Chapter 101: The Ancestor’s Belated Rebellion (28)
“Nonsense!”
The city lord, having heard the entire account, slammed his teacup onto the ground with a raised hand.
The others fell silent like frightened sparrows, kneeling on the floor, too afraid to speak.
“Who is Lou Xingluo? Is he really that easy to capture?” The city lord slammed the table in anger. “And you didn’t even stop him, letting him run amok!”
Until now, the city lord had thought little of Lou Xingluo.
That was until he left Fankong City...
“...”
When the young city lord spoke, no one dared to disobey.
After scolding, the city lord calmed slightly. “What did the woman he met look like?”
“...”
None of them had seen her; all their information came from Lou Lingyu’s account.
The city lord was nearly infuriated to the point of fainting by this group’s incompetence.
“Why aren’t you going to find her yet!” he roared.
...
Lou Lingyu disappeared, and the next day there was still no sign of her.
The city lord mobilized everyone in the city lord’s mansion to search, but only found that abandoned ship.
They found some blood stains aboard, but whose they were remained unknown.
Everyone in the mansion was on edge, not daring to breathe loudly, afraid to anger the city lord and lose their lives.
Two days later, a letter was found outside.
Inside the letter were Lou Lingyu’s personal belongings and a sheet of paper with a simple message demanding ransom money.
The city lord read the note and briefly wondered if he had misread it.
They were not like ordinary people; money was just an external thing to them.
What happened most often was kidnappings for rare treasures in exchange.
Now, it was just money?
No one saw who delivered the letter.
Nor was there any contact information.
Even if the city lord wanted to act, he had no way to start.
Money was the one thing Fankong City never lacked. With his own son in the kidnappers’ hands, the city lord dared not delay and immediately ordered the ransom to be gathered.
The next day, another letter arrived.
The ransom had doubled because the son was also held hostage.
Usually, the city lord might have ignored such a demand.
But now, needing Lou Xingluo—who possessed the Qilin Map—the city lord had no choice but to pay the ransom.
The letter provided no meeting place, only said to wait for further news.
The city lord stationed guards outside to watch who would deliver the next letter.
At midnight, they caught a small bird and brought it before the city lord.
Pointing at the pigeon-sized bird, the city lord asked in a strange tone, “This is it?”
“Yes.”
They had seen the bird drop the letter with its beak.
---
The city lord turned the bird over and over, confirming it was an ordinary bird, plain and common.
The letter instructed him to leave everything on that previously found abandoned ship, then take the ship out onto the river, have all people disembark and leave.
...
Of course, the city lord didn’t really follow the letter’s instructions—he left a few people on the ship.
But they waited until nightfall with no one arriving, instead receiving bloodstained clothes with a message scrawled:
“Everyone leave.”
The city lord was speechless.
He did not dare to leave anyone behind and withdrew all personnel.
At dawn, a small boat drifted in on the river, with Lou Lingyu lying inside, seemingly unharmed.
When they went to find the large ship again, it had vanished without a trace.
Just like when Lou Lingyu first disappeared.
...
The large ship drifted like a ghost on the river.
Moonlight spilled over the water’s surface, shimmering.
On the ship, Ling Qiong sat happily atop a chest, silver spirit coins scattered around her.
Lou Xingluo stood nearby watching her, his expression faintly softened.
Ling Qiong had originally planned only to trick Lou Lingyu.
But during their dealings, when Lou Lingyu spoke disrespectfully to Lou Xingluo, she changed her mind.
The Lou family had even tried to kill her child before.
What harm was there in charging interest?
NPCs exist to provide equipment to players!
Hence, this whole affair unfolded.
“I’ll give you half,” Ling Qiong said, tilting her head to look at him with some reluctance but ultimately making a painful concession.
After all, without Lou Xingluo as a tool and the help of the Ink Snake, it wouldn’t have been so easy.
She wasn’t the type to betray after crossing the river.
Lou Xingluo replied, “Keep it. I don’t need it.”
Ling Qiong’s eyes lit up, a smile blossoming, “You’re really a good person.”
Lou Xingluo: “...”
The Ink Snake emerged from the water and immediately wrapped up a chest. “If he doesn’t want it, I do!”
The Ink Snake felt entitled because it had helped hide the ship’s location from others, making it seem to vanish into thin air.
Ling Qiong glanced at it, humming a tune, and turned away to mess with the other chests.
One chest only.
The wealthy Ling Qiong did not care.
The Ink Snake swallowed the chest whole. These spirit coins contained spiritual energy—not much, but a whole chest was substantial.
...
Half a month later.
Ling Qiong sat in a carriage, gazing weakly at the barren mountains and wild forests outside. She asked Lou Xingluo, who was walking alongside, “How much farther?”
Lou Xingluo held a map, which had a glowing line.
This was something he had obtained during his trials.
As long as there was close blood kinship, one could accurately locate the specific place to summon a divine beast.
“We should be close.”
After leaving Fankong City, Lou Xingluo was supposed to send Ling Qiong back.
She had escaped behind Jiang He’s back.
But Ling Qiong refused to leave and insisted on following him, leading to their current situation.
Lou Xingluo put the map away and stopped the carriage.
“The carriage can’t go any further. We have to get down and walk.”
“...”
Ling Qiong looked ahead.
Why wasn’t she enjoying herself in the city and instead running off to suffer in the wild mountains?
“Help! Help!!”
A distant cry for help echoed, some distance away, faint and unclear.
Lou Xingluo and Ling Qiong exchanged a glance: “Someone’s there.”
Ling Qiong: “...”
In the wilderness, it could be some monster!
“Help... help...”
The voice was intermittent but growing closer.
Ling Qiong lifted the curtain and reached out her hand.
Lou Xingluo helped her down.
Just as she steadied herself, a figure staggered into view.
It was a woman, her hair tangled, clothes tattered and stained with blood.
Seeing living people, the woman’s face filled with hope as she ran toward them, begging, “Help... please save me!”
Ling Qiong held herself with the air of an empress dowager, her hand resting on Lou Xingluo’s arm, lazily watching the woman run over.
Her delicate, beautiful face showed little emotion.
Most of the time, Lou Xingluo found this girl gentle and harmless, like a soft and fluffy little white rabbit, but sometimes felt something was off.
At this moment, he seemed to understand the dissonance.
She appeared gentle and harmless but her actions clearly spelled out ‘cold and heartless’.
“Save me!”
Suddenly, countless vines burst forth from behind the woman, creeping along the ground and wrapping around her ankles.
“Ah...!”
The woman was dragged to the ground, leaving a trail as she was pulled along.
She clawed at the earth with her fingers, looking desperately at the people standing there.
--- End of Chapter ---
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