Chapter 231
Chapter 231
At his words, Black Swallow instinctively touched the back of his head. He, too, was startled by the blood on his hand.
“How… how did my head get cut?”
He stood stunned, unable to remember what had happened.
River-Crossing Dragon’s throat bobbed as he swallowed nervously. He stepped forward and caught hold of him.
“Brother, there really is something wrong here. We have to leave.”
But Black Swallow was in no mood to listen. He shook him off, too preoccupied even to worry about how his head had been wounded.
“If we are leaving, we should at least take something with us!”
River-Crossing Dragon tried patiently to persuade him. “Listen to me. You cannot take anything from here! This villa is haunted. Do you understand?”
“And everything we are doing now… we have done before!”
“Believe me. Something is truly wrong here!”
“What nonsense are you talking? Are you saying this on purpose so you can keep everything for yourself?”
Black Swallow would not hear a word of it. With a cold laugh, he turned and stuffed two gold ingots into his robe.
Then he spotted a frost jade disc on the shelf and hurried over joyfully.
Watching him, River-Crossing Dragon felt his scalp prickle.
He knew he could not waste any more time. Nor did he care to concern himself with someone else’s fate. Without hesitation, he turned and ran outside…
Inside, Black Swallow tucked the jade disc into his robe, then turned and saw the Youth-Preserving Pearl. Trembling all over with excitement, he muttered, “I am rich. This time I am truly rich! Mine! All mine!”
He was so lost in the thrill of finding treasure that he did not even notice when River-Crossing Dragon left…
Outside, a bright moon rose to the middle of the sky.
Cold wind howled and snow swirled. Soon, heaven and earth were an endless expanse of white.
Only when Black Swallow noticed the dazzling light streaming through the windows did he step outside. The sight before him frightened him into stillness.
It was snowing.
It was only the ninth month. How could so much snow be falling?
Clutching the treasures inside his robe, he felt fear crawl through him. At last, he realized River-Crossing Dragon had been telling the truth…
Black Swallow cried out and stumbled through the wind and snow toward the villa’s exit. His figure soon vanished into the blizzard.
Before long, a cold gust swept past. The strange scene flickered and disappeared.
Mingyue Villa returned to its original stillness.
Then two figures, one behind the other, once again approached the villa’s entrance…
*
“How does the story end?”
“It does not say.”
The people who had gone to search the villa for clues had gathered in the hall again.
Two hours had now passed.
After listening to Yu Lang describe the “clue” he had found, they all fell into thought.
The so-called clue was a booklet with a yellowed cover. Inside was a story about two thieves who went to Mingyue Villa to steal treasures.
There was no date or author’s name. They did not even know whether the people in it were real.
It had simply lain on a table in one of the rooms. Strangely, there was no dust on it.
It was as though someone had only just put it there, waiting for them to find it…
Ren Fengjue asked, “Apart from that, did you find anything else?”
Yu Lang replied, “No. We searched several rooms, but there was nothing except a few everyday objects.”
“We also tried to find the Treasure Vault mentioned in the story. In the end, we realized it was in the same location as the room where we found this booklet. But there was nothing inside it, no gold, silver, or jade at all.”
After a moment’s thought, Ren Fengjue said, “If this story is true, we can still draw some useful information from it.”
He began listing the details. “The story mentioned Hanging Mirror Hall…”
Yu Lang immediately said, “I remember. The assassin who secretly attacked you on the boat was sent by Hanging Mirror Hall.”
“Correct.”
Ren Fengjue nodded. “This supposed private organization of assassins is not as simple as it appears.”
“The story also said that the villa belonged to a family of officials in Liangzhou City, and that they had a daughter who was ill.”
Yu Lang considered the clue carefully. “Apart from the Marquis of Zhenbei, there do not seem to be any high officials in Liangzhou City.”
Ren Fengjue was silent for a moment, then nodded again.
Ever since the Marquis of Zhenbei had been stationed in Liangzhou City, important posts such as prefect and deputy prefect had remained vacant.
In earlier years, officials had been sent from the capital to take up office. Within half a year, however, they had all been removed over matters involving disaster-relief grain and funds.
Yu Lang understood without anything being said.
He knew rumors had long circulated in the capital that the Marquis of Zhenbei wanted sole control of the Northern Border, to become Liangzhou City’s “emperor.”
How could he tolerate the court’s “hounds” being sent there?
Truth and falsehood mingled in these rumors. They might be slander, yet on reflection, they were not wholly without reason.
Yu Lang asked, “Does the Marquis of Zhenbei have a daughter?”
“My father mentioned a son about my age,” Ren Fengjue said. “But I have never heard of a daughter…”
Yu Lang was puzzled. “Yet the story claims that the young lady disappeared a year ago, after which Mingyue Villa was abandoned.”
“If the owner really is the Marquis of Zhenbei, it would make sense for the thieves of Liangzhou City to keep away.”
At this point, Xia Ximo, who had remained silent, suddenly spoke. “There is another person in the story you have overlooked.”
Yu Lang immediately agreed. “That is right. A veiled woman appeared at the inn. She warned the two thieves that no one returned from the villa…”
“I nearly forgot… Now that I think about it, she is certainly suspicious.”
Xia Ximo asked, “Could that veiled woman be the Marquis of Zhenbei’s missing daughter?”
Ren Fengjue glanced at her as if to say that they thought alike, then ventured another guess. “She may also be the person who wrote this story.”
Beside them, Daoist Yan was still baffled by all the story’s twists. At this, he could not help speaking. “I did not really understand the story you just told…”
Ren Fengjue explained, “It is actually quite simple. What those two thieves encountered is almost exactly what we are experiencing now.”
“As soon as they stepped outside the villa’s gates, they forgot what had happened before. So they kept repeating the same actions.”
Yan Zhengchu was even more astonished.
He was about to speak when Axia, standing by the door, suddenly exclaimed, “Young master, is the scene outside not exactly like the one described in the story?”
They went to the door and windows to look out. Sure enough, a bright moon hung high in the sky, shining over the silent wilderness.
Heavy snow swirled. The wind was bitterly cold.
Perhaps this was not real snow at all, but something with a special meaning.
Ren Fengjue suddenly said, “I have a feeling we are not the only ones in this villa right now.”
At his words, even the lantern on the table seemed to sway.
He continued, “Come. Let us keep looking. Perhaps whoever it is will give us more clues.”