Jiang Songwei had seen Qi Buyan in the city, and at that time, he was with He Sui’an.
Jiang Xuewan wanted to go back to the street to find He Sui’an, so Jiang Songwei guessed that she might be alone now, which is why he asked, “If you have nowhere to go, you can come with us.”
It turns out that this was not the case.
She was obviously traveling with Qi Buyan. It was too much of a coincidence that they also came to Fengling Town, Jiang Songwei thought.
So Jiang Songwei pulled Jiang Xuewan back, whispered a few words to her, and Jiang Xuewan reluctantly glanced at He Sui’an, leaned against him, let go of He Sui’an, and remained silent.
He Sui’an ran towards Qi Buyan.
She was also wearing a lake-blue chest-length dress with white evening primrose flowers embroidered on the hem. When she ran, her sleeves and skirt fluttered in the night wind, and the silver ornaments she wore jingled softly.
Qi Buyan was from the Tianshui Village in Miaojiang, where wearing silver ornaments was a natural habit. After living with him for a while, He Sui’an also found silver jewelry beautiful and unconsciously bought silver ornaments.
Girls all love beautiful and elegant jewelry, and she was no exception.
The reason for the similarity in their dressing habits was not many; they had lived together for a long time.
Convergence.
This was also why Jiang Songwei concluded tonight that they had been traveling together since the city when he saw Qi Buyan and He Sui’an appear together.
Before He Sui’an could reach Qi Buyan’s side, chaotic footsteps approached as a large group of crazed people surged from the end of the street.
Their eyes were bloodshot and unfocused, attacking and biting anyone they saw.
He Sui’an quickened her pace.
Qi Buyan stood still, waiting for her to approach him.
A mournful flute sound gradually spread through the streets and alleys, making the crazed people even more frenzied. Jiang Songwei had no time to care for others, taking the terrified Jiang Xuewan away, her candied hawthorn falling from her hand.
The candied hawthorn was trampled to pieces by the crazed people. He Sui’an looked uneasy, grabbing Qi Buyan’s hand just before they caught up.
Only then did Qi Buyan take action, leading her into an empty alley.
He smiled and asked, “Why did you come out?”
“There are these people in the inn too.” He Sui’an swallowed, looked up at Qi Buyan, holding his hand with one hand and tugging at his clothes with the other.
The long night reflected the shadow of the young man, tall and slender, his black hair falling over his shoulders. His eyelashes were dark, his skin fair and smooth, and the ends of his eyes were naturally red, as if smeared with rouge. “Is that all?”
She stammered, “Ah.”
After a few moments, He Sui’an said again, “I saw Miss Xuewan.”
Her voice weakened.
“I’m worried she’s in danger…”
As He Sui’an continued, her voice lacked confidence, fearing Qi Buyan might think she was overestimating herself, having no real strength yet worrying about others and running around recklessly.
Qi Buyan lowered his gaze, seeing He Sui’an’s face flushed from running. He picked up a strand of her hair damp with sweat, gently smoothing it before tucking it back.
He said, “What does her danger have to do with you? Why do you care?”
He didn’t say she was overestimating herself.
He Sui’an didn’t know how to answer. Qi Buyan bent down, smiling, “He Sui’an, do you want to go with them?”
“I don’t.”
She responded immediately.
Qi Buyan glanced at He Sui’an’s hand. “Alright, I believe you.” Then he asked, “Did you hold her hand, or did she hold yours?”
For a moment, He Sui’an didn’t understand the meaning of Qi Buyan’s question. After a while, she hesitantly replied, “Miss Xuewan held my hand, why?”
Qi Buyan’s side profile had a delicate, androgynous beauty.
He turned his head, his gaze returning to her face.
“Nothing.”
With that, Qi Buyan walked a few steps to the side, and He Sui’an followed closely. The flute sound had stopped, and the crazed people were wandering aimlessly.
Su Yang appeared on a high building, surrounded by rows of her guards. Her hand trembled at her side, as if she had finally made up her mind, commanding her guards to shoot arrows.
The guards drew their bows and shot in an orderly fashion.
This time, the arrows aimed at hearts and heads, ensuring they would never wake up, completely dead.
A tall, bearded middle-aged man stood to Su Yang’s upper left. He bore a strong resemblance to her; this was Su Yang’s father, Su Ruilin.
Swish, swish, swish—arrows flew.
As they were urgently shooting the crazed people, an old woman limped into the street, shouting not to kill her son.
Su Yang immediately leaned over the building railing: “They are no longer human, he is no longer your son, hide quickly!”
The guards paused their shooting.
If the old woman didn’t move, she might be killed by mistake.
Su Ruilin also tried to persuade the old woman. Seeing she wouldn’t listen, he pursed his lips and decisively ordered the guards to continue shooting. The guards obeyed, continuously drawing arrows from their quivers and shooting.
Su Yang shook her head with reluctance.
“Father!”
Although the guards continued shooting arrows, they deliberately avoided the old woman. Arrows rained down, and He Sui’an stood at the alley entrance, with some arrows striking the wall, barely missing her.
He Sui’an couldn’t get out.
Qi Buyan watched the scene leisurely, without a hint of emotion.
Before the old woman could reach her son, she was surrounded by other crazed people. Su Yang quickly picked up a bow and aimed an arrow at them.
She released the arrow.
But she was too late. The old woman was bitten, and the one who bit her was her own son. The old woman’s frail body shuddered a few times before she quickly became one of the crazed.
Su Ruilin, having a daughter himself, understood the old woman’s desire to find her son despite her fear, but it was a futile sacrifice.
Su Yang dropped the bow and walked up to him.
“Father.”
She wanted to ask Su Ruilin to go to the ancient tomb. After investigation, it was found that the first crazed person had been near the haunted house, where a bug from the King Yan’s tomb had crawled into their body, causing them to go mad and bite others three days later.
There was a difference between going mad from being bitten and from having a bug crawl into one’s body. The latter required time for the bugs to hatch, while the former caused immediate madness as the eggs entered the bite wound.
Su Ruilin did not agree to Su Yang’s request and turned to go downstairs.
Su Yang remained silent.
She rarely went against her father’s wishes.
Before leaving, Su Ruilin instructed the guards to thoroughly search Fengling Town for any survivors, and to capture anyone suspected of being infected by the bugs or bitten. No mercy was to be shown.
There were too many crazed people this time, and Su Ruilin knew they couldn’t just brush it off like last time. They needed to provide an explanation to the people of Fengling Town.
*
He Sui’an was not very clear about what happened next and forgot how she left the alley with Qi Buyan and returned to the inn.
Her waist and abdomen wounds tore open from running, and she developed a fever in the latter half of the night, losing consciousness.
Two thick quilts couldn’t dispel the cold from He Sui’an’s fever. Curled up into a ball, in her haze, she felt like she was touching a very warm stove and snuggled into it.
She pressed her face against what felt like smooth, high-quality warm jade, and someone gently held the back of her neck. She grumbled discontentedly.
The warm jade seemed to laugh.
The grip on her neck loosened a bit.
He Sui’an was a restless sleeper. After burying her head, her limbs clung like an octopus, sliding over his smooth, slender waist and abdomen, beyond the layers of clothes she had disheveled.
