Lu Zhiyao had a peculiar sword.
Fine cracks webbed across the blade and it looked as if it would shatter at a moment’s notice. As light shone down on it, the human figure reflected on its surface fractured into countless little fragments.
Despite that, the blade looked sharp and honed to such a degree that observers would feel a chill despite the sunlight.
Li Ruoshui’s gaze swept over the sharp edge. Her heart involuntarily skipped a beat: “Why are you cleaning your sword?”
Lu Zhiyao smiled softly, the sunlight catching his long, curved eyelashes, giving them a speckled, golden sheen.
“It’s been awhile since the sword tasted blood again. If I don’t pacify it, it might yearn for more.” [1]
Li Ruoshui felt uneasy and she got up to drift over the window. She looked out at the street below, there was a constant stream of pedestrians. She licked her dry lips and let out a dry laugh. And sighed.
“But it’s only been three days…”
She looked at Lu Zhiyao, who was intently cleaning his sword by the table, and felt her mental defenses crumbling a bit more. Not to mention how it had been wavering everyday since the day she came here to this world.
She had gone from initially overconfident goose to now becoming a “Husband-Gazing Stone” [2] standing by the window.
It’s been three days! Why have those two leads still hadn’t tracked them down?! Was their inn too small and inconspicuous? Or did those women fail to pass on the message?
If no one showed up soon enough, she’d have to swallow a sword of her own volition to appease Lu Zhiyao’s desire for excitement!
She didn’t know if he had specifically instructed the workers but there was an absolute void of paper and pen of any kind in their room. On top of that, his hearing was exceptionally good. Even muttering to herself wasn’t as private as she wished it to be. She couldn’t even speak liberally with the employees at the inn.
She had been standing by the window for two days, for all the effort and excuses she had to present to her warden just to stand here, she’s starting to wonder if it had any effect at all.
Today, like every day, street vendors hawked their wares, carts, horses, and pedestrians passed by the street. However, she finally laid eyes upon what she had been searching for. Amidst the flowing crowd, Li Ruoshui’s gaze met that of two people.
A man and a woman. The man wore dark clothing and seemed full of vitality. The woman wore a dark crimson ankle-length skirt with a saber in hand. The man looked a bit more relaxed, and the woman’s expression beside him was severe.
They were both staring directly at her.
Who else could it be but the male and female leads, Lu Feiyue and Jiang Nian, with their classic attire and pairing!
They’re finally here! My efforts weren’t for a naught.
Li Ruoshui glanced back at Lu Zhiyao as a grin slowly rose on her face, then waved at them excitedly.
Lu Feiyue’s eyes sharpened. Without hesitation, she headed directly to their direction, saber in hand. Jiang Nian took another appraising look at Li Ruoshui before quickly following Lu Feiyue.
Li Ruoshui rejoiced internally as she sat back down at the table and poured herself a cup of chamomile tea. She sighed in relief.
“They’ve arrived, I presume?”
Lu Zhiyao paused. He stopped cleaning his sword, tilting his head towards her. From this angle, she could see his upturned, long eyelashes.
Li Ruoshui couldn’t help but lift the corners of her lips, trying to be as nonchalant as she could, she nodded.
“That’s how it was in the dream.”
Lu Zhiyao lowered his head with a soft chuckle and slowly sheathed his sword. The sound of metal scraping made her immediately suppress her smile as a wave of goosebumps rose on her skin.
He picked up the cloth he had been using to wipe his sword when an arrow suddenly pierced through it, nailing it firmly to the windowsill.
He raised his brows in Li Ruoshui’s direction, his smile gentle: “Was it like this in the dream too?”
“Yes…”
Of course it wasn’t like this. In the original story, the trio’s first meeting was quite peaceful. After all, the two leads were good people and he was pretending to be one. Thus, everyone got along fine.
Bang!
The wooden door was kicked in. Lu Feiyue assessed the situation inside with a glance and, without any hesitation, charged in with her sabre drawn. At the same time, she pushed Li Ruoshui, who was standing to the side, outside the hallway.
However, her aggressive sabre swing became stuck between two of Lu Zhiyao’s fingers just before it could pierce his chest. She couldn’t budge her sabre at all.
Lu Zhiyao’s lips curved upwards, grinning, he lightly tapped the blade with his finger.
“And you are?”
Lu Feiyue pulled her sabre out of Li Zhiyao’s grip after exerting a great amount of strength. She tilted her head up proudly as she took out a token.
“Case Inspection Bureau, Lu Feiyue.”
Li Ruoshui walked back in from the doorway: “He can’t see…”
Ignoring Lu Feiyue’s stumped expression, she hurried over to Lu Zhiyao’s side: “But I can confirm that it is indeed a token from the Case Inspection Bureau.”
“A female constable. Fascinating.” Lu Zhiyao said slowly, almost as if he was tasting the words. He then picked up his cane beside him and stood up.
“I’m just a blind man. Tell me, why would you want to arrest me?”
Lu Feiyue sneered, her sabre still pointed at him: “We suspect you of illegally imprisoning this young lady.”
“So, you don’t know her.”
Lu Zhiyao said nothing after that. He simply stood there with his eyes closed. It looked as if he was listening for something.
Li Ruoshui pondered for a moment, then stepped closer and tentatively took hold of his cane, turning him in another direction.
“Your handkerchief is over there.”
He paused for a moment, then lifted his lips into a smile: “Thank you.”
While Lu Zhiyao went to retrieve his handkerchief, the cloth he cleaned his sword for, Li Ruoshui quickly tried to explain to the other two.
“He didn’t imprison me.”
“I’ve been observing you for two days.”
Jiang Nian walked in from the doorway with a crossbow in hand and stood beside Lu Feiyue.
“You stand by the window every day and you look miserable. I asked the attendants here and he said he’s never seen you leave. Even if you don’t think it’s imprisonment, surely he’s restricting your freedom?”
“No no, you got it wrong! His eyes are bad, so I have to take care of him.”
Li Ruoshui looked at the two of them, panicked and tried feigning sorrow: “I’m miserable because I just escaped from the dungeon and haven’t recovered yet. Just thinking about almost being trafficked, I…”
Lu Feiyue and Jiang Nian exchanged a glance, then quickly pressed her: “You escaped from there?”
“Yes, several others escaped with me. They’ve already gone to report it to the authorities.”
Hearing this, Jiang Nian let out a scornful laugh and stowed his crossbow at the small of his back.
“So that’s why they sent you to the bamboo forest east of the city. The witnesses were hidden within the prefectural office.”
He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms as he looked at Lu Feiyue: “I told you before, not everyone is like the people you normally encounter at the Case Inspection Bureau.”
Lu Feiyue ground her teeth for a moment before she furrowed her brows. Then she looked back up at Li Ruoshui.
“Miss, could you take us to investigate the place where you were imprisoned?”
“Yes.” Li Ruoshui immediately took up the offer: “It’s still early, shall we set off now?”
Li Ruoshui’s agreement came so quickly that it gave Lu Feiyue pause. She glanced at Jiang Nian.
Jiang Nian stepped in front of Lu Feiyue, looking down at Li Ruoshui: “Can you explain to us how you managed to escape?”
Li Ruoshui choked up. How should she explain the Special Bounty sent to Lu Zhiyao? Blame it on the dream too?
“I saved her.”
Lu Zhiyao found the handkerchief but didn’t put it away. Instead, he threw it into a small heating brazier nearby.
“I received a secret letter asking me to go there and save someone.”
He didn’t explain about the special bounty part, nor did he mention his bet with Li Ruoshui. He only explained the situation as vaguely as possible.
Jiang Nian tried to press for more answers when Lu Feiyue pressed down a hand on Jiang Nian’s shoulder, stopping him from speaking. She bypassed Lu Zhiyao and gave a slight nod to Li Ruoshui.
“Then there’s no time to lose, let’s go now.”
“Are you coming this time?” Li Ruoshui turned to ask Lu Zhiyao, a hint of nervousness in her eyes.
Actually, the choice of winning this bet lay with Lu Zhiyao. He could decide to refuse to cooperate, and the case would be left unresolved.
“I’ll go.” Lu Zhiyao’s brows and eyes were gentle, looking extremely amiable: “Wasn’t I in your dream? Why wouldn’t I go?”
Li Ruoshui was a bit confused. Did he want to win or lose?
The group headed out the door together. Lu Zhiyao, smiling as comfortably as a spring breeze, led the way. Lu Feiyue and Jiang Nian whispered quietly behind them and Li Ruoshui walked in the middle between the two sides. She stared at Lu Zhiyao’s back, looking blankly at him.
She really couldn’t figure out what this man was thinking.
He seemed unpredictable, yet smiles adorned his face like the most welcoming breeze of spring. He seems gentle and harmless, yet would absolutely slaughter you without hesitation.
If she had committed some great sin, the law should be the one punishing her. Why did it feel like she was sentenced to romance a psychopath? (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
The place where they had been held was right at the heart of Deer Cry Mountain. A simple courtyard was built there, inside was the dungeon next to the house.
A heavy, unpleasant smell hung in the air.
The men Lu Zhiyao killed three days ago still lay exactly where they fell, littering the path from the main gate through the entrance of the dungeon.
Lu Feiyue frowned slightly at the scene before her. Jiang Nian glanced at Lu Zhiyao, his eyes expressing his disapproval of his methods. They made their way to the dungeon.
Lu Zhiyao, blind to all this, stood quietly at the house’s entrance. A wisp of a smile fluttered across his lips but Li Ruoshui felt he was spacing out.
“Constable Lu and Jiang Nian have gone to check the dungeon. Shall we look inside the house?”
Li Ruoshui wanted to quickly complete the rescue mission while he was cooperating. She was afraid any delay might cause unforeseen changes.
In the original book, the trafficking headquarters Lu Feiyue and Jiang Nian found wasn’t here, but it was mentioned at the beginning that there was a secret passage in the house here. She needed to check.
“Did your dream not include the process of us rescuing them?”
Li Ruoshui had already entered the small house. Apart from basic tables and chairs, there was nothing else inside, making it feel unusually empty.
Now that she had a task at hand, she subconsciously dragged out her responses in a way that made it clear she’s being absentminded.
“My… dreams are always blurry. I can only remember a few vague fragments of them.”
“Hmm, is that so?” Lu Zhiyao stepped into the house, his cane tapping lightly on the floor.
Li Ruoshui, tapping the hard walls, paused as she suddenly remembered an article she’d read before—
People that were born blind see no colors in their dreams, only sounds. They are also far more prone to nightmares.[3]
Feeling as if her earlier words might have been inappropriate, she spoke again.
“Although my dreams were blurry, I remember you very clearly.”
“Hmm..”
Lu Zhiyao hummed in response and, seemingly thinking of something, chuckled softly.
Li Ruoshui silently turned to look at him. She had no idea what had triggered his excitement this time around.
Her gaze fell onto his closed eyes. His long lashes seemed to be gently laying down.
Lu Zhiyao’s eye was shaped quite beautifully, slightly elongated but not too narrow, with long, delicate eyelashes. The curved arc resembled a crescent moon in the sky, making her feel a certain feeling she couldn’t put a finger to.
She just didn’t know what kind of brilliance those beautiful eyes would emit once opened.
“You’re looking at me. Why?”
Lu Zhiyao couldn’t see, but his other senses were extremely sharp, especially his hearing, which he had used to assist the male and female leads in solving several cases in the original story.
“This room is quite small.” She tried changing the subject, when it came to things like peeking, one wouldn’t admit it unless caught red-handed. Or perhaps even then.
Lu Zhiyao seemed very interested in his question. He curved his eyes, facing her directly.
“Why do you keep looking at me?” Even though his eyes were closed, he was smiling, it still gave Li Ruoshui an inexplicable sense of horror, as if she was being watched by something unknown.
Li Ruoshui uncomfortably touched her neck, then walked behind him and tapped the wall.
“I think the mechanism might be here.”
Hearing this, Lu Zhiyao looked as if he had a sudden realization, and even his smile gained a touch of sincerity.
“So you were looking for the mechanism.”
What else? Was she practicing percussion here?
Lu Zhiyao listened carefully for a moment, then walked to the southwest corner of the room.He set his cane aside, untied the sword from his waist, and directly thrust it into a specific floor tile.
The tile, centered on the sword, cracked spiderweb-like in all directions, emitting a groaning sound of strain.
Lu Feiyue and Jiang Nian, who had just returned from the dungeon, heard the noise and rushed in, stopping short at the scene before them.
The tightly sealed floor tiles acted like fragile ice under Lu Zhiyao’s hand, shattering easily under the slightest bit of pressure to reveal what was hidden beneath.
Four or five iron-grey gears of varying sizes appeared below, one of them whirring as it turned.
“Found it.”
Lu Zhiyao smiled at this result, but in the next moment, he pulled out his sword and thrusted the scabbard into the small, spinning gear, jamming it and causing it to clang against the scabbard.
Then, with a loud rumble, a half-meter-wide black hole appeared two steps away. At the same time, she felt a gust of cold air from within. The scene within seemed to be almost bottomless.
Looking at the scene before her, Li Ruoshui inwardly exclaimed, Holy cow! [4]
Normal people would ponder carefully before opening the mechanism’s entrance. He, on the other hand, didn’t bother searching and just forcefully broke it open, directly accessing the internal components of the mechanism.
Li Ruoshui took two steps forward, wanting to get a closer look. The small gear, which had been clanging against the scabbard, suddenly stopped, ceasing its attempts to turn.
The original half-meter hole abruptly expanded to a full meter, right up to the spot where Li Ruoshui was standing.
“F*ck—”, As she fell, Li Ruoshui grabbed onto the front of Lu Zhiyao’s robe.
Chapter Notes:
[1] “望夫石” (wàngfūshí) is referring to a legend where a wife, waiting for her husband to return, eventually turns into stone. Basically someone (usually a woman) waiting anxiously for a loved one.
[2] “好家伙” (hǎo jiāhuo) is a common exclamation that means amazement or admiration. Similar to “wow,” “geez,” or “holy cow”. Directly translated, it means “good man”.
[1] editor’s note: the original one was “It has never been drawn across a throat before. If I don’t placate it, it might get anxious.”. It doesn’t make sense to the first chapter, so we decided to base it on fl’s reaction to the statement.
[3] TLN: Little interesting fact, people born blind also have never gotten dementia in human history. Whereas people that go blind later in life have a much higher chance of getting dementia.