Chapter 48: White Bone Hairpin 3: Back to the Past
A breeze picked up outside, blowing the half-closed window open. The sharp, scratching sound of the wood against the frame was even more distinct and piercing in the silence. The flame of the candle on the table swayed back and forth, seemingly about to go out. Xun Shu hurried to the table, shielding himself from the wind with his hands, protecting this last ray of light. Li Xuanhe stood nearby, his lips pressed into a thin line, clenching and unclenching his fists, over and over again, unsure of what to say, much less how to keep her.
Xun Shu stared at the candle in front of him with his eyelashes drooping, his heart also conflicted.
She believed Li Xuanhe had no ill intentions, and believed he was willing to help her find Jiang Zheng, but she could no longer trust him completely as she had in the past. She could no longer trust the invisible and intangible heart trapped in the official uniform of the Dali Temple.
The two stood in silence for a while before Li Xuanhe finally thought of a reason. His eyes lit up. "Ah Shu, do you have money?"
Xun Shu was stunned.
Is she rich? Was this person stating the truth or being sarcastic? Xun Shu couldn't believe what he was hearing. He narrowed his eyes and said slowly, "You mean, I have no money, so I have to follow you and can't go to Uncle Jiang on my own?"
Li Xuanhe instantly realized he'd misspoken and quickly waved his hand. "No, I mean, I'm in need of a private soldier. If you're willing, you can come with me. I'll give you a monthly salary, which will definitely be much more than what you'd earn from setting up a fortune-telling stall!" He paused, then continued, patiently coaxing, "Also, I haven't yet repaid you and Uncle Jiang for saving my life. Don't you want to exchange it for a large sum of money? I don't have that much money on me right now. Would you please come back to the capital with me, and I'll go get the money for you? After we get the money, I'll go with you to find Uncle Jiang."
How did he know that she wanted to exchange him for money? Xun Shu blinked and actually began to think about the feasibility of what Li Xuanhe said.
Would he really give her a salary? Would it be more than what she could earn from her fortune-telling stall? Could a junior official at the Dali Temple travel freely? Didn't he need to report to the Dali Temple in Beijing? Would he really help him find Jiang Zheng? Was he harboring evil intentions and ready to rip her off again?
Li Xuanhe stared at Xun Shu's face nervously, not blinking, afraid of missing any details. Xun Shu lowered his eyes and thought for a moment. When he raised his head again, his eyes were clear, and he shook his head and nodded: "I don't know, I need to think about it carefully."
Li Xuanhe wanted to argue a few more times, but scratched his head and ended up saying nothing.
At least it's not a direct rejection. Judging from her expression, there's still room for improvement.
"Well, there's still time." He walked to the window and covered it for her. He scanned the room, eliminating all risks before leaving. As he reached the door, he reminded her again, "Get some rest. See you tomorrow."
-
Have a good night's sleep.
The sky was overcast at night, but the sun did come out in the morning. Xun Shu got up early and strolled to the jujube tree at the entrance of the village, intending to resume his old job.
She took out the rag with the words "divine calculation" written on it that she had been using for a long time, hung it on a tree branch, and then sat cross-legged under the rag, waiting for customers to come.
It was too early, and after the unexpected incident last night, Xun Shu sat there for a long time without even seeing a single soul. He was just debating whether to set up his stall somewhere more crowded when he saw someone approaching from a distance.
The man lowered his head, wore a long green gown, and had a cloth bag tied on his back. He walked hurriedly and did not even look at Xun Shu when he passed by her. However, Xun Shu noticed a black birthmark on the back of the man's hand with her sharp eyes.
The man seemed to be in a hurry to get on with his journey and would never stop for a fortune teller.
Xun Shu drooped his shoulders and lowered his eyes, continuing to watch the ants fighting the caterpillars on the ground.
She sat there, fascinated by the sight, until the sun rose completely, and finally a second person passed by the stall. He was dressed in emerald green, with an elegant appearance and a slender figure, a young man in his twenties.
The man glanced at the rag on the tree, stopped walking, and walked to the fortune-teller's stall. His shadow fell on Xun Shu, completely obscuring her figure. Xun Shu felt the world darken. She raised her head to look at him, staring at his face for a few seconds, then scanning his whole body. She smiled and said, "Want a divination or a fortune-teller?"
The man squatted down, looking straight at Xun Shu in front of him, his peach blossom eyes smiling charmingly: "Maybe fortune telling?"
Xun Shu nodded: "Of course."
"I have something I've wanted to do for a long time, and I want to figure out if I can do it."
"Please choose a word, sir."
The man paused and said, "My last name is Wei, so I'll use 'Wei'."
Xun Shu picked up a half-broken branch and scratched a few strokes on the muddy ground, finally writing a crooked "Wei." She pointed at the character with the branch and said slowly, "From the character's shape, the upper left of 'Wei' has a '禾' (a Chinese character for "禾"), which could represent foundations. You must have been preparing for this for a long time. The lower left has a '女' (a Chinese character for "女"). If you want to accomplish this, you need to pay attention to the women around you. They may be your benefactors, your helpers, and the key to success. The right side of 'Wei' has a '鬼' (a Chinese character for "鬼")—" Xun Shu frowned, raised her eyes to look at Wei Langjun in front of her, and spoke frankly, "This matter is dangerous. There may be forces hidden in the dark, or forces that suddenly appear, giving rise to unexpected changes."
The smile on Wei Langjun's face faded a little: "You mean, this can't be accomplished?"
Xun Shu shook his head. "It's dangerous, but it won't necessarily fail. However, you might have to pay a greater price than you anticipated to overcome this change before you can achieve the desired result. Please think twice before you act."
"As long as I can succeed, I'm willing to pay any price." Wei Langjun pulled a silver ingot from his sleeve pocket and placed it on the ground in front of Xun Shu, saying with a smile, "Ningyuan Village hasn't seen a fortune teller in a long time, but today I'm so lucky. It seems even the heavens are on my side, and this will definitely succeed."
Xun Shu stared at the shiny silver ingot with his eyes wide open. He carefully picked it up and placed it in the palm of his hand. Only after feeling the cool touch of the silver ingot could he confirm that this was not a dream.
She actually earned a silver ingot? Are the people in Ningyuan Village so rich? Why should she follow Li Xuanhe to the capital? She could just stay in Ningyuan Village and make a fortune by setting up a stall.
Wei Langjun had left without a trace. Xun Shu stroked the silver ingot in her hand, unable to stop laughing. Afraid someone might snatch it, she carefully stuffed it into her purse and then into her shoulder bag, occasionally touching it through the bag to make sure it was still there.
When Li Xuanhe found Xun Shu's stall, he saw her eyes like crescent moons, beaming with joy, and she was foolishly pinching her shoulder bag, the little rabbit embroidered on the bag was rubbed out of shape.
"What are you laughing at?"
Xun Shu saw Li Xuanhe's eyes light up, and hurriedly called him to his side. He carefully took out the silver ingot and held it before Li Xuanhe like a treasure: "Look, this is what I just earned."
Li Xuanhe was stunned. He held the silver ingot in his hand and weighed it, then sighed, "If I had known the people of Ningyuan Village were so generous, I should have come with you. I would have earned more than you. I have wasted an opportunity to make a fortune."
Xun Shu snorted coldly and snatched the silver ingot from his hand. "I'll work hard these few days, setting up a stall here every day. I'll definitely earn enough money to go find Uncle Jiang, so I won't have to serve as your personal soldier!" She put the silver ingot away carefully, and suddenly realized something. "How did you know I was here? Did Yu Chang tell you?"
Before she left the house today, she remembered Li Xuanhe's instructions from yesterday and went to speak to the night watchman. Yu Chang naturally couldn't let her go alone, so he followed her out the door, following her like a shadow, and disappeared without a trace.
Xun Shu knew that this was the secret guard's ability to hide his body, so he didn't care. However, he didn't know when he passed the news back to the inn and delivered it to Li Xuanhe.
Li Xuanhe nodded and said vaguely, "Yuchang left a mark. I knew your location after seeing it." He paused and explained seriously, "I just went to the place where the rock fell last night, so I'm a little late."
Hearing that he had gone to the northern passage, Xun Shu hurriedly asked, "How is it? Was it man-made?"
Li Xuanhe glanced around and, seeing no one around, lowered his voice and said, "Yes. Chi Xiao climbed to the top of the mountain wall and discovered a huge gap, along with traces of sulfur. I suspect someone planted explosives in the rocks last night, and the detonation caused a large chunk of rock to collapse and fall, blocking the gap in the sky."
Xun Shu was puzzled. "Blocking that passage should be to prevent people from leaving. But there's also a passage on the south side of the village, and villagers just left from the south. If that person really wanted to trap people, they should have blown up both sides... Could it be that they're really coming for us, trying to hold us back and prevent us from taking the shortcut to Shannan Road?"
"It's hard to say. In any case, you must be careful these few days. Yuchang will follow you, so don't get rid of him."
Xun Shu paused and muttered, "You're talking as if I can shake him off... I don't even know where he is right now."
As she finished her words, an unripe date fell from the tree, hitting Xun Shu squarely on the head. She looked up in pain, finally spotting Yuchang hiding in the treetops. Her mouth opened wide, and she repeated what she had just said: "He Xuan, you think too highly of me. How could I possibly get rid of him?"
He Xuan... Li Xuanhe felt a little bitter when he heard this name.
Although he had already confessed his identity, Xun Shu still called him "He Xuan". It was not that he disliked the name, but he was worried that every time Xun Shu said "He Xuan", the fact that he had deceived her would be etched deeper in her memory.
He was just thinking of a reason to coax Xun Shu into changing his name when he suddenly heard shouting in the distance. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a man running out of the gap in the sky on the south side in a panic, running towards the village, shouting as he ran, "Oh no! Someone's dead!"
He was swift and frantic, and in a moment he reached the village entrance. Xun Shu then recognized him as Wei Langjun, the man she had asked for fortune-telling not long ago. She was about to stop him to ask what was going on, but he acted as if he hadn't noticed her. He walked straight past her and Li Xuanhe and ran deeper into the village, leaving behind only a faint scent of sandalwood.
"Why!"
Xun Shu watched his figure disappear like the wind, sighed helplessly, and turned to tell Li Xuanhe what had just happened. Li Xuanhe raised an eyebrow and looked at the man thoughtfully: "So he is the generous landowner."
"He's not a landowner. He looks like the son of a wealthy family. He's very handsome." Xun Shu stood up, took the cloth strips off the branches, put them away carefully, and said slowly, "We have nothing to do now, why don't we go and take a look at the dead man?"
This suggestion was exactly what Li Xuanhe wanted. He showed his big white teeth and smiled, "Just do as Ah Shu wants."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
