Chapter 193 Missing (3)
As soon as Li Xiaoxiao approached the sinkhole and lake, she sensed that the magnetic field here was extremely unstable. The silver wolf behind her, which had been playing dead for a long time, obviously sensed it as well, and began to struggle.
Li Xiaoxiao had endured the 600-mile journey with her strong will, so naturally she wouldn't let it break free at this moment.
The more the silver wolf struggled, the tighter the necklace binding its muzzle tightened, as if trying to embed itself into its bones.
"Behave yourself!" She kicked it expressionlessly and walked step by step toward the sinkhole.
This must be it, the exit of the time tunnel. She came out from here back then. The exit should have closed after she came out, but something happened. The magnetic field here suddenly malfunctioned, which is why the silver wolf, who had been trapped inside, found an opportunity to escape and immediately committed a bloody crime in Dawu.
The magnetic field here is unstable. If Silver Wolf can find a way out from here, then she might also find the entrance to the tunnel here, reopen it, and take Silver Wolf back to the apocalypse.
The silver wolf is impervious to blades and spears, and even its corpse cannot remain in Da Wu. Its skin will be regarded as a supreme treasure by the ancients, and the struggle for it will cause turmoil. She absolutely cannot leave it here.
That's why she brought the silver wolf back here.
Opening a time tunnel requires an enormous amount of energy, and she no longer has that much energy, so she needs to rely on the Silver Wolf's crystal core.
By using the crystal core to trigger lightning and completely destroy the magnetic field, the entrance to the tunnel can be opened. She can then pull the silver wolf inside and disappear from this world, thus ensuring Da Wu's safety.
However, she opened a one-way path. Once inside, there would be a temporal turbulence, and she didn't know where she would end up. She might even be torn to pieces as soon as she entered.
But she had no choice.
"Looking at a mountain makes you run yourself to death." The sinkhole looked just a short distance away, but by the time Li Xiaoxiao pulled the silver wolf to the lakeside, it was already the morning of the next day.
Today is a bad day. Dark clouds are looming overhead, and there's a strong wind. The lake water is rippling with waves, and the vegetation on the shore is being tossed about. It looks like a heavy rain is about to fall.
Li Xiaoxiao could already feel the faint attraction emanating from the center of the lake due to the chaotic magnetic field. The emerald green lake water was like a monster with its mouth wide open, as if it wanted to suck her and the silver wolf in together.
The wind picked up and the clouds surged, a flash of lightning streaked overhead, and the faint sound of spring thunder could be heard—it was going to rain.
Li Xiaoxiao stood blankly by the lake, looking back towards the direction of the capital. Two lines of clear tears dripped down her dirty cheeks, leaving two white streaks.
They were about to say goodbye, but it was a pity that they parted so hastily that they didn't even have time to turn back and look at him one last time.
He must have been heartbroken during those three months she was gone. Her sweetheart, she never realized she loved him so much, that she couldn't bear to part with him…
Does everyone think she is dead?
She gazed sadly in the direction of the capital. This was for the best; what difference did it make if she were dead? Could she ever go back?
Tears flowed even more freely. She longed to go back, and regretted not turning back to look at him and say goodbye properly. She had been in this world for six years, going from having nothing to having everything, but she never expected it would all vanish overnight.
She never imagined that this was the only place she could accompany him.
She has no time left.
The silver wolf sensed the danger and began to struggle desperately. If it broke free, she would no longer have the strength to hold it back.
She suddenly shouted, "Meng Guanqi, don't forget me! Even if I'm gone, you're not allowed to forget me! I pushed myself to this point so that you could all live well, and I won't allow you to forget me..."
A thunderclap echoed across the sky, a fierce wind arose, and Li Xiaoxiao laughed loudly, "Come on! I'm not afraid of you!"
With a deafening roar, a thunderous explosion erupted above her head. Rain poured down, a fierce wind raged, and lightning flashed and thunder roared. Lightning danced above her head, and the magnetic field became even more unstable. It was as if some divine will was guiding her to open a gap in spacetime.
Li Xiaoxiao drew the short sword from her waist, walked up to the silver wolf, reached out and lifted its head, and pierced through its chin with the sword, plunging it into its head.
This is the most vulnerable part of Silver Wolf's body besides his eyes.
The silver wolf struggled desperately, and with a "clang," the necklace tied to its mouth broke. It instinctively opened its huge mouth, wanting to tear Li Xiaoxiao to pieces, but its mouth only opened halfway before it stopped moving.
It finally died.
With difficulty, Li Xiaoxiao pulled out the short sword, opened its mouth, and dug from its lower jaw, finally digging out the crystal core in its brain.
Holding the pale yellow, fist-sized crystal core in her hand, she could feel the immense power within it.
She stood up, clutching the crystal core, and with her last bit of strength, raised her hand and crushed the crystal core in her hand.
The lightning that had been hovering above her head finally struck, transforming into rings of silver light that enveloped her entirely.
For a moment she was completely deaf. The silent light waves instantly radiated across the entire lake surface, and the water began to tremble violently as if it were boiling. After a short while, a dazzling white light suddenly appeared in the center of the lake, followed by a deafening roar.
The magnetic field completely collapsed, and a vortex appeared in the center of the lake at some unknown time. It gradually swirled into the shape of a tornado, sucking up all the water in the lake and connecting it tightly with the dark sky.
The wind rose and the clouds surged, the rain poured down, thunder rumbled, and the earth seemed to tremble. The people working in the fields not far from the sinkhole felt dizzy for a moment, as if they had forgotten some memories in an instant. But the time was too short, and they were so frightened that they huddled together on the ground.
After the loud noise, the rain gradually subsided. Some daring villagers stood up straight and instinctively looked towards the sinkhole, immediately exclaiming, "The Dragon King is sucking up water!"
Busy with spring plowing in the fields, they were caught in a downpour. Many people didn't make it home in time. Families huddled together, using raincoats to shield themselves from the rain. Just then, they heard someone screaming about the strange phenomenon of the Dragon King sucking up water. Forgetting the thunder they had just heard, they quickly looked up in the direction the person was pointing. They saw dark clouds pressing down above the sinkhole, with lightning flashing and thunder roaring. A huge whirlwind was sucking up all the water from the center of the lake, which shot into the sky and connected with the dark clouds. Slivers of lightning crackled and danced around the water column, inspiring awe.
The villagers all knelt down and said, "We pay our respects to the Dragon King. May the Dragon King bless our Niutou'ao Village with favorable weather and abundant harvests."
May our chickens lay eggs every day!
"May my sow give birth to many piglets."
"May my daughter find a good family."
...
The celestial phenomenon of the Dragon King drawing water is extremely rare. People do not know the principle behind this phenomenon, and it has been attributed to ghosts and gods for thousands of years. They often feel awe and will devoutly worship when they see it, and it is best to make a wish for their family's peace and well-being.
In an instant, the farmers working in the fields all knelt down, their hands clasped together in prayer, begging the Dragon King to send down rain and bring a good harvest.
The waterspout phenomenon came and went quickly. As the dark clouds in the sky dispersed, the water column visibly shrank and eventually fell into the lake. Sharp-eyed villagers seemed to see something fall to the bottom of the lake with the water, and it looked quite large.
"Did you see that? What's that dark mass?" Villager A asked hesitantly.
Villager B said, "I saw it. Do you think it might be a blackfish, a big blackfish, that was sucked up by the Dragon King?"
That black carp must weigh dozens of kilograms!
They had never seen such a big fish before, and some of the younger children couldn't help but swallow hard when they heard about the big fish.
Since the flood, most of the local villagers who survived in Huangshiling Town have fled to other places to escape the famine. Some settled in Biyang County, hundreds of miles away, while others stayed in other places. After the flood, there were hardly any locals left in the town, and it almost became a deserted town.
Although the town was flooded and most of the fertile fields were destroyed, a sinkhole lake appeared, which holds an unknown amount of water. As long as there is water, people can live and crops can be grown. Therefore, with the support of the prefect, many people have been willing to settle in Huangshiling Town to divide the land, and the once desolate town has gradually begun to come back to life.
However, barren land cannot be restored in one or two years. Although the people who came to settle down were exempted from taxes for three years, they still had to pay taxes after three years. Therefore, the people lived a tight life. The crops had enough water and they could barely eat their fill, but they could not afford to eat fish or meat.
Niutou'ao Village now has only twelve households. If the fish that fell from the sky really weighed fifty or sixty pounds, it would be enough for the whole village to have a good meal.
Villager A couldn't help but feel restless: "Why don't we go over and take a look?"
Just now, with the thunder and lightning, that big fish was lifted into the air; it might have been struck dead by lightning. They might be able to pick it up.
The other villagers were also tempted: "There are so many of us, we shouldn't be afraid to go, right?"
Villager Bing said, "Didn't the village chief just build a new raft? Let's go borrow it. If it really is a big fish, we can all have a good meal."
The temptation of this fish was too great, and they finally couldn't resist and went back to the village to borrow a raft from the village chief.
When they got back and told everyone, the others who had gone home to avoid the rain also heard about the possibility of a big fish in the lake. Who wouldn't love to join in such excitement? So, the able-bodied men carried the raft, followed by their wives and children, and the whole village went to the lake to watch the excitement and catch fish.
The lake had returned to calm. For some reason, the lake looked much clearer after the waterspout and wasn't as scary as before. You see, although they had lived here for several years, they only dared to move around by the lake and never dared to go into the water. The lake water was so dark and dark that it looked like it would suck people in if they looked at it for too long, which was terrifying.
The villagers didn't think too much about it, assuming it was because of the large number of people who came today and the lively atmosphere, so they all looked at the lake.
They actually saw a faint black shadow floating on the lake surface, not too far from the shore.
"There it is, quick, not far."
It wasn't far at all; it was faintly visible. The two young men excitedly rowed their raft closer to the "big fish."
But the more I look at this fish, the more strange it seems, especially since it has grown four limbs.
"Ah! It's a person, it's a person!"
The two young men only realized what was happening when they were almost at the "big fish"—the charred body was actually a person!
This is so unlucky! This is really bad luck!
No one knows who was so unlucky as to be sucked up by the Dragon King and sent flying into the sky, then struck by lightning and scorched, falling down from the sky, making them think it was a fish!
The two young men were terrified and turned their raft around and ran away. Once they were ashore, the village chief exclaimed in surprise, "You mean that was a person?"
The young man's face turned pale: "Yes, I was struck by lightning and charred black all over. It was terrifying."
The village chief asked, "Is he dead?"
Another young man yelled, "Is that even a question? His whole body was charred, and he'd been in the water for so long, how could he possibly still be alive?"
They actually died in the sinkhole. You know, the water in this sinkhole flows down the mountain to irrigate their farmland and vegetable gardens, and it might even be connected to their well. How could they leave a corpse there?
The village chief looked gloomy: "Go and have two people pull him up. Report it to the village head later to see which villager was passing by when the Dragon King sucked water into him. We need to notify his family to come and claim him as soon as possible."
Nobody wanted to do something so unlucky, so after much back and forth, the task fell on a couple nearing fifty.
The couple had no sons, and their two daughters were married off. They had been bullied by the villagers for a long time, and they couldn't stand it anymore, so they moved to Niutou'ao Village, which had a small population.
Niutou'ao Village only has twelve households. Although they don't bully the two elderly people like the villagers used to, they aren't treated very well either. They are always excluded from any good things, but they are always pushed out when something bad happens.
The man in the couple was named Tian Qing, and his wife, Xu, was perhaps used to being looked down upon by others all her life. They were very hardworking but spoke very little. They endured almost everything they could, and only spoke a few more words when their two daughters brought their sons-in-law and grandsons to visit them.
When assigned the task of retrieving the bodies, Tian Qing agreed after a moment's silence, but he told Xu to stay on the shore: "I can drag them back by myself."
Xu knew he was worried that she was afraid, but she was just as worried that Tian Qing was afraid: "I'm a better swimmer than you, I'll go with you."
The village chief said impatiently, "Drag the person up here first, stop dawdling."
Tian Qing and Xu Shi dared not argue back and quickly boarded the bamboo raft and rowed towards the center of the lake.
Upon reaching the "corpse," Tian Qing handed the oar to Xu Shi and reached out to pull it up.
When he pulled on the cloth, he was startled and immediately shouted, "This, this person is still alive, still alive!"
His hand landed right on the man's pulse, and he could feel the faint rise and fall of the pulse.
The fact that it was sucked into the air by the Dragon King, struck by lightning and turned black all over, and had been soaking in the water for so long, yet was still alive, startled the villagers who hadn't had time to leave, and they marveled at it.
When Xu saw that the person in the water was actually a young woman, she quickly took off her own clothes and put them on her before going ashore.
Her clothes were now torn to shreds and could no longer cover her body.
Looking at the woman pulled from the water, the village chief was at a loss. What should he do?
He looked at Tian Qing and his wife and said, "Every family in our village has young children. We're worried this person might frighten others. Why don't we take her back to your home first and then ask her where she's from once she wakes up?"
Having no other choice, Tian Qing and his wife carried her back to their home.
Fortunately, although the village chief looked down on them, he still managed to get a doctor from the neighboring village to come and treat the woman.
The doctor was also shocked to see the woman covered in charred soot, but when he heard that she had been sucked into the water by the Dragon King and then struck by lightning, it was a miracle that she was still alive.
He took her pulse and listened carefully.
The more he listened, the more his brows furrowed. Seeing the concerned looks in Tian Qing and his wife's eyes, he shook his head: "Prepare for the worst. He's beyond saving with injuries like this."
The Tian couple were stunned: "Doctor, she's not dead yet, please prescribe some medicine for her."
The doctor said, "It's no use. All your internal organs are injured. It would be good if you could hold on until tomorrow. You don't need to waste your money."
After saying that, he rode away on his donkey.
The doctor left without even prescribing any medicine, which showed that the person was truly beyond saving. Xu Shi, her heart softening, secretly wiped away a tear: "She only looked to be around twenty years old, it's so tragic..."
Tian Qing sighed, "Who knew she would be so unlucky? How could she have happened to pass by the sinkhole right when it started raining so heavily?"
The two men carried the woman to the woodshed. Although they knew she was beyond saving, Madam Xu still made a bed for her with soft rice seedlings, since she was still breathing and it would be more comfortable for her to lie down like that.
After the person was moved over, she brought a basin of water to wipe her face. Tian Qing said, "She's covered in wounds, is there any need to clean her?"
Xu said, "I saw that her hair was burnt, but the black marks on her face looked like dirt, and her face wasn't injured."
Let's clean her up so she can get on her way.
His wife was just so soft-hearted. Tian Qing shook his head. Since his wife was cleaning another woman's body, it wasn't convenient for him to stay here.
Xu first wiped the woman's face clean, then paused for a moment. If the woman hadn't been so pale from her serious injuries, she would have been extremely beautiful.
Unconsciously, she continued to clean her, and the more she cleaned, the more surprised she became. The woman's body was covered with all kinds of wounds, but they did not look like burns. They looked like cuts from tree branches or blades. Before cleaning, her body was charred black, and they all thought she had been struck by lightning.
The wounds from being struck by lightning are similar to those from burns, and are most prone to festering and suppuration. However, apart from her hair, no other part of the woman's body was charred.
If it wasn't from lightning, then where did all these injuries come from, especially her shoulder, where the wound was extremely deep. Fortunately, the weather was still cool, so the wound didn't fester.
After helping the woman clean her body, Ms. Xu took the basin of water and left.
It was already getting dark. Tian Qing cooked some porridge, and after Xu Shi finished eating, she was about to wash the dishes when she remembered the woman in the woodshed. Feeling guilty, she poured a bowl of porridge over to feed her.
Tian Qing said, "Didn't the doctor say she couldn't be saved?" We don't have much food at home to begin with, are we going to waste it?
Madam Xu sighed: "She's not dead yet. If we can feed her, let's do her a favor and let her die a full-fed ghost. You can help too."
She had thought it would be difficult to feed the woman this bowl of porridge, but to her surprise, when the spoon was placed near the woman's mouth, she opened her mouth and slowly drank it. Xu was overjoyed: "She's still conscious! She wants to drink porridge!"
Tian Qing also felt that there seemed to be some hope. The worst thing for a person is not being able to eat anything. Now that this woman can eat porridge, it means that she still has the will to live, and maybe she really can be saved.
She's so young; if only she could be saved.
The woman finished the bowl of porridge completely. Xu gritted her teeth and served her another bowl, thinking she wouldn't be able to eat it, but she quickly finished the second bowl as well.
Her appetite is just like a normal person's!
The doctor must have misdiagnosed her; she will get better!
After feeding her two bowls of porridge, Tian Qing and Xu Shi both felt that the woman would definitely get better. Xu Shi went back to the room, found a quilt to cover her up, and decided to check on the woman's condition first thing tomorrow morning.
The next day, the woman was indeed alive, but she was also unconscious. Xu tried to feed her porridge, which she drank all of.
Tian Qing went to fetch the doctor again, but the doctor looked incredulous: "How is that possible? She should have already died, how could she possibly drink porridge?"
Madam Xu hurriedly replied, "It's true. I fed her two more bowls today, and she finished them all."
The doctor, not believing in superstition, personally filled half a bowl with porridge, held a spoon to her lips, and to her surprise, she actually opened her mouth and drank it.
Her stomach seemed like a bottomless pit, never able to be filled.
The doctor was puzzled, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. He had never seen a patient so badly injured eat like a glutton.
He carefully took her pulse again, then sighed, "I still stand by my conclusion: she's severely injured. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't have survived a day. But this person is so strange..."
Tian Qing and Madam Xu looked at the doctor with some suspicion, no longer quite trusting him.
The doctor, feeling embarrassed and angry at their stares, said, "I am of limited knowledge and skills; please find someone more capable."
She stormed off in a huff.
No medicine was prescribed yet.
Tian Qing and Xu Shi were at a loss, so they went to see the village chief. The village chief didn't know what to do either: "I've already gone to the village head, and he's already asked around. No one has gone missing in the nearby villages..."
But she hasn't woken up yet, they can't just leave her there like that, they have to wake her up first.
The woman stayed at Tian Qing's house and was taken care of by Madam Xu.
She didn't wake up for ten days in a row, but she seemed to never get enough to eat. Tian Qing's family didn't have much food to begin with, and suddenly they had to feed another mouth, and a big eater at that, so food became scarce.
He could only seek help from the village chief.
The person was found in the lake, and it was already excessive to leave him in Tian Qing's house to be cared for. Not only did they not share some of the burden with him, but even the village chief felt bad about it.
He followed Tian Qing to the woodshed to see the woman who remained unconscious, and he could hardly believe it: "You said you fed her two big bowls of porridge every meal?"
Ms. Xu nodded; she ate even more than she did.
The village chief said, "It's been twelve or thirteen years since she was rescued, how come she hasn't gained any weight?"
How can you not gain weight if you just eat and lie around all day without doing anything?
That's a bit strange. Xu didn't know why either. It was already mealtime, and the village chief saw Xu feed her two more bowls of porridge. He scratched his head and said, "Could it be that she hasn't woken up because she hasn't eaten enough?"
Mrs. Xu exclaimed in surprise, "Two large bowls of porridge are not enough to feed us? We can't afford to feed us anymore!"
The village chief decided to give it a try and brought five jin of grain from home: "Cook one jin and feed it to her."
After cooking the porridge, Madam Xu fed the woman spoonful by spoonful. The porridge made from one pound of grain was a whole large bowl. By the end, Madam Xu didn't dare to use the spoon anymore, for fear of overfeeding the woman. Her appetite was astonishing; it was enough for three people.
The village chief said, "If a person can't eat, you can't force them to eat. She drank all of this, which means she hasn't been eating enough. Try feeding her a few more meals, and maybe she'll wake up."
He only brought five catties of grain with him, and he has already used one catty, leaving four catties, which is only enough for her to eat for two days.
But her remaining unconscious was not a solution, so Xu gritted her teeth and decided to do as instructed.
The village chief's method might have really worked; when the last pound of grain was fed into the woman's mouth, she finally opened her eyes.
Overjoyed, Madam Xu rushed out, shouting, "Honey, my little sister has woken up! She's woken up!"
Li Xiaoxiao opened her eyes, her memory blank for a moment, not knowing where she was.
But the soft straw on her body, the neatly stacked firewood beside her, and the thatched roof were all too familiar to her.
She is still in Dawu.
She was a little confused. How come such a violent explosion didn't kill her? Was the tunnel closed? How did she end up lying in someone else's woodshed?
She desperately wanted to get up and go back to the sinkhole to check the situation, but she had no strength left in her body.
Well, the explosion didn't kill her, but she's practically dead now.
The woman who had fed her the porridge soon came in with her husband. They asked her with concern, "Sister, are you feeling better now? Where are you from? Do you remember?"
Li Xiaoxiao nodded: "I remember, Uncle and Aunt. I'm from the capital. My name is Li Xiaoxiao. I'm a third-rank military officer in the imperial court. My husband is the third-ranked scholar in the imperial examination last year. I'm the Crown Prince's personal bodyguard."
Tian Qing and Madam Xu exchanged a strange look. Madam Xu quickly said, "Sister, the doctor has come to see you and said your injuries are very serious. You just woke up, so don't be upset. Rest for a while. I'll go cook."
The couple rushed out, and Li Xiaoxiao heard Xu anxiously say to her husband, "The lightning didn't kill her, but it made her stupid. What are we going to do?"
What? She's been brainwashed? What does she mean by that?
Li Xiaoxiao was a little confused and didn't quite understand why she would say that.
But Madam Xu was right about one thing: she was seriously injured. Although her eyelids were open, she couldn't move a single finger. The most important thing now was to recover.
She closed her eyes and fell asleep again.
News of Li Xiaoxiao's awakening spread quickly, and the village chief immediately brought people to see her. Li Xiaoxiao then repeated what she had told Xu Shi and Tian Qing, and the people in the woodshed fell into a long silence after hearing it.
Li Xiaoxiao remained motionless, lifting her eyelids slightly: "What's wrong? No need for formalities, I don't care about those empty formalities."
The scene became even quieter.
Soon, everyone in the woodshed shook their heads and left, patting Tian Qing on the shoulder with expressions of sympathy.
Li Xiaoxiao thought they were terrified and sighed, "I haven't even told them that I have a life-or-death friendship with the emperor, and they're already reacting like this. If they knew, who knows how scared they would be."
Xu, who had just returned, overheard this and looked even more distressed.
What can be done about this perfectly healthy girl who has been struck dumb?
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Author's Note: Extra chapter! Extra chapter! I stayed up until 1 AM, but my back is killing me, I can't take it anymore. The main story is almost finished. I've marked it as finished, and the epilogues will follow gradually, but I probably won't be updating daily anymore. Thank you all for your support, and I wish you all a Happy New Year and good luck! [Good luck][Good luck]
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