FRGNM -Chapter 213 A Chance Encounter

“I want it. What can you do about it? Come here!” Qian Yi beckoned at the man opposite her. Seeing that Nangong Mo refused to step forward, her face turned livid. Like a fierce tiger, she lunged straight at him.

Nangong Mo’s expression grew even uglier. He turned and ran, but before he could take even one step, he tripped over a stool at his feet and nearly fell to the ground. That slender little hand grabbed his belt, and without another word, shoved him straight toward the bed.

“You! Don’t you have any sense of shame at all? I—” The fire within his body suddenly flared violently. Nangong Mo’s face changed drastically. Could it be…? “Quick, wake up! We’ve been drugged, you—”

Before he could finish, the sudden kiss had already fallen. Her lips pressed awkwardly against his, those slender arms wrapping around his neck, gently rubbing against him.

You…

The anger in his eyes gradually faded, and his consciousness slowly began to blur. Looking at the woman before him—her cold, proud aura, those brows and eyes—everything was so similar. Once, there had been such a woman too. Her pride, her resilience, all had been etched deeply in his heart. But they had brushed past each other, fated to lose one another.

He…

“Ruoxi…” He murmured softly, reaching out to pull the person in his arms closer as they rolled onto the large bed. No matter what, this time, he absolutely would not miss the one beside him. He wouldn’t…

At the same time, out on the street, Ling Ruoxi was chewing on a candied hawthorn skewer. Before she could spit out the seeds in her mouth, she turned around and saw a familiar figure. She almost swallowed the seeds in shock, hurriedly coughing as she glared at the man behind her.
“You—you—you appear and disappear without a trace! At least tell me when you arrived!”

“Tsk. I thought your intelligence was already quite good, Ruoxi. Who knew that in front of these things, your IQ would drop straight to zero? Are they tastier than me?” The corners of Luo Mingyu’s lips curled upward. He stepped forward and pressed a hand down on the little thing about to flee, smiling lightly. “Alright, don’t be nervous. It’s still early. I’ll go for a walk with you. And the former emperor’s birthday is coming up soon—aren’t you planning to give him a special gift?”

A gift…

That really gave Ling Ruoxi a headache. She had never liked picking out gifts. Given the former emperor Murong Ming’s status, how could he possibly think much of anything ordinary? And with so little time left, even if she prepared something now, she probably wouldn’t be able to choose anything good.

With a soft chuckle, Luo Mingyu reached out and held her slender waist. “Stop frowning. I heard the wild foxes outside the city are quite good. Catch one and give it to him. That way, when he goes into seclusion, he won’t be so lonely.”

“A fox? What use is that?” Ling Ruoxi frowned and shook her head.

Luo Mingyu explained, “The foxes of Duanyun Kingdom are completely different from those elsewhere. They’re extremely cunning—the process of hunting them is even harder than hunting magical beasts. On the black market, one of these foxes sells for at least over a million. Their intelligence can rival that of humans, and they can quickly learn human behaviors. Think about it—when the former emperor is in seclusion, having a fox help him clean, guard things, cook, even assist with bathing—wouldn’t that be great?”

“So expensive? These foxes are practically becoming spirits!” Ling Ruoxi’s hair practically stood on end. She swallowed the last of her candied hawthorn in one bite and hurriedly asked, “Then… if foxes are that hard to catch, do we even stand a chance?”

“The chances are slim. But with me here, do you think that tiny fox has any chance of escaping?” Luo Mingyu laughed loudly, clearly eager to tease her. “Let’s go.”

Outside the imperial city, one could freely use Dou Qi. No matter how intelligent the wild foxes were, they couldn’t possibly contend with a Dou Qi cultivator. As long as one had absolute strength to pressure them, they could be captured.

However, such foxes were also extremely extreme in temperament. If they weren’t subdued, even if you caught them, they would try every possible way to escape. If you tried to forcefully bind them, they would rather die than fall into your hands.

That was why capturing foxes was difficult, and making them submit was even harder—hence their astonishing price.

The air outside the imperial city was completely different from within. Amid the faint scent of grass was a trace of blood. Those who lived long on the edge of danger all carried such an aura.

Rather than saying they had come out to catch a fox, it was more accurate to say this was Ling Ruoxi’s time to gather herbs. The herbs in Duanyun Kingdom grew naturally. Spirit herbs were rare outside, but ordinary medicinal plants could still be found.

Her eyesight was excellent. Whenever she spotted a needed herb, she gathered it. In no time at all, her storage ring was piled with herbs like a small mountain.

“These things can be bought in ordinary pharmacies. Why bother picking them?” Luo Mingyu asked, watching the little thing squat down to dig up herbs, shaking his head helplessly.

“What do you know?” Ling Ruoxi said. “Most herbs in those shops are sun-dried. They don’t know how to refine pills, so they use crude methods. Most of the medicinal effect has already been lost. Only fresh ones are the best.” With a flick of her hand, the herbs on the ground flew into her grasp and were stored in her ring.

Luo Mingyu chuckled and nodded. “Yes, yes, Divine Doctor, your explanation is extremely incisive—only fresh ones are the best. But with so many herbs, are you planning to pick them all one by one? We came out of the city for wild foxes.”

“Oh—right! Quickly, let’s look for them. Where do wild foxes usually stay?” Ling Ruoxi suddenly realized and hurried to her feet.

Rubbing his temples, Luo Mingyu laughed softly. “Wild foxes usually hide near caves, in very concealed places. But at this time, they’ve probably already hunted their prey. Try searching in the forest—maybe we’ll run into them…”

“Ah!!”

A miserable scream echoed through the air, accompanied by a heavy stench of blood.

The two in the forest froze slightly, then hurried toward the sound.

On the empty ground, trees lay broken and toppled everywhere. A red-eyed wild boar stood opposite them, its front hooves stamping the ground, vicious killing intent filling its eyes.

On the ground lay three or four figures who had been impaled clean through—long dead.

Opposite the boar stood two girls who looked only fourteen or fifteen years old, trembling as they stared at the magical beast, already too frightened to run. In front of them stood a man holding a heavy sword, shouting in a deep voice, “Run, miss! Quickly!”

“No, Uncle Lin, I won’t go!” The tear-streaked girl cried as she clutched a nearby tree, refusing to leave.

The slightly older girl beside her frowned deeply and said sternly, “No, we have to go. Qiao’er, we can’t stay here any longer. Can’t you see? They’re all dead. If we stay, we’ll only be killed by this beast!”

“No! Uncle Lin has shown us kindness as great as a mountain. We can’t just leave him. I’m staying!” The girl holding the tree sobbed.

“Roar!!”

The wild boar gave them no chance. With an enraged roar, it charged forward, its sharp tusks aimed straight at them.

“Whoosh!” A flash of light appeared. Two figures landed, one kick sending the wild boar flying. Seeing the already lifeless bodies on the ground, they could only sigh helplessly.

“You…” The sudden appearance of these two left Lin Hu stunned. He stared at them in disbelief. That wild boar weighed at least four or five hundred jin, yet these two had kicked it away as if it were a ball. What kind of strength was required to do that?

“We were just passing by. Clean up and leave quickly. These people are already dead—there’s no saving them.” Ling Ruoxi shook her head helplessly as she looked at the four corpses.

“Hah… hah…” With the danger gone, the girl clutching the tree trembled and slumped against the trunk, slowly sitting down. Tears streamed from her eyes as she buried her face and sobbed.

“Miss, don’t cry. They’ve already… Miss!!” Lin Hu’s face changed drastically. He rushed forward and grabbed Hu Qiao’er’s arm, only to find her complexion deathly pale and her breathing chaotic.

Lin Zi’er frowned and pushed her lightly. “Qiao’er, stop pretending. At a time like this, hurry up and get up. Don’t delay our return home.”

“She seems to be poisoned. Where are you from? How did you end up here?” Ling Ruoxi glanced at Hu Qiao’er’s face, startled slightly. She stepped forward and grasped Hu Qiao’er’s wrist, frowning.

Lin Hu did not stop her, lowering his voice. “We’re from the Hu residence. This is my sister, Lin Zi’er, and this is our young miss, Hu Qiao’er. Zi’er was being playful and brought the miss here. We encountered a beast, and we…”

“No. Where did the poison in her body come from? Before this, did you come into contact with anything?” Ling Ruoxi slowly closed her eyes. With a flick of her hand, a silver-white light burst forth, sealing Hu Qiao’er’s meridians. Holding her wrist, Ling Ruoxi sliced lightly with her other hand, and black blood flowed out.

Lin Hu’s face changed in shock. “What’s going on? We only came out from the imperial city and didn’t touch anything. Miss, she…”

“It’s nothing. Go home.” A cold glint flashed in Ling Ruoxi’s eyes. She stood up and, at a speed too fast for the others to see, slipped a piece of paper into Hu Qiao’er’s clothes, then straightened, her expression indifferent.

Lin Zi’er looked impatiently at the others. “Brother, let’s go. They’re all dead. Leave them here for now—tomorrow we’ll have the servants come and collect the bodies.”

“This is a forest, not an execution ground,” Ling Ruoxi said coolly. “After tonight, their bodies will be eaten by magical beasts. If you’re going back, send people here immediately.”

She said no more. Her gaze lingered briefly on Lin Zi’er’s face before she turned and left.

Luo Mingyu smiled faintly and walked away beside her.

Frowning, Lin Zi’er reached out to feel Hu Qiao’er’s breath. “How unlucky. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come out. Brother, let’s go back. Let the beasts eat these bodies—dragging them back would only mean we’d have to bury them ourselves anyway…”

“Zi’er, what kind of attitude is that?!” Lin Hu suddenly roared, raising his hand and slapping Lin Zi’er across the face. “How many times have I told you—you’re not allowed to leave the imperial city! Do you take my words as nothing? The master has only the miss left. If something happened to her, could you bear the responsibility? They were brothers who went in and out with you. Even if they weren’t blood-related, they were still part of the same household. And you just abandon them like this? Don’t think that just because the master saw the miss liked you and took you in as a goddaughter, you can behave so recklessly!”

“Brother! You hit me—for a woman, you hit me? You actually hit me!!” Lin Zi’er stood there stunned. He had never laid a hand on her before, yet today—because of a woman—he struck her.