FID – Chapter 695

Chapter 695: A Familiar Scene

The abnormal situation outside had long been noticed by the man, and his brows furrowed slightly. “They’re probably looking for you.”

Liu Yusheng’s eyes lit up. If the officials were searching for her, that meant Feng Qingbai had realized she was missing!

If not for him, there was no way the Beicang officials would be mobilized to search for her.

However, apart from that, no further action had been taken. This kind of reaction made the man glance at her again.

A simple village girl, yet so cautious and meticulous—this was rare.

And very clever.

“What do you think?” Liu Yusheng asked.

“I thought you would immediately go down and make contact with the soldiers.”

Liu Yusheng shook her head. “I only trust Feng Qingbai.”

Even though the soldiers were part of the official forces, this was Beicang. If there was some hidden scheme behind this, she wouldn’t know.

Rushing forward to make contact and exposing herself might not necessarily result in protection from the soldiers.

“I think I’m more trustworthy than the soldiers,” the man said just as their carriage was stopped.

They were being inspected.

A soldier immediately lifted the curtain, giving the passengers no time to react.

“Who’s inside? Name, identity, destination, and purpose of travel?” The soldier, seemingly a squad leader, fired off a string of questions.

His sharp eyes swept over them both, scrutinizing every detail.

Liu Yusheng’s grip on the bamboo basket tightened slightly, but her expression remained unchanged. Just as she was about to speak, the man’s voice rang out first.

“We are merchants from Nanling. I am Liu Zhiqiu, and this is my younger sister, Liu Yusheng. We are heading to the capital for business and also searching for someone.”

“Liu Yusheng?” The soldier’s gaze immediately locked onto her. “Who are you doing business with? Who are you looking for?”

“We are doing business with the Lu family in the capital. The person we’re looking for is the King of Nanling, Feng Qingbai. My younger sister is his fiancée.”

The man answered in detail while Liu Yusheng remained silent.

She didn’t understand why Heilian was doing this—exposing her identity and even pretending to be her second brother—but she chose to trust him.

She truly believed he was more trustworthy than the soldiers.

However, this added another layer of doubt about Heilian.

She was certain they had never met before, yet Heilian not only knew her but also seemed very familiar with her affairs. He even knew her second brother’s name.

Did Xue Qinglian tell him?

It wasn’t impossible.

But then, how did he know that she had come with a merchant group to do business with the Lu family in the capital?

Suddenly, she realized that the man before her was shrouded in mystery.

In the brief moment she was lost in thought, the squad leader outside had already signaled to his men. “We found her!”

Liu Yusheng’s eyes narrowed slightly as she watched him.

Something was off.

If they were truly searching for someone on Feng Qingbai’s behalf, they should be relieved and pleased upon finding her.

However, from beginning to end, the squad leader remained unnervingly calm. His gaze showed no hint of joy—on the contrary, there was a flicker of hostility hidden within!

“Merchants from Nanling, Liu Zhiqiu and Liu Yusheng? Do you have any proof?” The squad leader continued questioning as the surrounding soldiers closed in.

“We siblings encountered an accident earlier and lost our travel documents. Proving our identities is not difficult—once we meet with the King, he will be able to confirm who we are.”

“The King is a person of great status! You think you can meet him just because you say so? Ridiculous! You have no travel documents and yet claim to be merchants from Nanling. We now suspect you are assassins. Men, seize them!”

At the squad leader’s command, the soldiers surrounding the carriage simultaneously raised their weapons.

Seeing the scene unfold, the surrounding citizens quickly stepped aside, while shopkeepers along the street shut their doors tightly to avoid being caught in the trouble.

“The officials haven’t even verified anything, yet they slander us siblings as assassins. If His Highness investigates this matter in the future, can you bear the consequences?” The man remained still, speaking calmly as he posed the question.

“If you want to plead your case, you’ll have your chance later. Now, get off the carriage!” The squad leader drew his sword, eyes fixed on the two of them.

In an instant, Liu Yusheng understood Heilian’s true intention in revealing her identity—to test whether these soldiers were trustworthy. If they weren’t, there were plenty of ways for them to escape. At least this way, they could remain vigilant moving forward.

Exchanging a glance with Heilian, she caught the silent signal in his gaze and slowly stepped down from the carriage behind him.

When a soldier attempted to shove her, the man immediately shielded her, positioning her behind him. Fortunately, the soldiers did not push their luck further—perhaps because they believed their captives had no way to escape. They simply escorted them without further rough treatment.

They were taken directly outside the town.

Eventually, the group stopped in front of a small forest.

This was already the wilderness—desolate, with no one around.

A perfect place for murder and looting.

Liu Yusheng turned back and glanced at the soldiers with a calm expression. As expected, their faces had already changed, their killing intent no longer concealed.

The aura they exuded was strong—far from that of ordinary soldiers.

“Kill them!” The squad leader sneered coldly, wasting no words before giving the execution order.

Liu Yusheng quietly took a step back, silently clenching a handful of medicinal powder in her palm.

But before she could act, her vision was abruptly shrouded in darkness—the man beside her had once again blindfolded her.

“Heilian!”

A warm sensation pressed against the top of her head—his hand, ruffling her hair. “Trust me.”

For a brief moment, Liu Yusheng was stunned.

With her eyes covered, her other senses became even sharper.

The way he ruffled her hair in that instant gave her a strange sense of familiarity. 

Just a few days ago, someone else had done the same.

She stood still, unmoving.

She only knew that the fight had already begun.

Yet from start to finish, there was no sound of weapons clashing, no cries of pain. 

Only the increasingly thick scent of blood in the air.

In just a moment, the ground was littered with corpses—each one killed with a single strike to the throat, not given even the chance to resist.

Wiping his dagger clean on the clothes of a fallen body, the man’s eyes remained cold, emotionless—utterly indifferent.

The sight of so much blood was ordinary to him.

But it would stain her eyes.

So he sprinkled powder over the corpses, making them dissolve into nothing.

The wind blew, and all traces were gone.

And even as they left, he still did not remove the blindfold from her eyes—though he knew she would not have been afraid.

Carried through the air by the man’s qinggong, they had been traveling for quite a while when Liu Yusheng finally reached up and pulled the blindfold from her eyes. 

“Heilian, where are we going now?”

“The capital.”

“Are we flying there?” She glanced sideways at him. 

Qinggong required internal energy, didn’t it? And he was carrying another person—yet he didn’t seem the least bit strained flying all the way to the next town.

“Do you want to go down and walk?” he asked seriously.

“No.”

Not long after they left the small town, Wei Zi personally led a team into the area.

Hearing the townspeople discuss how the authorities had arrested assassins—mentioning Nanling merchants, Liu Yusheng—Wei Zi’s expression instantly turned ice-cold.

“Chase them!”

Yet halfway along the trail, they found only a forest clearing drenched in blood—nothing else.

Wei Zi’s face darkened.

The situation was becoming difficult to grasp. With such a large pool of blood, it was highly unlikely to belong to Miss Liu.

Which meant it had to be those officers’.

But had Wei Hong taken her and escaped? At the thought, he pulled out a signal flare, lit it, and sent it soaring into the sky.