0050 The Dragon Walks Underground; 050 The Mountain Snake and the Mountain Light
Li Qing was in prison, sitting on her bed facing a small window.
Yangcheng East Women's Prison has only single cells. When participating in labor reform, they are required not to whisper to each other. As long as they stay in their own cells and do not come out, they will not encounter the kind of prison bullying shown on TV.
She wasn't feeling well today; she had a headache. After being examined by the prison doctor, she was allowed to rest indoors. Everyone else had gone out to sew dolls, and the building was empty except for the sound of the cleaning staff's footsteps.
"Number 3377, come out."
The prison guard called her name and carried the person out. She got up and slowly followed behind, walking to a place where prisoners were not allowed to go.
"What can I do for you...?"
Halfway through the question, she was suddenly pushed into a room, a cloth was placed over her head, she struggled a few times, and then lost consciousness.
Qi Yu led Qi Shuyao down the mountain and had a local breakfast at a breakfast stall at the street corner. Afterwards, they strolled through the old town. Just as Granny Bai had said, there were hardly any people walking on the streets. She immediately took Qi Yu's arm and skipped around beside him.
The most prominent feature of the Fairy Gathering is the mountains. Sitting on the only flat main road, you can look up and see one mountain after another, with the mountaintops hidden in the clouds and surrounded by ethereal mist.
One of the mountains wasn't very high, but it was most famous for its unique shape, resembling a little girl in a cloak waving down the mountain. This mountain was named Fairy Peak because of this. Now that she finally saw the mountain in person, she excitedly ran towards it and pointed to the top for Qi Yu to see.
He didn't look closely at the mountain peaks, but instead noticed the section of her waist that was exposed when she raised her hand, with a faint red hickey on her skin. It was from the kiss he gave her in the bathtub last night, and he guessed that the little girl didn't even know it yet.
He stepped forward, covered the skin with his hand, wrapped his arms around her waist, and hugged her tightly from behind.
Qi Shuyao turned around and bumped her face into his chin.
"What are you doing, hugging me so tightly?"
"If I don't hold you tight, you'll be blown away by the wind."
"Do you think I'm a leaf that floats in the air? I'm perfectly steady."
The streets were deserted. They stood on the side of the road, fooling around, oblivious to the distant sounds of cars. The car even drove onto the road. Suddenly, the big jeep honked its horn loudly. Qi Yu picked up Qi Shuyao and pulled her to the side, watching the black jeep speed away.
"Is there no speed limit on this road? Is he trying to fly?"
While Qi Shuyao was grumbling and complaining, Qi Yu kept staring at the direction of the car's exhaust fumes.
"Dad, what's wrong?"
"The Shen family's car."
Which Shen family?
"The Shen family of Changgang".
"It's Changgang again—what, here to do business again, just like that Zhu Jiangxu."
"Maybe."
"What do they do? Are they very successful? I've never heard of them."
"The business they do must not be heard about."
"Oh, so they even have an underground party."
She didn't seem interested in the matter and continued to hold Qi Yu's hand as they walked along the road. Xianhui's urban area was very small. After passing this main road, there were small ranches one after another. On the grassland, cattle and sheep of all sizes were lined up, looking very leisurely, but the smell was a bit strong.
As the jeep passed by, the burly men inside covered their noses, but the woman in the middle with her head covered didn't react at all. No one saw that Li Qing's eyes suddenly widened under the mask.
There's no mistake, that's the taste, the place she's lived in since she was a child.
She knew nothing about why the car was going to the Fairy Hall or where it was taking her. She simply gripped the arm tightly and waited silently for the unknown world to unfold before her.
Each of the ranches in the Fairy Society is numbered and arranged in order. When they reached the sixth ranch, there was a sign with the character "Li" on it. Qi Shuyao stopped and pulled Qi Yu to a halt as well.
"What's wrong?"
"This is Sister Li Qing's house."
The calf in the yard saw someone standing at the door, looked up, didn't recognize them, and went back to grazing.
"What will happen to her maternal grandparents after this?"
“The ranch can make a lot of money, and they can apply for government subsidies in their situation. In addition, Li Qing has earned a lot of royalties before, so she is not short of money.”
"I wonder where Li Qing's parents went. Her life has been full of ups and downs."
They left the Li family courtyard and walked to the end of the road, but indeed did not see a single courtyard belonging to the Gu family. Qi Shuyao approached Qi Yu and began asking questions again.
"The files of the former owners of these courtyards should be available in the relevant departments."
"Yes, you have to register."
“But when I asked Granny Bai this morning, she said there was no family with the surname Gu in Xianhui. So how could Su Shaojin’s mother be the daughter of a ranch owner in Xianhui?”
Qi Yu was slightly taken aback, not expecting her to remember this.
"There are indeed no families with the surname Gu in Xianhui, but there is a ranch worker with the surname Gu."
"Whose house is this?"
"Number six, the Li family."
"ah?"
A strange thought popped into her head, but she quickly dismissed it. She didn't know how to bring it up, so Qi Yu directly rejected it.
"You don't think Li Qing is Gu Chaodong's child, do you? How could that be?"
"Then, then they..."
"They're not related, don't worry."
The way back took them around the mountain to the other side, which was more bustling and crowded. Qi Shuyao pulled Qi Yu into a simple movie theater and picked out a film.
The jeep turned left and right before finally stopping. Li Qing was pulled out of the car by the arm, walked a short distance, and then sat down by the shoulder. The black cloth above her head was suddenly ripped off. Fortunately, the room was not bright, so it didn't dazzle her.
The first thing she saw was a pair of leather shoes. As she slowly raised her head, a man's face came into view. He looked very kind and even handed her a glass of water.
She hesitated to take it, so the man took a sip of the water glass and then handed it to her.
"Don't worry, it's not poisonous."
Li Qing had no choice but to take the water glass and hold it in her hand.
"Why did you bring me here?"
“A beautiful lady like you should not spend your youth in prison. Moreover, I also think the person you killed deserved to die. He should not have come into this world. Therefore, I also think you are innocent.”
"What use do you think it is?"
"I've brought you all the way from prison, and you still think I'm completely useless?"
"Then what do you want to do? Absolve me of my guilt?"
"It's so vulgar, so incredibly vulgar. What I dislike most about the current laws is this one. That's why I've come to invite you to join me in doing something that transcends the law."
Li Qing looked up and stared directly at him, as if she were looking at a madman.
The man was not annoyed at all. He bent down, bowed gracefully to her, and extended a hand.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Shen Yan. I need your help with something, Miss Li Huanguang."
Before the movie ended, Qi Shuyao stormed out of the theater, threw her popcorn into the trash can, and crumpled up her ticket stub and threw it in as well.
"What a terrible movie! It has no logic at all, and the visuals are awful. It's not even as good as that movie that Bei Huisi's family made. I could have acted better than that female lead."
Qi Yu followed behind and came out. He had been sleep-deprived lately and had taken three naps in just half an hour. He only heard her say the last sentence, and then he rubbed her head from behind and made a casual joke.
"Want to enter the entertainment industry?"
"I didn't want to. I heard a lot of gossip about the entertainment industry from Sister Yunyun. It was rare to find someone I thought was good-looking, but it turned out to be a terrible person in private. After that, I stopped paying attention to the entertainment industry."
"Yeah, stay away from them."
The two continued walking, and soon after dark, they had finished exploring the entire Xianhui City. Qi Shuyao, her legs weak, collapsed into a private room on the second floor of the teahouse, rubbing her sore calves.
"Dad, where are you going? My legs are about to break."
"Take a break, there's a show coming up soon."
What program is it?
She scrambled to her feet and looked down through the small window. It was just the right time; actors had already taken to the stage on the first floor and were performing the unique drama of the Fairy Gathering.
The older actors were quite old, and their singing was somewhat incoherent and difficult to understand. There weren't many audience members either. Qi Shuyao listened for a while before realizing that they were performing the story of the Snake Goddess of the Mountain. It started as a small snake and grew up until her body coiled around the entire mountain peak. Sometimes she would transform into human form and wander in the still prosperous celestial realm, captivated by the beauty of the human world and unwilling to return home. However, she still had to face the various tribulations of ascension alone. The first time, she failed. Her tail slammed heavily onto the ground, collapsing many houses. People ran in panic, scattering in all directions. But some elderly people came forward with medicine powder, applied it to the wound, and gently stroked the snake skin.
She seemed to fail time and time again ascensions, but the residents here were no longer afraid of her and would take turns coming in to keep her company when she was injured and weak.
She was moved and gradually stopped thinking about ascending to heaven. Instead, she became a traveling doctor in the village, curing many people's chronic illnesses. Her snake heart was warmed, and she stayed in the Immortal Gathering. She coiled her body on the highest mountain peak, forever protecting the people here.
The story is told slowly, with the veteran actors moving slowly to depict scene after scene, white veils fluttering in the air, swirling around the Snake Goddess's body.
As the story neared its end, a gasp suddenly came from outside the window. Qi Shuyao turned to look outside, opened the window, and saw a huge hot air balloon flying by, slowly drifting towards a mountain peak not far away. Her phone, which was nestled in her hand, lit up silently. She looked down and saw that the time had jumped to midnight.
Huge fireworks rained down from the hot air balloon with a deafening roar, illuminating the earth from all angles and turning the night into day. The endless fireworks lit up the mountains, making them sparkle as if they were studded with countless diamonds.
Happy birthday, baby, you're eighteen now.
"Is this a birthday present for me? That's too much!"
Qi Yu didn't respond, but gestured for her to look out. The fireworks on the hot air balloon had finished and drifted to the side. The night slowly returned to calm, but in the instant that it was completely dark, the entire mountainside lit up with light at the same time.
Countless strings of lights coiled around the mountainside, illuminating the entire mountain from top to bottom. The rocks on the mountain and the pine trees in the crevices were all clearly visible. Qi Shuyao was speechless. She sat facing the mountainside, covering her mouth and staring wide-eyed at the dreamlike scene before her.
Qi Yu's voice rang in my ears.
"The Snake Goddess coils on the mountain, protecting everyone in the city. The light on this mountain shines only for you, protecting only you, so that you may be safe and sound forever."
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