Chapter 27: The Seriously Injured Nangong Qiuxue

  Gradually, I left the bustling streets and came to a small alley. In the alley, there were beggars everywhere. When they saw me, some whispered to each other, while others came to pull at my skirt.

  "Miss, be good..."

  "Ruff!" The Dragon Emperor drove them back, and I was able to proceed as before. Would Nangong Qiuyue, someone who loves cleanliness so much, really live in a place like this?

  "Woof!" The Dragon King stopped in front of a gate. There were still many beggars on both sides, but compared to what he saw before, they seemed much younger and more spirited.

  "Woof! Woof!" Longwang barked again twice.

  The creaking sound, the door opened a crack, and an eye appeared.

  "Woof! Woof woof!"

  The gate opened wide, and an old beggar appeared. He looked me up and down: "Hey, why did you bring a woman back! Your master wants medicine..." The Dragon Emperor ignored the old beggar, striding through the gate with his head held high. The old beggar's face was full of dark lines, although he was already quite dark-skinned to begin with.

  "Old Liu, even dogs look down on you now." The beggars by the door burst into laughter. I had a strange feeling - could it be that I had arrived at the legendary Beggars' Sect?

  "Woof!" Long Huang shouted again, I looked over and he was standing in the courtyard waiting for me. Like that old beggar, my face was also covered with black lines. In this era, people listen to dogs.

  "Old Liu, didn't you recognize him? The dog brought back a god of wealth. This dog is quite clever."

  "God of Wealth... sir?"

  "Isn't that just Floating Girl?"

  "Wow! It's really the God of Wealth..."

  This is a quadrangle courtyard, Long Huang led me into the main house in the north, and the doors on both sides of the house were closed. In the main room sat an old man who was dressed cleanly but had patches on his clothes. He first saw me and suddenly stood up: "Who are you?"

  The old man's white beard fluttered, and with this one loud shout, a murderous aura instantly rose on all sides.

  "Woof! Woof!" Long Huang stood in front of me. The old man's murderous aura dissipated, and he looked at Long Huang for a moment before sizing me up from head to toe again. Suddenly, a small beggar whispered something in the old man's ear, and his gaze turned from scrutiny to surprise as he stared at me.

  "I didn't expect you to be...... I understand now." He looked at Long Huang, "You brought her here to help?"

  The dragon king looked at the old man for a while, then turned his head and walked to the tightly closed door on the left. He curled up his hind legs and sat upright in front of the door. Could it be that behind that door was...

  "Floating girl." The old man's voice called back my line of sight, he stretched out his hand, "The girl is the emperor's beloved concubine, her status is not ordinary. Please take a seat."

  The old man's smile was very kind and gentle.

  "Oh, thank you." She casually placed the vegetable basket on the square table and sat down with her skirt tucked in.

  "Excuse me for speaking bluntly. How would that young fellow know the young lady?" The old man's every gesture was dignified and mannered, like a senior.

  "The old man misunderstood, it was the dog that stole the family's baozi, I saw its pitiful state and paid for the baozi on its behalf, so it brought me here." For now, it's best not to admit knowing the Dragon Emperor.

  The old man nodded: "Miss is really a kind person, don't hide from Miss, the owner of this dog was seriously injured. Our family leader and the elders..."

  "Leader? Elder?" Indeed, it was the Beggars' Sect.

  "This...” The old man's face turned pale, as if he had misspoken, and he quickly whispered, "Don't be misled, young lady. We are actually the Beggar Clan, the largest gang in Jianghu. This is our Beijing branch. Please keep this confidential."

  I nodded. This old man is quite straightforward and sincere.

  "This young master's injuries are not ordinary, requiring top-grade medicine to soak in and superior internal energy to be transmitted continuously. Alas, the leader and three elders have been treating his wounds for three days and three nights already."

  My heart skipped a beat. How did Nangong Qiuyue get hurt so badly this time? Why can't he just live his life properly and not torture himself to the point of being half dead?!

  No, I want to see how badly he's hurt. My heart is racing with anticipation, but as I stand up, I hesitate - what's the point of looking anyway? I won't be able to help him, and I'll only end up revealing myself. If Nangong knew I was right in front of him, would he even be able to rest easy? Now that they have their leader and elder here, I should just relax. Then do what I can do, that's the real way to help Nangong.

  "This dog is also a true-natured dog, I heard that when we were about to run out of silver, it would sneak out to steal food for us. Although we repeatedly stopped it, this dog's personality is stubborn, so it just went ahead and did it anyway. Today, it brought the young lady here, surely hoping to ask her for money to cure its master." The old man looked at Long Huang with a face full of admiration.

  Then he looked at me: "Miss, rest assured, our Beggar Gang is a trustworthy gang, and the owner of this dog is also a trustworthy person. In the future, they will definitely return the silver to you!"

  So that's it, strange, why didn't Nan Gong Qiuyue return to the Huo Guo Fu? Doesn't she want Feng Qingya to know about this injury again?

  "Alright, I understand." I raised my hand to remove the pearl hairpin. "No, if the jewelry is missing, the Emperor will be suspicious. Alright, I'll take this dog with me to get the money."

  "I'll thank you on behalf of this dog's master then. Also, please keep it a secret."

  "Don't worry, old man, I won't mention today's events to anyone." The old man felt at ease, and I stood up, looking at the Dragon Emperor, "Hey, let's go!"

  The dragon emperor turned his head and looked at me coldly, clearly very dissatisfied with being called "feed" by me.

  "Miss, this dog only listens to its master's orders, I'm afraid..." The old man looked worried, "Why don't I send two little beggars..."

  "It's all right, old fellow, the dog understands human speech." I hope to have as few people involved in this matter as possible and also hope that after today, everything will be thoroughly understood.

  I took another glance at the tightly closed door, suppressing my anxiety and impatience. In fact, I understood myself - it was fear of seeing Nangong's injured state that made me hesitant. The memory of his life-threatening condition still lingered, making me worry that I would never be able to calm down again. Our hard-won peaceful life might also be disrupted because of this. Nangong Qiuyue, it's not that I don't care about you, but rather... I'm a bit afraid of you, so I dare not provoke you.

  Sometimes, I wonder, if only Nan Gong Qiu Yue and Xuan Yuan Yi Fei were in front of me, who would I choose? I think I would choose Xuan Yuan Yi Fei. Because Nan Gong Qiu Yue is both good and evil, sometimes an angel with a gentle heart, sometimes an evil devil, which makes me fearful.

  What do women want? In fact, it's still a man who can give himself a sense of security, especially when I came to this completely strange alien world. It's impossible not to panic, not to be afraid, and not to feel lonely. Only by understanding that you are forcing yourself, learning to forget, and trying to return to simplicity, simply looking at each person who is good to you, otherwise it will hurt my heart like Nangong Qiuxue.

  Nan Gong Qiuyue only wants to control me because I'm an anomaly in this world, a rare breed. He's like collecting an ancient artifact, binding me to his side, and having me obediently entertain him. Unfortunately, I'm not the kind of woman who likes being a decoration, so Nan Gong Qiuyue and I will forever be "enemies".

  Long Huang quietly followed behind me, which surprised the old man. The old man asked me for a five-digit number because many medicinal materials were very rare. It seems that Nan Gong was seriously injured this time.

  "I'll take you to see Hou Xuan." After leaving the alley, I said to Long Huang. Long Huang raised his head, and a sharp light flashed in those somewhat dull eyes, he recognized Hou Xuan, and by his appearance, it seemed that they were quite familiar.

  As I walked through the streets, I saw my own carriage. As I approached, I saw Hou Xuan leaning against the side of the carriage, looking very relaxed. It's really chilling to think that if I hadn't seen him, he wouldn't have looked for me either, and yet he still had the mood to read a book!

  "Xiao Xianzi!"

  She was startled by the sudden movement, put down her book and saw me, immediately smiled and walked up: "Madam, you've finally decided to come back!"

  "Aren't you worried I'll be kidnapped?"

  "Who dares to kidnap you, old man?" Hou Xuan said with a smile, "I couldn't see you and thought you must have gone out to play. You're not being kind, not taking me along, definitely looking down on me as a eunuch..." Hou Xuan actually blamed me, it's a barefaced slander.

  "Huh? What's that?" Later, a puzzled expression appeared on his face as he looked down and saw the Dragon Emperor. "Dragon, Dragon Emperor!" The Dragon Emperor was rubbing its face against Later's pant leg.

  "Husband, wife, you, why are you with Long Huang?"

  "Shh!" I immediately looked around, and there were pedestrians everywhere. The more people there were, the safer it was. I got on the horse carriage, Hou Xuan hastily followed, Long Huang also jumped in, lying down beside Hou Xuan's body, his head listlessly leaning against Hou Xuan's back, making a low humming noise from his throat, a sorrowful sound.