Martial arts novel "The secret trace of the sea of clouds" II

Two days ago.

As dusk fell and the spring rain misted the landscape, young Lord Wen, sent by his father to Xiangyang to pay homage to their ancestors, was now on the post road back to the capital city. The carriage of the Shenwu Marquis Mansion, with its horses galloping like dragons, easily overtook groups of pedestrians even on muddy and difficult terrain.

The post station where they planned to stay the night was already in sight ahead.

Suddenly, the horse of a green-canopied carriage in front of them stumbled, throwing the person inside out onto the road, about to fall into a pile of rocks by the roadside. The person on the driver's seat had leaped forward and caught the person falling from the carriage, but he himself was knocked off balance and stumbled into the rocky area.

His conical hat fell to the ground.

Just as young Lord Wen lifted the carriage curtain to see what had happened, he caught sight of a face as beautiful as spring flowers in the dim evening light, and he couldn't help but pause.

His guards unconsciously reined in their horses, looking questioningly at young Lord Wen.

It seemed only right and proper that they should help such a beautiful girl fallen among the rocks.

But before young Lord Wen could signal, the girl had quickly gotten up, not even looking at her own injuries or the dirt on her clothes, but instead helping the young man who had fallen from the carriage, asking urgently, "Yao Guang, are you alright? Did you hurt anywhere?"

Young Lord Wen felt a sinking feeling in his heart. The person she was so concerned about was a young man, her husband perhaps?

Hearing her question and seeing the expression on her face, several of the guards couldn't help but show a look of disappointment.

But the young man who had fallen from the carriage replied, "I'm fine, sister, look at how dirty you are, and your elbow is also scraped."

At the same time, they noticed that the young man and the girl had almost identical faces. They were indeed brother and sister.

Young Lord Wen let out a soft sigh, and he heard his guards sigh as well.

He smiled slightly.

It seems everyone has a love for beauty.

The girl sighed in relief, "As long as you're alright, come, quickly get back in the carriage, we still have a long way to go."

Her brother lazily said, "Sister, you think the horse wants to go on? I told you not to trust that smooth-talking horse dealer, but you wouldn't listen, and now look, how are we going to move?"

The girl bit her lip, saying, "The post station is not far, I'll carry you there first, and then come back to deal with this."

Her brother exclaimed, "Carry me? I know you can carry me, but I certainly don't want all these people watching me, a man, being carried by a girl! It's too embarrassing!"

Young Lord Wen frowned. He was sure he disliked this young man who only complained about his sister very much.

He signaled to one of the guards to go over.

As the guard approached, young Lord Wen noticed the girl's wary and vigilant expression, realizing then that his guards, all burly and rough men from Guanxi, could be described as imposing, but less flatteringly as fierce. No wonder the girl, despite looking like she had some martial arts training, still didn't dare let his guards approach.

The guard tried to make his loud voice sound gentle: "Our master asks if the young lady needs any help?"

He had rarely spoken so softly, and his voice didn't sound gentle at all, but rather oddly ominous. His companions couldn't help but burst into laughter, and in the dim evening light, with no one in sight on the road ahead or behind, a group of laughing, armed men looked not only strange but also frightening. The girl obviously didn't know what they were laughing at, and besides being wary, she was now also filled with fear. She bent down, lifted her brother onto her back, and said, "Stop making noise, let's go quickly!"

As she spoke, she hurried away.

The guard looked back innocently, "Young Marquis, I didn't say anything wrong, why did she run away like she saw a ghost?"

His companions burst into laughter again, and young Lord Wen also couldn't help but smile, "How should I know? You can go ask her clearly later. Now you've scared her away, this horse and this carriage are up to you to figure out how to get to the post station!"

He let down the carriage curtain, and the group rode away, leaving the unfortunate guard standing there daze, taking a long time to come to his senses, and shouting, "How could you leave me alone! At least leave a helper!"

By the time the lamps were lit, young Lord Wen and his party had comfortably settled into the post station. The postmaster was called over to drink with young Lord Wen, feeling very honored, his face glowing with pride. Young Lord Wen casually asked, "Are there many people staying here tonight?"

The postmaster replied with a smile, "Not many, apart from young Lord Wen and a few passing officials, there are no Idlers."

Young Lord Wen turned his head to look at him, "Oh?"

Seeing his expression was off, the postmaster became nervous and stammered, "Before young Lord Wen arrived, a brother and sister came to stay. Normally, we shouldn't take in Idle people waiting, but—"

The guards laughed, "Old brother, don't worry, that's just human nature!"

The postmaster was sweating profusely as he tried to explain when a loud thunderclap interrupted them, followed by a heavy knocking at the door. The guard who had been left behind had hitched his mount to the carriage and was carrying the old horse with the lame front leg that had been pulling the carriage, arriving at the post station in a bad mood. His disheveled appearance naturally drew more laughter from his companions.

Amidst the noisy, young Lord Wen suddenly heard faint and painful groans coming from the side courtyard.

He raised his eyebrows at the postmaster.

The postmaster immediately replied, "The side courtyard is where the brother and sister are staying."

Young Lord Wen hesitated for a moment and said, "Take me to see."

The side courtyard was narrow and shabby, just barely habitable. In the western wing, the dim light revealed shadowy figures moving about. They could hear the anxious voice of the girl, "Yao Guang, hold on a little longer, the medicine will take some time to work."

The postmaster opened the door, and young Lord Wen walked in.

Under the light, the girl had taken off the dirty outer garment she had worn in the evening, wearing only a somewhat worn but clean moon-white dress, which made her figure appear even more delicate. Beads of sweat covered her forehead as she struggled to hold her brother tightly on the bed, preventing him from hitting the wall or rolling onto the floor, completely ignoring the people who had come in.

Her brother cried out in a sobbing voice, "I've endured for a long time, I really can't take it anymore, sister, let me take another dose!"

He couldn't break free from his sister's slender but strong grip, and suddenly he bit down on her arm. The girl winced in pain but still wouldn't let go. Young Lord Wen's mind suddenly heated up, and by the time he came to his senses, he was already standing before the bed, and his hand had knocked out the boy he was increasingly disliking.

And the girl looked at this meddlesome man who had knocked out her brother with shock, taking a long time to understand what had happened, her face flushed with anger, and she raised her hand and slapped young Lord Wen, scolding, "How dare you hit Yao Guang!"

The postmaster trembled with fear, even a lowly postmaster had heard of young Lord Wen's reputation for being able to shake mountains with his anger, and hurrying stepped forward, "Miss, this is the young Lord of the Shenwu Marquis, you should quickly apologize!"

He hoped that young Lord Wen would forgive the girl's ignorance and not fight with a weak woman,let go this audacious out-of-town girl.

The girl was stunned, and young Lord Wen waved his hand, "Ignorance is not a crime, she was just deeply moved by sibling love and acted impulsively."

Young Lord Wen felt a burning sensation on his face; it seemed the girl had quite a bit of strength in her hand, no wonder she could restrain her troublesome brother. But perhaps it was because of such a brother that she couldn't afford to be weak.

But he suddenly paused. Why hadn't he avoided that slap? Was it because the girl's strike was too fast,So that even he didn't have time to guard against it., or subconsciously, he had never even thought to dodge her anger?

Just paused for an instant, the girl had already gracefully knelt down, "This humble woman Ji Yaohua greets the young Lord."

Young Lord Wen couldn't help but "Oh" in surprise. Yaotai flower? Her parents must have had foresight when they named her.

But his attention was drawn to something on the bed. It turned out that earlier, when Ji Yao Guang was struggling, a small package had fallen from his body. Under the light, only a hint of green could be seen from the package. Young Lord Wen instinctively reached out and took it, and Ji Yaohua had already stood up, about to speak but then Stop quietly.

Young Lord Wen opened the package.

Layers of soft cloth wrapped a jade that seemed to drip with green, shaped like a palm, and under the light, it seemed as if there were droplets of water shimmering within the jade.

Young Lord Wen was stunned for a long time before he could not help but ask uncertainly, "Is this—Green Sprout Jade?"

Legend has it that there is chalcedony in Qingmiao jade, which is as precious as nectar. People say that taking this chalcedony can bring the dead back to life or even make one immortal. Little Wenhou has seen all kinds of precious jade in the world, and originally thought that this was just a legendary jade. In fact, it was nothing. But the jade in front of him made him unable to believe his eyes.

Ji Yaohua nodded slightly, "This is a family heirloom."

Young Lord Wen turned to the postmaster and said, "You go out first, this matter must not be revealed to anyone."

The postmaster, as if relieved of a great burden, walked out and closed the door.

Young Lord Wen then said to Ji Yaohua, "Such a precious jade, how could you carry it with you like this? If word gets out, it could bring you great danger."

Ji Yaohua looked at him, a complex expression flashed in her dark eyes like a deep pool, but it disappeared in an instant, then she said softly, "I had no choice. Yao Guang's leg illness is getting worse, I wanted to extract the jade essence to treat him. Even if the rumors of bringing the dead back to life are just that, rumors, I want to try."

Young Lord Wen frowned, "Your accent is from Shu, there are many famous doctors in Shu, why did you go to all this trouble to come here?"

Ji Yaohua's lips curled into a smile that was both gentle and sad, "This jade is Yao Guang's life. I managed to persuade him to agree to extract the jade essence, on the condition that not a single bit of this jade would be damaged. I think only one person in the world can do it."

She raised her eyes and looked intently at young Lord Wen.

Among all the jade carvers in the world, none have hands as steady and eyes as sharp as young Lord Wen.

Before young Lord Wen could answer, Ji Yaohua had already knelt down, choking back tears and saying, "Please, young Lord, save Yao Guang's life! Whatever offense I have committed against you, I leave it to your judgment!"

Young Lord Wen had never been so indecisive in his life.

Ji Yaohua looked up at him.

Young Lord Wen finally said, "I need to think carefully about whether there is a way to extract the jade essence without damaging the jade."

He placed the Green Sprout Jade back into Ji Yao Guang's embrace.

Ji Yaohua stood up, looking at him in surprise, "Young Lord, aren't you going to take the jade to study it?"

Young Lord Wen smiled slightly, "Although the young lady trusts me so much, I myself am somewhat distrustful of myself. Your brother would rather risk life and death than damage this jade, it's evident that this jade must have a particularly captivating allure, the longer I am with it, the harder it is to let go. I don't know if I can resist such temptation, it's better to leave it in the young lady's hands, so that I am not tempted by desire. I will assign several of my guards to guard the rooms on both sides, but the young lady must also be careful."

He walked out.

Ji Yaohua watched his departing figure, letting out a soft sigh almost inaudibly, "Yao Guang was right, you truly are a gentleman."

That night, young Lord Wen found it difficult to sleep, which is why the faint sounds from the side courtyard suddenly made him startle awake. He grabbed a pair of short halberds by his pillow, leaped out of the window, and rushed towards the side courtyard.

But he was still too late; he heard Ji Yaohua's angry shout and the sound of clashing swords, followed by a pained cry from Ji Yaohua. A dark figure leaped out of the back window of the western wing where Ji Yaohua and her brother were staying, and jumped onto the wall.

Young Lord Wen couldn't intercept in time, he roared and threw a short halberd, but the figure turned and threw a stone, hitting the halberd and shattering it into three pieces, one fell to the ground, and the other two flew towards young Lord Wen, forcing him to block with his halberd, causing the two stones to fly off at an angle. Young Lord Wen took a breath and leaped into the air, throwing another halberd, hitting the first one, causing the already slowing halberd to suddenly accelerate towards the figure, the whistling sound of its flight was ear-piercing.

The figure was forced to duck to the ground to avoid the whistling halberd, and young Lord Wen had caught up by this time.

Suddenly, the figure flipped over, and with a wave of both hands, a shower of stones flew towards young Lord Wen like a rain of flowers.

Young Lord Wen was shocked and grabbed the halberd that was flying close to him, blocking the stones.

The stones flew at varying speeds, not as fast as an arrow rain, but they took young Lord Wen more time to deflect. And in this delay, the figure had disappeared into the night.

Young Lord Wen, with concerns, did not pursue further and hurried back to the post station.

As he feared, the Green Sprout Jade had been stolen. The guards he had placed in the rooms on both sides were all knocked out by a stupefying incense. Ji Yaohua, because she was always cautious, would always place a Dragon Awakening Stone by her pillow that could counteract various kinds of stupefying incense, so she was not knocked out, but she still couldn't stop the person from stealing the Green Sprout Jade.

Young Lord Wen's face turned ashen.

He handed the postmaster, who was suspected of leaking information, over to the local county yamen for strict detention and interrogation. The postmaster cried out in innocence, and an experienced old bailiff, after hearing the details of the incident, cautiously reminded young Lord Wen that the one who stole the Green Sprout Jade was likely the so-called "Stone Madman" Shi Qingquan, only he would dare to snatch the jade from under young Lord Wen's protection, and only he was accustomed to using stones as projectiles and controlled them so skillfully.

Young Lord Wen immediately took Ji and her brother back to the capital and joined the Kaifeng Prefecture's pursuit of Shi Qingquan.

After listening to the explanation of how the incident unfolded from the guards of the Marquis's mansion, the chief constable could only let out a long sigh.

That Stone Madman not only angered Minister Cai but also young Lord Wen, he'd better pray for himself.