Chapter 41 Threat On the other side, Zhou's mother was looking at Zhou's father with anger, burying...
On the other side, Zhou's mother was looking at Zhou's father with anger, complaining,
"Look at you. Why don't you just take the carriage? You insist on walking over here and letting your son accompany us."
Father Zhou frowned at this nagging, put his hands up in surrender, and said helplessly,
"Oh, I see. Just let me be quiet. I've been grumbling all the way. Besides, I haven't been back for so many years. How hard can it be to walk such a long distance? Don't you think so, Jin'er?"
"Jin'er is not as idle as you. He..." Mother Zhou wanted to continue.
"Alright, alright...Mother," Zhou Jin said, holding down her mother's hand as it was about to point at her father. "I'm not tired. I want to walk back to the old house with you too."
Mother Zhou followed up the conversation by asking, "Jin'er, have you not been to the old house since you took office here?"
"I came back once." Zhou Jin replied.
"That's right. You'll remember the way only after you've been here. This place has changed so much. Your father and I can't recognize many places."
As they spoke, they had already reached the gate of the dilapidated old courtyard. Zhou Jin gently unfastened the doorknob and pulled it out, then pushed the door open and explained to his father and mother beside him, "This is it."
Looking at the weeds all over the yard and the broken walls eroded by wind, the Zhou couple's eyes first flashed with surprise, and then slowly softened, and they sighed,
"It seems like ten years have really passed..."
Walking into the courtyard, Father Zhou's heart was slowly filled with memories of the past. He pointed to the dilapidated earthen stove and said,
"Jin'er, do you still remember this stove? In the winter, you and Tiao'er loved to roast sweet potatoes around the red-hot charcoal..."
Immersed in memories, he had no time to care about the feelings of his wife and son, and no longer hesitated to mention their daughter.
Zhou's mother walked alone to the eaves of a corner, squatted down and pulled out a small booklet half-buried in the mud.
She carefully wiped off the dust and opened the first page. She could still vaguely make out the name of the owner of the book from the blurred handwriting on it.
Zhou Tiao.
Zhou's mother carefully rolled up the booklet and held it in her hands as if it were a treasure. Not wanting to worry her son and husband, she pretended to look up at the eaves and hold back the tears in her eyes.
After a while, she calmed down and turned back to look for her husband and son, and found them next to the camellia tree.
She walked over and saw her husband looking around at the camellia trees. When he saw her coming, he ran over excitedly and pulled her forward.
"Madam, do you still remember this tea tree? My mother planted it when she was alive. More than ten years have passed, and it's still growing so well. It's amazing!"
Zhou's mother looked a little uncomfortable. Under the circumstances at the time, the family was short of money, and the money they saved was barely enough to buy medical treatment for Zhou Jin, so she had no choice but to abandon her mother-in-law.
But no matter what, she was also to blame for her mother-in-law's death, so compared to her husband's heartless joy in front of the camellia tree at this moment, she could hardly smile.
Looking at the camellia tree surrounded by earth mounds, the soil inside the mounds was mixed with fine grass debris, soft and smooth, and it was particularly eye-catching in this deserted yard. She abruptly changed the subject.
"The soil looks newly turned. Jin'er must have worked on it before."
Father Zhou casually picked up a dry leaf and said, "Nonsense, who else could it be but Jin'er!"
Zhou Jin said nothing, his eyes scanning the surroundings, as if hiding something else.
Suddenly, a golden prism of light flashed in the grass.
Among the three, only Zhou Jin noticed it.
He squatted down towards the light source, parted the grass, and when he saw clearly what it was, his heart seemed to stop beating at that moment, and all thoughts seemed to be wiped out from his mind by this golden light, leaving it silent and blank.
"Jin'er, what's wrong?"
Noticing Zhou Jin's abnormality, Zhou's mother walked over and asked.
Hearing the sound, Zhou Jin subconsciously picked up the safety lock quickly, held it tightly in his palm and hid it between his sleeves.
"Nothing..." Zhou Jin looked towards the door and said, "Father and Mother, I suddenly remembered that I have something important to deal with. I'll excuse myself first," and then hurried out the door.
"Okay, then you..."
Before Zhou's mother finished her instructions, Zhou Jin disappeared from her sight.
Father Zhou was also puzzled, "What happened to Jin'er?"
Mother Zhou shook her head.
…
Zhou Jin stood at the street corner, looking around, panting.
He searched several nearby streets, but didn't see the familiar figure in his memory.
He fumbled with the rope around his neck and took out his own safety lock from his chest, while his clenched left fist slowly opened.
The safety lock spread out on his palm was exactly the same as the one he had on him.
He looked at the people coming and going on the street, and then slowly tightened his palms.
Sister, is that you...
＊
"Miss Tang, what trouble are you in?"
Inside the carriage, Tang Suzi met Chen Weiyu's worried eyes and forced a smile. "Nothing, just some trivial matters."
Seeing that Tang Suzi was unwilling to talk more, Chen Weiyu didn't want to ask any more questions and suggested instead,
"Where are you going, Miss Tang? I'll ask the driver to take you there."
Where to go? Yes, she wanted to find Ling An, but it was already rude to get on Wei Yu's car rashly, and she couldn't bother Wei Yu to take her there again. So Tang Suzi asked,
"What about you, Weiyu? Where are you going?"
Chen Weiyu replied, "Spring is here, isn't it? I want to go to the silk shop on Lindong Street to pick out some fabric to make some spring clothes for my father."
Lindong Street... Tang Suzi remembered that the dental clinic was also on Lindong Street. Ling An had mentioned to her in the morning that he and Lin Xiangli were going there today to handle the house sale. She wondered how their progress was.
Thinking of this, she said, "Well, I'm also at Lindong Street, and I happen to have something to do."
Chen Weiyu feigned anger and chuckled, "What trouble are you talking about? Do we really need to be so polite to each other?"
The two looked at each other and smiled.
After an unknown amount of time, Chen Weiyu gently lifted the curtain and looked out. Seeing the increasing number of shops within her sight, she said happily, "Miss Tang, we're almost there. Turning the corner will bring us to Lindong Street."
As soon as he finished speaking, a sudden loud neighing sound came from outside the carriage, and then the carriage began to shake violently. Chen Weiyu and Su Tang hurriedly supported themselves with their hands, barely able to stabilize themselves.
Before they could recover, the carriage suddenly rushed forward again, shaking even more violently. The two looked at each other, their eyes full of confusion and fear.
Tang Suzi held the window frame with one hand to maintain balance, and opened the curtain with the other hand to check the situation outside.
At the same time, Chen Weiyu anxiously shouted to the driver: "Uncle Zhao, what happened?!"
The driver's panicked voice came from outside the carriage: "The horse was shot by an arrow! I'm trying to control it! Be careful!"
The carriage became increasingly bumpy, and Chen Weiyu cried out for help. Tang Suzi, looking at the chaotic crowd outside the car, also shouted anxiously, "Be careful, get out of the way, get out of the way!"
Seeing people around him being knocked down or hit by the carriage one after another, and the carriage still speeding forward, Tang Suzi felt more and more desperate.
At this moment, a familiar figure in red came into her sight.
The man lightly tapped his toes and skillfully picked up the hilt of a sword that had been knocked over by the panicked crowd in the iron exhibition area nearby. At the same time, he stepped on the corner of the overturned table and used the force to fly into the air.
The red sleeves of the dress swept past the car window like flames. Before Tang Suzi could react, she felt the car suddenly stop, then seemed to lose weight and slowly slow down. She hurriedly struggled to crawl to the door and pushed it open.
Ling An was seen using both hands to push against the handlebars, struggling with the carriage's severed reins to stop it from moving forward. The momentum of the carriage carried him forward, and the friction between his shoes and the ground made a rustling sound, leaving a long trail.
Soon, the car finally stopped.
The people around breathed a sigh of relief, and then saw the man in red quickly turn around and chase forward.
Although the reins were cut, the horse continued to gallop due to the pain.
The horse was exhausted due to its leg injury and had been running for a long time, and was soon caught up by Ling An.
He leaped onto the horse's back, grabbed the broken reins, and shouted loudly: "Whoa!"
The horse neighed, then knelt on its front legs and fell to the ground.
Ling An quickly dismounted and walked to the horse's head. He tore off a piece of cloth from the corner of his clothes, then squatted down and held down the injured horse's leg steadily.
With skillful movements, he pulled out the arrow embedded in the horse's leg, causing the horse to whimper in pain.
Ling An gently stroked the horse's back, as if to comfort it, and then he quickly wrapped the wound tightly with the cloth to stop the bleeding.
"Ling An!"
"Mr. Ling!"
Su Tang and Chen Wei Yu also got out of the car and ran to Ling An. They were relieved to see that Ling An was safe and sound.
"Ling An, are you hurt?!" a female voice sounded, and then Lin Xiangli pushed through the crowd and squeezed forward anxiously.
Ling An also treated the horse's wound at this time. He raised his head and met Lin Xiangli's worried eyes. He comforted her, "I'm fine." Then he looked up at Tang Suzi and Chen Weiyu.
"Are you all right?"
Tang Suzi and Chen Weiyu both shook their heads, "We're fine too."
When they met Lin Xiangli, both Chen Weiyu and Lin Xiangli felt a little uneasy, but Chen Weiyu still remembered the etiquette. She saluted Ling Anfu and said, "Thank you, Master Ling, for saving me."
Ling An nodded slightly, as if he suddenly remembered something. He bent down to pick up the bloody arrow and tore off the straw that tied it.
Everyone was puzzled, "This is..."
When Ling An slowly spread out the note and showed it to everyone, their faces instantly became solemn.
The note clearly read, "If you say anything more about Ningxiang, your life will be in danger."
This is a naked threat and warning!
Chen Weiyu took the note from Ling An, and his face, which had been a little frightened, became completely calm.
"Wei Yu..." Tang Suzi looked at her worriedly.
Lin Xiangli was also horrified. It turned out that someone was trying to intimidate Chen Weiyu. Who was behind this? Was it Wang Gui or the Tuoba Xuan that Fang Buyu mentioned that day?
She recalled the day in Tanshan Temple when she was nearly killed by an arrow. She felt cold sweat seeping out of her back. What was the connection behind Ningxiangju that made those people so eager to kill her and Chen Weiyu...
Her thoughts were soon interrupted by a noisy and orderly sound of footsteps, and a guard and several officers and soldiers walked towards them.
Tang Suzi was the first to recognize the person, "Guo Yan"
Guo Yan stopped in front of them and looked at Tang Suzi, obviously very surprised. "Miss Tang, why are you here too?"
After noticing that Tang Suzi and Chen Weiyu had the same slightly messy hair, he realized something. "Are you in the car too? Are you okay?"
Tang Suzi shook his head, looked at Chen Weiyu, and said, "We are all fine..."
"That's good," Guo Yan turned to Chen Weiyu and said seriously, "Miss Chen, are you free now? Could you please come with us?"
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