This was a tough problem for He Sui’an. Although Jiang Xuewan’s mind was now like that of a young child, her body was still taller than He Sui’an’s. She couldn’t carry or lift Jiang Xuewan.
He Sui’an placed Jiang Xuewan on the ground beside the big box. This seemed to be a room specially used for storing the owner’s valuables.
The box that was brought in was not locked.
But the room was locked.
He Sui’an tried to push it open and heard the sound of a lock clicking outside the door.
From the sound, it seemed to be secured with a chain, which made He Sui’an hesitant to push further, fearing it might attract others.
That would make the situation worse.
She returned to Jiang Xuewan’s side, squatted down, and patiently said, “Miss Jiang? Do you recognize me? I’m He Sui’an.”
Jiang Xuewan was playing with the sash around her waist, mumbling incoherently, “Father, Mother, Xuewan is hiding… so many people.”
He Sui’an couldn’t understand what she was saying.
Probably because this room was used by the owner to store valuables, He Sui’an hardly heard anyone passing by when she leaned against the door.
If someone did come, it would probably be to take the box with the hallucinogenic Gu and Jiang Xuewan away. Time was tight, and He Sui’an wanted to find a way out and take Jiang Xuewan away before they arrived.
It was the first time He Sui’an had encountered such a situation, and she was racking her brains for a solution.
Jiang Xuewan was still laughing.
No, she was both laughing and crying, seemingly lost in a hallucinatory madness: “Kill, kill them all.”
He Sui’an rushed over and covered Jiang Xuewan’s mouth. She had suddenly shouted too loudly, and if she kept shouting, it would definitely attract people.
Jiang Xuewan whimpered a few times, unable to speak, and in her frustration, she tried to bite He Sui’an.
She reacted quickly and dodged.
Just as Jiang Xuewan was about to make a sound while trapped in her hallucination, He Sui’an covered her mouth with a clean handkerchief. “Sorry, Miss Jiang,” he said. “I will take you away from here.”
Jiang Xuewan had never used the hallucinogenic Gu before.
For the first time, she was subjected to it, her mind plunged into an extremely comfortable state, but her fragile body couldn’t handle the stimulation. The contradiction caused her to tremble violently a few times before passing out.
He Sui’an was startled, thinking Jiang Xuewan couldn’t breathe because of the handkerchief.
After removing the handkerchief, she checked her breathing.
It was erratic.
And very rapid.
He Sui’an laid Jiang Xuewan flat to help her breathe more easily. She then got up and walked to the window to check; it was tightly shut, sealed from inside and out, as if to prevent thieves.
Breaking the window would be easier than breaking down the door.
She looked around for something suitable to smash the window, knowing the noise would be loud. She could only pray that there was no one nearby, giving her enough time to break the window.
Just as He Sui’an was about to break the window, she heard someone speaking outside.
*
Jiang Songwei couldn’t find Jiang Xuewan.
After returning to the room from the deck, he had taken great care of Jiang Xuewan, watching her play with a silver hairpin on the bed. She fell asleep while playing, and only then did he sit on a low stool to rest his eyes.
He had been on edge recently, without much rest, and still recovering from old injuries. For the first time in days, Jiang Songwei fell asleep.
When he woke up, the narrow bed was empty.
Jiang Songwei felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
She was his elder brother and sister-in-law’s only daughter, his niece, and his only family left in the world.
If he couldn’t protect Jiang Xuewan, he felt there was no reason for him to live, as his sole purpose now was to find the truth and take care of her.
The room in the cabin was so small that it was clear at a glance if someone was inside or not. Jiang Songwei ran outside, searching everywhere frantically.
He asked everyone he met if they had seen a girl in a green dress.
Whenever he saw someone dressed similarly, he approached them.
But none of them were Jiang Xuewan; they were all strangers. Jiang Songwei was anxious, his usual calm and composure gone.
He even wanted to check the ship’s hold, but the sailors wouldn’t allow it. In the end, a foreigner let him in, saying all the cargo had been unloaded anyway, so there was no harm in letting him look to avoid trouble.
The warehouse was empty.
There was no sign of Jiang Xuewan.
Jiang Songwei, anxious to find someone, took a step to go outside to search but suddenly stopped.
He turned his head and asked them, his handsome features devoid of extra expressions, “Can you tell me what was stored in the warehouse before?”
A boatman, somewhat impatient, replied coldly, “What does that have to do with you?”
“Don’t meddle in our business…”
“And now?” No one saw when Jiang Songwei drew his sword, but a long sword with a cold gleam was pressed against the boatman’s neck. “Can you tell me now?”
“Young master!” The boatman, never expecting such a turn of events, was so scared his legs trembled. “I have elderly parents and young children to care for. Please don’t kill me.”
The foreigners who had come in also showed slight changes in their expressions.
Jiang Songwei looked apologetic.
He said, “Sorry, I just want to find someone. I’m afraid she might have been playing around and hid among the cargo, so I had to ask.”
The foreigner’s eyelids twitched almost imperceptibly. He walked over with a smile, “I see. Young master, you should have said so earlier. We deal in tea, and the cargo is all light tea leaves.”
“Tea leaves?”
Jiang Songwei withdrew his sword.
The foreigner breathed a sigh of relief, “Why would we deceive you, young master? It really is tea leaves.”
He had been doing business in the Central Plains for a long time and spoke the language fluently, though occasionally with a slight accent. “Someone, bring up the box of tea I set aside for the young master to see.”
Jiang Songwei glanced at the small box they brought up, which couldn’t even fit a person’s head, “You use these small boxes to pack tea leaves?”
“Yes, young master.”
Such small boxes couldn’t hide a person.
Jiang Songwei had considered other possibilities, like Jiang Xuewan not running around playfully but being kidnapped. He left the warehouse without revealing his thoughts, trying to stay calm and think.
The foreigners exchanged glances with the boatmen. The boatmen and others all went out and closed the warehouse door.
The boat docked at the pier.
People were coming and going, boarding and disembarking.
Jiang Songwei stood close to the pier and asked those who had to stay at the pier all day if they had seen Jiang Xuewan. Their answers were always the same—none had seen her. Could she have vanished into thin air?
No, if Jiang Xuewan had run around by herself, passersby would have seen her. It was unlikely that no one had seen her at all.
Only one possibility remained.
Jiang Xuewan had been kidnapped.
After confirming this, Jiang Songwei looked up and saw Qi Buyan.
The youth wore an indigo robe with a matching belt at his waist. His long black hair flowed down his back, and his smooth waistline gave him a crane-like elegance. His skin was so pale it appeared almost transparent in the sunlight.
He was the type of person who stood out even in a crowd.
Jiang Songwei’s gaze fell on Qi Buyan’s neck, where there was a butterfly tattoo. Though only partially visible, it was unmistakably a butterfly. Jiang Songwei clearly remembered that before they parted ways on the ship’s deck that morning, Qi Buyan did not have that tattoo.
However, this was not the most pressing matter.
Jiang Songwei walked quickly toward him, slightly puzzled by the absence of He Sui’an. “Young Master Qi, have you seen Xuewan?”
Qi Buyan turned to him, tilting his head with a smile, “Are you looking for someone too?”
Jiang Songwei paused.
Did this mean Qi Buyan was also looking for someone?
“Is Miss He not with you?” Jiang Songwei looked around Qi Buyan, his unease growing. “I wanted to ask Miss He if she had seen Xuewan.”
The young man, whether worried or not, kept smiling, “Then we should search for them.”
“When did Miss He go missing?” Jiang Songwei asked.
He felt that the disappearance of He Sui’an and Jiang Xuewan might be related.
Qi Buyan was not sure when He Sui’an went missing, only that after a kiss, she had mentioned needing to use the restroom and had not returned to the cabin for a long time.
How could someone just disappear? Qi Buyan lowered his gaze, gently squeezing a red snake that had somehow crawled into his wrist guard.
The red snake retracted its head, fearing its owner might crush it.
Jiang Songwei asked Qi Buyan several more questions, and Qi Buyan patiently answered them.
After finishing his inquiries about the missing girls, Jiang Songwei, regaining his composure, expressed concern for the boy who was, after all, the age of his nephew. “What happened to your neck? Is it injured?”
It didn’t actually look like an injury.
But Jiang Songwei didn’t know how else to broach the topic and used the possibility of injury as an entry point.
Qi Buyan pressed his fingertips to the side of his neck, brushing over the butterfly that Jiang Songwei had noticed. This mark had appeared today after kissing He Sui’an, a situation he had not encountered before.
He felt a strange sense of exhilaration.
The butterfly’s wings seemed to struggle to break through his skin, growing out. They were vivid and bright blue. Away from her, the color dulled, and the shape gradually faded, no longer changing.
It was as if the butterfly needed more of their closeness to fully reveal its splendid blue beauty.
Qi Buyan realized that his butterfly responded to his intimacy with He Sui’an, even changing because of it.
When Jiang Songwei saw the butterfly, it was already fading, its colors dulling, and its shape disappearing. Its most beautiful form had appeared at the moment Qi Buyan and He Sui’an kissed.
Qi Buyan lowered his hand and no longer touched his neck. “I am not injured,” he said with a smile. “This butterfly appeared because of He Sui’an.”
Jiang Songwei was confused by this explanation but didn’t press further. He just wanted to find Jiang Xuewan and He Sui’an as quickly as possible. “Where do you plan to start looking? I’ve searched the entire cabin and found no one.”
“Perhaps there are places you haven’t searched. I can look again,” Jiang Songwei suggested.
Qi Buyan replied, “No need.”
Jiang Songwei didn’t understand. “Are you certain they are not on the ship?”
The young man took a long stride, easily leaping off the ship to stand on the dock. The silver ornaments in his hair glittered in the sunlight. With a hint of a smile in his voice, he said, “He Sui’an is not on the ship.”
“How can you be so sure?” Jiang Songwei couldn’t help but ask.
Qi Buyan gave a vague answer, “Because… wherever she goes, I can find her. Even if she were to die in a deserted place, I would be able to find her body.”
He took out a bone flute and played a few notes. Within moments, butterflies of various colors and shapes flew from all directions, creating a spectacle at the dock.
Passersby murmured in amazement.
Qi Buyan ignored them.
Under Jiang Songwei’s astonished gaze, Qi Buyan raised his hand and gently touched a few of the closest butterflies. Speaking to them as if they could understand, he said softly, “Take me to He Sui’an. I want to see her now.”
he’s a Disney princess 😂