Chapter 28

Shen Yao Xing sat there listlessly, not reacting even when the young man moved next to her.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Lin Luo Sheng placed a bowl of sweet glutinous soup in front of her.

Shen Yao Xing glanced at him, picked up the bowl in front of her and moved to another seat. She picked up the spoon and ate the glutinous dumplings, which were like tangyuan, one by one. The sweet taste made her feel uncomfortable.

Although he was very dissatisfied with the young woman avoiding him like this, the sensible Lin Luo Sheng didn’t say much. He waited until the young woman had eaten half of the sweet glutinous soup before asking, “How long are you planning to stay here?”

In his view, of course, the longer they stayed the better. He believed that even if the young woman didn’t like him now, as long as he was good to her more, she would surely discover it!

Just as Lin Luo Sheng was envisioning their future days together, the young woman’s clear voice broke his fantasy: “We’ll probably leave in a couple of days.”

“Why?” Lin Luo Sheng reflexively asked back. Feeling the different gazes from the two, his face flushed slightly, realizing he had been a bit too excited. He bit his lip, his doe eyes fixed on the young woman: “Can’t you stay a few more days?”

“Why should we stay longer?” Shen Yao Xing, not understanding his thoughts, licked the sweet soup from the corner of her lips and said matter-of-factly, “This place is so small, we’ve seen everything there is to see. Wouldn’t it be boring to stay longer?”

Originally, she had thought of coming here to appreciate the plum blossoms, but now it wasn’t the right time. This place wasn’t big and was far from being as prosperous as the capital. After staying for a few days, she had already lost interest.

Lin Luo Sheng looked at the young woman, hesitating to speak. He pressed his lips together and swallowed the words that had come to his mouth. Knowing he couldn’t keep her, his eyes began to sting, his voice slightly hoarse: “Then will you come back in the future?”

Looking at the young man’s tearful appearance, Shen Yao Xing felt like she was the villain bullying a child. She turned her face away and said indifferently, “I probably will, after all, I haven’t seen the plum blossoms bloom yet.”

These words, though not meant as comfort, soothed the young man’s heart. Lin Luo Sheng broke into a smile, wiping away the moisture from the corner of his eyes. His face couldn’t hide his joy, his eyes couldn’t hide his delight: “Then you must remember to come back. I, I’ll wait for you!”

“Huh?” Shen Yao Xing looked at him with a “you’re very strange” expression, the corners of her mouth pressing down: “What are you waiting for me for? If you want to see, just see for yourself. No need to wait for me.”

Meng Xin Yi, who was observing from the side, patted her shoulder. There was no use saying more. Seeing the young man’s self-indulgent look, it was clear he was already immersed in his fantasy and wouldn’t easily wake up.

Lin Luo Sheng had already made up his mind, unmoved by whatever the young woman said. He smiled sweetly at her, his doe eyes sparkling: “So where are you planning to go next?”

Shen Yao Xing raised her chin, pointing to the woman beside her, “Ask her.”

Meng Xin Yi pushed away the soup bowl in front of her and said leisurely, “I heard there’s some exciting event happening in Jiao Huang City these days, so we plan to set off tomorrow and head there.”

“Jiao Huang City?”

This city’s location was even more remote than Tai Zhou City. Lin Luo Sheng also wanted to go along, but after being injured last time, he had been left with aftereffects. He didn’t even have the ability to protect himself. If he went along, wouldn’t he just be a burden?

The young man moved his slightly powerless arm, feeling bitter inside. He took a deep breath, raised his head, and asked with feigned ease, “Then won’t you have to go back the same way?”

Hearing “go back the same way”, both of them were stunned.

Meng Xin Yi raised an eyebrow: “What do you mean by that?”

She remembered there was a road from here to Jiao Huang City.

Lin Luo Sheng looked at her: “Don’t you know? The road from Meihua River to Jiao Huang City can’t be used anymore. If you want to go, you can only go back the same way and then take another road to get there.”

“Why can’t the Meihua River road be used anymore?” Shen Yao Xing asked.

If this road couldn’t be used, wouldn’t they have to take a much longer detour?

“Because……” There was some hesitation in the young man’s brow. He pressed his lips together and slowly said, “This road must pass through a forest. I’ve heard that there are creatures in this forest that confuse people’s minds. Once your mind is confused, you can’t get out of the forest. Everyone who takes this road dies in there.”

Is there such a terrifying thing? The two looked at each other, and Meng Xin Yi frowned: “How come we’ve never heard of this before?”

She had been to Meihua River a long time ago, and at that time she had taken that road. She had never heard of such strange occurrences as he described.

Lin Luo Sheng pouted: “It’s only happened in the past two years. I heard that quite a few people who went into that forest never came out again.”

Before, that road was indeed the shortest route to Jiao Huang City. After this incident, people could only take a detour, which more than doubled the journey.

Meng Xin Yi frowned, her gaze falling on the distracted young woman: “So, have you decided which road to take?”

Shen Yao Xing rested her chin on her hand, her tongue pressing against the soft flesh inside her cheek. Her clear black and white eyes glanced at her, the meaning unspoken but clear.

Lin Luo Sheng saw this and became a bit anxious: “Are you planning to take that road? I’m not lying to you, this is all true! That forest is really dangerous. If you don’t believe me, you can ask other people in town!”

The young woman leaned back nonchalantly, waving her hand: “We didn’t say we don’t believe you. It’s just that I don’t really believe in ghosts and monsters. If there’s a shortcut, why should I take a detour?”

Compared to ghosts and monsters, she was more annoyed by long journeys in horse-drawn carriages that made her nauseous.

“But……” Lin Luo Sheng wanted to say more, but was stopped by Meng Xin Yi raising her hand.

“I advise Young Master Lin not to waste his breath. You alone can’t change her mind once she’s decided.”

The young man pressed his lips together, his eyes downcast with some dejection. After a moment of silence, his eyes moved slightly to fall on the young woman’s profile: “Then you……”

“Remember to be careful,” he said softly.

Well, they weren’t related by blood or marriage after all, so why should she listen to him? Since he couldn’t persuade her, he could only pray for her safety.

Shen Yao Xing was slightly stunned. She turned to look at him and after a while, let out a soft “mm” through her nose.

When the three of them left, Shen Yao Xing still turned back to look at the stall longingly, wondering if she would ever encounter someone who suited her taste so well in appearance again.

————

Meihua River was unusually lively at night. People who were unwilling to go out during the day were now out on the streets at night, looking for food and enjoying the moon. The streets were crowded with people, some holding lanterns, chatting and laughing continuously.

On the second floor of an inn near the street, Jiang Ming Yue sat by the window, his dark eyes looking down at the street scene, unmoved by the bright lights that made it as bright as day.

A black figure appeared behind him, with empty eyes and an expressionless face like a puppet, reporting everything known to the person in front: “Departing for Jiao Huang City tomorrow.”

The man sitting by the window showed a hint of interest in his eyes. He raised his eyes to look at the endless night sky, lifting his hand to brush the black hair falling in front of him to the back. His long fingers lightly pressed against his temple, his brow lazy: “Which road?”

“The shortcut.”

Jiang Ming Yue’s thin lips curled into a beautiful arc, a faint light passing through his eyes as he played with a palm-sized jade disc in his hand.

“It’s about time to go back to the pavilion and take a look,” the man murmured, as if sighing but not quite.

Knock knock

As the knocking sound arose, the man’s motion of playing with the small disc paused. His eyes suddenly turned cold, a flash of crimson passing through the depths of his pupils. He slowly lowered the hand pressed against his temple and coldly glanced towards the door.

“Is the guest in?” Outside was the inn’s servant girl. She was currently holding a plate of pastries, which she had secretly taken from the kitchen, just wanting to find an opportunity to talk with the man in the room.

In all her years, she had never seen such an extraordinary man. Just seeing his eyes had already taken half of her soul away. She considered herself not ugly, and was currently unmarried. Perhaps if she took the initiative, she could win the beautiful man!

The black figure standing in the center of the bedroom turned in a different direction, drew a curved knife and stopped at the door, ready to kill with one blow if there was another knock.

“Strange, is he not in the room?” Hearing no movement from inside, the servant girl raised her hand to knock again, but was knocked down by a young woman hurrying down the corridor, scattering the pastries all over the ground.

Shen Yao Xing, carrying a pile of things in her arms, could hardly see the person in front. Knowing she had knocked someone down, she apologized repeatedly: “I’m sorry, I couldn’t see the road clearly. Are you alright?”

The servant girl rubbed her sore bottom that had hit the ground, cursed softly, picked up the broken pastries from the ground, and went downstairs without a word, passing by the young woman.

“Hey,” Shen Yao Xing turned back wanting to call out to her, but seeing her leave without looking back, she could only shrug and continue walking towards her own room.

Only the man remained in the dark bedroom. Jiang Ming Yue listened as the young woman’s footsteps faded away, his body moving slightly. He glanced again at the brightly lit street below, dark colors surging in the depths of his eyes, eerie and intimidating.

Early the next morning, not long after the simple carriage left, a luxurious carriage drove slowly along that road. The noisy sounds in their ears continued until they left Meihua River, when the unpleasant clamor finally faded away.

Jiang Ming Yue reclined lazily on the comfortable soft couch, resting with his eyes closed. The sound of the carriage wheels crushing the ground was minimized, and there was almost no sense of shaking inside the carriage.

After the carriage had traveled a good distance, the pitter-patter of rain woke the lightly sleeping man in the carriage. His alluring phoenix eyes slowly opened, his pupils as deep as an abyss without a trace of light.

He propped himself up and raised his hand to lift the curtain of the carriage window. Outside, the sun was strong, but the sound of rain was not small. Drops of rain with a hint of coolness fell on the back of his jade-like fingers. Jiang Ming Yue looked at his fingers, then let the curtain fall.

As if sensing something, the black-clad man driving the carriage suddenly pulled it to a stop.

As the sound of rain dissipated, Jiang Ming Yue picked up the Floating Snow placed beside him and lifted the carriage curtain to get off.

White mist enveloped the forest, so thick that the environment couldn’t be seen clearly.

“I didn’t expect there to be candlelight trees here too,” Jiang Ming Yue’s cold eyes lifted, examining the green foliage rising above the white mist.

His feet moved slightly, and he walked into the vast mist without hesitation, holding his sword.

After walking for no more than a quarter of an hour, he saw the culprit in the mist. Different from last time, the tree trunk that should have been oozing green liquid was now constantly exuding a liquid that looked like fresh blood, with an even more intense fragrance.

A flash of cold light passed, and an icy airflow horizontally cut the large tree oozing the unknown liquid in half at the waist. After the tree body fell with a crash, the surrounding white mist visibly thinned.

Jiang Ming Yue’s expression remained unchanged, his gaze falling on another candlelight tree. Before he could act, a very light footstep suddenly came from behind. The hand holding the sword paused slightly, and he turned to look.

He saw a petite figure slowly emerging from the mist. It was still that face, but with a slight blush on the cheeks, tilting her head and smiling at him.

The man’s long, narrow eyes narrowed slightly: “Miss Shen?”

The “young woman” didn’t respond to him, just smiled and looked at him, slowly approaching.

Jiang Ming Yue’s feet didn’t move, he stood there with an indifferent expression, allowing the “young woman” to walk towards him until she stopped three steps away.

Suddenly, the “young woman’s” hand slowly stroked her waist, giving it a gentle tug. The waistband slid to the ground, the outer garment was lifted and slipped off the “young woman’s” petite body, revealing the thin undergarment inside. Through the undergarment, one could faintly see the colorful dudou inside.

Jiang Ming Yue’s pupils suddenly contracted, the hand holding the sword trembled slightly.

The “young woman” raised her head, tilted it, and smiled sweetly at him.