Chapter 82 After parting ways with Xie Zhuo, Akamatsu...
After parting ways with Xie Zhuo, Chi Song came alone to a deserted open space, where spiritual energy flowed within his body.
He took a step, and the scenery before him moved rapidly. The moment his foot landed, he was transported from the open space to the city.
Xie Zhuo is right; some spells are indeed convenient in everyday life.
The surrounding noise became still, but no one noticed that a person had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Akamatsu looked up and saw the familiar clinic, then started walking towards it.
He needed to discuss with Cheng Ling how they should respond if the cause of the epidemic was indeed as Xie Zhuo had guessed.
Just as Chishong entered the clinic, a furtive head suddenly peeked out from the alleyway diagonally opposite, peering around the street.
Xie Baoqiong stared blankly at the empty street, his expression bewildered. He had just clearly sensed fluctuations of spiritual energy in the vicinity.
Although he didn't know if it was someone secretly watching him, he still put down the paper and pen Xie Rongjing had given him, stepped onto the windowsill, jumped onto the wall, climbed over, and rushed to the vicinity.
He touched his head and walked out of the alley. Seeing that the street was calm and still, he turned to head back.
It would be best to return before Xie Rongjing discovers it, even though given Xie Rongjing's good temper, it will likely just fizzle out in the end. But explaining would mean lying...
Since his reunion with Xiaochun, he had vaguely come to understand that lies were a heavy burden.
The lies told cannot be exposed, and may even need to be covered up with new lies.
He didn't want to continue lying to Xie Rongjing.
The moment the lie was exposed, even Xiaochun, who was very close to him, was so angry.
Even he himself would feel uncomfortable when he realized that the lie was true.
Driven by Xie Baoqiong, spiritual energy gathered in her legs, and she was about to leap onto the roof.
Suddenly, an undisguised gaze appeared on my back.
"Who?" he hissed, his gaze sharpening as he turned to the person he was looking at, and he changed direction, heading in that direction.
Remembering his previous experience of being taken advantage of, he controlled a portion of his spiritual energy to leak out and surround himself to prevent a surprise attack from the other side.
The figure peeking out from the wall quickly retreated when he noticed him.
Xie Baoqiong stood at the corner, and before he could reach out to pull out the figure behind the wall, the figure peeked out first, timidly looking up at him:
"A benefactor."
A face so thin it was almost unrecognizable, with huge eyes set in it, and a head of dry, yellow hair that looked like weeds but had been carefully groomed by its owner, all stirred Xie Baoqiong's memories:
"You are... Erqiao?"
Before he could speak, Erqiao kept glancing at the street behind him. Hearing the question, she awkwardly touched her face and nodded slightly.
"My esteemed guest, it is I."
Xie Baoqiong looked at the dust smeared on Erqiao's face, and that face completely overlapped with the Erqiao she had seen not long ago.
Hearing Erqiao's still-childish voice, his guard remained high. He followed Erqiao's gaze to look behind him, only to see a long, empty street:
"Erqiao, what's behind that?"
"No, it's nothing." Erqiao stammered, meeting Xie Baoqiong's suspicious gaze. After a long silence, she spoke softly:
"Where are the people who were with the important person this morning?"
Xie Baoqiong raised an eyebrow: "Which person are you referring to?"
Erqiao recalled the face from her memory, then glanced at Xie Baoqiong's face in front of her, and described it as follows:
"He looks somewhat like the nobleman."
"You mean my brother?" Xie Baoqiong only knew two people who resembled him: Xie Zhuo and Xie Rongjing. Including the people Erqiao had met, there was only one person.
He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Erqiao in front of him: "You need to see him for something?"
Erqiao realized the nature of their relationship and looked somewhat flustered. She seemed to realize her words were inappropriate and explained hesitantly:
"I only saw one important person here..."
He climbed over the wall alone; he couldn't possibly take Xie Rongjing with him.
Xie Baoqiong cleared the strange images from her mind and looked back again, but there was no sign of Xie Rongjing.
Distracted like this, he stopped arguing with Erqiao about the issue and instead asked:
What are you doing here?
Remembering her business, Erqiao hurriedly said, "The old lady in the village who took care of me is sick. I heard that the clinic here will take her in, so I came here to see her."
Xie Baoqiong saw the clinic across the street and recalled the rumors she had heard in the past two days. By piecing them together, she could roughly understand the situation in the city. This clinic seemed to be the place where Xie Zhuo and Chisong went after getting off the carriage yesterday.
Those inside must be people suffering from the plague. Xie Baoqiong frowned and turned to look at Erqiao in front of her.
Diseases are contagious, aren't they...?
Xie Baoqiong secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she remembered that Xie Rongjing was wearing a sachet.
He lowered his eyes and carefully observed Erqiao's complexion. Her skin was sallow under the dust, and her lips were pale and cracked.
It's impossible to tell whether it's due to illness or malnutrition.
Suddenly, Erqiao covered his mouth and nose and coughed. His thin body trembled with the cough, and as he bent over, you could see that he was pushing his clothes up to his shoulder blades.
Xie Baoqiong had never seen the symptoms of an epidemic, but he knew that a cough in humans was equivalent to being sick.
After hesitating for a moment, he took the brocade pouch from his waist and handed it over.
The talisman inside was only used to hold spiritual power, but as a demon cultivator, he could absorb the spiritual energy between heaven and earth for his own use, so he didn't need this pouch at all. He only carried it on his person to conceal his identity.
Moreover, although he didn't understand what Xie Rongjing was saying, he could still understand how he did it.
This scene was witnessed by Chishong, who was walking out of the main entrance of the medical hall.
His figure vanished from the spot, and the next instant, he appeared beside Xie Baoqiong, grabbing her wrist.
The crimson brocade pouch fell into his hands. He glanced at the bewildered Xie Baoqiong, then at Erqiao, who had stopped coughing and stood up.
A dark glint flashed in his eyes as he questioned Xie Baoqiong:
"What are you doing?"
Xie Baoqiong struggled for a moment, but couldn't pull his hand away, so he simply let Chisong hold it.
"I saw that she was sick..."
Before she could finish speaking, the shackles on her wrists suddenly came loose. Xie Baoqiong, disregarding the brocade pouch that Chisong had taken, swiftly withdrew her hand.
As he pulled his hand halfway back, a force came from the back of his collar, and he felt the sensation of being airborne for the first time in a long time.
Xie Baoqiong raised his face and saw that Erqiao, who was originally opposite him, was surrounded by spiritual energy and floating in mid-air.
He twisted his neck, looking at Lord Akamatsu who had restrained the two of them. His face showed no panic, and he asked with a puzzled expression:
"Lord Akamatsu?"
Xie Baoqiong turned her face with difficulty, and from Chishong's angle, only half of her bulging cheek could be seen. He glanced at her coldly and took a slight step.
The view before Xie Baoqiong changed from a street to a courtyard wall, and a surprised voice exploded in front of him:
"Lord Chishong, why are you back?" Cheng Ling's actions were interrupted by the three people who suddenly appeared in the courtyard. She curiously came over and looked at Xie Baoqiong, who was being held by Chishong.
Xie Baoqiong and Cheng Ling stared at each other for a moment, then Cheng Ling let out a gasp:
"Wow, is this your and Lord Xie's child?"
Upon hearing Cheng Ling's words, Chi Song felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately controlled his spiritual power, moving Er Qiao in front of him to separate the two of them.
"What nonsense are you spouting!?"
"These kinds of storybooks are really popular lately." Cheng Ling caught Erqiao in front of him, glanced at Chishong's horrified expression, and muttered:
"Forget it, an old fogey like you wouldn't understand young people's things."
She looked down to check on Erqiao in her arms: "She has a bit of a cold. Where did you pick her up?"
"At the door. I'm leaving it to you. While you're at it, investigate her background."
Cheng Ling agreed, but his gaze remained fixed on Chi Song and Xie Baoqiong, probing them:
"Then what is this...?"
Chishong endured Cheng Ling's inexplicably excited gaze, then lowered his eyes to glance at Xie Baoqiong, who was staring curiously at Cheng Ling but not offering any explanation. He shook his head impatiently.
"You'll have to ask Lord Xie where he found this one."
After saying that, he could no longer bear Cheng Ling's chilling gaze, so he turned his spiritual power and disappeared into the courtyard.
The scene before Xie Baoqiong changed again. A breath later, a familiar courtyard appeared before him, along with Xie Rongjing's surprised face.
"Lord Akamatsu, how could my younger brother be with you?"
Seeing Xie Rongjing approaching, Xie Baoqiong struggled to escape from Chisong's grasp, while calling out to Xie Rongjing to attract his attention:
"elder brother."
Xie Rongjing's gaze was drawn to him as he had hoped, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes:
"Qiong'er, when did you come out?"
Xie Baoqiong silently avoided Xie Rongjing's gaze, and her struggles lessened.
A sarcastic laugh came from above, and Chishong lifted Xie Baoqiong up and held her in front of Xie Rongjing:
"Young Master Xie, may I borrow this place?"
"Qiong'er, do you want to go?" Xie Rongjing raised an eyebrow slightly, ignoring Chisong's question, and instead asked his younger brother's opinion.
But Xie Baoqiong, whose lifeline and weaknesses were being held by others, had no choice. She hung her head listlessly and said against her will, "I want to go."
Xie Rongjing couldn't see his expression, assuming he was just frustrated by the policy discussion, so he rubbed the head that was being offered to him and readily let him go.
"Come back when you've had your fun."
As an outsider, Akamatsu watched their deep brotherly affection with amusement.
The look in his eyes disappeared when Xie Rongjing saw it.
"I'm sorry to trouble you to take care of my younger brother."
Xie Rongjing performed all the proper courtesies, and Chishong responded with a word before taking the man away.
The door was pushed open, and the decorations in front of her were similar to those she had seen when she mistakenly entered the camp that day. Xie Baoqiong covered her eyes in self-deception.
The force on his back suddenly disappeared, and his body flew into the air before landing heavily on a soft surface.
Xie Baoqiong parted her hands slightly and secretly peeked out, only to find herself thrown onto a soft cushion.
But in the next instant, the scene before them was suddenly replaced by a hand covered in a black glove.
"Slap."
His hands, which were covering his face, were slapped away, and Akamatsu's angry voice came from above:
"You have a spirit stone, a gift from heaven, yet you're so cowardly. You're a disgrace to the demon race."
Xie Baoqiong glanced down at her still-white hands, then tilted her head back and explained:
"Lord Akamatsu doesn't like others looking into your house, does he? Besides, I'm not some kind of spirit stone."
-----------------------
Author's Note: For the next period, until I fully recover, this story will not be submitted for rankings, and updates will be irregular. Once I recover, I will increase the update frequency and update at fixed times.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
