Chapter 969: Perplexed and Smitten (29)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“All of us dare not show ourselves in broad daylight, and we only ever come out at night. We were extremely worried that His Highness might have been murdered and we were looking forward to his return. We were so troubled and conflicted. However, he never came back in the end.”
“…”
An Xiaoning and Jin Qingyan listened attentively, feeling a sudden sense of moroseness and sympathy.
“You mean you never saw him again after he went missing without a reason?”
Ling Yu answered with a lopsided smile, “Yes. I don’t regret dying, however. My family sold me to the palace when I was a young child and His Highness was kind enough to grant me the privilege of getting married. He even allowed me to return to the palace after my parents-in-law chased me out of the family. His Highness was very kind and nice to me. I just take pity on the rest who died. At least a few hundreds of lives were taken, and more than ten newborns were killed too…”
Choking with sobs, she continued, “There were so many people in the residence, and yet none of them survived. Even the horses, dogs, cats, and livestock were not spared.”
A vein began bulging from Jin Qingyan’s forehead, and he thought to himself that he definitely was not aware of those events that took place in his previous life. Otherwise, there was no way he wouldn’t have returned.
“Were the instructions given by the emperor?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Was the emperor my younger or older brother?”
“He was your second brother. Your Highness, you were the third prince.”
“Do you guys know why he sent out those instructions?”
Shaking her head, Ling Yu answered, “We had no idea. The imperial edict only stated that you were colluding with the outsiders in an attempt to seize power…”
Well, it was not surprising that they were uninformed about the power struggle since they were just a bunch of servants serving the prince.
An Xiaoning asked with a heavy heart, “Miss Ling Yu, who was the one who trapped you guys?”
“After our deaths, we heard the troops calling the person who performed the ritual ‘Master Yin.’ I reckon he must’ve been a member of the Yin family, which was closely a.s.sociated with the emperor.” Ling Yu asked in a moment of curiosity, “Why do I feel like you can see us, Miss Jin?”
“You’re right. I was born with the ability to see and communicate with spirits. Thus, I can see you guys. Please bring me to the place where you were buried. Leave the rest to us to handle.”
“Please come with us then, Your Highness and Miss Jin,” said Ling Yu, who swayed toward the side and turned around to walk away.
An Xiaoning and Jin Qingyan followed her lead.
Before they reached the place, An Xiaoning received a call from w.a.n.g Jinsheng, who was worried about them.
An Xiaoning answered quickly and told him to rest a.s.sured. w.a.n.g Jinsheng felt much more relieved to hear that they were safe and sound.
They arrived at a dilapidated place, and Ling Yu pointed at a patch of land while saying, “This is it.”
“We’ll bring some people here tomorrow to dig up the soil. I’ll also remove the amulets that have been trapping you guys and handle your skeletons appropriately.”
“Thank you very much, Your Highness and Miss Jin. Back then, we were both looking forward to His Highness’ return and dreading it at the same time because we were worried that he would be arrested once he came back. At least if he didn’t, we would think that he’s probably still alive somewhere. After several decades, we stopped looking forward to his return and we couldn’t deny the fact that His Highness might have died… we never thought that we could see His Highness again. We really never expected…” she said in between sobs.
“It was my fault for failing to protect you guys. I’m sorry,” Jin Qingyan apologized with tears in his eyes.
Shaking her head profusely, Ling Yu said, “No… it’s not your fault, Your Highness.”
After chatting for a while, Ling Yu asked when they were about to leave, “Pardon me for my bluntness, but could you answer this brazen question of mine, Miss Jin?”
“Go ahead.”
“You and His Highness, you guys…”
“We didn’t manage to stay together in our previous lives, but we’ve reunited in our present lifetime and we now have a son together.”
Ling Yu and the rest of the spirits were extremely elated, though they did not dare to make a single sound when Ling Yu was speaking.
“We’re all elated for you now that you finally got your wishes, Your Highness. All His Highness yearned for in the past was to marry you, Miss Jin, but he never got the chance to fulfill his wishes.”
An Xiaoning turned to look at Jin Qingyan while tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
Their fingers were interlocked tightly throughout.
On the way back, the hundreds of spirits escorted them away. Although Jin Qingyan could not see them, he could still feel their presence.
“Ms. An, Mr. Jin, you’re finally out!” w.a.n.g Jinsheng exclaimed agitatedly as he proceeded forward together with the other archeologists, who were extremely worried about them. Everyone heaved a huge sigh of relief upon seeing that they were alright.
“Let’s go back first. We’ll talk in the tent.”
“Yes, yes.”
Once they got inside the car, Wen Lele leaned in and asked, “Ms. An, did anything happen after you entered?”
“Nothing happened at all.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Ms. Wen, were you hoping that something would happen to us inside?” An Xiaoning questioned, giving her the side-eye.
Wen Lele frantically explained herself, “No, no, no, that’s not what I meant. How could I possibly hope for that? That place is so spooky and haunted. I was just afraid that a mishap would happen. After you guys entered, our captain started pacing back and forth like a madman, and silently in our hearts, we were all praying for you two to be safe.”
“There are indeed spirits in there but they’re just a bunch of pitiful souls.”
“A bunch? How many exactly?” Wen Lele asked.
“Close to a thousand.”
Turning as pale as a sheet, Wen Lele exclaimed, “What!?! No wonder those rituals performed by the mediums previously were of no use at all. What a bunch of incompetent fools. Ms. An, did you get rid of all the spirits?”
An Xiaoning retorted, “Why should I get rid of them? They’ve been trapped in there for centuries. Let’s move their skeletons to another sanctuary tomorrow. They’ll be able to reincarnate once I remove the amulets from their corpses.”
“How could you let them reincarnate!?! They’ve killed so many of our crew. They deserve to die. They shouldn’t be allowed to reincarnate forever!” Wen Lele exclaimed in fury at the thought of her deceased colleagues.
“Shut up!” Jin Qingyan snapped, frightening Wen Lele.
“Jin Qingyan, what do you mean? What did I say wrongly? Why did you tell me to shut up?”
An Xiaoning swung his hand a little to signal him not to answer. She answered on his behalf, “Ms. Wen, Qingyan is in a foul mood, please don’t take it personally. I’m very sorry about the deaths of your colleagues too. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have agreed to come here with you. However, those spirits are very pitiful too. They were innocent and killed for no reason. As for their outcome, we’ll leave that to Hades to decide.”
Wen Lele remarked in disdain toward Jin Qingyan, “Jin Qingyan hasn’t changed since high school. He’s still so nonchalant and aloof when I talk to him.”
Noticing that Jin Qingyan and An Xiaoning both seemed to be out of sorts, w.a.n.g Jinsheng immediately said, “Lele, that’s enough. Cut it out.”
Wen Lele looked out of the window, after which the car soon arrived at the tent and they alighted together.
They decided to stay over for the night. Due to the fact that there was limited s.p.a.ce in the tents, w.a.n.g Jinsheng suggested that Wen Lele and An Xiaoning share the same tent since Wen Lele was the only other female member of the team apart from the one who had yet to recover from the shock. Seeing that there was indeed a s.p.a.ce constraint, An Xiaoning agreed.