1 li [ancient China] = 0.5 kilometres
Chapter 13: The Princess’s Objective
Ten li out of Shanzhu Village, and still no sign of a motorcycle. Lu Li could only walk back, his backpack weighing him down. He was no stranger to long walks. In his past life, during his early entrepreneurial days, driven by nothing but youthful passion, he once walked from Chuanhai to the border of Jiangnan province. The reason was quite ridiculous – just to save some travel expenses. In the end, he was reported by passersby as a vagrant, causing An Baili to cry and beg him to come back.
After walking for a while, Lu Li suddenly heard the roar of an engine approaching. A dirty white van appeared in the distance. He couldn’t see what was inside, but the van was speeding towards him, showing no signs of slowing down. This brought back some unpleasant memories from his past life. A business rival had once hired someone to run him and Chen Jianing over. Luckily, Lu Li reacted quickly and shielded Chen Jianing with his own body, taking the brunt of the impact. The driver, however, lost his nerve at the last moment and slammed on the brakes. Lu Li narrowly escaped death. Later, he learned that during his hospitalization, Chen Jianing hadn’t slept a wink. She seemed to have even argued with An Baili. She stayed by his side day and night, tending to his every need. If he moved his lips, she would offer him water. If he shifted in bed, she would help him to the bathroom. Lu Li had wondered more than once if Chen Jianing had fallen in love with him.
“Don’t flatter yourself, I have someone I like,” she had replied.
The memory faded as the grayish-white van stopped beside him. Two burly men jumped out, grabbed a black hood, and pulled it over Lu Li’s head. He reacted quickly, but he was no match for the two men. After a brief struggle, his vision went black, and he was carried into the van by one of them.
“Hey, do I have some kind of grudge against you guys?” Lu Li felt like the hood was drugged. His consciousness was fading.
“I’m a woman!” the burly man barked.
What the… So it’s a female bodybuilder? Lu Li thought nonsensically before losing consciousness.
When he woke up again, he felt the air stuffy, his nostrils plugged as if with a cork. His body swayed, as if he were in a moving vehicle. The seat behind him was soft, and he was flanked by solid muscle on both sides.
“…bottom, didn’t find it.” The man on his left had a surprisingly high-pitched voice. No, not a man, a woman. Both of these muscular giants were women.
Bottom? What bottom? Her Majesty’s? Lu Li’s mind wandered.
Just then, a melodious female voice came from his front, seductive and smoky, like a sultry woman exhaling a cloud of smoke, or a nine-tailed fox from Qingqiu. “Where’s your necklace?”
The moment he heard this voice, Lu Li knew who had kidnapped him. But the hood was still over his head, and he couldn’t see her expression or guess her motive.
Zhu Xi.
Necklace. Lu Li had only ever worn one necklace, the thing Mei Jinliu called the “Rebirth Crystal.”
What did Zhu Xi want with the pendant?
Lu Li remained silent, playing dead. Zhu Xi also fell silent. The stuffy and hot air circulated in the confined space. The two women held their breath, not daring to make a sound.
“Tell me where the necklace is, and you can go.” Zhu Xi, after all, was still young. She was the first to break the silence, revealing her objective and bottom line. Hearing this, Lu Li knew he wasn’t in danger today, as long as he didn’t do anything stupid like revealing her identity.
“I don’t have a necklace.”
“Let’s not waste time on the question of whether you have it or not.” Zhu Xi said coldly. “Let’s get straight to the point. First, where did you get that necklace?”
From An Baili, or rather, from Mei Jinliu. But either name would eventually lead back to An Baili.
“I found it in Shanzhu Village.”
Shanzhu Village… a completely unfamiliar name, yet it felt like she had heard it somewhere before. In the corner of her memory, the words “Shanzhu Village” seemed to be lurking, waiting for this moment to surface, making Zhu Xi restless. She asked impatiently, “Was there anything special about that necklace?”
“…No, it was just an ordinary necklace.”
“Then where is it?!” By now, Zhu Xi was clearly agitated. Her face was close to Lu Li’s, and they breathed in each other’s warm breath. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but the Fourteenth Princess’s breath had a faint sweetness, the unique scent of a young woman. But maybe not. After all, poisonous things were often beautiful and sweet.
“I lost it. I lost it in Shanzhu Village.” Lu Li remained calm. He knew he had to give her an answer to divert her attention. Although he didn’t know what Zhu Xi wanted with the Rebirth Crystal, he had a feeling it wasn’t for anything good.
Hearing this answer, Zhu Xi gradually calmed down. She whispered, “Make him sleep… find a place… to dispose of him… The Chu family will…” The rest of her words were inaudible. Lu Li lost consciousness again.
When he woke up again, he was on a bus back to Chuanhai. He sat in the last row, still groggy. His memories slowly returned. He vaguely remembered Zhu Xi heading towards Shanzhu Village with her men. What was she planning to do?
Could there be someone else in this world who knew the secret of rebirth, besides him, An Baili, and Mei Jinliu?
No… impossible. Even if there was, it couldn’t be Zhu Xi.
She must have had some reason to look for the pendant. But what could be so important that a royal princess would risk her reputation to kidnap someone? And kidnap Lu Li, a guest of the Chu family, no less?
She must know something… something deeper.
A chill ran down Lu Li’s spine. He didn’t want to have anything to do with Zhu Xi. History had proven that those who tried to get close to her all met tragic ends, including her own siblings.
As Lu Li was thinking, he received a rare text message. It was rare because it was from someone who almost never initiated contact: Wen Hupo.
“The character designs are finished.” The blonde girl wrote.
“Dig.” Zhu Xi stood on a grave mound with her arms crossed, ordering the two muscular women to excavate the tombs one by one. But there weren’t any bodies in these earthen mounds. The people who had died here seemed to have vanished into thin air.
“Your Highness, look at this.” One of the female bodyguards suddenly picked up a sparkling fragment from the ground. The fragment shimmered with blue and purple light under the sun, its glow otherworldly.
Zhu Xi’s eyes lit up. “We found it!”
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