Chapter 116

Chapter 116

Chapter 116: Pleading with Tears

Outside, the insects chirped again.

Inside, the young lady cried once more.

The Cheng couple felt both anxious and heartbroken for their daughter, and even somewhat puzzled. After she cried for a full cup of tea’s time, they finally couldn’t hold back and asked: “Yaoniang, what exactly are you saying?”

As soon as the words fell, a voice interjected—Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan.

One said, “Young Mistress, calm yourself. If something has truly happened, just tell us slowly.”

The other said, “You said ‘Song Lang’ is being chased by an evil spirit? What kind of spirit? How could he escape it?”

Hearing this, Cheng Yaoniang’s crying lessened a bit. She seemed eager to answer, but having cried for so long, she couldn’t help sniffling.

The Cheng couple watched their daughter while also glancing anxiously at the two heroes beside her. Fortunately, neither Bai Zhengliu nor Mei Yinghan showed any impatience at her tears; they simply looked on with concern.

This made Master Cheng think: “Truly disciples of Tianshan… so composed, calm, and unshaken in a crisis. If only…”

If only their own child were like them.

Alas, Yaoniang was so sentimental—it was impossible to know whose traits she had inherited. If things could be resolved, perhaps they should ask the two heroes’ sect if they accepted disciples of Yaoniang’s age. Not to learn advanced martial arts, just to prevent her from risking her life for a dream about a man.

Master Cheng tried to take some solace in this. Beside him, Cheng Yaoniang’s sobbing finally calmed, and she could answer Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan’s questions one by one.

“The evil spirit is a dark, black thing. You can see it but can’t grasp it,” the young lady said. “If a living person touches it, they feel as if the spot they touch turns to ice—cold and painful, very frightening.”

Master Cheng and his wife were startled, simultaneously thinking: “Ah, this is what we encountered before—”

The young lady continued: “As for how he escaped… Song Lang told me that there are some secret techniques in his home. He hadn’t mentioned them before because he never deliberately learned them. They were left by his ancestors, thinking perhaps they were deceived. But when he was desperate, he recalled these things and imitated them—and he truly repelled the evil spirit!”

As she spoke, her eyes brightened, and she added, “Song Lang is so heroic! I used to think only of his scholarship, never imagined he had this side as well.”

Everyone else present: “……”

Seeing the others’ calm expressions, Cheng Yaoniang pursed her lips slightly, showing a touch of grievance.

“I know you all doubted Song Lang because of the previous evil spirit. But Song Lang was also a victim. He explained carefully to me that the night before last, the spirit used his living soul to enter my dream. It happened because our souls are connected! …Although he sensed something was wrong and wanted to stop it, it was too late. That’s why last night, uncertain whether he had truly escaped, he didn’t come to me. Only tonight did he come to explain everything.”

Everyone: “…Mm.”

Cheng Yaoniang sighed: “Song Lang worked so hard.”Master Cheng and Madam Cheng were speechless, looking helplessly at Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan.

Was their daughter telling the truth? Were “Song Lang” and the evil spirit that had come to their home really two separate entities?

Had they truly been mistaken before? Could they still accept him as a son-in-law?

Their minds were in complete turmoil. By contrast, Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan, as complete outsiders, remained far calmer. Bai Zhengliu said, “I see.”

Cheng Yaoniang’s eyes lit up again: “Heroes, do you believe me? Believe Song Lang?”

Bai Zhengliu: “Hmm, whether we believe or not aside… what you say or don’t say doesn’t affect the current situation.”

Cheng Yaoniang froze, murmuring in confusion: “Doesn’t affect? Why ‘doesn’t affect’?”

Bai Zhengliu, objectively: “Yinghan and I are in Jingzhou; that ‘Song Lang’ is on the road. We cannot find him; he can only see you. That evil spirit, however, threatens not just ‘Song Lang’ but also your family.”

Mei Yinghan: “What we can do now is what we could do before—kill that evil thing when it comes.”

Bai Zhengliu nodded: “Whether ‘Song Lang’ exists or not, whether he’s doing well or not, it is beyond Yinghan’s and my power.”

Cheng Yaoniang: “……”

The young lady looked incredulous: “You heroes of the Jianghu, shouldn’t you stand against injustice?”

Bai Zhengliu shrugged: “We passed through Jingzhou, came to your home, saw your family in trouble, and stayed to help. That’s ‘standing against injustice’.”

Cheng Yaoniang was left speechless, her gaze wandering around the room before finally landing on her father. Her eyes brightened as she said, “No—it’s that you were invited by Father to our home, and in return, you helped…”

Bai Zhengliu felt like sighing. Master Cheng and Madam Cheng were reasonable people, and the three sons who hadn’t appeared were reportedly doing well at the academy. Why, then, was one young lady so infatuated with love?

The sword-wielding hero said dryly: “Yinghan, how much is one snow lotus?”

Mei Yinghan: “Hmm… it depends on quality.”

Bai Zhengliu: “If we base it on the one Young Mistress Cheng ate earlier?”

Mei Yinghan: “Don’t be afraid I’ll make fun of you, Zhengliu. We brought the snow lotus to negotiate a deal. For business, you naturally choose the best quality. If you want to buy, you can offer the best price, but it would still be over three taels.”

Bai Zhengliu: “Hmm.”

Cheng Yaoniang: “Three taels… and that’s still…”Mei Yinghan added: “In gold.”

The young lady’s pupils suddenly contracted, as if she could hardly believe it.

She was stunned, not knowing how to speak. At this moment, Master Cheng, who had been listening for a long time, could no longer hold back: “Enough!” He paused, looking at his daughter’s panicked face, her pale skin, and slender frame… Master Cheng’s heart ached, and his tone softened.

Master Cheng said: “Yaoniang, the two heroes first stayed to help our family, and even brought such precious snow lotuses and jade tokens as gifts. Their sense of chivalry is truly top-notch. As for Song Lang, truly, there’s nothing he can do. How far away is he from us? How easy is it to find him? To put it bluntly, even if the two heroes leave Jingzhou City now, by the time they find Song Lang, he would likely already be a skeleton in the mountains.”

“No—”

Cheng Yaoniang lowered her head, tears falling.

Master Cheng patted his daughter’s shoulder again: “I know, you can’t accept it for now, but the fact is just so.”

Cheng Yaoniang said nothing, only crying: “Song Lang… Song Lang suffers so much.”

Madam Cheng: “Cry, cry, it’s alright to cry it out.”

Cheng Yaoniang: “Wuwu!”

Madam Cheng: “Ah, our son-in-law is pitiful, so young, yet has made an enemy of that evil spirit.”

Master Cheng: “So young—hmpf, maybe it’s a long-standing feud between their family and the spirit. He suffers himself, fine, but why drag our Yaoniang into it!”

At these words, his wife pinched him.

Master Cheng glared at his wife—his eyes softened, his aura weakened, finally muttering, “I’m just worried for our daughter!”

Madam Cheng sighed. She knew this, but also knew that the more her husband acted this way, the more upset their daughter would be.

She held their daughter in her arms, gently patting her shoulders, coaxing softly: “Yaoniang, we are just an ordinary family. We truly cannot provoke such things. Song Lang surely only wants you to live well, don’t you agree?

“It’s natural to feel sorrow. When something like this happens, you should feel it. But after some time passes, we still have to…”

“No.” Cheng Yaoniang sobbed, “I don’t want to forget Song Lang.”

Madam Cheng and Master Cheng: “……”

Cheng Yaoniang lifted her head from her mother’s arms. Though she had become very thin, her delicate beauty could still be seen between her brows and eyes. Looking at her family and the two heroes beside her, she now seemed truly heartbreakingly moving.

“Two heroes,” Cheng Yaoniang cried, “please help Song Lang, help Song Lang. I beg you, do not let Song Lang die.”

Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan: “……” Wait, we haven’t even confirmed that Song Lang is really alive, right?The two of them thought to themselves.

But the young lady suddenly mentioned something about being “pursued and attacked,” and it didn’t seem like a casual remark. Otherwise, why didn’t she speak up earlier? Why only after waking from sleep?

Also, while she was asleep, neither Bai Zhengliu nor Mei Yinghan sensed any shadow of sinister energy.

Strange. Since arriving in Jingzhou City, whether it was the Leshan group or the Cheng family, everything had struck the two wandering heroes as odd.

“Hero?”

In front of them, Cheng Yaoniang stammered.

Looking at her, Bai Zhengliu had to start considering: “Perhaps… could it really be? The evil spirit used Song Lang’s dream to reach Jingzhou?”

Seeing that he seemed to believe it, Cheng Yaoniang immediately nodded: “Yes! That’s exactly it.”

Bai Zhengliu said: “Good.”

Cheng Yaoniang, surprised: “Hero, are you going to help Song Lang?”

“What?” Bai Zhengliu looked at her in confusion. “We already explained earlier. Regardless of whether Song Lang’s situation is true or not, Mei Yinghan and I will not leave Jingzhou. Compared to the distant Song Lang, protecting your family comes first.”

Cheng Yaoniang’s breath caught. Beside her, the Cheng family couple, who had been holding their breath, finally exhaled. They had feared another repeat of the night before last, when the two Tianshan heroes left and the evil spirit could take advantage.

Now knowing that Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan did not plan to leave, Master Cheng’s lips couldn’t help curling into a smile, and Madam Cheng quietly murmured “Amitabha.”

Cheng Yaoniang listened and looked at everything before her. Her expression slowly shifted from sorrow to calm. After a long while, she lowered her head, letting her mother gently pat her back, as if she were still a little child needing comfort from her parents.

The young lady slowly lifted her head again.

Setting aside Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan for the moment, the Cheng couple looked over first, carefully examining their daughter’s face.

Cheng Yaoniang said: “Mother, I feel a chill in my abdomen again, probably ate something bad tonight… will you accompany me outside once more?”

Author’s note:

See you tomorrow!