Escape the Miaojiang Villain - Chapter 25
Chapter 25: Gusheng Valley-Captured
Lian jing shot a cold glare toward them, and Tu Lingxiang immediately stopped her laughter.
Sang qing, however, was not afraid of him; instead, he pulled Sang yu up by the arm. “Sister, if he doesn’t want to eat, why keep forcing yourself on him?”
Sang yu shook off his hand and said to Lian jing with a smile, “Young Master, let’s eat when you have an appetite then.”
“Let’s ignore them. Ah Ling, try this pastry, it’s really delicious,” Sang qing said, turning back to Tu Lingxiang.
A awkward expression came over her face.
She was unsure whether there was medicine spiked in these pastries.
Sang yu turned around and said, “Little Ling’er, I really don’t know what kind of spell you’ve cast over my little brother. He actually ran all the way to West Street in person just to buy pastries for you! I offered to make extra for you, but he insisted on buying them himself.”
“Huh?”
That meant there was no drug in these pastries.
“Sang qing, thank you,” she said, picking up a light-yellow osmanthus cake and taking a small bite.
It melted the instant it entered her mouth—soft, delicate, and deliciously sweet.
She smiled in satisfaction, “It’s really delicious. You should have some too.”
“I won’t eat. It’s all for you,” Sang qing waved his hand in refusal and pulled her over to sit by the fire.
“Come, sit down and eat.”
Diagonally opposite them, Sang yu was sitting beside Lian jing, showering him with attentive care and concern.
“Young Master, are you in a bad mood? Don’t be discouraged—it’s completely normal not to find that Gu in a single day.”
Lian jing countered with a question, “Which of your eyes saw that I was in a bad mood?”
“I saw it with both my eyes! If you were happy, why would you be pulling such a long face?” Sang yu said heedlessly, entirely unaware that Lian jing’s foul mood was directly related to their arrival.
From the corner of his eye, Lian jing glanced at the young man and woman sitting diagonally across from him.
The young woman had her head lowered, carefully choosing which pastry to eat next, while the young man watched her from the side, offering suggestions, “Eat this one! This one is peach blossom-flavored.”
The young woman actually picked up the pink pastry, “Okay.”
He cursed in his heart: I captured you to be a slave, not to flirt and play sweethearts!
She truly paid no respect to him as her master.
He looked away and asked, “Second Miss Sang, having stayed in Miaojiang for so many years, surely you must have seen that butterfly Gu before?”
“To tell you the truth, I haven’t seen it either,” Sang yu scratched her head awkwardly.
“But I heard my father mention it. He saw that butterfly with his own eyes. It’s said to be extremely, extremely beautiful. It was a butterfly raised by a High Priest many years ago. After the High Priest passed away, the butterfly flew into Gusheng Valley and stayed here forever.”
Baili Xi, sitting opposite them, let out a sigh.
“Sounds like a sad story.”
“Why is the competition this time about finding it?” Lian jing asked.
“Because… that butterfly is a Love Gu. Eldest Uncle hopes that the person who finds it will be the one who finds love for Sister Sang yue.”
“A Love Gu?”
Lian jing pondered for a long moment, his brow furrowed tightly as he asked again, “Does it still possess its Gu nature now?”
“No longer. A Love Gu can only be cast on one person in its entire lifetime. Since it has already been cast once, it has lost its Gu abilities. Right now, it’s no different from an ordinary butterfly. However, our Miao people hold great faith in this butterfly because it was raised by the former High Priest.”
Tu Lingxiang, who had been quiet all along, spoke up, “No wonder there’s a legend circulating outside that whoever meets that butterfly will meet true love.”
Sang yu looked over.
“Is that how it’s passed down outside where you’re from?”
“Yes, I heard many stories about it from the elderly grandmothers in town when I was little.”
Since she had heard stories about butterflies growing up, she had written such a butterfly into her story.
Sang qing was filled with excitement and said, “I really want to know what the final outcome will be—who exactly will end up finding that butterfly Gu!”
Tu Lingxiang thought to herself: Don’t hold your breath; it’s the guy sitting right next to you.
As the group chatted idly, Lian jing picked up the rabbit roasting over the fire frame.
After roasting for this long, the skin was now golden and crispy, radiating a rich meaty aroma.
He said to Baili Xi with a smile, “Brother Baili, then I won’t stand on ceremony.”
“Young Master?!” Tu Lingxiang cried out in shock, but he still took a big bite right out of the rabbit leg.
“Young Master, aren’t you going to share some with me?”
She had been staring at that rabbit for a really long time.
Lian jing chewed the meat in his mouth elegantly and said, “You’ve already stuffed yourself full with pastries. Why eat rabbit meat too? To avoid wasting it, this Young Master is willing to help carry your portion.”
“Me???” Tu Lingxiang was furious but dared not speak out.
This dead Lian jing was truly abominable.
It smells so good…
She stared wide-eyed at the roasted rabbit in his hand, her mouth watering with craving.
“Ah Ling, do you want to eat rabbit? I’ll go hunt one for you right now,” Sang qing said, making a move to stand up.
Tu Lingxiang immediately pulled him back.
“Don’t, don’t go! It’s too late, and it’s unsafe.”
Over on the other side, Baili Xi stood up and walked straight over to Lian jing, snatching the roasted rabbit out of his hand.
“Brother Lian, why bother fussing with a little maidservant as a grown man? What’s the harm in sharing a bit with her? Didn’t you see she’s almost crying from craving it?”
Saying so, he plucked a small canna leaf, wrapped it around the other half of the rabbit leg, snapped it off with a firm snap, and walked over to Tu Lingxiang.
“Here, eat up.”
Lian jing watched his sequence of actions in complete disbelief.
Had he just been lectured by him?
This Tu Lingxiang was truly something—everyone was revolving around her.
Just what kind of immense charm did a mere slave have?
He genuinely couldn’t figure it out.
Tu Lingxiang hastily took the rabbit leg and thanked him.
“Thank you, Young Master Baili.”
The male lead is still the best.
Actually, no—anyone is better than Lian jing.
“Sang qing, do you want some too? It’s really fragrant,” she asked Sang qing beside her, holding the rabbit leg that was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
“You eat it. If you like it, I’ll roast one for you next time.”
She took a bite, her gaze drifting toward Lian jing.
Seeing that he happened to be looking at her, his face looked rather grim in the reflection of the firelight.
She asked, “Young Master, do you want some water?”
The water skin had been on her person all along.
Perhaps out of habit from taking care of him, seeing that he had gnawed on so much meat without taking a single sip of water, she had asked out of habit.
Sang yu, very sharp and perceptive, ran over, snatched the water skin from her waist, walked back to Lian jing’s side, popped open the stopper, and fed him.
“Young Master, let me feed you.”
Lian jing snatched the water skin out of her hand.
“I’ll drink it myself.”
He gulped several times, drinking every last drop of water inside the skin, before saying to the person sitting diagonally opposite him, “The water’s finished. Remember to go refill it.”
Tu Lingxiang: “Yes…”
Sang qing said, “I know there’s a clear spring nearby. I’ll take you to refill it in a bit.”
“Okay.”
Tu Lingxiang nodded, quickly gnawed through the rabbit leg in her hand, walked over to Lian jing to pick up the empty water skin, and then followed Sang qing away.
“Come back quickly,” Lian jing spoke up after she had taken a few steps.
“Understood, Young Master.”
She followed behind Sang qing, leaving the area together.
Once they were far enough away, Sang qing spoke up, “Your Young Master’s temperament is far too eccentric. Serving him must be exhausting, right?”
Tu Lingxiang reminded him in a low voice.
“Shh! Don’t speak ill of Young Master. Be careful not to let him hear you.”
“Are his ears really that sharp? Like a Clairaudient?”
“I don’t know if he’s a Clairaudient or not, but his ears are definitely quite sharp.”
“Then let’s walk a bit further.”
He pulled her along as they rounded into a gorge. Before they had walked for long, they saw a stream of crystal-clear spring water flowing out from the valley.
This was the purest spring water—sweet and refreshing. Tu Lingxiang couldn’t help but squat down, filling a pouch with the water skin to take a drink.
“Wow, it’s so sweet!”
The moonlight draped over her form as a drop of clear spring water slipped down from her peach-pink lips.
Watching from the side, Sang qing was completely entranced, asking foolishly, “Ah Ling, is your Young Master not good to you?”
Tu Lingxiang wiped the water droplet from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve and replied, “He is good! My Young Master is naturally good to me.”
Sang qing withdrew his gaze and looked down at the spring water below.
“But why do I feel like he doesn’t seem to like you very much?”
“My Young Master is just like that. Aside from being a bit gentler toward Miss Sang yue, he’s the same toward everyone else. You mustn’t speak ill of him again.”
She was worried Lian jing would hold a grudge and retaliate against him.
“Stop defending him. I can tell how he treats you. Have you ever thought about redeeming your freedom?”
“Huh?”
What was going on today? One after another, everyone wanted to redeem her freedom! Unfortunately, her relationship with Lian jing wasn’t that of an ordinary slave and master—it wasn’t something that could be redeemed just because one wanted to.
“Sang qing, you must never mention this to my Young Master. I won’t redeem my freedom.”
She wanted to escape, but she couldn’t drag the innocent Sang qing into this.
Sang qing felt a bit disappointed upon hearing this, but after another thought, he said, “If your Young Master wins this competition, wouldn’t you be able to stay in Miaojiang forever too?”
Thinking of this, he didn’t feel as sad in his heart anymore.
“Ah Ling, how about I help you guys?”
“??”
Tu Lingxiang thought to herself: Your sister doesn’t want Lian jing to win—do you know about that?
This brother and sister duo, each more capable than the last.
She said, “Haven’t you noticed that your sister likes my Young Master?”
“But your Young Master clearly doesn’t like my sister. In order to shatter her dream, I must make him stay far away from her.”
Tu Lingxiang finished filling two skins of water and stood up.
This whole affair was truly dragging in more and more people.
However, right at that moment, a bright light flashed across the surface of the water like a streak of lightning.
Tu Lingxiang felt a rush of wind from a palm strike hit the back of her head, and she promptly blacked out.
Falling unconscious alongside her was Sang qing.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw towering, uneven stone walls all around her. It seemed as though she had fallen into the bottom of a bottomless pit.
Through an irregular opening at the top of the pit, traces of daylight were vaguely visible. A crescent moon peeked through the treetops above like a glowing ram’s horn.
Could this place be the very valley pit that Sangyu had fallen into back then?
To think it was actually this deep!
“Awake?”
A somewhat gruff voice sounded from the shadowy side. Only then did she realize there were other people there.
She immediately turned her head to look for Sang qing. Seeing him lying on the ground behind her, her mind was set at ease.
Over there, the two people stepping out from the shadows were none other than the disciples of the Shentu Sect, Zhang Haiming and Yuan Zhidao.
“Why did you capture me?”
Every debt has its debtor—couldn’t you go capture Lian jing instead?
“The person who pushed me into the water last time was you too, right?” she asked, looking at Zhang Haiming.
Zhang Haiming walked closer with a smile and praised, “Not bad, your brain is pretty sharp.”
“Brothers, what is the meaning of this? Did I provoke or offend you in any way?”
Zhang Haiming held a silver sword in his hand, upon which faint moonlight fell.
His voice was as cold as that moonlight.
“You didn’t provoke us, but your master provoked us.”
“Then go find him!”
It would be best if you killed Lian jing! What does picking on a weak woman like me count for?
“We originally didn’t intend to look for you, but after I pushed you into the water that day, I saw that he was quite nervous about you. Who would have thought that you, a little maidservant, actually hold some weight in his heart?”
Tu Lingxiang didn’t feel she held any weight in Lian jing’s heart. He did all that simply because she still had utilization value; he wouldn’t let her die so easily.
“So you captured me just to threaten him? Are you confident you can kill him?”
She didn’t quite trust the capabilities of these two.
“Whether we can kill him or not is none of your concern.”
Yuan Zhidao walked over and demanded aggressively, “Speak! Who exactly is your Young Master?”
Tu Lingxiang was sitting on the ground.
She tilted her head up and countered, “Who do you think he is?”
Zhang Haiming and Yuan Zhidao were taken aback by her calmness and composure.
Yuan Zhidao said, “To be able to train such a maidservant, he definitely isn’t an ordinary person.”
“‘Train’—junior brother, you used a good word there.”
Zhang Haiming suddenly birthed lewd thoughts in his mind.
Approaching her face, he asked, “Speaking of which, how exactly does your Young Master train you?”
Yuan Zhidao pulled on Zhang Haiming.
“Senior brother, main business comes first.”
“Rest assured, junior brother,” Zhang Haiming pushed his hand away.
“I’m just a bit curious—that fellow Lian jing snatched the clothes. Did he give them to you, little girl, to wear?”
His gaze shifted toward her chest, and he raised his arm, making a move as if to tear open her clothing.
Tu Lingxiang panicked, her brain working at top speed.
She cried out in shock, “My Young Master has cast a Gu on me! Aside from him, no one else can touch me!”
The moment Zhang Haiming heard the word ‘Gu’, he stopped his hand abruptly and asked suspiciously, “What kind of Gu?”
“I don’t know what kind of Gu it is. After being cast with this Gu, one can only have intimate contact with the Gu Master. If anyone else touches me, their body will rot and inflame until they die!”
“Real or fake?” Zhang Haiming was half-believing and half-doubting.
“Don’t you know what kind of person my Young Master is? He’s extremely perverted, so it’s quite normal for him to cast this kind of Gu on me.”
Zhang Haiming’s gaze shifted to Sang qing, who lay unconscious on the ground.
He smirked wickedly.
“Let that kid test it out, and we’ll know whether it’s real or fake, won’t we?”
Tu Lingxiang’s pupils shrunk in horror.
She hadn’t expected him to be so perverted!
“I see that kid likes you quite a bit. Let him touch you first.”
Zhang Haiming dragged the unconscious Sang qing over from the ground.
