Chapter 47: Worried "Xue Zhiying, I caught her again."...
"Master Xiao, Master Xiao, today's incident..."
Lord Lin's voice was left behind and could no longer be heard in an instant.
No one knew what had happened and why Xiao Yunqi suddenly changed his expression and left in a hurry.
Xiao Yunqi rode back to the mansion on horseback. There were several people waiting at the door. When they heard the sound of horse hooves, their backs trembled and they didn't dare to look up.
He dismounted and strode forward.
"Master, I followed your instructions and took someone to prepare breakfast for my cousin. I was gone for less than an incense stick of time, and when I returned to the room, she was nowhere to be seen."
"Is there no one guarding the door?"
"...It was during the rotation, so it only took a moment."
In short, the room was empty for a moment, the guards took their turns, the maids prepared the meal, and in the blink of an eye, everyone disappeared.
Xiao Yunqi's eyes were dark and his expression was terrifying, but he actually didn't want to have any gloomy emotions.
Entering the main house, everything was the same as before he left, without any changes.
Even the bag she carried with her, the dirty clothes he took away when she combed his hair, and even the small clothes hanging on the windowsill of the bathing room were still left here.
How does this mean that she ran away instead of just going out?
But she had just told him this morning that she didn't want to go out, and no one knew where she had gone.
Xiao Yunqi found it difficult to remain calm, and his eyes quickly searched the house for any note she might have left to inform him of her whereabouts.
But he did not find the note, but instead discovered a gap next to her slightly open bag.
That was where she had kept her purse.
Xiao Yunqi's eyebrows suddenly twitched.
Even though he really didn't want to be nervous like a frightened bird about something without any basis, his heart couldn't help but think in that direction.
"Dispatch personnel to the east and west gates of Nanhuai City. Find out the direction she left the city and immediately pursue her."
"Yes, Master."
Xiao Yunqi immediately set off for the South City Gate.
It was almost noon, and an hour had passed since he left the house.
According to the servants in the mansion, she left almost as soon as he left.
One hour was enough for even her to go far away.
But so what.
If he could get her back once, he could get her back again.
No matter how many times.
He had already told her that he would not let her leave him.
She should know that if it happened again, he would really punish her.
Mu Yan did not travel the same way as Xiao Yunqi.
When he got the news and rode south at full speed to report, he saw Xiao Yunqi standing in front of the guards at the south gate with a violent expression on his face, and he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
He rarely saw Xiao Yunqi like this.
The two recent times were both because of my cousin’s departure.
If this was really the second time the cousin had escaped from him.
His rage would only be greater than the first time.
But the matter has not been concluded yet, so he can still suppress his anger.
Mu Yan took a deep breath and hurried over.
Xiao Yunqi looked over immediately when he heard footsteps.
"Master, we found a record of our cousin leaving the city at the west gate."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yunqi set off and strode towards his horse.
Mu Yan's expression changed, and he hurried over and said quickly, "Master, the West Gate is the main gate of Nanhuai. The roads outside the city are well connected, so we are still unsure where our cousin went after leaving the city."
"If you're not sure, go check! Send a few people in each direction to gather information. Two girls going out alone should be easy to identify. Someone must have seen them."
Xiao Yunqi climbed onto his horse, his brows furrowed tightly, unable to relax.
He clenched his hands so tightly that veins popped out on the backs of his hands, and suddenly asked, "Is there a road leading to the famous scenic spots in Nanhuai from the west city gate?"
Mu Yan lowered his eyes and was silent for a moment before saying, "No, the west gate leads away from Nanhuai. Once you leave the city, there are no more views."
Xiao Yunqi tightened his lips, shook the reins, and the horse galloped towards the west gate.
*
When Xue Zhiying arrived at the foot of the mountain, he felt that he had been cheated.
No, it should be Chuntao who was deceived.
She hesitated and said, "Chun Tao, are you sure the temple you heard about is on this mountain?"
"It should be... right." Chuntao said in a daze.
She looked around and saw an old man passing by, so she hurried to look for him.
"Old man, is Hanshan Temple in this direction?"
Chuntao pointed to the road up the mountain.
The old man was stunned, not knowing whether it was because of his age that made him slow to react or for some other reason.
After a while, he nodded and said, "Yes, Hanshan Temple is halfway up the mountain."
Xue Zhiying stood a few steps away, looking at the old man's expression, and always felt that something was strange.
But after Chuntao got the exact answer, she happily thanked the old man and ran towards her: "Girl, we are not wrong, we are on this mountain!"
When Xue Zhiying raised her eyes again, the old man had already walked away with the basket on his back.
"Well, now that we're at the foot of the mountain, let's go up the mountain, right?"
It was past noon and the two of them had just bought some food on the way here to fill their stomachs. Although they had not had a proper meal, they did not feel hungry.
However, both of them grew up in the house and never left the house. They were very excited when talking about things like mountain climbing, but they started to pant after walking a short distance.
Chun Tao couldn't help but whisper, "If we had taken the mansion's carriage out, we would have been able to ride up the mountain by now."
Although the mountain road is long, it is wide and can accommodate carriages.
But because they went out alone, they did not tell the servants of the mansion and did not take the carriage.
Xue Zhiying rented a car at the street corner. The driver took them all the way out of the city gate and let them get off at the foot of the mountain. So they not only had to walk up the mountain by themselves, but also had to go down the mountain by themselves later.
Xue Zhiying was also exhausted, her waist and legs aching. She stopped to catch her breath and asked, "Why don't we turn back and go down the mountain before we get too far?"
“…Ah?” Chuntao opened her mouth.
In her opinion, if she went down the mountain now, all the effort she had put in along the way would be in vain.
Xue Zhiying understood her expression and laughed, "Just kidding. Let's go. It's only halfway up the mountain. We can go up."
Chun Tao walked beside Xue Zhiying, and after thinking for a while with her simple mind, she couldn't help but ask, "Miss, why didn't you tell anyone that we were going out today? If the eldest master came back and asked, wouldn't he have no idea where we were going?"
"Why should you let him know?" Xue Zhiying asked instead of answering, her tone very relaxed.
Chun Tao was puzzled and only said what she could think of: "If they didn't know where we were going, they would look for us everywhere. If they couldn't find us, they would definitely be anxious."
Xue Zhiying nodded in agreement: "Then I was not careful. I should have told someone before leaving."
"After all, we just wanted to come and see the temple in Nanhuai, didn't we?"
"...It seems so." Chuntao was still a little confused.
She always felt that Xue Zhiying's words had another meaning, but she couldn't understand it.
The two continued to walk up the mountain road, and after a while they finally saw a dilapidated temple at the winding part of the mountain road.
Xue Zhiying: “…”
"Why, why is this happening?"
Xue Zhiying now recalled the subtle expression of the old man at the foot of the mountain, and finally understood what he meant.
Chuntao was really cheated.
The walls of the temple in front of me were leaking, the roof tiles were broken, and the surrounding area was overgrown with weeds. I could hardly even see the way inside.
This place had obviously been abandoned for a long time, so it was no wonder that they didn't see a single person on the way up the mountain.
However, that was not all. They had not noticed anything when they were walking on the mountain path shaded by trees, but now that the sky above their heads had opened up, they saw that the sky had become gloomy at some point, and it looked like it was going to rain.
"Girl..." Chuntao pouted, feeling aggrieved and guilty.
Xue Zhiying comforted her: "It's okay, the mountain scenery along the way is excellent, the air on the mountain is fresh and natural, it's nice to just go hiking."
If it were someone else, these words might not have been of any use, but Chuntao was easy to coax, and she felt relieved instantly when she heard these words.
Xue Zhiying said, "It's going to rain. Let's go to the temple to take shelter."
Although the abandoned temple is dilapidated, it still provides shelter.
As soon as you enter the temple, the first thing you see is a tall stone statue of a woman, with a blurred face. From the dusty appearance, it is impossible to tell who the statue is.
The rain started to fall quickly, with a heavy downpour that hit the old bricks and tiles of the temple, making a dense dripping sound.
Xue Zhiying looked at the rain curtain outside the temple in silence, feeling a little melancholy.
She didn't run away, she just created the illusion of running away.
Her original intention was to maliciously turn the tables on Xiao Yunqi after he found her, so as to dispel his vigilance against her intention to escape and allow her to find an opportunity to truly leave.
However, the melancholy at this moment came from the possibility that Xiao Yunqi had not looked for her.
Xue Zhiying didn't like this emotion, but it kept growing in her heart.
If Xiao Yunqi stopped looking for her, it would be exactly what she wanted. She could leave with Chuntao, after all, she would have the money with her.
But when she left the Xiao Mansion, she never thought about who would look for her.
She even thought pessimistically about Xiao Yuanxiang. They had only known each other for a short time and had been friends for a short time, but this concern might gradually dissipate as she left the Xiao Mansion.
Just like her mother, she seemed to have forgotten her, had another child, and gradually stopped writing to her.
So when Xiao Yunqi appeared in front of her in Ningzhou, she felt a mixture of shock and panic.
During the years that Xue Zhiying grew up, she hardly ever experienced the feeling of being cared for by others.
She vaguely remembered the first letter she received from her mother when she first arrived at the Xiao Mansion.
Coincidentally, it was her birthday. She was so happy that she couldn't wait to open the letter.
She thought that she must have missed her mother very much at that time, and hoped that her mother could convey her longing to her in the letter like she did.
But her mother's letter was very short, just a few sentences, reminding her to behave herself in the Xiao Mansion, and nothing else.
In the following years, there were very few letters, and sometimes it would take a whole year to get a reply.
Gradually, as she grew older, she came to understand that her mother had her own life and was sending her to a new life.
She did not feel her mother's concern for her, and she no longer looked forward to hearing from her mother.
But she didn't like the new life her mother had sent her into.
She was equally lonely in the Xiao Mansion. She had no right to ask for care from the elders and peers who were strangers to her in the Xiao Mansion, nor did she want to be sent to another mansion where she would not be cared for.
So she saved herself, she left.
Xiao Yunqi chased her all the way to find her and tried to take her away forcefully.
He had clearly blocked her plans and ruined the new life she was about to find.
She shamefully felt secretly delighted for a moment, thinking that someone actually cared about her leaving.
Although she was still clearly aware that it was because her deception and exploitation angered this usually arrogant man.
But at this moment, she found herself feeling a little reluctant to let go of even this twisted memory.
It seems a bit ridiculous.
She is really greedy.
I want freedom, but I also want to belong.
Both were things she had never had.
She inevitably developed a desire for it.
The rain in Xue Zhiying's eyes kept falling.
The rain should have been reflected in her eyes, but she hid under the eaves, but her cheeks were inexplicably wet.
My wet eyelashes trembled slightly, and suddenly I heard the chaotic sound of horse hooves mixed with the sound of rain.
Her vision was a little blurry, and she looked in the direction of the sound, but could not see anything clearly.
The sound of horse hooves gradually approached, and a black shadow appeared in the hazy vision, leaping down from a height and striding towards him.
Even if you can't see clearly, you can still feel a strong sense of oppression.
Xiao Yunqi was covered in water, his face was cold and stern, and he strode to Xue Zhiying with anger in his heart.
A drop of water dripped from his brow, and his hand, which was raised to grab her, paused in mid-air.
In the blink of an eye, Xue Zhiying saw a cold finger placed across her cheek, catching a tear that had fallen.
The face of the man nearby gradually became clear in her eyes.
Xiao Yunqi's fingers wiped away the wet mark, and his movements could almost be described as gentle.
He lowered his head slightly, looked at the tearful face in front of him, and said in a low voice, "Crying is useless."
"Xue Zhiying, I caught you again."
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