Xia Xun dug a hole with bare hands and buried Yuzhu.
A small tomb bulged on the ground, much simpler than the tomb he erected for Yuzhu in Lingnan.
Xia Xun had nothing to bury with it, so she pulled off the hosta from her head, put it in the grave bag, and buried it with it.
He thought he would cry, but he didn't.
He touched his face with his muddy hands, and indeed felt wet, but it was definitely not his tears.
He raised his head, and a few scattered drops of water fell down.
It's raining.
Xia Xun wiped the rain off his face, he knew very well that he should go back as soon as possible.
Qi Hui and Zhi Gui might have already woken up, he should at least hurry back before Qi Yan returned to the mansion.
If Qi Yan came back and found him not there, Qi Hui and Zhi Gui would be reprimanded by him again.
But he couldn't move.
He didn't want to go back, the last person he wanted to see at this moment was Qi Yan.
He knelt on the ground, his heart felt empty.
He lost something that was very important to him, and he wasn't sad, just lost.
Suddenly a voice came from behind:
"So you are here."
Xia Xun was shocked, and turned her head: "Who is it?!"
Behind him, a man in night clothes stood under the eaves, with a crow standing on his shoulder.
Xia Xun asked coldly, "Who are you?"
The man came out from under the roof:
"I just met yesterday, and you forgot? You still used what I gave you."
It turned out to be the barbarian from last night.
Xia Xun became vigilant, and asked in a deep voice:
"Why are you here?"
The man pointed to the crow on his shoulder:
"My bird has been trained. Once you use my scent, it can smell it dozens of miles away, but..."
He looked at Xia Xun with interest:
"I thought you would use it on Qi Yan, but I didn't expect that you just fascinated two servants."
Xia Xun stared at him defensively.
The barbarian came up to him, tilted his head to look at him for a while, and said:
"Why are your eye sockets red, and there are water marks on your face? Your dog died, are you sad?"
Xia Xun was surprised.
Did he see it just now? Since when has he been there
He blocked Yuzhu's grave with his body, and scolded:
"What do you want to do again?"
The man didn't care, shrugged:
"I thought you finally made an attack on Qi Yan and wanted to pick up the corpse, but who knows he's not dead, so I'll take a look and see if there's anything I can do to help you."
Xia Xun is full of doubts about him:
"You want to kill him? Why? Why are you helping me again? You wrote the note hidden in the pastry before?"
He smiled brightly, as a tacit consent, raised his hand, and took off the mask, revealing his true colors.
He has a standard barbarian appearance, with a high nose and deep eyes, and slightly curly brown hair.
He smiled and looked at Xia Xun:
"Don't you feel familiar when you see my face? Let me tell you a secret." He put his fingers up in front of his mouth, making an unfathomable look: "I knew you in Douzhou, isn't your surname Dong? Live with your brother in the south of the city."
Xia Xun was shocked and unconsciously showed a surprised expression.
Hu Ren laughed even more happily, and continued:
"Actually, the day Qi Yan arrived in Lingnan, I had my eye on you, didn't you notice it?"
Xia Xun's hair stood on end, she was as tense as a stone, and a tense voice came out of her stiff throat:
"… What do you want to do?"
The Hu people didn't care, and circled around Xia Xun:
"Don't be so nervous. My target is Qi Yan, not you. I came to you again and again, just to ask if you would like to join hands with me so that we can kill him together."
He was radiant, and his light brown pupils still sparkled in the dark rainy night.
Xia Xun stared at him firmly, without blinking:
"Why did you kill Qi Yan? Do you have a grudge against him?"
Hu Renda said hotly:
"Of course not! Not so long ago, I didn't even know his name!"
Xia Xun asked again:
"Then why did you kill him? Entrusted by others?"
The barbarian smiled, and fixedly looked at him:
"You can't get anything out of me. Just tell me, are you willing to cooperate with me?"
Xia Xun is full of vigilance:
"I don't even know who you are, how can I cooperate with you?"
Hu people have long been prepared:
"Don't rush to refuse, I'll give you another good thing!"
He stretched out his hand, palm up, with a wooden whistle in his palm.
"This is a bird whistle. People can't hear the sound it blows, but birds can hear it. I'll give you a few days to think about it. If you make up your mind, just blow this whistle. As long as you blow it, no matter the ends of the world, I will come to you immediately." By my side, I will never let you miss me."
With a smile on his face, he made a gentle promise, as if he was talking about a lifelong love promise.
Xia Xun was unmoved.
The two stood in a stalemate for a while, when the barbarian suddenly grabbed his hand and threw the wooden whistle into his sleeve along his wrist.
"I don't have time to talk to you. Someone is here. I have to leave quickly."
Hu Ren got up and wanted to leave, but suddenly stopped, turned around and told Xia Xun:
"I'm a good person to the end. I kindly remind you that if you don't want to go back to the Qi Mansion, you should leave as soon as possible. Their people are already outside."
After finishing speaking, like last night, several of them jumped out and quickly disappeared into the night.
Xia Xun didn't expect Qi Yan's people to find here so soon.
If he goes back obediently, Qi Yan will definitely ask about his whereabouts.
Xia Xun didn't want to talk to him, and didn't even have the strength to be in the same room with him.
Before Qi Yan's people broke in, he left Xia Mansion through the back door.
He walked aimlessly on the road, like a ray of homeless wandering soul.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and he was soon wet from the inside out, and his shoes were filled with rainwater.
Passers-by on the road gave him sideways glances, and an umbrella vendor followed him for a few blocks, insisting on selling him the bamboo umbrella in his hand.
Xia Xun kept silent and walked forward blindly.
Seeing him, the peddler refused to buy and spat at him:
"Bah! I didn't expect to be a dumb! Or a poor dumb! I can't even afford an umbrella!"
Xia Xun turned a deaf ear to it, and walked on in suspense.
He had no destination, no direction, and completely followed his instincts, walking in the rainstorm.
I don't know how long I walked, there are fewer and fewer pedestrians on the street, and the shops are closed one by one.
It had been raining heavily, and he was shivering in the cold wind, wrapped in clothes soaked in water.
Even so, his footsteps did not stop.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, a rumbling carriage came from behind.
Then he heard someone calling him:
"Xia Xun? Xia Xun! Is that you??"
He thought that Qi Yan's people had finally found him, so he couldn't help but quicken his pace.
The carriage quickly caught up with him and stopped in front of him, blocking his way.
Someone jumped out of the car.
- It's He Cong.
"Xia Xun! What's wrong with you?! Why did you run out of Qi Mansion alone? You still look so bad? Are you still so wet?!"
Xia Xun blinked, and the pouring rain flowed down his face.
He replied blankly, "I'm fine."
He Cong also took the umbrella from the servant, and opened it on his head:
"No matter what happens, you get in the car with me first!"
He tugged and dragged Xia Xun into the car, took out a handkerchief from his arms and threw it to him:
"Wipe off the water on your body! Beware of catching a cold and getting sick!"
Xia Xun was motionless holding the handkerchief.
He Cong let out a dissatisfied "tsk" and said deliberately:
"You don't want me to wipe it for you! I'm a married person! Even if I treated you before—that was before, and now I—"
"The jade beads are gone." Xia Xun said suddenly.
He Cong froze for a moment: "Ah? Who's gone?"
Xia Xun raised her handkerchief and wiped the water off her face:
"Yuzhu, my dog, is dead."
He Cong didn't understand:
"Your dog? What do you mean? When did you have a dog? Did Qi Yan buy it for you? Or did you bring it from Lingnan?"
He Cong has never seen Yuzhu before. Xia Xun told him about it many years ago, but he obviously doesn't remember it.
Xia Xun laughed at herself, shook her head, and said in a low voice:
"... nothing, just treat me as nonsense..."
He Cong didn't ask, he would never do anything that Xia Xun felt forced.
He was on fire in his heart, still angry with Qi Yan.
He raised his eyebrows and said to Xia Xun indignantly:
"Don't worry about the nonsense, Qi Yan has already found out that you are missing! He thought I took you away and made a big fuss at my place just now! You didn't see it, it was a mobilization! I think he can't wait to strike a sword kill me!!"
Xia Xun lowered her head.
"Feel sorry… "
He Cong frowned:
"Don't do this to me! You go back to the mansion with me first and change into dry clothes! Let him go in a hurry! I'll take you back after dawn!"
Xia Xun said no.
"In that case, the servants who serve me will suffer. Qi Yan will not go around them. I don't want to hurt others. I have been walking outside for long enough and my mind is clear enough. It is time for me to go back."
With that said, get out of the car.
He Cong grabbed him:
"I still say the same thing, you just run away! I'll send you out of the city right now!"
He Cong's servant suddenly coughed a few times:
"Cough cough cough! My lord, forgive me for being blunt, Lord Qi sent a lot of people to search for this young master in the city! I'm afraid it won't be that easy to get out of the city!"
He was afraid that He Cong would be implicated by Xia Xun, so he hurriedly reminded him, regardless of his status.
Xia Xun reassured him, then turned to He Cong and said:
"I won't go, and I can't go... I met a strange barbarian yesterday. His identity is unknown. He said he was in Lingnan—"
He stopped talking suddenly.
He Cong asked: "What about in Lingnan? Why don't you talk about it?"
Xia Xun originally wanted to say that this barbarian has a mysterious origin, and he cannot leave with peace of mind until he finds out his origin.
When the words came to his lips, he swallowed them again.
"It's nothing." Xia Xun said softly, "Anyway, I can't leave the capital for the time being."
He Cong leaned back heavily:
"You are stubborn! I can't say no to you! It's fine if you don't leave, but I can't just let Qi Yan go like this! I want to send you back to Qi Mansion personally!"
Xia Xun was puzzled and said:
"He has turned against you, why do you still send him to your door to provoke him?"
He Cong refused to say clearly: "You don't have to worry about it! Anyway, if he sees you, I will send you back, and he will be so angry!"
Qi Yan sat on the chair, tightly gripping the armrest, his knuckles turned white with force, and the wooden armrest creaked.
Not long ago, he and Qi Hui entered Xia Mansion and dug up Yuzhu's grave.
He saw the old dog's body, and Xia Xun's wooden hairpin buried under the soil with it.
As soon as he saw the hairpin, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, and he lost his mind and took a few steps back, almost falling to the ground.
Yuzhu died in Xia's house and was buried by Xia Xun himself, but Xia Xun disappeared.
On such a miserable night, Xia Xun could not return for a long time.
Where will he go? What will you do again
Qi Yan had to think of the worst outcome.
He held Xia Xun's wooden hairpin in his hand, and ordered in a hoarse voice:
"Go find it! Take someone to find it immediately!"
Qi Hui took the order to leave, and brought back a terrible news not long after.
The guards of the imperial city salvaged a male corpse from the moat. He was slender and about twenty years old.
"My lord, this subordinate has sent someone... to bring back the body. The identity of the deceased has not been confirmed yet. Waiting for you to see—"
Qi Hui couldn't continue.
Following Qi Yan's side all these years, he knows better than anyone what kind of life Qi Yan lived after Xia Xun's death.
Now, it was hard to find Xia Xun back.
If he really committed suicide because of Yuzhu's death, Qi Hui is not sure whether his lord can survive.
Qi Hui plopped down on his knees:
"If it is really the young master, this subordinate will kill himself immediately to apologize!"
Qi Yan almost bit the words into pieces, and jumped out word by word:
"I don't want your life, I want Xia Xun to come back intact."
The corpses in the river were quickly transported and placed in the front yard.
With Qi Hui's support, Qi Yan staggered over.
His hands were trembling, and he lifted it three times before removing the white cloth covering the corpse.
When he saw the corpse's face clearly, he suddenly recovered, his brain buzzed, his eyes suddenly went black, and he couldn't see for a while.
Qi Hui's legs trembled and he almost fell to the ground:
"Fortunately... not the son..."
Qi Yan put down the white cloth.
Standing in the pouring rain, he staggered and said:
"You must find him tonight. If he is still missing before dawn, I—"
The guards guarding the gate rushed in and rescued Qi Yan:
"My lord! Mr. Xia is back!"