Chapter 87
Chapter 87
For ease of treatment, Yan Yanchi had no choice but to remain at the clinic for the time being. The old physician bandaged his wounds and administered medicine to suppress the poison in his body, but this was only a temporary measure. To save Yan Yanchi, they still had to find the antidote.
Ding Ling stayed beside his sickbed from day until night. The longer she watched Yan Yanchi lie unconscious, his face deathly pale, the heavier her guilt became.
She had heard of Yan Yanchi’s illustrious reputation long ago. When they first met, she had been terrified that he would kill her.
Yan Yanchi later decided to spare her, but he had never treated her kindly.
From the very beginning, Ding Ling knew that the Daoist Master detested her. Yet he had continued to nourish her with his Yang Qi and had even risked everything to send her to safety in the midst of a deadly crisis.
Ding Ling thought that even though the Daoist Master disliked her, he had still done his utmost to save her. Had it been any other innocent person that night, he surely would have risked his life to protect them just the same.
The Daoist Master was a good man.
A good man should not perish like this.
Ding Ling pressed her lips together, rose, and drifted outside. After searching through the night for some time, she finally looked up and spotted two people sitting on the roof in the cold wind.
Qiao Ying hugged herself and shivered whenever the wind blew. Utterly bewildered, she asked the person beside her, “Why are we sitting on a roof in the middle of the night?”
Shen Qingyu was weaving a grasshopper out of straw. He chuckled. “To bask in the moonlight.”
“What I meant was, why do I have to bask in the moonlight with you?”
Shen Qingyu took her hand, his lips curving upward. “Because we are husband and wife.”
Qiao Ying felt that his understanding of marriage differed somewhat from everyone else’s.
Wherever he went, she had to go too. They had to be bound together at all times, never to part.
“Young Master Shen! Fairy Sister!”
Ding Ling rode the wind up to the roof and went straight to the point. “Let’s kidnap Old Man Ding and use him as a hostage! We can threaten Scarface and make him hand over the antidote to save the Daoist Master!”
Qiao Ying stared at her in shock.
She was accustomed to Ding Ling looking like a Little White Rabbit, forever on the verge of tears. To hear Ding Ling suddenly propose kidnapping someone, her own father no less, left Qiao Ying unable to react.
After a moment, Qiao Ying turned to Shen Qingyu in anguish. “This is all our fault. We’ve corrupted the Little White Rabbit.”
Shen Qingyu obligingly smiled. “Mm. All our fault.”
No matter what she said, the moment it included the word *our*, it sounded unexpectedly delightful.
Ding Ling had never done anything outrageous in her life. Even when wronged, all she knew how to do was hide in a corner and quietly cry. It was as though she had been born without any notion of revenge.
Yet now, she wanted someone to kidnap her own father and use him as a hostage.
Ding Ling clutched the corner of her robe and pressed her lips tightly together. “The Daoist Master’s life hangs by a thread because he saved me. He detests me, yet he still risked his life for mine. He is a good man. A good man… A good man deserves a good end.”
At Ding Ling’s claim that Yan Yanchi detested her, Qiao Ying’s expression turned odd.
After a moment, she said, “Even if we kidnap Master Ding, I doubt that man called He Fei will appear.”
“Why?” Ding Ling asked in confusion.
“We fought our way into Ding Manor today, but he never even showed his face. Clearly, he doesn’t care whether Master Ding lives or dies. Ding Fufu was taken away, and perhaps He Fei was the one who took her. I don’t know what his goal is, but Ding Fufu is probably far more important to him than Master Ding. Maybe he even knows that Ding Fufu isn’t the real Miss Ding. Since he knows someone has set their sights on her, he certainly won’t reveal himself easily.”
Ding Ling lowered her eyes despondently, at a loss for what to do. “Then what can we do? I don’t want the Daoist Master to die…”
“We still have half a month, so don’t panic yet. We can search for He Fei and Ding Fufu during that time. If we truly can’t discover their whereabouts, we’ll have to try our last resort.”
“What last resort?” Ding Ling asked.
Qiao Ying raised her face and looked into the night.
Beyond the moonlight and clouds, deep within Yunling Prefecture, stood a brilliantly illuminated city.
Shen Qingyu smiled. “Forcing our way into Yunling City sounds very interesting.”
Although Yunling City had dealings with the outside world, not everyone was permitted to settle there. Its people were free from illness and disaster, and lived peaceful, prosperous lives. Even at night, the city bustled with activity, earning it the name City That Never Sleeps.
Yunling City was a paradise in the hearts of many. For that very reason, the City Lord who governed it enjoyed supreme status.
And the more supreme a person was, the more thrilling it became to slaughter them.
Shen Qingyu caressed the Blind Staff in his hand and lowered his face with a faint smile. The air around him once again took on a dangerous edge.
When Qiao Ying shifted closer and pressed herself against his side, warmth followed. For some inexplicable reason, his grip on the Blind Staff loosened of its own accord, and the killing intent that had just begun to emerge faded considerably.
He returned to the grasshopper and wove its wings.
Ding Ling also gazed toward Yunling City. “When I was little, my brother took me to Yunling City once. It was lively and prosperous. Brother even joked that once he became head of the Ding family, he would offer up the entire family fortune in exchange for permission to take me into the city. From then on, we would live without a care in the world.”
Ding Yanyu was eight years older than Ding Ling. She still remembered the young boy holding her hand as they faced the sunlight. When he spoke of their future, his eyes shone as if they held a river of stars.
“Lingling, in this City That Never Sleeps, there will be a home for just you and me. It will be the happiest home of all.”
But ten years had passed. Everyone loved only Ding Fufu now, forgetting the timid, cowardly, unlikable Ding Ling.
Her father refused to acknowledge her. Would her brother do the same?
“I still prefer peace, so I hope it won’t come to that.” Qiao Ying took out a string of Prayer Beads. “We found these in Ding Fufu’s… no, in your room earlier today. Do you know where they came from?”
Ding Ling thought for a long time. “Brother told me I picked them during the object-selection ceremony on my first birthday.”
Back then, the Ding family’s business had run into trouble. Around the same time, Master Ding had gotten into a jealous fight over a courtesan and had his legs broken. Unable to move, he left the frail Madam Ding no choice but to force herself out of bed and lead the merchant caravan to replenish a badly needed shipment in person.
It also happened to be Ding Ling’s first-birthday celebration. No one knew who had placed a string of Prayer Beads among the objects, but Ding Ling happened to choose them.
Madam Ding smiled. “Prayer Beads are good. With the protection of the Buddha, this child will surely enjoy a life of peace and happiness.”
Madam Ding then instructed Ding Yanyu to take good care of his younger sister before departing with her people.
The goods were urgently needed, so Madam Ding had no choice but to take a dangerous shortcut. While crossing the desolate wilderness, she came upon an ancient temple that had been abandoned for many years.