The rhinodrake steed’s legs were as powerful as a dragon. Even with Yan Liqiang and Lu Beixin on its back, its feet still struck the ground like thunder, sloshing the mud and snow on the ground as the sound of its iron hooves reverberated in the air. In the bitterly cold night, it galloped powerfully on the road, going against the howling cold wind and snowflakes.
Yan Liqiang drove the steed at high speed in the direction of Pingxi City.
Although there was a beauty in his arms, Yan Liqiang’s attention wasn’t on Lu Beixin, let alone fantasizing about anything. To be honest, if it wasn’t for Old Master Lu and the Lu Clan’s past favor towards his Yan Clan, he couldn’t care less about the life and death of an influential clan’s daughter. Yan Liqiang had only gotten involved in this because he wanted to get Lu Beixin, who had been fooled, to come to her senses for the sake of Old Master Lu and the Lu Clan. He didn’t wish to see anything happen to the Lu Clan again.
How could he get her to come to her senses? He had no choice but to give her a dose of strong medicine!
“Is Wang Haofei waiting for me in Pingxi City?” Lu Beixin, who was riding on the steed, was still a little nervous. She only felt relieved when she discovered that Yan Liqiang had no wicked ideas about her at all.
After the rhinodrake steed left the Lu Residence and reached the public road, which was more than ten li away, Lu Beixin was able to determine the position of the rhinodrake steed just from the direction it was heading.
“Yes, Brother Wang is waiting in a secret location within Pingxi City. You’ll know when you get there…” Yan Liqiang said calmly.
“I’m truly thankful to you this time. I didn’t expect you to be a good person…” Lu Beixin was touched.
Was this the legendary ‘friend-zoned’? Yan Liqiang secretly laughed in his heart, but the expression on his face remained serious. “I enjoy fulfilling the wishes of others. Pay no mind to it, Lady Lu…”
“If there’s opportunity, I shall thank you properly in the future!”
“Alright…”
“Tell me, how will my father and the rest feel, if I just run away like this…?” Although Lu Beixin seemed to be excited about eloping soon, she was also slightly apprehensive and restless. After feeling that Yan Liqiang was a ‘loyal and reliable’ subject, she couldn’t help but lay bare some of her thoughts to him.
“How do you think Old Master Lu and the rest would feel about it, Lady Lu?”
“They will definitely be worried about me…”
“If Lady Lu is having second thoughts about this, I can send you back now!”
“I’m not returning!” Lu Beixin started being stubborn again. “Haofei is a great man! Why does Father object to us being together, and doesn’t even allow us to date? I personally feel like Father holds some prejudice against Haofei. Why do the grudges between the past generations of the Lu and Wang Clan still carry on to our current generation? If I do not even have the right to make any decision on my feelings for myself, then it’s pointless even if there are mountains of gold and silver before me!”
“Indeed. I think any differences between clans should be long forgotten. I don’t see any problem with Brother Wang. I don’t get what Old Master Lu is thinking either…”
“That’s right!” Upon hearing that Yan Liqiang agreed with her perspective, Lu Beixin suddenly saw Yan Liqiang as less of an eyesore and felt as though she had found a close friend. “Oh right, what will you do if my father finds out that you are the one who sent me away?”
At this point of time, Lady Lu finally bothered to care about the consequences that passerby like Yan Liqiang would have to face for doing something like this.
“I will tell him that I was acting on impulse. I’m still young. Old Master Lu won’t do anything to me…”
Lu Beixin clenched her teeth. “I brought some money and jewelry which are worth about more than a thousand taels of silver. If things aren’t working out, I can split half of this money with you so that you can go into hiding too!”
“Thank you, Lady Lu. You are also indeed a good person…” Yan Liqiang acted like he was moved.
“I shouldn’t bring you trouble!” Lady Lu exclaimed in a righteous tone.
The wind felt strong on a steed. The moment one opened their mouth, they’d feel as though the chilly wind was filling their mouth. After speaking a few words, both of kept their mouth shut. Yan Liqiang focused on riding the steed, while Lu Beixin started to imagine the process of meeting up and eloping with Wang Haofei. She felt apprehensive about it but was also looking forward to it at the same time.
At this hour, not many people were seen hurrying on with their journey. Although the sky was dark, the snowflakes had painted the mountains and the plains white, which in turn improved the visibility of the road.
Yan Liqiang rode on relentlessly. After a few consecutive hours of journeying, he finally made it into Pingxi City with Lu Beixin at eleven o’clock at night, just right before the city gates closed.
When it came to Pingxi City, Lu Beixin might be more familiar than Yan Liqiang. The moment they entered the city, Lu Beixin eagerly asked him, “Where is Haofei?”
“Don’t panic, Lady Lu. That place is not easy to find, there are a lot of twists and turns. It’s hard to tell you, so I will personally bring you there!”
Having said that, Yan Liqiang then made a detour in the city with Lu Beixin for a while and found an inn to leave the rhinodrake steed. After that, he took another detour with Lu Beixin before he finally brought her to the alley behind the manor Ye Xiao lived in.
A few days ago, an incident which shook the entire Gan Province had taken place here. However, this manor had already been sealed off now. The inside of the once lavish manor was now pitch black without a figure in sight. Many people had even treated this manor as an ominous place since many female skeletons were uncovered inside the well in the rear courtyard. By eleven o’clock at night, not even pedestrians were seen anywhere near here. The night watchmen also seemed to deliberately avoid passing by this grand manor.
“Here?”
“Yes, here. We will go in from here since it will attract too much attention if we go from the front!” While speaking, Yan Liqiang had already agilely leaped to the top of the wall.
Although Lu Beixin found this manor rather strange, since they were already here, the confused her didn’t think too much of it. She followed behind Yan Liqiang and flipped over inside to the manor’s compound.
“Hmm, why would Haofei choose to wait for me here?” Lu Beixin looked around her surroundings when she was inside the manor garden. When she realized that there was not even a single person inside the grand manor, she couldn’t help but start wondering.
“One of Brother Wang’s friends used to live in this manor. That person moved away two days ago, so this manor is completely empty now. This is a good hiding place for Brother Wang, no one can possibly find him even if they tried…” Yan Liqiang explained while he familiarly made his way towards a room nearby. Lu Beixin didn’t think too much either and followed behind him.
The door he pushed open revealed a rather messy room which really seemed as though someone had moved out from there. Yan Liqiang pulled a cabinet by the wall and the entrance to an underground tunnel was instantly revealed.
The altar lamps made with whale oil were still lit inside the passage, making it seem as though someone was still around.
“You go first, Brother Wang is just downstairs. I will shut this door in case people from outside see the light and find out that there are people here…” Yan Liqiang instructed Lu Beixin with a normal expression.
As soon as Lu Beixin heard that Wang Haofei was just downstairs, she continued on without even thinking.
Yan Liqiang then pulled the cabinet at the back again…
Lu Beixin, who had just arrived downstairs with her heart filled with curiosity, noticed that the passage down there was paved with red rug. The decorations were very lavish, but the passage only led to two directions. Just when she was about to ask Yan Liqiang where Wang Haofei was, she felt Yan Liqiang tapped on her arm at the same moment she turned her head around. Lu Beixin then felt as though her entire body had gone completely numb and she couldn’t even move. When she looked at Yan Liqiang again, she realized that unbeknownst to her, Yan Liqiang had worn a ring on the hand which he tapped on her arm with. A black needle had sprung out from within the ring.
“YAN LIQIANG…!” Lu Beixin was both shocked and infuriated as she instantly yelled. She just couldn’t understand why had Yan Liqiang done something like this, no matter how hard she racked her brains. As soon as she was immobilized, a panic-stricken look which was hard to conceal instantly appeared on her face.
“We are underground. No one will hear you even if you scream at the top of your lungs…” Yan Liqiang looked at Lu Beixin calmly.
“What are you trying to do?”
“What am I trying to do? You will know soon enough!” Yan Liqiang’s smile grew indescribably sinister in Lu Beixin’s eyes. “I forgot to tell you… The owner who lived here was Ye Xiao. I’m certain Lady Lu knew Young Master Ye, right? I heard Young Master Ye seemed to be very obsessed with you.”
“Oh, so you are Ye Xiao’s lackey? My father will not forgive you if you dare to lay a finger on me!” Lu Beixin’s beautiful countenance instantly contorted as she completely lost her temper at the mention of Ye Xiao’s name.
Yan Liqiang shook his head. “You’re wrong. I am not Ye Xiao’s lackey. Your Haofei is his lackey.”
“Stop your nonsense! Don’t you even think about slandering Haofei…!” Lu Beixin shot a glare at Yan Liqiang.
“Hahaha, you will know soon enough whether I am slandering him or not!” Yan Liqiang laughed and immediately lifted Lu Beixin up in his arms.
Lu Beixin immediately shrieked in surprise. “PUT ME DOWN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!”
“You can’t move for the time being. I’m just going to take you on a tour around here since your Haofei is a regular here. If you keep struggling or screaming, you better believe me when I say I will strip you bare naked and throw you into a rodent nest…!” Yan Liqiang shot a fierce glare at Lu Beixin. The words which came out of his mouth intimidated Lu Beixin, who instantly went silent in his arms.
Although Lu Beixin was a grown lady, Yan Liqiang could barely feel her weight in his arms.
He carried Lu Beixin and walked around the tunnel. After walking for a short while, they arrived in one of the underground rooms. There were metal pillars, about the thickness of an arm, everywhere in the room. The entire room was divided into eight prison cells.
“Do you see those little prison cells? This is the place where Ye Xiao imprisoned those pitiful girls he had abducted here. If your father didn’t ground you at home for a few months, one of these little prison cells would have been yours. Your Haofei would have personally sent a foolish woman like you here and imprison you in a little prison cell here to pleasure Ye Xiao…”
“Lies… Lies!! Haofei isn’t that kind of person!”
Lu Beixin, the beloved daughter of Old Master Lu who had lived a life of extravagance since young, had never seen such a dark place. Looking at those little prison cages and witnessing the dark side of the world for the very first time, Lady Lu’s face paled from fear. The faint scent of blood in this room made her felt so nauseous that she suddenly wanted to puke.
