Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Shijieyu pondered for a moment before turning back to call out softly to Mei Shuang.
Mei Shuang was deep in sleep, suddenly startled awake by Shijieyu's voice. Still a bit groggy, she was about to respond when she heard Shijieyu's quiet "shh."
The gesture and sound were too suggestive; Mei Shuang instantly thought there was danger outside and became fully alert, nervously looking at Shijieyu in the moonlight streaming through the window.
"We must set off tonight," Shijieyu briefly explained what had just happened, leaving Mei Shuang stunned and unable to close her mouth for a while. "What?! Someone got ahead of us? Are you saying there are others going this time?"
"I'll explain later," Shijieyu said before swiftly moving to the next room, leaving Mei Shuang with her mouth agape, still in disbelief that such confidential information was known by a third party.
Anriyan seemed to have anticipated an urgent march tonight and showed no signs of wanting to rest. Upon hearing Shijieyu's words, he naturally did not hesitate.
Except for Mei Shuang, everyone else was still full of energy, which made her sigh. Once, she had been among the strongest in endurance among many travelers, but after this day of bumps, her spirit had diminished significantly.
Although it was midsummer, the night was cool as water. Coupled with the fast-moving carriage, Mei Shuang felt a chill creeping over her body and instinctively pulled her thin clothing closer around herself. As the carriage swayed, she unexpectedly dozed off against the wall of the carriage.
Suddenly feeling a chill, Mei Shuang opened her blurry eyes and realized it was pitch black in front of her.
The carriage continued its rhythmic rush. She lifted the curtain to look outside and saw that at some point, clouds had covered most of the moon in the sky.
With the faint moonlight outside, she saw Anriyan and the tower-like Attendant both resting with their eyes closed, while Shijieyu, beside her, showed no signs of sleep but was deep in thought.
Noticing Mei Shuang looking at her, she immediately raised her left hand while quickly sketching something in her palm with her right hand. Mei Shuang widened her eyes in shock and formed two words with her lips: "Is it him?"
Shijieyu nodded solemnly and said quietly, "We must hurry."
With no more sleepiness left, Mei Shuang was filled with disbelief and confusion. How could this be possible?!
Time was pressing; they only stopped occasionally to rest and did not linger otherwise. The coachman cracked his whip loudly as the horses snorted and rushed forward. Finally, they arrived at the foot of Qishan by the evening of the next day.
Mei Shuang knew the legend of Qishan, recalling how a famous minister once ventured out from there. However, after so many years, she wondered if this Qishan was indeed the same one from before. Without a map for reference, it was hard to say if this was part of the same mountain range. Perhaps today's Qishan stretched hundreds or even thousands of miles; it could very well be a different mountain range altogether.
Standing at the base of the mountain and surveying their destination for advancement, despite having been here before, she was still awed by the power of nature that formed this landscape.
The sun had already dipped to the halfway point of the mountain, and squinting into the distance, one could see the uneven terrain, with low-altitude areas mostly covered by dense forests, surrounded by towering mountain valleys. Further in, where the land was slightly flatter, there were green pines and cypress trees, providing shade from the sun. One could see clear springs trickling between the cracks of the rocks and hear the gentle sound of flowing water.
Although she had previously hidden with Yun Kong on Qishan for a while, it was not the same place. Therefore, Xiao Luo had mentioned that Mei Shuang had been here before, but it only meant that she was not unfamiliar with this mountain.
The previous location was not particularly far from Qizhou City, but this place was more than a hundred miles away from where they had been.
As for why this location was chosen to stop, Mei Shuang was not very clear. The characters she deciphered from the Secret Edict were "Qi" rather than "Qi," and she did not know if it was determined based on phonetics or some other method. However, if it was indeed based on phonetics to conclude that the treasure vanished in this mountain, then searching extensively would be like trying to fish a small boat out of a vast ocean.
One would think that the emperor of the Great Qin Empire would not act so recklessly. Moreover, the place where the carriage stopped was almost in the middle of Qishan; was that merely a coincidence? Should they search south first or north after entering the mountain?
These questions troubled Mei Shuang, but then she realized that surely the emperor must have done a lot of work before sending them here. After all, such a significant matter would be futile if left to just a few people; it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
With these thoughts in mind, Mei Shuang felt somewhat reassured.
After traveling further into the mountains, there were no more paths for the carriage to take. The sky gradually darkened, and all that could be heard were the winds whistling through the mountains and the gentle flow of water. The scenery was extremely serene, occasionally interrupted by birdsong that gave one a sense of entering a paradise. If it weren't for carrying out this special and arduous task, this place would be perfect for seclusion.
The spot where the carriage stopped was relatively open, surrounded by towering peaks forming a semi-circle. One could vaguely see winding paths through the dense forest leading up to the mountain's summit, which appeared to be several thousand feet above ground. Amongst the sand and gravel on the ground were several large stones, with the highest standing about two meters off the ground.
Anriyan looked around and said, "We'll rest here tonight."
After disembarking from the carriage, one driver went to gather firewood for cooking while another began unloading goods from the carriage. Several large packages were taken down and distributed among them.
Mei Shuang noticed that Shijieyu's package was quite light, containing only a few pieces of clothing. Anriyan had nothing at all; only his attendant carried a long black leather bag whose contents were unknown. The driver also took down several packages containing dry rations and clean water.
Both drivers remained silent but worked efficiently. Soon, a fire pit was set up around the carriage, and two small pots were taken out from inside to start cooking.
Before long, delicious aromas wafted from the pots. Although it was just ordinary dried vegetables soaked in bread, Mei Shuang had been preoccupied with her thoughts throughout their journey; now that they had arrived at their destination, she needed to eat well.
After finishing their meal, Mei Shuang and Shijieyu got back into the carriage to rest properly while Anriyan lay down on one of the large stones with his attendant nearby.
Initially thinking that the drivers were merely there to drop them off before returning, Mei Shuang realized that they were actually two diligent helpers. She understood well that one should not judge by appearances; these two drivers had traveled tirelessly without showing any signs of fatigue and managed everything meticulously without saying much. This piqued Mei Shuang's curiosity. The drivers introduced themselves as Cong Fei and Cong Yue; only then did Mei Shuang realize they were brothers who had come up the mountain together this time.
The originally thin team felt slightly stronger with the addition of two people, but judging by their names, they seemed to be familiar with the mountains and forests.
After two bumpy days in the carriage, Mei Shuang felt sore all over. She exchanged a few hurried words with Shijieyu before falling into a deep sleep.
It is said that real people do not dream, yet as soon as Mei Shuang lay down, she began to dream. The dream was filled with montage-like scenes, surreal and unbelievable, until she suddenly woke up with a scream.
Her cry echoed sharply in the stillness of the night. With a mission at hand, everyone was sleeping lightly, and Mei Shuang's scream made them all alert.
Shijieyu wiped the sweat from Mei Shuang's forehead while softly comforting her. However, Mei Shuang vividly remembered the last scene from her dream. She saw a person standing in front of her, a devilishly handsome face wearing a smile. "If you take one more step closer, don't blame me for not being merciful." Behind him, countless red eyes shone clearly...
Mei Shuang was stunned for a long time. It took Shijieyu shaking her for her to come back to reality. After calming her racing heart, she muttered in disbelief, "I... I dreamed of him."
Shijieyu was also taken aback but quickly reassured her, "What you think about during the day will appear in your dreams at night; you're overthinking it."
Mei Shuang shook her head and crawled out of the carriage. Gazing into the distance, she suddenly had a premonition: the closer she got to this place, the more entangled she felt with it, and certain things buried deep in her mind began to clarify...
It was an exceptionally terrifying feeling.
It was as if she had been here in a past life but couldn't quite grasp it—vague and elusive, like an illusory realm...
Later that night, Mei Shuang tossed and turned restlessly, completely unaware that Anriyan was watching her with deep eyes from atop a large rock.
As dawn approached, Mei Shuang could no longer sleep. She quietly got up, stepped down from the carriage, and walked to a nearby mountain stream to splash some cold water on her face.
The spring water was icy and sweet; it helped clear her foggy mind significantly. After staring blankly at the distant mountains for a moment, she turned around to find Anriyan standing behind her without her noticing.
Anriyan still wore that relaxed demeanor, fanning himself gently while gazing at Mei Shuang with an unfathomable look in his eyes.
Mei Shuang rose from beside the spring and looked at Anriyan.
There are indeed no permanent friends, no permanent enemies; only interests are everlasting.
She calmly asked, "Is there something strange inside?"
Anriyan was momentarily taken aback. "Inside? We have never ventured there, how would we know?"
Mei Shuang frowned. Could it be that her previous deduction was incorrect? Anriyan was right; if they knew what was strange inside, perhaps they wouldn't need to go through the trouble of searching. The only possibility left was that there might be something unusual on the way.
Perhaps after she deciphered the Secret Edict, the emperor of the Great Qin Empire had already sent someone to search. The only reason they hadn't succeeded could be that they had not approached the core and encountered some obstacles along the way, which is why they needed people like her to go.
This possibility seemed the most likely.
Anriyan appreciated Mei Shuang's deduction, lightly tapping his fan in his palm. "Indeed, Miss Lin has a clear mind and accurate judgment. No wonder she is a favored candidate of the Empress of the Great Qin Empire."
Mei Shuang did not want to waste too much time on small talk and got straight to the point. "We have met a few times before, so there's no need for us to beat around the bush. Since we must cooperate this time, it's best to communicate openly beforehand. It would be beneficial for both sides to share everything."
Anriyan raised an eyebrow, gazing at Mei Shuang for a moment before a slight smile appeared on his lips. "I suppose Miss Lin still does not trust me; feel free to ask."
Mei Shuang inquired, "What can you gain from cooperating with the Great Qin Empire?"
Comment 0 Comment Count