rainwater
Lin Yun buried his head in a thick stack of files on the table, with Sang Zhao and Zhou Hengyan accompanying him.
At first, no matter how the two tried to persuade her to share the burden, the girl insisted on not letting them get involved. In the end, they were only persuaded to accept their help by arguing that they had carried out many missions and might be able to offer a different perspective.
"These files record that Luming Village was established 20 years ago."
With the help of the new files, Lin Yun discovered that the woman in his dream was named Xia Duo'an, the founder of Luming Village. She had come here to find her long-lost child.
"Although the villagers in the village are from different places, all of them have had a lost child."
The three of them unanimously guessed that perhaps a child trafficking gang was entrenched near Yunzhong Mountain.
At the very beginning, when she had no clue what to do, Lin Yunwang accessed all the files within her authority. She firmly believed that as long as she had enough clues, she would eventually be able to piece together the whole story.
However, at this moment, the more I try to connect the fragments, the more chaotic my thoughts become.
Just as Lin Yun was getting a headache from this mess, Sanqi rushed in, panting, and shouted, "Brother Sui is awake!"
This is fantastic news.
As soon as Lin Yun was able to walk, he went to check on Sui Yuan's injuries.
He had more than twenty sword wounds all over his body, the most fatal one being in his abdomen, where a sharp blade had almost pierced through him. It was a miracle that he survived until the villagers found him. They thought he would remain unconscious for at least several more days, but his constitution was excellent, and he recovered so quickly that he woke up today.
Lin Yunwang felt deeply guilty for suffering such a serious injury while guarding Luming Village on his behalf.
Hearing that he had woken up, I was overjoyed beyond words.
"I'll go check on him!" she exclaimed, getting up immediately.
Behind her, someone was secretly grinding their teeth to powder.
Zhou Hengyan could tell that Lin Yunwang was wary of him; otherwise, she wouldn't have been so secretive. If only Sang Zhao were present, she would have told him frankly and then naturally sought his help. Moreover, on this trip to Jizhou, she had made new, trustworthy friends. In comparison, his position as her fellow disciple had to be relegated a few places.
He couldn't help but wonder: if it had been him who accompanied her back to the village, if it had been his master who took her as his personal disciple, would everything have been different?
However, Sang Zhao was chosen to accompany him because of her superb medical skills, and Master Mingqi initially only intended to place her in the outer sect, isolating her from the outside world. As intelligent as he is, how could he not understand this? His current musings are merely idle speculation.
The more conflicted he became, the further apart he grew from Lin Yunwang.
Just like now, he was still sitting on the stool, lost in thought, while Sang Zhao followed Lin Yun to Sui Yuan's home.
When he came to his senses, he could only manage a helpless, bitter smile.
Looking towards the doorway, a figure cautiously peeked out.
It is Panax notoginseng.
She didn't go to see Suiyuan together, since she and the pharmacy staff had been by his side all along and knew his current condition very well. Therefore, after informing Yunwang, she stayed behind, with something else on her mind that she wanted to find out.
"Is Yunmei leaving here?" she asked tentatively, already knowing the answer.
Zhou Hengyan observed her discreetly, thinking to himself: This person is my junior sister's friend, I should treat her with courtesy. So he said gently, "If there is no progress in the next few days, I'm afraid we will have to set off to return to the sect."
She was a little saddened by this, but quickly composed herself and asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
These past few days, watching Lin Yun investigate the case despite her illness, she really wanted to help, but was repeatedly politely declined. She understood that it wasn't that Yunmei didn't trust her, but rather that there might be some inconvenience involved.
"Regarding Luming Village," Zhou Hengyan tapped the files on the table, "do you know anything about it? Many things aren't necessarily written down, and as outsiders, I'm sure you understand..."
"So what if he's from out of town?" Lin Yun looked at the weak young man on the bed, puzzled. "Does that mean we can't investigate him?"
She had come to visit his injuries and apologize, but before she could even begin the conversation, the two started arguing.
Sui Yuan composed himself, looking at Yun Wang with a calm and expressionless expression, and said, "Thirty years ago, you had not yet come into this world, so how could you have prevented the tragedy that had already occurred, and how could you have saved the dead?"
Moreover, after investigating for so long, even the time was...
Sang Zhao had already retreated outside the door, leaving only the two of them inside.
“I have reviewed all the files, and there is no record of a woman committing suicide by jumping into the pool. Perhaps she was insignificant, or perhaps someone deliberately erased the traces.”
"This doesn't seem to have anything to do with your mission," Sui Yuan said calmly, glancing at the bed curtains.
The two seemed to have drifted further apart because of what happened on the snowy night.
“She used to be the village chief of Luming Village,” Lin Yunwang retorted.
“Yun…Lin Yunwang, you won’t be lucky forever.” Suiyuan sighed. “You can’t be this lucky forever. Have you ever thought about how cruel it is to those who care about you to treat your own life so lightly? If it weren’t for the villagers coming up the mountain to search for you, you and I would have already lost our lives in the snowy mountains.”
“I know.” The girl always knew what she was doing. “So, I don’t ask anyone else to accompany me. Now, I only ask you to tell me what you know. As for the rest, I will do it myself.”
Lin Yun finally couldn't help but ask. She was genuinely curious, having been assigned this task and brought here with almost no prior knowledge. Everyone knew that a task as simple as described in the dossier would never fall to a disciple of the Jingyin Sect.
What were those people hiding? She didn't understand.
She had come here knowing almost nothing, and was leaving with nothing to take with her; she couldn't accept this answer. Yet, she felt powerless. Who would believe that she could deduce buried secrets here based solely on fragmented memories and the cries of countless women?
Seeing that Sui Yuan remained silent, Lin Yun became somewhat anxious and pressed him for an answer: "What exactly are you afraid of?"
"The end result is that you die silently in some desolate corner."
"That's better than me repeatedly witnessing other people's breakdowns."
"You're too stubborn." Sui Yuan couldn't persuade her otherwise. "Let me tell you a story."
Many years ago, someone took a woman's child. She was too weak to resist or argue back. She could only turn to her husband for help, but he said, "Everyone gives up their child," and our family should set an example.
Amidst the cries of her young child, the child was taken away. A cold-hearted husband, missing relatives, and the forcibly taken child drove her insane.
Three years after the child was taken away, an unexpected guest arrived at the home. That day, all the lights in the house were on, making it as bright as day, except for her bedroom, which remained dark.
"The mysterious person told her that her body was still in Jeju."
Sui Yuan stopped talking and looked at Lin Yunwang with a sorrowful gaze.
The girl asked uncertainly, "Is this child you?"
The young man did not answer, but said, "I don't know what happened after that. I came here not just for this matter. As for the rest, you should go and find out for yourself, just as you said earlier."
This tragic story saddened Lin Yunwang, but he also keenly noticed something strange: "The story that the residents of Qingfeng Town kept so secret happened 30 years ago, while this woman only came to Qingfeng Town 20 years ago."
"This falls under the rest of the category."
Suiyuan lay down and closed his eyes to rest.
Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, Lin Yunwang had no choice but to take his leave: "Take good care of your injuries, and leave the rest to me."
Stepping outside, he met Sang Zhao's gaze, who had been waiting for him for a long time, and asked, "Any new clues?"
"There are no clues, but there are even more mysteries."
The footsteps outside faded into the distance, while inside, Sui Yuan suddenly opened his eyes.
The thief on the rooftop landed gracefully at just the right moment.
He clapped his hands and said, "What excellent acting! If I hadn't conspired with you on this matter a few days ago, I would have almost shed a tear of sympathy for you."
Sui Yuan lifted the quilt and walked lightly to the window to observe Lin Yunwang's movements. Only when he saw that she had indeed gone far away and had no intention of returning did he feel relieved.
"A little wary, but not much. If she had remained loyal to you, she wouldn't have become a pawn." What was meant as a sigh took on a smug tone in the mysterious man's mouth. "She trusted you so much, does she regret it at all?"
"She walks through the world, unable to recognize people or discern right from wrong, and has no one to blame but herself."
"Indeed. If she has a grievance, it should be her own ill-timed sense of justice and the person who sent her here."
Upon hearing this, Sui Yuan frowned slightly. "No wonder no one wants to go on missions with you. You talk too much nonsense, it's annoying to listen to. Have you investigated the barrier?"
"Do we even need to investigate? A barrier of that scale could only have been created by that person."
The mysterious man seemed to be lost in thought when he suddenly clapped his hands. "No wonder she looked familiar. Interesting, truly interesting."
Sui Yuan turned his head to look at him strangely.
"This is Feng Cong's sister. The person he swore to protect with his life, yet his colleagues dragged him back into the bureau. I wonder what his expression will be when he finds out about this? And how will he hunt you down?" The gloating was even stronger.
“He can’t come to Jeju,” Sui Yuan said coldly. “Besides, only the two of us know about this, so how could he possibly know?”
He drew his sword from who-knows-where and pressed it against the mysterious man's throat.
"Don't ruin your master's grand plan for your own pleasure."
"Of course I know." The mysterious man moved the sword aside with his fingers. "What right do you, a dog that begs for food everywhere, have to talk to me like that?"
In a split second, he touched Suiyuan's wound, poked it hard, and the flesh tore open again. "Take good care of your wound and don't bark."
Rain fell from the sky.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
"heavy rain."
Then, the sound of sudden rain outside the window rose clearly and violently, like someone crying out in anguish.
Seeing that his prediction was correct, the person playing against Qiming Immortal Venerable smiled slightly, revealing a hint of self-satisfaction. However, in an instant, the situation on the chessboard changed dramatically, the roles of offense and defense were reversed, and Qiming had regained the upper hand.
Ultimately, the game ended in defeat for the complacent player.
"You will go to Jeju in person."
"Are you still going?"
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