“I’m sorry.”
Qu Jinshu quickly lowered her head, stepped back and apologized to the person she had bumped into.
Zhao Jingxing, who was a head taller than her, gave her a long look before finally replying in a flat tone, “It’s fine. Just watch where you’re going next time.”
Qu Jinshu didn’t bother saying anything more. She immediately left with Yunshui.
She had only taken a few steps when she suddenly heard Elder Han’s delighted voice behind her.
“So it’s Young Master Helian! It’s been a long time. You saved my life last time, allowing this old man to survive. I haven’t even had the chance to thank you yet!”
Young Master Helian?
Could he be that Young Master Helian, Helian Qi, who would become the wealthiest merchant in the world several years from now?
In her previous life, before she died, she had heard the people of Northern Jin mention this man.
No one knew his true background. He was extremely mysterious. All they knew was that his name was Helian Qi, and everyone respectfully addressed him as Young Master Helian.
His business empire spanned nearly every nation and his wealth was immeasurable.
Had he actually appeared in the capital of Xiling?
For a brief moment, Qu Jinshu really wanted to pull off his mask and see just who he was. But she quickly suppressed that thought.
He was a stranger. There was no need to invite unnecessary trouble.
Besides, she sensed something extremely dangerous about him. It was best not to get involved with him.
With that thought, Qu Jinshu quickened her pace.
Hearing the slightly hurried footsteps retreating behind him, Zhao Jingxing raised an eyebrow. His expression beneath the mask was unreadable.
“Young Master Helian?” Elder Han called out to him again.
“There’s no need to thank me, Elder Han. Saving you was just a small favor.”
Even so, Elder Han’s tone remained just as courteous. “Young Master Helian, did you come looking for me today because of the red tasseled spear? I’m sorry, but the spear has already found its destined owner. I…”
“No. I’m not here for the spear.”
“Jingfeng.”
At Zhao Jingxing’s call, Jingfeng stepped out from the shadows.
“Elder Han, this is a gift from my master.”
He handed over a box.
When Elder Han opened it, he found half a box of gold and several bottles of medicine inside.
“Young Master Helian, you… What is this?”
“We’ve also heard about your condition, Elder Han, so we wanted to offer what little help we could. I hope the medicine in the box will be of some use.”
Zhao Jingxing gave a slight nod as he explained.
Elder Han shook his head and tried to push the box back. “No, no! One should not accept gifts without having done anything to deserve them. How can I accept another favor from you, Young Master Helian? Besides, my health is already beyond saving. No amount of medicine will help me now.”
“Come now, Elder Han. Once my master gives something away, he never takes it back. Just accept it.”
“If you truly feel indebted to us, how about having your apprentices at Xueyang Hall cooperate with us in the future when it comes to weapon business?”
Jingfeng patiently persuaded him.
Elder Han pondered for quite some time before finally giving in.
His eyes reddened as he choked out, “Young Master Helian, I sincerely thank you for helping me once again.”
Although they had said they wanted to cooperate with Xueyang Hall, what they were really doing was supporting it.
After all, once he passed away, there probably wouldn’t be many people coming to Xueyang Hall out of admiration for his reputation anymore.
And given Young Master Helian’s status, countless people were eager to do business with him.
He must have accumulated great merit in his previous life to encounter two such kind hearted benefactors today.
Zhao Jingxing didn’t say much else. He briefly bid farewell to Elder Han and prepared to leave.
But when he turned around, his foot suddenly stepped on something.
Looking down, he saw a glass pendant shaped like a lotus flower.
“This must have been dropped by that young lady,” Elder Han reminded him.
Zhao Jingxing bent down, picked up the pendant and placed it in his palm.
Delicate patterns had been carved across its surface. Under the light, it shimmered with a gentle warm glow.
It seemed to still carry her body heat. It was warm.
Lowering his eyelashes to conceal the emotions swirling in his eyes, Zhao Jingxing recalled the moment she had collided with him and fallen into his arms. That embrace… had been warm.
He still remembered when he was five years old. After being bullied by the Crown Prince, he had cried and gone back to that woman, begging her to comfort him. He had asked her to hug him, only to be pushed to the ground.
She had looked at him with hatred in her eyes.
“You ruined my life. A bastard like you doesn’t deserve a hug or any warmth.”
“You’re wrong. Someone has hugged me. Her embrace was warm.” He murmured softly.
“My lord?” Jingfeng called out.
Zhao Jingxing tightened his grip around the pendant and looked up again. His expression had returned to normal.
“Let’s go,” he said calmly.
…
“Quick! They’re over there! After them!”
Qu Jinshu and Yunshui had barely returned to the main street when they encountered the Qu family’s servants searching for them. The two immediately fled.
However, the red tasseled spear in her hands was simply too conspicuous.
It would not only attract the Qu family but also invite the greed of the other people leaving Jubao Pavilion.
Qu Jinshu hurriedly turned into an alley. Her fingers ran along the shaft of the red tasseled spear before stopping at a tiny, almost invisible groove.
She gently pressed it with her fingertip, activating a cleverly designed mechanism.
A soft click sounded as the internal structure of the spear began to shift.
With just a slight flick of her wrist, the spear responded with a snap and folded neatly in half.
The red tasseled spear now looked like nothing more than two ordinary wooden sticks.
Yunshui, who had witnessed the entire process, was utterly dumbfounded.
“Didn’t I tell you? It’s definitely worth sixty thousand coins.” Qu Jinshu put the spear away and couldn’t resist reminding Yunshui.
Hearing hurried footsteps approaching, Qu Jinshu exchanged a glance with Yunshui. Without needing to say a word, the two immediately turn into a clothing shop.
When they came out, they had transformed into two elderly women who needed to support each other as they walked.
Their faces were sallow, and there was not the slightest trace of their original appearances.
The Qu family’s servants and the ruthless bandits who coveted the red tasseled spear passed by them several times without noticing anything unusual.
Qu Jinshu had studied disguise since childhood. A transformation like this was child’s play for her.
With so many people searching for her whereabouts, she was truly being treated with “special attention.”
After evading their pursuers, the two bought another residence.
Standing before the somewhat eerie house, whose signboard was nearly falling off, Yunshui couldn’t help asking in confusion, “Miss, I understand that you might want to temporarily distance yourself from the Qu family and find somewhere to stay. But there are so many houses for sale in the capital. Why did you choose this one?”
The house was extremely secluded.
Behind it lay a dense forest and deeper inside were countless graves. There were no neighbors nearby, either.
Moreover, the place had clearly been abandoned for a long time. Not only was the inside filthy and disordered…
She had also heard that a murder had once taken place here. It was supposedly a haunted house.
“The more secluded a place is, the more peaceful it will be,” Qu Jinshu replied calmly.
“Besides, isn’t there another neighbor over there?”
Qu Jinshu pointed toward a place several hundred meters away. A residence stood there, half hidden among the trees.
Hiss… Did anyone really live in that house?
Still, her young miss had a point. The more secluded the place, the farther it was from the crowds, and the more peaceful it would be to live there.
So what if it was haunted? Sometimes, people were scarier than ghosts.
“Let’s do a quick cleanup. This place is only for us to stay occasionally. We’ll still have to return to the Marquis’s residence.”
Qu Jinshu continued explaining to Yunshui.
She couldn’t keep hiding if she wanted revenge.
“Alright. I’ll start cleaning right away.”
“I’ll help you.”
The two worked throughout the afternoon and finally managed to clean up the house.
Qu Jinshu went to the well to draw some water and wash her hands. But when she looked at her reflection in the water, she noticed that her neck was bare.
Her pendant was gone.
“Where’s my pendant? Why isn’t it here?”
That pendant had been given to her by someone extremely important to her.
In her previous life, she had worn it constantly, even until the day she died. So why had it disappeared now?