It was already midnight when Bo Ruoyou returned home. At noon the next day, Huo Weilou came to pick her up, and the two went to the princess mansion together to visit. The eldest princess is still delirious and can't remember the past, but she is silly and happy every day. Hehe, it's rare for him to get angry and mad, but he's actually quite at ease.
She didn't recognize Huo Weilou that day, the three of them finished their lunch, Huo Weilou and Bo Ruoyou accompanied her to break a few wintersweet plums and put them in vases, and they didn't leave the princess mansion until sunset .
After getting into the carriage, Huo Weilou asked another coachman to go to the Hou's mansion, but Bo Ruoyou said wait a minute, she held Huo Weilou's hand, "Master Hou, let's go out of the city tomorrow to have a look."
Huo Weilou's expression became serious.
Seeing his expression, Bo Ruoyou sighed, she was also afraid, otherwise she wouldn't wait until after his birthday, but she also didn't want to delay until the next year, because if the case is not solved, this year will be uneasy.
Huo Weilou pondered for a moment, "Go to the Ming family now?"
Bo Ruoyou answered, Huo Weilou knocked on the wall of the chariot, and the coachman turned his horse around.
This was decided by Bo Ruoyou. In order to celebrate his birthday, he just said that he would give Ming Guilan an answer in three days. Huo Weilou understood this and only held Bo Ruoyou's hand tightly in the carriage.
When they arrived at the Ming Mansion, they explained the reason, and soon Ming Guilan came out to welcome them. Seeing the two of them coming together, Ming Guilan instantly understood. After some discussion, Huo Weilou sent Bo Ruoyou back to the mansion .
On the way, Huo Weilou kept a stern face and said nothing, Bo Ruoyou tilted her head to look at his appearance, remembering how stern and frightening Huo Weilou was when he was in Qingzhou, she was quite afraid of him at that time, she never imagined that he would be like this, As for Huo Weilou right now, no matter how much she keeps away from others, she will not feel afraid.
Huo Weilou was stared at by her like this, he couldn't hold back, his expression was soft, but he couldn't hide the worry in his eyes. He fought in the battlefield when he was young, and later he was in charge of the direct envoy. It is known that he is ruthless. I have never been so indecisive in years.
He wrapped his fingers around her and interlocked, and said in a warm voice, "Wear warmer tomorrow, and with Gui Lan following, don't worry too much."
He didn't know who he was trying to appease, but Bo Ruoyou responded with a smile. Seeing that he was more nervous than herself, she suddenly relaxed. The carriage drove slowly, and Bo Ruoyou discussed the case with Huo Weilou again. Only then did he regain his calm and steady appearance.
After she returned home, she accompanied Cheng Yunzhi to have dinner, and accompanied him to read medical books in the study for a while, but finally said to Cheng Yunzhi: "Father, tomorrow I want to go out of the city to see the place where my brother's body was found."
Cheng Yunzhi was naturally worried, and Bo Ruoyou asked Huo Weilou to accompany him, which made him feel relieved.
In the early morning of the second day, Huo Weilou came to pick her up out of the city, and Ming Guilan was waiting for her at the gate of the city, the two met and headed towards the Luohe River outside the city together.
The sky had been gloomy for many days, and the group of people had just left the city, and there were snowflakes again, and the cold wind was howling, they drove lightly, and went to the site of the ruined temple first.
The banks of the Luohe River are bustling now, even more so than in the past, and the gentle hills where the ruined temple is located have all been wiped out, and now they have been bought by the nobles in the city to build gardens. "The dilapidated temple was there back then, and it was only an incense stick's walk away from the riverside lamp market at the foot of the mountain. Back then, the two banks were all bustling with boats and boats on the river, and the market was only one long street, but now it has become a meteorological."
Bo Ruoyou looked towards the river in the distance, there were row upon row of restaurants and teahouses along both sides of the river, and all kinds of boats docked by the river, it was not yet noon, but there was the sound of babbling and singing, At night, one can imagine how lively it will be.
Ming Guilan pointed to a remote place in the distance, "The house I'm looking for is over there. It's an old house. It looks good on the outside, but it's desolate on the inside. I ordered someone to make it more dilapidated, and found a damaged one. The Buddha statues inside are arranged like the ruined temple back then, but it has been many years, I don’t remember very clearly, I can only have a general appearance.”
Bo Ruoyou collected herself, "No problem, let's go now."
Ming Guilan's carriage led the way, Huo Weilou and Bo Ruoyou's carriage followed behind, the cold wind poured in from the gap in the curtain, making Bo Ruoyou's hands cold, and the closer he got to the house Ming Guilan bought, The panic in her heart grew stronger.
Huo Weilou wanted to warm her hands, but she withdrew her hand from Huo Weilou's palm, "Let me go in by myself later, no matter what happens, Lord Hou don't care about me."
She doesn't need Huo Weilou's comfort right now.
In her heart, the four-year-old Bo Lanzhou stayed in that long night forever. Now, she also wants to return to that place full of despair and fear. She should be terrified and helpless, she should be alone and helpless.
When the carriage stopped, Bo Ruoyou's face was condensed, her back was stiff due to uncontrollable tension, she got out of the carriage without Huo Weilou's support, looked at the half-old courtyard in front of her, made some preparations, and stepped into the courtyard gate.
Huo Weilou was a few feet behind and followed her slowly.
The yard was mottled with snow and overgrown with weeds. The doors and windows of the main room facing it were all damaged and fell to the ground. At this moment, several dark window holes were blowing cold wind. Bo Ruoyou walked slowly to the door and saw the tilted Buddha statue.
The base of the Buddha statue collapsed, the body of the Buddha statue was also mottled with red paint, the ground was covered with dust, the beams were knotted with cobwebs, and the bright yellow curtains hanging around were dirty and damaged, and you could faintly hear the rustling of mice in the dark.
Ming Guilan put all his thoughts into it.
But looking at the scene in front of her, Bo Ruoyou didn't think of anything else except heart palpitations. She stepped into the room, and when she looked around, she saw the low cabinet under the west window.
The low cabinet was waist-high, and the door was closed tightly. Above it, the cold wind raised several pieces of shabby curtains, swaying up and down, and Bo Ruoyou slowly held her breath.
The weather that day was as cold as today, the sky was darker than it is now, and the cold wind was howling outside the window. A pair of four or five-year-old siblings were thrown on the ground like goods.
They were lightly drugged. The murderer saw them sleeping, and found the prepared ropes to tie them hand and foot. Just a few months ago, a boy who was two years older, due to his own negligence, escaped from here.
The rope was tied quite securely, the murderer smiled mockingly, turned around and went out the door.
It was too cold on the ground, and the cold siblings woke up from their lethargy. The four-year-old brother was weak and timid, and now he began to cry repressedly. Even though the elder sister was terrified, her survival instinct made her think about how to escape.
Bo Ruoyou looked around, and saw the broken tiles piled up with dust on the ground.
Yes, the tile, the elder sister curled up and touched the tile, and cut the rope that bound the two clumsily in the dark. The door was closed, and it was dark night outside. There might be ghosts hidden in the cold wind that screamed. Just go out, will devour them.
But they had to escape, the villain would come back, and they wanted to escape.
The younger brother became more and more afraid, and the elder sister couldn't help crying. At this moment, a strange bell sounded, and the sound of the bell became clearer and more melodious, but in such a cold night, it was extremely eerie, and the sound of the bell became more and more As they got closer, the fear of extinction made it difficult for them to move. At this moment, through the thin dim light from the window lattice, they saw the low cabinet in the corner.
Cold sweat overflowed from the forehead of Bo Ruoyou. The interweaving of the cold night twelve years ago and today's light and shadow made her feel like a dream. Huo Weilou and Ming Guilan were waiting in the yard, but she felt like a glow back, as if the murderer of that night was staring at her.
She subconsciously walked towards the low cabinet.
Her heart was about to jump out of her chest. In the whole dilapidated main room, it seemed that only the low cabinet was a safe place. She became more and more afraid, and her steps became faster and faster. When she reached the low cabinet, she pulled the cabinet door open open.
The short cabinet is divided into upper and lower layers, much smaller than she imagined, her forehead twitched suddenly, she couldn't think of the next step to hide, and the cold wind behind her made the curtain rustle, like the footsteps of a murderer As she approached, Bo Ruoyou's breath became short of breath, her whole body lost strength, her eyes turned black, and she collapsed in a burst of unstoppable trembling.
The sense of fear that only appeared in dreams especially clearly controlled her. It seemed that someone was speaking in her ear. She carefully discerned that it was the cry of a child. The immature cry was like a blunt knife cutting her heart. , the cry became real, as if it was in the closet in front of her, Bo Ruoyou was terrified, she closed the closet door and wanted to escape from here, but she couldn't stand up, at this moment, in the dream The devil-like footsteps approached her clearly.
A hand grabbed her.
The fear of death made her explode with strength. She struggled desperately, but her eyes were getting darker and darker. At this moment, she touched something in her hand. She gritted her teeth and thrust the hard object into the person's body with all her strength. …
"faint!"
"faint-"
In the boundless darkness, a distant voice awakened her mind, Bo Ruoyou opened her eyes amidst the endless chill, and met Huo Weilou's worried gaze.
She was carried into the carriage, her whole body seemed to be fished out of ice water, her fingertips were still trembling uncontrollably, her deep and beautiful eyes were dark and hollow, as if her mind and soul had disappeared, leaving only a shell.
"Youyou, wake up, wake up quickly—"
"Is she awake? I want to be sure!"
"No, don't delay, go back to the city immediately..."
Huo Weilou's voice fluctuated from far and near, Bo Ruoyou's spiritual consciousness flickered on and off like a weak candle, and Huo Weilou held him in his arms, holding a heavy bow that would not shake, at this moment He couldn't hold her steady.
"hurt..."
Just when Huo Weilou was dying, her weak and hoarse voice sounded. Huo Weilou hurriedly lowered his eyes to look, but saw Bo Ruoyou raised his right hand tremblingly, her empty eyes gave birth to With a glimmer of firefly light, he said with difficulty: "The murderer was injured... there must be scars on his body..."