Of course, he wouldn’t really beat her. The beggar uncle gritted his teeth and said, “Keep laughing, keep laughing, believe it or not, I will tell what happened last night.”
Jinxia suppressed her laugh at once and said all anxious, “You promised, you can’t say anything, you can’t!
“You little rascal, then don’t bother me. If I get provoked, I will say everything out.” The beggar uncle pretended to be fierce.
“Last night, what happened?”
Lu Yi asked the sentence all of a sudden, his voice was next to Jinxia’s ear.
Jinxia immediately jumped to her feet in panic, she rubbed her ear and joked, “It’s nothing, just a small matter… Oh yes, there is something important, I have found Zhai Lanye’s body, it was at the end of the Taohualin Forest, but it has already been eaten up by snakes.” She replaced her laughing face with a serious look.
“How did she die?” He asked.
“On her body, there were wounds made by the Ai Bieli, but the amount of bleeding was irrelevant, so that wasn’t the cause of her death. The neck bones were crushed prior to her death, a black bruise was clearly visible.” Jinxia raised her chin, “Just like the bruise on my neck.”
The beggar uncle joined in, “The technique used here is exactly the same as the diamond gripping style, you should have heard of it.”
Lu Yi pulled Jinxia closer and made her sit by the edge of the bed. He raised his head to examine the bruises on Jinxia’s neck. His eyebrows tightened and he said, “I’ve heard of it, but there’s no one who practices this kung fu… Who hurt you?” The last sentence was said directly to Jinxia.
“A’Rui.” Jinxia replied, “The person who took Zhai Lanye to Gusu was him.”
The beggar uncle chuckled, “When she was fighting with that boy that day, I was watching on the side; that kid’s kung fu was not bad… Maybe in the whole city of Yangzhou, you won’t find three or four people like him, at most.”
“He always wears a pocket knife on his waist, is it to cover up his real ability?” Jinxia found it difficult to understand, “Where did he learn his kung fu?”
“In the Royal Palace’s inner circle.” Lu Yi said slowly.
Jinxia froze, looking at Lu Yi, “Is he a planted spy in Wu’An Gang?”
Lu Yi glanced at her briefly, “You’re being suspicious, do you think I’m also involved with him?”
“No! Of course not!” Jinxia explained, “JinYiWei has many eyes and ears, but you guys won’t know everything. Maybe, he is someone else’s pawn. If it is true that he comes from the inner circle of the royal palace, ‘Ai Bieli’ must be a torture device that belongs to them, then everything is connected…”
If that incident and the previous one were connected… She started to put the pieces together: the first time she’d seen the ‘Ai Bieli’ was when Shangguan Xi and A’Rui had left and Jinxia had seen it while she’d been drinking with Xie Xiao at Qifen Pavilion; the second time had been in Taohualin Forest, hence the fish-selling messenger should have been one of A’Rui’s people, or maybe he had been disguised as a fish-selling messenger…
“In the Taohualin Forest, he must have been the one who left ‘Ai Bieli’ there.” Jinxia thought carefully.
Lu Yi shook his head, “It wasn’t him in the forest.”
“Who could it be?” Jinxia paused and asked in surprise, “How do you know it was not him?”
Lu Yi didn’t have any reaction but didn’t answer her question either.
“Brother, don’t make people guess anymore, just say it.” Jinxia said, restless.
The beggar uncle decided to join in, “Just bear it, don’t say it! Just let her be anxious.”
“Uncle, which side are you on?” Jinxia said in a fit of irritation.
“I’m not on yours anyway.”
The beggar uncle shook his head and walked out.
“Ugh…” Jinxia glared at his disappearing reflection, turned back and looked at Lu Yi. She asked again, “Who is it?”
Lu Yi hesitated for a moment, then said reluctantly, “I can tell you, but you should also tell me what you’re hiding from me.”
“What am I hiding from you?”
“Earlier, you didn’t allow Senior to talk about last night’s incident.” Lu Yi looked at her, “What is it about?”
Jinxia choked up all of a sudden, her eyes looked somewhere else. She said in an awkward tone, “It’s nothing… It’s just a small matter, nothing to talk about…”
Lu Yi replied with the same previous expression, “If you don’t want to talk about it, of course, I won’t force it, but the things I don’t want to talk about, you can’t force me either.”
“…….”
“Actually, regarding this matter, if I want to know about it, it won’t be difficult, therefore this information exchange is useless to me.” He continued.
Whether the beggar uncle could keep a secret or not, she wasn’t sure either, she panicked even more, “No! Me, me… I…”
Lu Yi frowned a little. Looking at her, he felt a bit amused.
After battling with herself, Jinxia finally felt it was more important to investigate the case. With courage and power, she declared, “Let’s exchange information!”
“You better forget it.”
“No, Brother, let’s talk, talk… But you say it first, then I will tell you.” Jinxia proposed.
“Why not you first?”
Jinxia said in honesty, “Although I do not want to admit it, but I may, more or less, be stupider than you, so I have to be careful, in case you play tricks on me. If I tell you first, then whatever you said could be an excuse, wouldn’t that be a big loss for me?”
Upon hearing her words, Lu Yi was amused again and looked at her for a while, then nodded his head, “Your words are true. Alright, I will say it first.”
***
If he wanted to tell the story, it was necessary to start with the incident at doctor Shen’s clinic hall.
When he had heard from YangYue that Jinxia had gone to the Taohualin Forest at the west of the city, at that time, even though he didn’t know that that forest was dangerous, he was always on guard because of Xie Xiao.
It was very common to ask people about things, it could be at a restaurant or an inn in the city, if you wanted to prevent people from hearing your conversation, you could meet them on a boat, so why had Xie Xiao asked to meet with YangYue outside the city in a forest? After YangYue had re-entered the clinic, he’d called the clinic servant and asked about the Taohualin Forest.
The clinic servant had given an answer that had surprised him. Who was behind all of this? At that moment, he hadn’t thought much about it and had rushed to the Taohualin Forest.
When he’d arrived at the Taohualin Forest, the first thing he’d seen was Jinxia’s horse. The horse had an official imprint on it, which was very obvious, and he knew it was her horse by just one glance. The horse was tied alone next to a tree, which meant the owner had entered the forest.
Those LiuShanmen didn’t use their brain, but their guts were quite thick.
He’d stood outside the forest, there were very little human traces and, as far as the eye could see, there was a thick layer of fog scattered in the deep forest, this was obviously the miasma poison. He wouldn’t dare to take this matter lightly, before entering, he’d taken out a Zi Yan bottle and chewed one of the pills, then he’d followed Jinxia’s footsteps into the forest.
After walking a few steps, judging from the depth of the footprints, he could tell that she had stood here for a while and seemed to be hesitating, maybe she’d started to feel something was strange in this forest. Lu Yi had furrowed his eyebrows and continued walking inside.
The mist had approached touching the back of his hand, giving him chills down his spine.
At the tip of his nose, the pungent air from the decaying smell that properly had been rotting for years, made people who smelled it want to vomit.
From the rarity of human traces and the thick pungent smell, even ordinary people would have understood something was wrong. Seeing that Jinxia’s footprints were continuing straight ahead, Lu Yi couldn’t have guessed what was on her mind.
Walking for a while, he’d recognized the figure under the peach blossom tree and judging by the clothes, it was indeed none other than Jinxia.
He’d quickened his pace, passing through several trees, finally reaching Jinxia. She’d been lying under a tree, her face pale, her eyebrows tightened, her body curled up…
He’d lifted her body up, intending to give her Zi Yan, but when he’d opened her mouth, there was already a Zi Yan pill inside her mouth.
Why did she have this medicine? Lu Yi had remained quiet, thinking that because Yang ChengWan had been a JinYiWei as well, he might have given this to his student in case of an emergency.
Right at that moment, from his left side, about twenty steps away, there had been the sound of a tree branch breaking.
There were people!
Lu Yi had immediately put Jinxia down, lightened his steps and flown towards the direction of the sounds.
Of course, he wouldn’t really beat her. The beggar uncle gritted his teeth and said, “Keep laughing, keep laughing, believe it or not, I will tell what happened last night.”
Jinxia suppressed her laugh at once and said all anxious, “You promised, you can’t say anything, you can’t!
“You little rascal, then don’t bother me. If I get provoked, I will say everything out.” The beggar uncle pretended to be fierce.
“Last night, what happened?”
Lu Yi asked the sentence all of a sudden, his voice was next to Jinxia’s ear.
Jinxia immediately jumped to her feet in panic, she rubbed her ear and joked, “It’s nothing, just a small matter… Oh yes, there is something important, I have found Zhai Lanye’s body, it was at the end of the Taohualin Forest, but it has already been eaten up by snakes.” She replaced her laughing face with a serious look.
“How did she die?” He asked.
“On her body, there were wounds made by the Ai Bieli, but the amount of bleeding was irrelevant, so that wasn’t the cause of her death. The neck bones were crushed prior to her death, a black bruise was clearly visible.” Jinxia raised her chin, “Just like the bruise on my neck.”
The beggar uncle joined in, “The technique used here is exactly the same as the diamond gripping style, you should have heard of it.”
Lu Yi pulled Jinxia closer and made her sit by the edge of the bed. He raised his head to examine the bruises on Jinxia’s neck. His eyebrows tightened and he said, “I’ve heard of it, but there’s no one who practices this kung fu… Who hurt you?” The last sentence was said directly to Jinxia.
“A’Rui.” Jinxia replied, “The person who took Zhai Lanye to Gusu was him.”
The beggar uncle chuckled, “When she was fighting with that boy that day, I was watching on the side; that kid’s kung fu was not bad… Maybe in the whole city of Yangzhou, you won’t find three or four people like him, at most.”
“He always wears a pocket knife on his waist, is it to cover up his real ability?” Jinxia found it difficult to understand, “Where did he learn his kung fu?”
“In the Royal Palace’s inner circle.” Lu Yi said slowly.
Jinxia froze, looking at Lu Yi, “Is he a planted spy in Wu’An Gang?”
Lu Yi glanced at her briefly, “You’re being suspicious, do you think I’m also involved with him?”
“No! Of course not!” Jinxia explained, “JinYiWei has many eyes and ears, but you guys won’t know everything. Maybe, he is someone else’s pawn. If it is true that he comes from the inner circle of the royal palace, ‘Ai Bieli’ must be a torture device that belongs to them, then everything is connected…”
If that incident and the previous one were connected… She started to put the pieces together: the first time she’d seen the ‘Ai Bieli’ was when Shangguan Xi and A’Rui had left and Jinxia had seen it while she’d been drinking with Xie Xiao at Qifen Pavilion; the second time had been in Taohualin Forest, hence the fish-selling messenger should have been one of A’Rui’s people, or maybe he had been disguised as a fish-selling messenger…
“In the Taohualin Forest, he must have been the one who left ‘Ai Bieli’ there.” Jinxia thought carefully.
Lu Yi shook his head, “It wasn’t him in the forest.”
“Who could it be?” Jinxia paused and asked in surprise, “How do you know it was not him?”
Lu Yi didn’t have any reaction but didn’t answer her question either.
“Brother, don’t make people guess anymore, just say it.” Jinxia said, restless.
The beggar uncle decided to join in, “Just bear it, don’t say it! Just let her be anxious.”
“Uncle, which side are you on?” Jinxia said in a fit of irritation.
“I’m not on yours anyway.”
The beggar uncle shook his head and walked out.
“Ugh…” Jinxia glared at his disappearing reflection, turned back and looked at Lu Yi. She asked again, “Who is it?”
Lu Yi hesitated for a moment, then said reluctantly, “I can tell you, but you should also tell me what you’re hiding from me.”
“What am I hiding from you?”
“Earlier, you didn’t allow Senior to talk about last night’s incident.” Lu Yi looked at her, “What is it about?”
Jinxia choked up all of a sudden, her eyes looked somewhere else. She said in an awkward tone, “It’s nothing… It’s just a small matter, nothing to talk about…”
Lu Yi replied with the same previous expression, “If you don’t want to talk about it, of course, I won’t force it, but the things I don’t want to talk about, you can’t force me either.”
“…….”
“Actually, regarding this matter, if I want to know about it, it won’t be difficult, therefore this information exchange is useless to me.” He continued.
Whether the beggar uncle could keep a secret or not, she wasn’t sure either, she panicked even more, “No! Me, me… I…”
Lu Yi frowned a little. Looking at her, he felt a bit amused.
After battling with herself, Jinxia finally felt it was more important to investigate the case. With courage and power, she declared, “Let’s exchange information!”
“You better forget it.”
“No, Brother, let’s talk, talk… But you say it first, then I will tell you.” Jinxia proposed.
“Why not you first?”
Jinxia said in honesty, “Although I do not want to admit it, but I may, more or less, be stupider than you, so I have to be careful, in case you play tricks on me. If I tell you first, then whatever you said could be an excuse, wouldn’t that be a big loss for me?”
Upon hearing her words, Lu Yi was amused again and looked at her for a while, then nodded his head, “Your words are true. Alright, I will say it first.”
***
If he wanted to tell the story, it was necessary to start with the incident at doctor Shen’s clinic hall.
When he had heard from YangYue that Jinxia had gone to the Taohualin Forest at the west of the city, at that time, even though he didn’t know that that forest was dangerous, he was always on guard because of Xie Xiao.
It was very common to ask people about things, it could be at a restaurant or an inn in the city, if you wanted to prevent people from hearing your conversation, you could meet them on a boat, so why had Xie Xiao asked to meet with YangYue outside the city in a forest? After YangYue had re-entered the clinic, he’d called the clinic servant and asked about the Taohualin Forest.
The clinic servant had given an answer that had surprised him. Who was behind all of this? At that moment, he hadn’t thought much about it and had rushed to the Taohualin Forest.
When he’d arrived at the Taohualin Forest, the first thing he’d seen was Jinxia’s horse. The horse had an official imprint on it, which was very obvious, and he knew it was her horse by just one glance. The horse was tied alone next to a tree, which meant the owner had entered the forest.
Those LiuShanmen didn’t use their brain, but their guts were quite thick.
He’d stood outside the forest, there were very little human traces and, as far as the eye could see, there was a thick layer of fog scattered in the deep forest, this was obviously the miasma poison. He wouldn’t dare to take this matter lightly, before entering, he’d taken out a Zi Yan bottle and chewed one of the pills, then he’d followed Jinxia’s footsteps into the forest.
After walking a few steps, judging from the depth of the footprints, he could tell that she had stood here for a while and seemed to be hesitating, maybe she’d started to feel something was strange in this forest. Lu Yi had furrowed his eyebrows and continued walking inside.
The mist had approached touching the back of his hand, giving him chills down his spine.
At the tip of his nose, the pungent air from the decaying smell that properly had been rotting for years, made people who smelled it want to vomit.
From the rarity of human traces and the thick pungent smell, even ordinary people would have understood something was wrong. Seeing that Jinxia’s footprints were continuing straight ahead, Lu Yi couldn’t have guessed what was on her mind.
Walking for a while, he’d recognized the figure under the peach blossom tree and judging by the clothes, it was indeed none other than Jinxia.
He’d quickened his pace, passing through several trees, finally reaching Jinxia. She’d been lying under a tree, her face pale, her eyebrows tightened, her body curled up…
He’d lifted her body up, intending to give her Zi Yan, but when he’d opened her mouth, there was already a Zi Yan pill inside her mouth.
Why did she have this medicine? Lu Yi had remained quiet, thinking that because Yang ChengWan had been a JinYiWei as well, he might have given this to his student in case of an emergency.
Right at that moment, from his left side, about twenty steps away, there had been the sound of a tree branch breaking.
There were people!
Lu Yi had immediately put Jinxia down, lightened his steps and flown towards the direction of the sounds.
