The first rays of sunlight after sunrise cast their first shadows on the tall building. Beside the railings, a few newly emerged swallows were shaking their feathers and chirping as they flew south.
It won't be long before the sky becomes bright.
The old man who was sitting cross-legged on the soft couch woke up from his sleep and flared his nostrils a few times.
"You bought it?"
"I bought it." Qu Xingzi took the hot fried wontons out of the food box and gently placed them on the small table in front of the soft couch. "This is the first pot after Dongcheng Xuji opened. As you requested, I made a double batch and added muddy soup."
The old man nodded with satisfaction, picked up the spoon and started eating in small bites.
After an unknown amount of time, the black-faced man still didn't leave, and the old man finally spoke.
"Anything else?"
Qu Xingzi paused for a moment and told the truth.
"Miss Xiao went to the Black Feather Camp to get a horse, and left the city through the west gate half an hour ago."
The old man nodded, his words never falling from his lips.
"Anything else?"
"Master Yikong brought Qu Mo to Wancheng and passed the Minghu boundary marker last night."
The old man nodded again.
"Anything else? Don't make me rush you. Just finish it in one go."
Qu Xingzi was silent for a moment and shook his head gently.
“No more.”
The spoon was thrown back into the bowl with a "clang" sound, and the bowl of wonton that was full just now was now empty.
"Since you have nothing to do, go out and relax. Don't always hang out with a half-dead old man like me. If you can't find a good marriage this year, you might as well go and get ordained by the abbot of Dacheng Temple. This will prevent you from leading Qu Mo astray and giving my Qu family a reputation for ending their lives in loneliness."
Qu Xingzi smiled bitterly silently, knowing that he could not argue with the old man, but he still stood there and did not leave.
"Xingzi, there is still one thing I don't understand. Please enlighten me, grandfather."
"explain."
The dawn above the high building was quiet, with no other sound except the wind and the noisy swallows. But Qu Xingzi still took a cautious half step forward and lowered his voice.
"Since Grandfather didn't want to get involved in this matter, why did he give the moth to Miss Xiao?"
"Of course I don't want to get involved! But don't I have to?!" The old man blew his beard and glared, his voice so loud that it scared away the nest of swallows. "That old fox of the Su family gave birth to a fox cub. He talks better than he sings, but in the end, didn't he dig up this old ginseng of mine and bring it here with its roots?"
Qu Xingzi sighed and poured the old man a new pot of tea.
"That being said, if grandfather is determined not to interfere, Your Majesty will not make things difficult for us. Didn't you always teach us that destiny is unavoidable?"
The old man stared at the tea leaves spinning in the boiling water, and his voice suddenly became low.
"If the house collapses, we can still find another hut and seek shelter. But if the sky collapses, where can you and I hide?"
Qu Xingzi finally stopped talking, the surroundings became quiet, and the old man slowly closed his eyes.
Two hours ago, the words that the woman said before leaving the stone chamber seemed to still echo in the same place.
She said she didn't believe in the so-called fate, and how could she know it was impossible if she hadn't even tried.
I don’t know if it was because she was drunk, but what she said sounded particularly outrageous, and I couldn’t tell whether it was ignorant and fearless stupidity or resolute courage.
As an elder who has lived many more years than the other party, he should not hold it against her.
But he still wanted to make a fuss.
Today was the first time he saw her, but there was always a premonition in his heart that had not appeared for a long time.
She might be a variable.
Variables are sometimes turning points and sometimes troubles.
The "it" that had lived for as long as he did must also know this truth, which was why it had used the palace maid's body to try to kill her.
She had escaped by chance and had been caught up in this vortex that concerned the fate of her family and country until now. From then on, he realized that perhaps she was more than just a variable.
She is the destiny itself.
"I have said all I can, but if you still want to go look for him, then I have nothing more to say."
He told her his conclusion, but he was just curious about her reaction and had no intention of actually doing anything.
She was indeed stumped by his words.
But he was only stumped for a moment.
"I already know what the old man said. But I promised him I wouldn't leave him." The woman's eyes gleamed brightly in the dim stone chamber, the tiny flicker of light reflected in the depths of her pupils dancing endlessly. "Perhaps fate is predetermined, but until you give your all until the very last moment, how can you know that this is all there is to it?"
"Just to see you once and say goodbye, you might have to pay a price you can't even imagine. Even so, will you still go?"
"He told me that staying together is difficult. I don't think about the distant future, I just think about the present. Right now, I have to keep my promise."
The woman slowly stood up, looked at the wine jar and jade slip on the low table, and took away the empty jar.
"If you have nothing else to do, old sir, I will take my leave now."
After a long time, he raised his hand and touched the mechanism, and the door of the stone chamber opened.
However, just before the other party was about to step out of the stone chamber, he cried out in frustration.
"Wait a moment."
He hurriedly got up and went into the inner room. After a while, he came out with a small straw cage. He stuffed it into the woman's hands without saying anything and whispered some instructions.
The woman was a little surprised, but ultimately didn't ask any further questions.
Before leaving, she took out an old curled booklet from her bosom and handed it to him.
"Thank you for your help, old man, but I came here in a hurry and didn't have time to prepare any return gifts. This is the only thing I can give you."
The old man was not polite at all. He stretched out his hand to take the booklet, opened the first page, and his fingers paused. Then an old belt fell down and he caught it with his quick eyes and hands.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
