Chapter 705 - 707: The Terrifying Thing is the Human Heart
"Taking a plant?" Bai Ruozhu was startled, while Jiang Yichun beside her answered in a deep voice, "Bamboo."
The child grinned, "It’s you, my trip was not in vain. This river lamp is given by grandpa for you." As he spoke, he thrust a crumpled river lamp into Bai Ruozhu’s hands, then shyly laughed, "The crowd outside was too dense, so it got all squished. I don’t know if it can still be launched."
Bai Ruozhu thought to herself that she never wanted to release another river lamp in her life.
"Little brother, where is the grandpa you’re talking about? When did you see him?" Jiang Yichun asked urgently.
"The day before yesterday or the day before that, he lives not far from my house in an alley. He gave me a lot of candies, saying that if I could find a beautiful lady with a child at the inn within these two days, she would buy me even more candies. But I haven’t seen him these days, I guess he has moved away." The child looked at Bai Ruozhu with hopeful eyes while speaking.
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but laugh. She had some packed dimsums in her room, which she directly gave to the child, and also gave him ten taels of silver, instructing him, "This silver can buy a lot of candies. Don’t be cheated, give it to your parents and let them buy it for you."
Excited, the kid started jumping up and down and then hopped away.
When the child had gone far away, Jiang Yichun hurriedly closed the room door, then carefully dismantled the river lamp. Soon, he discovered a line of small characters written on the thick base of the lamp.
"Detoxing is not difficult, feed the poisonous insect used for detoxifying Xiaojiang last time to the one I sent you. If it’s not enough, let it consume other poisonous insects. Once strong enough, it can detoxify your son."
Bai Ruozhu also saw the small characters and was astonished. "Is it that simple?" she asked.
Jiang Yichun also found it hard to believe and after a moment’s hesitation replied, "It seems Elder Shougu has given you a precious gift."
"Stop talking nonsense, do you have the poisonous insect with you?" Bai Ruozhu began to laugh. The heavy stone that had been pressing on her heart for many days was suddenly lifted, and she saw hope for detoxifying her son.
Jiang Yichun quickly pulled out a small porcelain bottle from his bosom and said, "I have it. Elder Shougu taught me how to draw it out from the body last time. I brought it with me this time, thinking of giving it to him, but I didn’t expect it to be useful like this."
Bai Ruozhu took the small bottle and told Furball using her thoughts to eat the poisonous insect. Furball jumped out in a flash, sat on Bai Ruozhu’s shoulder, and his small eyes were gleaming clearly indicating he was greedy.
She cautiously opened the bottle plug. The scene of this poisonous insect suddenly leaping onto Jiang Yichun’s body last time left a shadow in her heart.
Unexpectedly, Furball’s speed was nearly a blur. An afterimage flashed by, and it plunged into the bottle. The bottle trembled slightly, presumably because the two poisonous insects were magic dueling inside.
Bai Ruozhu silently cheered on Furball in her heart but dared not look through the bottle plug. After a while, it quieted down. She finally glanced in carefully and found only Furball still present in the bottle, but Furball looked very lazy. He came out of the bottle and went back to the jade bottle that Elder Shougu originally gave to Bai Ruozhu, not coming out again.
"Is it... waiting for digestion?" Bai Ruozhu asked wide-eyed.
Jiang Yichun did not know much about poisonous insects either. After thinking for a while, he said, "Perhaps when it comes out next time, it can detoxify Dengdeng. Its current state is probably like when our inner strength reaches a certain level and needs to advance."
Only then did Bai Ruozhu feel a little relieved. But she didn’t know how long Furball would have to rest. However, it was clear that they didn’t need to stay in Linchuan City any longer, so they discussed leaving for Beiyu City earlier.
Outside, people were still yelling for them to leave Linchuan City. Helpless, the two of them packed up, paid their bill to the shopkeeper, who mentioned that he had already charged them thirty taels of silver before, so they didn’t need to pay anything else. That didn’t exactly make him a crook.
As they left the inn, the commotion outside grew louder. Some people even threw things at them. Jiang Yichun and his bodyguards protected Bai Ruozhu and her son, leading them to the horse carriage.
By the time Jiang Yichun got into the carriage, a piece of vegetable leaf was clinging to his hair. Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but laugh, saying, "This is the first time I’ve seen you in such a sorry state."
Jiang Yichun plucked the leaf from his hair, angrily throwing it out of the carriage, and glared at Bai Ruozhu, saying, "They’re just ordinary people; it wouldn’t be right for me to beat them up. Otherwise..." He said this through gritted teeth, but his reluctance to act showed that he wasn’t a violent person.
The horse carriage promptly headed out of the city. Without the noise from the crowd, it was rather quiet all of a sudden. Within the swaying carriage, Dengdeng easily fell asleep.
Just then, someone outside stopped the carriage. The coachman, afraid of hitting the person, quickly stopped the horse.
Jiang Yichun frowned and asked, "What’s going on?"
The coachman, a well-trained man, said in a deep voice, "A man and his daughter are stopping the carriage. It seems the girl is the little maid your lady saved from the river."
Bai Ruozhu stuck her head out to look, and sure enough, it was the little girl Yiyi she had rescued. The girl had recovered but looked somewhat pale. However, her features were superb; she was set to grow up into a beauty.
Jiang Yichun stepped out of the carriage and asked, "Why are you stopping our carriage?"
Yiyi’s father quickly kowtowed before Jiang Yichun, saying, "Please save my daughter, sir. I have no other way, or these people will surely drive her to death."
At this point, a bodyguard whispered something in Jiang Yichun’s ear. Bai Ruozhu, with her sharp ears, caught the gist of it.
"Young Master, I have looked into it. This young lady is engaged to the son of a local wealthy merchant. She has a cousin two years older who believes she could step into the young lady’s position and marry the merchant if she dies. This led the mother and daughter to plot this scheme. The person who pushed her into the river that night was her cousin, and the woman who came out crying was her aunt. That woman stirred up the townsfolk to drown this young girl."
So that’s what happened. It seemed that what was truly terrifying was not superstition, but human nature.
Bai Ruozhu pursed her lips in thought. If Dengdeng’s situation were uncertain, she certainly wouldn’t have had the time to bother with other people’s affairs. But now that she had some reassurances, her mood had improved immensely, and she felt some sympathy for the unfortunate girl.
Yiyi’s father outside the carriage was pleading with tears, "Both of you are not locals. Please take Yiyi away with you. She’ll serve as the lady’s maid; she can’t stay here and be drowned by the people."
Bai Ruozhu, holding Dengdeng, stepped out of the carriage and asked the father and daughter, "What is the stance of the wealthy merchant who is engaged to your daughter? Has he not come out to help?"
"Help? They straight away sent someone to call off the engagement, saying they can’t compete with the River God," Yiyi’s father said indignantly.
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I noticed some Book Friends complaining in the morning. However, I indeed fulfilled my promise of doing five updates yesterday. Did it not show on your mobile software? I am a full-time mom, and it is hard at times to manage everything. For instance, when my child needs to go out and play, he won’t let me write. He keeps crying, how am I supposed to concentrate on writing? Besides, I can stay at home all day, but my child cannot. It would affect his personality and wouldn’t be healthy. Any mom who looks after her child should be able to understand my situation. I will do my best to write updates, but I hope you also understand. I am not playing the prima donna; I am not a prima donna, and I certainly can’t afford to play one.