Chapter 87: The Lotus Lantern in the Ruined Temple, Illuminating the Heart
Shang Yuwan and Yuan Ji each held a lotus lantern. Their feet were sore from standing for too long, so they got off the arch bridge and walked slowly along the street.
......A ruined temple?
Shang Yuwan thought about it, but couldn't remember anything. She asked, "Did she find you in the ruined temple?"
Yuan Ji looked at her and nodded.
"yes."
"She was the only one who found me."
Shang Yuwan: “…”
Is it because she changed her body? She seems to have forgotten a lot of things.
Yuan Ji didn't notice Shang Yuwan's abnormality and fell into memories.
The rain that night was more biting than the ice, snow and wind.
Yuan Ji hid under the altar in the dilapidated temple, curled up into a ball with his legs hugged, and his little head buried in his knees.
After that fight, Yuan Ji was put under house arrest by Bailipu, but he sneaked out before the day of his confinement. He knew it was not a good thing, but he just wanted to be willful for once.
Shang Yuwan helped him, and although she was kicked out of Mogui Academy, she had the Shang family and General Zhenxi behind her, so she would be fine.
Yuan Ji hugged his frail body tightly, trying to cover up the crack in his heart.
But there was no one behind him.
Tears welled up in Yuan Ji's eyes, and she reached out to wipe them away, but they kept coming.
When she was feeling sad, a sound of footsteps was heard. The childish voice floated in the dilapidated temple and gently penetrated into Yuan Ji's ears.
"Hey, where are the people?"
Shang Yuwan was carrying a backpack covered tightly with an oilcloth. In her hand, she held a lotus lantern. Although she wore a bamboo hat, water droplets still fell from the corners of her clothes.
Yuan Ji heard the noise and secretly opened the yellow curtain a little. She saw that Shang Yuwan was mostly wet and was scratching his head.
"I clearly saw him coming in...how come he's gone?"
A faint light flashed in Yuan Ji's eyes, then immediately disappeared and retracted.
She has a good family background and good looks, so he shouldn't have any contact with her.
As soon as the thought came to mind, the yellow curtain was pulled open with a swish, and Shang Yuwan bent down and half of his body came in.
The amber eyes curved slightly, and a smile as warm as the sun filled the air: "Hey! Still trying to hide it from me? I got you!"
"Come out, I'll apply medicine on you, and then you come back with me to admit your mistake and accept your punishment."
“......?”
The light from the lotus lamp illuminated Yuan Ji's stunned face. The light passed through the crack and fell straight into the depths of his heart.
The little girl took off the backpack and squeezed under the altar.
"Wait a moment."
Yuan Ji was lost in thought when he was suddenly interrupted. He looked over with a hint of displeasure. "What's wrong?"
Shang Yuwan didn't even glance at him, and turned to walk into the dim path on the left.
She heard someone crying in the path.
Yuan Ji's eyes turned cold as he followed, a cold gleam gleaming from his long sleeves. It was a dagger.
It was the perfect place to strike, and it wouldn't cause too much of a commotion. Even if I couldn't kill her, I would destroy her.
The guests who followed secretly all felt a sinking feeling in their hearts, and they held their long swords ready to strike.
The OP’s judgment was correct, Yuan Ji really has no good intentions!
This path was rarely traveled, and there were few lanterns to light it. The sound was too quiet, so Shang Yuwan searched left and right with the lantern, and finally found the boy behind a pile of haystacks.
The place where he was hiding was very secluded. If Shang Yuwan hadn't been unable to hold back his sobbing, he really wouldn't have been able to find him.
Shang Yuwan didn't care about Yuan Ji's reaction. She half-knelt down, slightly raised the lotus lantern, illuminated the child's miserable face, and asked softly, "What's wrong? Why are you hiding here crying, little man?"
Yuan Ji was standing behind her, his eyes suddenly froze, the smile on his face gradually disappeared, and the movement of the dagger in his hand also stopped.
[What are you crying about, little man? I didn't cry even when Uncle Yue beat me up when I got home.]
Hearing words that were almost exactly the same as those he heard back then, Yuan Ji's heart was filled with shock.
Shang Yuwan knew that there was a guest following her secretly, so she didn't pay much attention to Yuan Ji. This man was a civil servant, and she had observed before that he was not a martial artist.
On the other hand, the little child who was hiding and crying looked no more than six or seven years old. There was a red and swollen area on the left side of his face, and it was obvious that he had been beaten.
The boy saw Shang Yuwan's kind face and sobbed softly, "I, I didn't finish my homework today..."
"Mr. and Dad told him. Dad, he, beat me."
The boy's tears fell harder and harder.
Shang Yuwan was slightly startled, then took out a handkerchief and wiped his face. "It's okay, can I apply some medicine on you?"
As she spoke, she took something out of her body.
Before coming out, Xiao Qingxu was worried about her being alone with Yuan Ji, so he stuffed all kinds of poisons, hidden weapons and powders into her.
Shang Yuwan took out a bottle of anti-swelling ointment, opened the lid, scooped out a dollop with his fingers, and applied it carefully.
Ji Suxian's ointment worked very well. In a short while, the boy's red and swollen face disappeared.
"Are you okay?" Shang Yuwan asked softly.
"Yeah." The boy nodded and stopped crying. "It's very cool. Thank you, thank you, sister."
"That's good, go home quickly, it's getting late."
The boy shook his head and said, "I, I don't dare."
"Dad will beat me."
Shang Yuwan's eyebrows softened slightly, and she reached out to gently wipe away the boy's tears. "Sister asked you to go home early because she was afraid your father would beat you again."
She had her back to Yuan Ji and could not see his frozen gaze.
Yuan Ji was so stiff that she couldn't even move her fingertips, her nose was sour, and her pupils were trembling slightly.
The scene was just like that year, when a man holding a lotus lantern found him curled up in the corner.
The back of this person perfectly overlapped with the figure of that year. No matter how picky Yuan Ji was, he could not find any difference.
"Go back soon, so he won't worry about you. He'll definitely be angry if you sneak out this time. If you go back and admit your mistake and accept the punishment, you'll suffer less, right?"
Shang Yuwan was born with a convincing demeanor. The boy blinked twice and nodded.
"Thank you, sister." The boy stood up and thanked Shang Yuwan again.
"What are you thanking me for? It's just a small thing." Shang Yuwan gave him the lotus lantern. It was very dark in this place, so the child didn't want to fall and hurt himself later.
"You must do your homework well in the future."
"Yeah, I got it, sister."
The boy thanked her for the lotus lantern again and looked back as he walked away.
Yuan Ji stood behind Shang Yuwan with a complicated look in his eyes.
Anticipation, heartache, grief, and disbelief.
It shouldn't be possible!
On the day when the Shang family was exterminated, he saw with his own eyes Xiao Qingxu holding Xiao Wan's corpse and crying. Why could this fake speak words that were so similar to Xiao Wan's, even the gentle tone was almost the same?
Did Xiao Qingxu even find out everything he and Xiao Wan had said? This was even more impossible. They were the only two people in that dilapidated temple at the time!
Xiao Wan is not the type to confide in others easily, even to Xiao Qingxu...
Thinking of this, Yuan Ji felt as if he had been hit hard, and his mind kept circling around what Shang Yuwan had said to him on the night when he was six years old and the temple was destroyed.
"Why are you thanking me? It's nothing. Are you okay? You've got a lot of wounds, right? I bet you didn't put any medicine on today."
"Aren't you under house arrest? Mr. Baili is protecting you. That brat doesn't dare touch me, but he might not dare to harm you secretly."
"I was impulsive last time. It's okay to kick me out. I have a lot of books at home. I'm self-taught! I'm also very smart!"
[...I see. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to expose your scars.]
"Why don't you be friends with me? My dad is very powerful. Being friends with me would be a good thing for you."
[Hehe, because you're smart, you learn better and faster than me. I wanted to make friends with you. Don't forget me when you become successful.]
"I'm helping you by asking you to go back early and admit your mistake and accept your punishment. You know how stubborn Mr. Bailipu is!"
【Yuan Ji......】
【Yuan Ji......】
"elder sister!"
Yuan Ji suddenly came back to his senses.
He saw the boy suddenly stop and shout, "You and your brother-in-law are a perfect match!"
Shang Yuwan raised his arm and waved goodbye, stunned for a moment: "Huh?"
Brother-in-law? What brother-in-law? Where did her husband come from? Xiao Qingxu is here?
Shang Yuwan turned around and saw Yuan Ji's obscure eyes. She was startled and hurriedly explained to him, fearing that this person would harbor grudges: "Children are ignorant, Lord Yuan, please don't blame me..."
Yuan Ji had already put away the dagger in his hand, suppressed the huge waves in his heart, and smiled with his handsome eyes, "I don't mind."
"That's good, that's good." Shang Yuwan laughed dryly twice.
She minds.
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