concern
“…”
The goddess paused while holding the pen, turned her head in shock, a hint of suspicion flashing across her eyes.
"What are you talking about?"
The faint fragrance lingered between their nostrils, and like a snake's tongue, its moist breath penetrated into their clothes.
He looked at her with worry, and after a moment, he blinked gently to hide the loss in his eyes.
"Yeah?"
"It's okay if my sister doesn't tell me."
His voice dropped a few notches, his eyebrows drooped, and he looked somewhat pitiful.
The goddess looked at him for a while, not knowing whether the emotion rising in her heart was anger or fatigue. She felt nauseous and closed her eyes to calm her breathing, then put the pen back on the table.
"Why?"
"Why don't you listen to me?"
During lunch break, Zuihualou is closed to visitors, and the master arranges everything according to the goddess's schedule.
At this time, her face was pale and the blood color on her lips had faded.
There was a sad sorrow deep in his eyes.
"You know, what I hate most is disobedient children."
"I've told you many times... why do you still want to touch that 'untouchable territory'?"
…
You didn't say anything.
No matter how he tried to probe topics like these, his sister would see through him at a glance.
Because he trusts his sister, no matter what his reaction is, he will show it to his sister without reservation.
But he didn't trust his sister.
He always repeatedly checked the things that his sister was unwilling to tell him.
Because he was afraid that if he accidentally missed one of the links, he would completely miss his sister and it would become an irreparable pain.
You thought that he couldn't live without his sister.
But... who can tell him how to maintain the balance between the two?
How can we make the right choice rationally?
“…”
Facing the goddess's eyes, which had become lively again but full of doubt, You suddenly didn't dare to look her in the eye.
“…I’m sorry, sis.”
He lowered his head, his hair covering his eyelashes. The goddess could not see his expression clearly, and all she saw was a gloomy look of desolation.
Fine and dense black mist grew out from the ground, slowly moving up from You's waist, arms, and neck, and slowly surrounding him.
Like a person who has lost his soul.
"I don't know how to gain your trust."
"But I have no other choice..."
You raised his head, a look in his eyes that the goddess could not understand: sorrow, pleading, obsession, timidity, and the fear of surviving a disaster.
"I always feel that I will lose you during this period, so I try my best to find any way to save me from losing you, to stop the vague feeling of loss in my heart."
"Sister too, right?"
"…searching for a way to prolong my life and find the time for the 'medicine lead'."
The pavilion was silent. You could feel his heart beating very fast in his chest, resonating with his eardrums, and the tense strings in his heart were about to break.
He couldn't predict his sister's answer.
He didn't want to think about how his sister would respond.
What if it’s rejection or exclusion?
My hands are shaking.
He said it all.
What was your sister's reaction?
He didn't dare look up.
“…………”
The goddess was staring at something in a trance, her fingertips on her knees clenched tightly, as if she was trying to suppress some surging emotions. Her loose black hair covered her profile, hiding all her emotions.
After a moment of silence, she casually raised her head and looked at herself in the mirror.
The face was paler than usual.
"when?"
You was stunned by the question, and he looked up at the goddess's profile.
The goddess spoke slowly, "When did you know?"
…
Admitted it.
You didn't know how he felt. He felt as if his heart, which had been lifted up, suddenly fell down heavily, hit the ground, and shattered into powder.
"...These days."
The goddess seemed to laugh out of anger, her smile complex and You couldn't understand it. After a while, he felt that the goddess' smile was relieved and helpless. It was as if she felt that he could not lie at this moment and speak to her frankly.
“…”
“…That hamster?”
“!”
The needle pierced the painful membrane, and he panicked. He was at a loss as to what to do. Furthermore, the goddess was looking at him indifferently, her empty eyes casting a vacant gaze over every part of his body, as if without any precision. He feigned composure and explained in a slightly hurried tone:
"Sister, you know she came from the 'Medicine Inducer' and brought these things related to the 'Medicine Inducer' with her. I wanted to see what she brought to Zuihualou and see if there was anything I could do to help you."
“…”
The goddess was tired and lowered her eyes in boredom. Fine shadows fell on her eyelids. In the dim and soft light, her expression was slightly pale, losing its former color, like a flower that was about to wither.
"It's a lie."
After a moment of silence, she sighed.
"Well, tell me, what did she bring?"
The goddess straightened up again, returning to her usual appearance, and looked down upon him with a condescending gaze, like a clay doll that had been given a touch of life and was about to move.
"She brought..." You raised her eyes, her fingertips clenched until they turned white, "a magical item that can cover up the traces of the talisman formation."
“…”
The goddess looked at him for a moment, then looked away, as if lost in thought. After a moment, she asked, "What does he look like?"
Seeing hope, You quickly made a stroke and said anxiously: "A small bottle, inside..."
He paused for a moment.
"It's filled with liquid."
The goddess didn't respond. She stared at his face for a moment, then said softly, "After all these years of being with me, do you remember what you first said to me?"
Her heart tightened, and without hesitation she said, "Remember, never betray me, always trust me, and be a good and obedient child."
“…”
The goddess withdrew her gaze and looked at her nails. Her personal maid had dyed her nails, and the color was as pink as spring, like pear blossoms about to bloom, full of vitality.
"Well, go down."
You realized something, and her pupils suddenly contracted. She said in disbelief, "...Sister?"
The goddess did not reply, and her black hair continued to fall from her shoulders, like a deep pool, to the ground.
This means I don't want to talk anymore.
You didn't want to think about that conclusion, nor did she dare to speak up to check the moisture. After a moment of confusion, she pursed her lips and stood up.
There is no point in saying anything now, and I am afraid it will only deepen my sister's boredom and boredom.
…My sister has too much to face.
It’s better not to disturb my sister and let her have some rest.
You walked lightly to the bead curtain and looked back at the goddess.
The goddess sat in her original position, the afternoon sun pouring in from the skylight, covering her with light golden color, drawing lines along her body, like beads from a broken string, flowing to the ground.
A doll that has been temporarily abandoned.
A puppet whose fate is predetermined by someone else.
You already had a premonition, vaguely.
He turned his head, lifted the bead curtain, and walked out of the top pavilion.
—
Today, the goddess canceled the personal maid's duties, and no one is allowed to enter without her permission.
Jiang Nian had a clear understanding of all the goddess's thoughts and actions this time, so he summoned his personal maid and asked her to deliver the letter, which simply summarized the whole story, to the Youguan mansion.
The personal maid stood by the dressing mirror without moving: "It's useless."
"?"
Jiang Nian turned his head in confusion and blinked at her: "Why?"
The personal maid said calmly, "There's no one left to hold the fort."
“…………”
Jiang Nian was silent for a while, then suddenly said softly, "Mo Qing."
The room was empty, with no other living creatures except their shadows on the wall.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
Did Xiao Yingzhu just leave?
The maid looked at the flickering candlelight on the table and said, "If you called a young man, he would have been out when I came."
"?"
Jiang Nian turned his head suddenly: "You said Mo Qing has been in this room the whole time?"
The maid looked at her for a moment and laughed, "No, it's the windlass outside."
"As soon as I leave, he should come in response. Should I leave?"
Jiang Nian stared at the letter in his hand for a while, then put it on the candle flame and burned it: "No need, I just want to confirm whether he has come or not."
After a moment, she remembered something, lowered her head, took out another letter from the drawer, and handed it to her maid: "Oh, and this letter, please... give it to Xi Changshi."
"Master Xi?" The maid twisted a corner of the letter between her fingers and glanced at it casually. "Where do you live?"
"Can you go out?" Jiang Nian looked at her in surprise. "Live on the street that the prefect provided for the doctor."
Remembering that he used to fill in an address and have someone deliver it, Jiang Nian raised his hand and pointed to a line of words on the envelope.
“Just send it here.”
The maid followed the words she pointed to and shook her head slightly. "I'm afraid the person sending this letter won't recognize this kind of handwriting. You'll have to dictate it."
Wasn’t it Qin Lan’s troops who delivered the letter before?
Jiang Nian blinked and said a string of place names.
The maid nodded thoughtfully, then slipped away with the letter.
—
Perhaps because the room was only equipped with one candlestick, the darkness in the corner was filled with a faint light and shadow.
At night, it started to rain outside, with fine and dense raindrops hitting the window paper, leaving water stains on it, and then sliding down the edges and splashing onto the windowsill.
Jiang Nian put down the pen he was using to record the location of the talisman array, turned his head and looked to the side in search of the sound.
Once the rain starts in Cang County at night, it will never stop. It will get heavier and heavier until it becomes a downpour.
During this time, if you could open the window, you would only see the hazy night rain, the sky was covered with black, and all you could see was black without any light.
Across the river, the red lanterns hanging from the restaurants in Chimen across the river would be lost in the drifting, slanting rain, vanishing without a trace. The only thing that could be discerned through the thick fog was the shadows of the rolling hills.
Jiang Nian suddenly felt stuffy.
It's not as chilly tonight as before.
Maybe the midday sun is too hot.
She stood up and opened the curtains. Through the window paper, she listened to the wind outside carrying the rain, which swept down onto the paper. The raindrops would penetrate through the gaps in the window and scatter on her skin, bringing a slight chill.
The dark night always makes people miss the past. Jiang Nian usually does this in the quiet night, but today her mood has changed a little, making her feel a little melancholy.
Xiao Yingzhu, who had been traveling with us all the way, has now left Cang County.
Different from Pingzhou.
There are not even any blood relatives of the original owner here, just like a duckweed that has been cut off from its roots.
Standing behind the window paper, Jiang Nian was silent for a moment and called Mo Qing's name softly.
After a moment, a shadow appeared beside him.
"Miss."
A familiar voice came from behind. Jiang Nian turned around and stared at Mo Qing for a moment.
"You're here."
She looked away slightly, thinking for a moment, as if she was afraid of revealing her thoughts. After a moment's hesitation, she said, "He's gone?"
Mo Qing's expression remained unchanged as he said seriously, "Yes, the master went to the capital last night to handle some matters."
He calculated the time it took Xiao Yingzhu to travel from Pingzhou to the capital, and then calculated the approximate distance from Cang County to the capital.
It should be in time.
Thinking of the time when the Goddess Organization launched the epidemic, Jiang Nian instantly felt relieved.
She nodded and thought for a moment: "Is Mr. Qin going to check the lines or visit the villagers?"
Mo Qing said without hesitation: "The troops are divided into two groups. Young Master Qin will go to check the route."
…
The wind outside the window was roaring. Jiang Nian was silent for a moment, feeling that something seemed to be wrong.
In order to improve efficiency, it is possible to do both, but she thought Qin Lan would choose to stay there.
If we choose to investigate the witch route, doesn't it mean that there is only one Yu He in Cang County now?
Qin Lan and Xiao Yingzhu, who had direct knowledge of the current affairs in Donglan and Huandu, were not there.
They really trusted her with it.
Sighing, Jiang Nian pondered for a moment: "Chief Xi... can you predict when the goddess will launch an epidemic in the future?"
I had wanted to ask Xizhen directly before, whether he had any clues about other Wu Mi people, so he could directly say that he appeared in Zuihua Tower at the moment the plague came.
But now that he was inside Zuihua Tower, Jiang Nian found that even though he had so much information, he still couldn't predict when the goddess would leave.
But Xizhen could directly guess that if it wasn't just some boastful talk, then there really must be some channel.
After interacting with Wu Mi Zhong for a period of time, she really felt that what Wu Mi Zhong invented was quite metaphysical and could not be explained by conventional means.
…She has traveled through time and space, yet she still cares about science.
But Jiang Nian still prefers to convey messages through letters.
After a helpless laugh and sigh, Jiang Nian, with a righteous look on his face, asked, "Before the goddess launched the plague, do I need to pass on the information to him?"
Mo Qing shook his head and was about to answer, but suddenly glanced sideways at the door.
It was a quiet night and there was no sound of voice outside the corridor.
Jiang Nian frowned as his memory flashed back to when he and Xiao Yingzhu discovered the spy in the State Guesthouse.
“…”
After staring for a moment, Mo Qing relaxed his brows and turned back to look at Jiang Nian: "It's okay, I'm just curious about the lady."
"I guess it's the courtesan."
“…”
Did You tell the goddess about the perfume?
Jiang Nian concealed the slight worry in his heart and then brought the topic back to the previous topic.
"When I find out that the Goddess has developed a plague, how are we going to pass it on to Master Xi at that critical moment?"
Mo Qing paused for a moment, then casually raised his eyebrows and smiled, "That's not the case. I think Miss must have another clue that she hasn't found yet."
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