fellow disciples
"What time is it and you're still joking around, Xiao Jian? How could you be broke? How could your husband's family not know about something this big?"
Meng Yan looked back at her, and her aunt, who had spoken, realized she had let something slip and quickly covered her face to avoid looking at her.
After gesturing wildly, she discussed her terms with them, saying she would wait until the funeral was over before withdrawing the money, which was met with opposition from the crowd.
"Who can say for sure? What if you turn your back on us and run away after the funeral? Where will we find you then?"
"Besides, it's not just the funeral expenses; just bringing you back cost us a lot more money. Otherwise, how could the affairs of ordinary people reach the ears of high-ranking officials?"
Seeing that things had come to a head, the relatives stopped pretending and laid out the facts, standing by the door with their hands outstretched.
Although Meng Yan had long guessed that things would develop to this point, with the funeral in progress and the deceased to be respected, she did not expect that they would still be able to speak up.
She and her mother should have been looking straight at each other, separated by only one road, yet so many people had cut in between them.
I searched the entire courtyard, but the two figures that should have appeared were nowhere to be seen.
"Stop looking." The weasel-faced man shouted at the door, pointing to the main room, "Your father and sister, as your closest relatives, are seeing you off at the coffin. Who's like you, whose own mother is gone and can't even get in the door!"
Meng Yan's fists clenched so tightly they cracked. She hadn't brought any money, but she hadn't brought anything else. If it weren't for her mother's desire for her to leave peacefully after witnessing this chaotic life for most of her life, she would have stormed out today and never been trapped outside the gate.
In the silence, she looked up and closed her eyes briefly, taking a few breaths to catch her breath before wearily opening them again.
I should be able to make it back in time if I go back to the valley and then come back. It's just that I'll have less time to talk to my mother, but it's better than nothing.
She picked up the umbrella hanging by the wall, soaked with rainwater. Several loud bangs came from the sky, and the rain seemed to be heavier than before, making her heart churn.
Just as he was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly saw his relatives overjoyed, their eyes wide as they rushed towards the door.
"Yan Yan".
A soft voice came from the rain, as if it were from a great distance. Meng Yan, holding an umbrella, paused slightly, then slowly turned around behind the crowd and caught sight of Yue Lang, who was surrounded by people.
He looked at himself and saw many people among them, but he couldn't see their expressions clearly, only their tightly furrowed brows.
For a moment, Meng Yan thought she had caught a fever from being in the rain, until he pushed through the crowd and approached her, and the noise moved to her side, and she realized that what was in front of her was reality.
Yue Lang didn't speak again, but the servants beside him went to greet the relatives.
Meng Yan took a closer look and realized that these were not servants at all, but his junior brothers from his sect, all dressed as servants and carrying brocade and jewels.
"Xiao Jian, your aunt knew you loved to joke. If I had told you that my nephew-in-law was following behind, we would have all sat down and had some hot tea. We wouldn't have needed to stand in this cold wind."
Yue Lang and Shan Zhi said, "Yan Yan is my junior sister."
"Don't be so formal with your junior sister. We're all family, no need to be so formal."
A junior apprentice dressed as a steward stepped out from the group of servants, interrupting her useless marriage proposal. He gestured with his hand to the treasures scattered on the ground, too lazy to even lift his eyelids, and said, "Where are these things? Please lead the way."
While everyone hesitated and discussed, Yue Lang pulled Meng Yan up and strode into the courtyard. He lowered his voice and said quickly, "I overheard about your family situation before I came and guessed that you left in a hurry, so I had no choice but to resort to this measure. We'll discuss the mistakes later. You should deal with the important matters first."
Meng Yan nodded, then pulled him forcefully and led him towards the main room. Suddenly, the force caused Yue Lang's umbrella to tilt, but he quickly straightened it and placed it over Meng Yan's head.
The two stepped across the rain-soaked ground and stopped in front of the house. The candlelight in the main room shone from the threshold onto the table inside, but was disturbed by the wind they brought and veered inwards.
Inside the room, Lin Yun was kneeling on the ground, while Lin Yu was resting with his head resting on a chair. Upon hearing the noise, he looked towards the door.
Yue Lang was a stranger, and he was completely hidden by the umbrella, so they couldn't recognize him at first, but they had been waiting for Meng Yan for a long time.
"Xiao Jian, this must be your son-in-law!" Lin Yu straightened up, supporting himself on the chair, and winked at Lin Yun, who was on the ground.
Lin Yun hurriedly stood up from the ground, her legs went numb and she stumbled forward. Just as she was about to fall on Yue Lang, Meng Yan reached out and pulled her back. Yue Lang then turned to the side and avoided behind Meng Yan. The chaotic scene was easily brought under control.
"Sister, brother-in-law," Lin Yun said, lowering her head to avoid him.
“Please be careful with your words, both of you. Yan Yan joined our school three years ago, and we are fellow disciples. I saw that she left something behind in her haste, so I came to return it to her.”
Lin Yu coughed awkwardly twice, walked outside and chatted with Yue Lang. Lin Yun obediently followed behind the two. The house was empty, but the area under the eaves was unusually crowded.
Yue Lang ignored the Lin father and daughter who were brushing against him and said to Meng Yan, "Yan Yan, go inside. I'll keep watch outside. Contact me anytime if you need anything."
The implication was that he should keep Lin Yu and Lin Yun occupied, giving her and her mother some alone time.
This was exactly what Lin Yu wanted to do. He quickly gestured towards the empty room where the candlelight flickered, "Yes, Xiao Jian, you and your mother are the closest. Didn't you want to spend more time with her? Go quickly, after tonight, it will be..."
Before he could finish speaking, Meng Yan nodded slightly to Yue Lang, then turned and stepped into the house.
The room was silent, save for the sound of the wind passing by the window and the occasional whispers of voices. As the candlelight flickered, Meng Yan slowly knelt before the coffin, afraid of accidentally extinguishing it.
She doesn't need to worry about anything when she speaks her mind; since she can't make a sound, she's not afraid of being overheard.
Several times the wind blew, and layers of wax accumulated on the ground. She and the coffin remained quietly watching, just as when she entered.
The sound of a door closing came from behind him. Before Meng Yan could turn around, he heard the person say softly, "Everyone has left, so you can rest assured."
After saying that, Yue Lang walked to the window and looked up at the sky. A light drizzle was still falling, and there should have been a full moon there.
Meng Yan knew that Yue Lang felt he was disturbing them, but given their current status, he had no choice but to come to the house to accompany the person and the coffin as a close relative on behalf of his sect. If he hadn't been in such a hurry at the time, he wouldn't have had to trouble him to put on this show.
The rain intensified from light to heavy, then gradually stopped, until finally only the lingering raindrops from the eaves pattered on the stones.
The knocking startled the two people inside. The moment Yue Lang heard the sound, he strode towards the door, restoring peace to the room.
Lin Yu came to persuade people to rest. He only persuaded Yue Lang, glanced at Meng Yan's back, and told her to stay with her mother a little longer.
Knowing that his identity was false, Yue Lang could not linger in front of the coffin, so he knelt down beside Meng Yan, briefly explained his whereabouts after the ceremony, and then went to another room with Lin Yu.
.
The rain was torrential, and the roads were covered in mud.
Lin Yu kindly led the way for him, reminding him from time to time to watch his step and be careful of the slippery road. Yue Lang responded politely, but did not take the initiative to chat with him, making the short journey seem particularly unbearable.
Pushing open the door, the room was pitch black, so dark that it was impossible to see one's hand in front of one's face. Lin Yu generously introduced that this was Meng Yan's former residence. It had been empty while she was away from home, and no one had ever touched it. He could rest here temporarily. Due to the emergency, the rooms were limited. Since they were fellow disciples, he thought they wouldn't mind.
After politely seeing Lin Yu off, Yue Lang closed the door, conjured a fire talisman, and seeing that the window was tightly closed, he opened it to let in some fresh air.
Feeling heavy-hearted, he couldn't sleep at all. So he simply held up the talisman and looked around the room. What he found made him raise an eyebrow – the habits of the house's owner were completely different from Meng Yan's.
Meng Yan was meticulous and extremely particular about her work. She usually placed papers on the upper right of her desk, with inkstones as a weight, and a pen holder next to them on her left. No matter how many or how cluttered her desk was, she always kept them organized. Unless they were against the wall, she would not place them on the edge. She was right-handed, but she always kept some scraps of paper on her left side for jotting down questions and important details. This was especially noticeable when she was drawing at Old Master Weng's house.
Skipping over the wardrobe, let's look at the bed. The blankets and pillows on the bed are neatly folded, even the creases are left, as if no one has touched them for a long time. However, Meng Yan rarely uses pillows when she sleeps. They are usually thrown to the foot of the bed as decorations. She only didn't put them down the bed because Yue Lang would be sleeping on them the next day. After living on this bed for more than ten years, how could she allow a pillow on it to sleep soundly?
The details are all trivial and cannot withstand scrutiny; the only thing that can be confirmed is that the owner is not Meng Yan.
Why is Lin Yu doing this? Isn't he afraid that when the two of them face each other tomorrow morning, he will notice something amiss?
As he pondered, a sound came from the door, and someone skillfully pushed the door open and entered under the cover of darkness. Yue Lang extinguished the talisman fire in an instant and stood by the wall watching the figure grope around.
She was about the same height as Meng Yan, but her movements were more hesitant. After entering the room, she went straight to the bed, but froze when she realized that no one was on the bed. She shakily pulled a paper package out of her sleeve.
Yue Lang chuckled in the corner, lit a fire talisman with his backhand, and approached her. The sudden burst of fire cast a shadow on his face, startling the woman so much that she screamed and dropped the object in her hand, which he caught.
"A late-night visit, is there something you need, sister?"
Lin Yun covered her face, her lips wide open as if she was about to scream. Seeing this, Yue Lang didn't give her a chance to reply. He raised the talisman and slapped it on her face. After a moment of silence, she began to sob continuously.
Frowning as he looked at Lin Yun, who was squatting by the bed, Yue Lang remembered the paper package in his left hand. He sniffed it from a short distance, and his expression turned quite unpleasant.
It contained a large amount of bewitching powder, the most potent kind. He never allowed his junior brother to use it to make talismans, fearing it might harm people in the wild. Unexpectedly, it almost hurt him.
After a moment's thought, he realized something was wrong and wanted to find Meng Yan, only to discover that the door was locked and couldn't be opened from the outside without a key. He feared that getting out again would be impossible...
"Click—"
Yue Lang decided to start with the door, or rather, he kicked it. The little skill he had learned from Meng Yanxiu came in handy. In no time, he kicked the wooden door to pieces at the vulnerable part, and then kicked it again. Except for the lock, which was still hanging on the wall, the outside scenery was completely visible. He then ran towards the main room.
The door was wide open, but there wasn't a soul in sight inside. However, the area in front of the house, just a few steps away, was bustling with activity.
.
Not long after Lin Yu led Yue Lang away, footsteps sounded again outside the door. Lin Yun helped Meng Yan up and said that a relative had come to see her. She led her out from the flickering candlelight.
The courtyard was pitch black, with only occasional glimmers of light from the puddles. Lin Yun silently led her to the woodshed. Just as they stood still at the door, Meng Yan was suddenly pushed hard from behind, stumbling and falling into the house. The door was immediately slammed shut behind her.
"Yun'er, go ahead and do your work. We'll keep watch here; nothing will go wrong."
"good."
They were indeed relatives, but their method of seeking help was rather impolite; they made sarcastic remarks and even blocked the door.
After the cacophony of voices outside the door finished their rant, they seemed to feel it wasn't enough. They picked up a basin of water, lifted the door, and raised their hands to splash the water inside.
To everyone's surprise, Meng Yan reacted even faster. Before the basin could even reach inside, she used something to push it back in. The cold water, combined with the slippery mud floor, caused the people at the door to scramble and tumble to close the door.
The fleeting glimmer of light was shut out again, and the darkness around her returned to normal.
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