Chapter 20: Return Journey

The next day, Si Qingyu got up early. Her face was calm as if nothing had happened last night. She picked up her packed belongings, thinking of saying goodbye to Luo Jinhua before leaving.

After last night’s incident, Luo Jinhua naturally didn’t want her to leave now. What if she encountered the people from last night again on the way back? She tried hard to persuade Si Qingyu, “Doctor Si, leaving today is absolutely not in your best interest. What if the people from last night come after you again? Stay a few more days and return when it’s safe. It won’t be too late.”

Si Qingyu shook her head gently, “I don’t think it’s necessary. If they really wanted to kill me, they could do it anytime. Hiding for a while is not a solution.”

However, she accepted Luo Jinhua’s concern, “But I still appreciate your concern, Magistrate Luo. But killing me is not that easy.” If she could save people, then killing people was not difficult for her either. She just really didn’t want to unless absolutely necessary.

Seeing that she wouldn’t listen no matter what, Luo Jinhua had no choice but to send Zhang, the constable, to escort her back to the town before leaving.

Si Qingyu didn’t refuse this. In the end, she and Zhang sat in the carriage as Luo Jinhua saw them off.

On the way, Zhang’s mouth never stopped, “Doctor Si, why don’t you stay a few more days? The townspeople all like you!”

“Doctor Si, will you come to our town again in the future?”

“Doctor Si, if we get sick, can we come to you for treatment?”

“Doctor Si, are you hungry?” It hadn’t even been an hour since they left the town.

“Doctor Si, your complexion doesn’t look too good. What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

Si Qingyu felt that she and Luo Jinhua were a perfect match. Her mouth hadn’t stopped the whole way, calling “Doctor Si, Doctor Si” until her head ached. She just had to be someone who couldn’t read facial expressions. For a moment, Si Qingyu was reflecting on why she agreed to let her come and see her off.

“Doctor Si…”

“Enough.” Just as she called out “Doctor Si”, Si Qingyu finally couldn’t bear it and told her to stop.

She took a deep breath and said, “Can you let me have some peace and quiet for a while, thank you.”

Zhang seemed to realize that she was being too annoying. She scratched her head and looked at Si Qingyu’s face carefully, saying timidly, “Sorry, Doctor Si…” Before she could finish, she was stopped by Si Qingyu’s cool glance. She finally shut up and quietly acted as a coachman without speaking again.

Seeing that she had finally quieted down, Si Qingyu exhaled and leaned against the carriage to take a nap.

……

In a dark dungeon somewhere in the capital, a black-clothed woman covered in blood and missing a hand was lying on the ground, on the verge of death, wanting to die but unable to draw her last breath.

Not far in front of her sat a man. The man was dressed in luxurious clothes, elegant and noble. He leaned against the chair with a hint of laziness. He glanced at the woman on the ground, his red lips parting slightly, “Tell the young master, who exactly told you to do this?” His voice was light and slow, carrying a hint of coldness.

The black-clothed woman lay on the ground, dying, not responding to him.

Seeing that she was uncooperative, the man was not angry. He twirled his black hair with both hands, his voice magnetic and low, “The young master advises you to obediently tell the truth. If you do, you can at least have a quick end, right?” He paused, his words suddenly taking a turn, his eyes looking at her coldly, his voice chilling, “Otherwise… you will know what it means to be better off dead than alive.”

The black-clothed woman on the ground finally trembled, but still didn’t move.

The man, who was Luo Shaoxuan, looked at her impatiently. His patience was exhausted. He ordered indifferently, “Hang her up.”

That’s right, “hang her up”.

Qingmo, who was standing to the side, walked to a wall full of torture instruments, picked up a large hook, and walked over to pierce it into the black-clothed woman’s shoulder blade, lifting her up like a piece of pork.

The woman let out a miserable scream, struggling, but the more she struggled, the deeper it pierced.

Qingmo directly tied the hook to the hanging rope, and the black-clothed woman was “hung” in midair, struggling and splattering blood nonstop.

Luo Shaoxuan, on the other hand, still ate the grapes on the table without changing his expression. The bloody scene in front of him had no effect on him.

He looked at the woman struggling in midair, the corners of his mouth curling up, quite pleased, “How about it? Do you want to talk now? But… it doesn’t matter if you don’t. The young master still has many fun things to play with.”

After struggling, the woman hung like a piece of dead pork. Hearing his last sentence, the last line in her heart finally collapsed. She nodded with difficulty.

The corners of Luo Shaoxuan’s mouth curled up. He glanced at Qingmo standing to the side, and Qingmo immediately stepped forward to take the woman down.

The woman collapsed on the ground again, like a pile of defeated flesh.

Luo Shaoxuan propped his chin and looked at her, seeming a little regretful, “If you had held on a little longer, we could have played with something else. Why did you give in so quickly?”

Demon, this so-called number one young master of the capital was a thorough devil!

The woman struggled on the ground, moving her right hand with difficulty. Her mouth was already dislocated and she couldn’t speak. She could only express herself with the blood on her hand. Her right hand wrote the two characters “Shi Nü” on the ground and could no longer move.

Luo Shaoxuan looked at the two characters coldly, directly crushing the grape in his hand, his eyes lowered and chilling, “I was originally thinking of letting her live a few more days.”

Mu Yueshi actually dared to target her!

He threw away the grape in his hand and left the dungeon without looking back, leaving only one sentence, “Clean it up.”

“Yes.”

………

Si Qingyu saw that it was getting dark and they should camp outside. When she rushed to Qianluo Town, she rode fast horses all the way without rest, taking only a day and a night to arrive.

Now on the way back, they didn’t need to rush, so they traveled at a normal speed the whole way.

Zhang looked up at the sky and turned back to say to Si Qingyu in the carriage, “Doctor Si, should we rest here? Let’s continue the journey tomorrow. We should be able to arrive tomorrow.”

Si Qingyu nodded in agreement.

At night, Si Qingyu and Zhang sat around the bonfire eating dry rations.

She ate a flatbread in small bites, her refined manner forming a clear contrast with Zhang, who was sitting beside her, tearing off large bites of the bread and swallowing it.

After finishing eating, Zhang wiped her mouth and turned to look at Si Qingyu’s side profile illuminated by the fire. She couldn’t help but scratch her head and said very honestly, “Doctor Si, you eat like a young husband.” And look like one too.

Si Qingyu’s movement of eating the bread stiffened, but she didn’t pay attention to her and continued to eat the bread as if nothing had happened.

Zhang was a little bored. She propped her chin with her hand and looked at Si Qingyu, chatting with her, “Doctor Si, have you taken a husband?”

“No.”

“Ah? I thought Doctor Si would have several husbands already.”

Si Qingyu took a sip of water and looked at her in the firelight, “Why would you think that?”

“Because Doctor Si is good-looking!” Zhang said as if it was a matter of course.

The corner of Si Qingyu’s mouth twitched, and she didn’t speak.

Seeing that Si Qingyu didn’t say anything, she continued to praise, “And you’re such a young doctor. Doctor Si has a good temper too. Although your personality is a bit cold, you have a kind heart. I’m sure you must be the choice of wife for many young men.”

Hearing her praise like this, Si Qingyu actually felt a little unnatural in her heart.

She coughed lightly and asked in return, “Then has Constable Zhang taken a husband?”

Zhang was stunned, seemingly not expecting Si Qingyu to ask her this question. Her face began to blush, and it was unknown whether it was from the fire or from shyness, “Not yet… how could a rough person like me have young men who like me?”

“How could that be? I think Constable Zhang is also a very upright person. I’m sure there should be young men thinking about you.”

“Hehe… really?” Zhang touched her face and giggled foolishly, her appearance like a shy young husband, just a bit bigger in size.

…

The next day, before dawn, the two of them got up and started on their way.

The journey was still very peaceful, with nothing but the occasional sound of Zhang talking.

Suddenly, Zhang, who was driving the carriage, pointed ahead and shouted to Si Qingyu behind her, “Doctor Si, there’s an inn ahead. Do you want to stop at the inn and rest for a while?”

Upon hearing this, Si Qingyu couldn’t help but frown. An inn? Where did an inn come from in this remote wilderness?

She parted the curtain to look, and there really was an inn, just looking a bit dilapidated, “Then let’s go in and rest for a bit.”

Zhang nodded and stopped the carriage outside the inn, tying it to a tree trunk.

Si Qingyu walked ahead and pushed open the gate of the inn. The inside of the inn was a bit dark because none of the windows inside were open. The only source of light was at the entrance, and there was no one to be seen inside the inn either.

Si Qingyu swept a cold glance around and walked in. Zhang, who was behind her, followed.

Zhang looked around and couldn’t help rubbing her arms, “Why is this inn so cold and dark? Even the windows are not open.”

Si Qingyu walked to the seat nearest to the door and sat down. Zhang sat across from her and shouted into the store, “Is anyone here? We want to order!”

For a long time, there was no response. Just as they thought no one was there, a coughing sound came from inside the inn.

A hunchbacked old woman slowly walked out. Her hair was white and the skin on her face was loose and drooping. Her whole face looked like it was about to melt, making people feel creeped out in this environment.

Zhang gasped, startled by her face.

The old woman slowly walked over to them, her cloudy eyes looking at them, her voice hoarse, “What would you like to eat, dear guests?”

“Two bowls of vegetarian noodles.” Si Qingyu ordered before Zhang could speak.

Zhang opened her mouth, but swallowed the words that came to her mouth.

The old woman nodded and turned to enter the kitchen.

Zhang leaned her head over to Si Qingyu’s side and said in a low voice, “This old woman is scarily strange.” Si Qingyu gave her a light glance and said softly, “Wait for me to eat before you eat later.” “Huh?” Why? But thinking of the eerie old person just now, she swallowed and nodded.

Soon, the hunchbacked old woman brought two bowls of vegetarian noodles to them, “Enjoy your meal.” As she spoke, her eyes lingered on Si Qingyu for two more seconds.

Si Qingyu used the gesture of picking up noodles to sniff them, making sure there was no medicinal smell before starting to eat.

Seeing Si Qingyu eat, Zhang also eagerly picked up her chopsticks and started eating.

Although the taste was a bit bland, it was better than those dry flatbreads.

When Si Qingyu paid the bill and left, another woman walked out of the inn. She walked up to the old woman and questioned, “A customer finally came, why did you let them go!” “Do you know who that woman in the plain moonlight-colored clothes is?” The old woman’s voice was deep, no longer hoarse as before.

“I don’t care who she is!”

The old woman looked at her coldly and said, “Ignorant.” With that, she left the spot.

She walked into the kitchen. Inside the kitchen was a long table, and on the table lay a body with its belly cut open. She picked up the kitchen knife beside it and continued the interrupted task.