Volume 2 Chapter 41: The Thousand Miles Away
Lin Jianlan didn't expect her to call him that. However, after thinking about it carefully, he realized that she had never called him that during the time they were together in the Kuang Yi Gang. He suddenly felt a little disappointed. He just sat there blankly without answering. He thought to himself, "I wonder why I came here. Is it just to find out where Uncle Qing is? Even if she knows, she may not tell me, right?"
Then Cao Yinyin said, "Since Mr. Lin has nothing to do in our gang, but someone has found us looking for you and seems very anxious. Mr. Lin, please wait here for a while." After that, he turned around and went upstairs.
Lin Jianlan thought to himself: "Who could be looking for me?" He thought of several people in his mind, but he felt that none of them were right. Just as he was wondering, hurried footsteps were heard outside the door. The one in front sounded very steady, as if it was Cao Yinyin, but from the footsteps of the one behind, it could be heard that the person was in a very anxious and confused mood.
The sun's shadow flashed outside the door, but Cao Yinyin still had a calm expression. He turned sideways to let someone in. Although the person's face could not be seen clearly due to the backlight, Lin Jianlan stood up in surprise.
That person was none other than Wan Xiu's mother, Mrs. Wan.
Lin Jianlan thought to himself, "From what Wan Xiu said, they must have ulterior motives. First, they won't take the initiative to look for Uncle Qing, and second, they shouldn't come to the headquarters of the Kuang Yi Gang which has changed owners." Just as he was stunned, he saw Madam Wan's face change drastically. She came up to him in a few steps, looking very haggard, with redness and swelling around her eyes, and tears almost burst out of her eyes.
There were two crisp "pa pa" sounds, and Lin Jianlan felt a burning, numb and hot pain on his face. He had never expected Madam Wan to act like this. He had no time to dodge and was slapped back several steps by the two quick and hateful slaps. Cao Yinyin's face also changed , and she was quite unhappy, but she still stayed at the door, neither going out nor stepping forward, just looking at Lin Jianlan silently.
Before he could open his mouth to ask, Lin Jianlan heard Madam Wan shouting in a sobbing voice: "You, you little beast! Where did you take my daughter? Give her back to me!"
Lin Jianlan felt that he was slapped twice for no reason and was about to ask a question, but when he heard Madam Wan's shout, he felt as if he was struck by lightning. He could no longer feel justified and stood there, muttering, "Ah Xiu has never been with me..." Before he could finish his words, Madam Wan grabbed him by the collar, and several blood marks appeared on his neck.
Madam Wan shook Lin Jianlan's shoulders frantically and said, "It was raining that night. Did she go to find you? Where did you take her? Give my daughter back to me! Give her back to me!"
Lin Jianlan looked down and saw that Madam Wan's eyes had completely lost focus. She just kept muttering. Her mind was on the verge of collapse, but she didn't know what to say. She was shaken like a wooden stake, her head swaying mechanically back and forth, and Madam Wan's desperate face appeared and disappeared.
His gaze passed through Madam Wan and he saw Cao Yinyin looking at him. His eyes became cold and indescribable, with a mocking smile on the corner of his mouth, and there seemed to be a kind of sadness in the mockery.
Gradually, the shaking finally subsided, and Mrs. Wan finally cried softly, "Even if I have done something wrong, Ah Xiu still loves you and has never done anything to let you down. Even if I beg you, please let me see Ah Xiu..."
Lin Jianlan felt that Madam Wan's hand almost dug into his shoulder. Although it was painful, it was a thousand times better than the pain in his heart. He knew in his heart that since Madam Wan said it was a rainy night, it must be the night when A Xiu heard the conversation between her parents and Doctor Cheng and rushed to pass on the news.
Thinking back now, Wan Xiu was restless that night, and her expression always showed some reluctance, but I was only concerned about Lin Longqing's safety, and never cared about how conflicted she was. Ah Xiu said, "Yes, I came here at night to tell you this matter. Sure enough, you should go back." I didn't hear the reluctance and unwillingness in the word "surely", and let her go back alone. Wan Xiu's faint and considerate smile still seemed to appear in front of me, and she tried to slowly tidy up the lace on the branch, and gradually the smile became blurred.
Lin Jianlan's shoulders were loosened without her knowing. She had already covered her eyes with her hands. Tears oozed out from between her fingers. After a while, she put her hands down and said in a trembling voice, "Madam Wan, it was indeed Miss Wan who braved the rain to report the news that night, but she left in the morning. It's my fault for not sending her home in person..."
Madam Wan had been as still as a clay sculpture until now. She finally started to move, slowly drawing her sword from her waist and saying, "Is that so? Ah Xiu is in such a bad condition. If she is left out there, she won't survive even for ten days or half a month, let alone a few years."
Lin Jianlan was quite familiar with Wan Xiu's condition and knew that what Madam Wan said was not an exaggeration. He felt not only guilty but also extremely painful. He heard Madam Wan quietly say, "I have long given up hope. Master Lin has given me a happy ending. Ah Xiu, you have liked Master Lin for a long time. I will let him accompany you now."
Before she finished her words, she had already thrust her sword forward. Lin Jianlan was unable to move. In a flash, "I still have a lot of things to do, I want to live" and "I'm really sorry to A Xiu, let's just leave it at that" two thoughts repeatedly battled in his mind. He could only watch as Madam Wan's sword pierced his chest, his mind going blank for a moment, not knowing whether it was inevitable or if he simply didn't want to avoid it.
But he was awakened by a loud "clang" sound. Lin Jianlan looked down and saw that the long sword was knocked off center, instantly cutting a bloody wound on his chest, but it was not deep. Cao Yinyin had come to the two of them at some point, holding a white rope in her hands, with two swords, one long and one short, at both ends. The silver short sword was still trembling. It seemed that she was too late to rush to rescue him just now, so she had to use her flying sword to deflect the sword that was about to pierce Lin Jianlan's chest. Although there was a scratch, his life was not in danger.
Since that night when Madam Wan discovered that Wan Xiu had disappeared, she and Wan Jianhong had been searching frantically for him, but to no avail. After thinking again and again, they felt that it was very likely that he had followed Lin Jianlan to Jiangnan. That was why they came here alone to look for Lin Jianlan, regardless of the extremely special situation of the Kuang Yi Gang at the moment.
She was afraid of ruining her daughter's reputation, so she kept everything to herself and brought generous gifts to ask Cao Yinyin for help. She thought that this girl, who had a cold temperament since childhood, would be difficult to talk to, but she didn't expect Cao Yinyin to agree immediately and let her wait in the gang.
Madam Wan waited alone until she almost went crazy. Finally, Lin Jianlan arrived at the Kuangyi Gang. She thought she could meet Wan Xiu, but she never expected that Lin Jianlan didn't know her whereabouts. Although she didn't know whether what he said was true or not, she saw that his expression didn't seem like a lie. Ah Xiu must be in danger. In despair, she felt that it was Lin Jianlan's fault. Now Cao Yinyin had ruined everything. Her face suddenly darkened and she asked, "Why did Gang Leader Cao stop me from taking revenge?"
Lin Jianlan stared at Cao Yinyin in a daze, and heard her coldly say: "Madam Wan, I respect you as an elder, so I agreed to let you wait for him here, but I never agreed that you can kill people at will in the Kuangyi Gang. Madam Wan, by doing this, isn't it too much of a disregard for me as the gang leader?"
Madam Wan suppressed her anger and sneered, "In that case, Mr. Lin, please come with me out of this place of the Kuang Yi Gang and settle it privately. You can't escape, unless you want to stay in this Kuang Yi Gang like a turtle for the rest of your life. But you also need Gang Leader Cao to be willing to support you."
By the time they heard the words, anyone could tell the sarcasm and disrespect in the tone. Cao Yinyin's face suddenly became extremely ugly. Lin Jianlan felt a sharp pain in the wound on his chest. He sighed and said, "Madam Wan, I will go out with you. You have a daughter, and Boss Cao is also a girl. Please put yourself in her shoes and don't involve her like this." After that, he slowly moved towards the door.
Madam Wan didn't expect that he would agree so readily, and she said sternly: "Don't mention my daughter again, why don't you leave?" She was afraid that Lin Jianlan would play some tricks, so she quickly put the sword against his back. Seeing that she only needed to push the sword lightly to kill him, she didn't dare to do it. She felt a chill on her back, as if Cao Yinyin's gaze would pierce her as long as she moved.
Lin Jianlan wanted to leave the headquarters of the Kuang Yi Gang as soon as possible. He had no other thoughts except Wan Xiu in his mind. He was just feeling a wave of heart-wrenching pain. His steps never slowed down for a moment. After twists and turns and several turns, he finally reached the bridge.
Madam Wan felt nervous and uncomfortable along the way. She felt that the two cold gazes were following her, but she didn't dare to look back. The hand holding the sword was shaking slightly, trembling gently behind Lin Jianlan.
Lin Jianlan suddenly stopped at the end of the bridge and almost poked in, shocking Madam Wan so much that she broke into a cold sweat and said to herself, "You disrespectful little girl, if you fall into my hands one day, I will make you suffer!"
Lin Jianlan stood at the bridgehead for a moment, then said, "Yin Yin, have someone shut down the mechanism on the bridge so Madam Wan and I can get out."
Madam Wan was startled when she heard this, and turned around to see Cao Yinyin's frosty face only a foot away from her. She thought that the chill she felt on her back was just an illusion, but it turned out that she had been following him for a long time without making any sound and she didn't even notice it.
Cao Yinyin gestured towards a place on the shore. After a burst of noises, silence returned. Lin Jianlan walked forward again. He looked calm, but with blood on his chest. The man in the middle holding a sword was pale, and the new gang leader behind him had a face as frosted.
When the people in the gang nearby saw the three people walking up the bridge one after another, they couldn't help but whisper: "Isn't that the young master walking in the front?" "Shh... why are you still calling him the young master? Don't you want to die?" "Who is that old lady in the middle?" "You don't know this, right? She is the wife of Hall Master Wan of the Jinzhou branch! She's very powerful! But I don't know how she can use the sword to force Young Master Lin?" The crowd's voices became a little louder, but they saw Cao Yinyin glance at them coldly, and they were immediately silent.
The three of them walked out of the gate for more than ten feet, and they were about to leave the dense forest on both sides of the Kuang Yi Gang headquarters. They were no longer within the scope of the Kuang Yi Gang. Madam Wan was overjoyed, but then she felt sad again, thinking to herself, "Even so, Ah Xiu will never come back."
Although the minions of the Kuang Yi Gang were afraid of the new leader's majesty, they couldn't help but care about Lin Jianlan's comfort. Although they didn't discuss it, they boldly followed him out quietly. Gradually, more and more people crowded on the forest path, and heard Madam Wan say, "It's better this way. It's better to die at the gate of the Kuang Yi Gang than in the wilderness with no one to collect your body!"
After saying that, he restrained himself slightly, exerted force again, and stabbed the long sword towards Lin Jianlan's back, but heard a ding sound, and the sword was suddenly bounced away. A man and a woman came out from behind the woods. The man was handsome, but his face was so pale that it looked a little blue, and there was a bit of impatience in his expression. The woman's face was as delicate as a peach blossom. She was slightly stunned at the pair of slender hands, then raised her head, smiled, and said in a crisp voice: "Brother!"
Lin Jianlan never expected to meet Lu Man again at this awkward moment when his life was at stake. He must have thought that the sword tip just now was deflected by her Taiyin needle. He looked back and saw Cao Yinyin's hands in her sleeves, with no intention of saving her. He felt a little disappointed and ashamed, and asked himself, "If you didn't want to die, couldn't you avoid it yourself? Since you feel sorry for A Xiu and have no intention of avoiding it, why are you still so greedy and hope that she will save you again and again? Isn't it too despicable?" Thinking of this, he said to Lu Man, "Why is Sister Man here? Well, I don't have to say goodbye to you again."
Lu Man didn't understand what was going on. Seeing Lin Jianlan's helpless and sad face, she looked at Madam Wan and chuckled, "Isn't this the senior who wanted to lock us up in the dungeon and starve us to death last time? That thing has already been given to Miss Wan. Why are you still following my brother and getting involved?"
Madam Wan shook the sword again and said, "He is willing to pay for Ah Xiu's life. I advise you not to meddle in other people's business."
Lu Man asked in surprise: "Old lady, how is Miss Wan doing?"
Madam Wan had thought that she had succeeded, but she didn't expect that there would be complications. Cao Yinyin was still lingering behind her. She was really anxious and cursed, "My daughter was killed by him, so of course I want him to pay for her life!"
Lu Man's expression was stern, "I don't believe what you said. My brother is not a person who repays kindness with enmity. Why would he harm your daughter?" She turned around and asked hurriedly, "Brother, don't just stand there like an idiot. What's going on ?"
There was no time to finish what she had to say, so Lin Jianlan could only briefly talk about the night when Wan Xiu went missing, and said, "Sister Man, it was indeed me who harmed Xiu. Don't worry about me. I really did it willingly."
Lu Man was stunned after hearing this, but her expression was a little complicated. She frowned and said, "It doesn't make sense. I thought you were quite smart before, but now you seem muddleheaded and stupid? Her daughter got lost and didn't go home. What does it have to do with you? Besides, where in the world is there such a mother? If she says her daughter is dead just because she is lost, isn't it like she is deliberately cursing her to death?"
