Chapter 375 Dressed in a white monk's robe
"Um?"
Shang Ruyi suddenly snapped out of her daze, looked up and met the concerned gazes of the two men, and realized that she was staring blankly at a money pouch.
She quickly shook her head: "No, it's nothing."
Yuwen Ye frowned as he looked at her: "Are you really alright?"
"Um……"
Shang Ruyi shook her head gently again. Although for a moment, her whole body felt as if she had been struck by lightning, and even her soul trembled slightly, feeling as if it was about to leave her body, she returned to calm after that moment, as if nothing had happened. She was even a little confused as to why she had such a strange feeling just now.
Shen Wuzheng looked at her for a while and said softly, "Are you really alright? Little sister, you don't look too good."
Shang Ruyi shook her head seriously again.
Seeing that he looked normal, the two were finally able to relax. Shang Ruyi, on the other hand, looked at the money bag in Yuwen Ye's hand with some doubt.
It looked completely unfamiliar.
Moreover, I no longer have that strange feeling, as if my soul has been pierced.
Strange, why would I have this feeling about a money bag?
Yuwen Ye fiddled with the money pouch again, examining it from all sides. Finding no other obvious markings, he said, "We can't find any clues even like this. I'm afraid we'll have to go back to Daxing City and think of something else."
Shen Wuzheng nodded.
Shang Ruyi glanced at him, her gaze deepening—the implication of his words was that he too was inclined to believe that the person in charge of the boulder-smashing incident was from Daxing City.
Indeed, if it were Liang Shide's men who had taken action, it wouldn't have been so complicated. They could have simply sent a large army to charge up into that narrow valley, and the result would have been far more tragic than it is now.
But Daxing City...
With so many people in Daxing City, besides Yuwen Yuan, there are many more powerful and influential figures who have been prominent since the founding of the Daye Dynasty. So who exactly wants to target them, especially Yuwen Ye?
"besides,"
Just as the three of them were racking their brains, Mu Xian spoke again, his expression even more somber than before, saying, "When I finished my investigation and came down the mountain, I found traces of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal piled up in the shady side of the mountain."
"What?!"
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi's face immediately showed a look of shock.
Yuwen Ye and Shen Wuzheng's expressions also changed.
Mu Xian continued, "It seems there was quite a lot of it piled up, but it appears that it has all been taken away, leaving only some scraps that were discovered by my subordinates. I just don't know if the people who piled up these things are the same group of people who did it on the mountaintop and who smashed down that big rock."
Upon hearing these words, Shang Ruyi subconsciously wrapped the blanket around herself even tighter.
It goes without saying what saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal can do when put together, especially since they were in a narrow valley.
If it really was the same group of people who did these things, then what they wanted to do was not just to smash their carriages with boulders rolling down. Perhaps they also planned to continue with the gunpowder if the first attack failed, determined to kill them.
If that's the case—
Shang Ruyi subconsciously looked up and glanced at the busy figures around her. There were Yuwen Ye's personal guards, Da Bo's troops from Daxing City, and the troops that Wanggang Village had surrendered to. In particular, she saw Shan Tong'er sitting by the campfire on the other side, swallowing his saliva as he looked at the bubbling hot porridge. She was afraid that not a single one of these people would survive in that narrow valley!
Who would do such a cruel thing to them?
Even at the cost of killing so many people?
Thinking of this, Shang Ruyi turned to look at Yuwen Ye, whose expression was solemn as he stared at the raging flames in front of him, his eyes remaining as cold as ice. She almost couldn't help but ask him, "Who have you offended?"
But she didn't need to ask that question at all.
As the second son of the Duke of Sheng, and especially now that the Duke of Sheng has become the new Grand Chancellor of the court with great power, Yuwen Ye has no need to offend anyone; there are plenty of people who want to kill him.
Even his very existence is a threat to many people.
At this moment, Mu Xian said again, "Second Young Master, I would like to lead another group of men along this road to see if we can catch up with that group. Even if we can't catch up, we can scout ahead in advance to avoid them setting any traps ahead."
Yuwen Ye thought for a moment and said, "Alright, you can go."
"yes."
Mu Xian accepted the order and immediately turned around to select a few people. They rode their horses and disappeared into the deep night.
After a while, the cooks prepared dinner. Although it was just some simple porridge and side dishes, everyone was starving after running in the rain all day and experiencing such a fright. So they ate heartily. By the time they finished dinner, it was past 7 PM, and everyone found a place to rest.
Since they hadn't brought tents, they had to sleep under the open sky. Yuwen Ye had the fire moved aside, the scorching ground swept clean, and a felt mat laid out. When Shang Ruyi lay down, she indeed felt a warm comfort. The dampness of the rain didn't bother her at all, and with a blanket covering her, it was quite comfortable.
She glanced at Yuwen Ye, who was standing guard by the fire, and asked, "Aren't you going to rest?"
Yuwen Ye said, "I need to think about something else."
"oh……"
Shang Ruyi nodded and said nothing more, just quietly watching him.
Yuwen Ye held the money pouch under his chin with one hand, his eyes fixed intently on the fire. Although the flames flickered, they could not melt the coldness in his eyes, nor could anyone see what kind of thoughts were hidden beneath that icy gaze.
After an unknown amount of time, as if sensing her gaze, Yuwen Ye turned to look at her and said softly, "Go to sleep."
"Uh-huh……"
Shang Ruyi responded, as if she wanted to say something more, but at this moment, weariness washed over her like a tide, and she felt her eyelids getting heavy. Before long, she fell asleep.
The dream was somewhat chaotic and unsettling.
Once again, a deafening roar, as if the heavens and earth were about to collapse, rang in her ears.
Shang Ruyi was in a daze, thinking that some huge rock was about to fall from above, but when she looked around, she found herself in a magnificent and splendid mansion, and the huge rumbling sound was the sound of the gate being smashed!
She stared wide-eyed as the door trembled violently from the impact, until finally, the wooden bolt broke under the heavy force of the blow!
The door was suddenly kicked open.
A group of ferocious men rushed in from outside, carrying swords and knives that gleamed coldly in the night. Some of the blades were even stained with blood and emitted a strong stench of blood, clearly indicating that they had just been through a fierce battle.
And the fighting has not stopped!
After these people broke in, they started a new massacre. People around screamed and scattered, but were caught up by the people. Slashes of cold light pierced the night, and then screams and gushing blood once again turned this magnificent mansion into a hellish battlefield.
Shang Ruyi stood in the center of this chaotic scene.
Screams echoed in her ears, and blood splattered all over her body. She felt as if she were being swallowed by a river of blood, and she almost forgot her own existence.
how so?
How could this be—
"don't want!"
Just then, she let out a shrill scream, opened her eyes abruptly, and sprang up from the ground, only to crash headfirst into someone's arms.
Shang Ruyi broke out in a cold sweat, her eyes widening in terror as she met a pair of eyes filled with a hint of doubt.
"Ruyi, what's wrong?"
"...?!"
Shang Ruyi was panting heavily, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst her chest. After a long while, she finally managed to pull herself out of the shock of the nightmare and looked up at the person in front of her—it was Yuwen Ye.
He sat beside me, his hands protecting me.
Shang Ruyi stared at her, her lips trembling. After a long while, she finally whispered, "You, I—"
Yuwen Ye looked at her and said in a deep voice, "Did you have a nightmare?"
...?
Nightmare?
Yes, it was a nightmare.
Shang Ruyi felt herself trembling violently.
That nightmare was not just a nightmare, but a familiar nightmare.
She hadn't had such a nightmare in a long time, so why did she suddenly dream of that scene that almost broke her heart again tonight?
Hasn't she already chosen a different path in life?
Seeing that she was covered in cold sweat and looked terrified as if she hadn't yet recovered from a nightmare, Yuwen Ye said softly, "It's alright now, you're awake, it's already dawn."
"...?"
Shang Ruyi was startled again. She looked up and realized that the orange morning light was already appearing on the horizon; the sun was about to rise.
The night has passed.
She breathed a sigh of relief, then glanced at Yuwen Ye and noticed that his clothes were neat and his hair was not messy. She said, "You, you didn't sleep all night?"
Yuwen Ye shook his head.
Shang Ruyi frowned, about to say something, when she heard the sound of horses' hooves from ahead. Looking up, she saw that it was Mu Xian leading the previous group of men back.
They stayed there all night.
Upon seeing them return, Shang Ruyi didn't say anything more. She simply stood up, straightened her clothes, and Mu Xian dismissed everyone and dismounted. He walked towards Yuwen Ye, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Second Young Master, Young Madam."
Yuwen Ye asked, "Have you caught up with those people yet?"
Mu Xian frowned and said softly, "I am incompetent. Those people ran very fast. Although we tracked their hoofprints along the way, we still couldn't catch up with them."
Yuwen Ye thought for a moment and said, "The other side came prepared. It's not your fault if you can't catch up."
After saying that, he waved his hand and said, "We've been traveling all night, go and rest. We'll be setting off again soon."
Upon hearing this, Mu Xian did not leave immediately. Instead, he looked at Yuwen Ye, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, and his expression became much more serious than before.
Both Yuwen Ye and Shang Ruyi noticed that his expression was strange. Yuwen Ye asked, "What's wrong?"
Mu Xian remained silent for a long while before saying softly, "Although we didn't catch up with those people, on the way, we seemed to see the figure of someone."
Yuwen Ye frowned slightly, a strange expression appearing on his face.
He asked, "Who is it?"
Mu Xian glanced at Shang Ruyi again before lowering his head and whispering, "That person was wearing a white monk's robe, and it seemed to be—"
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