Chapter 167 Why Didn't the Spirit Deer Leave?
Wan Qixi felt a throbbing pain in her head as she thought about what could be holding her sister captive! Why didn't she leave?
It was the ninth day of the ninth lunar month again. Wan Qixi once again sailed his boat and hid near Canglang Island. The morning mist was thick, even thicker than usual, enveloping the vast island like a miasma. The mist was bluish-white and carried an eerie smell. That smell… Wan Qixi took a deep sniff. It was the smell of charcoal mixed with a bloody stench. Wan Qixi suddenly opened his eyes. Even after a long time, recalling the unusual events of that day, a chill still ran down Wan Qixi's spine.
Through the bluish-white mist, Lu Xiaoyun saw a figure in white rushing towards the large ship. She rubbed her eyes hard to see who it was…it was her…
The Lu siblings kept their promise to each other. Every year on this day, Lu Xiaojun would drift outside Canglang Island, watching her sister's child grow up year by year. Her sister and child must have made some kind of promise. Even though her sister was gone, her flesh and blood would meet her brother on this day in her place. Knowing that she could not take anything with her, Lu Xiaojun still insisted on sailing here every year, just to confirm that her child was well. If her child was well, then she was living well for her sister.
She... she always only looks at me from afar, what's wrong with her today?
Lu Xiaojun pulled hard on the sail and tried to get closer to the shore. Before the boat got close, the girl in white flew up like a seabird and stretched out her arm towards Lu Xiaojun on the boat. Lu Xiaojun didn't have time to think and pulled her up. This was the first time he had seen his sister's daughter, his niece, so close.
The girl looked terrified, her breath ethereal. She helped Lu Xiaojun pull the sails full, glancing back from time to time at Canglang Island, which was faintly visible in the bluish-white mist, as if she was afraid that someone would discover them, or as if... there was something on the island that she couldn't bear to leave behind. She didn't want to leave, but she had no choice but to.
"What... is your name?" Lu Xiaojun asked the question her sister hadn't answered back then.
“My name is…” A divine glow, a mixture of sorrow and laughter, appeared on the girl’s face. “My name is… Jiang Muyun.”
Jiang Muyun… Lu Xiaoyun murmured, “Jiang Muyun?”
"Your surname is Lu." Jiang Muyun looked at Lu Xiaojun with a mysterious expression. "Lu Xiaojun, Uncle, are you my uncle?"
Upon hearing the word "Uncle," Lu Xiaojun's eyes welled up with tears. He cupped the pale face of the girl before him, and in her deep eyes was the sister he had longed for day and night. "Sister..." Lu Xiaojun's large tears fell. "I'll take her away."
"Muyun, where do you want to go?" Lu Xiaoyun leaned against the tall mast. He wanted to take his niece to a fishing village; it was poor but peaceful. He was capable enough to let her suffer. "Uncle will take you..."
"Rongdu." Jiang Muyun said without hesitation, or perhaps the seed of returning to Rongdu had already been planted in her heart. "I want to go to Rongdu."
"The City of the Emperor?" Lu Xiaojun's heart stirred slightly. "Rongdu? Was that what your mother told you?"
Jiang Muyun did not answer him. After telling him where she wanted to go, she turned her back and curled up in the corner of the deck, gazing intently at Canglang Island, which was no longer visible, for a long, long time without blinking.
Wherever she wanted to go, Lu Xiaojun would take her there. The world was vast, and it was good to have a place to call home, rather than being like a piece of duckweed, full of hatred but powerless to do anything, only able to live out her days in confusion until death.
—Rongdu, let's go to Rongdu.
"Mu Yun..." Wan Qixi called out the name again, gazing at Wu Shuang's back, but failed to make her turn around.
Royal Palace
In the lakeside cottage, hearing footsteps behind her, Cui Jin picked up her wine cup and slowly put it down. The person approached the cottage step by step, the night breeze lifting the light curtains. Cui Jin stood with her back to the approaching guest, her figure imposing and unmoving.
“The Imperial Advisor may not be able to see, but his mind is as clear as a mirror. He could tell from the footsteps that the person coming was not the one you thought.” Mu Lexiu stood behind Cui Jin, paused for a moment, walked around him, sat down opposite Cui Jin, glanced at the dishes on the table, and frowned, saying, “The Imperial Advisor’s meal is a bit too bland.”
"What brings the Second Prince here?" Cui Jin asked calmly, his single eye fixed on the ground.
The flickering water lanterns reflected the alternating light and shadow on Cui Jin's tattooed face. An ordinary person would feel fear after staring at it for a while. In the past, Mu Lexiu would also be afraid after looking at it for a long time. But after learning the meaning of the runes tattooed by Cui Jin, Mu Lexiu was no longer afraid. The longer he stared at it, the more interesting he found it.
"—'Where the beauty walks, her steps falter; I now strike with my sword, and she shall turn back.' Mu Lexiu stared intently at Cui Jin's single, eerie eye. 'Has the Imperial Advisor heard of the "Beauty's Return Spell"?'"
The wine in Cui Jinzhan rippled slightly, but his expression remained completely unchanged. "The Daoist runes, are you also interested in them, Second Prince?"
Mu Lexiu shook his head. "I have no interest. I only became slightly interested because of the Imperial Preceptor. This is a tricky and secret technique. The Imperial Preceptor is an immortal from Cangshan. He must scoff at these things."
“The Dao is also my long-cherished wish, but I cannot obtain it, I cannot let go of it.” Cui Jin’s voice was low. “Your Highness, please speak plainly what you want to say.”
Mu Lexiu's lips curled slightly as he leaned closer to Cui Jin. "Grand Preceptor, you're so straightforward. I don't want to disturb your peace. Just as you don't want to see me, I don't want to see you. Grand Preceptor, you have this curse tattooed on your face. You must have some unseen desires in your heart. Immortals are without desires, but unfortunately, Grand Preceptor is still human. I have no interest in your desires. I am just a mortal. I beg you, Grand Preceptor... to relieve my worries and fulfill my request."
Cui Jin gestured for Mu Lexiu to continue. Mu Lexiu knew that Cui Jin had agreed, so he continued, "My request is very simple. I want to add a swordsman to the inner palace. Lou Cangyu from Xingguo Palace, the Grand Preceptor must know this person."
“Pei Cangyu? Pei Yuan’s adopted son.” Cui Jin raised his one eye.
Mu Lexiu scoffed, "Whatever your surname, you're still a lowly commoner. It's just a self-deceptive tactic. Grand Preceptor, this shouldn't be difficult for you, right?"
"It's not difficult, but the timing is wrong. Lou Cangyu was defeated before the Emperor, so why would the Imperial Guard appoint him as a swordsman?" Cui Jin's single eye narrowed. "Was it her idea?"
Mu Lexiu stood up, glanced at the koi in the pond, and said to the side, "Grand Preceptor, there is no need to concern yourself with too much. I will leave this matter to you."
Mu Lexiu lifted the curtain, turned around abruptly, and said, "There is still something I don't understand. Ancient books record the 'Beauty's Return Spell.' It is said that by casting this spell, one can achieve their wishes through the interaction of footprints. If one's beloved turns around and glances back, they will fall in love with the spell caster. Is it really that magical?"
Before Cui Jin could answer, Mu Lexiu clicked her tongue and sighed again, "If that's really the case, the Imperial Preceptor should have been enjoying the company of beautiful women and romantic pleasures long ago. How could he have gouged out his eyes and disfigured himself to become a Taoist priest in Cangshan? If he had known this would happen, would the Imperial Preceptor have regretted tattooing his face with ink? What kind of shocking face is behind this curse? Imperial Preceptor, am I right?"
Mu Lexiu laughed triumphantly, his laughter echoing far and wide. Cui Jin's face twitched with spasms, and suddenly he picked up a wine cup and threw it into the pond, startling the koi carp into leaping about.
Wan Qixi arranged Song Mian's funeral. He cursed his bad luck, saying that the helper he hired had died after only a few months, but he still spent a lot of money to give Song Mian a proper final farewell. On the day of the funeral, apart from Wan Qixi, only Guan Ye and A Jiu went to see Song Mian off. In the cemetery next to the Immortal Cave, they also erected a small stone tablet for Song Mian, which was inscribed with "Tomb of Song Er". The few words on the tablet bore the weight of the twenty years of hardship and struggle of this young official.
Guan Ye paused, gazing intently at the inscription on the stone tablet. She'd heard Wan Qixi say that Song Mian was already doing quite well; at least his name was preserved and he had a place to rest in peace. Several miles away from the cemetery lay a chaotic graveyard, haphazardly burying nameless corpses, and the remains of executed prisoners whose heads had been chopped off at the execution grounds and left unclaimed. Several people were wrapped in straw mats and buried in a single pit—that was truly a tragic sight.
When her mother passed away, her father used his last remaining money to buy her a simple coffin. He folded up all of her few clothes and put them inside, saying that her mother was afraid of the cold and needed to be dressed warmly in the afterlife. Her father died so suddenly that Guan Ye emptied her pockets but still couldn't afford a coffin. So she bought the largest straw mat she could find, hired some funeral mat attendants to chant sutras for her father, and found a nice spot outside Tangshui City to hastily bury him.
A stone tablet? And an inscription... That was something she wouldn't even dare to dream of. She couldn't very well have a sign that read "Tomb of Guan Xiaotian" to announce to the world that the notorious fugitive Guan Xiaotian was buried here. Guan Ye wasn't afraid of being implicated; what she feared was that her enemies would desecrate her father's grave, leaving him to wander for half his life without ever finding peace in the end.
Guan Ye suddenly wondered if someone would erect a tombstone for her if she died one day.
On a small hill not far away, Mu Chenbi had been gazing at Guan Ye for a long time. Although he could only see her back in plain clothes, Mu Chenbi could still feel the grief in Guan Ye's heart.
"Your Highness." Luo Yichen held his sword and looked at the group of people. "Miss Guan is truly a person of character. Her relationship with Song Er was just a business transaction, yet she still came to see him off on his final journey."
"Anything else? What else did you see?" Mu Chenbi raised her phoenix-feather eyelashes slightly.
"Anything else?" Luo Yichen rubbed his nose. "Boss Wanqi is quite benevolent. Considering how stingy and crazy he usually is, this Immortal Cave is a geomantically auspicious place, with a tomb worth ten taels of silver. He actually erected a monument there? Tsk tsk, it seems... the imperial court's silver is indeed easy to earn."
"What did the Court of Judicial Review say about Song Mian's case?" Mu Chenbi asked in a low voice.
It would have been better if he hadn't brought it up, because once it was mentioned, Luo Yichen got angry. "There's no explanation. The Dali Temple sent people to investigate for several days, but they said they couldn't find the murderer. After several days, he might have already escaped from Rongdu. Who told this Song Er to have no relatives or friends? Even if the case can't be solved, no one will go to the government office to block the door and make a scene. It's already a blessing that someone is willing to collect his body."
"Why was Song Er killed?" Mu Chenbi frowned. "Those useless people couldn't have even figured this out?"
“That’s the strange thing.” Luo Yichen stroked the stubble on his chin. “That day, Boss Wanqi paid Song Er his wages, and the money was on Song Er, not a penny less. The fact that the murderer could still hide and spy after killing someone means that he didn’t have time to search the person and steal the money. But the murderer’s intention was not the money… If he didn’t want the money, then what did he want?”
Mu Chenbi remembered that at the tavern that night, Song Er hurriedly came to find Guan Ye. Judging from his expression, he had something to say to Guan Ye. When he saw her, he swallowed his words back. Song Er originally thought that the person drinking with Guan Ye was A Jiu. He realized that the person with Guan Ye that night was not A Jiu, so he chatted with her for a few words and then left in a hurry.
After that, he was killed by a mysterious man in black in a deep alley, his throat slit with a sword.
Song Er was merely a deliveryman for Wan Qixi, possessing nothing of value. What could anyone possibly want from him? Not after money, not to take his life—what secret was Song Er hiding that made people determined to kill him?
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