“Then why are you going to Yufu County?
Zhao Huai lowered his head and kept quiet. After some time, his underling handed him the wine bottle once again. He took the bottle and lifted his head to look at Mo Ruo. “To visit an old friend.”
“Oh? Even the first master from Gaoshan Village has an old friend?”
“What do you mean?” Zhao Huai questioned.
“I don’t mean anything in particular. I was just asking. Why are you so agitated?” As he spoke, Mo Ruo gestured at his amputated arm with his chin, and said directly, “Although your wound has already healed, you’ll still have to take good care of it. The weather seems to be turning worse in the coming days and no one knows when the rainy season is going to end. If your wound gets exposed to the humidity, it will leave you with lingering pain.”
Zhao Huai snorted. “As long as it doesn’t kill me.”
Mo Ruo sneered as he stood up and strutted to Jing Rong’s side. The moment he sat down, he lowered his voice and reported to Jing Rong, “Not only is Zhao Huai a rough and stubborn man, he also has a tight mouth. He would not spill a word.”
So he had gone to scout for information.
Jing Rong threw Zhao Huai a glance, then went back to poking at the campfire with the stick. He said, “He may not have good intentions. You’ll have to look out.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let your sweetheart get snatched away again.” Mo Ruo teased.
Jing Rong glared at him, “Drink your wine.”
“Fine, fine, fine. I drink my wine, and you continue to play with your fire. It’s the best to stay alone in this rainy night.” Then, he left the room.
Ji Yunshu looked at Mo Ruo’s silhouette, then handed Wei Yi to Lang Po. “Stay with Brother Lang for a while.”
Wei Yi rubbed his eyes. “Oh.” Then he hugged Lang Po’s arm and went back to sleep.
Lang Po’s face was painted with awkwardness as the guards beside him laughed silently.
Just when Ji Yunshu stood up and was about to leave, Jing Rong held her arm. “Stay here, don’t go anywhere.”
“I’ll just be there for a short while. I’ll be right back.”
Jing Rong glanced outside and understood what Ji Yunshu was thinking. He said, “Don’t stay too long with that rascal Mo Ruo. He always acts recklessly as a drunkard.”
“I know.”
Ji Yunshu walked out of the abandoned temple. It was raining even heavier than before. Raindrops as big as pearls splashed against the road full of potholes, sounding as loud as temple bells. The chill of the wind penetrated deep into her bones, making her feel as if she was being bitten by ants.
Mo Ruo sat in the hallway, leaning against a pillar with on one foot on the ground while drinking wine with his head tilted back. The moonbeams shining in the dark sky refracted through the raindrops falling from the roof tiles, falling gently on his shoulder. He appeared somewhat pitiful.
Ji Yunshu quietly walked towards him and sat down in front of him. She lifted her head, looked at the falling rain and intoned, “Amongst plum blossoms, spring rain gently falls. A lonely skiff glides, the gentleman drinks.” A smile was painted on her face and her eyes shone with a ladylike elegance.
Mo Ruo let out a laugh. He took another sip of wine and said, “So Teacher Ji isn’t merely good at solving cases, you write good poems too.”
“Anyone can make such simple poem.”
“Plum, rain, skiff, man. That’s interesting.” Yet, he took another sip.
Ji Yunshu looked at him, took a deep breath and asked, “Young Master Mo, can I ask you a question?”
“Go ahead.”
“If one can solve problems by drinking another glass of wine, what will happen if one drinks one glass less?
Huh? This question is intriguing.
Mo Ruo squinted his eyes and pondered. He pointed at his temple with his finger, and said, “Another glass of wine can help to solve one’s problems, but if they drink one glass less… No, I can’t bear it.” He then resumed drinking, one sip followed by another.
Ji Yunshu said, “There’s someone in Young Master Mo’s heart that you can’t let go. The wine can make you forget about everything, yet can remind you of everything. It’s easy to solve one’s problem when drunk, but hard to release one’s emotions when awake.”
Mo Ruo stayed silent and smiled briefly. The smell of the wine permeated the air, then slowly dispersed along with the drizzling rain…
The two of them sat there for a while.
Ji Yunshu could tell that Mo Ruo was already drunk when he leaned on the pillar with his eyes closed, the wine bottle in his hand falling to the ground with a loud bang. Ji Yunshu stood up gently and was about to return to the temple. She barely took a few steps before she heard Mo Ruo’s voice saying, “Thank you, Miss Ji.” She replied with nothing but a smile before returned to the temple.
The people inside were sleeping beside the campfire. She sat down quietly, and before she could realise, Jing Rong was already by her side, grabbing her hand to warm it. Her hands were so cold! “A lady’s hands are supposed to be used to draw and sew; but your cold hands are always touching corpses.”
Ji Yunshu smiled and turned her palm to hold Jing Rong’s big hand. She tenderly stroked the many calluses on his palm. “Which Prince on earth has so many calluses on their hands?”
“If that’s the case, then this Prince and you are born as a matching couple.”
“Who’s a matching couple with you?”
“What? Are you going to repeat that line, ‘You’re a Prince and I’m a commoner’?” Jing Rong tilted his head and asked. This line had always been a thorn in his heart.
Ji Yunshu pressed her lips against each other, and lowered her gaze. Moments later, she lifted her eyes and looked at Jing Rong, “I take back those words.”
“Take back? You can’t just take back your words.”
“I said that I want to take back my words. Forget about what I said before.”
“What if I don’t allow?”
“Huh?” Ji Yunshu was puzzled.
Jing Rong held her slender and long hand, staring at her lovingly. “‘You’re the Prince and I’m a commoner’. This Prince will remember these words for life. Exactly because of the difference between our statuses, we had to go through all the challenges and hurdles. It wasn’t easy to be able to reach this point of our journey. This is also why this Prince will cherish and love you even more. This will never change in this life and the next.” He was so good at sweet talking!
Fortunately, everyone else was sleeping or they would all get goosebumps.
Suddenly, a loud noise came from the outside the temple. Messy and hurried footsteps were accompanied by some masculine voices. “Hurry up! This rain is causing so much trouble.”
“It’s all your fault that you want to travel at night.”
“How can this be my fault?”
……
…
About three or four people came into the temple; all of them soaking wet. They caused such a commotion while trying to shake the rainwater from their clothes that everyone in the abandoned temple were awakened and left staring at the people who had disturbed them.
The few men who looked like they were in their thirties noticed the two groups of people in the temple. They were startled as they realised that everyone else were either armed with swords or knives. One of the braver men cupped his hands to greet them with a humble smile, “Everyone, we are so sorry for the disturbance. We came from a town in Yuzhou City. It’s raining so heavily outside and we didn’t have any choice but to come in for some shelter.” He then pulled the other three people and looked for an empty spot to sit down before starting their own fire.
After being awakened, no one was able to fall asleep again. An old man among the few travellers took out a steamed bun from his baggage and baked it in with the fire. Then he inspected Jing Rong and Zhao Huai’s gang, asking, “You people are heading to the city?”
No one answered.
“I advise you not to enter the city. Terrifying things are happening in the city.”
Huh? Everybody was confused. Lang Po was the only one who asked, “Has Yuzhou city met with some disaster?”
“It’s worse than a disaster. People were killed.”