Chapter 39

Shen Yao Xing was more suspicious of the contents of the letter. After all, this had happened more than once or twice. Even though she knew in her heart that Mother Shen was deceiving her, she had no choice but to return.

It was as if she was deliberately allowed to go out and play, but at a certain time, a random excuse would be found to make her return. Knowing that pretending to be sick was the best method, it was repeatedly used every time to call her back.

After all, she was the only direct blood relative in this world. Although Mother Shen had a certain desire to control her, her goodness was also genuine.

However, she had only been out for just over a month this time, and it seemed too soon to urgently call her back now. Could it be that she was still thinking about that marriage arrangement, planning to force her into marriage as soon as she returned?

Thinking of this, Shen Yao Xing stopped packing and scratched her forehead worriedly. If it really was as she thought, what should she do? She didn’t want to marry that man at all.

“What are you doing?”

Meng Xin Yi, who had followed her into the room, was confused by the young girl’s behavior. After returning from the street, she had been silent like this, and now she was packing her things.

Shen Yao Xing looked back at the woman and continued folding clothes: “I’m going back to the capital.”

“So soon?” Meng Xin Yi was a bit surprised. She walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, glancing at the half-packed bundle, looking at the young girl: “You’ve only been out for a short while, why are you in such a hurry to go back?”

The young girl wearily put down the folded clothes, her whole person seeming listless, muttering softly: “You think I want to……”

She thought this place was far and remote enough, but who knew that Golden Eye would be so sharp-sighted to find her even here!

After packing her things, Shen Yao Xing planned to set out tomorrow. She couldn’t help but still think about the silver Jiang Ming Yue owed her. The journey back would definitely take a lot of time, and just buying a carriage would cost quite a bit.

“You can use the carriage we came here with,” Meng Xin Yi suggested, seeing through the young girl’s thoughts.

“You don’t need it?”

“It’s fine, you need it more urgently so use it first. I might stay in this city for a long time, if I need one later I can just buy another.” The two of them decided on this. Shen Yao Xing counted, since the carriage was settled, that took care of a large expense. Now she just needed to buy some dry food for the road.

After dark, Shen Yao Xing went out and bought a lot of things, all in preparation for tomorrow’s departure. When she returned to the inn, she found Meng Xin Yi looking at her with a complicated expression, unusually hesitant.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Yao Xing asked, tilting her head as she held a pile of things in her arms.

Meng Xin Yi moved aside half a step, turning sideways, her chin gesturing towards her room: “Someone is waiting for you inside.”

“Who?”

The woman sighed imperceptibly: “You’ll know when you go in.” Shen Yao Xing didn’t ask further, slowly entering the room carrying a pile of things. As soon as she entered, she saw Jiang Ming Yue sitting by the window wearing snow-white clothes, leisurely appreciating the night view outside.

Hearing the noise, the young man’s slender eyes turned slightly, the beautifully curved line of his slightly raised chin alluring. When he saw the young girl’s figure appear, his jet-black pupils flickered with light, the corners of his thin lips turning up ever so faintly.

A heart-palpitating, burning sensation rose again, tingling and numbing from the spine throughout the body, even more intense than two days ago.

“Are you here to pay back the money?” Shen Yao Xing put the things on the tea table, the words coming out as a reflex.

“Tsk” Jiang Ming Yue looked displeased, his gaze turning back to the window.

Shen Yao Xing felt this person was even harder to understand than before. Before he was just perverted, now he was perverted and behaving very strangely.

“If you’re here to return the silver, just give it to me quickly.”

Could it be that he still thought this was his residence, coming and staying as he pleased.

As soon as the young girl finished speaking, another figure appeared in the room. He held a long box slightly longer than a finger in both hands, black with red trim pattern, very exquisite.

“For me?” Shen Yao Xing uncertainly looked at the pale, almost bluish face of the man in front of her.

The distance between the two was not close, a full two steps apart.

Jiang Ming Yue’s cool gaze swept over the young girl’s profile. Seeing her staring straight at that corpse servant, a sudden feeling of depression arose in his chest. His thin lips pursed slightly as he got up and walked over, taking the long box from the corpse servant’s hands and casually holding it out to the young girl with his long fingers.

“Just take it.”

At the same time, the extra figure in the room silently faded into the darkness.

Shen Yao Xing looked at the thing the young man was holding out in confusion, not taking it: “What is this?”

“Heh” Jiang Ming Yue sneered, his tone full of undisguised mockery: “What, are you afraid I’ll harm you?”

That’s hard to say, Shen Yao Xing thought silently, pouting.

The young man’s eyes grew colder, his fingers turning the long box towards her, lifting his hand to open it.

A finger-length golden leaf came into view, the veins on its surface clear and natural, much more exquisite than any she had seen before.

Shen Yao Xing’s heart skipped a beat, even more confused: “This is…?”

“Just now you were clamoring about repaying the money, now that I’m repaying you, you don’t want it?”

“But… you didn’t owe me that much.”

If it were gold, Shen Yao Xing would accept it without feeling anything, but this was a golden leaf, and such an exquisite one at that. It could be worth as much as a town like Meihua Chuan.

Jiang Ming Yue didn’t want to waste words with her on this matter, and directly placed the long box on the tea table. Glancing at the table full of things, he coldly mocked: “You’re just like those men, fond of buying these useless things.”

“How are they useless? They’re very useful.” Shen Yao Xing argued back, walking over to start sorting out the things on the table one by one.

Jiang Ming Yue narrowed his eyes as he looked over a few items, his hand suddenly tightening under his sleeve: “You’re leaving Jiaohuang City?”

“Mm.” The young girl responded without looking up.

The room suddenly became unusually quiet. Whether it was because of nightfall or something else, a chilling cold seeped in through the pores, freezing to the bone.

“Achoo” Shen Yao Xing rubbed her nose, glancing to see the young man still there: “Aren’t you going back?”

The candlelight illuminated the young man’s prominent features, his eyes covered in shadow eerie and strange. Even though Shen Yao Xing’s mental fortitude was now strong enough, she still felt creeped out by his stare.

“Are you going back to the capital?” The young man suddenly said.

It was more of a probe than a question.

Shen Yao Xing blinked: “How do you know?”

The hand under the wide sleeve loosened slightly. Jiang Ming Yue turned to sit back by the window, his gaze never leaving the young girl.

“Your friend told me,” he said lightly.

Shen Yao Xing guessed as much, nodding and continuing to pack.

The room returned to silence. The door was half-closed, and the lively sounds from the inn kept filtering into the room, disturbing the young man who frowned and instinctively wanted the young girl to help him: “Go close the door properly.”

Shen Yao Xing had no time to pay attention to him, glancing at him during a break in packing: “Do you still have business here?”

Actually, what she wanted to say was, why haven’t you left yet, but seeing how generous he was being, she decided to be a bit more polite.

The young man’s gaze fell on the window outside for a long time without speaking. If one looked carefully, one could see his reddened eartips. His eyes gazed outside without focus, finally drifting to the young girl’s face.

His well-shaped thin lips lifted slightly, his voice cool: “Are you setting out tomorrow?”

“Hm?” Shen Yao Xing didn’t react for a moment, only slowly nodding when she met the young man’s cool eyes, “Yeah, why?”

“I happen to be heading to the capital tomorrow as well.” The young man’s tone was so natural that one couldn’t tell at all that it was a hastily made-up story.

Shen Yao Xing was really shocked this time, holding a biscuit box with a dumbfounded look: “What a coincidence?”

Why doesn’t she believe it!

Jiang Ming Yue ignored the young girl’s stupid look, averting his eyes slightly and coldly snorting: “Indeed quite a coincidence.”

Seeing him like that, he didn’t seem like someone who would lie. Shen Yao Xing gradually dismissed the thoughts in her mind, figuring that since she had saved him before, he probably wouldn’t want to harm her.

Before she could think more, the young man continued: “Considering that you’ve helped me before” he paused here, his beautiful eyes sweeping lightly over the young girl, “I suppose I could give you a ride along the way.”

Give her a ride along the way?

Shen Yao Xing recalled the scene from the last time the young man gave her a ride, “Ming Yue doesn’t like sharing a carriage with others” still ringing in her ears. Since that day, she hadn’t dared to hitch a ride with him again, afraid of owing him a favor.

“No need, no need, I have my own carriage. Besides, it wouldn’t be appropriate for an unmarried man and woman, I’m afraid it would sully Young Master Ming Yue’s reputation.” Shen Yao Xing refused repeatedly, even bringing up the impropriety of an unmarried man and woman traveling together.

Jiang Ming Yue seemed not to have expected the young girl to refuse. His face gradually cooled, a mocking smile curling his lips, “Miss Shen is quite thoughtful” he said, no longer paying attention to the person who wanted to speak, striding out and leaving the room.

Shen Yao Xing looked back at the doorway, where the young man’s figure had already disappeared. She didn’t think much of it, just shrugging her shoulders, finding it inexplicable.

Early the next morning, Shen Yao Xing bid farewell to Meng Xin Yi and drove the carriage out of the city. Driving her own carriage had one drawback – there was no way to rest. The carriage was originally simple, and sitting in the front seat for a long time became uncomfortable. To rest, she had to stop the carriage.

Shen Yao Xing hadn’t rested at all until it was nearly dark. Just as it seemed she would have to camp in the wild, she came across a two-story inn just before the last bit of light disappeared from the sky’s edge. The exterior looked so dilapidated it seemed about to collapse.

However, staying at an inn was better than camping in the wild no matter what.

Shen Yao Xing parked the carriage outside the inn. Inside was an elderly couple, their faces kind and easy to talk to.

After hastily eating a bowl of noodles, Shen Yao Xing followed the inn’s mistress upstairs to find her room. Looking at the slightly hunched figure in front of her, she couldn’t help but be curious: “Auntie, how did you come to open an inn here in this remote wilderness?”

“There’s a small village not far from here, we’re from that village. It’s not far, and this is the necessary route out of Huangcheng, so we opened the inn here.”

“Oh.”

Although the room was a bit old, at least it was clean enough. Shen Yao Xing lay on the simple bed, hearing the sound of crickets coming from the forest, and quite a few small insects flying around the room.

The young girl turned over on the bed, facing inward and slowly closing her eyes.

The cricket sounds in her ears became increasingly clear, accompanied by the croaking of toads, like a lullaby urging one to sleep.

In the dead of night, dark clouds obscured the silver moon. A black shadow flashed quickly past the young girl’s window. The light-sleeping Shen Yao Xing suddenly opened her eyes, turning her head to look out the window.

The leaves outside rustled in the wind, tree shadows falling into the room. Everything seemed normal. Shen Yao Xing sat up from the bed, put on her shoes and walked lightly to the window, looking towards the moonlit forest. After confirming there was nothing unusual, her gaze moved upward.

The young girl skillfully climbed onto the roof. When she saw the situation on the roof, she froze. In the moonlight, a tall figure holding a long sword coldly glared at her. After she reacted, they swung the sword to slash at her.

Shen Yao Xing bent down to dodge, drawing the sword at her waist to exchange a few moves with them. Just when she thought they were about to fight to the death, she saw the woman suddenly jump back, leaping directly off the eaves.

Just as Shen Yao Xing was puzzled, the neighing of a horse caught her attention. She quickly followed, jumping off the eaves, but the woman’s figure had long since disappeared, leaving behind only the corpse of a brown horse.

“……” What did her horse do wrong?

Shen Yao Xing was so angry she stomped her feet, not understanding what that woman’s intentions were. Before leaving, did she have to kill her horse? What grudge was this!

Without a carriage, Shen Yao Xing was at a loss for what to do. She could only wait until dawn to ask the inn’s mistress if there were any horses for sale here.

“We don’t have horses in this small place.” The mistress looked troubled, then pointed in a direction: “There are oxen in our village though. Young miss, if you don’t mind, I can ask them to sell you one.”

“……” Shen Yao Xing declined the mistress’s kind offer, planning to think of another way herself.

Just as she was despairing, a pleasant voice pierced her ears: “What’s wrong, Miss Shen?”

For a moment, Shen Yao Xing felt this might be fate.

The young girl stiffly turned her head, forcing a smile: “How come you’re here too?”