Deep mountains and old forests
After bidding farewell to Lin Shu, Su Liu took Qi Fengling and Ji He and traveled lightly to the residence of the last duke in Taocheng territory.
This time, Su Liu handed over the visiting card given to him by the king, but strangely, the servant at the door actually gave Su Liu and Ji He a hiking stick each.
"What do you mean?" Su Liu's dynamic vision couldn't penetrate the natural barrier of the Duke's Mansion. He pondered the terrain and looked at Qi Fengling hesitantly, "She doesn't live in the mountains, does she?"
The smile in Qi Fengling's eyes seemed to be unable to be concealed, and he was obviously aware of this.
"Did you do this on purpose?" Su Liu threw his and Ji He's hiking poles to Qi Fengling and said with a forced smile, "You are responsible for carrying us up. We are not climbing this mountain."
Qi Fengling caught the trekking pole Su Liu threw over and said kindly, "Climb for a while by yourselves. If you get really tired, I'll carry you up, okay?"
As he said that, he stuffed the trekking pole into Su Liu's hand.
"City Lord, I can climb the mountain," Ji He took the initiative to come over and take back his own.
Su Liu gritted her teeth and glared at Qi Fengling, whispering, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? If you had told me earlier, I would have changed into a looser set of clothes. Really?"
"This dress looks very beautiful on you," Qi Fengling put his arm around Su Liu's waist, his eyes full of admiration.
"Next time, make me some clothes suitable for sports. These ones you made are so exquisite." Su Liu was wearing the clothes made for him by Qi Fengling. The moment he put them on, Su Liu didn't even want to go out for fear of getting them dirty.
"Yes, Lord Su Liu," Qi Fengling whispered in Su Liu's ear.
Ji He, who was standing by, was chatting with the servant while holding a trekking pole, and pretending with a smile that he didn't eat the candy that Su Liu threw to him.
After walking up a small stone staircase slowly, the mountain road began to reveal its grandeur and ruggedness.
At the beginning, Su Liu and Ji He walked and talked, and the trekking pole felt like a burden in their hands.
Later...they had to rely on trekking poles to move forward.
"How far is it? Why can't we see the end?" Su Liu's physical fitness was actually quite good, but Ji He was so tired that he had to be carried on Qi Fengling's back.
Qi Fengling kept saying things like "it's almost there", which sounded perfunctory, but the corners of his mouth were raised, as if he was waiting for Su Liu to surrender.
"We've been climbing for over two hours, and there's not even a shadow of a person on the mountain?" Su Liu leaned on his trekking pole, placed a handkerchief on the stone steps, and sat down to rest. The wind blew him, dressed in moon-white clothes, like a fairy in the forest, but this fairy seemed weak and powerless. "If I were the Duke's enemy, I would have completely wiped out all my complaints by the time I saw her after I finished climbing the mountain."
Qi Fengling looked ahead and saw a pavilion not far away, so he put Ji He down from his back in the pavilion and went down to look for Su Liu.
"Let me see," Qi Fengling squatted down to show Su Liu's feet, "Is your foot okay?"
Su Liu moved her toes and felt fine, so she said, "Don't worry, it's nothing serious. The blisters probably occurred because of the uncomfortable shoes I wore last time."
"Then I'll carry you up, and we'll sit there for a while, eat something, and then climb again?" Qi Fengling discussed with Su Liu in a gentle voice.
Su Liu sighed, "Okay then."
Then he put his arms around Qi Fengling's neck and let Qi Fengling carry him up.
They watched the scenery in the pavilion, ate some snacks, drank some water, and chatted calmly. After about an hour, more people came up one after another, and they all seemed to be humans.
These people were exhausted after walking here.
Su Liu asked in a low voice: "What are these people doing here?"
Qi Fengling explained, "Because of a rumor, it is said that Pan Xuesun, the First Duke of Taocheng, once said that as long as anyone is willing to cross mountains and rivers to see her, she will provide assistance to those who ask for help, no matter how difficult it is."
"Why didn't she tell us that the mountain was so high?" Su Liu scolded in a low voice.
"There were many more people coming here in the past, but only a few could climb the mountain on their own, and it was not safe to spend the night on the mountain. Later, not many people came here," said Qi Fengling.
"In other words, those who have the perseverance to climb the mountain are prepared to die?" Su Liu was surprised. After all, human beings have limited physical strength and energy. Those who can persist to this altitude most of them have some basic skills. But even so, there is no guarantee that they can see the Duke before dark. The night is full of dangers for humans. Apart from the wild beasts in the mountains, there is no guarantee that vampires will not take the opportunity to kill people.
It takes great courage for humans to seek help from vampires.
"What are you here for?" Ji He had already started chatting with these latecomers. Su Liu found it hard to imagine that the shy Ji He had such a side to him.
There were three people who came, and they were all human Omegas.
Among them was one man and two women.
When these people came closer and saw the appearance of Su Liu and the others, they were stunned. It seemed that they had never seen such a beautiful face.
After being stunned for a long while, they wiped their sweat, sat next to Ji He, and talked about what they wanted.
"My father is a gambler. In order to get the betrothal gift from the Alpha as soon as possible, he forced me to marry an old, ugly but wealthy Alpha," the male Omega among them spoke first.
"You're not bad looking, so you don't have to marry that kind of person, right? Aren't there any younger men with a good family background?" A female Omega next to him took the lychee handed over by Ji He, thanked him, and joined the conversation.
"My father thinks I'm ugly and old, almost 30, and the family is in debt, so he can't give me anything. So Omegas like me can only be sold at a low price. He also said I'm an ugly thing. In a few days, no one will want me even if I sell it at a low price," said the male Omega dejectedly.
"Why doesn't he look at himself in the mirror? Who got his family into debt? He says you are ugly, but is he handsome himself? You should ask him back, isn't it because he is ugly that lowers your appearance? You haven't even called him ugly yet, but he actually despises you?" Another female Omega was very angry. She obviously had a similar family background to this Omega, which is why she resonated so emotionally.
"My name is Ji He. What are your names?" Ji He distributed lychees to the people and took the initiative to introduce them. "This is my master and his fiancé."
These people then gave Su Liu and Qi Fengling polite smiles.
The aura around Su Liu was too strong, and her face looked like someone who could not be desecrated. Although these people were stunned by what they saw before, they did not dare to get close to Su Liu.
Relatively speaking, although Ji He is beautiful, he is not aggressive and is obviously more suitable to be approached.
They didn't look at each other for long and soon gathered together to talk with Ji He.
"My name is Xiaoling, she is Ruoshui, and this beautiful sister is Ji Bai," the male Omega said, pointing at the second female Omega who spoke.
Ji He was stunned for a moment, and looked at the female Omega carefully for a while. For some reason, he always felt that this person looked a bit like his mother. "Surname Ji, which Ji?"
"Ji of the century," the female Omega named Ji Bai was confused. "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"I have the same surname as you. Do you also take your mother's surname?" Ji He felt inexplicably nervous. He calmed down and asked carefully.
"No, I have the same surname as my father. Although my mother's surname is also Ji, she is a concubine bought by my father. Strictly speaking, it can't be said that I have my mother's surname," Ji Bai explained seriously.
"Concubine?" Ji He muttered to himself. He lowered his head and thought for a while. He seemed to understand something and suddenly raised his head and asked, "What's your father's name?"
"That man has abandoned his wife and children to become a vampire. Why should I care about him? I heard a few days ago that he died. It seems that he was in another duke's manor in Taocheng. The duke's mansion even sent someone to ask me, wanting me, his only daughter left in the world, to collect his body. I said I don't know him! Why should I collect his body? Does he deserve it? People like him should just be burned to death, clean it up!" Ji Bai said hatefully.
Ji He held Ji Bai's hand and whispered, "Sister."
Ji Bai suddenly thought of something. After a moment of hesitation, he held Ji He's hand with tears in his eyes, "You are also..." the child of that stinky Alpha?
Ji He nodded gently with tears in his eyes.
Then the two checked some details and finally found out that he and she were actually siblings with the same father and mother.
"I should have been our mother's firstborn child. Omegas like me weren't even human, but commodities he used to curry favor with the rich and powerful. When I was sixteen, he sold me to a wealthy family for a high price. Although they weren't rich and powerful, they did live a good life. They treated me well at first, too. I was so stupid back then that I was actually a little grateful to him for finding such a good family for me."
However, people and goods are different after all.
Even though she was his legally married wife, Ji Bai still had no human rights.
No one cares what she says or how she feels.
"My husband is dead. He was poisoned to death by his brother. That Alpha has been touching me since the day I came home. He has no respect for me at all. He even said that I was a bitch that their family bought at a high price just to sleep with him. It's so disgusting. My dead husband didn't care either. He smiled and told me not to worry about it. His brother was still young and was just joking with me... But how could it be a joke?" When she said this, Ji Bai's voice choked a little. She covered her face and cried. Whenever she thought of this experience, it was like an old scar being torn open again.
Ji He hugged his sister and said, "Stop talking."
Perhaps Ji He's comfort gave Ji Bai more courage. She stopped crying and continued, "He blocked me several times while my husband was away. Maybe because I didn't agree, he actually...actually poisoned his brother, just to get me."
There was some guilt and deep fear in Ji Bai's tone.
"What does this have to do with you?" Ruoshui, another female Omega, couldn't stand it any longer. "Are they crying thief and then accusing you of being the cause of trouble?"
Ji Bai's eyes made everyone understand that Ruoshui's guess was right.
"How shameless," Xiaoling said indignantly.
"If I don't obey him, he will sell me to the deep mountains and forests, find me the ugliest and most vulgar old man, and trap me in that remote place for the rest of my life." Ji Bai said while wiping away tears.
"Can my uncle buy and sell my brother's wife at will?" Su Liu didn't understand and whispered to Qi Fengling.
"If my brother and sister-in-law don't have an Alpha child, in order to prevent the family inheritance from being encroached upon by outsiders, the uncles in the clan can deal with this widow at will." Qi Fengling nodded.
"...The king's rule?" Su Liu clenched his fists in anger.
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