he had already found a way to deal with it.
The jade pendant, designed to conceal his aura, completely masked it.
An ordinary-looking stone fell from the top of the wall into the yard, landing in the dense grass and disappearing from sight.
What was that sound?
A familiar voice rang out from outside the bushes.
"Has the prefectural governor's mansion been broken into?"
The next voice that rang out sounded like someone they knew.
"My lords, there's no need to worry." The third voice sounded somewhat familiar: "Send a few people to take a look."
Soon, several footsteps approached, making a rustling sound on the lawn.
The bushes that were obscuring the view were parted by a sword, revealing the ordinary blue stone behind them to everyone.
Where did the stone come from? This question had barely crossed everyone's minds when a voice, laced with sarcasm, rang out:
"It seems that the walls of the prefectural governor's mansion have been in disrepair for many years, and the pebbles on the roof tiles are starting to fall off."
"Please don't be offended, sir. My teacher is always frugal and loves the people, so he forgot about his own courtyard," Su Yuanshuang said, bowing to Chishong.
Chisong glanced meaningfully at the stone nestled in the grass.
The air fell silent. Coupled with the rumors of Chishong's unpredictable moods, apart from Xie Zhuo, the others who were accompanying them had completely forgotten why the stone had fallen. Their necks felt like they were being choked by the silent air, and fine beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads.
In the end, Xie Zhuo smoothed things over: "Lord Luo is still waiting, let's go over first."
The group of people left, and the grass they had parted returned to its original state, covering the blue stone once again.
As the footsteps faded into the distance and disappeared, the grass blocking the bluestone collapsed, and the not-so-round stone slowly rolled out.
He hadn't expected such a coincidence to run into Xie Zhuo and his group. Chishong must have recognized him just now, but since he hadn't pointed it out, he pretended not to know.
Unexpectedly, Su Yuanshuang had this connection with the prefect.
Xie Baoqiong watched the group disappear around the corner and changed her plans.
Xie Zhuo had met Cao Zhuangling before, and he originally intended to seize Cao Zhuangling before they met.
But now that Su Yuanshuang has joined the prefect's mansion, he is worried that something might happen, so he decides to follow Xie Zhuo and his group first.
Relying on her natural disguise, Xie Baoqiong made her way through life, stopping and starting along the way.
We finally lost track of them.
As he stumbled around like a headless fly, the group of people reappeared in his sight.
However, Xie Zhuo was nowhere to be seen.
He peeked out from behind the artificial hill in the courtyard, but Chishong seemed oblivious, following Su Yuanshuang without looking to the side. Just as they were about to pass each other, a voice rang out in his mind:
"Xie Zhuo is in the side hall of the courtyard in front."
Chishong truly recognized him. Xie Baoqiong stayed where she was, waiting for the group to walk away before rolling off in the direction Chishong had indicated.
Upon arrival, they found the courtyard gate wide open, but there was no sign of any servants.
He looked around, even using a tiny bit of his divine sense to probe, and after confirming that no one was around, he carefully climbed over the courtyard wall and landed in the courtyard.
Side room, side room, he murmured to himself the location Akamatsu had mentioned, his gaze sweeping over the tightly closed doors.
Finally, based on my memory of the layout of the Xie mansion, I chose a room.
Xie Baoqiong jumped onto the windowsill.
The pebbles tapped softly against the window frame.
The shadow of the person inside the room was faintly reflected on the window of the mica window; they were sitting in a chair with their back to the window.
Seeing that there was someone in the room and that no one had noticed the sound he had just made, Xie Baoqiong confidently pushed open a corner of the window and squeezed into the room.
The clothes he had just slept in that morning came into view, and Xie Baoqiong breathed a sigh of relief; he hadn't gone to the wrong room.
Without making a sound, he enveloped himself in spiritual power and silently landed on the carpet, approaching the figure on the chair.
Xie Zhuo rested his head on the rosewood armrest with his left elbow. On the rosewood square table with floral patterns to his right, the lid of a teacup was lifted, releasing steam.
Xie Baoqiong didn't dare to get too close, and found a corner to wait silently for Xie Zhuo to leave.
But Xie Zhuo maintained that posture until the steam above the tea dissipated.
He finally realized something was wrong, and cautiously probed the figure on the chair with his divine sense. His body rolled out from the corner and transformed into human form.
"father?"
Seeing Xie Zhuo's tightly closed eyes, Xie Baoqiong hesitated for two seconds. Xie Zhuo was just resting with his eyes closed, but she still hurried forward and squatted down in front of Xie Zhuo.
Xie Zhuo's eyes were closed, the shadows cast by his eyelashes blending with the dark blue-black, without trembling at all, making Xie Baoqiong's breath catch in her throat.
He called out again, "Father?" while reaching out to check Xie Zhuo's pulse.
The throbbing pulse under his fingers relieved him.
He leaned closer: "Lord Xie? Lord Xie? Xie Zhuo?"
Spiritual energy overflowed from Xie Baoqiong's hands and flowed into Xie Zhuo's body.
He had no medical training and only knew the most brutal and simple methods.
But Xie Zhuo still did not respond.
Anxiety resurfaced as if it were everywhere, and Xie Baoqiong had no choice but to hug Xie Zhuo's waist, lift him up, and barely manage to keep him from dragging on the ground.
Ignoring the caution he had shown when he came in, he rushed out through the main gate, left the courtyard, used his divine sense to navigate, avoided the servants in the mansion, and hurried back to where he had come in.
Not long after they left the courtyard, a huge explosion, accompanied by a tremor, suddenly came from the direction of the center of the mansion.
As the smoke and dust cleared, the figure of the red pine tree floated in mid-air.
The sounds of the wind around them became chaotic, filled with panicked shouts and hurried footsteps.
Xie Baoqiong, without suspecting anything, quickly retreated in the direction she had come from.
But their path was blocked by a figure falling from the sky.
"It's been a long time, Young Master Xie."
The newcomer's body was wrapped in a wide robe, and his ordinary face was covered with black hair and beard.
Despite the drastic changes, Xie Baoqiong recognized the newcomer instantly by his sinister eyes.
He enveloped Xie Zhuo with his spiritual power and moved him aside. Then, he reached into his sleeve and drew a long sword from it.
"You really are no ordinary person." Cao Zhuangling snorted coldly when he saw his actions.
Before Cao Zhuangling could finish speaking, Xie Baoqiong had already lunged forward, her long sword flashing like a rainbow as she slashed at him.
A thick white fog blocked Xie Baoqiong's movements, causing Cat Brother to fall, brushing against Cao Zhuangling's sleeve.
Xie Baoqiong gripped her knife tightly, standing in the white mist, her brows slightly furrowed. This white mist was clearly a technique that only Amei knew.
Before he could think it through, a burst of energy came from the mist.
He rolled over and dodged Cao Zhuangling's attack.
The force of the energy left a deep mark on the ground where he had just stood.
“I originally wanted to let Amei keep you here, but he insisted on your death. If you don’t die, we will be the ones who die.”
The sound came from deep within the white mist, but its direction was impossible to discern.
Xie Baoqiong closed his eyes, feeling the breath of the wind, and entered the fog before him. He flipped the hilt of the knife in his hand and slashed horizontally in one direction.
The blade struck a hard object, the impact making his hand go numb.
But the person has been found.
Spiritual energy was poured into the blade, and it was slashed down in a crude and unskilled manner.
The sturdy cover, unable to bear the weight, made a crisp sound and then dissipated into the air.
He lacked fighting skills and couldn't even accurately control the manipulation of spiritual energy; he could only rely on instinct to attack and parry.
But the seemingly endless spiritual power within him destined him to be the victor in this battle.
The wind and waves stirred up by spiritual energy dispersed the white mist in the arena, revealing Cao Zhuangling, who was gradually showing signs of weakness, to Xie Baoqiong.
"How could this be?" Cao Zhuangling murmured, his eyes wide with fury as he stared at the short figure approaching with a knife.
The fear of failure washed over him.
If it fails...
If we fail again this time...
Will he survive?
Overwhelmed by fear, he rapidly mobilized the spiritual energy within his body.
A grayish bead separated from his body.
The inside of the bead seemed to be shrouded in mist, and the moment it appeared, white mist once again spread through the space.
However, this time Cao Zhuangling took the initiative to gather the white mist and let it enter the inside of the bead.
It even continuously infused its own spiritual power, causing the originally peaceful bead to become violent.
"Watch out!"
A loud shout came from behind Xie Baoqiong, along with a small knife that flew past Xie Baoqiong toward the bead floating in mid-air.
"No!"
The knife plunged straight into the surface of the gray bead, and the most primal power contained within the bead struggled out with Cao Zhuangling's shout, dissipating into the world.
Cheng Ling gracefully landed beside Xie Baoqiong, casting a meaningful glance at her.
Cao Zhuangling's eyes and his ordinary face became distorted. He flew to the two of them, and spiritual energy surged within his body, becoming like the beads from before.
"I'll trouble you, young master Xie, to release the pressure on him." Cheng Ling instructed Xie Baoqiong to attack Cao Zhuangling's vital points.
Before Xie Baoqiong could move, several yellow talismans, arranged in a line like chains or snakes, attacked Cao Zhuangling from behind, binding him as he prepared to launch a final attack on the two.
A familiar figure walked around the corner to the two of them.
Cheng Ling walked up familiarly and patted the man on the shoulder: "You're not bad, kid. You've even become a junior envoy."
Rong Feng didn't push Cheng Ling's hand away. Instead, he lowered his eyes and glanced at Cheng Ling's leg: "How's your leg?"
Cheng Ling patted his leg, making a metallic clanging sound: "That's enough to handle this kind of situation."
While the two were catching up, Xie Baoqiong approached Cao Zhuangling, whose face had turned ashen, and asked, "Who exactly is the person who ordered you to arrest me?"
Cao Zhuangling glanced at him, but didn't say anything, instead looking towards the distant sky.
Xie Baoqiong turned around and followed his gaze. Chishong was locked in a fierce battle with someone. The intensity of the fight was such that if they hadn't set up a barrier, they would probably have been drawn into it as well.
"That person is..."
"Thank you, young master!"
Get out of the way!
Before Xie Baoqiong could finish her question, Rong Feng and Cheng Ling's voices suddenly rang out at the same time, and their figures rushed towards him.
He turned around, time seemed to slow down in his eyes, Cao Zhuangling's face suddenly began to melt, and countless flying insects swept towards him.
Xie Baoqiong reacted quickly by releasing her spiritual power, killing the swarm of flying insects.
But as the flying insects were crushed by the spiritual power, fluffy powder scattered from them.
He was pulled backward by Cheng Ling's embrace, but inevitably got some on him.
Rong Feng threw out a talisman to block and gather the corpses and powder of the flying insects, making it easier for Cheng Ling to study them later.
He quickly approached the two of them and asked, "How is it?"
Xie Baoqiong sat up, feeling a strange sensation on her skin where the powder had been applied.
"Nothing serious? That powder seems to reveal one's true form." Cheng Ling had already stood up, but his tone was somewhat uncertain.
Her face and the back of her hands were also covered in powder, revealing gray and white scales.
Xie Baoqiong looked down at her palm as Cheng Ling spoke, and the part of her hand that was covered in powder turned to stone.
He raised his hand and touched his face with his fingertips.
The rough texture made him realize that his face had also been transformed into its original form.
A sudden, inexplicable panic gripped him, and he scanned the room, searching for Xie Zhuo's figure.
It's alright. Xie Zhuo is still unconscious. As long as Rong Feng and Cheng Ling keep it from him, and as long as Xie Zhuo doesn't believe it, he is still Xie Baoqiong.
But when he turned his head, he met Xie Zhuo's eyes, which were as sharp as a mirror, shattering into pieces.
"Little...Baby".
-----------------------
Author's note: Hehe, my identity has been revealed! :D
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
