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墨書 Inktalez
Mentioning Mei Ru, Yun Kong's hand holding the stick paused slightly, then he lowered his gaze and continued to sweep away the wild grass in front of him.
It was truly speechless!
This monk, Yun Kong, appeared harmless on the outside, but his actions were both righteous and wicked.
He had clearly reminded her to be cautious of her sibling, Mei Ru, yet under the emperor's watchful eyes, he boldly took away the deceased Mei Ru; now it seemed he wanted to save her, but at a critical moment, he used her as a shield. Although he explained his words, who really knew the true reason?
Suddenly, she recalled Nangong Nuo's words, saying that Mei Ru was not dead and that letting her go was merely part of the emperor's scheme. Thinking about it, in a place like the Palace filled with experts, not to mention people, even a bird might struggle to fly through. With Yun Kong's abilities, bringing someone along and managing to escape would indeed be miraculous!
At this thought, she felt a stir in her heart. "My sister... she is still alive, right?"
Yun Kong seemed not to have heard her. After climbing a steep slope, he reached out to pull Mei Shuang up. Then, using a large tree on the slope as cover, he looked at the situation at Mountain Base before saying, "Tired? Let's take a break..."
Mei Shuang stood under the tree and looked around.
The sun was gradually setting in the west; the red sun was nearing the mountain peak. The view of Mountain Base was laid out before her eyes, and in the distance, wisps of smoke began to rise from scattered villages.
Seeing the curling smoke made Mei Shuang feel hungry again. The few fish she had eaten at noon had long been consumed during their climb; climbing mountains was indeed a physically demanding task.
Turning around, she saw Yun Kong pulling out a wrapped piece of oiled cloth from his bosom and handing it to her.
Mei Shuang opened it and found it was the fish roasted at noon. She thought to herself that Yun Kong was quite thoughtful. Without hesitation, she took it and was about to eat when she noticed Yun Kong waving his hand again.
"What's wrong?" Mei Shuang asked curiously.
"Take this for now. We can roast it after we climb the mountain. Eating raw fish can easily make you sick."
"Then why are you taking it out now?" Mei Shuang thought to herself, isn't this just teasing me?
Yun Kong smiled slightly, "I just wanted to let you know that this is all we have for dinner tonight..."
Mei Shuang looked at the three small fish in her hand, each about the size of half a palm, speechless. "Are you saying our dinner tonight will be just one and a half fish each?"
"No, it's all for you."
"That's still not enough! Besides, are you made of iron? You haven't eaten anything since morning. Sigh, how did life become like this? It feels like we're barely getting by."
At this point, Mei Shuang couldn't help but think of Lin Yuan's eager hospitality back at the Lin Residence during his teenage years, and how comfortable her stomach felt after eating all those various pastries. Now...
Yun Kong had already started walking up the mountain, and Mei Shuang didn't dare to delay any longer, quickly following behind him. The mountain path was difficult to navigate, and with evening approaching, she wondered what kind of insects or beasts might be lurking.
After walking for a while longer, she finally spotted a dilapidated temple-like structure nestled among the hills.
The sky was already dimming as Mei Shuang stood before the rickety temple, thinking to herself, is this where we're going to become bandits?
In the last rays of the setting sun, Mei Shuang could see clearly that this dilapidated temple was about the size of a small house.
It was perched on a large rock protruding from a lush valley surrounded by dense woods. The stone walls were only about waist-high, and the main entrance was in ruins, with two decaying doors barely able to close.
Looking at the crumbling temple that could easily collapse in a strong wind and then glancing at the cold roasted fish in her hand, Mei Shuang felt a chill in her heart. Is this really going to be her shelter from now on?
Since becoming the unfortunate daughter of the Minister's Residence, she has not had a single peaceful day. Now, despite all her efforts to leave the palace, she has ended up in this situation.
Yun Kong, oh Yun Kong, ever since I met you, I've been incredibly unlucky!
However, being able to find such a refuge in this maze-like mountain path suggests that Yun Kong must have been here before.
"Is this your place?" Mei Shuang asked.
Yun Kong stepped forward and pushed open the decaying door, saying lightly, "Let's stay here for a while before heading down the mountain."
As Mei Shuang followed him inside, she asked, "Won't your people find us here?"
Yun Kong answered decisively, "No."
"Yun Kong, can you tell me the truth? What are your intentions in bringing me here?"
As they spoke, the two entered the house.
Looking at the dilapidated exterior, Mei Shuang assumed the interior would be no better. To her surprise, although it was simple, it seemed to have been tidied up. There were three rooms in total: the main room had a stove, and there were two bedrooms on either side. Moreover, there were bedding in the bedrooms.
Mei Shuang was somewhat astonished. "Has someone actually lived in a place like this?"
Just then, the courtyard door was pushed open, and a young shoulder carried a bundle of firewood inside.
Mei Shuang took a closer look at the newcomer and widened her eyes in shock. "Xiang Cao? You’re actually here?"
Isn't that right? Isn't she the girl who cried her heart out when the house caught fire, always on Mei Shuang's mind? But here in Fishing Village, it's so far away, and she and Yun Kong must have rushed to get here.
Yet it seems she arrived early; did she fly here?
Xiang Cao put down the firewood on her shoulder and grinned at the astonished Mei Shuang, "You left just before I rushed over here..."
To be honest, if Mei Shuang hadn't seen Xiang Cao with her own eyes, she would never have believed that this girl, who looked no older than a teenager, could arrive here in such a short time and navigate the mountain so well.
Thus, when she looked at this girl again, she felt as if she were a celestial being from another realm.
While she was still in a daze, Xiang Cao placed the firewood in front of the pot and went outside the courtyard. After rummaging around by a well for a while, she soon came back with a pile of Sweet Potato radishes, washed them with well water, and quickly returned to put them into the pot.
Mei Shuang watched in astonishment. Just as she was about to ask Xiang Cao if she needed help, Xiang Cao said, "Young Master, you should talk to this young lady; I'll prepare dinner first."
Mei Shuang was once again speechless. What a wonderful girl! Not only is she skilled at household chores, but she's also so considerate in conversation.
However, Mei Shuang had no mood to talk to Yun Kong. While Xiang Cao was cooking, she ran outside the courtyard and sat on a large stone, staring blankly at the dense forest.
As night gradually enveloped the earth and the moon slowly climbed into the sky, the entire mountain fell silent—a silence that felt somewhat eerie.
Yun Kong let Mei Shuang sit outside until it was almost time for dinner before he stepped out of the house and gently called her name from behind.
When Mei Shuang heard him calling for dinner, she couldn't be bothered to respond. She had come to this godforsaken place and felt like a guest in her own right.
After calling her a few times with no response from Mei Shuang, Yun Kong understood what she was thinking—she was simply sulking and couldn't make sense of it all.
He walked over and sat down next to Mei Shuang.
"Right now, the only way for you to be safe is to stay here with me," Yun Kong said calmly.
Why did that sound so unpleasant? Mei Shuang propped her chin on her hand and glanced at Yun Kong, unconvinced. "Tell me, if I hadn't run into you under the bridge, would I have just boarded the boat when Dawn arrived and already be on my way to Jiangnan? Ever since I met you, this journey has been fraught with danger. Now I'm stuck halfway up this mountain, following you like a fugitive. Is this what you call safety?"
Yun Kong pursed his lips and thought for a moment. "Do you really think it was a coincidence that I found you by the river?"
Mei Shuang's heart skipped a beat. "So you've had your eye on me for a while?"
"Naturally, someone informed me about you, but they told me a bit late. So when I reached the riverbank, I saw you fall into the water..."
"Someone told you?" Mei Shuang asked. "So your people have been watching me all along?"
"Not them..." Yun Kong shook his head. "While they have been searching for you, if they had known your whereabouts earlier, you probably wouldn't be sitting here."
A chill ran down Mei Shuang's spine at Yun Kong's words. "Then who exactly is it? Stop keeping me in suspense... If you don't tell me, Yun Kong, this could directly affect our future cooperation..."
"Do you remember that man in black from the small forest? The one behind us... He was the one who informed me of your whereabouts beforehand and then pretended to fight us before the Government arrived. He intended to feign defeat and let us go so he could explain himself to the Government... But he didn't expect those people to be so sharp and find us there..."
"Those people? Are they your people?" Mei Shuang was extremely surprised; how many groups were involved in this?
"Exactly!" Yun Kong replied. "Besides them, there are at least two other groups involved. One is sent by the Government, which is obvious, while the other seems to be operating in the shadows and doesn't want the Government to find you, but they also don't seem to want to harm you..."
Mei Shuang fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked a pointed question, "Then why did they choose to tell you? Do they think knowing you won't harm me?"
Yun Kong raised an eyebrow; this woman was indeed meticulous.
"Since they are so certain that you won't harm me and let you take me away, it means either they don't know you well enough and are unaware that you are with Queen Meiru, which is rather foolish to send me into the wolf's den; or they know your background very well, which is why they are so at ease. Of course, I suspect it's the latter..."
As she spoke, Mei Shuang suddenly had a thought. "Yun Kong, you aren't playing a double agent, are you?"
"What?" Yun Kong didn't understand.
"Alright, Yun Kong, I won't ask anything else. If you are with Queen Meiru, your actions now would be considered a betrayal against her, including the warning you gave me to be cautious back at Dazhao Temple... I only want to ask you, does Mei Ru know? And did you bring me here just to avoid Mei Ru's pursuit?"
Yun Kong remained silent for a long time and simply stood up, gazing into the distance.
Moonlight filtered through the clouds and dense forest, casting dappled shadows on the open space in front of the courtyard.
Mei Shuang also stood up, waiting quietly for Yun Kong's response from a short distance away.
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