Chapter 41 "You're too easily fooled, in this world..."
A sudden downpour extinguished the fire, and as everyone scrambled into their tents, they were all thankful that the princess had arrived; otherwise, they would have been soaked to the bone with nowhere to hide.
The firewood was completely soaked, and not a ray of light could be seen outside; we were truly plunged into pitch-black darkness.
Inside the carriage, Baili Xunzhou had quickly closed all the open doors and windows using the flash of lightning, leaving the sealed carriage pitch black.
His back was tense, pressed tightly against the carriage wall, the wooden ridges digging painfully into him. His other hand gripped the seat beneath him firmly. Trying to calm his slightly rapid breathing, he asked in a gentle tone, "Where are the candles?"
He heard a rustling sound and realized that Feng Mian was groping for something. He felt a hand bump his shoulder.
"It must have been extinguished by the rain that splashed in earlier." Feng Mian took out a handkerchief and, based on her memory, tentatively offered it to Baili Xunzhou, trying to hand it to him. "You got wet too, didn't you? Quickly wipe yourself dry."
Baili Xunzhou leaned back slightly, raised his hand to grab the hand that was about to hit his face, and said, "Okay, okay, I can do it myself. You sit down."
Feng Mian sat obediently and stopped moving. Baili Xunzhou took a handkerchief and wiped his wet hair and collar. The faint fragrance of the handkerchief lingered in his nose. In addition, he could feel the breathing of the person next to him. His wildly beating heart calmed down a little.
But the darkness, which prevented him from seeing, was still unbearable for him. Seemingly casually, he asked, "Where is the tinderbox? I'll light the lamp."
"It should be on Wuliu."
During the meal, Firefly and Willow went to the carriage at the back. With the wind and rain raging, they couldn't afford to make things difficult for someone over a tinderbox.
"It's okay, I'm not afraid of the dark. Besides, it's almost bedtime, so it's fine if we don't turn on the lights."
Feng Mian spoke in a relaxed tone, leaning against the car wall with a sense of novelty, listening to the rain outside gradually intensifying, the sound of large raindrops hitting the ground like pearls falling onto a plate, and the wind constantly swirling through the treetops, sounding just like evil spirits howling.
Sleeping in a carriage in this kind of weather means you won't get soaked, and you can experience the feeling of being in the forest, which is quite unique.
She was about to tell Baili Xunzhou about this new discovery when she suddenly realized that he seemed to have been silent for quite some time.
She quietly tilted her ear towards Baili Xun's boat and, amidst the howling wind and rain blocked out by the carriage, finally heard a faint, slightly hurried breath that was being suppressed.
Is he afraid?
Feng Mian paused for a moment, the thought swirling in his mind before settling on the three words, "He's afraid of the dark."
So that's why he asked for a tinderbox earlier – he was afraid of the dark.
Seeing how hard Baili Xunzhou was trying to endure it, Feng Mian felt embarrassed to expose him. If it were discovered that the dignified heir of the Prince of Dingbei was afraid of the dark, it would probably shock many people and please his enemies!
She tried to recall for a while, then leaned forward and reached out, touching the table on the carriage.
Hearing the commotion, Baili Xunzhou's attention was diverted, and he asked, "What's wrong?"
Feng Mian: "It's okay, wait a moment..."
She fumbled on the table, opened a brocade box, and took out a palm-sized luminous pearl. Its faint glow slightly illuminated the sliver of sky before her.
Feng Mian propped himself up on the table and plopped down next to Baili Xunzhou. Their arms snuggled together, warm and close.
Baili Xunzhou froze for a moment, then looked at the luminous pearl in Feng Mian's hand. The not-so-blinding light illuminated her silhouette, causing his tense shoulders and back to relax. He let out a low, slow breath and finally felt like speaking.
"You carry such a large luminous pearl with you wherever you go?"
"Just in case, here it comes in handy."
Baili Xunzhou lowered his eyes. "Didn't you just say you weren't afraid of the dark?"
Feng Mian choked for a moment, thinking to himself, why ask so clearly?
"Just now, I'm not sleepy, so I wanted to use the light. Is that not allowed?" She became unreasonable and teased him deliberately. "If you think it's too bright, I'll put it away."
As she spoke, she made a gesture as if to put the luminous pearl back.
"No!" Baili Xunzhou quickly grabbed her wrist, but when he realized that she was sitting there and had no intention of moving, he knew that she was deliberately teasing him. He snorted, let go of her wrist, and leaned back against the car wall.
"Fine, I'm afraid of the dark." He simply gave up, his ear tips, which weren't illuminated by the night-shining pearl, were already bright red. After saying that, he muttered to himself, "What's wrong with saying that? Even if I'm afraid of the dark, I can still go into battle and fight. It's not shameful."
Feng Mian chuckled softly, then quickly suppressed it, saying, "Yeah, it's just that I'm afraid of the dark. I was also very afraid of the dark when I was a child."
"You were afraid when you were little? Are you really not afraid at all now?" Baili Xunzhou glanced at her sideways.
“I’m not afraid.” Feng Mian paused. In the carriage that sheltered her from the wind and rain, in the not-so-quiet darkness, she suddenly felt a desire to confide in someone, so she continued, “Actually, I also encountered kidnappers when I was a child.”
"Huh?" Baili Xunzhou immediately turned his face, looking at her in surprise, "You...you weren't raised in the palace?"
The palace is heavily guarded. Even if she went out to play, she would be surrounded by servants. What kind of kidnapper is so bold?
"When I was about four or five years old, news of my father's death reached the palace, and I ran away by myself." Feng Mian stared at the luminous pearl in her hand, lost in memories.
Children's thinking is simple. At that time, she only knew that "death" meant that he would never come back and she would never see him again. So she thought that if her father could not come back, she would go to find him!
She was a tiny child, barely taller than an adult's calf, yet she stubbornly ran out of Shengjing. A few miles later, she was spotted by kidnappers.
The kidnapper abducted her, took her for a while, and finally locked her in a cave.
There were many other children in the cave, each separated into different small compartments by the earthen walls they had built.
Xiao Fengmian was terrified of the dark, and the cave was completely dark, like a tight net covering her head. She couldn't help but cry. A little boy locked up next door seemed impatient and knocked on the earthen wall beside her, telling her to stop crying.
Xiao Fengmian sobbed as she said she couldn't help it; it was too dark around her, and she was scared.
“What’s there to be afraid of in the dark?” the boy said in a loud voice. “My mother said that there are actually guardian stars hiding in the darkness, but we just can’t see them.”
"Really?" Xiao Fengmian raised her teary eyes. Although it was still pitch black in front of her, she was vaguely less scared.
"Of course, they will always protect you, and you must be brave."
The sound of digging came from the other side of the earthen wall. "Come over here."
Xiao Fengmian obediently followed the sound and felt a hand grab her clothes.
"I'm holding your hand, don't be afraid."
It turned out that he had just found a thinner earthen wall and dug a hole in the middle.
With her friend by her side, Xiao Fengmian was no longer afraid. She reached out and took the boy's hand, their two cold hands warming each other.
“After that, I wasn’t afraid of the dark anymore.” Feng Mian raised her chin with a hint of pride.
It's a pity she didn't ask the boy's name back then. So much time has passed that she can't remember any more details. The little hero who taught her not to be afraid disappeared from her life after that.
For some reason, Baili Xunzhou was not happy and let out a soft snort from his nose, "You are too easy to fool. There are no ghosts or gods in this world."
What kind of star guardian is this? It's so childish.
He had never believed such an explanation...
"ah!"
He suddenly screamed and his head slammed against the car wall.
Just now, Feng Mian held the luminous pearl to her chin and suddenly pressed it against him. The faint light from below illuminated her face, making even her beautiful features appear ghostly.
Feng Mian snorted twice and said, "If there are no ghosts or gods, then what are you afraid of?"
Baili Xunzhou took a deep breath, put two fingers together and pressed them against Feng Mian's forehead, pushing her away slightly.
“I’m afraid, that’s all. I don’t need a reason. I’ve been afraid since I was a baby, is that wrong?”
After the conversation was out in the open, Baili Xunzhou became quite calm. People always try to find a reason for their fears, but he didn't.
Feng Mian suppressed a laugh and could only say, "Fine, you can do whatever you want."
A moment of silence fell between the two, with only the sound of rain and wind outside the carriage.
The sounds of rain and wind intertwined into a chaotic cacophony, a cacophony that strangely brought a sense of peace, slowing down one's thoughts and gradually inducing drowsiness.
"Was the sachet you gave me for tracking purposes?"
Baili Xunzhou's sudden question startled Feng Mian awake, and her head, which was about to lean on Baili Xunzhou's shoulder, froze in place, not daring to move.
She considered pretending to be asleep, but this was the second time Baili Xunzhou had asked about this topic. The first time, she had used the excuse of needing to sleep to avoid it, but this time he had asked so directly, and if she didn't answer, things might get bad.
Feng Mian shifted uncomfortably a couple of times, intending to give a vague answer to brush it off, "I was just worried you might encounter danger again, that's why I wanted to know your whereabouts..."
"If you mind, just give the sachet back to me."
That's what they say, but Feng Mian simply doesn't believe anyone would return a gift given to them in person; that would be far too impolite.
Baili Xunzhou hesitated for a long time, but did not make any move. He simply said, "Never mind, it's late. Let's go to sleep."
Feng Mian felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He placed the luminous pearl on the table, took out two fur cloaks, gave one to Baili Xunzhou, and then went to sleep peacefully with his head covered.
He secretly thought to himself that he was really easy to fool.
By the dim light of the luminous pearl, Baili Xunzhou's gaze fell on Feng Mian's blurred profile, and he sighed inwardly.
He felt that his guess might have come true, what should he do?
The next day at dawn, the air was filled with the damp smell of rain-soaked soil and the bitter, resinous scent of pine wood broken by wind and rain.
Feng Mian was washing up inside the carriage when she heard a commotion outside. It sounded like they were arguing, and there were a few words of local dialect that Feng Mian couldn't understand.
She was about to get off the carriage to take a look when Baili Xunzhou, who had also been drawn by the commotion, stopped her.
"The ground is muddy after the rain, so don't come down. I'll go check it out and come back to you later."
Baili Xunzhou went to check on his own, so Feng Mian could only sit back down with a belly full of worries and confusion, letting Wu Liu and Liu Ying continue to do her makeup.
After a while, the curtain was lifted, and Baili Xunzhou solemnly peered out.
"Ayang is missing."
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