Volume 1 Chapter 47: The Dance of Bees and Butterflies Tells the Past
The lackey said hurriedly, "Madam Wan, I will take them to the torture chamber immediately."
The girl waved her hands and said, "They have been locked up for a few days and are hungry and thirsty. I don't think they have the strength to escape. I am more than enough to escort them. You just need to guard this place." After that, she turned around and said to the three people, "Why don't you leave quickly?"
The three of them hurriedly pretended to be completely exhausted and dragged their feet. After walking in twists and turns for more than an hour, they finally reached a shady place on the hillside. Although the girl was covered in a black robe, she could be seen trembling slightly and didn't talk much. Lin Jianlan thought that she must be very weak and exhausted after walking so much. She was barely holding on because she didn't want to delay the three of them from escaping. He was immediately grateful and gently supported the girl and said, "Miss Wan, you are not in good health. Don't force yourself. Just show us a way and we will escape on our own."
The girl panted for a while and said, "This dungeon is not in the Jinzhou branch hall. Now that you have walked so far, you can reach the east gate in another hour. Once you leave the city, no one will be able to catch up with you."
Although Wan Jianhong and his wife secretly wanted to kill the three of them, Lin Jianlan could understand their painstaking efforts for their children. He was just quite suspicious of the person the girl mentioned. Now that he had escaped, he did not have time to think too much and bowed to the girl and said, "Thank you Miss Wan for your kindness."
The girl hesitated for a moment and said, "I... my name is just 'Xiu'. You don't have to call me Miss Wan or Miss Wan when you see me next time. It's just that..." Wan Xiu hesitated, turned around and stopped talking.
In the shade of the mountain, the cool wind blew, and it was quite chilly. Lin Jianlan saw Wan Xiu dressed in black, with an extremely thin figure. Her back looked lonely and cold. He said softly, "Miss Wan, if you let us go, you won't get the golden crown clam. Your father and mother will lose us and won't be able to report to that person. That person will certainly not send any famous doctor with magical medicine to treat you. Forgive me for being abrupt, but I'm afraid your condition has reached the point where you have to be treated, otherwise your life will be in danger, right?"
Wan Xiu did not turn around, and said in a low voice: "I have this disease since I was born. My father and mother have been worried and worked hard for me, and have never lived a comfortable life. Mr. Lin, in fact, your adoptive father has also been worried about me a lot. When I was young, he often brought all kinds of medicine to see me. But this time, for my sake, my father and mother did something against their conscience and wanted to kill you. If I were no longer in this world, they would no longer be controlled by others and would no longer do things they don't want to do."
Lin Jianlan said hurriedly: "Miss Wan, please don't have such thoughts. To be honest, if I say that I don't blame Uncle Wan and Auntie at all, I would be lying to you, but I can also understand their painstaking efforts. I believe Miss Wan can understand it better than me. If you are gone, your parents will be a thousand times more sad." Looking back, she saw Bai Zongping standing there looking around, while Lu Man was sitting on the ground with her knees hugged, lowering her head in deep thought, letting the wind blow her messy hair. She didn't know what she was thinking about. She sighed and said: "Miss Wan, thanks to you for saving us from danger this time, I will ask Miss Lu to tell you the location of the golden crown pleated clam, and I must cure your illness."
Wan Xiu suddenly turned around and asked, "Mr. Lin, do you blame Sister Man?"
Lin Jianlan said, "She and I just met by chance. She..." At this point, he felt a little sad, and said, "Miss Lu is extremely beautiful and smart. How can I blame her?"
Wan Xiu said: "Just now in the dungeon, you mistook me for her and called me Sister Man, but now you have changed to Miss Lu."
Lin Jianlan didn't expect this girl to be so thoughtful. He smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Bai has already said that calling Miss Lu and I sister and brother was just a joke. I took it seriously."
Wan Xiu walked forward a few steps until she was in front of Lin Jianlan. Although Lin Jianlan couldn't see Wan Xiu's face, he felt that she was looking up at him. He blushed immediately, but Wan Xiu didn't shy away from it. She gently held Lin Jianlan's hand through the black robe and said, "Mr. Lin, Sister Man is a very good girl. She told me the location of the golden clam on the road just now. I know you have a grudge in your heart because of what I said in the dungeon. At that time, I was angry with Sister Man's senior brother, so I followed his example. In fact, she has more to say."
Wan Xiu paused and said, "Sister Man clenched her fists tightly at that time. She seemed to have endured it again and again, and then she whispered, 'Second Brother, I knew that we were using it, but I returned the item without hesitation. Now that I am implicated, I still want to let the two of us escape first. Usually, I just think that you are always jealous and suspicious, and you are aggressive, but I never thought that you would come up with such a shameless idea. Is there anyone in the world who is more ungrateful, vicious and cruel than you? Now you and I are in the same boat. I will not argue with you. Don't let me hear you have such thoughts again!'"
Lu Man's voice was charming and pleasant. Wan Xiu's imitation of her voice was only 80% similar, but he imitated Lu Man's tone exactly, with anger, disappointment, and disdain all revealed.
Lin Jianlan felt inexplicably happy in his heart, but he didn't know how to express it. He just looked back at Lu Man in a daze, thinking: "It turns out that Sister Man is not the person I imagined. Alas, although I understand now, I still wronged her in my heart just now." He stood there for a long while, then turned around, only to see that Wan Xiu had let go of his hand at some point and was no longer there. A black shadow not far away was slowly moving forward, but it was stopping and walking, and it was very laborious.
Lin Jianlan sensed something and quickly broke off a fairly straight branch from the side and flew over. When he was about ten feet away, he saw Wan Xiu stop and look back at him. He asked, "Master Lin, is there anything else?"
Lin Jianlan took a few steps forward, handed over the branch and said, "Give this branch to Miss Wan to help her walk. Sorry we can't send her any further. Thank you Miss Wan for your kindness in the dungeon. I... will never forget it."
Wan Xiu took the branch and rubbed it with her hand through her black robe for a while, but did not say anything. She bowed slightly, threw a small brocade bag on the ground, and turned away. Lin Jianlan hurriedly picked up the bag, but seemed to smell a scent of medicine. It felt very heavy. He opened it and saw some silver and some jewelry for girls' homes. They were all very delicate and precious. They must be what Wan Xiu used every day. He suddenly remembered lying on her lap in the dungeon. His fingers groped on her face. When he touched her lips, they were very cold and smooth. When Wan Xiu drank water, she gently pounded her back. At that time, she felt her knees tremble slightly. She thought her body was very heavy, but she propped up her knees to prevent herself choking on the water. At this time, she gave her gold and silver. She must be worried that she didn't have silver on her and had no place to eat and stay along the way. She was very considerate and caring for her, but she didn't know why. Seeing her leave alone at this moment, he felt a little lost. He stared for a moment before turning around and running towards Lu Man.
Lin Jianlan ran closer, but found that Bai Zongping was not around, and only Lu Man was sitting there, so he asked, "Where is Brother Bai?"
Lu Man didn't raise her head and said, "I asked him to find some horses. We can't run for long if we just run on our own." Then she scratched the ground with her finger, and a white finger was stained black by her. She raised her head and smiled, "I didn't know you were the son of the Kuang Yi Gang, otherwise I wouldn't have come to you."
Lin Jianlan sat down not far from her and said, "It doesn't matter whether I am the son of the Kuangyi Gang or not. Gang Leader Lin is my adoptive father. I am not a descendant of a famous sect like you. I was just an ordinary country boy."
Lu Man smiled and said, "The Nanhai Sect is not a famous sect. It is not well-known. Because we have a female leader and practice the soul-transferring technique, the old stubborn people in the martial arts world look down on us."
Lin Jianlan asked curiously: "What is the Soul Transfer Technique? Why do they look down on it?"
Lu Man said, "It is a skill that confuses people's minds," and then said seriously, "That's why they look down on it. In fact, my aunt is very good at using the Falling Plum Flute technique, and my mother is also good at using hidden weapons, but she never uses poison. It's just that when they were young and just entered the martial arts world, they relied on their beauty and were really frivolous for a while. So now there are always people saying that the Nanhai School practices evil skills and confuses young people."
Lin Jianlan nodded, not wanting to ask about the past of Lu Man's mother when she was young, and said, "I am very grateful to Sister Man for not caring about the Jinzhou branch hall, and for telling Miss Wan where the golden crown clam is hidden. She...she praised you for your beauty in the dungeon. In fact, I heard from the garrison guarding the gate that this clam can also be used to preserve one's youth, but I don't think Sister Man really needs to use this item to preserve her youth."
Lu Man blushed and smiled, "I'm not going to use it myself."
Lin Jianlan said anxiously: "Could it be that Sister Man is also using it to treat illnesses and save lives? This is terrible."
Lu Man said: "My brother is really honest. If I had used it to save people, would I still be so leisurely? This story still has to start from my mother's youth. My mother's name is Li Meijiang and my aunt's name is Li Meihai. When they were young, they were much more beautiful than me."
Lin Jianlan exclaimed, "Excuse me, these two names are really..."
Lu Man smiled and said, "You are so arrogant, aren't you? But my father said that the two sisters had the ability to do this. When I was young, I listened to storytelling about knights and swordsmen. In the stories, all the women in the martial arts world were beautiful and passionate. Later, I saw the female disciples my mother took in. When they grew up, they went out on their own. I laughed at myself for a long time. How could there be so many beautiful women in the martial arts world who could fly over eaves and walls and have special skills? Along the way, most of the female knights I saw were heroic and valiant, with strong and plump bodies. As for their appearance, I can't say much about them."
Lin Jianlan found Lu Man's story interesting and recalled that when he was a child he heard storytelling like this. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Sister Man is really unforgiving with her words!"
Lu Man gently held her chin with her hand and said, "It turns out that what my father said was true. At that time, there were many young men in the martial arts world who followed them around like swarming bees and butterflies all day long to pursue them. If a young man just expressed his feelings to my mother and wanted to grow old together, my mother would secretly tell my aunt, and my aunt would find that man and show her affection to him. As a result, all these people immediately changed their minds and swore to my aunt forever. If someone confessed his feelings to my aunt, they would tease these frivolous young men in the same way."
Lin Jianlan nodded and said, "So they use this method to tell if the person they are pursuing is wholeheartedly devoted to them."
Lu Man said, "My father was an ordinary guy among the Jianghu boys at that time. He was not handsome either. He was born in a small sect. He was dull and honest, not good at speaking, and could only follow those people foolishly. But he was different from others. He only liked my mother. My aunt tried to persuade him several times, but he just blushed and said, 'I like your sister'. This friendship finally moved my mother, and she finally married him." After saying this, her expression was a little sad, and she said, "But my aunt is not as lucky as my mother. She has never met someone who is willing to treat my mother with all his heart like my father treats my mother. Now she is still alone."
Lin Jianlan sighed in his heart: "In this world, beauty is often short-lived. Although they are proud of their beauty, they hope that the other party is not pursuing them because of their beauty. On the contrary, it is difficult to find a true lover to accompany them for life. Maybe it is better to be born ordinary."
Then I heard Lu Man say, "My father is too jealous. My mother practices the Soul Transferring Technique. Her every move is very graceful. If she laughs, the male disciples in the Nanhai Sect will probably be fascinated by her. But she is very serious when teaching her disciples and doesn't laugh easily. But my father saw it and was very angry. He ran away from home many times since he was a child. My mother was always angry and amused, and she personally persuaded him to come back with gentle words. I don't know why they quarreled again this time, but they were both angry. I mediated many times, but no one was willing to give in. One lived in the Nanhai Sect, and the other returned to his hometown. When they left, they hadn't been together for more than a year."
Lin Jianlan clapped his hands and smiled, "I see. So when Sister Man saw the golden crown clam, she wanted to steal it and give it to your father as a favor?"
Lu Man sighed softly and said, "Yes, women dress up to please themselves. My mother actually pays a lot of attention to her appearance. In recent years, the most common question she asked my father was 'Am I old?' or 'Am I ugly?' I thought if my father gave her this rare treasure, we would definitely be back to square one. Unfortunately, now there is nothing left. I can only go back to being a peacemaker."
Lin Jianlan said: "Sister Man, I have an idea. You can go back and try it. I can't say it's 100% effective, but it's almost there." After saying that, he moved closer to Lu Man and whispered a few words to her.
Lu Man smiled while covering her mouth. After listening, she picked up a stone from the side and threw it over, saying, "You are such a clever boy! I'll go back and try it. If it works, I'll ask you for advice. If a girl likes you, I'm afraid I'll turn a piece of ice into boiling water!"
