love on the turquoise land

Chapter 83

Lin Xirong would not really send Jiang Baichuan to be hung at Nanba. Four people had already been hung, all just for show, hung in vain.
Moreover, Jiang Baichuan was a leader; even if he were to be hanged, it had to have real significance.
After throwing Jiang Baichuan back into his cell, she asked Xiong Hei, "What do you think about this? Did the Jiang guy tell the truth?"
Xiong Hei replied, "It sounds like... for now, there's some truth to it."
In the legends, Feng Dao (crazy knife) is indeed about that knife character. There is only one knife, and the person using it changes from generation to generation. This knife has a characteristic: it can only kill by drinking blood. As long as it has been wiped with blood once, regardless of whether it is left unused for ten days, half a month, a year, or two years, it will still kill when used. However, there is a limitation: one blood means one kill. To kill a second time, it needs to drink blood again.
Xiong Hei felt it was time to apply some flexible reasoning: "That paralyzed Feng Dao really has no knife by his side; maybe someone else took the knife that had been wiped with his blood—think about it, Han Guan and Chen Fu were acting together, yet only Han Guan was fished out of the well. Where did Chen Fu go? Is it possible that the knife could only be used once? After using it without drinking blood again, it couldn't kill Chen Fu and had to take him away instead?"
Lin Xirong fell silent for a moment.
There was a possibility of this happening, but the question was: how did they find Han Guan and Chen Fu?
These two were just passing through Shihe County on their way to support Nanba; in her understanding, passing through meant they were just quietly going by. How could it be so coincidental that they happened to encounter someone from the Chantuo Army (njl's team) who was holding a knife capable of killing?
Xiong Hei also found this puzzling; logically speaking, it shouldn't be possible for the list to have leaked. If Jiang Baichuan's people could even grasp their list, how could they have been taken down so easily?
He scratched his head and suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. He raised his arm and sniffed.
Lin Xirong frowned and asked, "What are you doing?"
Xiong Hei's lips felt dry: "Sister Lin, do we really not smell like anything?"
They may look human, but they're not. When they're extremely angry or fighting for their lives, short spines come out from under their tongues, releasing a toxin that can paralyze or even corrode.
Could there still be a trace of scent that some evolved Guan family member (crazy dog) could detect? That might explain why Han Guan and Chen Fu...
Xiong Hei shivered.
Lin Xirong coldly said, "What are you afraid of? Don't scare yourself; that so-called rabid dog didn't smell anything either."
"Besides, even if that's true, there aren't many left in the Chantuo Army anyway; one less is one less." At this point, she suddenly became irritated: "Haven't we contacted Jiang Baichuan's accomplices yet?"
She was also frustrated. In Jiang Baichuan's contact list, those who should have been his accomplices were either turned off or had their numbers canceled—none could be reached at all—what a ridiculous situation! It was hard to imagine kidnappers grabbing a bunch of hostages but being unable to find any of their families!

"Who is she supposed to give the exchange conditions to?"
Xiong Hei said, "We can't reach anyone, but there is one number that works; it's just that no one answers. The owner is Jiang Baichuan's mistress, named Que Cha. She might have a location blocker on her phone, so we can't determine her location."
Lin Xirong thought for a moment: "We can't contact anyone, yet this one number remains. This must be left for us. It's fine if she doesn't answer; we can send messages. Let's send those photos taken at Nanba one by one. I want to see how long these turtles will hide."
***
On the way back, Yan Tuo visited two partner companies and didn't return to the villa until the evening of the third day.
The trunk was filled with various local specialties sent by the partners. In the past, Yan Tuo would have refused them since they were worthless and took up space, but this time he took everything: having these items could prove he was genuinely on business and had checked in at several points.
He carried the bags up the elevator.
The villa was eerily quiet, which felt unusual. Lin Ling had previously messaged him saying that Aunt Lin and Xiong Hei had returned, bringing back a young and beautiful Miss Feng.
When he reached the third floor, he placed the bags in the small living room in a conspicuous spot before heading back to his room.
As he unlocked the door, his heart skipped a beat.
When he left, the door was locked from the inside, but now it was clearly not—each room in the villa had spare keys, but generally speaking, no one used them since it was private space and entry was not allowed without invitation.
Yan Tuo pushed open the door and turned on the light beside it.
Lin Xirong was actually there!
She wore a luxurious light gray Japanese satin robe adorned with clusters of cherry blossoms in pink and white. Her long hair was slightly damp, likely just after a bath; she held a white water buffalo horn comb and sat in his computer chair, combing her hair while facing the unturned computer screen.
When the light turned on, her hand froze mid-motion.
Yan Tuo was startled: "Aunt Lin, what... what are you doing here?"
Upon further thought, it felt truly creepy: she had entered his room and was in the dark... combing her hair?
Lin Xirong turned to look at him and smiled gently: "I haven't seen you for several days; I suddenly missed you, so I came in to sit for a while."
That could be considered a reason? Ew.
But Yan Tuo could only accept this explanation as reasonable. He forced a smile and asked, "Where's Lin Ling? Why isn't she here?"
"I asked Lu Xian to take her out for dinner. When dating, you need to have some semblance of being in love."
Yan Tuo found it hard to respond. Just as he racked his brain for a topic to discuss, Lin Xirong seemed to suddenly realize something: "Don't just stand there; come sit over here so we can talk."
The atmosphere felt quite strange as Yan Tuo dragged a chair over to sit down, catching a whiff of Lin Xirong's faintly warm scent from her recent bath.
He felt somewhat uncomfortable and subtly moved his chair further away.
Lin Xirong scrutinized Yan Tuo's face: "When I first met you, you were this small..." As she spoke, she extended both hands to indicate a size: "Do you remember?"
Yan Tuo shook his head: "I was too young to remember anything."
Lin Xirong withdrew her hands and sighed softly: "Time really flies; you've grown so much."
Yan Tuo replied, "Yeah, in a few more years, I might feel embarrassed calling you Aunt Lin."
Lin Xirong fell silent for a moment before asking him: "Xiao Tuo, do you think Aunt Lin is a monster?"
Yan Tuo laughed lightly: "There must be something strange about you since you're not like me. But calling you a monster doesn't fit; only those who eat people or harm others can be called monsters, right?"
Lin Xirong reached out her hand and slowly grasped his.
Her hand was cold and smooth, reminding Yan Tuo of a snake—this must be what it feels like when a snake slithers over your skin.
Lin Xirong said: "When I first came here alone without anyone to rely on or any relatives or friends in this world, I found you to be the most caring and lovable. At that time your mother was busy; I would coax you to sleep and tell you everything—sharing all my troubles with you. Back then, in Aunt Lin's heart, you were like a little angel."
Yan Tuo self-deprecatingly remarked: "I bet that little angel turned out all wrong."
But it could be understood; children—especially those who are naive—are all angels. He had seen photos of himself as a child; indeed he looked very cute and charming. He shamelessly admitted that even he liked looking at them.
It was just unfortunate that when he was younger he couldn't remember what Lin Xirong had confided in him at that time.
Lin Xirong didn't find his humor amusing: "Later on as you grew up, you stopped clinging to Aunt Lin. Perhaps you also had your own secrets."
Yan Tuo felt a shiver run down his spine.
"That's normal; adults need their space. Just like when you were little—you never locked your door. Now every time you go out, you lock it tightly," Lin Xirong smiled as she gently patted his hand twice. "But Xiao Tuo, Aunt Lin hopes that this bond between us will never change. If it does change, I won't be able to bear it."
For a moment Yan Tuo didn't know how to respond. Fortunately, just then his phone received a new message which provided him an escape.
Lin Xirong withdrew her hand: "Check your messages."
Yan Tuo opened his phone.
It was self-destructing.
He casually swiped to turn off the screen: "Just system messages; nothing important."
Lin Xirong replied with an "mm," standing up: "You just got back; it must have been tiring on your journey. You should rest now."
Yan Tuo watched her walk out and was about to let out a sigh of relief when Lin Xirong turned back: "By the way, do you remember Feng Mi?"
"I do."
"She has been living in Xiamen and hasn't come north before. I'll let her stay for a while; when you have time take her around so she can broaden her horizons."
Yan Tuo felt this arrangement was somewhat strange but still nodded: "Sure."
***
Lin Xirong finally left.
Yan Tuo let out a long sigh of relief as his previously tense back gradually relaxed. He instinctively felt that Lin Xirong's words today were not without reason but couldn't quite figure out what it was all about in such haste.
After sitting for a while, he suddenly felt a jolt in his heart and quickly leaned over to touch the back of the computer.
It was cool; thankfully, Lin Xirong had just been in the room and hadn't turned on his computer.
He picked up his phone and opened the self-destructing message he had just received. Upon reading it, his mind went blank, and he almost stood up.
It was a single line from Nie Jiuluo.
Xing Shen, 187XXXX2688, arrange a meeting as soon as possible.
This means... they've contacted Xing Shen?
***
Yan Tuo had asked Nie Jiuluo to "quickly find a way to contact Xing Shen," but aside from that Weibo post, Nie Jiuluo hadn't really tried to reach out; she didn't know where to start.
It was Xing Shen who took the initiative to contact Nie Jiuluo.
Coincidentally, when Xing Shen was meeting with Yu Rong and decided to change her phone number, she had called Nie Jiuluo. However, at that time, she was seriously injured and had left her phone in the pump house. Later, Xing Shen called once or twice more, but her phone was with Yan Tuo and went unanswered—after several attempts, Xing Shen grew suspicious and thought something must have happened to Nie Jiuluo.
Not daring to call again, she took a roundabout approach and asked Que Cha if she could help find out where to buy some sculptures by Nie Jiuluo that she liked.
Que Cha searched online but found nothing. She then directly messaged Nie Jiuluo on Weibo to inquire. When she mentioned this to Xing Shen, Xing Shen smiled wryly: "What if she doesn't check Weibo?"
Que Cha replied: "That's impossible; she posted something new just a few days ago."
Calculating the dates, this a few days ago was after they lost contact. The post "In the sound of barking dogs and flowing water, peach blossoms are heavy with dew" was too pointed to be a fake.
Xing Shen asked Que Cha to reply with the last two lines of the poem along with her new phone number.
Sure enough, less than half a day later, Nie Jiuluo called back.
***
For Yan Tuo, Xing Shen felt both welcoming and suspicious.
Welcoming because if what Nie Jiuluo said was true—one side has manpower while the other has information—they could complement each other perfectly.
Suspicious because what if Yan Tuo was just a ghost and everything was merely a trap set by his sweet talk?
As they talked later on, Nie Jiuluo got angry: "You think this person is untrustworthy? You're just doubting my judgment. Xing Shen, do you think you're the only one who can read people? I guarantee this person is fine."
Since she said so, it would be rude for him to hesitate further. Xing Shen compromised: "Let's meet first; this matter is important; we need to talk face-to-face."
***
In his excitement, Yan Tuo failed to memorize Xing Shen's phone number completely.
The problem with self-destructing messages is that they disappear without a trace after ten seconds; it doesn't care whether you're distracted or interrupted when you read them.
Yan Tuo could only reply:
Please send it again.
Then he grabbed a pen and paper, preparing to write down the number as soon as it came in.
Nie Jiuluo quickly replied.
The first message wasn't worth noting because it mainly scolded him for not being focused.
Can you pay attention? The messages here are all important. What if something happens like last time and I can't send another? What will you do if you let vital information slip through?
What she said made sense; it was something to be cautious about. Yan Tuo humbly accepted her advice and silently changed Nie Jiuluo's system-assigned nickname to Short-tempered.
The second message finally provided the number.
After writing it down, he repeated it in his mind until he memorized it before tearing up the paper and flushing it down the toilet.
He needed to arrange a meeting with Xing Shen.
He had to meet with Xing Shen quickly so that Lin Ling and Xu Anni could be rescued sooner.
He grabbed his phone and headed downstairs. Since Lin Xirong had just been in this room, he felt distrustful of it; he needed to find a quiet and safe place for this call.
When he reached the first floor, he bumped into Xiong Hei smoking at the door. Xiong Hei looked puzzled: "Didn't you just get back? Why are you going out again?"
Yan Tuo replied: "I forgot to wash my car."
He drove the car out of the garage, circled out of the community while also checking for nearby car washes on his navigation. Since he had forgotten to wash his car, he might as well do it for real this time.
Just as he was re-planning his route, Feng Mi's voice suddenly came from the back seat: "Where are you going?"
Yan Tuo stiffened and instinctively slammed on the brakes.
Feng Mi guessed that she would startle him and anticipated that he might brake but didn't expect him to stop so abruptly. She lost her balance and slid between the driver's seat and passenger seat, hitting her head on the dashboard with a painful wince.
She covered her head and complained: "What are you doing? You almost killed someone!"
Yan Tuo's heart raced: Thank goodness I wasn't dialing Xing Shen's number while driving!
But on his face remained an icy demeanor: "How did you end up in my car?"
Feng Mi sat up while still rubbing her forehead: "I was just curious; I wanted to see what your car looks like. Who knew that as soon as I got in, you would drive off? I thought I'd sneak in and scare you but ended up hurting myself."
As she spoke, she pointed at the cute little decorations hanging from the rearview mirror and on the dashboard: "Who would have thought you still have such a childlike side? You have these adorable things in your car."
Yan Tuo lost patience: "Get out of the car."
Feng Mi looked surprised: "Are you talking about me?"
She leaned back against the seat: "Yan Tuo, that's not very manly of you. How can you leave a girl alone on the street? If something happens to me, will you take responsibility? Besides, Aunt Lin told me to stick with you for fun. You should just go about your business; I won't hold you up."
Yan Tuo remained silent for a moment before starting the car again.
***
Feng Mi smiled brightly.
When Lin Xirong left the farm, she invited Feng Mi along and instructed her: "Feng Mi, keep an eye on Xiao Tuo for me during this time."
She asked: "How should I keep an eye on him? Should I stick close by?"
This was her specialty.