265 - Destroyer of Ice and Fire
Regardless of the truth, there was only one path to take at present: to guard the "Painting of Rivers and Mountains in Splendid Glory." Even if it's the emperor who wants it, a few days wouldn't make a difference. In front of the county yamen in Mo Shang, a large crowd of onlookers gathered around the notice wall, eagerly discussing the recent events. The bulletin board was surrounded, as everyone was intensely curious about the murder case. They saw a notice posted on the board, titled "Seeking Information on an Unidentified Corpse." The notice read: "Recently, an unidentified female corpse was found in a cave on Cangya Mountain. The woman was between twenty and thirty years old at the time of death, which occurred roughly eighteen to twenty years ago. She was about six feet two inches tall and had given birth before. She carried a butterfly-shaped blue-white jade pendant, as shown in the left image. A reward of ten taels of silver will be given for any valid leads." "It looks like an old case. The body has already turned into a skeleton, and it's hard to identify." "Ten taels of silver is a lot, but clues are hard to come by." "Yes, it seems like the authorities don't really want to spend that money." "Maybe we can start with the butterfly-shaped jade pendant. Such an exquisite design is clearly not something from an ordinary household..." Qin Luo Fu, dressed in plain clothing and carrying a basket of embroidery, walked towards the yamen. Jiang Yun's "Brocade and Embroidery" shop was not far from the yamen. The street was teeming with people, all heading towards the yamen. As Qin Luo Fu passed by, she overheard snippets of conversations from those rushing to join the crowd. "Let's go, let's go see it." "They say they found an unidentified female corpse, and there's a reward for leads..." For the past two years, she had been delivering embroidery done with the hidden needle technique to Jiang Yun's shop, which in turn sold them to the capital. The entire Lin family, over twenty people, perished due to one person's selfish desires. Jiang Yun had laid down the groundwork for years to build the reputation of "Brocade and Embroideries," and now several major textile shops in the capital did business with him. Fortunately, Jiang Yun's wife loved embroidery and always sourced premium embroidered products from the capital. Some of Jiang Yun's embroidery always ended up in her hands. This meant that the opportunity for "that person" to see Qin Luo Fu's embroidery was always there, constantly reminding him that the roots he had cut years ago had not all been severed. Retribution might be delayed, but it would come. Qin Luo Fu normally disliked mingling with crowds, but she was swept along by the masses towards the yamen. She joined the others in looking at the "Seeking Information" notice. When she saw the sketch of the butterfly-shaped jade pendant, her basket fell to the ground with a thud, and the embroideries inside were trampled by passersby. Her eyes darkened, her face turned ashen, and tears streamed down her cheeks uncontrollably. Qin Luo Fu stepped back in shock, shaking her head fiercely, seemingly in denial. It wasn't until the crowd thinned that she came to her senses. She adjusted her hair, picked up the embroidery from the ground, and strapped the basket back onto her arm. She rushed to the bulletin board, tore down the notice, haphazardly folded it, and stuffed it into her inner pocket. New onlookers who were yet to finish reading the notice protested, "Hey, what are you doing? I haven't finished reading it, why did you tear it down?" Qin Luo Fu ignored them, striding towards the "Brocade and Embroideries" shop with swift determination. 【Aunt Cheng, I don't think I can handle the tenth anymore.】 【Senior… can I rely on you…】 【Giving up halfway would be a grave mistake.】 【It would be difficult to leave here so easily, let alone save someone.】 【Sorry, Master, for once I have to disobey your orders.】 【It hurts…】 【What's wrong? Is it too much spiritual energy absorption?】 【No, not my hand, it's my meridians… they hurt so much…】 【What is this?!】 【Why are there so many red trees…】 【Why are there so many red grasses…】 【Why is everything so red…】 【Why are you crying?】 【For whom are you crying?】 【Why are you laughing?】 【What makes you laugh so?】 【I think I finally understand her pain when her spiritual energy ran wild.】 【It's so hard, no wonder she was so weak, so tormented.】 【…Who is she.】 【What is she.】 【I must go ask her】 【She seems to be waiting for me, she says I must return safely.】 【She seems…】 【…she still owes me a gift…】 【A New Year's gift…】 【A token of affection…】 【How could someone be so stingy, giving nothing at all.】 【Those who hurt her, they all deserve to die.】 【Deserve to die.】 【It was her, it was her, it was all of them.】 【It smells so foul.】 【So it was you, it was you all along.】 【If I kill him, no one will threaten…】 【Threaten…】 【Threaten my mother anymore.】 【There's a trace of toxin.】 【Cleanse…】 【Cleanse…】 ### Chapter 104: The Journey Home (1) 【Am I back in the past?】 【Or are these just dreams…】 【Mother didn't actually go insane, did she?】 【…You said, call you Aunt Cheng.】 【It's not a big deal, it's not a big deal.】 【Is this what being loved by a mother feels like?】 【…There's no need to win, no need to fight.】 In the seventeenth year of Jiankang, on the sixth day of the eighth lunar month, early morning, Ning Song Wu returned from the time flower house. The next day, in the inner courtyard of Pingyang County Yamen. Ning Song Wu lay on the bed, her face ashen and her eyes vacant, staring blankly at the bed curtains. Retribution might be slow, but it eventually comes. Having drunk too much the previous day, her head now hurt so much she questioned her very existence. Just as she was struggling with whether or not to get up, there was a knock on the door. "Ning Da-ren?" The constable outside whispered, pressing his voice low. "Mm?" Ning Song Wu replied dully, signaling that she was awake. She got up from the bed and started to get dressed.