Who among the gangsters wants to fall in love?

Chapter 378 A Perfect Marriage
In the 23rd year of Hongtian, October, grassland.

Three years ago, Xiao Lingyun had just been buried, and the town at the foot of Qingcheng Mountain lost a wanderer and a drinker.

Xiao Lengyue was only 22 years old that year, and Jiuer was only one year older than her.

In October, everything is covered in silver. The grassland has become a snowy field, and heavy snow is flying in the sky. Even the strong and healthy Rong people have to wrap themselves in thick sheepskin coats to survive.

Inside the tent, the campfire crackled and the surrounding snow was melted into water by the high temperature. Looking down, circles of gray and black dots appeared on the white snowfield.

There were Rong people sitting in groups of three or four, drinking to warm themselves, talking loudly and laughing about how much they had looted from the Central Plains during the autumn storm, and which tribe had the wildest women.

In the early morning, Wudamu, wearing a fox fur coat, sat alone in the tent, holding a heater in his arms. His face was pale. Suddenly, he coughed a few times and spat out a mouthful of black blood.

Shamantian raised his hand and opened the curtain outside the tent. He still looked incredibly young. He looked at Wudamu and asked, "Are you going to the capital to assassinate the emperor again?"

Wudamu smiled and said, "Just try it once or twice."

"Assassination is always the stupidest method. Only a crude warrior like you would think that you can influence the world with your personal bravery. Even if you kill him, what's the use? He can keep you in the capital before he dies...

Even if he dies, the imperial court still has millions of troops, countless palace masters, and the martial arts world still has top masters who are hostile to us. Without the support of the people, we cannot win the world. But if you die, I am afraid that the Rong people will be driven to the land of Beiming thousands of miles away...

...We have already lost the battle, so why not let go of your obsession with the past and study the path to ascension with me."

Shamantian gently stroked the human-skin drum around his waist and advised again.

Wudamu wiped the corner of his mouth casually, "In the final analysis, it's nothing more than my inferior skills. I can't kill the emperor, but his left and right arms can always plot something..."

"It's ok to play some dirty tricks on the people of the imperial court, but don't just attack the people of Jianghu. The Jianghu of the Central Plains and the imperial court are still clearly divided at this moment. The imperial court calls them 'vulgar warriors', and the Jianghu calls them 'court lackeys'. They are in a mess and are as hostile as fire and water.

But once you intervene recklessly, the balance will definitely be broken. The Central Plains martial arts world also knows the principle of lips and teeth being cold. If you go too far, they will be forced to join forces with the court and punish the grassland together..."

"I'm not stupid." Wudamu waved his hand casually, interrupting Shamantian's words, "Have you found a miracle doctor for me? If I'm not cured, the national master you mentioned will have to meet the gods in a few days."

"The gods are before you."

Shamantian responded casually and turned sideways. Someone walked in from outside the tent. He was handsome, dressed in a blue shirt, and had an elegant temperament. He seemed to be the eldest son of some powerful noble and looked to be no more than twenty years old.

The handsome young man bowed slightly and said calmly:
"Grassland State Master, it's been a while since I last saw you, right?"

Wudamu narrowed his eyes slightly, with a look of surprise on his face, "Zhu Jiutian, how could you bear to leave your Nanzhao Kingdom, where the four seasons are like spring, and come to my desolate grassland to blow the cold wind?"

Zhu Jiutian, the de facto leader of Jiuli, is also Cui Xiangwei's master.

Zhu Jiutian flicked the snowflakes on his shoulders with his fingers, "You were seriously injured by the Emperor of Central Plains. No one can cure you except me. Medicine and Gu are inseparable. I own 99% of the medical knowledge in the world..."

"Okay, okay. I know you have great medical skills." Wudamu leaned against the cushion, raised his hand to cover his mouth and coughed a few times before asking with a smile:
"Tell me what you want."

"That's great. You have a lot of treasures on your grassland, but I only want one thing... the crimson pearl jade." Zhu Jiutian curled the corners of his mouth slightly.

"For the wrong Jinboshan furnace?"

"For my own sake, the Crimson Pearl Jade can transform into the void and enter the body, and contains the law of space..."

Shamantian couldn't help but laugh sarcastically, "Are you still thinking about your dragon transformation technique? Zhulong is just a long worm, but you and the Jiuli people worship him so much."

"You gods are nothing but vain. Look at you, for the so-called service to Heaven, you even killed your own mother." Zhu Jiutian sneered and hit back without any politeness.

"This national teacher's camp is not a market. Whatever you are saying, just shut up." Wudamu coughed a few more times, tapping the heater in his arms with his fingertips. After a moment's hesitation, he said:

"I don't have the Crimson Pearl Jade either, so I have to go look for it... Shamantian, could you please tell me something?"

Shamantian snorted coldly. The four colored glaze jades were created by heaven and earth. Any random divination would be like guessing the secrets of heaven. It would definitely damage the source of the universe and it would probably take decades to heal... But Shamantian had to admit that Wudamu could not die.

Not long after, Shaman Tian performed a ritual to set up the altar, and then he spat out a mouthful of blood from his heart, which spilled on the snow. It was also his first time to use the Nine Bells for divination, and although he was mentally prepared, he underestimated the backlash and was even unable to speak.

His eyes went dark and he almost fainted. He managed to hold on to some strength and wrote on the snow with his fingertips:

"The eldest princess of Chen country, Xiao Jiuer, is thirty miles to the south."

Wudamu stood behind Shamantian and was silent for a few seconds. He didn't expect that the so-called Princess of Chen Kingdom was actually on the grassland.

He said calmly: "We have told you the location. Whether you can grab it depends on your ability."

Zhu Jiutian did not respond... he had already disappeared in the snowy plain.

……

The cold wind swept across the vast snowfield, picking up a few snowflakes and creating a misty snow fog on the ground.

In front of the triangular tent built with oilcloth, a white horse was bending over to eat grass. Jiu'er was wrapped in a thick sheepskin coat. Her pretty face was red from the cold and she was breathing out white air. She quickly lit a bonfire and opened her little hands to warm herself in the fire.

Jiuer doesn't like loneliness, but he is often accompanied by loneliness. He has been wandering around the world alone for four years.

Just to fulfill my father's last wish... to find my family.

She came to the grassland, apparently because she was worried that the Rong people had abducted her mother and youngest sister, so she came here to find out what happened.

Jiu'er took out the dried meat from his bag, put it on a wooden stick, placed it on the fire, and roasted it casually, while looking blankly towards the snowy fields in the north.

But when she raised her eyes, her body trembled suddenly, and she suddenly saw a person standing in front of her, as if he had been there.

"The Crimson Pearl Jade is with you?" Zhu Jiutian looked down at Jiu'er expressionlessly and said calmly.

Choke————

The only response he got was an extremely harsh sound of a sword being drawn.

……

Not long after, in a small town on the border of Jin, which had already been covered with heavy snow, a very painful coughing sound was heard in the inn.

Jiu'er was lying on the head of the bed, his face as pale as gold paper, and every time he coughed, he would spit out a mouthful of black blood.

The Thief Saint of Xiliang, Guan Yunshu's future uncle, whose common name was Lan Qiushuang, was a little girl who was five or six years younger than Jiuer.

The two are already close friends.

She knelt beside Jiu'er, gently patting his pink back with her small hands, her eyes filled with worry, and holding the bowl of medicine in her other hand.

Jiu'er was no match for Zhu Jiutian and was severely injured. He fled in panic and was only rescued by Lan Qiushuang when he reached the border.

That is to say, Lan Qiushuang, as the thief saint, was naturally extraordinary in lightness skills and concealing his whereabouts, otherwise both of them would probably have been beaten to death by Zhu Jiutian.

Jiu'er was breathing rapidly, taking deep breaths continuously, his breath was short and rapid, Lan Qiushuang felt distressed when she heard it, until Jiu'er calmed down a bit, she asked weakly:
"The injury is not serious, but his every move seems to contain poison... This must be the Kung Fu from the Miao area."

"Not bad." Lan Qiu Shuang bit her lower lip tightly, "You, you have been poisoned to the heart, I'm afraid, I'm afraid you won't live long..."

Jiu'er naturally knew his physical condition better than anyone else. Zhu Jiutian's martial arts were obviously damaged by the poison. After a few moves, the poison actually penetrated Jiu'er's internal organs and meridians...

The poison has penetrated so deeply that there is no cure. Even if an antidote is used, it may be difficult to cure.

What's more, Jiu'er didn't think that Zhu Jiutian would make an antidote specifically for his own martial arts. Isn't this just looking for weaknesses for himself?
At this moment, Jiu'er is still alive, relying solely on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth that is continuously supplied by the Crimson Pearl Jade to barely stay alive. However, the Crimson Pearl Jade is not omnipotent, and it is likely that he will not be able to last for a few more years.

"How long can you live?"

"I don't know..." Lan Qiu Shuang wiped her red and swollen eyes with her sleeves, "But I heard that if you build a bridge connecting heaven and earth, you will be immune to all poisons. For the rest of your time, you can practice martial arts with peace of mind. I, I will go to Xiaoxitian to become a nun and ask for a pearl relic tower for you, okay?"

Jiu'er is only a 23-year-old girl now. It is impossible for her not to be afraid when she hears this.

She hasn't even seen her mother and youngest sister yet, how could she die?
She and Lan Qiu Shuang hugged each other and cried bitterly in the inn.

……

Crying won't solve the problem. I don't know how long I can live. I can only live one day at a time. Spring goes and autumn comes, and three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Jiu'er was hiding her worries, and was unable to break through that barrier. She traveled around the world and visited famous doctors, but the only answer she got was that her health was getting worse and worse... I'm afraid that Jiangzhuyu won't be able to hold on for much longer.

The Pearl Relics Pagoda couldn't save her life either. According to the abbot of Xiao Xitian, if the poison hadn't penetrated so deeply, she might still be saved. But Jiu'er was already a poisonous person. If she rashly touched the Pearl Relics Pagoda, she would only turn into dust...

Yes, the Pearl Relics Treasure Tower is only used to purify evil spirits, and it is not something that can specifically detoxify... At this moment, in the eyes of the Pearl Relics Treasure Tower, Jiu'er is undoubtedly an evil spirit.

After so many years of wandering around the world alone, he didn't find his mother and sister, and instead he was about to die... He had lived for more than twenty years in vain.

Jiu'er didn't know how many times she had cried quietly by herself. In a daze, she heard that there was a highly skilled imperial physician in the palace who knew an acupuncture method called 'Dian Sheng Zhen'... But this was clearly an acupuncture method passed down from an imperial physician of the Chen Kingdom.

Jiu'er saw hope, led a horse to the capital, and met the first person who changed the trajectory of her life... Luo Xiangzhu's mother, the Princess of Yan.

When Princess Yan saw her, she burst into tears and told her the clue about Xiao Lengyue.

This news was like a bolt from the blue that struck Jiuer's heart, and it also shattered the barrier that connected the sky and the earth.

Jiuer knew that by the time he found his youngest sister, his obsession would be gone, his thoughts would be clear, and he would be able to build a bridge between heaven and earth.

The Princess of Yan said that she had been weak and sickly since childhood. If she became pregnant, she was afraid that she would die in childbirth. Even if she gave birth to a baby, if the baby inherited her physique, the baby would probably have to live on the bed for the rest of his life.

Jiu'er then gave her the Crimson Pearl Jade that had protected her for three years... The bridge connecting heaven and earth was right in front of her, and even without the Crimson Pearl Jade, she would not die immediately.

The Princess of Yan might need the Crimson Pearl Jade more than she does, but the Crimson Pearl Jade is not something that ordinary people can use. If one does not have the royal blood of their Xiao family, there will definitely be unpredictable side effects if one rashly allows it to enter the body.

Jiu'er got on his horse and left, but suddenly turned around and looked at the crimson jade in the arms of Princess Yan.

If she couldn't hold on in the end and died of the poison, then if this crimson jade, which was supposed to keep her alive, was used on the baby in Princess Yan's belly in the future, would it also be considered living for her?

Thinking about it this way, it doesn’t seem so bad.

With heavy burdens and life and death weighing on her heart, Jiu'er rarely smiled, but at this moment she smiled faintly at Princess Yan and said sincerely:
"I wish you happiness."

"kindness!"

From winter to spring, snow turns to rain, the sun becomes scorching, and autumn becomes endless, the cycle repeats itself.

Jiuer, who had been lonely in the underworld for nearly ten years, finally found his sister in Jiangnan.

It was a very ordinary day...but after that day, Jiuer was no longer lonely.

But it was not until he connected the bridge between heaven and earth that Jiuer realized how terrifying Zhu Jiutian's martial arts were.

The martial arts master is immune to all poisons, but even the martial arts master can be killed by the poison of the Gu King... Zhu Jiutian's martial arts is not inferior to the poison of the Gu King at all.

Although the situation will be much better after breaking through that barrier, you will still die in the end.

Maybe it will be five years, ten years, twenty years... Jiuer doesn't know that she can only live alone in these short years to shorten other people's lives.

She didn't dare tell her sister about this...she didn't dare tell anyone else.

She was determined to die alone, just as she was lonely when she first wandered the world alone.

It's another year, heavy snow.

"Whose tomb is this?" Zhao Wumian, who was two years old at the time, stood in front of the tomb of the Crown Princess of Chen Kingdom, his ankles not even in the snow. He looked at Jiu'er, who was wiping the tombstone with a handkerchief, in confusion.

"My mother, I have never seen her since I can remember. My father has been looking for her all his life but couldn't find her. I have been looking for her in the martial arts world for nearly ten years but still couldn't catch up... You have to call her grandma, do you understand?"

When she talked about the sad part, she kept sobbing, which was very similar to Xiao Yuanmu... No, it should be that Xiao Yuanmu was similar to her.

"Didn't you ask me not to call you mother? I can call her mother, how about that, Sister Jiu'er?"

Jiuer tapped Zhao Wumian's forehead lightly with his scabbard, but did not answer.

Zhao Wumian covered his forehead with his hands. This was the second time he saw Jiuer crying.

The first time was when Jiuer picked him up...

In order to make the atmosphere more relaxed, Zhao Wumian said with a smile:
"I heard that you are a master of the bridge between heaven and earth, and you are the best in the martial arts world... Then I don't have to worry about where you die one day, otherwise I will have to collect your body and erect a monument for you...

That would be so sad. Should I wait until I get married, then bring my baby to worship you, and say to the baby,
Look, this is your father's mother, you have to call her grandma, but your father usually calls her sister, but you can't call her aunt, understand? If you call her the wrong name, I will hit you on the head with your grandmother's sword sheath, just like she hit your father. "

Jiu'er tapped Zhao Wumian's forehead with the scabbard of his sword again, and burst into laughter.

"If I really die, I will be alone. I will never let you know, and I will save you the trouble of collecting my body..."

"Then I have to look for you, just like you looked for your aunt, and I will run all over the world to look for you."

Jiuer smiled again, but changed the subject.

"Slippery tongue... You're only two years old and you're already thinking about getting married? At the dinner table at the end of the year, you even said that you wanted your Aunt Leng Yue to find you a child bride?" "I was just kidding, I don't really want one. I hate arranged marriages the most in my life."

"What if that little girl is prettier than me?"

"No one in the world is prettier than you...but it's not out of the question."

Jiu'er laughed in silence, slowly stood up, patted the snowflakes on her skirt, and stretched out her little hand to Zhao Wumian.

"Let's go. We'll leave home after the Lantern Festival and go to the Jianghu... It would be nice if I could help you find a beautiful marriage partner."

Zhao Wumian stretched out his hand, and two figures, one big and one small, walked in the heavy snow with their backs to the tombstone.

"So, you have someone in mind? Can you give me a hint in advance?"

"no……"

……

In the thirty-fifth year of Hongtian, Emperor Taizu Gao passed away. When the news came out, Jiuer took Zhao Wumian to Yanyun.

The five-year-old Zhao Wumian was completely puzzled and didn't understand why Jiu'er suddenly came to Yanyun. However, he had traveled all over the country with Jiu'er, but had never been to Yanyun, which was quite novel to him.

It is the winter solstice now, and the border is covered with snow. Everywhere you look, it is covered with silver. Soldiers are riding their horses... Yanyun is an important border area, and there are quite a few soldiers there.

Zhao Wumian knew that he was a traitor, so he couldn't help but feel a little nervous and secretly on guard. However, he saw Jiu'er leading him all the way to Prince Yan's Mansion.

He looked at Jiu'er in astonishment, "Sister, are we going to surrender to the enemy?"

"Why surrender to the enemy? My friend lives here. When you see her later, you must call her aunt. Don't be impolite."

"How come I didn't know you had someone else in the prince's house?"

"Although I have corresponded with her, my status is sensitive, and I will not come to see her unless it is necessary... But the dog emperor got his retribution and died in the capital. Who has the time to care about your aunt and me now?"

As they were talking, the two of them, led by a maid, walked into a house in the backyard.

The room was warm with calming incense and earth heating. On the tea table was a bowl of medicine, half of which had been drunk. It was a pregnancy-maintaining medicine.

There was a soft couch in the room, covered with a curtain, with maids standing around. At this moment, a bare hand reached out from the curtain, gently pulled it up, revealing a slightly weak woman's face.

The woman was wearing a nightgown and her belly was bulging, which showed that she was obviously pregnant, and she was going to give birth in the next few days.

Princess Yan looked at Jiu'er with a faint smile on her face. She raised her hand to signal the maids to leave, and said:

"Originally, I said I would give birth in the capital, but when I heard that Your Highness was coming, I came to Yanyun with my big belly to wait for Your Highness... This is the Yuankong you mentioned before, right?"

"Hello, Auntie, but my name is Zhao Wumian..."

Jiuer patted Zhao Wumian on the back of his head, and then he was led to sit on the soft couch sideways.

Jiu'er looked at Princess Yan's belly, then touched it curiously, "When is the birth due?"

"It will probably be soon." Princess Yan's eyes were gentle, "I have been keeping the Crimson Pearl Jade..."

Without Jiu'er, Princess Yan obviously didn't know how to make the Crimson Pearl Jade enter her body. Jiu'er didn't expect that Princess Yan would wait until now to get pregnant... but it didn't matter.

"With me here, you and your daughter will be safe...but have you named the baby?"

Princess Yan looked at the sword and its sheath hanging on the wall and thought for a moment, "Your Highness is a rough man, how can he give a name... Thanks to Your Highness, the baby will be healthy in the future. It's not too much to let her call Your Highness mother. Why don't Your Highness give her a name?"

"I am also a rough man. I have been practicing martial arts with my father since I was young. I have never read many books..." Jiu'er looked at Zhao Wumian, "You are good at speaking and tell me so many stories... Can you pick one?"

This was the first time in Zhao Wumian's life that he had named someone, so he couldn't help but be serious, "Is he (she) a boy or a girl?"

"girl."

"Sister...how is Luo Xiangzhu?"

"What's the meaning?"

"It doesn't have any meaning, I just like it." Zhao Wumian puffed out his chest.

After she finished speaking, Princess Yan couldn't help but chuckle with her hands covering her mouth. She found Jiu'er, her adopted son, interesting.

Jiu'er also smiled, but said: "It's good if you like it. After all, she is your future daughter-in-law."

Zhao Wumian stood there in a daze, looking at Jiuer in disbelief.

Jiu'er didn't seem to be lying, and Princess Yan's expression didn't change either. It was obvious that this was something Jiu'er and Princess Yan had discussed long ago.

Zhao Wumian then looked at the Princess Yan's belly in a daze. He didn't expect that Jiu'er had remembered what he had just said casually and had really found him a childhood sweetheart...

He couldn't help but say, "After this sister is born, it's better not to mention this matter. When she grows up, she can marry whoever she likes. Why should she rely on me alone?"

"Given the relationship between your aunt and I, you will inevitably have to interact with her in the future... Why? Do you think you are unattractive and that this sister won't like you even if she grew up with you? Didn't you tell me the story of Jia Baoyu and Sister Lin? In the future, your sister will be accompanied by the red pearl and jade for the rest of her life, and I'm afraid she will also be a 'golden and jade marriage' with you."

"A perfect match? What's the story? Tell me about it." Princess Yan asked curiously.

Outside the house, the snow was like a curtain, beating on the eaves and corners of the corridor, and the cold wind was howling, but inside the house it was warm like spring, and the sounds of talking and laughing could be heard from time to time.

But later, Zhao Wumian still failed to achieve a "perfect match" with Luo Xiangzhu.

The Princess of Yan died four years later, and Jiu'er also disappeared... Zhao Wumian no longer had the mood to look for his sister Xiangzhu. He only glanced at her from afar in Chengdu, Shu.

Recently, there has been a young lady in the village who has come here in distress.

This young lady was born pitiful and could not speak, but she was generous. If you looked closely at her features, you could tell she was a beauty. Everyone in the village guessed that she must be from a prominent family.

Because this young lady can recognize the characters of the Central Plains... In Nanzhao, only the powerful and wealthy can learn the characters of the Central Plains.

The young lady seemed to be unable to hear. In the past, when some village girls finished their farm work and came to her to chat, she didn't respond at all, but just looked at her with blank eyes.

In order to prevent her identity from being exposed, the young lady simply pretended to be deaf to conceal the fact that she could not understand Nanzhao dialect.

They could only communicate through body language, which was too inconvenient, so fewer and fewer village girls went to the young lady's house...until one day they saw the young lady pulling her husband on a cart in the yard to bask in the sun.

The young lady's husband is so handsome. The village girls have never seen such a man. Even though they will inevitably be talked about by the men at home after returning home, they can't help but want to come and see him every day. They say they are helping the young lady, but in fact they are taking this opportunity to secretly look at the young lady's husband.

With the enthusiastic help of the village girls, the house that had been abandoned for a long time was cleaned in less than half a month. There were no cobwebs on the walls, the tiles on the roof were replaced with new ones, bacon was hung in front of the window, and even the dry well in the yard was freed of weeds and filled with water.

The young lady was a kind-hearted person and she would give money to the village girls every time. Thanks to this, the men in the village no longer cared much about their wives secretly visiting the young lady's house to see other men.

Anyway, the man seemed to be ill and just lay in bed sleeping.

Everyone in the village guessed that the young lady, at such a young age, had to take such good care of this man that she would definitely get tired of him one day and remarry sooner or later.

But as the days passed, the young lady did not work and relied on her savings to buy daily necessities. In the rest of the time, she either took her husband for a stroll around the village on horseback to get some fresh air, or went fishing with her husband in the pond on the outskirts of the village, never leaving his side.

While she was fishing, he would sleep on her lap.

Everyone in the village thought that the young lady must be terribly in love with this man, even though he had never opened his eyes to look at her.

On an ordinary day, the young lady asked the widow Wang at the village head to buy a chicken. Everyone in the village thought that the young lady had spent all her savings and was preparing to make a living, until they heard the sounds of roosters crowing and flapping wings coming from the young lady's yard.

When I looked over, I found out that the young lady had bought a chicken in the morning, intending to kill it and make soup for her husband to nourish his body. However, she was clumsy and kind-hearted, and after noon, she didn't catch the chicken at all. Instead, the chicken ran away for two hours.

The young lady was so aggrieved that she kept crying.

In the end, it was Widow Wang who personally helped to kill and pluck the chicken, and the young lady bowed repeatedly to express her gratitude.

Widow Wang saw that the young lady was so dull and so young, and looked very much like a newly married young wife... She couldn't help but think of the time when she first got married, and couldn't help but make gestures, advising the young lady to remarry as soon as possible.

You are still young, don't ruin your life because of a man... No matter how handsome this man is, he cannot be eaten. When you spend all your savings in the future, you will be alone and have to take care of such a burden. I don't know how hard it will be.

The young lady always shook her head.

One night, the young lady held the bucket with both hands, drew water with some difficulty, boiled it on the stove, poured it into the bathtub, closed the doors and windows, took off the man's clothes, and helped him take a bath.

The young lady looked calm and was no longer surprised by the man's body. After helping the man into the bathtub, she even gently pulled her belt to reveal her snow-white and smooth skin, and then immersed herself in the hot water.

The young lady knew that she had nothing to do with the man, and she also knew that the man was her cousin's favorite, but they had to depend on each other in a foreign country...

The young lady raised her fingertips and slid them across the man's chest. She always spoke to him in this way...

She didn't know when the man would wake up.

So the days passed one by one, and gradually, in this foreign environment, the young lady couldn't help feeling lonely. Life here, no matter how rich she was, was still very hard.

A lonely village, a lonely house, a lonely woman, she is no longer happy.

But she has to learn to endure it.

After taking a bath, she changed the man into clean clothes, and she carried the clothes basket with the man's dirty clothes.

No matter how much savings one has, there will be times when they run into deficit. The young lady doesn’t know what she will do if her savings are all gone... She is not afraid of working hard to make a living. In recent days, her hands have turned red and are covered with traces of labor.

She was only afraid that after she left the man to go to work, the man would suddenly wake up and not be able to find her. She was even more afraid that some evildoer would take the man away while she was away.

Therefore, the young lady did not light a lamp, but washed her clothes by the moonlight.

The basin reflected a bright moon in the night sky. After it was buried in the clothes, the bright moon soon became fragmented.

But when she was halfway through washing the clothes, she suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves coming from the village... She was the only one in the village who had a horse... Who would come at this time?
The young lady felt something was wrong, so she quickly got up and calmed the frightened horse tied in the yard. Then she followed the moonlight, quietly walked out of the yard, and looked towards the small square in the village.

In the square, there was a group of wanderers riding tall horses. At a glance, there were more than twenty of them. They all held torches, had cold faces, and were armed with swords and knives. They looked aggressive and it was obvious that they were not good people.

At this moment, the leader was talking to the village chief in a condescending tone, and the village chief was servile.

The village chief suddenly raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the young lady's home. The people in the square suddenly became noisy and overjoyed, as if they had finally found the real owner after searching for a long time...

The young lady's heart skipped a beat, her face turned pale, and she hurried back to the house, intending to escape with the man.

But after opening the door, there was no one on the couch...

Where are the others!?

I saw the window was broken... someone broke in?
The young lady's eyes went dark and she collapsed to the ground on the spot. Not far behind her she heard the sound of horse hooves, obviously coming to catch her, but she was unaware.

The basin was placed next to her. The clear water from the well reflected the moonlight in tiny drops.

At some point, the sound of horse hooves not far away gradually died down, as if the horse had dismounted and was lurking quietly... But the young lady didn't think of anything and just kept crying.

Suddenly, the young lady saw a person standing behind her from the corner of her eye through the clear moonlight in the basin.

A pale face, bloodstained clothes, and a sword slung across his waist.

The young lady's heart suddenly began to beat.

I looked back quickly, and my heart almost stopped beating again.

She never thought that the man would suddenly appear beside her like this.

The two stared at each other and didn't speak for a long time.

The man suddenly stretched out a hand, raised his right thumb, clenched the other four fingers into a fist, then bent the raised thumb forward twice, and then smiled at the young lady.

The young lady stared at the man... She still remembered that this was the first time the man taught her sign language when they were in Jin.

It means 'thank you'.

That’s it. The man said:

"Sister Xiangzhu, does the childhood engagement between you and me still count?"

----------

Can you please be patient and let Qiu Guan finish writing this plot carefully...

It's a novel after all.

How can a few short chapters be so charming... Having followed this far, you know this isn't some fast-food novel, right...

(End of this chapter)