Hidden Shadow – CH 089

Chapter Eighty-Nine: Goodbye, Startling the String

Defending the homeland. For the sake of peace, someone must always sacrifice.

However, everyone had selfish desires and a will to survive. After the initial fervor of conquering the land faded, they gradually developed a desire to retire. Among the four great families, the Lou family was the most loyal and selfless, which was why they declined the fastest.

“So this is how it ends,” Lou Mingyue sighed, looking up. “Heaven is truly unfair!”

“Since it was voluntary, do not blame heaven.” An Jiu, who had been listening quietly, spoke with provocative words. Fortunately, she was considerate of Lou Mingyue’s feelings and continued, “I… know someone who could have chosen a peaceful life, but for some reason became a bad person and died young. The path is chosen by oneself. Without the Lou and Mei families, the world would not be destroyed.”

Since one had chosen to give their life at any time, one should not blame the Emperor or heaven when facing death.

Lou Mingyue was silent for a long time, then suddenly smiled. “Is this considered comforting?”

Not? Aside from Mo Sigui and Mei Jiu, this was the first time An Jiu had proactively communicated with anyone; at least, her intention was to comfort her.

“It’s truly surprising that you could say something like that.” Lou Mingyue had only met An Jiu once, but she could basically tell that An Jiu acted without direction, seemingly driven entirely by momentary emotions.

An Jiu stared at Lou Mingyue’s face, pale as if it could shatter at any moment, yet the lingering smile on her lips made her appear indestructible.

“Do you have any plans for the future?” Lou Mingyue walked to the railing, brushed off the snow, and sat down. “Elder Zhi probably will not be out for a while.”

An Jiu had always been accustomed to following orders. Now, in a strange place, with no one to command her, she possessed an extremely strong ability to survive, able to endure even the harshest environments, but she did not know how to live, nor did she have the motivation to live.

This was the reason she gave up.

Lou Mingyue did not wait for An Jiu’s reply. She gripped the railing tightly. “I swear I will not take off these mourning clothes until I avenge this!”

“Mm,” An Jiu responded, agreeing with her decision.

The mountain wind carried snow, and the two remained silent, one sitting, one standing, like monuments, until the first rays of dawn appeared on the horizon. Thick frost covered their hair, as if they had turned white overnight.

At dawn, Lou Xiaowu rushed out of the mansion. “Second Sister, Brother is awake.”

Lou Mingyue abruptly stood up and, without a word, hurried down the mountain, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Lou Xiaowu called out to An Jiu, “Fourteenth, come with me to buy firewood and start a fire to cook. We have not eaten for a day and a night.” The Lou family had stored two rooms full of firewood, all of which had been used to burn the corpses.

An Jiu was currently staying at the Lou mansion, so she should do her part, and besides, she did not have a bad impression of the Lou family. She readily went down the mountain with Lou Xiaowu.

On the mountain, the village felt oppressively gloomy, but at least Mo Sigui was leading the effort. However, once they reached the foot of the mountain, they truly witnessed what a living hell it was. Corpses lay strewn everywhere along the roadside. The two wandered the village but did not encounter a single living person!

If these corpses were not dealt with promptly, they could potentially trigger an even more horrific disaster. Lou Xiaowu gathered firewood at an empty farmer’s house and immediately returned to the village with An Jiu to inform everyone.

“What should we do?” Lou Xiaowu asked.

“If this is not handled properly, it could cause a riot. The imperial court will send people to deal with it. We can only do what we can,” Lou Mingyue said calmly.

The dead deserved respect. If word got out that the burning of corpses was happening, and there was no military force to suppress the villagers’ resistance, Lou Mingyue’s words could very well become reality. This was not alarmist talk or mere indifference.

“Only thinking about the aftermath is not a solution,” An Jiu finally voiced her opinion. “Mo Sigui, you only know how to prevent, not how to treat? What a load of rubbish! A miracle physician?” The room fell silent. Lou Xin suddenly felt much better, her gloomy expression softening.

Mo Sigui was already eager to try but said aloud, “Others prepare for years, even decades, and you expect me to make an antidote in just a few days?”

“An excuse,” An Jiu said coldly.

How could you know you were going to die if you did not fight with all your might in a final, desperate attempt?

Geniuses were often arrogant. Mo Sigui slammed his fan on the table. “This fan is a wager: I will make the antidote within three days!”

Lou Xin’s eye twitched. “Quite the spirit!”

The events had happened too suddenly and swiftly. Mo Sigui had only had time to react passively and had not even had time to think about the antidote. Hearing An Jiu’s words, his anger surged. It was not that he was angry at An Jiu’s bluntness, but rather that someone had dared to push him to this point in the field of medicine!

Mo Sigui thought bitterly, “I will make the antidote first! Once I catch this person, I will feed him half a pound of my own poison!”

An Jiu grabbed the fan and put it in her sleeve.

Everyone had not eaten all day and was starving. After a simple breakfast in the council hall, they went back to rest.

Afterwards, Mo Sigui indeed locked himself in his room, not stepping out once. Even the food brought in was brought out exactly as it was.

At first, Nanny Ling thought he was just sulking, but by the next day, she began to worry. While bringing him food, she peeked through the crack in the door and saw Mo Sigui sitting on the floor, lost in thought.

The following day, she saw him still sitting in the same spot.

Nanny Ling hurried to the study to report this to Lou Mingyue.

Lou Mingyue was busy researching information about Yelu Huangwu and completely ignored her. After breakfast, Lou Xin took Lou Xiaowu into seclusion to practice martial arts; they would not emerge for at least ten days.

Nanny Ling found An Jiu and saw her sitting on the railing of the corridor, reading. She was dressed in a black, fitted outfit that accentuated her slender figure, with a khaki fur coat over it. Her dark hair was simply tied back with a ribbon, and her face was like a sculpture of ice and snow.

Nanny Ling hesitated for a moment before stepping forward and bowing. “This servant, Hong Ling, greets Fourteenth Young Lady.”

An Jiu looked up.

Her dark eyes reflected the snow-like light, extremely cold.

Her intense focus when observing people gave one the unsettling feeling of being watched by a hunter. A chill ran down Nanny Ling’s spine. She shrank back slightly and explained her purpose, “Physician Mo has locked himself in his room without eating or drinking. His health will collapse if he continues like this. If you have time, Young Lady, please go and see him.”

An Jiu frowned. Her father had been like that back then. He would often lock himself in his laboratory for one or two days, sometimes even ten days or half a month. Whenever he was disturbed, his temper would become particularly volatile.

“If he wants to die, no one can stop him. Why bother?” An Jiu said coldly.

Seeing that she had lowered her head to continue reading and showed no intention of responding, Nanny Ling stood there helplessly for a while before finally leaving.

An Jiu was engrossed in studying the book left by Elder Zhi.

This book taught how to use spiritual energy in combat, which was very useful for her current situation. Anyway, she was idle now, and having something to do was better than doing nothing.

An Jiu followed her usual habit. First, skim through the book to get a general idea of ​​its content before starting to read carefully.

Whether practicing internal or external martial arts, a solid foundation was essential; avoid rushing. For an ordinary person, this approach would be extremely dangerous, but An Jiu’s control over her body and mental energy had reached a level comparable to a machine. This approach actually made it easier for her to master methods of controlling her mental energy.

According to Elder Zhi, pure mental energy could indeed fire a powerful arrow, but the difference was that this type of arrow had almost no lethality against martial artists with mental energy above the sixth level. Even if the archer’s mental energy had reached a state of perfection, it could not kill them. However, it was very effective against those with weak mental energy. Furthermore, there were no wounds on the corpse.

This was a technique Elder Zhi had been developing for many years. An Jiu, having nothing better to do, found a bow to practice with.

Only then did An Jiu understand why Elder Zhi always drew his bow for a long time without releasing it whenever she went to see him.

After practicing for most of the day, Mei Jiu said with worry. “It does not seem to be working.”

An Jiu kept practicing relentlessly, seemingly tireless, while Mei Jiu clearly felt her body was about to collapse.

“We need to test it on someone to know,” An Jiu said.

Mental strength was not like internal energy. It had no effect on inanimate objects.

Mei Jiu hurriedly said, “No, please do not kill anymore.”

She thought of the events of the past few days, feeling as if the sky was about to fall. In the past ten years or so, she had traveled to many places with her mother, and every place she encountered left her with an impression of peace and tranquility. She had never imagined the world could be so dark and cruel.

“Even though you still say that, you’ve still been changed.” An Jiu could sense it.

The current Mei Jiu no longer reacted with alarm at the sight of a dead person, no longer cowering in fear. Even though An Jiu saw this change as small, she was indeed different from before.

Mei Jiu’s feelings were complicated. She hesitated and said, “I should be able to join the Konghe Army, right?”

She was still terrified of living such a life of constant danger.

An Jiu’s dangerous goal was self-destruction. She was still confused about other matters, so how could she offer advice to others?

The three-day bet with Mo Sigui had passed.

An Jiu waited at his door with the folding fan.

She did not know Mo Sigui well, but she sensed he was not the type to make empty threats. Although the bet was just a folding fan with the inscription “Red Apricot Over the Wall,” he was actually betting his pride and dignity.

After lunch, An Jiu practiced her bowstring technique under the eaves.

Mental energy was truly mysterious, invisible and intangible. After practicing for so long, she could not assess its effectiveness without testing it.

In the evening, Mo Sigui kicked open the door and stood out, looking refreshed.

An Jiu caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, turned, aimed her bow at him, and released her gathered mental energy.

The bowstring hummed softly.

“Ha—” Mo Sigui’s laughter abruptly stopped, his entire body stiffening, even his face paling slightly.

An Jiu did not know what level of martial artist Mo Sigui was, but he was definitely over level six. Even if she had truly gathered her spiritual power into the Startling the String, she could not kill him.

“How do you feel?” An Jiu leaned closer to reassure the victim.

After a long while, Mo Sigui was able to move his body. He rubbed his temples, glaring angrily at An Jiu. “Fourteenth Young Lady! What did you do?”

Nanny Ling had seen it clearly; Lady Mei was quite far away, and the bowstring was empty. “You are just too tired; you’ve only eaten two meals of porridge in three days.”

“Is that so?” Mo Sigui asked suspiciously.