Chapter 26 Ah Ah Ah

The deputy commander thought, since messages delivered by flying birds are usually concise, if Jiang Yang was still alive, she must have accidentally drifted to some small island nation in the South Sea, using Angry Bird to relay her location information, waiting for someone to find her.

The deputy commander hurriedly pulled the cloth strip from Angry Bird’s foot, joyfully preparing to read it out. But when she unfolded the strip, she was dumbfounded.

“This……” The deputy commander thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. She examined the cloth strip back and forth, looking at Jiang Qingzhou with a stunned expression.

Jiang Qingzhou stood alone, her eyebrows light and cold: “Why aren’t you reading it?”

The deputy commander’s voice trembled: “The… the message is blank.”

“Blank?” Jiang Qingzhou frowned tightly. Her features resembled Jiang Yang’s, but unlike Jiang Yang’s spring breeze-like demeanor and cold yet beautiful eyes, she had a midsummer ice-cold feeling: “Impossible, Yang’er wouldn’t send a blank message over thousands of miles.”

The deputy commander was equally puzzled. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and presented the cloth strip: “It really is blank, General, please take a look.”

Jiang Qingzhou took the cloth strip. She recognized this fabric; it was the cloud silk Jiang Yang often wore. The edges were rough, clearly torn off hastily, but strangely, the silk was clean without a trace of ink.

“Could it be that Angry Bird encountered a rainstorm while crossing the sea, and all the ink was washed away?” The deputy commander boldly guessed.

Jiang Qingzhou shook her head: “There should still be some residue, it wouldn’t be this clean.”

“Then could it be that the Second Young Miss couldn’t find ink, so she bit her finger and wrote in blood?”

“If it were bloodstains, they’d be even harder for rain to wash away.”

At this point, the deputy commander was completely at a loss. What was this renowned second daughter of the Jiang family up to? Sending back a wordless message, how were they supposed to start the rescue operation?

“It seems there’s only one possibility left,” Jiang Qingzhou said: “She must be in danger, unable to explain in detail, so she could only hastily tear off a piece of her clothing for Angry Bird to deliver. The situation must be urgent.”

The deputy commander thought for a moment, agreeing this was the only possibility, and said with relief: “Fortunately, Angry Bird is a spirit bird. Not only does it recognize its master, but it also knows the way. As long as the General sends a fleet to follow Angry Bird, we’ll definitely be able to find and rescue the Second Young Miss.”

Jiang Qingzhou nodded, seemingly deep in thought.

The deputy commander, having served by Jiang Qingzhou’s side for many years, was most adept at reading expressions. She immediately guessed what was on her mind and promptly knelt down to advise: “General, please reconsider! You and the Second Young Miss share a deep sisterly bond, but now the Emperor is gravely ill, and various factions are restless. At this critical juncture, Lingnan cannot be without you!”

Lingnan, being remote and far from the Central Plains, with its miasma-filled terrain, was easy to defend but difficult to attack, making it a tough nut to crack in the eyes of various regional kings.

The Jiang clan had resided in Lingnan for generations. With the emperor far away, they had essentially become a second emperor. At this crucial moment, Jiang Qingzhou, who commanded a significant military force, had to remain in Lingnan.

Jiang Qingzhou’s gaze swept lightly over the deputy commander, her lips curling slightly in a smile, as if this statement greatly pleased her: “The deputy commander speaks reason. Since that’s the case, then I’ll trouble you to lead a team to bring my sister back.”

“This subordinate will not fail the mission!”

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Jiang Yang was sleeping groggily, feeling an overwhelming heaviness on her chest, as if a boxer had punched her hard, making it difficult to breathe. She struggled to open her eyes and saw a fish head resting on her chest.

Jiang Yang was exasperated and pushed Chi Mei away, no wonder she had slept as if pressed by a ghost.

Chi Mei rubbed his eyes: “Yang’er, you’re up so early.”

Jiang Yang thought to herself, if she hadn’t woken up, she would have been crushed to death by this little ancestor fish.

Chi Mei was still drowsy, his eyes half-open, lazily resting his head on her lap, yawning softly.

“Time to get up,” Jiang Yang nudged him.

Chi Mei, still groggy, hugged her: “Yang’er, let me sleep a bit longer, hmm? Why did you erase the little figure you drew yesterday?”

Jiang Yang said: “I didn’t erase it?”

Chi Mei pointed at the rock wall: “But why is the drawing on the wall gone?”

Jiang Yang glanced over, and it was true. Not only was the little Chi Mei she had drawn last night gone, but even that hideously ugly stick figure had disappeared: “Maybe it was washed away by the pool water.”

Chi Mei mumbled quietly: “If you didn’t like the little figure I drew, you could have just said so. The water in the pool hasn’t risen, how could it have been washed away by the water?”

Jiang Yang’s previously unconcerned heart suddenly tightened. Indeed, the water level in the pool had never risen, and the height of the drawings on the rock wall was far above her grass mat. If her grass mat hadn’t been submerged, how could the stick figure have disappeared?

Jiang Yang immediately ran to the corner of the rock wall to examine it closely. There was a small indentation in this part of the wall where she had squeezed the squid ink yesterday, but the ink that had been thick last night was now starting to fade.

Jiang Yang let out a long wail to the sky. It’s over! It’s over! It’s over! No one had told her that squid ink would fade! Ah! She had sent back a blank message. What rescue was there to wait for now? Might as well wait for death!

“Yang’er, what’s wrong?” Chi Mei, seeing Jiang Yang’s despairing expression, asked concernedly. His drowsy mind suddenly cleared.

“Dying from my own stupidity,” Jiang Yang laid on the grass mat, devoid of all hope.

“Yang’er, what’s really wrong? Don’t scare me like this.” Chi Mei anxiously grabbed her hand.

“It’s nothing,” Jiang Yang waved her hand dismissively.

“Then… shall I go find you something to eat?” Chi Mei asked in a questioning tone, careful and clearly trying to please.

Just moments ago, he had been lying naturally on her lap like an old married couple, occasionally hugging her waist and acting coy like other pampered young men. Now, due to her sudden mood drop, he was trembling to the point of being unable to compose himself, showing no sign of being the proud merman prince, but rather like a Cinderella.

But Jiang Yang was no longer in the mood to consider his feelings. Having missed the last chance to leave the island and return to normal life, she nodded faintly, not even looking at him.