Chapter 176 A doll looked like He Danggui
Not far away across the bank, the ‘crazy chasing game’ had been stopped by Guard Zhan and his subordinates. More than twenty misses who were chased by Qian Mudan fell, and some twisted their ankles. Now they were safe, so they couldn’t help crying in each other’s arms.
Although more than half of childes had powerful martial artists and seniors like Han Fang and Guan Mo were also here, they were confused whether Qian Mudan who was walking very slowly dead or alive. If she was alive, it would be inappropriate to attack her, because even she was running and scaring people with blood over her body, they needed to treat her with respect. If she was dead, they wouldn’t dare to touch her even more–She was dead but still walking. What monster had Qian Mudan become?
However, Guard Zhan and his subordinates didn’t hesitate–as soon as Guard Zhan came back and saw this scene, he immediately stood out and offered protection. Qian Mudan’s father and sister were unconscious because of terror. So, without consulting their opinions, Guan Zhan tied Qian Mudan in seconds and controlled her down on the floor with the handle of his sword.
On the other side of the bank, Bai Yangbai stared at He Danggui, who was extremely calm, and reminded her kindly, “Girl, the Luo’s Family are looking for you, and it seems that they’re coming for you with bad intentions. Why are you so relaxed? At least, you should look nervous, right? Every time I see you, the feeling of inferiority hit me right away. Compared with your gesture, I feel like I don’t deserve to be a Taoist Sage.”
He Danggui rolled her eyes and said, “It’s not time for jokes. Last time when you met Childe Duan, what did he say? How was his expression and complexion? Was his body healthy?”
Bai Yangbai stared at He Danggui and said in a low voice, “Why don’t you ask him yourself that if he still loves you anymore? Why do you pretend…” Seeing that He Danggui was about to get pissed off, he said quickly and fluently, “Two months ago, I was unluckily caught by imperial guards and was sent to the Imperial Palace to see the Emperor. On the way, I overheard that a maid in Palace told her friend she was pregnant with Emperor’s child. But being afraid of others’ envy, she chose to remain this as a secret. So, when I met the Emperor, I told him this year there would be a princess born in the Imperial Palace, which will be his bless. Thus, he should treat this child very well.”
Alas! He Danggui thought Bai Yangbai could really foresee the future that Zhu Yuanzhang’s last daughter would be born this year. It turned out to be like this. What a liar! He Danggui frowned and said, “I’m asking about Childe Duan. Don’t change the subject!” She needed to know how he had been recently. If he ran into trouble in the Department of Imperial Guard, she could try to help and pay her debt.
“After I left the Palace, I didn’t find Duan Xiaolou among those imperial guards. Later I knew he had asked a long leave to take care of his new born baby. I was delighted to hear this and I thought he finally gave up the affection towards you and moved on. So, I visited him and congratulated him by dressing up as a servant in Duan’s Mansion. However, the thing he was holding was not a real baby. It was a doll in your clothes and look. And it was almost as big as you! Although it was a doll, but anyone can recognize it was made based on your look–it wore the green suit that you always dressed…”
He Danggui was worried and urged, “What was he going to use it for? Is his state of mind normal?”
“For what?” Bai Yangbai couldn’t help laughing, “What do you think? He was sleeping with the doll! He was murmuring your name and crying with the doll in his arms. I couldn’t bear it, so I persuaded him that the He Danggui he loved was the owner of two brothels and selling afrodyn. Now she was preparing her third brothel. Every day she was delighted and satisfied. She already forgot about him. He should buy some of her afrodyn, so he could make more babies with his wife and concubines. But he begged me not to tell you about him having a child. He said that he and Guan Yun hadn’t married, so he could leave her very soon. Then he said that the child was only an accident. He told me that one night he was drunk because of his concubine Lian. Later he was told by Lian that she was carrying his child. In his words, he was about to offer you the wife’s position and ask you to forgive him having other concubines. I was so resentful that I scolded him and left. It was the last time I saw him.”
He Danggui was silent for a while and asked, “How was his body? Did he lose weight?”
Bai Yangbai signed, “Yes, although he was not as cute as I am, he was still a good-looking man. But his mental state was not stable. All he cared about was you. Hearing what Meng Xuan just said, I thought you and Duan Xiaolou both have a feeling towards each other and you miss him all the time. Since Duan Xiaolou was willing to marry you as his wife and couldn’t live without you, why don’t you just get married and express your feelings to each other in bed? But then I was worried about you. His mother was a heroine who once fought in the battle following Earl Anning. She was clear about what to love and hate. Lately her husband and grandson died, though which is none of your business. But to think it clearly, you seem to be part of their death, not to mention what she would think. It’s not a good idea for you to marry into her home. She would only treat you with bad intentions.”
He Danggui shook her head and said, “I don’t deserve Duan Xiaolou’s care and love, or to be his wife. But I heard that the capital is not very peaceful recently. The Emperor is getting weaker and easier to lose his temper. Assisting the Emperor is like sleeping with a tiger, not to mention the rich and powerful bigwigs staring and waiting by side. I’m worried that Childe Duan and Master Lu would be caught into trouble. I want to help them as possible as I can, so I can repay their kindness…”
“Hey, look at that!” Bai Yangbai pointed at somewhere in the central and yelled, “What is that old woman in black doing?”
The old woman in black suddenly appeared just now, which made Bai Yangbai almost kissed He Danggui. The old woman tied a white string to Qian Mudan’s wrists and smiled at Guard Zhan and others. She said, “Your honor, I’m her aunt. Sorry about all the troubles. Actually, she was not poisoned or dead. She just had a disease called epilepsy. When it happens, she will become crazy like this. I’m going to take her to see the doctor now. If you have more questions, just ask him.”
Then she touched Qian Mudan’s father Qian Xi who was still unconscious with a red rattan-like thing. Then she pulled the white silk tied to Qian Mudan. She smiled and said, “Nice girl, let’s take you to see the doctor.”
Witnessed by frightened eyes, Qian Mudan suddenly became lively. She nodded and said, “Yeah, auntie. Let’s go.”
And then they left towards the wormwood. Everyone would get out of the way to let them pass. Seeing they were about passing by, He Danggui was worried that Bai Yangbai would try to kiss her once again. So, she held Bai Yangbai’s collar and jumped on a near tree silently. They hid in thick leaves.
Bai Yangbai said in surprise with a very low voice, “When did your arts of lightness become so good? I’ve never seen this before. Although it is nothing compared with Meng Xuan’s and Duan Xiaolou’s, you just started to learn martial arts with laziness and clumsiness. It’s a surprise that you can jump on a tall tree so easily.”
“Why should I be so high-profile? Powerful skills are used in emergency.” He Danggui uttered a humph, “Besides, I was carrying you who are heavy as a pig! That is my limit. I wouldn’t call myself a senior.”
Bai Yangbai wondered, “The way you use your arts of lightness is much different from Meng Xuan’s. His is untraceable and flexible, like a feather. While yours is like a cheetah. Your gesture in the air is not very beautiful. You were like a monkey climbing a wall when you just jumped on the tree.”
He Danggui said angrily, “You piss me off one more time. I will dump you off the tree and let Qian Mudan eat you.”
Bai Yangbai was scared and explained, “I was just curious. Your moves are like the Mysterious Footwork of Feng Yang, the Young Lord of Yangzhou Caobang Organization. Do you know each other? What is your relation with him?”
He Danggui nodded and explained after a pause, “You’re right. That was Feng Yang’s Mysterious Footwork. In those days, Meng Xuan was my master. But I didn’t have the foundation and was reluctant to hang under the ceiling or hold buckets of water all day with my hands. So, until he left, I only managed to learn a small part of the Methods for circling Zhenqi. Then Feng Yang came to me to fulfill his promise. I once was stepped by a horse because of him, so he promised to teach me a type of arts of lightness as his apology. I didn’t expect this but he still came, with a volume of hand painting methods. The ink was still wet, which suggested the volume was made day in and day out. So, I accepted it and began to practice. Even though I was lazy and a fan of shortcuts, I still became a senior after three years.”
Bai Yangbai squinted at her with doubt and said, “The Mysterious Footwork is the extend version of Wudang Sect’s secrets method–Cloud walking (the best arts of lightness), which was created by Feng Yang with Fuliu Sword. He should be willing to teach you this powerful martial art. Did he also like you? He pretended to like men to not get married. And when you grow up, he can propose to you. He would claim to the outside world that he only loves you besides men–because you are the most masculine woman in this world–In this way, he could make your ‘monogamy’ wish come true. Girl, is he going to be the next Duan Xiaolou? How did you seduce him anyway?”
He Danggui nodded with scorn and said, “Lovely story, and interesting image. I’m truly a heartbreaker then? With each move, I can make a man fall in love with me.”
Now the old woman in black and Qian Mudan had vanished in the bush. The valley was extremely quiet, so everyone could hear there were at least eight people hid in the bush. Hearing these footsteps gone further, President Bai breathed a sigh of relief and paid his thanks to Guard Zhan, “Fortunately, you arrived in time, or else we wouldn’t know what to do. Epilepsy is so scary!”
Guard Zhan nodded and said in a deep voice, “We saw that sword suddenly changed into a pile of wasted iron, so we thought there must be a senior hiding nearby, stooping us from saving Qian Mudan. I guessed that senior was the one who poisoned Qian Mudan. Seeing the sword’s pieces, I knew I couldn’t beat him, so I went to call for help. As the epilepsy the old woman just said, I could hardly agree. I’ve never seen this kind of epilepsy in my life. We can just figure it out when Qian Shuixian and her father wake up.”
Bai Yangbai heard this and said to He Danggui excitedly, “I guess you already know the truth, right? How did Qian Mudan be poisoned? Is her sister the murderer or accomplice? Half a month ago, why did you knock Qian Mudan out suddenly to feed her medicine and use acupuncture on her? You said the Shi Hua Poison would turn people into a walking dead, but Qian Mudan just talked to us. Could a dead person talk?”
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