Leaving Yunshui County
No matter what, you still have to say what you need to say. Otherwise, if you leave without saying goodbye, it will only make people more angry.
By the time Zhou Hanzhang finished his bath, changed into clean underwear and returned to the room, Shi Yanqing had already made up his mind to tell him about their trip to the Qiulan Mountains.
Zhou Hanzhang was smiling happily, but after hearing the news, the smile on his face disappeared instantly.
"Do you really have to go?"
Shi Yanqing nodded, "I have to go. I have to find a way to completely remove the control, so that Lin Yun's personality won't change after it's removed. Otherwise, even if she's not controlled by others, she will be different from the Lin Yun before."
Zhou Hanzhang hugged Shi Yanqing's waist reluctantly and put his cheek against her abdomen.
"Then you must come back soon. I will miss you."
Shi Yanqing smoothed his soft hair and was about to say something when he felt something was wrong, as if he heard faint sobbing.
No way, he won’t cry, right?
Shi Yanqing was surprised but also felt soft in her heart. She pulled away Zhou Hanzhang's arms that were around her waist, then held up the lower half of his face and asked him to raise his head.
Sure enough, he really cried, with red eyes, looking pitiful and cute.
"Why are you crying? I'm just going out. I'm not going away forever." Shi Yanqing said with a smile.
She kissed his beautiful eyes and her lips immediately felt wet.
"I can't help it." Zhou Hanzhang said pitifully.
Shi Yanqing chuckled: "Since you can't help it, then I will kiss you again."
After that, she leaned over and kissed his eyes again.
......
After all the gifts were packed and the clinic's affairs were arranged, it was three days later when Shi Yanqing was ready to set off for the Qiulan Mountains.
Today, Zhou Hanzhang did not go to the county government office immediately after breakfast. He took half a day off and prepared to personally send Shi Yanqing out of the city gate.
When they arrived at the city gate, Shi Yanqing comforted him again. Only after the person stopped crying did he leave with peace of mind.
This time, Shi Yanqing only brought Dan Ye and Qing Ping with him.
The three of them hurried and finally arrived near the Qiulan Mountains half a month later.
Before setting off, Shi Yanqing wrote a letter to her uncle. In the letter, she told him the whole story and said that she would come to the Qiulan Mountains to find a nightmare doctor.
Judging from the time, my uncle should have received the letter by now.
The three of them settled in a small town closest to the Qiulan Mountains. Although it was a small town, its prosperity was comparable to Yunshui County.
The Qiulan Mountains are covered with lush green hills and rolling hills. Although transportation is somewhat inconvenient, it is the only way for communication between the north and the south.
The town is called Nanbian Town. As the name suggests, it is a small town located on the south side of the mountains.
After entering the Nanbian Town, several people found an inn to stay in, planning to sleep for the night and then go back to inquire about the news tomorrow.
Shi Yanqing had plenty of money, so he booked a superior room for both Danye and Qingping. Not long after she entered the room, the waiter, accompanied by several water carriers, knocked on the door.
"Ma'am, the hot water you requested is here."
The room has its own bathtub, which is cleaned very carefully, without any visible dirt.
Shi Yanqing first asked someone to pour one third of hot water into the bathtub, and then threw a small medicine bag into the water. After a while, when she was about to prepare for the next step, Dan Ye entered the room.
She was holding a wooden tray in her hand, on which was a bowl of egg noodles and a small dish of meat with mushroom sauce.
"Madam, I'll come and clean up. Please sit down and have something to eat first." She said as she put the wooden tray on the table.
The small medicine bag thrown in the bathtub is a powder specially prepared by Shi Yanqing. It is used for disinfection and sterilization, and can wash away all invisible dirt.
It was already quarter of an hour later when Danye finished packing the bathtub.
Seeing that it was completely dark outside, Shi Yanqing quickly asked Dan Ye to go back to the house to eat. She bolted the door and closed the window, then she took off her clothes and got into the bathtub to take a bath.
A dreamless night.
The next day, Xiguan took a ox cart to Nanbian Town.
He was wearing a plain long gown and an outer robe. His hair was half tied back with a wooden hairpin. His beard on his chin was about a finger long and all clean white. He looked a bit like an immortal.
"I haven't seen Yanqing for almost ten years. When I separated from my junior sister, she was still a child, and her head was not even as high as my waist. I don't know what she looks like now." Xi Guan said with emotion to the disciple beside him.
"Master, according to the departure time written by my junior sister in the letter, they should arrive in Nanbian Town in the next few days. I have asked the owner of the inn in the town to keep an eye out." Wen Rushi, Xiguan's apprentice, said slowly beside him.
In the inn, Shi Yanqing slept very comfortably.
When she woke up, Danye had already bought breakfast. The breakfast was made from the fruits of local plants ground into powder and made into buns. They were soft and sticky, and tasted like glutinous rice balls.
Although it wasn't a delicacy, it was still unique and delicious. Shi Yanqing ate two fist-sized buns filled with red bean paste in one go.
After eating, the three of them prepared to go out to inquire about the news of Xiguan.
But before they could leave the inn, Xi Guan and Wen Rushi came to them.
"Yanqing, it's been many years since we last met. Do you still remember my uncle?" Xiguan smiled and stated his identity as soon as he opened his mouth.
But when this identity was mentioned, Shi Yanqing felt a little amused and helpless.
The reason was simple. Xi Guan said this to her and Dan Ye, and his eyes were on her and Dan Ye. It seemed that he didn't recognize which one was his nephew.
Wen Rushi, who was observing silently from the side, also felt helpless about his master's behavior. He put on an apologetic smile and walked forward and nodded slightly to Shi Yanqing.
"Junior Sister, Master and I have learned the reason why you came here from the letter you wrote. Why don't we go find a place to sit down and talk in detail."
Shi Yanqing looked at Wen Rushi, the senior brother who was already in his thirties but still had an extraordinary temperament, and said, "Then let's do as you say."
After that, the five of them turned and walked into the lobby, finding a seat inside.
The waiter was also considerate. Apart from bringing a pot of tea to the table at the beginning, he didn't come to disturb us again.
"Uncle, Brother, have you had breakfast?" Shi Yanqing hadn't seen them for a long time. When he saw them again, he felt familiar yet a little strange.
The uncle was still the same, not much changed. But the brother had changed a lot, not as lively and enthusiastic as before, but much more calm.
"Your senior brother cooked porridge early in the morning, and we left after breakfast." Xi Guan poured a cup of tea, took a sip, and put the cup back on the table.
He just couldn't get used to drinking tea brewed from tea leaves. It tasted bitter and wasn't as good as boiled tea.
"Junior Sister, what you wrote in the letter may be difficult to handle." Wen Rushi said as he took out a map from his pocket and spread it out on the table. His fingertips fell on the snowflake symbol on the map. "This is a valley in the Qiulan Mountains. Many rare flowers and plants grow there, including some that are specifically used to clear one's mind."
Hearing this, Shi Yanqing's eyes lit up slightly. This herbal medicine that can make people clear-headed should be helpful in relieving the peach blossom nightmare.
But she didn't rush to ask, after all, her senior brother had just said that this matter was difficult to handle.
"But this valley is filled with poisonous fog all year round. People passing by will fall into hallucinations if they accidentally inhale the fog, and will die in their sleep if they inhale too much. My master and I have been trying to prepare an antidote for the fog poison, but it has no effect. At most, it can keep people awake for a quarter of an hour." Wen Rushi sighed heavily after he finished speaking, his brows slightly furrowed, and he looked helpless.
"It's good to be able to stay awake for a quarter of an hour. Brother, there's no need to worry so much."
Shi Yanqing said sincerely that if she were asked to prepare the antidote, it would probably take less than an incense stick.
"But since you said that, Senior Brother, does that mean I need to use the herbs in this valley if I want to completely get rid of the Peach Blossom Nightmare?"
Wen Rushi nodded affirmatively.
"This herb is called Awakening Star. It can clear a person's mind and also prevent their personality from changing during the nightmare. If you can obtain Awakening Star, you will have accomplished half of the purpose of this trip."
Shi Yanqing didn't expect to receive such good news just after meeting her uncle and brother. She smiled slightly and asked, "What do you need me to do for the remaining half?"
Wen Rushi: "The remaining half will only be known after you gather the Awakening Star."
"Yanqing, this is also the condition for seeing the Nightmare Doctor." Xi Guan waited until his apprentice had finished saying what he needed to say before adding.
After checking out of the inn, Shi Yanqing and the other two followed Xi Guan and Wen Rushi towards the Qiulan Mountains.
The roads in the mountains were difficult to travel on and carriages could not enter, so they left the carriage at the inn before setting off and gave the innkeeper three taels of silver as food expenses for the horses.
Xiguan and Wen Rushi lived in a place called Daqiu Village in the mountains. There were about a hundred people in the village, most of whom had the surname Qiu. People with other surnames were mostly married in from other villages.
After entering Daegu Village, Wen Rushi stopped his ox cart outside a house. He turned to Shi Yanqing and said, "These two houses have been empty. After knowing you were coming, Master rented them and had them renovated. You two can stay here."
After he finished speaking, he looked at Qingping and said, "As for you, just live with me."
Shi Yanqing nodded. After thanking Xi Guan and Wen Rushi, she took Dan Ye into the house to clean up.
After they entered the house, Wen Rushi drove the ox cart to the house next door, which was where he and his master lived.
After all the gifts were packed, Shi Yanqing took out a pen and paper and placed them on the table and began to write a letter to Zhou Hanzhang.
It has been more than half a month since she left Yunshui County. During this journey, she would think of Zhou Hanzhang from time to time. When she thought of that man at the city gate, her eyes were red from crying. She had no dignity as a county magistrate at all.
If he wasn't the county magistrate, she would have brought the person out no matter what.
After all, she couldn't bear to be separated from him.
Before she knew it, she had written down a lot of her thoughts. When she counted carefully, there were five pages in total.
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