Chasing The Moon (Moonlight Mystique) - Chapter 4
Volume 1 (Human World): Chapter 4
Hearing the increasingly distant sound of the wagon wheels outside the swill bucket, the two girls’ eyes gradually filled with helplessness and anxiety. Despite their usual fearlessness, they were, after all, just two seven- or eight-year-old girls who had always been pampered and had never faced such hardship.
“It’s all your fault! We could have just watched the lantern show, but no, you had to watch those acrobatics and get us kidnapped. What do we do now?” said the elder sister, Bai Xi, in a cold tone.
“Didn’t you want to eat the Suzhou wontons in the southern part of the city too? Why blame me alone?” retorted Bai Shuo, puffing with anger. Her eyes darted around, clearly feeling guilty but unwilling to admit it.
The two were twins, and since birth, they had been inseparable. They didn’t need to speak to understand each other’s thoughts; even with their mouths stuffed with rags, it didn’t stop them from “arguing” telepathically.
Suddenly, the ox cart came to a stop, and their foreheads banged against the swill bucket with a dull thud, stinking and painful. The sisters quickly looked at each other, seeing the worry in each other’s eyes, and stopped “arguing.”
The ox cart didn’t continue southward but turned a corner and kept moving.
Weren’t they just outside the city gates? Were they heading back into the city? Bai Xi’s eyes brightened, but she soon realized something was wrong, and her face turned pale.
They weren’t continuing south but were circling the city wall and heading north. The kidnappers intended to take them north from the start, and going through the southern part of the city was just a ruse.
What’s outside the north city wall? Besides the imperial tombs, there’s nothing there. Would Father find them? Would Mother be worried?
Bai Xi and Bai Shuo exchanged a glance, and Bai Shuo suddenly leaned over to nuzzle Bai Xi’s forehead.
“Ah Xi, don’t be afraid. I will protect you. If there’s a chance, you must run first!”
Bai Xi understood Bai Shuo’s intentions clearly. A trace of anger flashed in her eyes as she shook her head.
Bai Shuo became anxious and let out a couple of muffled hums.
A knocking sound echoed on the swill bucket, followed by a sinister voice, “Behave yourselves, or I’ll sell you to the brothel!”
The heavy blow resonated through the swill bucket, making their scalps tingle and their hearts race with fear. The sisters stopped moving and quietly huddled together.
Upon hearing the word “brothel,” Bai Shuo finally became scared. She glanced at her composed and silent elder sister, terrified that her actions might get Bai Xi sold to the brothel.
Ah Xi is destined to be an empress in the future. It doesn’t matter if she is sold, but nothing must happen to Ah Xi.
If it weren’t for her listening to the street gossip about the acrobatics in the southern part of the city and persuading Ah Xi to ditch their secret guards, they wouldn’t have been kidnapped by the bandits.
What do these two people want with her and Ah Xi? Are they enemies of Father, or do they just want to sell them for money?
Bai Shuo lowered her head in guilt. The swaying inside the dark swill bucket made her dizzy, but she endured it without moving.
“Big Brother, these two girls are really something today. They look so spirited.”
Outside the ox cart, Qian Er, a thin and hunched figure, rubbed his wrist, glancing back at the swill bucket. His hand, holding the reins, trembled with excitement. “This time, we can keep going for quite a few days, right?”
Qian Da was much calmer. He recalled the appearance and demeanor of the two girls inside the swill bucket, feeling that, despite their young age, they had an air of nobility. He frowned. “Girls with such spirit aren’t from ordinary families, right? We’re in the capital, under the emperor’s nose. If we touch children from noble families and alarm the imperial court, we’ll be in big trouble.”
“No way, Big Brother. These two girls may look plump and wealthy, but I recognize the fabric of their clothes. It’s just ordinary Jiangnan fabric. They only had one guard with them; at most, they’re from a rich family, not a noble one. Besides, how could noble families let girls this young wander around outside?”
Inside the swill bucket, Bai Xi and Bai Shuo were almost in tears. In fact, there was one noble family in Great Jing where the young ladies were raised freely from a young age.
Bai Xi had been betrothed as the Crown Princess since childhood. She had to learn everything, from the arts to etiquette. General Bai doted on his eldest daughter, knowing that once she entered the palace at fifteen, she would rarely leave. So, on the first and fifteenth of every month, he would take his two daughters out to explore. Even if he was busy, he would have guards escort them out. Though one daughter was calm and elegant and the other lively and adventurous, both were fearless, making these outings common. However, due to their special status, they would always change into plain clothes brought from home by their nannies to avoid attracting attention. This time, it backfired, and they were kidnapped.
Spirit? What did the thieves mean by saying they were so spirited? The sisters felt a chill down their spines, exchanging worried glances.
If they really intend to sell them, that’s actually better; their father will find them sooner or later. But if they don’t want to sell them, what do they want with them?
After half an hour of rough travel on a winding path outside the capital, the ox cart finally stopped. The lid of the swill bucket was lifted, and Bai Xi and Bai Shuo looked up abruptly, meeting two pairs of gloomy, sickly eyes.
“Indeed, they are good merchandise,” said Qian Da, holding a candle as he scanned them twice. He then grabbed Bai Xi and pulled her out of the swill bucket.
Bai Shuo was shocked and quickly wrapped her legs around Bai Xi, but a pair of hands grabbed her collar from behind.
“Don’t worry, little girl, you can’t escape either.”
Qian Er, much thinner than Qian Da, managed to drag Bai Shuo out of the swill bucket with both hands.
The sisters were thrown to the ground, and the rags were removed from their mouths. They coughed painfully a few times and then, despite being covered in dust, looked up to take in their surroundings.
They were in a large clearing at the base of a massive mountain range. Behind the clearing was a majestic mountain shaped like a dragon’s body, winding for hundreds of meters and connecting to an imposing dragon head soaring towards the sky.
Outside the north city wall? A dragon head? This is the back mountain of the imperial tombs outside the capital!
“The imperial tombs!” Bai Xi exclaimed.
Despite her young age, Bai Xi was knowledgeable, unlike the more naive Bai Shuo. The usually imposing imperial tombs looked particularly eerie and terrifying under the night sky, causing the sisters to shiver involuntarily.
The Qian brothers were taken aback when Bai Xi recognized the location immediately.
Qian Da frowned.
How could a girl from an ordinary family recognize this place at a glance?
Hearing that they were at the imperial tombs, Bai Shuo also sensed the gravity of the situation. She suppressed her fear, stood in front of Bai Xi, and shouted at the Qian brothers, “Who are you? How dare you kidnap us! Why have you brought us to the imperial tombs?”
“Humph, sharp-eyed little girls, recognizing this place,” Qian Er sneered.
“It’s because of your good fortune that we brought you here.”
As he spoke, he reached out to pinch Bai Shuo’s fair cheek, but Qian Da stopped him.
“Don’t complicate things. These two girls don’t seem ordinary. Let’s finish quickly and get back to the city before anyone notices.”
Qian Er reluctantly withdrew his hand, but then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he became excited and turned away from the sisters, kneeling in the center of the clearing facing the imperial tombs.
Qian Er pulled a dagger from his coat. The dagger was entirely black, carved with nine serpent heads and emitting wisps of dark smoke. He unsheathed it and, without hesitation, slashed his left wrist.
Bai Xi and Bai Shuo screamed, then witnessed an even more terrifying scene.
Qian Er’s slashed wrist revealed only stark white bones, devoid of any flesh or blood. The black mist entwining his bones exuded a putrid odor, mingling with the black mist from the dagger, which let out an eerie wail before merging into the ground.
Qian Er continued muttering incantations, his forehead pressed to the ground in a gesture of profound reverence, as if awaiting something.
“Who… what are you?” Bai Shuo’s lips trembled as she spoke, but she stubbornly remained in front of Bai Xi.
“People?” Qian Da laughed coldly, wiping his lips, which emitted a black mist. “We are the ones who will send you to meet the gods.”
Even without cutting his flesh, the black mist could be seen swirling around Qian Da’s wrist, suggesting that beneath his skin lay nothing but bare bones.
Bai Xi and Bai Shuo had heard many stories of immortals and demons, but they never imagined these stories were true—that there were actually non-human entities in the world.
“My father is Bai Xun.”
A slightly trembling but forcibly calm voice broke the silence.
Bai Xi struggled to stand up, positioning herself protectively in front of Bai Shuo and glaring fiercely at Qian Da.
“My father is the General Zhuguo,Bai Xun, and I am the Crown Princess betrothed by His Majesty. Whether you are human, demon, or ghost, if you dare to harm us, His Majesty and my father will not spare you.”
Hearing Bai Xi’s words, Qian Da frowned, realizing they had indeed encountered trouble. He suspected these dolls were not ordinary, but he hadn’t expected them to be the daughters of General Bai Xun. The disappearance of Bai Xun’s daughters would certainly cause chaos in the capital, making it difficult for them to escape unscathed and continue capturing tribute in the future.
Qian Da cast a fierce glare at Qian Er, who was kneeling on the ground, his mind wavering. Perhaps if they erased the girls’ memories and quietly returned them to the city, no one would know what had happened. There was no other place like the capital with so many high-grade spiritual roots, essential for Qian Da and Qian Er to sustain their lives by offering tributes to their master.
As Qian Da hesitated, a chilling wind swept over them, bringing a stench ten times worse than before. A three-foot crack opened in the ground, and a figure cloaked in black robes emerged, hovering above the fissure.
Seeing this figure, the Qian brothers’ faces lit up with joy. They immediately knelt and shouted, “Divine Lord!”
Divine Lord? Bai Xi and Bai Shuo exchanged bewildered glances. Could this monster actually be a deity?
The man removed his black robe, revealing a malevolent and wicked face.
Bai Shuo hid most of her body behind Bai Xi.
The black-robed man only glanced at Bai Xi, and his eyes were filled with greed.
“Little girl, are you the Crown Princess chosen by the Emperor?”
The black-robed man exuded a pungent, foul smell, and his blood-red eyes clearly marked him as inhuman.
Bai Xi’s hand trembled slightly behind her back, but she met the black-robed man’s fierce red eyes with calm determination. “Yes, I am the Crown Princess appointed by His Majesty. You’d better…”
“Let you go?” The black-robed man laughed wildly, and a foul wind blew. “Even the supreme beings of the Nine Heavens Palace don’t intimidate me. What can a mere mortal emperor do to me?” He licked his lips, his sharp teeth showing, and looked at Bai Xi with undisguised delight.
“A child born under the fate of a future empress is indeed a natural spiritual being. Once I consume you, my injuries will be mostly healed!”
“Congratulations, Divine Lord!”
The Qian brothers, upon hearing this, were no longer afraid of having kidnapped the emperor’s future daughter-in-law.
Qian Da ingratiatingly addressed the black-robed man, “As long as the Divine Lord is in good health, our risking our lives to kidnap these two spiritual beings from the capital won’t be in vain.”
He moved a step forward on his knees, extending his wrist, shrouded in black mist. “Divine Lord, we…”
“What’s the rush?” The black-robed man snorted coldly.
“Once I have finished, do you think I will neglect you?”
“We dare not, we dare not.”
Qian Da immediately fell silent at the black-robed man’s rebuke, pulling Qian Er back in fear.
“Monster, don’t eat my sister!” A clear voice rang out from behind Bai Xi.
Bai Shuo had somehow emerged from Bai Xi’s protective shadow, spreading her arms to shield Bai Xi and shouting at the black-robed man, “I am Bai Xi, the Crown Princess appointed by His Majesty! She is my sister, Bai Shuo. Eat me and let her go. If you let her return, my father and His Majesty will not seek revenge on you!”
“Ah Shuo! What nonsense are you saying? I am…” Bai Xi’s face changed, and she tried to pull Bai Shuo back, but this time she couldn’t move Bai Shuo, who was firmly shielding her.
“It’s all your fault! If you hadn’t wanted to go to the southern part of the city, we wouldn’t have been kidnapped to this horrible place! Bai Shuo, you troublemaker, I hate you the most!”
Bai Shuo glared at Bai Xi, her eyes red, as she shouted at her, firmly holding her in place.
Bai Xi’s lips trembled, and her eyes instantly filled with tears.
