Nothing to Hide
When Chen and Wang heard there was a lead, they immediately grabbed Zhao and questioned her in detail. Zhao vaguely made up a story that sounded plausible, but was full of misleading hints, implying that Su Lanxiang had been taken into the mountains by kidnappers.
Chen, Wang, and Bai Lu hurried home to bring the news to their family.
Zhao watched the three leave, closed the door, and covered her mouth to chuckle mischievously.
After a while, indeed, many villagers headed toward the back mountain.
Zhao was extremely proud and thought, "Hehe, I'm so smart. Just a few made-up words and I've got them all running in circles."
With her misdirection, the villagers wouldn’t go to Qingmiao City to look for Su Lanxiang. In a few days, when those people transport Su Lanxiang elsewhere, even a god couldn’t find her!
Zhao rubbed her hands gleefully and knocked on Su Shimao’s door to claim credit.
"Shimao, I fooled that bunch of dumb donkeys, telling them Su Lanxiang was taken into the mountains by kidnappers. Now they all believe it and have gone searching there!" Zhao said happily.
There was no response inside, and Zhao wasn’t surprised, thinking Su Shimao was ignoring her as usual, probably lying down asleep.
But if Su Shimao had really heard Zhao’s words, he would have angrily jumped out and scolded her for "hiding silver where there is none."
Unfortunately... Su Shimao was not in the house.
The bone-chilling cold wind pierced through to the bone, making his whole body ache as if it was falling apart.
Su Shimao opened his eyes and for a moment thought he was dreaming. But when he opened them again, he was still in this unknown, ghostly place—not in his own bed.
"Wh-where is this!?" Su Shimao got up from the ground and looked around, finding it pitch dark except for a small fire burning, giving off a faint light.
Su Shimao rubbed his eyes, gradually adjusting to the darkness, and vaguely saw a person standing behind the fire.
A tall man, shrouded in darkness. Even without a word, the overwhelming cold and powerful aura made Su Shimao’s legs go weak. He fell to his knees with a thud, trembling uncontrollably, "W-who are you...?"
The man slowly stepped out of the darkness. Su Shimao finally saw clearly: he wore a dark robe embroidered with subtle patterns edged in dark red gold thread. His face was hidden behind a mask made of an unidentifiable material, revealing only a pair of eyes as black as ink and cold as ice. His long hair was as black as satin, neatly tied in a topknot secured with a black jade crown.
Su Shimao’s heart skipped a beat. As a scholar, he had seen some of the world, and from this man’s attire, he was clearly a person of unimaginable high status—someone Su Shimao would never meet in his lifetime.
"I, a humble commoner, don’t know where I’ve offended, Your Excellency..." From the moment the man stepped out of the darkness, Su Shimao’s teeth began to chatter uncontrollably, his whole body trembling like a leaf in the autumn wind.
The man stood over Su Shimao, looking down with disdain, as if Su Shimao were nothing more than dust on the ground—insignificant and weak.
"Where is the woman you abducted now?" The man suddenly spoke, his voice low and powerful, making Su Shimao’s eardrums buzz.
"Woman? What woman? I, a humble commoner, don’t understand Your Excellency’s words." Su Shimao was so scared his face turned ashen, but he stubbornly refused to admit anything.
"If you don’t understand when I say it this way?" The man suddenly bent down, gripping Su Shimao’s shoulder. A cracking sound followed—the sound of bones being crushed alive. "Then this way, you should understand!"