Chapter 856 - 858: Second Brother’s Recurring Illness_1
The competition at The Eight Academies would open in three days, so there could be no further delay in the journey. After meeting and discussing, it was decided that Jiang Yichun and Lin Xufei would escort the Study Palace’s delegation to Xuanlang City early the next morning, while the injured would stay in Zhou City to recover.
However, at that time, everyone still hadn’t found any trace of Qin Kaichang, so they could only leave some people behind to continue the search. Consequently, the number of people in the delegation had shrunk from twenty to eighteen.
Bai Ruozhu saw her second brother’s worried expression and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Perhaps there will be news of Qin Kaichang tonight."
Bai Zepei didn’t speak, but after thinking for a while, he nodded, "At least there’s no bad news yet."
Bai Ruozhu let out a quiet sigh. She wasn’t very optimistic about whether Qin Kaichang was still alive. But when she thought of Guizhi, her heart began to ache—Guizhi’s love life really was full of hurdles.
The people sent out had searched for a long time without any clues. The one who lured Jianqi away had only carried a straw man, which meant someone else had taken Qin Kaichang. But why would they kidnap him?
After using the feast with Lin Xufei and the others, Bai Ruozhu returned to her room with Jiang Yichun to discuss for a bit. Both felt clueless. If it was because the other party had been caught by Qin Kaichang stealing Bai Zepei’s clothes, then knocking him out would have sufficed. Why bother with the hassle of taking him away? If he had stumbled upon some secret, wouldn’t killing him to silence him be safer? Unless they captured him as a hostage, with further use in mind?
But Qin Kaichang was just a civilian, and if he were to be used as a hostage, Dang Youshen might have been more suitable, wouldn’t he?
"Forget it, I’ll go and check on that captured assassin," Bai Ruozhu said as she got up. She had heard from Jiang Yichun earlier that the assassin had not become foolish like the others and seemed not to have been affected by the Soul Capture Technique.
Jiang Yichun hesitated for a moment, seemingly not too keen on Bai Ruozhu going over.
Bai Ruozhu raised an eyebrow, "What’s the matter, I can’t go check? The person was captured by me, and the poison affecting him is mine too." Her Furball’s poisonous insect poison could only be cured by her.
Jiang Yichun raised his hand and wrapped it around her shoulder, saying, "It’s not inconvenient, it’s just that he’s been tortured, and I’m afraid it will frighten you."
Bai Ruozhu said defiantly, "I’m not some fragile lady, what should I be afraid of?"
But when Bai Ruozhu arrived at the dungeon, she realized she had underestimated the situation.
The man with a face full of burn scars was locked on a torture rack, his body covered in bloody lash wounds. His belly had been seared by fire in two spots, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The most horrific sight was two iron hooks hanging down, pierced through his Pipa Bone!
In her previous life, when Bai Ruozhu watched "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer," Ren Woxing had his Pipa Bone pierced like that. Knowing about it was one thing, but facing the real deal was a completely different sensation. Even she shuddered with fear, feeling as though needles were pricking all over her body.
The assassin’s arms were tied to the rack, but his hands dangled limply, smeared with fresh blood, some of which had coagulated into a dark red color.
Seeing the torture tools placed to the side, she realized that the man’s hands must have been pinched with bamboo clappers.
Jiang Yichun looked nervously at Bai Ruozhu and explained, "He knows the Bone Shrinking Skill. If we don’t hook his Pipa Bone, he can easily shrink his bones and escape."
Bai Ruozhu nodded. She was just a little scared but didn’t feel their use of torture was too bloody. If she had been attacked and lost her life to that person, who would pitied her?
"Did you get anything out of him? Did he use my medicine?" Bai Ruozhu inquired.
Jiang Yichun shook his head, "We’ve tried everything. This person is very stubborn, with strong willpower, and he’s undergone specialized training."
The damp and rotten smell of the dungeon, combined with the heavy stench of blood, made her feel a bit queasy. Seeing that the man was still unconscious, she simply said, "Let’s go outside."
Jiang Yichun saw that she was uncomfortable, and with a swift motion, he wrapped his arm around her waist and, using his light body skills, quickly carried her out of the dungeon.
After the two had left, the person on the torture rack still hung his head, but his eyes subtly cracked open, a strange light flickering within.
...
Early the next day, the group reorganized and set off. Many of the injured stayed behind, but Tu Bai did not, because aside from the assassin with a face full of burn scars, both Jiang Yichun and Bai Ruozhu dared not leave him behind. Fortunately, his physical condition was strong, so sitting in a horse carriage for a day should be bearable.
To better take care of Tu Bai on the road, she had people lift him onto the horse carriage she shared with Tu Ying, immediately making the carriage much more crowded.
Lying in the carriage, Tu Bai saw Little Dengdeng trying but failing to crawl about and, feeling apologetic, said, "Ruozhu, I’m causing you trouble."
"What are you talking about? You and Tu Ying are our friends. Do friends need to be so formal with each other?" Bai Ruozhu said as she picked up Dengdeng onto her lap, afraid that Dengdeng’s playful nature might cause him to bump into Tu Bai’s wounds.
A light shone in Tu Bai’s eyes, "Right, we are friends."
Tu Ying also smiled and said, "Brother, don’t overthink this. Just sleep and recover. Once you’re well, you can treat Ruozhu and Officer Jiang to a good meal at the best place in Jiangnan, right?"
"One meal? How would that be enough? It should be at least three meals." Tu Bai laughed, but then he pulled at the wound on his stomach and drew in a sharp breath from the pain, becoming honest and resting properly.
By noon, the entire group stopped to rest. Everyone took out dried food and water for a simple lunch. With all that had happened, morale was a bit low, and even Dang Youshen, who liked to nitpick, didn’t dare say much.
Right, he had been taking medicine from Bai Ruozhu these past two days, and his condition had improved, with his throat getting better too. Even if he was upset with Bai Ruozhu, he didn’t feel like making more fuss in public.
Bai Ruozhu herself was content to eat some dried food, but poor Little Dengdeng could only gnaw on dry steamed buns.
She ate with Little Dengdeng, taking turns biting a piece, and the little fellow seemed to enjoy the game, laughing heartily. His laughter brought a trace of vitality to the surrounding somber atmosphere, and many people couldn’t help but look towards Dengdeng, feeling a bit uplifted.
Just then, a coughing sound was heard. Bai Ruozhu quickly turned around—it was Second Brother coughing dryly.
Her expression changed. Second Brother’s body had not yet fully recovered. The journey had been hard enough, and then with such a perilous event and Qin Kaichang’s disappearance, it was hard for Second Brother to rest well, undoubtedly burdened with worries.
"Second Brother, let me take your pulse," Bai Ruozhu said as she went over to catch his wrist, and soon confirmed her suspicion. Indeed, Second Brother was overly preoccupied with thoughts, and the hardship of the journey had worsened his physical condition.
"Did you drink all of last night’s decoction?" Bai Ruozhu asked.
Bai Zepei’s gaze flickered slightly, "I did."
"Did you not drink it because you were feeling down, or did you not finish it?" Bai Ruozhu sternly pressed him.
Bai Zepei awkwardly touched his nose, "I drank half, and accidentally spilled the rest..."
This time, Bai Ruozhu really got angry and smacked him hard on the head with a resounding thud.