Chapter 122: Captured

Chapter 122: Chapter 122: Captured

With so many people and so much grain, if he bumped into them, the sale of their entire family wouldn’t cover the losses.

“Don’t mention it. Hurry up and lead it away. Your ox must have eaten something that made it go mad,” Wuqing said, handing the rope to the man.

“Alright, alright, thank you, Miss. I’ll leave right away.” The man thanked her and led the ox cart away without delivering the grain.

As he walked, he muttered to himself, wondering why his perfectly fine ox would suddenly go mad.

How strange.

PHEW. As the ox left, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“That young lady is amazing.” Seeing that Wuqing had subdued the ox and it had departed, the crowd couldn’t help but sigh, their hearts still pounding with lingering fear.

“Yeah, if it weren’t for her, we would have been in terrible trouble today.”

“This young lady is so strong.”

“If she weren’t, she couldn’t have stopped that ox! If it charged over, you’d be trampled to death!”

“You! I was just saying, I didn’t mean any harm. Honestly, some people!”

“What ’some people’? Go thank her already!”

…

Everyone chattered; if the ox hadn’t been controlled, both the people and their grain supplies would have suffered. The consequences would have been more than they could bear.

So, everyone went forward to express their gratitude.

Wuqing just shook her head at them, then pushed through the crowd towards the ox cart.

“Huh? Where is the Young Miss?” Wuqing looked around, but there was no one.

“Hey, Uncle, did you see where the person on this flatbed cart went?” Wuqing asked a man standing nearby.

“I didn’t see her,” the man replied, shaking his head.

“Auntie, did you see her?”

The woman also shook her head.

They had all been watching the charging ox cart; who would have paid attention to whether there was anyone on this cart?

This is bad.

Wuqing asked around, but no one had seen her. She recalled the ox cart and a dreadful thought struck her:

That cart must have been aimed at my Young Miss! What should I do?

Wuqing panicked.

“Uncle, please watch this ox cart for me. Our people will be back soon.”

“Alright, young lady.” The man nodded in agreement. Given that this young lady had just stopped the ox, saving so many people and their grain, looking after the cart was no trouble at all.

Wuqing thanked him and then, no longer caring about revealing her martial arts skills, leaped onto a rooftop and began searching the surroundings.

The people delivering grain who witnessed this were all stunned, their mouths agape. So this young lady was a martial arts expert; no wonder.

A few who had intended to take advantage of the chaos to steal grain quickly retreated.

「A short while later,」 Ms. Yang and the others arrived.

“You’re saying the two young ladies are missing?” Yun No. 20 asked.

“Yes, just now a young lady jumped onto the roof to look for someone,” the crowd replied.

“This is bad! Madam, please handle the grain delivery and wait here for me. I’ll go find them. The Lady must be in trouble,” Yun No. 20 said hurriedly, then also leaped swiftly from the crowd onto a rooftop.

“Ah! Another one…”

Ms. Yang, still shocked by Yun No. 20’s words, regained her composure, quickly found Gu Chang’an to help deliver the grain, and then waited there.

Gu Chang’an had arrived later and didn’t know the specifics of what had happened. After delivering the grain, he asked Ms. Qiao to stay with Ms. Yang while he went to find out what exactly had occurred.

「On the other side,」 the man carrying Gu Qingli handed her over to Qingchen, and their group hurriedly departed.

Wuqing and Yun No. 20 were ultimately a step too late.

“Yun No. 20, quickly send a message to the Young Master!” Wuqing urged anxiously. “If we keep searching like this, and something happens to the Young Miss, even dying to atone for our sins won’t be enough!”

Yun No. 20 nodded and immediately sent a carrier pigeon to Xiao Yunjing.

He then sent a message to the Secret Sect, instructing them to use all their resources to find the Lady.

By the time the two of them returned to town, it was already getting dark.

“Wuqing, what happened to my third sister-in-law?” Ms. Yang asked as soon as they arrived. They had found out what happened: a crazed ox cart had appeared that morning, Wuqing had gone to subdue the mad ox, and when she returned, her third sister-in-law was gone.

“The Young Miss… she’s gone… SOB SOB SOB…”

Wuqing broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

It’s all my fault! Why did I have to meddle in that blasted business! What did it matter to me if those people died or were injured? Now, with not a single clue, where am I supposed to look for her?

“Stop crying. Let’s go back first,” Ms. Yang said, wiping away her own tears.

Wuqing stood up. Seeing it was getting dark and that Ms. Yang and Ms. Qiao were still there, she and Yun No. 20 decided to escort them back first.

As soon as they returned to the Xiao Family, Ms. Jiang, who indeed hadn’t seen Gu Qingli return and had been uneasy all day, heard the news. Now that something had truly happened, her mind went blank, her vision darkened, and she fainted.

“Mother!”

Ms. Yang and Ms. Wang rushed to support her in a panic.

Everyone then scrambled to carry Ms. Jiang back to her room, while Xiao Han was urged to quickly fetch Doctor Li.

Not long after, Gu Chang’an arrived, with Gu Dalin supporting Ms. Wu.

When Ms. Wu heard that Gu Qingli was missing, she too fainted.

For a moment, the Xiao Family was thrown into utter chaos.

Yun No. 20 called out three other members of the Secret Sect, ordering them to guard the Xiao Family diligently. He and Wuqing would go out and search through the night.

He also asked Gu Chang’an not to spread the news of Gu Qingli’s disappearance.

「Meanwhile,」 when Gu Qingli awoke, she found herself being carried in someone’s arms, still airborne.

“Awake?” a pleasant voice sounded.

“Young Master Qingchen?”

That voice, so pleasant it could make one’s ears pregnant… she remembered it.

“The Divine Doctor has an excellent memory, to still recall my voice after so long. I am truly honored,” Qingchen said, raising an eyebrow, clearly in a good mood.

“Put me down.” Qingchen might have been cheerful, but she was furious.

To think it was this scoundrel who abducted her!

Considering his past behavior and his strength, she should have realized it was him sooner.

Qingchen nodded, but first, he sealed her acupoints. Then, he flew to a nearby mountain forest and found a cave large enough to shelter them.

He then gently placed her down in a seated position.

It was dark inside the cave. Qingchen ordered someone to guard the entrance. He then took out a cloth-wrapped bundle from his robes; unrolling it revealed a fist-sized Night Pearl.

He placed it on a rock, and the cave instantly lit up.

“Why did you abduct me? Don’t tell me your leg hasn’t healed yet?” Gu Qingli asked coldly.

Qingchen looked at her gently and shook his head. He walked behind her, undid her married woman’s hairstyle, took a fine-toothed comb from his robes, and styled her hair into a young maiden’s coiffure. He then produced a jade hairpin, also from his robes, and fastened it in her hair.

Gu Qingli couldn’t move, so she had no choice but to let him comb her hair.

“Li’er’s hair is truly beautiful,” Qingchen said, admiring his handiwork after he finished.

Gu Qingli rolled her eyes at him.

Great, another psycho,

she thought.

However, this wasn’t the right time to try and escape. In this cave, even if she entered her Space, she’d reappear in the same spot. As long as they didn’t leave, she couldn’t get away.

“Young Master Qingchen, please just call me Divine Doctor. ’Divine Doctor’ sounds better.”

“Alright, as long as Li’er likes it. You must be hungry. I’ll get Li’er something to eat in a moment,” Qingchen said, his voice still gentle, seemingly oblivious to Gu Qingli’s irritation.

After speaking, he called out to the person outside, “Bring some food.”

As soon as he spoke, someone outside flickered away.

Not long after, the person returned, carrying a dressed wild rabbit.

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