FID – Chapter 1020

Chapter 1020: Never Judge by Appearance

Although Baicao Valley had almost ceased to exist, wasn’t there still the Cangying Pavilion? 

The pavilion had hundreds, if not over a thousand disciples. Were they just going to keep them idle, letting them live as freeloaders?

Feng Qingbai sneered coldly. He wouldn’t let them off.

A small hand gently tugged at the front of his clothes. Feng Qingbai lowered his eyes and met the girl’s pleading little expression. “Aren’t you going to meet Xue Qinglian tomorrow? Take me along too.”

Feng Qingbai pressed a hand to his forehead and coaxed, “Shengsheng, I’m going secretly. We have to avoid the eyes of Xiliang. No one must notice. If I bring you along, it won’t be convenient. Wait for me at the inn, alright?”

“Brother Axiu, my qinggong isn’t necessarily worse than yours.” The girl bared her small white teeth, giving him a teasing smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

She looked as if she was provoked by him.

Feng Qingbai was silent for a moment. If Shengsheng didn’t mention it, he might have forgotten that besides her extraordinary medical skill, she also had near-perfect qinggong skills. 

She had fully inherited Wei Hong’s true teachings.

“I underestimated you, my wife,” the man admitted with his head lowered.

Only then was the girl satisfied. She patted his cheek, smugly pleased with herself. “Remember to take me along. Maybe if you really get exhausted along the way, I can give you a hand.”

Feng Qingbai smiled. “You really think you can handle it.”

“…You’re a King, yet you’ve started speaking like a country folk. It doesn’t suit your status or bearing—change it yourself.”

  ”……”

  When dinner time came, Wei Zi and Liu Ya finally appeared before the two of them; no one knew what they had been doing for half the day.

  Before returning to their rooms after the meal, Liu Yusheng lowered her voice and told the two about the situation with the map.

  Upon learning that Miaojiang was not within the borders of the Mo City map, Liu Ya’s disappointment was obvious.

  Although her purpose on this trip was only to assist, deep down she also hoped they could find Miaojiang as soon as possible.

  She wanted to see what her maternal homeland was truly like—whether it really was, as her great-grandfather once said, a pure and untouched land. Even though their entire family was now of slave status and could never return to Miaojiang in this lifetime, she still felt deep curiosity and longing for that place.

  “As long as the place still exists, we’ll find it one day. Don’t be anxious,” Liu Yusheng whispered reassuringly.

  Liu Ya gave her a timid smile. “You’re right, Madam. We will find it.”

  They would definitely find that place, and they would certainly save Master and Madam’s friend. Even though she herself had suffered those unbearable experiences in the past, she still believed that good people are rewarded.

  Master and Madam were such good people. Naturally, their friends must be the same. They would definitely reach a good ending.

  While the two women whispered, Feng Qingbai also gave Wei Zi a secret order. As for what the order was, no one knew.

  At dawn the next day before the skies even began to lighten—

  All of Mo City was still shrouded in darkness.

  At this hour, people were in their deepest sleep, and the city’s defenses were at their loosest. A window in one of the inn’s guest rooms quietly opened, and in the dim light, a figure slipped out like a ghost.

  Their speed was so fast it resembled a wisp of smoke—appearing in a blink, vanishing in the next.

  After leaving Mo City and speeding northward, the figure finally slowed slightly midway. In the gradually brightening light, it became clear that the“’figure’ was actually two people.

  “Feng Qingbai, how did you know we could slip out of the border from that spot?”

  Mo City had six exits, each heavily guarded. At this hour, sneaking out was extremely difficult. And if they walked out through a main gate, they would definitely be spotted by hidden informants, which would jeopardize their plans.

Liu Yusheng had never expected that even though it was his first time in Mo City as well, Feng Qingbai managed to find a loophole in the city defenses. When had he gone to scout it?

  Holding her slender waist as he lifted her and accelerated again, Feng Qingbai chuckled softly. “Didn’t you say yesterday you could give me a hand?”

  Yet clearly, the one running out of energy right now wasn’t him.

  Liu Yusheng’s face flushed. She cleared her throat lightly. “I asked you first. You have to answer me.”

  A low laugh slipped from his lips. “While we were wandering the city yesterday at noon, the reason Wei Zi and Liu Ya didn’t come along was because they went to scout the layout.”

  “Liu Ya went too?” Liu Yusheng was surprised. That timid little rabbit of a girl could help scout terrain?

  “That’s why you must never judge by appearances. Liu Ya is timid, but precisely because of that, when she wanders the streets and alleys, those informants don’t pay her any attention. She can do more than the three of us combined. The gap we slipped through today was something she discovered.”

  Liu Yusheng, “…”

  She really had underestimated Liu Ya, always thinking of her as a little white rabbit who needed protection. She never expected that this time, the little white rabbit would be the one helping them the most. The realization made her feel both amused and helpless. 

She truly had judged by appearances. After they returned, she would have to reward Liu Ya properly.

  “Where are we going now? Where did Xue Honglian arrange to meet you?”

  “More than twenty li north of Mo City, there’s a mountain village. Xue Honglian is there. We’ll circle around to the back of the village and wait for him there.”

  The farther north they went from Mo City, the more mountainous the terrain became. Before their eyes stretched endless ranges of steep mountains.

  What was most peculiar was that along the way, there were almost no villages. She didn’t know whether there had never been any, or whether residents had been forcibly relocated.

  This only made the village where Xue Honglian stayed seem even more mysterious, and Liu Yusheng’s curiosity grew.

  The final stretch of mountain path was a narrow, winding trail that rose and dipped sharply. After climbing the tall mountain and looking down from the peak, she could faintly see clusters of bamboo houses at the foot of a distant mountain, arranged neatly and partially hidden in the misty morning light.

  It almost felt like they had stumbled into a fairyland.

  Liu Yusheng was amazed. This must be the village Xue Honglian had mentioned.

  Standing atop the mountain, the two did not descend. They picked a large boulder that could hide their presence and waited quietly.

  Time passed bit by bit, and the sky brightened completely.

  The first rays of the morning sun rose from the east, golden light piercing through the thin mist and evaporating it in an instant.

  The village at the foot of the mountain finally came fully into view. Though it no longer looked ethereal, it still resembled a peaceful paradise, tranquil and secluded.

  By now, the two had been waiting for nearly half an hour.

  Feeling tired from standing, Liu Yusheng took out a handkerchief, spread it over a stone, and sat down. “Are you sure this is where you and Xue Honglian agreed to meet? Could you have gotten the location wrong? Why isn’t he here yet?”

  The spot wasn’t actually very far from the village below. A normal person hiking over the mountain might need half an hour, but for someone as skilled as Honglian, a quarter of an hour would be more than enough.

  Surely he didn’t go to the wrong place? If so, they would’ve waited for nothing.

  “If there really is a mistake, then the one who got it wrong is definitely Xue Honglian.”