The Story Of Dusk

This time also those children would be sent there by tomorrow with Modama. But, not only that, people from the Greenhill Mountain also wanted the same and now Xiao Jun was interested in the same thing.

What was exactly happening?

Xiao w.a.n.g Wei had asked his father couple of time, but he refused to explain it to him. "It"s not yet the time for him to know" was all his Emperor father said.

"What do you want with those children? You are aware that it is not only you who wants those children. Modama and people from Greenhill Mountain wanted the same thing. What exactly you want to do with them?" Xiao w.a.n.g Wei"s curiosity got the best of him.

"I don"t have time to educate you about this, since your father also looks for the same thing, why don"t you ask him instead? Use your brain to think, don"t just expect to get an answer easily." Xiao Jun was clearly mocking him.

Just because he was a crown prince then every answers of his question would pop out for him, ready to use.

"Sixty three children from Xinghe for the exchange of your life." Xiao Jun remarked. He walked back to his horse and mounted. "I will be in the nearest village to stay for night."

From the resolute tone of his voice, Xiao Jun"s decision couldn"t be faltered anymore and if it was the case he needed to play trick on Modama to get those children out of his surveillance. It wouldn"t be easy, especially when he has to explain the disappearance of sixty three children.

However, to say his condition right now, Xiao w.a.n.g Wei didn"t think Modama would sympathize and gave up those children for his sake and by that time he it would be hard for him to take the children or he would be death by then.

"How long you will stay there?!" Xiao w.a.n.g Wei didn"t like to be the short end of the stick.

Xiao Jun frowned. Was he stupid? No matter how long he would stay in that village it was him who was running out of time. Even if he said he would stay for a week, with poison in his body system, Xiao w.a.n.g Wei would hardly survive three days onward.

"Your life will not be longer than my stay." Xiao Jun said coldly. "MOVE!" He roared at the rows of archers who block his way.

His voice echoed through the dense of the trees and scared the h.e.l.l out of the animal nearby, many birds flew from the branches they perched.

Seeing Xiao w.a.n.g  Wei silently took a step aside, his Golden Arrow Archer dispersed, leaving an empty road in the middle while they were sitting atop of their horses, stock- still.

Xiao Jun led his entourage through the road under the malice gaze from Golden Arrow Archer, they really wanted to spill blood right now, but couldn"t do anything without consent from Xiao w.a.n.g Wei.

Not long after that, Xiao Jun entourage had disappeared, leaving them only dust and dirt.

"You will pay dearly for this!!!" Xiao w.a.n.g Wei balled his fist while glaring at Xiao Jun direction, his eyes were burning with revenge.

***  

When Xiao Jun and his entourage arrived at the nearby village the sun almost set, leaving a ray of golden color in its wake.

Xiao Jun told his guard to leave the ten empty carriages at the entrance of the village and a.s.signed five of them to guard it.

After that, he rode his horse to two storey building not too far from the entrance, it was an inn and he had specifically told Liu Wei to book rooms there.

The moment the owner of the inn saw Liu Wei, he immediately recognized him. "Mister Liu." He called out for Liu Wei and rushed to his direction.

He was a middle age man with small eyes and slightly fat, but his expression let people know that he wasn"t a calculative person.

"This must be your Master." The inn owner eyed Xiao Jun and couldn"t help, but mesmerized by his almost perfect features, if he had his beauty, he would be able to marry any woman that he wanted, shaking his head, he added. "I have prepared the rooms and some of your Master"s friend had come as well, they were in the second floor."

The inn owner gave the key to Liu Wei and was about to lead the way, but Xiao Jun refused and said there was no need. This was only small inn there wouldn"t be many room on the second floor.

In the end the inn owner told them the direction and the room number.

Thanking him, Liu Wei followed his master, who had walked ahead, to the second floor.

Xiao Jun opened the door that would be his room, from inside he could hear voices, there were a few people inside, chatting.

The sound of the door was being open interrupted their conversation as suddenly the room became quiet.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Then there was melodious voice that he had grown to love, calling out his name.

"Jun?"

And the moment he appeared before their eyes, Qianru had rushed toward him and hugged him tight.

"You are back!" Qianru said with mirth in his ear.

"I am back." Xiao Jun hugged her back and brought her into the room. "How are you feeling?"

"I am fine." Qianru said firmly, release him from her hug, she cupped Xiao Jun"s face in her small palms. "Are you alright?" She asked full with concern.

"I am." Xiao Jun said softly, kissing her forehead.

When Xiao Jun did that, there was someone clearing his throat and with rough voice he said in annoyance. "Can both of you stop it? We have another urgent matter to be discussed!"

Hearing that, Qianru shrank back timidly, she lowered her head and murmured. "I will ask Sheng and Shun to help me to prepare dinner…" And then she ran away.

Xiao Jun looked at Qianru, who was trying to escape, until her pet.i.te figure disappeared behind the close door.

Only then he turned around to face the sullen expression of Ye Bai and his emotionless younger brother. Looking at them didn"t boost his mood at all.

Without any other choice, Xiao Jun pulled a chair and sat down. "So, how we are now?" Xiao Jun stared at Xiao Tianyao and Ye Bai, waiting information from their side.

Xiao Tianyao was a little bit tired out, he barely took a break after his journey from Azura straight to the black market.

It was quite an effort on his side to be able to catch up with Modama, though the later didn"t know Xiao Tianyao was there as well.

At first Xiao Tianyao thought Xiao Jun would stay at the same inn that he had always occupied, but instead of Xiao Jun, he saw Xiao w.a.n.g Wei were going out from the entrance gate.

Feeling something wrong, Xiao Tianyao secretly visited Nangong Yunyi, the owner of the inn, he was also a friend of his brother and him, in his chamber.

And next, Nangong Yunyi told him about Xiao Jun"s whereabouts and his plan. That was why he knew where he could find his brother that night.

"Qianru was almost kidnapped by Leader Mo." Xiao Tianyao said straight to the point.

When Xiao Jun told him about his plan, Xiao Tianyao felt that his brother had overlooked about something and didn"t feel at ease.

Initially he would bring Qianru to the golden auction along with him, but because he felt something wasn"t right with Xiao Jun arrangement, that was why he went to the brothel, where Qianru was residing much earlier and stayed low.

He kept quiet when he saw someone was leading Qianru toward different direction in Xiao Jun"s guard clothes, he didn"t act immediately and let him to bring Qianru to the backyard.

His feeling was proved right, the guard wasn"t his brother"s, when he saw Qianru stabbed him, he almost didn"t believe with what he saw.

Since when Qianru had an enough courage to stab someone viciously like that, but looking how she tried to fight back and managed to figure out she was being tricked was amusing.

Seemingly Xiao Jun"s bad influence had down to her as well.

"What?!" Xiao Jun bolted up from his chair with shock was written all over his face.

"No need for the overreaction. As you can see, she was safe and sound now." Xiao Tianyao glanced at his brother from his cup of tea. "I told you right? Leaving her in the brothel can"t a.s.sure her safety."

Xiao Jun was right Qianru was fine now. With that thought, Xiao Jun sat back again. Feel relieved.

"It supposed to be no one could guess she was there." Xiao Jun murmured. It was true, no one with higher rank would step a foot at that side of black market.

Moreover that place was owned by him, all of the courtesan, the guards and the servant pledged their royalty to him. There must be something wrong with it. Or there was traitor among his people?

He shook that thought for now, to find a traitor among his people was quite challenging, he could think about it later because for now he had another matter that he needed to be done.

"We live in the world that fill with uncertainty, how you can be so sure." Ye Bai sipped his tea calmly.

Xiao Jun, Xiao Tianyao and Qi Xunyi whipped their head toward him with brows knitted tightly.

Feeling their strange gazes, Ye Bai lifted his head and stared back at them with sullen face. "What is it? Something wrong with my logic!?" He was a little bit annoyed by the way they looked at him.

"No, nothing." Xiao Jun averted his eyes and poured a tea for himself while Xiao Tianyao simply looked at the other direction.

"I am amazed that you could say something good when you are sober." It was Qi Xunyi who voiced out what they were thinking.

It was true, ever since he lost his little family, he was very rare in sober state not to mention to talk something like that. If he wasn"t in mission, he would drank and sometimes he would drank while wrapping up his mission.

Fortunately he was capable enough to do both of that.

"Did Xiao w.a.n.g Wei come to find you?" Xiao Tianyao asked cut off Ye Bai"s complaint, drew them back to focus on the real matter at hand.

"Yes, he brought around fifty Golden Arrow Archers with him." Xiao Jun informed them.

"Huh! Golden Arrow Archer!" Ye Bai spat upon hearing that name, he disgusted thoroughly with that name.

It was the same force, which w.a.n.g Yu had brought to destroy and kill his family years ago.

Giving a few moment for Ye Bai to calm down, Xiao Jun continued his sentences. "Just like what I thought, he demanded the antidote."

"So, when he will deliver the children to us?" Qi Xunyi asked impatiently, those children were his people. He couldn"t abandon them, especially when he knew Modama would use them for something unwise.

"It will not take longer. I a.s.sume Xiao w.a.n.g Wei can already feel the symptom by now." Xiao Jun said. "Probably tomorrow night, he is someone who doesn"t like to make a move under the blazing sun."

There was silence that follow, after everything was going according Xiao Jun"s arrangement except the part Xiao w.a.n.g Wei managed to find Qianru"s location and sent Leader Mo to kidnap her.

Xiao Jun was a bit upset with that fact.

"There is something that you need to know." Xiao Tianyao said. "Leader Mo is in our custody."

Xiao Tianyao fought him and knocked him off when he was trying to escape after his plan to kidnap Qianru failed.

"What we should do with him?" Xiao Tianyao asked.

Before, in order to attract Xiao w.a.n.g Wei"s attention to Xiao Jun"s departure, he deliberately bought many carriages, aside it could announce his leaving, Xiao Tianyao also would be able to leave black market with Qianru without draw their attention.

Only after Xiao Tianyao and Qianru left, Ye Bai, Qi Xunyi and the twins left as well. They were taking different road, but because Xiao w.a.n.g Wei"s interruption, Xiao Jun arrived late. It was still within their prediction though.

"Where is him?" Xiao Jun asked.

"He is in another room with many guards inside and outside." Xiao Tianyao said, but there was a deep frown on his face that didn"t go unnoticed by Xiao Jun.

"What is it?" Xiao Jun asked, looking his brother in daze.

"He should be awake now, but he still unconscious until now." Xiao Tianyao was going to check on him before they left the black market, but he was still out cold, even after they arrived Leader Mo was still in the same condition.

It was a good thing he was unconscious, so he wouldn"t give him unnecessary troubled, but it was odd…

"He is still alive right?" Qi Xunyi frowned as well.

"Oh, that Mo guy?" Ye Bai peeled an orange and ate it while talking. "I knocked him off again when he woke up." He said lightly.

"What?" Qi Xunyi asked incredulously. "How many times you had knocked him off, he is still unconscious for almost a day."

"I don"t know." Ye Bai shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly. "Every time I saw him he was about to wake up, so I knocked him off again."

"And how many times is that?" Xiao Jun couldn"t help but asked as well.

"Three of four times…?" Ye Bai unsure with his answered.

He was not really sober at that moment too, so he didn"t pay much attention and for Leader Mo bad luck, it was always Ye Bai who was beside him every time he regained his consciousness.

"You could kill him!" Qi Xunyi chided.

"It"s good news then, killing an enemy is only natural, we can relax a little." Ye Bai bit an apple in his hand. "They have been trying to kill us all this time." He stated the fact.

When they had nothing to say and each of them were busy with their own thought, Qianru and the twins came inside the room together with Liu Wei and two other guards.

They were holding wooden tray full of mouth- watering food and delicacies, and put it down on the table.

"Let"s eat for now." Qianru said and took a seat beside Xiao Jun.

She fanned the soup in front of her with her hand and took a smell of its scent as her eyes lit up.

"Right, let"s eat first!" Ye Bai shouted and ready to ravish all the food on the table.

***

It was midnight, when Xiao Tianyao decided that he couldn"t fall asleep no matter what he did. His mind just didn"t want to cooperate with him regardless his tiredness.

Thus, he decided to check on Leader Mo and another man that he had purchased on the black market.

Actually, he didn"t want to go to the black market, but Xiao Jun insisted for him to take Qianru and let her know one or two things about it.

Actually it was a good thing to make her less ignorance about the world around her, but wasn"t that Xiao Jun"s task as his husband?! It wasn"t mean he refused it, but attending an auction like that wasn"t something that he like, Xiao Jun knew about that and kept insisting.

He was quite upset with that fact.

Guards who were guarding Leader Mo"s door cupped their hand in respect when they saw Xiao Tianyao.

"Is he awake?" Xiao Jun asked rigidly. There was no trace of warm in the way he spoke, but under this circ.u.mstance those people had gotten used with it, as long as he wasn"t in bad mood, it was fine.

"He had just awake and got his night meal." One of the guards answered him. "Prince Xiao Tianyao do you want to come inside?"

Xiao Tianyao thought about it and said. "Open the door." Since he couldn"t fall asleep, he was better checking on his prisoner as well.

The guard opened the door and held it for him.

Slowly, Xiao Tianyao walked inside the room and found Leader Mo was sitting on the floor, beside the bed with hand and feet tied up.

They didn"t even put blanket beneath him in this kind of cold weather.

Xiao Tianyao smirked when he saw this. "Awake now?" He sneered.

Leader Mo didn"t answer.

Xiao Tianyao glanced at the messy food on the floor, apparently he refused to eat and because Xiao Tianyao had told the guards to tie his hand behind his back, he couldn"t feed himself as well.

"Are you trying to starve yourself to death?" Xiao Tianyao tilted his head. "I don"t mind it, really. You can continue."

Raised his head, Leader Mo stared at Xiao Tianyao with hatred in his eyes. "Xiao Tianyao…" He called his name insolently. "Visiting an old man, huh?" He spat.

"Only check, whether you are still alive or already dead." Xiao Tianyao replied lightly. "Since you are still alive, enjoy your time then." He turned around and strolled toward the door.

He didn"t want to spend longer time with him, or else, even though he could sleep, he would be hunted by nightmare.

However, Leader Mo next word made him stop walking completely.

"Do you want to know how your parents died?" His voice, oddly, laced with mirth.

Subconsciously Xiao Tianyao turned around and stared at him, he was beaten and there was dry blood on his forehead, but there was a vicious smile grazed his lips.