Five Elements/2【1st update】
Hearing the sound behind her, Ye Xuanling turned around. The man in front of her was not wearing the same clothes as before, and he only held a sword in his hand. He had an upright posture, an indigo-colored robe with a gold-thread waistband and a cloud pattern, a handsome face, black hair flowing down to his shoulders, and his gray eyes were staring straight at her.
After just one glance, Ye Xuanling turned around and continued to watch the actor singing in the audience.
Seeing that there were no extra stools where they were sitting, Sanqi tactfully vacated her seat and stood next to Ye Xuanling.
Ye Xuanling observed her movements, somewhat confused: "Sanqi, what are you doing?"
"Give way to the boss."
Yes, the boss. Ji Yan was Sanqi's boss, so naturally she had to obey him. She had already known this, and her master had warned her that he was no ordinary person. But he seemed to be deliberately concealing it. She had once witnessed Ji Yan kill someone in a mass grave, and she had saved him, but he insisted on staying in Anping. Could it be that he was also trying to get rid of her?
If that's the case, then why did he send Sanqi here, ostensibly to protect her, teach her martial arts, and repay her life-saving debt? Was he actually just here to monitor her? To see if she would tell anyone about his murder?
But that doesn't make sense. Wouldn't it be better to just kill her?
"Xiao Ye Zi, you are very obedient." Ji Yan sat opposite her, supporting his chin with his hands and looking at her intently.
Ye Xuanling didn't avoid his gaze and said calmly, "How could I not come to the place Lord Ji has chosen?"
Ji Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, a smile flashing in his eyes: "Are you blaming me?"
Ye Xuanling: “?”
Ji Yan gave Sanqi a look, signaling her to go down. He then took out a wooden box and pushed it in front of her: "Open it and take a look?"
She kept watching his movements. When the square box with gold edges came in front of her, Ye Xuanling looked at him suspiciously again without moving, waiting for his next words.
"There's a candied fruit shop on the corner. You can buy anything you want."
Ye Xuanling still didn't open it. She just looked into his eyes and slowly pushed the box back: "Thank you for your kindness."
"Why?" Ji Yan lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes blocking the darkness in his eyes. His tone was no longer as sharp as before the noodle shop: "Why would you refuse?"
"I have something else to ask you." Ye Xuanling did not answer his question and continued talking to herself.
"If you have something to ask me, do you have to refuse me?" Ji Yan lowered his head, the loose hair on his forehead swept down, and his fingers touched the texture of the wooden table nervously.
Noticing his movements, Ye Xuanling straightened herself and asked, "Why did you bring Sanqi to me?"
Ji Yan came up to her and met her eyes: "Do you suspect that I am spying on you?"
"No." Ye Xuanling said, "How could that be?"
A faint singing voice could be heard from the stage downstairs, the clamor intertwined with the pipa music, making the listeners scratch their heads. Ji Yan sat up straight, looking at her with a dull look in his eyes. "You're afraid. Sanqi is the person I hired to monitor you. Because you're afraid, you've kept silent about whether you trust me or not, but your eyes betray you."
She knew exactly what she was afraid of. It was nothing more than that Ji Yan and Sanqi were both skilled in martial arts. If they really fought, the best outcome would be to die together. She had no way of surviving.
But Ye Xuanling remained calm and composed: "Please, Master Ji, explain to me what I am afraid of."
She couldn't die, she had to take revenge and seek justice for Anping's lonely soul.
The audience sitting downstairs suddenly exploded, wailing and crying. The place was in chaos, and some people shouted from below: "Ahhh, someone is dead! Someone is dead!!"
The two of them seemed to have a tacit understanding. After glancing at each other hurriedly, they quickly looked away and looked downstairs.
This scene was so familiar. Ye Xuanling stood up and looked downstairs. A group of people listening to the opera instantly scattered around. She was able to see the person lying there. Black blood was still oozing from the corner of his mouth. He lay on the wooden railing for two seconds, and then Ye Xuanling quickly went downstairs.
She felt the man was in a state of being poisoned. She approached him, quickly felt his pulse, and released his wrist after a moment. He was already dead.
She didn't touch the body again, but just quietly observed his condition.
"Leave it to the coroner. You're the doctor." Ji Yan walked up to her and said calmly, "Someone has already gone to report the case."
A moment later, the officials arrived with a coroner to question everyone in the theater. The body was taken back by some people. Some officials then inspected every corner of the theater.
Perhaps it was just an ordinary murder case, so Ye Xuanling didn't take it too seriously. When questioned, she answered truthfully.
The squad leader walked up to Ji Yan and said respectfully, "Sir, I am the local squad leader. Are you investigating a case in Dianhai? If you need anything, please feel free to give me instructions."
Ji Yan paused for a moment and said, "I'll show the inspection documents to Doctor Ye later. She's my accompanying medical officer."
The squad leader thought about it and said hesitantly, "Yes."
Ye Xuanling looked at him with a confused look, not understanding the situation, but she did not say what was in her heart at this moment. While the squad leader and the official were questioning others, she pulled him aside and asked, "What do you mean?"
"You also feel that the deceased's condition is very familiar, so why are you asking me?" He smiled and sat down beside him. "This person is related to the Anping incident."
Ye Xuanling frowned: "How did you know?"
Ji Yan curled up the corners of his mouth and waved to her to come closer.
Ye Xuanling did not hesitate. She took two steps forward and leaned her upper body towards him.
"Doctor Ye, if you really want to know, why don't you come to our guards and serve as a medical officer?"
Ye Xuanling's expression was unhappy. She calmly distanced herself from the two of them and said, "Master Ji, how come you can't even lie anymore?"
She had thought she would get some useful information from him, but in the end, he only invited her to work. Ji Yan didn't answer her immediately, but looked around for a moment. The people around him all looked worried and terrified.
He whispered, "Follow me."
Ye Xuanling had some concerns, but she didn't refuse. After all, in public, under the watchful eyes of the police, he wouldn't kill to silence the witness. She followed him to a private room on the second floor. The layout was casual, with a few qins placed in the center. It looked like a practice room for a theater.
She watched him sit down, her eyes filled with emotion: "What exactly did Master Ji discover? Do you want to talk about it alone?"
"Do you know why I came to Dianhai?" Ji Yan whispered, "At that time, I asked you not to investigate the Anping case, so you doubted me, questioned me, and thought I was involved in the Anping incident. I was hurt."
His last words were vague and dragging, but his eyes were quietly glued to her.
Ye Xuanling avoided his gaze: "I don't care about these."
Ji Yan retracted his gaze: "I said Anping, do you care?"
Ye Xuanling said confidently: "You know."
"The Anping case is definitely not something that can be easily defeated by a county magistrate or a prefect. No one can be left alive." Ji Yan straightened his attitude. "Did you see the Nuo mask when you went to Kanzhou Prefecture?"
"Nuo mask?"
"I'm sure you've guessed it. They're a gang," Ji Yan said. "You know how ulcers spread? Let me tell you. Jiangnan is rainy. The last two months were the Pearl River Autumn. And in one county, a wildfire killed everyone."
After a while, Ji Yan slowly said, "What do you think this is?"
Ye Xuanling's eyebrows twitched in disbelief: "You mean?"
Ulcers spread with breathing, seeping into the lungs and causing damage from the inside out. The lungs control qi and are the organ of breathing. In theory, the lungs belong to the metal element.
The wildfire spread and the flames grew rapidly, and fire actually conquered water.
Ye Xuanling's calm eyes suddenly lit up: "Heaven and man are one, the Five Elements are sacrificed to mankind."
When Ji Yan heard this, he laughed in surprise: "So fast?"
"But isn't that far-fetched?" Ye Xuanling interrupted, asking him instead. She just wanted an answer. "Pick any two things, and they can all be related to the Five Elements."
"Do you believe it or not, Dianhai is the third place?"
After hearing this, Ye Xuanling had no reason to refute it. The Nuo mask Ji Yan mentioned was actually on the arm of the Kanzhou prefect. Moreover, Sanqi had seen a corpse with a Nuo mask tattoo behind the Great Golden Buddha Hall.
And just now, the actor on the stage had one on his arm.
Is this the same thing?
Lost in thought, Ji Yan stood up and prepared to leave the room.
Ye Xuanling stopped him, "Don't you think these things are too obvious? It's like they're deliberately trying to lead people to find them?"
"Then follow me," Ji Yan said, "Let's go and see if that corpse was an accident, if it was the third of the Five Elements, or if it was just the tip of the iceberg."
The theater was crowded. The body was carried to the autopsy shed next to the government office. Officials had already surrounded one part of the theater, but other areas remained relatively unchanged. Sanqi followed Ji Yan's instructions and carefully observed every person and corner of the theater.
The two of them walked side by side on the street. The road was noisy and bustling, and in contrast, the two of them and this place were as clear as the boundary between light and darkness, like two dazzling and warm lights left in the cold winter.
"Aren't you going to ask anymore?" Ji Yan interrupted the brief silence.
"You've guessed it, haven't you?" Ye Xuanling likes to use rhetorical questions, throwing questions to others. She only needs to nod or shake her head based on what others say.
"Then do you believe what I say?" Ji Yan asked, "I really hope you can believe me."
The days were short and the nights long. In this cold moon, night always fell quickly. Lights were lit in every house, and the interplay of light and shadow cast a shadow on people's faces. But the two of them remained expressionless. Under the eaves of the shop, someone was still busily advertising their wares.
The fabrics of their clothes rubbed against each other, and Ye Xuanling could even feel the hidden warmth under his clothes.
"I'm wondering, how can I trust you?"
As he spoke, Ye Xuanling tilted her head slightly to observe his expression quietly.
If he had no intention of killing her, she would definitely feel sad for him. After all, he was quite handsome, just like the light of snow on a cold day.
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