No matter how embarrassed she was, for the sake of comforting the young man in front of her, she could only nod her head in affirmation with him.
But in fact, the statement accurately reflected how she felt in her mind. As she saw it, part of the reason that Qin Jue had become filled with wrath as he had was also partly her fault. If she had been able to get to him earlier, he wouldn’t have to endure all that pain and become so twisted in the end.
But at the same time, there was a little voice inside her head telling her that Qin Jue was not like this. They grew up together, so she should have more faith in him.
Sure enough, Qin Jue ultimately didn’t pour the poison down the spring.
Qin Jue didn’t know Xie Lin Lang’s little prediction at this moment, but he was very satisfied with her answer. Just a moment ago he had a gloomy face, yet now, there was a small smile on his lips.
With an amused look, he asked, “So even if one day my hands are completely stained with blood and my existence becomes that of a demon…Lin Lang won’t ever become scared of me?”
Xie Lin Lang blinked, gathering her thoughts back together again, and asked, “Why would I ever be scared of you? What are you gonna do, eat me?”
Qin Jie laughed again, returning to the friendly, approachable appearance he had. Seeing him like this, Xie Lin Lang couldn’t help but lean closer and in an attempt to persuade, she spoke.
“You know, I won’t stop you if you want to take revenge. But revenge done precisely is the trend nowadays. How about I teach you a set of unbeatable martial arts instead?”
Hearing her speak, Qin Jue slightly raised his eyebrow in doubt. Xie Lin Lang was known for being very talented in many fields, yet he’s never seen her in action.
Being scrutinized under Qin Jue’s gaze, Xie Lin Lang couldn’t help but straighten her posture even more.
“Why are you looking at me like that? We grew up together, shouldn’t you be familiar with what I’m capable of? All these years of travelling to the north and the south, I’ve managed to gather a lot of secret martial arts tricks! As long as you study hard, you can stab your enemies with a sword in the future.”
Xie Lin Lang tried her best to divert Qin Jue’s attention temporarily by putting forward the benefits of the ultimate end goal. Learning martial arts required enormous amounts of hard work and persistence, but it’s also a test of patience. As Qin Jue continues to learn martial arts, hopefully, his wrathful inner thoughts will become more restrained.
Xie Lin Lang secretly gave herself a thumbs-up for thinking so far ahead, however, when Qin Jue heard it, he only shook his head.
“My body’s attribute isn’t suited for practicing martial arts.”
“Hmm?”
He explained in a low tone, “I only found out a couple of months ago as well…The reason I grew up with a frail body wasn’t because of congenital deficiency, but because of a poison inherited through pregnancy.”
As he spoke, his eyes were somewhat filled with disdain, “In other words, my mother was poisoned before giving birth and the poison was then passed on to me. The poison wasn’t potent, so it was hard to detect. Yet, these types of poison are also the hardest type to cure. So I will probably never get to practice martial arts for the rest of my life.”
Xie Lin Lang frowned when she heard this. So it turned out that the reason for Qin Jue’s weak body since he was little was because of poison? And was it because the poison was too faint that she failed to notice after all these years?
Well if it was poison they were talking about, then she does, in fact, have a solution for it. But the premise is that he must be able to manifest Chi* first.
*内力 [nèi lì]–sometimes known as Chi or Qi. The internal force required to activate Qinggong.
Already having a plan in her head, she told him earnestly, “You haven’t been able to find a solution, but maybe Xiao Xi can. I believe that Xiao Xi will definitely be able to find a way to cure you!”
But Qin Jue didn’t take her seriously. Xiao Xi had already examined his body in the past. Like all those imperial doctors, he hadn’t discovered that Qin Jue was congenital with poison, so it wasn’t likely that he would be able to find the cure.
At this time, not too far away, a rapid explosion of fireworks suddenly appeared in the sky. Simultaneously, there was also another black colored firework soaring into the sky whose distance was even closer to them!
Qin Jue narrowed his eyes and said, “It seems like we have been surrounded. The waterway is heavily guarded and the people searching for us are also heading up the mountain, I’m afraid we’re now out of options.”
Unexpectedly, Xie Lin Lang was very happy to hear him say that. She took Qin Jue’s hand and began dragging him into the ravine, sighing in relief.
“It makes me glad that you’re out of ideas. Just don’t think about anything and follow me!”
Qin Jue was already confused from being dragged around so much, then he heard her continue without looking back.
“With me by your side, you don’t have to worry about anything, because no matter what happens, I will be able to take care of it. It’ll be just like when we were little: all you need to do is to follow what I tell you, how’s that?”
Listening to her talk about the past, Qin Jue’s eyes slightly flickered, as if he was also reminiscing the times they had together.
“What if you’re not here?” He asked softly.
Xie Lin Lang paused for a moment thinking, then said decisively, “…If I’m not here, just wait for me. I will definitely try my best to get to you as fast as I can and solve the problem.
I’ve already missed it once, but I will never make that mistake again. I hope that you can also restrain yourself and not kill innocent people indiscriminately, because I don’t like it.”
Hearing her proclamation, Qin Jue’s heart skipped a beat.
Soon, they arrived at the ravine. There was a stream traveling through the ravine. It’s also because of this stream that WangJiang* Prefecture is called what it is.
* 望江[wàng jiāng]–literal meaning is “to overlook the river”.
Qin Jue looked at the stream of water, confused, “I already said it before, there are sentries heavily guarding the waterway because water bandits had once broken into WangJiang Prefecture. That’s why security by the waterway is even heavier than on land.”
Xie Lin Lang nodded. She continued to drag him toward the waterway, while saying, “Don’t worry, the waterway does have troops stationed there, but we won’t be encountering them.”
“Why?”
“Why…didn’t you see the black smoke just now? That smoke wasn’t actually a signal from the assassins. It was from a flare that Xiao Xi set off. And the thing that had been set on fire was, in fact, the Liu family’s home!
According to the map, the Liu family home should be very closely located to this stream of water in front of us. Once their house catches on fire, the troops will definitely put priority on extinguishing the fire out as soon as possible. That’s when we can take advantage of the chaos and leave the city without being detected; it’ll appear as if we had vanished into thin air!”
Qin Jue was a little astounded when he heard this. So Xie Lin Lang had already thought of the whole escape plan even before Xiao Xi was sent to rescue the girl?
Xie Lin Lang immediately rolled her eyes when she saw him look at her speechlessly.
“You’re thinking too much. I didn’t really plan this far ahead. The reason why I sent Xiao Xi to set the fire was because I wanted to teach the Liu family a lesson for you.
Who would’ve known that you would give my carriage away and expose us this early on! Here I was hoping to eat a decent meal in WangJiang before we return on the road again!”
The more she spoke, the puffier her cheeks grew and the angrier her voice became.
Seeing her reaction, Qin Jue couldn’t help but smile, “So then are we going to leave Xiao Xi here?”
“What else could we do? The entire WangJiang prefecture should be looking for us by now, shouldn’t we run while we still have time?
As for Xiao Xi, although his fighting isn’t great, his QingGong is amazing. Without us dragging him down, he can easily escape. It won’t be before long until he comes looking for us again!”
After hearing this, Qin Jue thought about Xiao Xi’s age. And remembering that he was almost around the same age as them, he suddenly wanted to laugh again.
Who could blame a servant for being so versatile when his master is such a troublemaker?
As they kept on talking, they exited the city unimpeded just as expected. Other than encountering a checkpoint with messy footprints scattered on the floor along the way, there wasn’t a single soul in sight. It seemed like she was right about all the troops heading off to put out the fire.
Once they left the city, Xie Lin Lang bought a horse carriage from a passing merchant and continued taking Qin Jue down South.
Qin Jue asked her why she was in such a rush that she didn’t even wait for Xiao Xi.
Xie Lin Lang answered him with slight desperation, “Do you think the royal decree is a joke? The Emperor only gave you two months’ time to get to Xiang City. If by the time two months is up and you still haven’t arrived, then you’d be considered an escapee! Now, more than a month has already passed, how can I not be in a hurry?”
Just now did Qin Jue suddenly remember the fact that there was a restriction order placed on him…He had to admit, when he was around Xie Lin Lang, he tended to forget many things subconsciously. And sometimes even managing to forget that one thing––hatred.
Xie Lin Lang couldn’t care less about what he’s dwelling on now. As soon as she picked a conspicuous spot and left a mark for Xiao Xi, she spurred the horse and continued down the road again.
As for the assassins that were still aimlessly looking all over WangJiang, not realizing Qin Jue had escaped right under their nose, she could only imagine how colorful Imperial Concubine Hui’s face would become after hearing about it.
On the other side, Capital City.
Layers of thick, gloomy clouds formed above the sky, looking as if it was about to snow again. At this time, a group of troops exited from one of the buildings inside of the imperial palace. They opened the palace door swiftly, with their heads held low, respectfully seeing the departure of a high-ranking government official.
After a brief moment, a flash of a purple royal Huafu* suit appeared and a man wearing an imperial crown walked out of the palace…
*Huafu is classified as a whole set of Chinese traditional outfit. Includes styles like Hanfu which is more commonly known.
He had a very handsome appearance, and a kind of gentle elegance radiated with every movement of his body. Sophistication of this detail could only be cultivated growing up in an aristocratic family. The person himself held a scholarly aura, making him appear amiable yet unapproachable.
After he came out, he quickly entered a maroon carriage. The imperial guards saw to it that he departed safely, and only until he was far away did the soldiers finally dare to stand up straight again.
Inside the carriage, a servant girl that looked very similar to Xie Lin Lang came to greet him. She passed forward a secret letter with watery eyes.
“Imperial Preceptor DaRen, this is a confidential letter from the Southern territories. It is about Xie GongZi, please have a look.”