“W-who’s there?” Watching his companion suddenly collapse silently against the window, the middle-aged man warily watched the window, his voice trembling involuntarily. Glancing at Doctor Lin standing to the side, he quickly stepped forward to take him hostage, slowly walking forward, “Who’s outside? Come out!” The middle-aged man’s back began to break out in sweat. Originally, this was just a simple task to retrieve something for their master. So they hadn’t brought many people, but they hadn’t expected this isolated mountain village to hide such an expert.
“Come out! If you don’t come out, I’ll kill him!” Gripping Doctor Lin, the middle-aged man kept his eyes fixed on the window but didn’t advance, instead slowly moving toward the study door.
Swoosh—
A grey shadow flashed past the window. The middle-aged man’s eyes widened, but the shadow moved too quickly for him to see what it was. Tightening his grip on his dagger, the man quietly swallowed, retreating toward the door with Doctor Lin. Just as they were about to reach the door, the window creaked and shook. The man was startled, quickly pointing his dagger toward the window, but only saw a dark flash shoot toward him. The man’s mouth opened and closed as he helplessly lowered his head, seeing a somewhat rough wooden hairpin stuck in his throat. He blinked his eyes but found himself powerless to do anything except release Doctor Lin and fall backward.
Doctor Lin looked down at the middle-aged man lying on the ground with eyes still wide open, of course knowing who owned the wooden hairpin in his throat. Raising his head to look out the window, he didn’t see Ye Li appear. After a while, heavy footsteps came from outside the door, and Ye Li appeared in the study doorway. Seeing Doctor Lin’s dazed expression, she asked worriedly, “Master… are you alright?” Doctor Lin silently shook his head, looking at Ye Li. Ye Li managed a smile, “Did I frighten Master? I…”
Doctor Lin sat down tiredly in a chair nearby, and after a while said, “I thought this girl was extraordinary when I first met you, but now I realize I still underestimated you. I won’t ask about your background anymore. You should leave later, it’s not safe here anymore.”
Ye Li frowned at the bodies by the window and on the ground. Having a conversation in a room with two corpses wasn’t appropriate, but she didn’t have the energy to deal with them now. Finding a place to sit down, she soothed the restless baby in her belly, then smiled bitterly and frowned, “Master, in my current condition… where could I go?” Let alone the possibility of encountering poisonous snakes and fierce beasts, just the exhaustion of crossing mountains and ridges would be too much for her now.
Doctor Lin sighed and shook his head, “You think I’m trying to drive you away? This old man has to leave too. If I don’t… I’m afraid these innocent villagers will be implicated.” At this point, the old man’s expression turned somewhat desolate. For a man over sixty to leave a place he had lived for decades alone was certainly not a happy matter.
“Is it… Lin Yuan?” After pondering for a moment, Ye Li asked softly.
Doctor Lin froze, remaining silent for a long while before letting out a long sigh. Since Doctor Lin was unwilling to speak, Ye Li didn’t want to force him. Although she didn’t know what item Lin Yuan wanted from Doctor Lin, she also didn’t want Doctor Lin to see her as someone coveting his treasure. After thinking for a while, she said, “If Master truly doesn’t want to give it to him, why not destroy it? To end his desire? If… he was raised by Master since childhood, if Master won’t give it to him, who else would you give it to?”
Doctor Lin managed a smile and shook his head, standing up to walk toward the door.
Ye Li didn’t move, looking troubledly at the two corpses. In the past, dealing with two corpses wouldn’t have been difficult for her, but now it was different. And Doctor Lin, at his age, certainly couldn’t handle this. Just as she was thinking this, Doctor Lin had already returned with a plain ceramic bottle. Walking to the middle-aged man lying on the ground, he opened the bottle and shook out some powder. Then Ye Li was surprised to see the powder emit an acrid smoke upon contact with the corpse, beginning to corrode the body on the ground. In less than a moment, what had been a large man was reduced to a puddle of water, not even leaving a thread of clothing. Then watching Doctor Lin walk to the other corpse and similarly shake out some powder, seeing that body predictably dissolve and corrode, Ye Li couldn’t help but rub her nose. After all this time together, she had just discovered that her unnamed master was actually this ruthless.
Watching Doctor Lin calmly handle the two corpses with such a peaceful expression, Ye Li now believed that her earlier actions hadn’t frightened the old doctor. Seeing his practiced and calm manner, he wasn’t a novice.
After finishing all this, the already unfamiliar master and disciple looked at each other for a long while before remembering to move to the outer room. Although there were no longer any offensive objects in the room, honestly speaking, the remaining smell wasn’t very pleasant.
Sitting down in the outer room, Doctor Lin calmly poured two cups of tea for Ye Li and himself. After drinking a few sips of tea and seeming to recover somewhat, Doctor Lin finally said, “I can’t implicate these innocent villagers, I can’t stay here anymore…” Ye Li was silent for a moment before speaking, “From what Master implies, that person… isn’t someone merciful. How can Master be sure he won’t harm these villagers after Master leaves? If so… why would Master advise me to leave? Although I haven’t known Master long, I always felt Master was a good person.”
Doctor Lin was speechless. He indeed couldn’t guarantee that person wouldn’t take out his frustration on innocent people after finding nothing when he returned. Otherwise, he would only need to arrange for Ye Li to stay with any family in the village, rather than having her leave with her pregnancy of several months.
No matter what, the roads outside were too dangerous for a woman several months pregnant.
After a long while, Doctor Lin finally asked, “Do you have any ideas?”
Ye Li shook her head, looking at Doctor Lin with some regret, “I can’t even protect myself now unless I could leave here and return to Hongzhou as quickly as possible…”
“Hongzhou…” Doctor Lin looked at her, “Why would you think I have a way?”
Ye Li smiled slightly, pointing to the packed books in the study, “The villagers told me you haven’t left here in thirty years. But… they also said that when you first came, you only brought some simple luggage and a child to settle here. Those books obviously couldn’t have been delivered here so simply, so over these years you must have left here many times without their knowledge. And it didn’t take months of coming and going.”
Doctor Lin looked at her and sighed, “You’re indeed very clever. You saw through it from the beginning, didn’t you?” Ye Li smiled faintly without speaking. Doctor Lin looked at her and shook his head, “It’s useless, I haven’t used that route in over twenty years. You can’t walk it now, and I can’t either. I’m old.” Ye Li had already figured this out and wasn’t too disappointed. She thought for a moment and asked, “I guess it’s a water route. When I fell from the cliff near Hongzhou, I was caught in a hidden whirlpool when I hit the water, then carried here by an underground river?”
Doctor Lin nodded appreciatively, “You were indeed very lucky, neither drowning nor being killed by hitting rocks in the rapids, and even the child was unharmed.” Ye Li raised her eyebrows and smiled slightly, “I don’t think it was because I was lucky, but because whoever built that underground river built it too meticulously, which is why I wasn’t blocked or killed by possible rocks in the river channel. So Master… what kind of person would spend so much effort building such a secret passage? Or… does this village itself hide some secret?”
Doctor Lin was stunned for a moment, his gaze toward Ye Li gaining several degrees of scrutiny and danger. Ye Li didn’t press further, quietly sitting at the table and looking down at her slender fingers that had gained some calluses. These hands had effortlessly broken someone’s neck just a quarter of an hour ago.
“Girl, who exactly are you?” Doctor Lin stared at her for a while before finally asking.
Ye Li pondered for a moment before saying softly, “If Master truly hasn’t left here in over twenty years, then who I am doesn’t matter anymore, does it?” Doctor Lin looked at her and said, “I at least need to know you’re not from the Da Chu royal family.” Ye Li sighed quietly in her heart, Doctor Lin’s question itself revealed many answers. Shaking her head, Ye Li stated firmly, “I’m not from the Da Chu royal family.” Although Mo Xiuyao also had the surname Mo and shared the same ancestor as Da Chu’s founding emperor, in terms of blood relations they were very distant. If not for a hereditary title, they could be said to have no connection to the royal family. And in everyone’s understanding, the Mohist Army and Da Chu royal family seemed to have always been separated. So Ye Li felt no burden in believing she had no connection to the Da Chu royal family.
Getting Ye Li’s answer, Doctor Lin’s expression softened considerably. Ye Li looked at him seriously and unexpectedly asked, “Master, what connection do you have to the previous dynasty’s royal family?”
Doctor Lin stared at Ye Li in shock, clearly not expecting her to ask such a question. After a while, he asked, “Why would you think I have any connection to the previous dynasty’s royal family?” Ye Li smiled slightly, carelessly playing with the rough teacup in her hand, “Master is so concerned about whether I’m connected to the Da Chu royal family, and lives in seclusion here, clearly having if not a blood feud then at least no good feelings toward the Da Chu royal family. Given that this is still within Da Chu territory, and Master doesn’t appear to be a foreigner. Furthermore… from the river where I fell to where Master rescued me, I estimate it’s at least twenty li even in a straight line. Such an underground artificial waterway isn’t something just anyone living by water could build. And the exit was built in such an isolated village, which is strange. Finally, this village is said to have nearly five hundred years of history, and ancestors decreed that villagers generation after generation must not learn to read. I think… they didn’t accidentally seek seclusion here, they are… guarding something. Although most of these villagers probably don’t know anymore, there must still be some who do, right?”
Looking at the woman speaking confidently before him, Doctor Lin couldn’t help but sigh, “You know too much.”
Ye Li blinked innocently, looking eagerly at the old man before her, “Is Master going to kill me to silence me? Like those two people just now?” After speaking, Ye Li pointed to the study inside. Doctor Lin couldn’t help but twitch his mouth corner – who exactly had killed those two people?!
Shaking his head somewhat helplessly, Doctor Lin said, “You don’t need to test this old man, I could tell from your moves earlier that between us two, who could kill whom to silence them is still questionable.” Ye Li smiled sweetly, raising her teacup, making her smile appear even more pure and kind, “A teacher for a day is a father for life. This disciple would never do something so unfilial. Master, let’s think about what we should do in the future. Given that we both want to live well.”
Doctor Lin glared at her irritably, “It’s you who wants to live, this old man has lived long enough.”
Ye Li smiled as she refilled his tea, “The neighbors in this village haven’t lived enough yet.” At the mention of these simple villagers, the old man’s hand gripping the teacup tightened, his expression showing some struggle and guilt, “These people… they are all descendants of loyal ministers… but after so many years, they’ve probably forgotten their ancestors. This isn’t necessarily bad, isn’t living peacefully a hundred times more comfortable than those people outside? But… if they were to lose their lives because of those old matters… I…” Cannot bear it in my heart.
While listening to Doctor Lin’s words, Ye Li tried hard to recall what she could remember about the previous dynasty’s old affairs. This northwestern region had always been considered remote, at least compared to the prosperity of the Chu capital and Jiangnan, it really couldn’t be considered a good place. Ye Li really couldn’t understand what affairs of the previous dynasty could be connected to this place. After a long while, a thought flashed through her mind, and Ye Li blinked, tentatively asking, “Is the previous dynasty’s imperial tomb here?”
Seeing Doctor Lin’s shocked expression, Ye Li knew she had guessed correctly.
The previous dynasty’s imperial tomb!
Historical records quickly flashed through Ye Li’s mind. The previous dynasty lasted over 370 years, spanning twenty-one emperors. Among them, except for the last emperor who was buried with noble honors by Da Chu’s founding emperor, the tombs of the other nineteen emperors were either destroyed in warfare or looted by grave robbers, almost all ruined. But there was one emperor’s tomb whose location was never known. That was the tomb of the previous dynasty’s founding emperor. Ye Li suddenly remembered something – the previous dynasty’s royal surname seemed to be Lin.
Seeming to notice Ye Li’s gaze, Doctor Lin looked at her and said flatly, “Don’t think too much, I’m not a descendant of the previous dynasty.”
“Then could it be Lin Yuan?” If Lin Yuan was looking for the previous dynasty emperor’s tomb, then claiming it as his would make sense.
Doctor Lin remained silent, and Ye Li was speechless. So… she had guessed correctly again?