Chapter 48: The Peacock Flies Southeast (4)

  I was stunned on the spot, only able to exchange a deep and piercing gaze with him, unable to see anything else. He... he... he really came!

  Yuán Fēi Bái withdrew his gaze, slowly knelt down on both knees, and calmly paid respects to the deceased: "Junior Yuán Fēi Bái pays his respects to Auntie."

  She was indeed a member of the Yuan family, and she hugged me from behind, her face close to mine as if in intimacy, and whispered in my ear: "Look, he's here. Although his body has half of the blood of a humble person, he is still a man of the Yuan family. As long as you are still in his heart, he will not let go of you, and will pamper you with all his might. But once he becomes disenchanted with you, he will abandon you to drift away, without caring whether you live or die."

  Her voice was soft, but still loud enough for Fei Bai to hear every word of the insult towards his mother. Fei Bai's body trembled slightly, but he remained silent.

  "Don't call me aunt? I don't want that cheap woman's child to be my nephew, and I'm not a member of the original family either." Yu Qingwu sneered at Fei Bai with disdain, staring at his handsome face: "I really didn't expect your leg to recover, now you can even come over personally to save your beloved?"

  She looked at Fei Bai with disdain: "You look like that cheap woman, no wonder Second Brother likes you so much!"

  Her non-white face suddenly turned white, but she still calmly said: "Aunt has not returned home for many years, and everything has changed. Now it's the eve of the war with the thieves stealing the country, Nanzhao slaughtering, at dawn, there will be a big battle. Even if hiding in this dark palace, it's hard to guarantee safety. Please ask Aunt to go with me to see Father Hou, Father Hou misses you very much."

  Yu Qing burst out laughing as if she had just heard the biggest joke in the world.

  Amidst the loud laughter, dust and gravel fell from the tunnel, a sharp pain pierced my chest, I spat out a mouthful of blood, and my already pale face turned even paler.

  "What does your father want to see me for?" Yu Qingwu suddenly flung me away, and I fell heavily onto the cold ground, struggling to breathe and spitting out blood foam. He stood there motionless, but his eyes were fixed tightly on me.

  I raised my head to get up, but felt someone heavily trampling on my back, so I could only press my cheek against the ground again. "He must be regretting sparing my life all those years ago." Yuan Qingwu's voice came from above.

  "He killed my Yang'er, drove away Minglang, and caused all 361 members of the Ming family to be executed in the market. My father-in-law and uncles were all tortured to death, yet he still has a good heart?"

  "Auntie's grievances, I can understand, but the blood flowing through your veins is also that of our original family. If you have hatred towards our original family, you can take revenge on my father. If you have resentment towards me, you can also make things difficult for me. However, this woman under your feet is just a small concubine. I also heard some old stories from Auntie earlier. The two families of Ming and Yuan were originally on good terms for generations. The grudges seven years ago have already resulted in rivers of blood. Why must you continue to slaughter the innocent?"

  I couldn't see any expression other than whiteness, I just felt his voice was infinitely cold: "The young nephew is right here, aunt wants to kill or scold, please just give the order, only please raise your noble hand and spare her a life."

  "Hmph, what good is your wretched life to me? I want you to open the secret palace?"

  "I'm afraid it's not possible to comply with your request. This secret palace is a sacred place for the Yuans' ancestors, and without the direct order from the head of the Yuan family, it cannot be opened. Now that we're in a time of turmoil, Auntie, who grew up in the Yuan household and has a close relationship with Father Hou, should know that the people guarding the Purple Mountain Palace have been entrusted with this duty for generations. Regardless of the rise or fall of the Yuan family, regardless of changes in dynasties, as long as there is no fish symbol from the master of the Yuan family, they will automatically seal off the palace during times of war and strife. They won't let people come and go freely. If Auntie rashly proceeds, she'll surely not return. Please reconsider, Auntie."

  "Who said I'm back?" She chuckled, and I secretly felt a chill: "I want to see Ming Lang, I've had enough of these ghost days without Ming Lang." Her bright eyes turned: "Since you live in this Xifeng Garden, you are the future master of the dark palace, your body must have the fish token to enter, it's just that you haven't come out yet, how dare you deceive me?"

  She grasped the back of my collar, pulling me up, and facing Fei Bai, it was as if she had caught a cat. Fei Bai's face was pale as paper, he looked at me, then turned to her, his hand tightly gripping my neck, I let out a low groan, Yuan Qing Wu coldly said: "Her body is suffering from a lingering illness, winter chill has penetrated deep into her bones, coupled with the exhaustion of consecutive days of bitter struggle, she has exhausted her vital energy, originally it was already her limit, if you delay for even half an hour more, I fear that you won't be able to see her one last time."

  "She has not only taken the place of your family's second daughter, but also done a favor to your original family. What you call a little concubine, everyone in the world knows that this little concubine is your favorite concubine. If she had been late for a while, it would have been impossible to save her. How about opening a back door for her? Are you really going to be as ruthless and unrighteous as your father?"

  "If Father were truly heartless and unrighteous, he wouldn't have used a female prisoner to exchange for Auntie's return from the execution ground in the first place, and would not have allowed Auntie to speak out of turn and humiliate our original family."

  "Shut up, you're a lowly breed." Yu Qingwu shouted in a shrill voice, waving her long sleeve at Fei Bai. Fei Bai's long whip lashed out and wrapped around me, pulling me into his arms. But Yu Qingwu's supple waist twisted and grabbed my injured leg, tugging it backward with all her might. For a moment, I felt like the rope in a tug-of-war, being pulled by both ends at once. The intense pain shooting up from my leg was unbearable, and I let out a pained cry. Fei Bai's palms were sweating, his face contorted in shock and pain, but he couldn't bear to hold on any longer and released me. In an instant, I found myself back under Yu Qingwu's feet.

  I curled up, hugging my injured leg tightly, with a sea of resentment in my heart. Why did I have to suffer such pain? I thought falling into Duan Yue's hands was the most terrifying thing, but now it seems like a small trick compared to this.

  His dark face was as gloomy as ever, staring at me with an unblinking gaze. My thoughts were running wild to the extreme, recalling the two slaps he gave me, recalling how he had harmed me and left me with a chronic illness, recalling how he had colluded with Jin Xiu to deceive me, treating me like a commodity to be passed around, imprisoning me, using me, recalling how he had ruthlessly stopped me from seeing Fei Yu, yes, everything was because of him. Now all the evil consequences were still for the sake of that original family and this angel-like beautiful young man in front of me.

  Even if I were furious, even if I hated Yuan Fei more than anything, when I was slightly rational, I should have understood that even if I didn't beg him to save me, I should at least maintain a dignified silence. However, my sweat poured down like rain, and in extreme agony, I suddenly lost control and burst out laughing: "You wicked woman, why drag the grudges of the previous generation onto my head? If you have the guts, go kill Yuan Qingjiang! What right do you have to come here and torment me? Let me tell you, I'm not even his heart's desire. Since I can be a substitute for Yuan Feiyan, I can also be a substitute for his heart's desire. You've got the wrong person! He will never open that dogshit dungeon for you. Even as a ghost, I won't let you off. You're a murderer, a sadist, and a pervert!"

  I rushed towards her, the green dress fluttering by in an instant. I fell to the ground with a thud, blood flowing even more profusely, but I was too weak to crawl away and could only gasp for air violently. By my ear, I heard Bai Li's stern voice shouting: "Mu Jin, don't say anything else!" But that loud shout at the end had already become trembling: "You...don't move."

  Yu Qingwu sighed above me, her voice full of sorrow and pity: "What a devoted woman, what a loyal concubine, Yuan is not white, look at how much she loves you, willing to die here for you, but you are so heartless."

  After finishing speaking, he burst into a loud and eerie laughter. I felt Non-White's gaze fixed on me, his usually calm voice had a hint of instability: "Aunt... there is only the fish token that can enter by my nephew's side." Non-White took out a purple jade token in the shape of a fish and handed it over: "Please return her to me, Aunt. I will also escort you on your way."

  Yu Qingwu's long sleeve waved, and the purple jade fish token in Fei Bai's hand had already fallen into her hands. She hastily stroked the exquisitely crafted purple jade fish token, examining it carefully before a hint of a smile emerged: "Not bad, indeed this is the fish token for entering the Dark Palace. Brother has indeed entrusted the Dark Palace to you."

  I felt a huge force lift me up from the ground and then land in a warm embrace.

  "Mu Jin?" A low, trembling voice came, his icy hand brushed against my face, I struggled to open my eyes, his phoenix-like eyes sparkled, but couldn't hide the panic and sorrow in them, even a hint of desperate fear. Why was he so tormented? Wasn't it supposed to be about Jinyu? Ah, yes! He must be suffering because he promised Jinyu to take care of me! Or maybe it's because he regretted that such a good horse had eaten so much grass and was about to die without even running properly?!

  Actually, I didn't need that crazy woman to tell me, I already knew that I'm probably going to kick the bucket soon. My blood is flowing out like tap water and won't stop, I had no idea I had so much blood in me, it's almost enough to dye this entire place red. In my heart, I'm sorrowfully mocking myself, why did he have to take out that fish token to exchange for a dying me? Isn't this a losing deal? How can the famous Snow-Step Master always do such unprofitable business?

  I was too weak to ask any more questions, and could only gasp for air weakly, staring at him fixedly. He forced himself to calm down and said: "Muke, you... must hold on, Mr. Zhao will also enter Xi'an City soon, he will definitely save you... Muke, you must hold on, you will be fine."

  Then he said to me in a low voice: "I'll set your bones right away, otherwise this leg will be crippled..."

  Yu Qingwu sneered cruelly, covering her mouth: "Right, you'd better hurry up, or else you'll end up like Treading Snow Young Master, a useless waste."

  "Non-white" didn't mind her cold words: "You... don't be afraid, just endure a little pain..."

  His words had barely fallen when, with a loud crack, he had already made his move as swift as lightning, and my bones were reset. I let out a pained cry, tears streaming down my face. He gritted his teeth, rapidly pressing the acupoints to stop my bleeding.

  Yu Qingwu yawned, looked at me and Fei Bai, and smiled happily: "Ta Xue Gongzi, I have returned your beloved to you. You have done what you should do. Hurry up and take the road now, or else both of you will die here and still won't be able to save her."

  A coldness and killing intent that had never been seen in his eyes before flashed by in an instant: "Please follow me, Aunt."

  He picked me up, and my blood stained his white robe completely red. He walked slowly in front, while Yu Qing danced behind him, holding a torch and laughing. I wanted to remind her not to laugh anymore, but she didn't know that her originally delicate face had already been ruined by tears, becoming extremely ugly. Now, adding that eerie smile and the obsessive, crazy eyes, she looked truly terrifying, like an evil spirit.

  He led me to a seemingly dilapidated wall, aimed at an ordinary-looking stone, and pressed it lightly. A very smooth wall surface appeared. He gently helped me sit on another wall and said softly, "Don't worry, I've got everything under control."

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