child
Gu Jinning immediately requested Gui Jue to procure supplies from within the city.
Gui Jue said, "I have no money."
Gu Jinning immediately tossed out three thousand taels of silver notes and said generously, "Spend it as you like, it's on me."
Gui Jue said, "Exchange silver notes for silver has to go through a money exchange. If you touch it, the people looking for you will find out."
"What's there to be afraid of? Yangcheng is far away and the mountains are high. By the time he finds out, we'll be long gone."
Gu Jinning insisted on going to the money exchange to redeem the silver.
The north is arid and sandy, so the markets are not very prosperous. The items sold by itinerant vendors are cheap but rough, while the items sold by shops along the street are of medium to high quality, but the prices are more expensive than in Kyoto.
With money in hand, Gu Jinning bought the best of everything and stayed in the best accommodations. She also insisted on buying robes for Gui Jue and his party and arranged for two of her assassins to share a room.
Her generosity earned her Gui Jue's approval, and Gui Jue removed the surveillance on them.
Gu Jinning had no intention of running away. She simply took a nice bath, ate a delicious meal, and slept soundly all night.
At the crack of dawn, Xiao Heng'an climbed through the window back into the house, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep fully clothed, holding Gu Jinning in his arms.
Gu Jinning rolled over and snuggled into his arms, asking sleepily, "Did you see him?"
Xiao Heng'an replied softly, "Yes, it went fairly smoothly. He will meet up with us after he finishes."
Gu Jinning hugged him tightly and coaxed him softly, "Go to sleep."
The sun was high in the sky when suddenly there was a rapid knocking at the door. Gu Jinning woke up with a start and called out, "Who is it?"
A voice came from outside the door: "The sect leader invites you two downstairs for a meal."
"Okay, I'm getting dressed, wait a minute."
Gu Jinning lay back on the bed, fuming, staring blankly at the mosquito net above. She was genuinely stressed from getting up; she was inexplicably angry right now.
Xiao Heng'an rolled over and got out of bed.
Gu Jinning said with a sense of despair, "Gu Wangshu, when will I be able to get a good night's sleep?"
Xiao Heng'an wrung out a towel and helped her sit up. Gu Jinning leaned limply against him, resting her chin on his shoulder, letting him apply the face mask to her face.
"Why don't we take this opportunity to travel and have some more time?"
Xiao Heng'an replied, "Okay."
Gu Jinning suddenly became clear-headed, as if she had been injected with chicken blood, and her face instantly became radiant.
"You said it, right? This matter is settled, let's stroll back to Beijing."
Gu Jinning quickly got dressed, opened the door looking beautiful, and greeted the people downstairs in a good mood, "Good morning, Brother Gui."
Gui Jue looked up at the sound and saw the woman waving upstairs. She was so bright and flamboyant that she couldn't hide her surprise. The person behind her took off her coarse clothes and revealed her true appearance. She had sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and she was imposing without being angry. Just by standing there, she had an air of nobility that looked down on all living beings.
Gui Jue curled his lips into a contemptuous smile, truly a high-ranking official.
He beckoned them down, saying disdainfully, "Don't try to get on my good side. If I can't get things done, I'll kill even the King of Heaven himself."
A meal was already prepared on the table. Gu Jinning sat down without any ceremony and said, "Don't resort to fighting all the time; it hurts the harmony. I promise to find your wife as quickly as possible."
Gu Jinning was eager to finish her business and go on a trip. After filling her stomach, she urged Gui Jue to set off and instructed the shopkeeper to prepare more dry food.
Gui Jue asked suspiciously, "Is there something you need?"
Xiao Heng'an nodded. "Something came up."
Three days later, the carriage stopped at the entrance of a small mountain village at the bottom of a cliff.
Gu Jinning jumped out of the car and entered the village with Gui Jue and Xiao Heng'an, while the others stayed behind.
She pointed to the towering cliffs and explained, "The meeting was up there. But she kept looking down, so I guessed there was someone or something she was anxious about down there. Sure enough, this must be her new home."
The mountain village is small, just a few steps away. Every household has bows and arrows and animal skins hanging outside their doors, indicating that it is a village where hunters gather.
An old hunter carrying a long-eared rabbit passed by, and Gu Jinning asked, "Grandpa, do you have a woman named Huan Niang here?"
"Huan Niang?" The hunter took a few steps back warily, sizing up the three of them. "Who are you?"
Gu Jinning quickly explained, "I am her cousin from her maternal family."
“This is her brother.” She pointed to Gui Jue, then to Xiao Heng’an, “and this is my cousin-in-law.”
Huan Niang was a great beauty in the surrounding area. The old hunter, seeing the handsome men and beautiful women, assumed they were really her family members and enthusiastically pointed out the way, "Huan Niang's house is the one at the far west end of the back row. Her husband should be going into the woods to hunt right now."
"Okay, thank you." Gu Jinning saw the old hunter off, then secretly glanced at Gui Jue, afraid that he would be offended by those words.
Gui Jue ignored her speculations and went ahead to search, bypassing her.
Gu Jinning quickly followed, "Brother Gui, I must first make it clear that we are looking for someone to retrieve something, so please don't kill innocent people indiscriminately."
Gui Jue ignored her.
Gu Jinning added, "You know why Huanniang left. So much time has passed, you should be able to let it go."
The door to the west room creaked open, and a young woman stepped out, dressed in a red hunting outfit, her hair styled in a lady's bun. Her delicate face was tanned yellow from the wind and sand, but a kind smile graced her lips.
She was carrying a food box when she closed the door and turned around. When she saw Gui Jue, she was terrified and ran into the woods.
Gu Jinning thought to herself, "It's over. Her running away has completely enraged Gui Jue."
As expected, Gui Jue's expression darkened, and he drew his ghost blade.
Gu Jinning quickly pressed his hand down, "Brother Gui, I'll help you bring her back, don't be violent."
After saying that, he flew off to chase after Huan Niang.
"Huan Niang, don't run away, we won't hurt you."
Huan Niang was terrified of Gui Jue and wouldn't listen to Gu Jin Ning's words; she wished she could fly away on a whim.
Helpless, Gu Jinning pulled out a long whip, wrapped it around Huan Niang's waist, and with a tug, Huan Niang fell heavily to the ground, scraping her hand.
Gu Jinning landed in front of her and scolded, "I already said, no one wants to kill you."
Huan Niang stretched out her neck, ready to die, and said, "Kill me if you want, stop talking nonsense."
"Oh dear, why are you so stubborn? I can't explain it to you." Gu Jinning pulled her up. "Come back with me, and honestly hand over the Ghost Gate's stuff, and I'll guarantee you'll be fine."
"I'm not going." Huan Niang suddenly shoved Gu Jin Ning aside and shouted like a madwoman, "I don't owe the Ghost Gate anything. Where is the sect leader? Call him here. I'll wait for him here."
Gu Jinning hated people who didn't know how to be flexible, so she raised her hand and chopped her with a knife.
"Let her go!"
An arrow flew from the bushes, which Gu Jinning caught. A hunter jumped out of the bushes, drew his bow, and aimed at Gu Jinning. "You... release my wife."
He was tall and thin, with a hint of youthful naiveté still remaining on his face, making it clear at a glance that he was not a proper hunter.
Gu Jinning raised an eyebrow, knocked Huan Niang unconscious, and provocatively said, "Huan Niang's lover, right? Come with me."
Upon hearing the word "mistress," the hunter knew that the gates of hell had come knocking. He feigned composure, put away his bow and arrows, picked up Huan Niang, and followed Gu Jin Ning's home.
Huan Niang's family was extremely poor; the only thing they owned that was a relatively new rattan chair.
Gui Jue chose a seat facing the door, and as he watched the down-on-his-luck hunter approach, the coldness in his eyes deepened.
The hunter entered the house, rushed to the ground in front of Gui Jue, and kept Huan Niang in his arms, begging for mercy, "Please let Huan Niang go, I'll let you beat me to death."
Gui Jue didn't even bother to look up, and said coldly, "What's your life worth? Hand over the stuff, and I'll leave you with a whole corpse."
The hunter said, "I did not take anything from you."
Gu Jinning clicked her tongue and said, "A wise man knows when to yield. If you want Huan Niang to live, then stop being stubborn."
The hunter continued, "Huan Niang came out of the Ghost Gate all alone and never took anything from it."
The ghost blade spun at Gui Jue's fingertips.
Seeing the situation was dire, Gu Jinning pierced Huan Niang's philtrum with a silver needle. Huan Niang awoke with a start, only to be met with Gui Jue's gloomy face, and hurriedly knelt down.
“Huan Niang,” Gu Jin Ning said slyly, “He has already confessed, what else do you have to say?”
Huan Niang suddenly looked at the hunter, and after a moment, she said as if she had made up her mind, "I have nothing to say."
Neither of them would listen to reason or threats, and Gu Jinning was so anxious she wanted to punch them.
Xiao Heng'an stood by the low window, peered out for a moment, then slowly walked over and said, "You have a child."
The two of them looked at Xiao Heng'an, their numb faces showing fear again.
"How did you know?" Huan Niang blurted out instinctively, her voice trembling.
Xiao Heng'an pointed out, "You were worried about the Ghost Gate seeking revenge, so you placed the child in the care of another hunter's family. You thought there wasn't a trace of a child in this house. Or rather, an infant less than a year old."
“But you’ve overlooked this.” Xiao Heng’an lifted the overturned sewing basket and took out a rattle drum. It was made of bamboo and the drumhead was brand new. “This little drum is made in the same way as the rattan chair. They should have been made at the same time.”
"You're doing needlework, knitting clothes for children."
"There's a woman two houses away on the east side who keeps looking in this direction. Her baby is crying. Should we go and check on her?"
Huan Niang's face turned deathly pale, and she cried out urgently, "No need, don't hurt my child, I'll talk."
She scrambled to her feet, her legs trembling, and staggered to the cabinet. She took out a flat book box from it and handed it to Gu Jinning.
"This is what I took."
Gu Jinning opened it and glanced at it; it was a secret manual of the Ghost Gate. She grabbed Gui Jue's hand and handed it to him.
Gui Jue turned the page and asked, "Where's the stuff inside?"
Huan Niang stammered, "I..."
Gu Jinning was really afraid that she would act stubbornly, so she kept giving her meaningful glances.
Huan Niang knelt down with a thud and kowtowed, saying, "I used the pills inside on the child. Sect Master, I took the things without my husband knowing. Kill me, but spare my husband and child."
Gui Jue's face was so gloomy it was almost dripping with water. He slashed a skull on the wooden table with his ghost blade.
"What right do you have to negotiate with me? Bring the child here."
Huan Niang shook her head, trembling, "Please, don't hurt him. He's only six months old. He's innocent."
Gu Jinning pondered to herself, "Huan Niang has been gone for a year, and the baby is six months old. Does that mean they've already secretly conceived? It's also possible the child is Gui Jue's."
At this moment, the hunter suddenly stood up and said, "I took responsibility for my actions. I was the one who abducted Huan Niang, and I was the one who used the drug. I'll risk my life for you."
After saying that, he crashed into Gui Jue.
With a push of his hand, Gui Jue sent a ghost blade flying toward the hunter's head.
Huan Niang screamed, "No!"
At the critical moment, Gu Jinning pulled the hunter away, the blade piercing the door frame, causing the house to shake and the wooden planks to crack instantly.
Huan Niang was stunned and collapsed to the ground in a daze.
Gu Jinning brought the child over.
A baby boy, still in swaddling clothes, with thin arms and legs, felt very light in my hands, but his complexion was rosy and tender, showing that they were taking good care of him.
"Give it to me," Gui Jue commanded emotionlessly.
Gu Jinning placed the child on the table and reminded him with concern, "The child is innocent, don't kill him."
Gui Jue didn't speak, but reached out his large hand to the child. The baby stopped crying and waved his little hand to grab his hand.
Gui Jue paused for a moment, then disgustedly shook it off, saying, "He did eat it, which is troublesome."
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