stalemate
The light was dim and the fog was thick.
In this kind of rain, even if the umbrella is big, you will get wet.
The shower before going downstairs was nothing compared to the one just now.
Jiang Nian sat on a chair by the window, wiping her hair with a fine gauze cloth, the pearl curtain rolled up, and the raindrops meandered into a river.
After a tiring day outside in the first half of the night, my head started to ache, beating like a drum on my forehead, urging me to go to bed quickly.
The first room Xiao Yingzhu arranged for her was fully equipped and was completely different from the one she had just stayed in.
In the silent darkness, she lifted the quilt and rolled herself up. The slightly damp hair and dry pajamas, even if they could not provide the ultimate comfort, were enough for a sleepy person to close her eyes and take a good rest.
The night rain was still falling continuously, and the sound was ringing beside her eardrums. Jiang Nian closed her eyes and wrapped her body in the quilt. She felt that time was slowing down and speeding up in a trance. Just now she was still arguing with Xiao Yingzhu in the garden downstairs, and now she was about to fall asleep in the room.
When she stood in the pavilion, watching his figure gradually getting smaller, she always felt that he was walking slowly.
It was not until she ran past that the umbrella became extremely heavy in the wind and rain, slowing down her pace, which she wanted to speed up, that she could not help but slow down.
Her heart was beating so fast that it seemed to burst out of her chest. She was breathing heavily, and the rain was all around her, as if it was going to form an endless sea.
The towering buildings nearby were blurred in the rain, and it was impossible to tell whether there was anyone standing in the corridor, looking down and secretly observing all this.
Running in the darkness, the snow-blue sleeves of the woman in front looked particularly clear, becoming the most conspicuous target. Jiang Nian dragged her skirt regardless of the rain, and the loose hem of her skirt was completely wrinkled into a ball, sticking to her skin, and the rain was flying in her face.
As the distance on the road gradually shortened, her breathing and heartbeat became equally intense, the blood in her body was flowing backwards, and her eardrums were buzzing. She was almost unable to exert any strength before she grabbed Xiao Yingzhu's sleeve.
It had been so long since he had run so vigorously that Jiang Nian was unable to utter a word. He clutched the corner of his clothes tightly and looked up at his eyes, which were almost transparent and indifferent due to being washed by the rain. The first sentence he uttered after catching his breath could not suppress the anger and panic in his heart.
"Are you ill?"
“Why give me just an umbrella when it rains?”
"What if someone finds us out at night? A dignified Duke wandering around in the rain without an umbrella?"
"Who can say this?"
Her hands were sore from holding the umbrella, so she stuffed it into Xiao Yingzhu's hands unhappily without even looking at his expression, and walked forward in a depressed mood.
I didn't pay attention to the direction Xiao Yingzhu was going when I came. If she was only halfway there, maybe she could run a distance in the rain to take shelter under the eaves, and then walk back along the eaves.
Now we are almost at where Xiao Yingzhu lives, which is completely different from the building where she lives.
It’s too late to go back.
The umbrella that Jiang Nian had been holding tightly was back in Xiao Yingzhu's hand. The rainy weather was cold, and the handle no longer had the cool body temperature, only the bone-chilling rain.
The lotus flowers in the Yanbian pond are swaying, ripples are forming on the lake surface, the sky and earth are vast, and the umbrella provides a place to shelter from the rain.
Xiao Yingzhu did not answer.
Jiang Nian turned his head to look at him.
It was raining heavily, and the biting cold air spread all over his body. The distant and indifferent look that he had caught a glimpse of when he grabbed him was gone. His face was covered with a layer of mist that made it impossible to see clearly in the deep night. The complex emotions were as thick as ink, and they seemed blank in his eyebrows and eyes.
Lonely, confused, melancholy, in the haze, Jiang Nian couldn't find any words to describe this expression.
He seemed to be in sorrow, but his calm words and actions showed that he knew clearly what he was doing and was not acting on emotion.
But if he wasn't being sentimental, why would he leave the umbrella with her and walk into the rain alone?
…
Jiang Nian looked at Xiao Yingzhu for a while, then smiled, moved closer to him, and said softly:
"Xiao Yingzhu."
"What are you pretending?"
“…”
This sentence seemed ordinary to Xiao Yingzhu, and the provocation had no effect at all. Her eyebrows and eyes were still as cold as water, without a ripple. The things reflected in them were vast and broad, but she was not moved. She still looked at her calmly with a calm face.
Only the pupils seemed to be pleased, shrinking into needles, revealing a gap that was hidden deep enough to peek inside.
Joyful, passionate, violent.
Like his perverted addiction to control, he simulated in his eyes the form of chains that could tightly bind the person in front of him, tying her up in circles, and then swallowing her into his stomach.
Jiang Nian's smile became more cunning, with a meaningful look in his eyes. Looking through Xiao Yingzhu's dark pupils, he then mouthed two more words.
Her lips opened and closed, as if to tease, drawing out the emotions he had been hiding very well, and then she watched the subtle changes on his face, her smile becoming even sweeter.
In the silence, the ice somewhere reached its apex and crackled softly. They saw the indescribable feeling of weightlessness in each other's eyes. In the cold rain, even the layer of mist that made it difficult to see clearly was dispersed.
Although her whole body was cold, Xiao Yingzhu's eyes were like a brand, engraved firmly in her heart.
—
A dreamless night.
Meng Zheng's physical condition was still not very good, so the conversation was postponed to the afternoon.
However, the delay gave them one more topic to discuss.
The reason was that the body of the boatman who brought them here was found this morning.
Heavy rain at night caused the water level to rise. The original berth of the ship was where it would stay after sending them off, but because of the storm, it drifted along the current to the gate of Cangjun City.
The patrolling soldiers went in to check and found the boatman holding his head.
The bloodstains in the suspected area were almost washed away by last night's heavy rain. By the time I get my beloved book and ask Lingshi to deliver it, I don't know when it will arrive.
On the bright and clean table, the wrinkled note soaked by rain was wrapped in oil paper and appeared in people's sight again.
The afternoon they arrived in Cang County was too hasty, and the boatman was suspicious. Qin Lan was thinking of waiting for Ai and Yan to reunite before going to the lake to take a look. But the next day, the corpse was as cold as the northwest wind.
"The world is so unpredictable. A good clue can be broken just like that."
Qin Lan sighed and laughed, breaking the silence in the room first.
The people around had similar expressions, and none of them dared to find out anything. Xiao Yingzhu shifted her gaze from the note she had just handed to the boatman yesterday to Yu He's face.
"Commander Yu seems to have something to say. I wonder if it's related to this matter?"
Yu He's face was expressionless: "Well, I will explain it to you in detail."
"please."
Yu He said calmly, "A while ago, a citizen reported to the police that someone was crying for help at the end of an alley. When the citizen went out to take a look, the end of the street was pitch black, with dead ends on both sides, and no one was there."
"This kind of thing happened several times in different places. The last one was still the same as what the common people said, but with the addition of the appearance."
"The artist drew the face of the man who called for help, and the detectives used the portrait and tax records to investigate, but to no avail."
He looked at the note and said calmly, "Since this person is not registered in Cang County, we infer that he is an outsider. Since Cang County has been sealed off, it is reasonable that no outsiders can enter or leave. Therefore, we further infer that he is a stowaway."
Meng Zheng realized where things were headed and continued Yu He's question, "So these stowaways were brought here by the boatman?"
Yu He responded briefly: "Well, after eliminating all clues, this is the only reasonable path left."
When they came to Cang County, they did not want to alert the enemy, so they chose to enter the city in disguise to reduce other people's attention to the newcomers in and out of Cang County.
Although the plan is perfect, if someone receives the information in advance and casts a wide net, then both roads leading into the city will be blocked, and it will no longer matter whether it is hidden or not.
Since someone committed a crime under the nose of the commander of the imperial army when the city was sealed off, it means that the other party is powerful and has the confidence that he will not be discovered.
Once the clues were pushed, they returned to the Wu Mi people who were involved in everything.
Why are all the spies sent by Donglan related to cults?
From this perspective, Donglan's right-hand men are like a cult.
Jiang Nian's thoughts drifted for a while as he followed what Yu He said. He accidentally met Xiao Yingzhu's dark eyes. He was startled for a moment and looked away calmly.
Meng Zheng rested for an extra morning, and his energy and spirit became full. The sickness disappeared, and he looked very energetic, like a carefree young man who had experienced the world but could still see it in a superficial way.
Xiansan had heard this and came up with a reasonable conclusion. He glanced at the foam note, tapped the table thoughtfully, and said with a smile:
"So, the person who instructed the boatman was most likely a member of the Wumi tribe? And he was killed... because he couldn't get any useful intelligence from the boatman?"
The man who was sick yesterday is full of energy today. The contrast is really big. Jiang Nian couldn't help but look at him a few more times, but unexpectedly, Meng Zheng looked at her the next second, curled his lips, spread his hands, as if he didn't notice the subtle change in the surrounding atmosphere.
"What is your opinion on this, female doctor from the sect?"
In this kind of conversation, her position has always been the one who does not speak, only listens and takes notes, so there are still unfinished sentences on the paper in front of her, and even the ink is bright.
Jiang Nian stopped writing with the pen in his hand, and his expression was slightly dazed. As Meng Zheng took the initiative to ask questions, everyone in the audience turned their attention to him.
...The previous reasoning was already difficult enough in front of Xiao Yingzhu and Qin Lan, so does it require so many people now?
This isn't good, is it?
Meng Zheng's smile reached his eyes, but there seemed to be a layer of thick frosting in them, which made people feel a dense chill, like ants crawling in the heart, although small, but not to be ignored.
Jiang Nian wanted to look away from him for a moment, but forced herself to hold back.
Meng Zheng was observing her.
With such obvious observations, what was he trying to learn from her? Or was he suspecting something?
Previously on the boat, he hadn't been able to get the information he wanted to know about her stance... Xiao Yingzhu had stopped him at that time, so was he taking this opportunity to ask again?
When he addressed her, his tone was very certain, not as doubtful as before. Someone must have reassured him.
Although Meng Zheng has now reached a cooperation with Xiao Yingzhu, from the beginning to the end, the two of them showed distrust of each other.
But because of something, they both took a step back and showed humility towards each other.
A series of thoughts flashed through Jiang Nian's mind. Although he couldn't figure out the inexplicable relationship for the time being, the problem was now very clear.
He was looking at how much the sect's female doctor knew about the Wu Mi people, what her opinions were, and the extent of the cooperative relationship between the sect and Xiao Yingzhu.
Is it because he didn’t get the conclusion he wanted from Xiao Yingzhu when she went to visit him last night?
Jiang Nian maintained a humble attitude and said politely, "If the Wu Mi people were the boatman's guide, then it is intriguing that the stowaways called for help after entering the city."
Glancing at the crowd, she paused for a moment, then expressed the sudden thought in her mind: "Perhaps... this epidemic is related to those stowaways."
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