Chapter 74 Missing

"You mean their master sent a message urging them to return?"

"Yes, I heard it clearly."

Under the light, the thin bead curtain flickered like stars in the night sky. Upon hearing this, the person behind the bead curtain paused in holding the teacup.

.......

Several people temporarily stayed in the Song Mansion. Ah Li was unable to go with Ji Xianyi and his sister to investigate the case, but because of the missing case, it became unsafe for her to go out alone, so going to the lotus pond in the mansion to feed the fat koi in the pond became her daily pastime.

Today, Ali went to the lotus pond as usual. Looking at the carefree carp, she felt much better. Listening to the chirping of birds not far away, Ali decided to take a walk along the surrounding paths.

Following the path, Ali soon came to a rockery. A gust of wind blew by, and besides the swaying grass and trees, there were also other people's skirts.

Maybe the maid came to the rockery to take a break. After all, few people passed by here. Ah Li didn't want to disturb her, so he decided to leave after thinking about it. But before he took a step, he heard her name.

"You mean Ji Shaoxia and the others will be leaving soon!"

"Yes, yes. Their master had sent a message to urge them to return a long time ago, but Young Master Ji was concerned about the people and helped the weak along the way, which delayed them."

"But our case hasn't been solved yet. I don't think Ji Shaoxia and the others will just leave like this."

"You don't understand this, right? That's why we waste too much time here without any results. We will only be pushed harder."

"Ah, that's a shame."

"Oh, that's a pity. I haven't seen you take the initiative to talk to Ji Shaoxia in all these days."

"You...I just think it's a pity that this case has not been solved. And who knows whether your news is true or false?"

"You little girl, have you forgotten who told you about the good job every time? Why didn't you doubt the truth of my news at that time?"

Ali no longer had the heart to listen to the conversation between the two maids. By the time she came to her senses, they had already walked back to the room. Looking at the handkerchief that was wrinkled by herself, Ali could not calm down for a long time.

In fact, Ali knew from the beginning that Ji Xianyi would return to Taibai Sword Sect one day, but she never thought that this day would come so suddenly. She couldn't help but think of the scene when he rescued her that day. That little delusion grew and spread day by day until she could no longer get rid of such delusion in her mind.

We can't let Ji Xianyi leave like this.

Ah Li stood up suddenly. She seemed to have thought of something. With a look of determination in her eyes, she took off her gorgeous dress, changed into simple clothes, covered her face with a veil, and walked out of the Song Mansion through the small door while no one was around.

As dusk approaches, the sky is filled with evening clouds, the stone lanterns are already lit, and in the pavilion there is a wisp of smoke, as well as fine wine and beautiful women.

"Thank you, Brother Ji, for coming to the appointment."

Ah Li placed the guqin in front of him, with a hint of joy and obsession in his tone.

“Zheng…”

As soon as the sound was heard, everything seemed to be quiet.

The love song ended, and Ah Li's surging love could no longer be concealed. She was looking forward to the person in front of her to give her an answer.

But Ji Xianyi didn't seem to understand the meaning of the song. He didn't avoid looking at A-li, but praised her sincerely, "A-li's piano playing is the best I've ever heard."

Ali no longer cared whether the other party really didn't understand or was refusing intentionally. She stood up and picked up the wine glass beside her. In the wine pot was the already warmed Qiulu wine.

"Brother Ji, please."

Ah Li poured Ji Xian a glass of good wine. Although he hadn't tasted it yet, he could smell a hint of its fragrance the moment the wine flowed.

A beautiful woman poured wine, and Ji Xian picked up the glass. However, before he could take a sip, the glass exploded and the wine scattered everywhere.

Fortunately, Ji Xian reacted in time and was not hurt by the broken wine glass. He looked at the person who threw the hidden weapon and smashed the wine glass, and the atmosphere froze for a moment.

But before he could ask any questions, Li Qingruo, who had come uninvited, had already spoken: "There's something dirty in the wine, Senior Brother, you'd better not drink it."

Hearing this, Ji Xian's eyes flashed with a hint of doubt, while A-li's fingernails, which were clenched tightly, had turned white.

After seeing Ji Xianyi's reaction, Li Qingruo sneered: "Are you afraid that I will wrongly accuse her, senior brother? Otherwise, let Miss A-li explain where she went when she left the house today? Or I will find the owner of the herbal medicine shop to confront you face to face to see if I am wrongly accusing you?" As she said that, she threw the incense stick beside her to the ground.

Hearing this, Ali knew that the matter was exposed, and she bit her lip. Before this, she had been so determined that she never thought that she would be discovered. Now she didn't even dare to look up at Ji Xianyi.

In an instant, tears as beautiful as pearls fell from her beautiful eyes. The sight of a beauty shedding tears made Ji Xian, who was originally still angry, feel a little heartbroken.

He unconsciously slowed down his tone and asked, "Miss A-li, I don't understand why you..." Ji Xianyi was a little embarrassed, and when he felt the restlessness in his body dissipate, he understood everything.

Hearing the other party's question, Ah Li raised her eyes. Her eyes, like smoke, were now covered with a layer of mist. There was love and inferiority in her eyes, and a hint of bitterness appeared at the corners of her lips, intentionally or unintentionally.

"I love Brother Ji, even though I know I don't deserve him, but I couldn't control my delusions. It was my fault. I did put some things in, but they were definitely not the kind that would hurt the body. I won't let anything hurt Brother Ji." As she spoke, tears began to fall again.

Looking at the despairing A'li in front of him, although the other party did something wrong because of a momentary obsession, Ji Xianyi didn't know how to start the conversation. His hesitation made Li Qingruo understand something.

At this moment, there was no warmth in Li Qingruo's eyes and her face darkened. Even though Ji Xianyi didn't say anything, she knew that the other party's heart began to shift quietly, and she would never allow this to continue.

"Since Miss A-li knows that it's all delusion, she should recognize her own identity. Senior Brother once promised my father that he would take care of me for the rest of my life. Miss A-li is she still shamelessly clinging to him?"

Ah Li moved her lips but didn't say anything. At this moment, Li Qingruo's words were like sharp swords, piercing her heart bit by bit, and she had no power to fight back.

Ji Xianyi was caught in the middle, but he knew that he couldn't let things go on. However, facing his junior sister's overly cold eyes, he could no longer say anything to comfort Ali.

Li Qingruo understood her senior brother. Although she was somewhat dissatisfied, she still considered the other party's face and said coldly: "If Miss A-li still has any sense of shame, don't continue to pester my senior brother." After saying that, she glanced at Ji Xianyi and turned away.

When Ji Xian saw Li Qingruo leaving, he hurried to follow. He didn't expect things to turn out to this point.

Just looking at the indifferent junior sister in front of him, Ji Xianyi had a vague feeling of uneasiness. When it came to his affairs, his junior sister's emotions would always fluctuate greatly, but today she was so calm that he didn't know where to start.

"Junior sister...I..."

Ji Xian spoke hesitantly, but Li Qingruo just looked at him calmly and said, "Come back to Taibai Sword Sect with me."

Upon hearing this, Ji Xian looked at the other party in surprise, as if he didn't understand why the topic changed so quickly.

Li Qingruo did not give him any chance to respond, but continued, "You have two choices. One is to stay here and be Miss A-li's big brother. The other is to return to Taibai Sword Sect with me and become the chief disciple." At the end, she added, "Don't forget that you promised my father that you would take care of me for the rest of my life. That's why you have achieved what you have today."

Facing the half-threatening words and the indifferent look of his junior sister, Ji Xianyi's expression gradually became serious. After losing his usual gentleness, his dark eyes were filled with unclear meanings. After a moment, he smiled and said, "Since Master has already sent a message to urge me, I must go back as soon as possible to avoid worrying Master. However, it is getting dark, so why not say goodbye to County Song tomorrow morning."

Seeing that her senior chose her, Li Qingruo's expression eased a lot. She knew that she couldn't push the other party too hard, so she nodded and agreed with what he said.

After returning to the room, the smile on Ji Xian's face disappeared completely. The self-mockery and sarcasm in his eyes made his originally handsome face look a little scary.

After a moment, he regained his normal composure and wrote a farewell letter under the light.

morning.

Facing the two who came to resign, Song Zhixian expressed his understanding. Since the sect had important matters, they naturally had to return as soon as possible. He also told the two a good news: "I wrote to contact the surrounding cities and counties, and the higher-ups will definitely send people to investigate the case. The two young heroes don't have to worry. The murderer will be arrested soon."

After the two left, Madam Bai looked at the letter and jade pendant in her hand with an unclear expression. This was the letter that Ji Xianyi came to her alone to ask her to help hand it to Miss A-li, and pleaded that if A-li wanted to go to Taibai Sword Sect, he hoped that Madam Bai could find a few escorts. At the same time, he also left the sword manual and elixir as a reward.

Mrs. Bai opened the letter slowly, and several banknotes fell out. Apart from some ambiguous nonsense, the most important thing might be that it was not his intention to return to the sect this time, and he hoped that the other party would not be sad. If she still had feelings for him, she should keep the jade pendant and go to Taibai Sword Sect to find him, and he would definitely give A'li an explanation. If she didn't want to see him again, she could throw away the jade pendant and live a good life with the banknotes.

Mrs. Bai sneered after reading it, threw the jade pendant aside, and set the letter on fire.

Ah Li was in great pain from yesterday's events, so she drank to drown her sorrows. When she woke up, she had a severe headache and woke up much later than usual.

After she was fully awake, she looked at her haggard self in the mirror, dressed herself up for a while, and decided to go and apologize to Ji Xianyi as a way of retreating. However, when she knocked on the door for a long time without any response and found that there was no one in the room, she instantly panicked.

She hurried out of the empty room and almost bumped into Mrs. Bai who happened to come over.

Seeing A Li like this, Mrs. Bai hurriedly explained to him that Ji Xian and the other two had already left because they received a letter from Taibai Sword Sect.

"This is the letter that Ji Shaoxia left for you. He left in a hurry, and we didn't do our best to be good hosts. Why don't you stay a few more days, Miss A-li?"

Ah Li returned to the room like a walking corpse. She didn't understand why everything changed overnight. She wanted to chase him, but she knew she couldn't catch up with him with her own strength and she didn't know if he was avoiding her on purpose. At this moment, she held the letter tightly in her hand, as if this letter was her last hope.

Ali didn't know how many times she read the letter. She suddenly laughed, crying as she laughed. Her tears dripped onto the letter and blurred her eyes. She immediately tried to fix it in a panic.

The letter told her to wait for him in Qingchi County. It was not his intention to return to the clan in a hurry this time. He asked her to wait for him here and he would definitely come back to find her.

Between tears and laughter, Ali placed the letter on her chest, but there was as much expectation as pain in his eyes. She didn't know whether she should believe such an illusory statement.