Wrong Carriage, Right Groom 3
"..." Taking a deep breath and suppressing my emotions, I asked, "Senior brother, what's going on?"
"Unbeknownst to us, Tianquan also got involved in the case of the Skin Peeler. It wasn't that the eldest sister failed to obtain all of the original bride's letters, but rather that someone took away the part that we thought was missing before she did. The eldest sister investigated all the way and found out that it was done by a disciple of Tianquan. After negotiating with them, she learned that they took the letters because the contents were related to the 'Moon Nightmare' that they were tracking."
Nightmare of the Moon... Dawn...
etc!
I suddenly looked at my senior brother, "The world said the skinner's methods are different from three years ago, could it be—"
"Yes, two people." The senior brother's tone was sinister as he irritably ruffled a small braid on his forehead. "These two are truly a loving couple, teaming up to trick two sects! ...If only those idiots from Tianquan had fallen for it, that would be one thing, but we got tricked too!"
What kind of logic is this...?
"The one on the right is Yao Yunye, and the one on the left is his junior brother. I don't need to introduce them, right? He's your husband." Are you getting emotional so quickly? You're already mocking me?
I shook my head wearily. The fine wine swirled in the glass; the day had been so emotionally turbulent that I couldn't help but feel exhausted.
The last time I felt this powerless was ten years ago on a snowy night... Never mind, I don't want to recall that day at all.
Just as I was dazedly propping up my chin and turning my gaze to the opposite side, I happened to meet two burning eyes.
Song Yao is looking this way.
His attire today was completely different from usual. I usually see him with most of his hair down, and it always sticks to his neck when he's sweaty, without him ever brushing it off. I used to think, how could someone's behavior be so inconsistent with their appearance? He usually seems so neat and tidy.
Now I know that the capable and efficient side of him that I had never seen before was all revealed in him as a "disciple of Tianquan".
The person next to Song Yao, who was also his senior, nudged him lightly with his elbow. Judging from his lip movements, he was probably asking Song Yao, "What are you looking at?" At first, Song Yao didn't answer like a dumb goose. Then, the person asked with a teasing look, "Which girl have you taken a fancy to?"
Upon hearing this, Song Yao quickly looked away, scratched her head and laughed. Although she was waving her hand to "refute" him, her cheeks and the tip of her nose quickly turned pink.
laugh.
Why do I never see you smiling so broadly usually!
I rolled my eyes inwardly, eating my food without any enjoyment, when my senior suddenly leaned over and asked in a cheeky tone, "You've been absent-minded ever since you sat down, and you keep looking across at me. Have you taken a fancy to someone or have you developed feelings for someone?"
"Nothing like that." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Just eat yours."
"No, no, okay, let's go."
I was still confused when he pulled me up. "Where are we going?"
"A toast."
I originally thought that the toast should be offered to the envoy from Jiangnan, but I forgot that my senior brother was not one to follow the rules at all. He bypassed the envoy who had come from afar and went straight to the people of Tianquan.
"Brother Yao, it's been a long time!" Upon arriving in front of the two Tianquan disciples, the senior brother adopted the warm and friendly demeanor of the slightly older one, patting Yao Yunye's shoulder with a smile and brushing away non-existent dust from the man's fur collar.
Yao Yunye, being straightforward, asked, "Do we know each other?"
"Of course I know you. You must have a bad memory. My senior sister has a close relationship with Tianquan, so I guess I also have a close relationship with you."
...
The term "deep friendship" refers to "a deep and intense battle," right?
Where he learned this shamelessness is something that always amazes me.
Such a clumsy lie should have made anyone smart enough to jump up and fight my senior brother. But Yao Yunye was not so smart. He just chuckled and shook hands with my senior brother, chatting and asking about his well-being. It was only much later that I learned that it was just the most basic way people in Yao Yunye's hometown greet strangers.
They really are... frighteningly enthusiastic.
The two senior students chatted for a long time, talking nonsense and laughing. Although there was no mirror around, I think my expression must have been quite something, otherwise Song Yao wouldn't have been staring at me with such curiosity.
"What are you looking at?"
"Xiao Yue!" the senior brother shouted angrily, "You're so rude!"
I secretly rolled my eyes, thinking to myself that the performance was really exaggerated.
The senior brother chuckled apologetically, "I'm sorry, my junior brother is spoiled and has a sharp tongue, but he's not a bad person."
You're the one who's spoiled.
Yao Yunye: "Haha, he's just a kid, I can understand."
You're the one who's a child.
"You brought your junior brother too? What a coincidence! Me too! This is my junior brother, Song Yao. Oh, your junior brother is also named Xiao Yue? Even more coincidentally, Xiao Yao has a sweetheart who is also named Xiao Yue!"
Me: "..." Huh?
Song Yao, who had been almost completely silent, finally spoke up. He blushed and tugged at his senior brother Yao's sleeve, stammering, "Senior brother..."
Why are you dragging me into this? I didn't say anything wrong.
...
We chatted about some trivial things for a while before my senior and I returned to our seats.
"How is it?" the senior brother asked.
"What do you mean, how about it?"
"Are all the people in Tianquan a bunch of naive fools?"
Me: "..." Ha, haha, I think you're more like it.
...
Inside the private room, the dancer continued her energetic performance, her sheer veil billowing and creating a misty atmosphere around the room with each movement. Her eyes were flirtatious, captivating anyone who looked at her.
But whether the fog she created is clean or non-toxic is hard to say.
After several rounds of drinks, the envoy from Jiangnan was showing signs of getting drunk. His attendants helped him into the rest room, and his senior brother took the opportunity to obtain a stack of names from him.
"What is this?" I asked.
"List of victims in the skinning case."
Hearing this, I frowned. "How come the envoy from Jiangnan has this on him?"
"..." The senior brother bit his lower lip as he looked at the list of people, his face serious. "The skinning thief also appeared in Jiangnan Kingdom. It was also a case committed three years ago. What's more, the murderer committed the crime again just a few months ago."
As I read down line by line, I saw that many of the names were collected by the disciples of the Nine Streams Sect from the victims in Kaifeng. The ones I hadn't seen before must have been innocent people who died tragically in the Jiangnan Kingdom.
Suddenly, I saw a name that seemed out of place, "Tang Xuezhuang?"
"You know him?"
"Tang Fu's youngest daughter is very popular and has a great reputation."
The senior brother snapped the roster shut. "We need to go back and discuss the next steps with the senior sister. You keep an eye on that foreigner here and don't let him get away. I'll be right back."
"good."
However, just as the senior apprentice took one step out, he heard a sharp scream, "The skinner has killed someone again!"
What!
We rushed over and found the private room a scene of carnage. The girl who had been playing music that night had not only been skinned but also had her eyes gouged out.
Upon seeing this, Tianquan and his fellow disciples, who had come with them, immediately slammed their fists on the door. "How dare you! You're defying the wind and committing this crime!" The two of them made a move to go downstairs to chase after them, but my senior brother was an exception; he simply climbed out of the window.
Yao Yunye was the last to go downstairs. When he turned around and saw me still standing there, he couldn't help but feel puzzled. "Brother, why aren't you going? More people mean more strength!"
"..." I looked at Song Yao's face, which was flushed from the cold night wind, and he looked at me as well as his senior brother. I said, "Sorry, my eyesight is not good at night."
Upon hearing this, Yao Yunye's thick eyebrows furrowed, as if he wanted to say something, but more urgent shouts and the sound of weapons clashing came from downstairs, so he had no choice but to hurriedly clasp his hands and leave, saying, "Then be careful, brother!" After saying that, he rushed down the mountain with Song Yao like a tiger descending the mountain.
The private room emptied instantly, leaving only the stench of blood and the silence of death. The musician's body lay sprawled, his gouged-out eye sockets like two black holes, silently staring at the ceiling.
Moreover... I looked at the bed, and it was completely empty—the envoy from Jiangnan was nowhere to be seen.
Just as I was pondering this, I suddenly felt a soft touch on my back, and a delicate female voice hissed in my ear like a venomous snake, "Young master, I'm so scared..."
I slowly removed her hand, turned around to face the face that had once captivated the entire capital, and said, "Please have some self-respect, young lady."
The dancer, still unwilling to give up, bit her lower lip and said, "I'm scared."
“Young lady, you must be joking. You jumped off the bridal sedan chair to create the illusion of a ‘missing bride’ and you are also one of the murderers in the ‘skin-peeling’ case. Your courage is probably greater than that of me, a member of a prestigious sect.”
"..." The woman's expression instantly twisted, and her feigned fragility vanished completely. This expression was utterly inappropriate for Tang Xuezhuang, who had been pampered and spoiled by the Tang family.
"Good lad, when did you find out?"
"just."
"oh?"
"Your eyes." I gently tapped them with my finger. "You should have done your research before using this face. Tang Xuezhuang is famous throughout the capital not only for her outstanding looks and proficiency in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but also for a unique feature that no one can imitate—her right eye has a double pupil. You don't really think we're just here for show, do you?"
With each word I spoke, her face stiffened further, veins bulged on her forehead, and her teeth clenched tighter. The next second, a muffled, cold laugh escaped from deep within her throat, "Giving up being the proper heir of the Duke of Xiao's mansion, you insist on trying to be a hero. You greenhorn, today I'll teach you a lesson. Someone like you saving the people from suffering is simply delusional!"
No sooner had she finished speaking than a sharp, metallic claw shot out from her left hand, aimed straight for my throat. I dodged to the side, grabbed her wrist with my other hand, and twisted it forcefully. With a "crack," her left arm was severed.
She cried out in pain, her face showing disbelief. I looked at her coldly and said, "Is this all the skill you have? You dare to attempt an assassination?"
She glared at me through gritted teeth, then suddenly burst into laughter. Instantly, her broken arm was restored to its original shape. Moon Nightmare quickly regained her composure, her face beaming with a wide smile. She lunged at me with another claw, and I drew my rope dart to block, but the claw still sent me staggering back three steps.
"I told you, someone like you shouldn't talk about saving people. You think I'm arrogant? Wrong, you're the arrogant one! A haughty young master, why would he care about the life or death of ordinary people? If I weren't disguised as a famous rich young lady, why would you even bother to help!"
I swung my whip, and with a flick of my wrist, the rope dart shot out like a viper's tongue, whistling through the air, aiming straight for her face. Moon Nightmare's claws neither dodged nor parried, but instead precisely gripped the dart's head!
"Is that all you've got?" She tightened her grip, the metal dart head making a teeth-grinding scraping sound in her palm.
I didn't try to take back the weapon. Instead, I stepped forward, pulled something from my pocket with my left hand, and crawled along the dart rope, biting down on Moon Nightmare's wrist bone. The excruciating pain made her loosen her grip, and the rope dart she was holding suddenly sank, the rope at the end of the dart wrapping around her like a living thing, tightening around her forearm.
Moon Nightmare was clearly caught off guard by this unexpected turn of events; her wrist went numb, and the grip on her claws loosened abruptly. She reacted swiftly, abandoning her dart and retreating, her figure drifting like a ghost towards the window, attempting to escape under the cover of night.
"Trying to run?" I wouldn't let her escape. The mouse pounced forward and bit her ankle again. It wasn't fatal, but it was enough to make her stagger.
In that instant, I had caught up to her from behind, transforming my palm into a blade. I cleaved straight at the back of her neck. This palm strike contained eighty percent of my inner strength, enough to make her faint.
With a thud, Moon Nightmare collapsed.
I retrieved the dart string and the mouse, giving her a cold, sidelong glance.
“I’ve never been a person of great principles. I’m not, but some people are.”
After tying her up with rope, I wondered whether to take Yueyan back to the city now or go find my senior brothers and the others first. Just then, the skin that originally belonged to Tang Xuezhuang on Yueyan's body suddenly began to fester and peel off.
"Xiaoyue!" A dark figure rushed over at lightning speed, snatched Yueyan from my hands, and held her in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Tears streamed down her face, falling onto Yueyan's festering face.
He was a man, a man whose body and face were covered in wounds and blood.
I stood up. "Envoy of Jiangnan, should I call you Fuxiao?"
After hearing this, Fuxiao sniffed, looked up, and hugged the woman in his arms even tighter. He looked at me with sincere eyes, "Young hero, this was all my doing. Please, have mercy and let us go..."
"It seems you have a deep misunderstanding about me. Do I look like a very kind person?"
“…Young hero, Yue’er can’t bear the suffering in prison. If you’re going to take her, take me with you.”
I:"……"
Seeing this, he understood my firm attitude, gave a bitter smile, and his expression and everything else were no longer those of the young divine doctor who once regarded all things in the world as worthless.
My senior brothers rushed over and were also stunned when they saw the scene. After I explained it to them in detail, they tied up the pair of ill-fated lovers and set off for Kaifeng City.
...
As the night deepened and the weather grew colder, coupled with the fact that my vision is not as good at night as it is during the day, I stumbled several times along the way.
The road from Chengen Town to Kaifeng is so long. I can't remember the last time I walked this road at night. That road seems to be just as long, with no end in sight.
"What's wrong?" I was startled by the warm breath near my ear and turned my head sharply to see Song Yao looking at me with concern. "Are you feeling unwell?"
"No," I said stubbornly.
The senior student, who was walking ahead, turned around upon hearing this and asked with his eyes, "Are you alright?"
I shook my head to indicate that I was fine.
He was skeptical.
Halfway there, Yao Yunye suddenly asked Song Yao, "Won't your sweetheart scold you for going home so late?"
Song Yao looked flustered, glancing at me and then at her senior brother. "No, no. He's... gentle and understanding, he won't say anything. If he's really angry, I'll make him some snacks."
The senior brother burst out laughing after hearing this, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
I rolled my eyes when I heard that—do you know that the flower cakes you made are so sweet they could kill a cow? I woke up four times that night because I was thirsty!
"Gentle and understanding..." The senior brother leaned closer with a cheeky grin, "These two words don't quite fit you, do they, Xiao Yue?"
"Shut up..."
"Tsk, tsk tsk, children grow up and leave home, and they're already turning against their own kind before anything has even happened."
"..." Which eye saw that I was biased towards him?
He said he could see with both eyes, and if I thought that wasn't enough, he could open a third eye on the spot.
Oh.
There's no need for that.
"Is it snowing?"
The group stopped and looked up together.
The pure white snow gradually fell from the deep black dome, marking the first snowfall of early winter.
The one who made that hoarse, strained sound was Moon Nightmare, whom we had bound all the way.
The snow melted from her face, turning her festering skin red, and dripped down her cheeks, which were no longer recognizable, into the soil.
...
I suddenly felt a chill, and the cold air filled my lungs and flowed through my limbs.
Just as I could barely suppress the urge to run away, a warm sensation touched the back of my hand.
Like a piece of warm jade in the cold winter...
My senior brother frowned, and almost instantly knew what I was thinking. He tossed me a hooded robe and gestured for Song Yao to put it on me.
Once I was cut off from the outside world by the snowy night, I finally came to my senses and gasped for breath, feeling like I had survived a disaster.
"Brother, what's wrong with you?" Even Yao Yunye could tell that something was off with me.
I shook my head, bit my pale lips, and subconsciously gripped the warm hand even tighter.
But it was this momentary lapse in vigilance that gave those we had tied behind us an opportunity to take advantage.
Moon Nightmare, with a hideous face, roared as it charged toward me, a dagger in its hand.
"Xiaoyue, no—"
At the same time, a gray-blue figure turned towards me, took my place, and took the blow that should have been delivered to me.
My body reacted before my brain could, catching his warm body. "...Song Yao?" I called out the name of the person in my arms in disbelief, word by word. His trembling eyelashes were like a row of sharp thorns, and his forced smile made me even sadder. It felt like a part of my heart had been taken away, and it ached terribly with each thud.
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