Chapter 80: part 2

It was then that Yiling saw clearly—the intruder was the same man from the tea house, the masked man!

So her earlier sense of unease was not an illusion.

This man had been watching her all along!

A wave of fear swept over her again, and her hair stood on end.

In the midst of flashing swords and blades, she noticed that the man had clearly fallen into a disadvantageous position but had shown no intention of retreating. He still tried to grab her and pull her out.

Run!

Yiling snapped back to her senses, and Dao Yu and the others forced the man into a corner, leaving Yiling a way out.

“Madam, quickly leave!”

Yiling ran.

Just as she was about to step out the door, she suddenly heard the man shout at her, “Ning Ning!”

Yiling froze midstep.

After a moment, she slowly turned her head.

The man trapped in the corner, Xiao Mi, had blood on his face.

Seeing Yiling look back, he suddenly stopped resisting, even letting his hands fall, allowing the swords to be pressed against his neck.

Then, staring at Yiling, he gave a strange smile.

“Ning Ning, save me.”

The familiar voice echoed in the room, sending a chill down Yiling’s spine.

Wasn’t this the son of the deceased Duke of Dingyuan, Xin Shaoyan, who had been dead for years?

How… How could he be…

So, that night, she hadn’t seen a ghost—she had truly heard his voice!

And he knew she was Yiling!

Her heart raced uncontrollably, and Yiling didn’t know whether to be shocked or afraid.

It wasn’t until Dao Yu urged her again, “Madam, leave now!” that Yiling snapped back to her senses. As she turned to leave, Xiao Mi suddenly raised his hand, revealing something.

“Ning Ning, do you recognize this?”

What was that?

From a distance, Yiling saw that the object in his hand was a small piece with a red end.

Yiling squinted but still couldn’t make it out clearly.

Xiao Mi, however, wasn’t in a hurry. He slowly said, “When Yiyun was seven, you injured his little finger, leaving a long scar. Have you forgotten?”

Upon hearing this, Yiling still didn’t understand.

Her gaze shifted to Xiao Mi, looking into his cold eyes beneath the mask.

When she looked back at the object in his hand, a sudden realization struck her like thunder.

Is this… Yiyun’s finger?

Her legs felt as if they were filled with lead, and she couldn’t step back any further.

Even though countless voices in her mind told her this was impossible.

“He… he…”

She struggled to open her mouth. “He’s clearly in Chiqiu.”

“Is he in Chiqiu or not?”

Xiao Mi glanced at Dao Yu. “Why don’t you ask these people?”

Dao Yu didn’t completely understand what Xiao Mi and Yiling were talking about.

She simply saw Yiling’s expression and sensed the situation was dire, so she tightly gripped her sword hilt and pressed it against Xiao Mi’s throat, urging, “Madam, leave quickly!”

Yiling stood there in a daze.

When she looked at the severed finger in Xiao Mi’s hand again, the stench of blood seemed to surge from Yiling’s chest.

It was him.

The bent joints, the old scars—this was indeed Yiyun’s finger!

Yiling held back the nausea and stared at the severed finger, stepping forward.

“Madam!”

Dao Yu immediately raised her hand to block her, trying to forcibly pull Yiling away.

But at this point, Yiling had no way of saving herself.

She was blocked half a step away from Xiao Mi, her face filled with terror.

“What did you do to him?!”

“You come here, and I’ll tell you.”

This was an open trap, and everyone knew it.

But Dao Yu, who could have taken Xiao Mi’s life right now, had sensed something. As she looked into Yiling’s eyes, she didn’t dare make a move.

She had already vaguely guessed Yiling’s identity. She feared that if she acted, she would…

“Madam, don’t!”

Seeing Yiling trembling and trying to step forward, Dao Yu still urgently tried to dissuade her.

Yiling seemed to snap back to her senses at the call. She clenched her clothes tightly and stopped.

She couldn’t just walk into his trap.

She had to wait.

As long as she waited for Xie Hengzhi to return, he would surely have a way to turn the situation around.

The moment Yiling halted, Xiao Mi seemed to realize who she was thinking of.

“Half a quarter of an hour later, if I’m not out of this Xie residence,” he tightened his grip on the severed finger, “you can just wait to collect his corpse.”

In an instant, the bloody, severed finger seemed to hover right in front of Yiling’s face.

In her mind, she saw Yiyun’s life hanging by a thread.

The last bit of hope was erased by Xiao Mi, and the color drained from her face, as though her body had lost its warmth.

Yiling stared at the man before her, knowing that he had placed the trap plainly in front of her.

But what was at stake was Yiyun’s life; she couldn’t afford to gamble.

She had no choice now; she didn’t even have the luxury of fear or hesitation.

She could only step by step walk into this trap.

“Move.”

Yiling suddenly spoke coldly to the guards in front of her.

It was as though she had become someone else. Her gaze was calm, almost hollow.

“Madam!”

Dao Yu still tightly restrained Xiao Mi, keeping a close watch on Yiling, signaling her not to act rashly.

Yiling paused for a long time, then nodded to Dao Yu, signaling that this was her decision.

If she went to negotiate, there would still be room for maneuver. She could gamble that this man wouldn’t kill her.

If they stood here, Yiyun’s life would be left unprotected.

Dao Yu’s hand, still holding the sword, trembled.

Though her duty was to protect Yiling’s safety, regardless of anyone else,

At this moment, she understood Yiling’s intentions.

If she forced Yiling to stay here, her safety would mean nothing.

Just as Dao Yu hesitated, Xiao Mi suddenly lunged forward, shoving Dao Yu’s weapon aside with his shoulder and grabbing Yiling in front of him.

“Don’t move!”

As the guards’ swords aimed at Xiao Mi, Yiling shouted loudly and anxiously looked at Dao Yu.

After staring at Yiling for a long time, Dao Yu finally took a step back and waved her hand.

All the guards stepped back at once.

Seeing this, Xiao Mi let out a wild laugh.

He no longer needed his weapon and simply held Yiling as they walked out of the room.

The guards behind them still closely followed.

As they stepped over the threshold, Xiao Mi turned his head and said to Dao Yu, “Outside the city, in the old temple by the locust trees—have Xie Hengzhi come alone?”

In the abandoned temple’s side room.

Yiyun was half-lying on the ground, his hands and feet bound behind him, a cloth stuffed in his mouth, only able to make muffled sounds through his nose.

He should have just stayed in Chiqiu and not returned to the capital.

The long road was endless; he had rushed back under the stars, but before he even stepped foot into the city, he was captured and brought here.

It had been a full day and night, and Yiyun still had no idea who had kidnapped him or why.

Even when his left pinky was severed, he had no clue.

He felt as though the sky was collapsing on him.

For the entire day, only the two guards had been around; no one else appeared.

Was he going to die here?

Who was trying to harm him? And what did they gain from it?

His parents had abandoned him, sending him to the northern camp in Chiqiu. Was his life still worth anything?

Just then, the sound of hooves echoed from outside the door.

Yiyun quickly raised his chin and stared at the door.

Was someone coming to rescue him?!

But the two men guarding him didn’t seem the least bit panicked.

They stood up, opened the door, glanced outside, and then left without closing it.

Yiyun’s heart sank again.

Yes, in this remote wilderness, perhaps even his parents didn’t know where he was. Who would come to save him?

Yiyun closed his eyes in despair.

Not long after, hurried and secretive footsteps sounded.

Yiyun looked up again, only to see the man wearing a mask.

His little finger, which had originally lost all sensation, began to hurt faintly at this moment.

He shrank back in fear, trembling all over.

But then he saw that a woman had rushed in before him.

The dilapidated temple only had a poor-quality candle lit, and the light was very dim.

It wasn’t until the woman ran up to him, panting, that Yiyun could clearly see her face.

This… this isn’t Xie Hengzhi’s…

Before Yiyun could come to his senses, Yiling had already started helplessly touching his arm.

She discovered his hands were tightly bound, and when she reached out, she found—

His little finger had indeed been cut off.

Even though she had anticipated this in her heart, when she truly touched his severed finger, Yiling felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

She slowly lifted her pale face, her lips trembling.

Yiyun, however, did not understand the current situation and looked at Yiling in shock. He saw tears the size of beans suddenly rolling down from her eyes.

The moment she touched his severed finger, Yiling used all her strength to suppress the impulse to kill Xiao Mi.

“Xin Shaoyan, have you gone mad?!”

She turned around, her eyes bloodshot as she stared at Xiao Mi. “He’s Yiyun, your younger brother who you watched grow up! Why are you doing this to him?!”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Mi directly yanked Yiling up, gripping her wrist tightly.

“Our Xin family was framed by Xie Hengzhi, and yet you’ve become his wife! How can you live with yourself after all the years of our childhood bond?”

Yiling never imagined that when she reunited with her childhood sweetheart, it would be under such circumstances.

She could not control her tears, nor could she suppress the hatred bubbling inside her.

She could only force herself to stop crying out loud.

After a long while, Yiling swallowed air repeatedly, trying to calm herself.

Although she felt dizzy with hatred, she could still sense the murderous aura emanating from him.

She had to stay calm, or else Yiyun, with his severed finger, would be in even more danger.

And she knew the Xin family’s deaths were not due to Xie Hengzhi’s plot, but now was not the time to argue about that.

His hatred for her now was entirely because she had married Xie Hengzhi.

She had to calm him down until Xie Hengzhi arrived.

Xie Hengzhi must have a way.

“It’s not like that; it’s not what you think.”

Yiling took another deep breath, holding back intense hatred, and forced herself to call out the old title.

“Brother Shaoyan… It’s not what you think; I was forced into it!”

Brother Shaoyan?

Yiyun, who was shielded behind Yiling, widened his eyes.

But unfortunately, he could not say a word, overwhelmed by shock.

“Why were you forced into it? What did he do to you?”

Xiao Mi held his breath, waiting for Yiling’s answer.

But at this moment, Yiling had no strength left to think of an explanation.

She just looked at him with tearful eyes, her voice trembling as she asked, “Where have you been all these years?”

Hearing her tearful tone, Xiao Mi’s mask covered half of his face, with scars on his chin, so his expression was unreadable.

Only his eyes revealed an intense emotion of anger.

Where had he been all these years?

He had lived like neither a man nor a ghost, living a life in the shadows!

He had survived every day relying on his hatred for Xie Hengzhi and his longing for Yiling.

A year ago, he had heard the news of Yiling’s death.

It was as if the last light in the dark night had been extinguished, and he had completely sunk into the sea of blood and revenge.

Who would have known that when he returned to the capital, he would discover…