Chapter 45: The Search

Mu Residence Study

“Madam, if the Emperor finds out that we privately executed Physician Si…” The woman in gray robes stood with a hesitant expression, looking at Lord Mu seated at the desk.

“Hmph.” Lord Mu tossed the paper she was holding onto the desk and snorted coldly, “So what if he finds out? Are you telling me to just let those two adulterous dogs who harmed Shiyi go?!”

“Of course not. Madam can never be wrong. It’s just that if the Emperor learns of this, it may be disadvantageous for Madam,” the woman in gray robes said, bowing slightly with a cautious look at Lord Mu’s expression.

Lord Mu stood up from the desk, hands clasped behind her back. In the candlelight, half her face was buried in shadow, eyes filled with ruthlessness. “I have considered this, but…” She walked to the window, gazing at the night outside. “But even if the Emperor finds out, I have ways to resolve it.”

“Hmph, if the ones involved are dead, who will know it was done by me?”

“Yes, yes, Madam is wise!” the woman nodded and fawned over her in a servile manner.

The corner of Lord Mu’s mouth curled into a cold smile. Shiyi, ah, you just wait. Soon, Mother will send that pair of adulterous dogs to accompany you.

She looked at the night outside the study. The grass by the wall swayed slightly in the night breeze. If she were to go out now, she could even smell the scent of blood in the air.

Lord Mu narrowed her eyes and looked towards the wall outside. Was that a human figure? She seemed to see that person standing there, eyes icily cold as they stared at her, like a demon in the night.

Startled by the feeling, she shivered and barked, “Who goes there?!”

The woman in gray beside her was startled by her voice. “M-Madam, what’s the matter?”

Lord Mu ignored her and quickly left the window, walking out of the study. She saw that ghostly figure getting closer and closer to her, his entire face becoming clearer.

“It’s you?!” It was actually Luo Shaoxuan. She glared at him viciously. “Well, well, how timely of you to come!”

“Where is she?” His voice was like an icy blade piercing into the marrow, eyes devoid of any emotion as he looked at her.

Lord Mu, however, already considered him as good as captured. She laughed. “Her? Are you referring to Physician Si or your little lover?”

“Where?” He simply repeated the question.

“I’m afraid seeing her now would be useless. I suppose Physician Si can’t hold on for much longer. Now…” Lord Mu chuckled sinisterly, wanting to see his reaction. “Now, I’m afraid Physician Si is already dead. She’s waiting for you down below.”

She’s dead…

Luo Shaoxuan’s pupils suddenly constricted. Even though he told himself in his heart that she was lying to him, hearing that she might be dead made his heart feel like it was being ruthlessly twisted by a sharp blade, making him want to vomit blood.

His eyes slowly turned bloodshot and ruthless. His unbound black hair draped over his shoulders. At this moment, Luo Shaoxuan truly resembled a demonic ghost, making one shudder in fear. He approached her step by step, his lips parting slightly. “I’ll give you one more chance. Tell me, where is she?”

As Luo Shaoxuan got closer, Lord Mu finally saw clearly that his body and face were covered in blood, a bloody sword in his hand as he approached her step by step.

Lord Mu finally felt some terror. She hastily retreated, shouting, “Guards, guards!”

But no matter how much she shouted, no one came. Lord Mu looked at the man before her in panic. “The people of my residence…”

“As long as you tell me where she is… I won’t kill you,” he said.

Lord Mu now realized that he indeed had such ability, but how could she accept it? She kept retreating into the study, pushing the woman who had been cowering inside in front of her to block Luo Shaoxuan. She still didn’t forget to threaten, “If you dare do anything to me, the Emperor will definitely punish you for your crimes!”

The woman who was pushed to the front looked at the man before her eyes in terror, trembling all over. She began to struggle. “M-Madam, let me go, let me go!”

Lord Mu glared at her viciously. “It is your honor to shield me. Dying for me is your fortune. How dare you resist?”

The woman no longer listened to such nonsense. Looking at the terrifying man in front of her, she struggled to pull away from Lord Mu’s hand and knelt on the ground, kowtowing to Luo Shaoxuan. “Young Master Luo, please spare me, spare me. I have nothing to do with this. It was all Lord Mu’s instigation!”

This was the so-called grass on the wall, bending whichever way the wind blew stronger, completely shirking responsibility. Such people were truly detestable and laughable.

Lord Mu looked at the kneeling woman with vicious eyes. She abruptly turned around, picked up the precious sword hanging in the study, unsheathed the blade, and directly slashed at the woman’s neck.

Blood instantly gushed from the woman’s neck. She looked at Lord Mu with disbelief, then fell straight down, the shock and resentment in her eyes frozen in that moment.

Lord Mu spat at the corpse, her face filled with ruthlessness. “Just a dog of the residence. Eating my food yet daring to bark at me.”

Her gaze then turned to Luo Shaoxuan not far from her, a glint of scheming flashing in her eyes. “You said if I take you to see Physician Si, you won’t kill me?”

Luo Shaoxuan’s expression didn’t change in the slightest at the bloody scene that had just occurred. Looking at the foolish woman who thought herself clever, he nodded indifferently.

“Good, then follow me.” With that, she slowly circled around Luo Shaoxuan and walked to the door. Sensing the person following behind her, Lord Mu’s face instantly turned vicious. She abruptly turned around and swung her sword, stabbing at the person behind her.

Luo Shaoxuan easily blocked this attack that held no advantage. His blood sword chopped towards her. As it reached her forehead, the blade curved and directly sliced off her ear.

“Ahhhh!” Lord Mu didn’t react in the instant her ear was sliced off. The next moment, excruciating pain assailed her. She fell to the ground, clutching her bloody ear and rolling around.

The piercing screams sounded especially abrupt and chilling in the quiet night.

Luo Shaoxuan looked at the person rolling on the ground with cold eyes. He reached out, grabbed her hair, his eyes completely bloodshot. “Hurry and take me to find her!”

“Okay, okay…” Lord Mu no longer dared to play tricks. She knew she couldn’t beat the man in front of her. She had underestimated him. She didn’t want to die yet.

Only then did Luo Shaoxuan throw her back on the ground.

Lord Mu covered her ear and led the way with trembling steps, walking further and further away. After about half an hour, they reached the entrance of a dungeon.

“Physician Si is in the dungeon below…”

Luo Shaoxuan looked at the dark dungeon. There wasn’t a single lamp, too dark to see the path inside. Without paying her any more attention, he strode in.

Seeing Luo Shaoxuan enter, Lord Mu revealed a vicious smile on her pained face. “I’ll let you two die inside!”

She turned around, wanting to grab a torch and set the place on fire, but saw a tall figure standing behind her. Her legs went weak as she looked at the dark silhouette, her voice trembling, “Who are you?!”

…

As soon as Luo Shaoxuan entered the dungeon, he could smell a strong, damp, sour stench. He frowned and took out a fire starter to light a candlestick on the side, quickly walking into the dungeon. The further inside, the stronger the damp smell became.

Thinking of her staying in such a place made his heart ache with each throb.

He walked past cell after cell, searching for her figure.

Finally, in the innermost cell, he saw a motionless figure lying on the ground.

Luo Shaoxuan stared blankly at Si Qingyu, who was covered in blood, his mind going blank. With trembling hands, he wanted to touch that face that seemed to have lost its vitality, but suddenly realized they were still separated by cell bars.

He swung his sword at the iron chains, opening the cell door.

The person in front of him became even clearer, but he stood dumbly at the entrance, not daring to approach. He was afraid that if he got closer, he would discover she no longer had any breath.

The sword in Luo Shaoxuan’s hand fell to the ground as if he had lost all strength.

He slowly walked to her, the mere two steps seeming to take all his effort.

He knelt on the ground, his blood-stained hands gently brushing away the black hair on her face, revealing the plain face that mesmerized him. Her eyes were tightly closed as if she had fallen asleep.

Tears fell from Luo Shaoxuan’s phoenix eyes, the corners of his mouth trembling as he forced a smile. His two hands gently cupped her cold face, his voice a mix of crying and laughter, “Ziliang? Wake up, I’ve come to find you.”

The person on the ground remained motionless, eyes tightly shut, not responding.

He choked back a sob and looked at the figure on the ground, at a loss for what to do. He gently wiped away the blood on her face, his voice as soft as a whisper yet filled with a lump in his throat, “Don’t be angry. I didn’t mean to dirty your face. I’ll clean it for you.”

Luo Shaoxuan gazed at her in a daze. “You’re so beautiful…”

“…”

“Just like the first time I saw you.”

“…”

Luo Shaoxuan gently pressed his tear-stained face against her cold one, recalling with a blissful expression, “You were standing under the willow tree at that time. I thought you were a fairy who had descended to the mortal world. My heart was beating so fast, so fast, as if it was about to jump out.”

“…”

“I never knew I could be so immodest.” Luo Shaoxuan covered his mouth and let out a shy, light laugh, yet the clear tears flowed even more from his eyes.

“…”

“From the moment I met you… No, from the moment I saw you, I knew what I wanted most in the future…”

That feeling back then was incredible. He thought his heart only held vengeance, but after that moment, his heart… held only her.

“So… don’t leave me.” Luo Shaoxuan stroked the woman’s face, his face covered in tear stains, and whispered softly in her ear, “Ziliang, can you… not leave me?” His voice was filled with pleading.

If she were gone, what would be left in this world for him to hold onto?

Luo Shaoxuan raised his face slightly and looked at Si Qingyu’s eyes that remained tightly shut. He smiled miserably. “Truly heartless…”

He sat up and held her entire upper body in his arms, his cheek pressed against hers, his beautiful eyes staring blankly at a spot in the cell.

After a long time.

He finally turned his gaze back to the figure in his arms, the corners of his mouth curled into a faint, gentle smile. “I know you wouldn’t have the heart to leave me alone in this world.” Luo Shaoxuan gently placed a kiss on her forehead. “Then I’ll go accompany you.”

He reached for the long sword that had fallen not far away, picked up the hilt, and pressed the blade against his jade-like neck. His other jade-like hand covered her closed eyes, coaxing gently, “Don’t look. It will be a bit unsightly.”

Luo Shaoxuan’s eyes looked steadily at the figure in his arms, his hand exerting force without any hesitation.

“Don’t…” At this critical juncture, a voice so faint it was almost inaudible sounded.

Luo Shaoxuan’s bloodshot eyes trembled violently. He looked at the person in his arms and removed the hand covering her eyes. He saw her eyes slightly open, looking at him.

Luo Shaoxuan wept with joy. He threw away the long sword in his hand and tightly embraced her, tears continuously falling onto her face. He opened his lips but didn’t know what to say.

Si Qingyu looked at him weakly. She had thought she was surely dead, nearly all the blood in her body had flowed out. But suddenly, she heard his voice in her consciousness, forcing her to wake up. Her gaze gradually shifted to the blood mark on his neck. She felt this person must have gone mad. If she had woken up a few seconds later, he would have really killed himself here.

He didn’t even check to see if she was truly dead.

Sigh, fool.

“Alright, stop crying. Your tears are dripping on my wound… It hurts.”

This might be the origin of the saying “rubbing salt into the wound”.

Luo Shaoxuan quickly wiped away his tears and gently caressed her face with utmost care. “Does it still hurt?”

What do you think?

She was in agonizing pain.

“Quickly take me out and find medicine…” Otherwise, if the pain didn’t kill her, excessive blood loss really would.

Luo Shaoxuan nodded in a fluster and carefully picked her up by the waist, not forgetting to ask softly along the way, “If it hurts a lot, remember to tell me.”

“…Okay.”

They left the Mu Residence the entire way. Luo Shaoxuan carefully carried her to a medical clinic in the capital and had the physician there treat her wounds.

The Mu Residence was also engulfed by a huge fire overnight. Even from a distance, one could see the spectacular scene.

Those who were awakened from their sleep at night brought water and ran to the Mu Residence to put out the fire. But by the time they managed to extinguish it, the Mu Residence had been thoroughly burned down.

Si Qingyu, who was recuperating, also learned about all this. She even knew who might have done it, but she chose to remain silent.