Pit-pat.

　　The sound of dripping water occasionally entered his ear, Fang Su slowly woke up, when he opened his eyes he had a splitting headache, his vision was blurry. After a while, the swaying scenes he saw only overlapped together, it was darkness all around, he carefully distinguished, it seemed he was inside of a cave.  

　　Water dripped slowly from the rock wall of the cave, the air was humid and cold, no wonder he felt a little cold even in the middle of summertime. 

　　Fang Su endured the headache and tried to recall, not long ago he was obviously still in the Tang Mansion. 

　　At that time Tang QiaoYuan left with Bai Ping, he was sitting under the tree and waiting by himself, closed his eyes to rest, it was exactly an attitude without the slightest precaution against anything. 

　　Not knowing when, he was vaguely aware that someone was beside him. 

　　He hadn’t opened his eyes to look at it yet, Fang Su suddenly smelled a pungent odor, immediately after that, his whole body went soft, and lost consciousness very quickly. 

　　By the time he woke up, he was already in an unfamiliar place.

　　Indistinct voices could be heard outside of the cave, Fang Su understood that he must have been kidnapped by bad people, he sat up, took a look around and discovered that he had nowhere to hide. This cave is very shallow, but the inside was spacious and empty, if someone stood at the entrance of the cave and looked inside, no matter when the person in the cave hides, they will not escape his sight. 

　　Not able to hide, also not knowing how to run away, Fang Su looked up at the sunlight pouring at the entrance of the cave, his mood heavy, he felt like this time it forebode disasters rather than blessings. 

　　The drug was in his body, he still felt a little weak, he leaned his back against the wall of the cave and sat up, and used the temperature of the cold water to stimulate himself, wanting to sober up some more. Just when he was trying to find a place where the rock wall was not too wet, someone walked in from outside of the cave. 

　　“ ‘yo, woke up.”  The person that has come in turned his head and called out, “Big brother, the person has woken up!” 

　　He let out a shout, and a few more people walked in from outside of the cave. 

　　This one appeared to be stronger, after he crossed Fang Su’s eyes he deeply frown, particularly impatient, spitted out some swear words, complaining: “F*ck it, how comes he woke up so quickly, old two, you f*cker, what kind of knock-out drug did you buy?”

　　“Same same”, the so-called old two1 “he he” laughed, obviously didn’t have any confidence, deliberately laughed and tried to please, “Why buy expensive drugs? Didn’t we still have to kidnap the person out of the mansion?”

　　The leader glared at him angrily, too lazy to talk nonsense with him, and walked towards Fang Su. 

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　　Fang Su’s heart paused, stepped back, he moved until there was no gap left between the rock wall and him, and had to stop, forcing himself to be calm looking at him. 

　　The leader squatted down, his rough hand held his jaw and lifted his face, threaten him, said: “If you don’t want to suffer then better stay put, I* can make you die happier.” 

*”I” but used arrogantly (laozi)

　　Fang Su heard the meaning of his words, he had the intention to take his life, he instead calmed down, asked: “You and me, do we have some enmity?” 

　　The person in front of him stared at him, although he was cold-blooded, there was no hatred in his expression, thinking about it, it shouldn’t be an enemy, moreover, he never had a grudge against anyone before. 

　　Fang Su thought about it, then tried to probe around: “You are Qin MeiWan’s people?”

　　That person let out a deep laugh, but still did not reply, loosening his grip. His jaw was pinched until painful, Fang Su heard that sneer, the answer was almost certain. 

　　But the other one appeared to be stupider, looking at the situation, laughed out loud, happily said: “Big brother, he is quite smart!” 

　　“Say less shit!”

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　　The leader roared, old two hurriedly smiled and nodded, asking: “Big brother, when do we get to work?”

　　“Wait a little more, Qin MeiWan still owes us three a big sum of money, wait until old three bring up the silver then we will do it.”

　　“But, big brother, did she not say it, only after finishing the work that we can get the silver?” Old two asked again, “Before the job we already took a sum, this is the rule.”

　　“Rule, what fart,”  the leader stood up and walked back to his place, hating that the iron could not turn into steel at once2 and rolled his eyes, angrily said, “Who is Tang QiaoYuan? It has been only half a day, LinZhou City was turned over and over again, you think that once we have done the work and go back to take the money, and be able to get out of the city alive? This time a deal that really flirts with death, who the f*ck are going to obey the rules!”

　　Old two suddenly realized, repeatedly nodded to echo. 

　　The conversation between these two was heard by Fang Su, Fang Su maintained his composure, but hope increased secretly in his heart, and when he heard that Tang QiaoYuan has been looking for him tirelessly, even if the endless desire to survive was in vain, he thought that he must to keep on living, and should definitely not let Tang QiaoYuan down…

　　At the same time, the situation inside Lin Zhou city was indeed restless.

　　Most of Tang QiaoYuan’s subordinates are fierce and vicious masters, they have been divided into several groups, how can they still care about others’ peace and quiet. Unfortunately, despite this, no one was able to find a single trace of Fang Su.

　　Tang QiaoYuan personally rode a horse and looked for a long time, went around the green mountains outside of the city, but the mountains were connected, and the mountains roads were twisted and turned, everywhere seemed inaccessible, and in the end, it was all futile. 

　　The sunset was approaching, crimes are often committed when the night is dark and windy, he was only afraid that Fang Su would be more in danger once the day got dark. 

　　Tang QiaoYuan revealed a grim expression, he didn’t dare to think deeply about Fang Su’s situation, he was worried that if he thought too realistically about it he would have a mental breakdown. His heart was torn with anxiety, it was laughable how back then he talked about feelings developed over time, he obviously hasn’t forgotten any bit of it, how could any of it possibly lessen, or talk about giving birth to it again when he had already grown deep-rooted affection since a long time ago!

　　No matter what the causes were, since the beginning, Fang Su has become the only one in his heart, once it has settled in his heart there was no way it could be erased. This is the person that has grown roots in his heart, if he was to encounter any mishaps, Tang QiaoYuan didn’t know how he would face it. 

　　The more he thought about it, the more turmoil it added to his mind. 

　　The horseshoes didn’t take any break, rambling in the mountains. 

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　　At first, the man on the horseback could still pull the rain to lead the way, afterward, he was almost numb, his pair of eyes staring blankly ahead until the tired horse knew to go back on its way, and took him back to the city on his own.

　　Outside of the Tang Mansion’s entrance, Bai Ping was waiting anxiously for the news all along, half a day has now passed, she didn’t hear any words that would give her peace of mind, till she saw Tang QiaoYuan come back slumped, she hurriedly went to pull the horse. 

　　Tang QiaoYuan returned to his senses, pivoted, and got on the ground, harboring the tiniest hope, he asked: “Is there any news?”

　　Bai Ping frowned and shook her head negatively. 

　　Tang QiaoYuan’s Adam apple slightly trembled for a bit, whispered in self-reproach: “I left him twice in the mansion, and both times it harmed him, a Tang mansion like this cannot even keep him safe?” 

　　Bai Ping didn’t know what to say, she could only do her best to comfort him: “Master do not worry, madam will surely be safe and sound, the city is still repeatedly being combed through.”

　　Tang QiaoYuan lifted his eyes.

　　“What about the people outside the city?”

　　“They are also still looking around.”

　　“Leave only a small amount of people inside the city, let the rest go outside the city, with the complexity of outside’s mountains and roads, we will be able to search even more precisely with more people.”

　　Bai Ping complied with a bow, then hurriedly passed down his instructions, ordering people to rush out of the city.  After the appropriate arrangements were made, she hesitated to speak, she wanted to persuade Tang QiaoYuan to return back to the mansion to have a meal and get some rest, but unexpectedly just as she called “Master”, she heard a trembling voice behind her.

　　Bai Ping turned around, and saw that it was one of the two new girls who came looking for her. The little girl’s eyes bore fear, she saluted very carefully and cautiously then called out: “Master, Sister Bai Ping…”

　　“What is the matter?” Bai Ping asked.

　　The maid didn’t dare to raise her head, and replied timidly: “Sister Bai Ping, actually before the lady cousin was locked in, this servant… this servant once saw her in the west of the city… at that time she was talking to three other persons in an alley, this slave was able to recognize one of them, it was ruffian Li of the west…”

　　Bai Ping was stunned when she heard, and couldn’t help but scold angrily: “Why didn’t you tell me earlier! I have already told you before to let me know whenever you see Qing MeiWan do anything, where have you been listening !”

　　The maid immediately fell to her knees in fright, and begged urgently: “Sister Bai Ping please have mercy on me… it is this servant’s cowardice… this servant’s home is in the west of the city, I was afraid of being persecuted by ruffian Li, so I didn’t dare say anything…”

　　Bai Ping was about to lose her temper again when Tang QiaoYuan raised his hand to stop her, he bent over to pull the maid up from the ground, suppressed the urgency in his heart, and asked: “What else?”

　　The maid shook her head with lowered eyes.

　　Tang QiaoYuan asked patiently: “Think again, if it was these three ruffians who were the ones to take madam, where would they take him? Just say it by all means, your family will definitely not suffer any menaces, if we can find the madam, I will grant your family any request.”

　　As the maid received his promise, she was a little more courageous, she nodded her head and tried her best to think about it, but since she was still a little afraid, her thoughts were in chaos, after a long while she answered with uncertainty: “It should be outside the city… this servant only knows that with the silvers they earned, the three people from ruffian Li would buy food and wine before going to the mountain outside the city to eat and drink all night… there are too many enemies within the city, they are afraid people would seek revenge once they are drunk, they would never dare to be open and unrestrained inside the city…”

　　“Where in the mountains?”

　　The maid shook her head: “This servant really doesn’t know…”

　　Tang QiaoYuan’s heart was beating very fast, he thought that after having been in the mountains for so long, he may finally be able to find Fang Su soon, but at this instant, he was extremely annoyed, he turned around once again to get on his horse and sped to the outskirts of Lin Zhou city.

　　Except for those who were already searching in the mountains, new troops also rushed toward the foot of the mountain one after another. Tang QiaoYuan stopped his horse for a moment, raised his head to look at the dusk, and commanded loudly: “Everyone go inside the mountains, and search every inch of it! Whoever found the madam before nightfall will be heavily rewarded!”

　　“Yes! Master!” The crowd responded in unison, then scattered to rush inside the mountains.

　　Tang QiaoYuan rode on his horse up the mountain roads, with a heart full of humble prayers, he hated himself for not having lit an incense stick to Buddha in the past, and could only hope for Fang Su to be safe and sound.

　　When they return home, he will definitely take him to the temple to kowtow devoutly.

Translated and proofread by Milktea & Gemini

Notes:

This chapter was so long to translate, I have to admit I was lacking motivation for that one. It was so tough to get internet back, I had to change the material, call the technician, but then my wifi amplifier stopped working, so had to buy another one…but then the cables were too short… so I had to order cables. That was kinda a nightmare.

And I am also working on another project! It is a rather simple, modern & slice of life story. For this same reason, be careful when you click on “next” that you are reading the right chapter, I’ve added a Table of Contents and you can also click on the Categories tag below to find all related chapters for the novel you want etc.