Situ Jiuyue drove the carriage while she also took the opportunity to change her appearance into that of a hunchbacked girl. The junior guardsman on watch was surprised to see soone leaving the city at night, but Situ Jiuyue presented a travel permit, claiming that her mistress had beco severely ill during the night and needed to leave the city to seek a famous doctor. The guardsman opened the carriage and saw Jiang Li atop it. Due to the night, his vision was blurry, but spotting that Jiang Li indeed looked like an ailing woman, he harbored no suspicion. Besides, the travel permit was also authentic, so he let them through.
Having exited the city gates, Jiang Li finally let go of the tension in her heart.
To travel twenty li east of the city gates would take roughly an hour. Jiang Li sat inside the carriage, and did not imdiately tear off the mask altering her appearance. Instead, she ticulously recalled the use of the poisons and hidden weapons that Situ Jiuyue had taught her. Regardless of anything else, they were now just two won, and not to speak of whether they could reach the ntioned village safely, encountering bandits or thieves on the way would hardly be good.
Fortunately, their luck was not bad this ti, and they did not encounter any thieves along the way. When Jiang Li and Situ Jiuyue reached the agreed-upon village entrance, they didn’t see a single soul.
Situ Jiuyue furrowed her brow and asked, "Why isn’t there anyone? Could it be that those people didn’t dare to co? Or was that letter completely fake?"
"It shouldn’t be fake," Jiang Li said, "They might have already arrived, and the reason they haven’t shown themselves could be that they’re watching to see if we have any tricks up our sleeves, or if we truly ca alone."
Hearing this, Situ Jiuyue felt relieved, then scoffed, "They really are cautious."
"No matter what, we have arrived, so let’s just wait here quietly. I think it won’t be long before they show themselves."
"Alright, I’ll be outside, so if there’s any movent, you’ll be prepared," said Situ Jiuyue.
Jiang Li nodded in agreent. As it was deep into the night, darkness enveloped the outside, and even inside the carriage was pitch black. This village seed deserted, without a trace of human activity or the sound of animals to be heard, creating a silence that was eerily quiet. It was as if in the whole world, only Jiang Li and Situ Jiuyue existed. Jiang Li could clearly hear her own heartbeat, thumping forcefully and steadily, but she did not know what might happen next. In at least this case, they were being passive, left with no choice.
Ti passed, and Jiang Li felt as though a long period had elapsed, yet there was still no sound from outside. She asked Situ Jiuyue, "Jiuyue, do you notice anything wrong?"
The silence was too profound. Even if the other party wanted to observe, they wouldn’t need to wait this long.
The reply Jiang Li received was silence; there was no sound of Situ Jiuyue’s voice outside. Jiang Li’s heart sank with a "thud," and, gripping the vial filled with poison powder tightly, she took a deep breath and lifted the carriage curtains.
Then, she saw nurous flickers of firelight. The barren wasteland had been filled with people at so unknown point, and Situ Jiuyue, who had been seated in the driver’s position, was nowhere to be seen. Everyone else was staring at her, their sheathed blades notably conspicuous at their waists.
As Jiang Li stepped down from the carriage, suddenly soone patted her shoulder from behind as if an old friend, and when she turned her head, her vision went dark.
Imdiately after, she was stuffed into a sack, lifted up, and thrown back onto the carriage. Soone took the coachman’s place and drove the carriage away.
All fell quiet again.
...
The next day was sunny.
The sun shone on the snow-covered ground, casting a shimring brightness, even turning the snow into a pale golden color. The weather remained bitterly cold.
Ming Yue and Qingfeng ca out early to clear the ice from the ground, and by the ti they finished, the day had already brightened. Usually, at this ti, Sister Bai Xue and Tonger would have already gotten up to serve Jiang Li’s breakfast, but today their traces were nowhere to be found. Ming Yue said, "Could Sister Bai Xue and Sister Tonger be sleeping in? How co I haven’t seen them yet?"
"Probably," Qingfeng replied. "They were also busy for quite a while last night, but we should still go wake them up. The young miss can’t miss breakfast." They lived in different quarters from Tonger and Bai Xue, who were Jiang Li’s personal maids and usually stayed close to her. Qingfeng knocked on the door, and after a long while with no response, Ming Yue wandered over, muttering, "Maybe they went out early, and we just didn’t see them."
Qingfeng tried pushing the door, which, unexpectedly, wasn’t locked and swung open with a push. Entering, Qingfeng nearly tripped over sothing on the floor. On closer inspection, she found Bai Xue and Tonger lying on the ground.
Reviews
All reviews (0)