Chapter 76 You promised you'd never leave us.
"Ah Jing, save us, Ah Jing! Ah Jing!"
Cui Jin saw the fishing boat sailing away with the wind. Under the deck, Lu Xiaojun poked his head out, his little face full of panic. He saw A Jing chasing along the coast. His small body lifted A Jing's sword, the blade gleaming in the sun, the reflection shining into A Jing's angry eyes. The light of the sword guided A Jing, A Jing saw the Lu siblings, but the wind was too strong that day, and the fishing boat sped away, leaving A Jing no chance.
A-Jing saw Lu Chaoge's pale face; it was the last time the young lady would see him. If he had known this was his farewell to her, he would have jumped into the sea without hesitation to follow the siblings. He had promised the shop owner that he would protect the Lu siblings even at the cost of his life. The shop owner believed in his willingness to risk his life for Tianhu Shop, which was why he was allowed to escort the children away. A-Jing had promised, but he hadn't kept his word.
"I want him to be a tough guy that no one dares to mess with, to pave the way for Tianhufang."
Ah Jing, did you do it?
"Ah Jing, Ah Jing!! Save us!" Lu Xiaojun shouted until his voice was hoarse. He was only seven years old, only seven years old, and he followed his sister to escape from the city, stepping into the unknown.
Gradually, the ship disappeared into the horizon. Ah Jing's legs gave way and she fell into the sea. When she climbed out, she could see nothing at all.
Lu Chaoge said that Tangshui City was well-connected, especially by waterways. Once they left the land, those invisible eyes would no longer be able to track them. A-Jing believed everything the young lady said without question. He would go wherever she said, to the ends of the earth, as long as he could protect her, he didn't care where they went.
“Let’s head east.” Lu Chaoge piled up some earth to make a plate and stuck a tree branch in the east corner. “Let’s take a boat to Japan.” Seeing Lu Xiaojun’s confusion and unease, Lu Chaoge hugged her younger brother tightly and kissed his cold face. “Xiaojun has never been on a big ship before, has he? Let your sister take you.”
"Will the boat sink?" Lu Xiaojun asked, trembling. "Will we drown?"
Ah Jing pointed to himself and said, "With me here, what is the young master afraid of?"
Lu Xiaojun stared at the two of them with pleading eyes, her voice trembling with tears, "A-Jing is all alone, and there are only two of us, my sister and I. If A-Jing can only save one person, it must be my sister."
Ah Jing laughed heartily, pulled Lu Xiaojun onto his shoulders, and said, "Ah Jing can protect the young lady and the young master. Ah Jing will never be separated from you."
That day, Lu Chaoge found a ship to Japan. The three of them only needed a gold ingot for the boat. Lu Chaoge said that news of the fugitive in the Blood Crossbow case had spread to the surrounding cities. It seemed that the boatmen in Tangshui City had also heard the news. Going to Japan at this time would inevitably arouse suspicion. So be it, a gold ingot is fine. As long as we live, there is hope.
But... Ah Jing was in a dilemma. She had already given Shou Zheng ten gold coins before leaving the city, but now... her hands were empty, and the gold coins were gone.
Lu Chaoge confidently beckoned her younger brother over, took off his shoes, and pulled out a silver note from the insole, leaving A Jing and Lu Xiaojun dumbfounded.
"When did my sister hide in there? How come I didn't know?" Lu Xiaojun scratched her head, looking at the soles of her shoes with a blank expression. She had never felt anything unusual when walking around normally.
"If you can guess, how can I be your sister?" Lu Chaoge handed the silver notes to A Jing. "Tangshui City is too small. Go to the neighboring city and find a branch of Gongcheng Money Shop. Take the silver notes there and you can exchange them for money. You want two gold ingots, and the rest can be exchanged for silver and copper coins."
Ah Jing hesitated and said, "But... if the shop is raided, can the Lu family's banknotes still be used?... Will the money shop manager report us to the authorities?"
Lu Chaoge glanced at him without saying a word. A-Jing knew that the young lady was always right. He took the silver note and felt relieved the moment he saw it clearly. The silver note from Gongcheng Money House did not have the name of the Lu family from Tianhufang. Since it was a universally accepted silver note, there was no need to worry.
Ah Jing once again bowed deeply to the young lady, clutching the silver notes, and said, "The money exchange isn't close by; it'll take half a day to go back and forth. Tangshui City hasn't been very peaceful these past few days... Young lady... I'm worried..."
"It's only half a day. Are you afraid I can't protect myself and Xiaojun?" Lu Chaoge frowned. "Besides, you can just be faster on your feet."
“Ah Jing, leave your sword behind.” Lu Xiaojun reached out to touch his sword. “As long as the sword is here, Ah Jing is here.”
Ah Jing put the sword down at his feet and said, "I'll be right back. You two wait here for me and don't leave my side."
"You talk too much." Lu Chaoge turned her back. "Hurry up and go."
This was also the last thing Lu Chaoge left him with. Many years later, Cui Jin wondered if any of those calls of "A-Jing" were actually made by the young lady. If so, how wonderful it would be if the young lady's last words to him were not "Hurry up and go," but rather, calling his name—"A-Jing."
Ah Jing had already done his best. He finished his round trip in less than two hours, a half-day trip. As soon as he returned to Tangshui City, he felt something was wrong. There were many more soldiers at the city gate checkpoints, and the people entering and leaving the city were piled up at the gate, pointing at the notices at the city gate and discussing among themselves.
A notice? A-Jing looked up and inwardly cried out in alarm. In less than half a day, a wanted notice for the remnants of Tianhu Fang had arrived in Tangshui City. Besides his own portrait, it also included Guan Xiaotian and his wife. A-Jing recognized Guan Xiaotian's wife; he had even attended their wedding. A-Jing lowered his bamboo hat. The notice didn't mention the young lady or the young master. As long as he wasn't discovered, he could protect them for the time being. A-Jing looked around. He knew there was a side path into Tangshui City. The soldiers had arrived in haste and certainly hadn't had time to block them off. If he met up with the young lady and the others, they could still catch the ship leaving the shore.
"I've seen this person before!" someone said, pointing to the portrait. "He was by the dock with a woman, and it looked like he had a child with him."
"Where did this child come from?" the sergeant asked, puzzled.
"Perhaps you picked it up along the way?" the man said. "I remember it clearly, it's this person. As for the woman, she looks a bit like her, but not quite. Sir, you need to change your painter."
The onlookers burst into laughter. Ah Jing lightly lifted her straw hat, and the portrait the man was pointing to was of herself.
"Whether it is or not, arrest him and ask him." The leading sergeant waved his hand. "Let's go to the dock and get him."
Young Miss! Young Master! Ah Jing rushed desperately towards the path into the city, with only one thought in his mind: the three of them would never be separated, even in death.
Wan Qixi stared at Cui Jin's dazed one eye. "You're thinking about your sister again?"
“Forever in my heart, how can I miss you?” Cui Jin said sadly. “I never asked the young master if the young lady ever thought of me in the end.”
Wanqi Xi closed her eyes and nodded, saying, "You said you would never be separated from us."
"Sister saw the soldiers coming to arrest us from afar. The blood crossbow case has a wide reach. On our way to escape, every workshop has suffered a great calamity. As long as they catch my brother and me, they will find out our origins after a little questioning. Your sword can protect my sister, but I am not sure if my sister can protect me. It's because I was too young at that time."
Wan Qixi's voice choked with emotion, "My sister is always shrewd. After you left, she made the worst-case scenario plan. If we really run into people to arrest us, the dock is full of boats. We... will escape to a fishing boat that is about to go out to sea and hide. The fishing boat will be back in two or three days at most. And you will definitely be waiting for us in Tangshui City. When that time comes, we will be together again."
—"Who knows…"
Who knew that man proposes, God disposes? The Lu siblings boarded the fishing boat that was about to set sail, and they didn't forget to take the sword left by A-Jing with them. As soon as they got on the boat, the boatman saw that the wind had picked up, so he raised the sail and went out to sea. The waves were rising and falling, and Lu Xiaojun was so scared that she kept burrowing into her sister's arms.
"Xiaojun, you're a big girl now. You can't be afraid or hide when things happen, okay?"
"You said you would protect me, and A-Jing also said you would protect both of us."
"Your sister and A-Jing can't protect you forever. The road ahead is long and difficult. Your sister and A-Jing won't always be with you. If you're all alone, do you know how you'll survive?"
"I don't want to know! Ah Jing, Ah Jing! Save us, Ah Jing!"
Through the deck, Lu Xiaojun saw A-Jing on the shore. He was exhausted from running. The soldiers searching the dock had already left. He knew that the young lady was clever and must have climbed out to sea to avoid the search. He wanted to know which boat the siblings were on, so he waited at the dock for them to return.
"Ah Jing, Ah Jing!" Lu Xiaoyun shouted until her throat was hoarse, but Ah Jing didn't respond. In a moment of quick thinking, she raised his sword and waved it in the sun. "Ah Jing, save us!"
The dazzling glint of the blade caught A-Jing's attention. He saw the Lu siblings on the fishing boat. Lu Chaoge leaned against the edge of the boat, looking at him softly. Her eyes revealed relief that A-Jing had returned safely. In a few days, when they returned, they could go to Japan together.
"My sister said..." There were many things Wan Qixi didn't want to recall, but memories were like a brand on her heart, and no matter how much she didn't want to, she couldn't erase them. "It's good that A-Jing is alright."
—It's good that A-Jing is alright.
For just this one sentence, Cui Jin was willing to give up all the blessings of the rest of his life.
Since that encounter, A-Jing never saw Lu Chaoge again. He waited on the shore for several days, but not a single fishing boat returned. He heard that an unusual storm had struck the sea the night before, and all the fishing boats that went out to sea had perished. A-Jing didn't believe it. How could the Lu siblings, who were alive and well just the day before, have perished at sea? He waited another day, and finally, a lucky boatman clung to a plank of the boat and drifted ashore. He heard that many people had died in the storm. Siblings? He thought for a long time before he remembered that there seemed to be a pair of unfamiliar men and women. Whether they were alive or dead, he wasn't quite sure.
"They must be dead." The man sighed. "I don't think either of them are good swimmers. With such big waves in the middle of the sea, even a god couldn't save them."
A-Jing was so angry he was about to draw his sword. Sword? Where was the sword? A-Jing's face turned deathly pale. They had promised they would never be separated again. A-Jing couldn't believe the young lady was dead. The sun was still shining in the sky. How could someone as bright as the sun die! He would rather die than believe it.
Ah Jing searched every fishing village along the coast, the long coastline stretching endlessly. After more than twenty days, he finally found Lu Xiaojun, who had been rescued, in a small village. Upon seeing Ah Jing, seven-year-old Lu Xiaojun burst into tears. Ah Jing gently patted her back, his mouth open but he dared not ask any questions.
"Where's your sister?"
Lu Xiaojun bit Ah Jing's shoulder, crying so hard she couldn't utter a single coherent word.
"Where is the young lady?" Ah Jing was heartbroken.
The fisherman couple who rescued Lu Xiaojun said that when they found him, he was lying on the beach holding a large knife. He was still breathing. When he woke up, he was like a fool and didn't say anything. He just stared blankly at the sea. It was only when he saw you that he started to cry.
"—Is it just him?" Ah Jing's vision gradually turned black.
“Only him.” The fisherman nodded firmly. “Several boats from our village were lost, and not a single person came back. This kid is really lucky. He survived such a disaster; he’s bound to have good fortune in the future.”
From that moment on, A-Jing's world was plunged into darkness. Lu Xiaojun said that her sister and he were clinging to the plank of the boat. They had been in the water for several hours, and it was clear that the plank was about to give way. Her sister said that this couldn't go on, and the Lu family couldn't be wiped out at sea. After saying this, she let go. Before she could even cry out, a wave crashed over them, and her sister disappeared without a trace.
Lu Xiaojun burst into tears again, "A-Jing, A-Jing, please don't blame me."
"How could I blame you?" A-Jing hugged Lu Xiaojun. "You are the young lady's brother, you are her brother."
Lu Xiaojun hugged A Jing with all her might, "A Jing, don't leave me."
"A-Jing will never be separated from you."
Ah Jing stayed with Lu Xiaojun in the fishing village for a month, and finally one day, he decided to leave.
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