#234 - A journey of a thousand miles without taking a single step

An hour later, inside a quiet room at the Wan Tong Escort Agency.

Lu Jingyao was holding a cup of hot tea, sitting opposite Yun Lian.

If Wei Changtian were here at this moment, he probably would have already started considering whether or not to kill this Child of Destiny.

However, Lu Jingyao was unaware that the seemingly delicate woman in front of her was actually a fish demon, and even more unaware that her husband was not only dead, but had died because of Wei Changtian.

"Madam, here."

Qiu Yun, who was next to her, rummaged through the luggage for a while and found one of her cloaks.

"Mm."

Lu Jingyao took the cloak and placed it beside Yun Lian with a smile.

"Miss Yun, put it on quickly."

"N-No, there's no need."

Yun Lian hurriedly waved her hands, gently pushing the cloak back: "Sister Lu, I'm not cold."

"How can you not be cold dressed so thinly?"

Lu Jingyao said amusingly, "Just put it on, don't refuse."

" . . . "

Yun Lian lowered her head in embarrassment and didn't refuse again.

"Th-Thank you, I will definitely repay the escort fee and the money for the clothes in the future."

"We'll talk about that later."

Watching Yun Lian put on the cloak, Lu Jingyao then asked, "Miss Yun, where are you from?"

"Qingzhou, Yuer Island."

Yun Lian hesitated for a moment, adding softly, "It's a small island . . . "

"Yuer Island?"

Lu Jingyao had naturally never heard of this name, but she didn't mind it. She nodded and asked, "Then what did your husband do in Shu Prefecture?"

"I don't know either, he . . . he hasn't been home for a long time . . . "

As if a nerve had been touched, tears welled up in Yun Lian's eyes in an instant: "I . . . I searched all the way from Qingzhou to the capital. Someone said he went to Shu Prefecture, so I wanted to go to Shu Prefecture to find him . . . "

"Hmm?"

Lu Jingyao wasn't stupid and immediately heard a pile of suspicious points from these few sentences.

However, Yun Lian's appearance didn't seem like a scheming villain, so she didn't press her further, thinking of slowly understanding on the way to Shu Prefecture.

"Miss Yun, I'm also going to Shu Prefecture to find my husband."

Handing her handkerchief to Yun Lian, Lu Jingyao comforted softly, "When the time comes, I'll ask him for help, maybe he can help you."

"R-Really?"

Upon hearing that Lu Jingyao was going to help her find her husband, Yun Lian was so excited that she knelt on the ground with a "plop".

"Ah!"

Lu Jingyao exclaimed subconsciously and suddenly withdrew her arm.

"Madam, what's wrong?"

Qiu Yun immediately leaned over, nervously following Lu Jingyao's gaze.

She saw that a small patch on the fair back of her hand had turned red, as if it had been scalded by something.

"This . . . "

The two women looked up at Yun Lian in astonishment, and the latter, of course, also noticed all of this.

She hurriedly wiped away the tears on her face, and at the same time bit her fingertip, kneeling and raising her bleeding finger.

"S-Sorry, I . . . I didn't mean to . . . "

"J-Just apply my blood and it will be fine!"

"R-Really!"

" . . . "

Legend has it that by the Wei River, a fish demon and a fisherman fell in love, but the fish demon could not stay on land for long and would eventually have to return to the river. Therefore, before leaving, she gave the fisherman a wing-shaped knot, and also kept one for herself. The two agreed to reunite after ten years.

The fish demon returned to the Wei River and cultivated diligently every day. After ten years, she finally attained enlightenment and could stay on land forever.

Revisiting the old place, the fish demon searched bitterly for the fisherman's residence.

The fisherman was outside his house drying his net, with his wife and children standing beside him, his wife wearing a wing-shaped knot on her skirt.

The fish demon returned to the Wei River. The next day, she used her demonic power to stir up a monstrous flood.

After the flood, the fish demon found several corpses and buried them in the ground, and took back the knot she had given to the fisherman and hung it on the left side of her clothes, and hung her own knot on the right side of her clothes.

The pair of knots turned into wings, and from then on, she never entered the Wei River again.

《Classic of Mountains and Seas》: Yingyu, a fish body with bird wings, its sound is like mandarin ducks, its appearance foretells a great flood in its city.

[12: Da Ning Dynasty, East Sea Fish Demon, Yun Lian]

The Path of Calamity.

Half an hour later, Wei Manor.

"Lord Wei, we have found the traces of Miss Lu."

In the study, several Mirror Hanging Department spies from the Sticky Rod Office reported with bows: "Miss Lu and Miss Qiu Yun are currently at the Wan Tong Escort Agency, preparing to go to Shu Prefecture."

"Hmph! Just as I expected!"

Wei Xianzhi snorted coldly, but his expression finally relaxed.

Although there was indeed no one guarding outside that tunnel, the Wei family's guards were not useless. They quickly discovered that Lu Jingyao and Qiu Yun were missing and reported to him immediately.

With the Sticky Rod Office taking action, how could someone like Lu Jingyao, who had no anti-reconnaissance awareness, hide her whereabouts? Therefore, she was quickly found out.

"Lord Wei, according to the Wan Tong Escort Agency's clerk, there is also a woman named Yun Lian traveling with Miss Lu."

"This woman said she was going to Shu Prefecture to find her husband, but she didn't have enough silver for the escort fee. In the end, Miss Lu paid it for her . . . "

Soon, the spy told the whole story of what happened at the Wan Tong Escort Agency.

"Yun Lian?"

Wei Xianzhi frowned and thought for a while after listening, eliminating the possibility that this Yun Lian was a member of the Liu family.

After all, the Liu family had no reason to know that Lu Jingyao had run away secretly.

Even if they really knew, they would probably directly send experts to劫 (rob/kidnap) her away, why would they go through so many twists and turns?

So, it was most likely just a coincidence.

"Pa!"

"Bring them back to me immediately!"

Wei Xianzhi's tone was quite cold as he slammed the teacup in his hand on the table.

Although he could understand Lu Jingyao's thoughts, he had been in a high position for a long time, so he was very disgusted with this kind of "disobedience to orders".

"Yes!"

The Sticky Rod Office spy first stood up straight and responded, and then asked, "Sir, should we bring that Yun Lian back as well?"

"No need."

At this critical juncture, no matter what Yun Lian's identity was, Wei Xianzhi would definitely not risk even a bit of "inviting a wolf into the house", so he waved his hand immediately.

"Just bring Lu Jingyao and Qiu Yun back."

"Understood!"

Another hour later.

Lu Jingyao, who had "failed to escape", returned to her room dejectedly, and remained silent looking at the blocked tunnel entrance.

After Wei Xianzhi's unrelenting criticism and education, she now knew that she had done wrong, and her heart was full of guilt and self-blame.

Her father-in-law was right, if something happened to her, it would definitely bring a lot of trouble to the Wei family.

Her husband would also be heartbroken . . .

After seriously reflecting on it, Lu Jingyao began to write a letter to Wei Changtian again.

In addition to self-criticism, she also wrote down everything about Yun Lian in detail.

Lu Jingyao just felt that this matter was strange, so she wanted to share it with Wei Changtian.

If Wei Changtian could really see this letter in time, she would have indeed made a great contribution.

It was a pity that the former was currently on his way to Jizhou, and it would take at least ten days to cut off communication with the capital.

But Yun Lian was already sitting in the Wan Tong Escort Agency's carriage, heading to Shu Prefecture.