Chapter 666.1: Recognized
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S T E L L A R C L O U D
[Galetron]
O R A N G E S T A R
[Alma S.] [Christine G.-L.] [Fazzienaz] [K.Rom]
[Onepiece] [Suong D.] [Tori D.] [Ziana K.-P.]
Y E L L O W S T A R
[Passerby] [Xena]
G O L D S T A R
[Nevy] [Roxanne C.]
R A I N B O W S T A R
[Allie] [Debra W] [Kiiayame]
T H E S U N
[kuroneko_chan] [Michelle K.] [Smurfinbatik] [Sophia W.]
CELESTIAL CONQUEROR
[Ava C.] [Caroline] [Leticia P.] [Lily J.] [Malinkat] [Manon] [Val Nes]
Also, many thanks to everyone who bought me coffee (*≧?≦*)
The little servant girl had never seen a horse pull a carriage by itself before, and this horse was also quite amusing, happily prancing about.
She couldn't help but lift the curtain and keep watching.
The horse, being a show-off, bounced even more energetically when it noticed that someone was watching.
Gu Jiao sat in the carriage with her eyes closed, trying to rest, but the constant swaying of the carriage was making her dizzy.
She lifted the curtain and told the horse, "Just pull the carriage properly!"
The horse immediately calmed down and walked obediently for a few steps, but then it started bouncing again, as if testing Gu Jiao's patience.
Gu Jiao: "..."
The little servant girl stifled a laugh.
Gu Jiao instinctively glanced at her. Realizing her impropriety, the servant girl bowed slightly to express her apology and then let the curtain fall back down.
Gu Jiao withdrew her gaze.
The two carriages passed by each other.
For some reason, Gu Jiao felt a sense of unease, a feeling she couldn't quite describe.
She furrowed her brows, lifted the curtain, and looked to the side, but that carriage had already moved ahead, while her carriage turned into the alley.
That’s right. This was the same alley where Gu Chengfeng had once fainted. Since she had passed through here on her way, she naturally had to pass through it again on her return.
If the middle-aged woman hadn't taken Gu Chengfeng away, Gu Jiao would have encountered him by now.
Unfortunately, Gu Jiao was unaware of this.
However, as they passed through the alley, that strange feeling in her heart grew even stronger.
There were more puddles in the alley than on the street.
The horse king couldn't resist stepping into the puddles and started bouncing again, repeatedly testing the limits of Gu Jiao's patience. However, this time it didn't bounce for long before it suddenly stopped.
The downside of letting the horse king drive itself was that sometimes it would just run off to play on its own, but after playing enough, it would always bring the carriage back. As long as it didn't take too long, Gu Jiao usually wouldn't say anything.
Gu Jiao waited quietly.
But this time seemed different; the horse king was very quiet.
It seemed to be sniffing something and then bit down on it. It then shook off the carriage shafts and turned around, sticking its head into the carriage.
"What's wrong?" Gu Jiao looked at the horse king that had suddenly appeared in front of her and saw it holding a mask in its mouth.
The mask was soaked in water, stained with some mud, but it didn't prevent Gu Jiao from recognizing it.
It was her mask.
Or more precisely, it was Gu Chengfeng's mask, which Gu Jiao had taken from him. Later, Gu Chengfeng got a new one, and she took the new one too, returning the old one for Gu Chengfeng to use.
The reason the horse king picked up the mask was probably because it smelled Gu Jiao's scent on it and thought it was something she had dropped.
Gu Jiao took the mask.
She turned it over and over, confirming it was the first mask she had taken from Gu Chengfeng.
If it were just the mask, Gu Jiao might not think it was the same mask. But the horse king wouldn't pick up something unfamiliar.
Thinking back to the figure she had seen near the inner city gate that day, could it be...Gu Chengfeng had really come?
Then where was he now?
……
The heavy rain poured down, and the carriage struggled to move along the increasingly deserted street. The horse was exhausted, but fortunately, they had arrived at their destination.
The carriage stopped in front of a beautifully decorated opera house.
"Madam, we have arrived!" The coachman called out loudly.
The middle-aged woman's snoring stopped abruptly. She sat up, wiped the drool from her mouth with her sleeve, cleared her throat, and frowned, "We're here, no need to shout!"
She got out of the carriage and found two young servant boys to carry the person inside the carriage.
The servant boys were accustomed to such situations, so they quickly carried the person into the opera house. Normally, newcomers would be placed in the woodshed, but after the middle-aged woman lifted the hair from Gu Chengfeng's face and saw his features, she immediately ordered a room to be prepared for him.
"Ma’am pro... Madam!" The servant girl corrected herself hurriedly and asked, "Why are you giving him a room?"
The middle-aged woman scoffed, "Men with looks like his are rare. Ever since those vixens came to Chunfeng Pavilion, they've taken all the business on this street! I...cough! Your madam here needs to take good care of him and make him bring back some business for me!"
The servant girl pouted, "What if he doesn't want to?"
The middle-aged woman sneered, "Does he have a choice?"
After the servant boys placed Gu Chengfeng in the room, the middle-aged woman ordered someone to change his clothes into dry ones.
Gu Chengfeng lay on the soft bed, his collar half open, revealing part of his muscular chest.
He had been whipped, with varying depths of whip marks on his chest.
"Tsk tsk tsk, who was so harsh?" The middle-aged woman sat by the bed, happily undoing Gu Chengfeng's clothes, looking him over with satisfaction, "Oh my, look at this physique! This procuress has found a treasure today! Yinxing!"
"Madam." The servant girl came over.
The middle-aged woman said with a smile, "Go fetch the best bottle of jinchuang medicine from my room, and also the jade snow cream. I want him spotless, not a trace of those whip marks left."
The servant girl hesitated for a moment before saying, "But he seems ill. He hasn't woken up the entire way here. Could he be dying?"
The middle-aged woman glared fiercely at her, "You're the one dying! How dare you curse people like that?"
The servant girl mumbled, "It’s not like I’m cursing you."
The middle-aged woman snorted, "He's my money tree that I picked up. If you curse him to die, aren't you cursing me to lose money?"
The servant girl had no reply to that.
The middle-aged woman finished adjusting Gu Chengfeng's clothes, "Stop standing there. Go quickly and fetch Physician Liu. Do you really want to see him die?"
Physician Liu was a local physician nearby. He happened to be at home, so the servant girl quickly brought him over.
Physician Liu prescribed some medicine, and the middle-aged woman sent the servant girl to get the ingredients.
While the medicine was being prepared, Gu Chengfeng woke up. His head was dizzy, and he wasn't as clear-headed as usual, but he could tell this wasn't the alley where he had collapsed.
In the room were some peculiar people. What made them strange was, firstly, their excessively glamorous attire, and secondly, what they were currently busy with.
"Is it ready yet?" The middle-aged woman asked.
"It's almost done!" The servant girl replied, grinding some medicinal herbs in a bowl with a pestle while tossing two leaves from a nearby basket into it.
She mashed the contents into a paste, then poured it into a small jar.
Before long, a faint black light seemed to flash inside the jar. The servant girl swiftly caught it with a porcelain bottle.
"It's ready, Madam!" She said.
"Use it on him." The middle-aged woman instructed.
"Okay." The servant girl turned towards Gu Chengfeng.
Gu Chengfeng's intuition told him this wasn't something good. Gathering what little strength he had left, he hesitated briefly before lifting the quilt.
"Oh! You're awake?" The servant girl exclaimed.
Gu Chengfeng suddenly stood up, but whether he stood up too quickly or was simply too weak, he felt dizzy and promptly sat back down.
"Hurry up and use it on him!" The middle-aged woman demanded.
The servant girl reached out to grab Gu Chengfeng, but he pushed her away with a grunt, causing her to collide with a pillar behind her.
Seeing this, the middle-aged woman furrowed her brow. Even in his weakened state, he had the strength to push someone away?
She coldly ordered, "Someone come! Hold him down for me!"
Two servant boys entered and quickly approached Gu Chengfeng.
Gu Chengfeng, confused and feverish, and feeling weak all over, couldn't muster his usual strength. After struggling for a moment, he was subdued by the servant boys who knew martial arts and pressed onto the bed.
The middle-aged woman sighed softly, looking down at him from above, "Be obedient and listen to me. I won't mistreat you."
"Let me go..." Gu Chengfeng weakly protested.
The middle-aged woman didn't understand the Zhao language. She smiled and said, "I'm not trying to poison you. Why would you run? You see, as a lowly slave, being noticed by me is your good fortune. Why resist?"
Suddenly, the servant girl holding the bowl said, "Madam, the Gu worm is about to die. We need to feed it to him quickly!"
"Bring it here." The middle-aged woman extended her hand.
The servant girl handed the bowl to the middle-aged woman.
This type of worm was commonly used in their brothel——now an opera house——to control people. No one could resist its effects. If the antidote wasn't taken monthly, it would make people feel like being devoured by thousands of ants, a fate worse than death.
"Open his mouth." The middle-aged woman ordered coldly.
The servant boys pried Gu Chengfeng's mouth open.
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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Description:
In the suspenseful supernatural novel “Records of Mortals,” Jiang Baiyan, once a solitary and impoverished youth, finds refuge in the Shi family of Chang’an due to his extraordinary bloodline. With his clear and captivating peach blossom eyes, this seemingly innocent young man conceals a fanatical and malevolent lunatic within. Destined to succumb to darkness amidst hardship and degradation, he becomes a harbinger of chaos.
When Shi Dai suddenly transmigrates, she takes on the role of the Shi family’s young lady, the one who subjects him to countless trials, eventually leading to her demise.
The twist? She never got to finish reading the novel.
From what she knew of the plot, Jiang Baiyan was just a silent, timid, and often bullied pitiable character.
***
Jiang Baiyan had never encountered someone like Shi Dai.
After he had slaughtered all the evil creatures in the garden, the blood-stained young man, exuding a murderous aura, approached her step by step, his lips curling into a malicious smile, "Scared?"
Shi Dai responded, “You’re really amazing! I applaud you until I spin like a spiral and fly around the moon three hundred times! And also——you have dimples when you smile!"
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
—
After seeing her at a lantern festival with another man, Jiang Baiyan lowered his eyes, his fingers twirling her hair. He said in a mocking and sinister tone, "The mansion in the western suburbs...if I hide you there, no one will find you, right?"
Shi Dai replied, "Does it come with meals and lodging? Can I sleep in everyday? Oh, and your cooking is the best!"
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
—
Jiang Baiyan was supposed to dislike her, even hate her, but as their separation drew near, his eyes turned red and he grabbed her sleeve, pleading, "Don't abandon me, alri—”
Shi Dai responded, "Alright, alright, I’ll only have you. Mwah."
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
He hasn't finished his lines yet though…