Once everyone left, Xu Yuehuai noticed that Qi Guze's face looked rather dark.
She didn't know why for a moment, but she still picked up the food in her hand, walked over, handed it to the person, and said with a smile, "Here, have something to eat first."
"Now that Zhang Ting is under the control of Marquis Ningyuan, this is all I can tell him. I'll go and burn incense for you more often, and I think Buddha won't hold it against me for 'cursing' you."
Despite these words, Qi Guze's expression did not improve.
Now Xu Yuehuai was even more curious and couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"
"Ah Yue, if I really get into trouble in the Ministry of Justice prison, will you lose your appetite?" Qi Guze asked.
Xu Yuehuai's smile froze instantly. She had never thought about this, let alone dared to think about it.
Looking at the determination in Qi Guze's eyes, she knew that he wasn't joking and genuinely wanted to know the answer to the question, which made her feel even heavier.
She shook her head, her eyes filled with determination: "Qi Guze, I don't want you to talk about this again in the future. You are living well now, and you will live well in the future."
As soon as she finished speaking, tears were clearly welling up in her eyes.
Upon seeing this, Qi Guze immediately stopped asking questions and instead reached out to pat her head before changing the subject: "Where did you find those things from before? I think we have to go there."
"What's going on? Are those letters...?" Xu Yuehuai lowered her voice.
Qi Guze quickly told her what had happened, but seeing her brows furrowed, he immediately sensed something was wrong and asked, "What's wrong with that place?"
"That place is very strange. If we go there, we might alert the enemy." Xu Yuehua hesitated for a moment.
She still remembered the strangeness of Jinhe Village and the lessons she had taught the people there. If she were to rush over there again, she feared it would provoke their revenge.
Qi Guze was also in a dilemma, but in any case, that place was the only clue at present.
Xu Yuehuai was stunned for a moment, then immediately raised her head and smiled, "But it's not a big deal. Since there are clues there, let's go and take a look. It's better than being a headless fly."
After finalizing the arrangements, the two headed towards Jinhe Village.
However, the scene in Jinhe Village was completely different from what Xu Yuehuai remembered.
The once bustling village is now a desolate sight. It's late at night, but not a single house in the village has lit a lamp, making it look particularly eerie.
Only a few crows occasionally pass by, cawing loudly as if to say they are the masters of this place.
"Do people here all go to bed this early?" Tie Xiong muttered to himself.
Upon hearing this, Xu Yuehuai and Qi Guze exchanged a glance. Neither of them spoke, but they both sensed that the other was likely to meet with bad luck.
It's likely that every village is like this: when people are around, it's bustling and peaceful. But if only the houses remain and all the people have disappeared, it naturally becomes exceptionally terrifying.
It was alright during the day, but at night it became even more frightening.
Zhang Ting is in this state now. Xu Yuehuai originally wanted to find Qi Guze and Tie Xiong to meet up, but he has been dealing with Zhang Ting for a long time.
This time, she wasn't faking it; she was genuinely timid, especially in this environment. Even the occasional bird call terrified her, making her feel like she was seeing threats everywhere.
"Manager Xu, please sleep with me."
"Manager Xu, I'm begging you, I'll kneel down and beg you, please don't leave me here alone."
"Manager Xu, I pretended to be sick that day, but you insisted on putting me on the carriage, so you can't leave me here alone today."
...
She became more and more agitated as she spoke, even revealing that she had been faking her illness, which left Xu Yuehuai both amused and exasperated.
However, she had important business to attend to, so she couldn't keep bothering her.
"Okay, I won't leave. I'll stay here and sleep with you. Lie down first." As Xu Yuehuai spoke, he took advantage of Zhang Ting's momentary lapse in attention and struck her on the head. He had learned this trick from Tie Xiong, and it was said to be foolproof, capable of knocking someone unconscious in an instant.
However, it seems to be directed at Tetsuo himself.
Looking at Zhang Ting, who was still conscious, Xu Yuehuai was at her wits' end. Seeing the questioning look in Zhang Ting's eyes, she hurriedly took out a silver needle and inserted it. Zhang Ting felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier, and then she fell into a deep sleep.
She breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly went to find Qi Guze and the other person.
After they reunited, Tie Xiong leaned over and asked, "Manager Xu, why did it take so long? Was my trick not working?"
Xu Yuehuai raised an eyebrow, not wanting to pay attention to Tie Xiong, but after thinking for a moment, she replied, "It works every time!"
Tie Xiong, however, failed to catch the sarcasm in her words and went ahead to scout the way with a smile.
Xu Yuehuai led them to the volcanic cave where the letter had been found last time, but found complicated footprints outside the cave entrance.
Her heart skipped a beat. After going inside to check, she found that everything inside had been burned.
"Damn it, someone discovered we were investigating. There's probably nothing left here," Xu Yuehuai said, sitting down abruptly on the ground.
"Tie Xiong, search the area the way we want, and see if we can find anything," Qi Guze instructed after looking around.
"Yes, Your Highness." Tie Xiong accepted the order and left.
"Your method?" Xu Yuehuai asked upon hearing this.
"Soldiers who go to war are bound to be ordered to search for things, so they naturally look more carefully than ordinary people," Qi Guze waved his hand dismissively.
Xu Yuehua nodded and didn't ask any more questions. "Shaoqing, Tie Xiong came back with a dark face, a really dark face, his face was covered in ashes."
"Your Highness, we've found this."
Qi Guze took it, dusted off the ashes, and carefully examined it before saying, "It's from the Ningyuan Marquis's residence."
"Marquis Ningyuan?" Xu Yuehuai was shocked to hear this. He never expected that after all the twists and turns, the question would fall on him again.
"Judging from this, he might know even more, otherwise he wouldn't have destroyed this place," Qi Guze analyzed.
"You mean..." Xu Yuehuai had a guess in her mind.
"He might even know that Princess Chu Chu has given birth to a child, or even know who the child is," Qi Guze nodded in reply.
He only said this much, but one person immediately popped into everyone's mind—A-Qi.
“Since Marquis Ningyuan is going to gamble, he would never gamble with the son of a country bumpkin,” Xu Yuehuai said. “Let’s go, let’s go to the Underworld Moon Kingdom.”
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