Shocking Mountain Moon

Chapter 38 Hostages
It's all their fault.

This is what Qiu Heng learned during those ten years.

Save those who can be saved, and give up those who cannot be saved. If she kept blaming herself for not saving the poor people who appeared in front of her, she would have collapsed long ago.

It was the world that was wrong, the foreigners who treated the Xia people like pigs and dogs, not her.

That was pain, but also growth. Now it has become the nourishment that supports her to walk alone in the world, without fear or retreat.

Qiu Heng received another invitation from Princess Jiayi and took Fangzhou to Prince Kang's Mansion.

Princess Jiayi was waiting in the pavilion in the garden. The stone table in the pavilion was filled with fresh fruits and snacks.

"Miss Qiu Liu." Seeing Qiu Heng, Princess Jiayi showed her the newly made incense pendant like offering a treasure, "Is it much better?"

Qiu Heng looked at it carefully: "It's of moderate thickness and good color, but the smell is not harmonious enough. This has something to do with the ratio of spices and the pounding of the fragrant mud..."

Princess Jiayi listened carefully and admired the girl in front of her even more.

She likes people like Qiu Liu, who will not only say nice things to her just because of her status, and everything she says is useful.

"Miss Qiuliu, can I call you Ah Heng?"

Princess Jiayi asked this question suddenly. Qiu Heng was stunned for a moment before she smiled and nodded: "Okay."

"Ah Heng, did you know that your perfume pendant has become popular in Beijing? Many people are studying how to make it."

"Really? I'm happy that everyone likes Xiangpei."

Qiu Heng knew that the news about Xiang Pei had spread. This was her plan, and it was also confirmed by Qiu Yang.

On the day when the Imperial College was closed for the holidays, Qiu Yang went to find her and asked her about the fragrance pendant. He said that several classmates had asked him if he had a sister who could make fragrance pendants. When he asked, he found out that it was the sisters of those classmates who asked him to ask.

Qiu Heng simply gave Qiu Yang a scented pendant. When Qiu Yang left, his steps were brisk, completely losing the dignity of a brother.

"Ah Heng, it would be great if everyone was as magnanimous as you." Princess Jiayi held Qiu Heng's hand and told her another purpose for inviting her here, "My eldest brother said he wants to see you for something."

Fearing that Qiu Heng would be embarrassed, Princess Jiayi hurriedly explained: "Big brother told me that you two have known each other for a long time. Thanks to your help, big brother didn't get lost in the mountains that year..."

Qiu Heng was not embarrassed.

If she felt awkward meeting younger men, then she shouldn't do anything.

"Then I'll have someone call Big Brother over."

Not long after, Ling Yun came over.

He wore a moon-white robe with wide sleeves and a jade crown on his head. Because he was thin, he always gave people a feeling of being free and easy as if he was about to ride the wind when he walked, which made the maids waiting outside the pavilion unable to take their eyes off him.

If it was any other man, the maids would have been scolded for not knowing the rules, but when it came to Ling Yun, people would only understand them.

At least Princess Jiayi understood these maids very well.

When my eldest brother was young, his demeanor wasn't so exaggerated. It's true that men change a lot when they grow up.

Fortunately, Princess Jiayi devoted herself to the art of incense and had no obsession with beauty. Otherwise, facing her brother who had the same father and mother as her, she would have been mentally exhausted.

"Big brother."

Ling Yun smiled and nodded to his sister, then looked at Qiu Heng: "Ah Heng is here."

"Prince Ling." Qiu Heng bowed, "I heard from the county lady that you were looking for me."

"Didn't you ask me to find out if there are any Taoist priests of the right age in the capital or the surrounding Taoist temples? During this period of time, I have visited all the Taoist temples in the capital, and also arranged people to check the surrounding Taoist temples. In total, I have recorded the information of more than 30 Taoist priests..." Ling Yun said as he handed over a small booklet.

It is rare for a person to live to be seventy years old. There are dozens of Taoist temples of all sizes in the capital and its surrounding areas, but these are the only Taoist priests over seventy years old.

Princess Jiayi standing by was extremely surprised.

It turned out that her eldest brother went to the Taoist temple every day for Ah Heng, and she thought that her eldest brother wanted to become an immortal.

"Thank you, Prince Ling." Qiu Heng took the booklet and looked through it.

"Aheng, are you looking for someone?" asked Princess Jiayi curiously.

"Yes, I'm looking for the Taoist priest who taught me Xiang Pei. He once traveled to the south, so it's more likely that he's in the capital now."

Jiayi County Lady's eyes suddenly lit up: "It turned out to be the Taoist priest who taught you how to make incense pendants? Ah Heng, can I go with you to look for him?"

Qiu Heng thought of what Master Changqing said about letting fate take its course, and said with a smile: "I don't have any intention of finding someone, I just want to try my luck and go to the Taoist temple when I have free time. Maybe I'll meet him by chance, but if I don't, it doesn't matter..."

"Free time? We are free now." Princess Jiayi was very excited and pointed to a record in the book. "Qingfeng Temple is not far away. Let's go to Qingfeng Temple. It's still early now."

If she could meet the Taoist priest who taught Ah Heng, she would kneel down and beg him to accept her as his disciple.

Hey, so Ah Heng is her senior sister!
Princess Jiayi didn't feel uncomfortable at all because Qiu Heng was one year younger than her and called her senior sister. She was just excited.

Seeing Princess Jiayi’s pleading look, Qiu Heng was also moved.

Instead of chatting in the Prince's Mansion, it would be better to go to the nearby Taoist temple.

"Brother, Ah Heng and I are going out now."

Ling Yun hesitated for a moment and said, "I'll go with you. I happen to be familiar with the Taoist priest of Qingfeng Temple."

Princess Jiayi was naturally happy and looked at Qiu Heng.

Qiu Heng certainly wouldn't object: "Then I'll have to trouble Master Ling."

Her politeness made Ling Yun sigh inwardly.

He still remembered that not long ago, the girl in front of him called him "Big Brother Bai" all the time and was as close to him as her sister Lingbo.

The three of them left the house. Because Qingfeng Temple was located in the inner city and often entertained wealthy people, they were not too worried about safety issues and did not bring many servants.

In Qingfeng Temple, the person who came out to greet people was a Taoist priest in his thirties, with the Taoist name Xuanyang.

He is the last disciple of Taoist Master Jingxin, who is eighty years old and is on the list compiled by Lingyun.

"Master, Prince Ling is here to visit."

Taoist Master Jingxin does look very old, and his eyes reveal the peace that has come from many years of study.

"Donor Ling is here again."

Ling Yun said politely: "Bring my sister to burn incense."

Taoist Master Jingxin turned his gaze towards Qiu Heng and Princess Jiayi. Princess Jiayi was calm in front of outsiders, suppressing her excitement and glancing at the girl beside her.

Not sir.

Qiu Heng was not disappointed.

It would be a coincidence if you find someone right away.

Now that they were here, it was not a good idea to leave right away. The three of them, accompanied by Taoist Xuan Yang, went to burn incense and walked around the temple before preparing to leave.

When we were heading to the gate of the temple, a group of people suddenly rushed in.

"Who are you? How dare you break into the Taoist temple?" a Taoist boy asked angrily.

"The Imperial City Division is investigating the case." The leading young man in red showed his badge and his eyes immediately fell on Qiu Heng and the others.

But when he saw Taoist Xuan Yang walking beside Ling Yun, his eyes suddenly froze.

It was this subtle change that made Qiu Heng immediately realize that Xuan Yang had moved.

His target is Brother Bai!

Without thinking twice, Qiu Heng pushed Ling Yun, and the next moment she was the one with the dagger against her neck by Taoist Xuan Yang.

All this happened in a flash, followed by exclamations one after another.

"girl!"

"Uncle Xuanyang, what are you doing?"

Ling Yun was pushed away from Xuan Yang and staggered. When he turned around and saw Qiu Heng being kidnapped, his face changed drastically: "Ah Heng!"

He wanted to move forward, but was blocked by the guards who rushed over.

Taoist Xuanyang held Qiu Heng in front of him and took a step forward.

He originally wanted to kidnap Prince Ling, but he didn't expect the plan to change. He didn't know how important this little girl was, and whether she was enough for him to escape.

The temple master who came upon hearing the news was shocked: "Xuan Yang, what are you doing?"

Xue Han spoke up at this time: "I just found out that Taoist Xuan Yang is a spy from Northern Qi!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone was in an uproar.

And Xuan Yang sneered.

It turned out to be the right thing to do to strike first. If he had hoped to get away with it, he wouldn't even have the chance to take hostages.

This little girl reacts quickly.

If Qiu Heng knew what Xuan Yang was thinking at this moment, she would probably roll her eyes.

If she could reveal that she had kung fu skills, it would be unclear who would kidnap whom. What she could do now was to prevent Ling Shizi from falling into danger.

It's better for her to be a hostage than to be a completely powerless person.

"Are you the Imperial City Envoy Xue Han?" Xuan Yang asked.

"That's right." Xue Han responded expressionlessly, showing no sign of nervousness about Qiu Heng being taken hostage.

He knew very well that if he showed any concern for the hostages, it would only embolden the other side.

"I want to leave the city!" Xuan Yang pushed Qiu Heng forward.

Seeing Xue Han's indifferent expression, Ling Yun was afraid that he only cared about the credit of catching the spy, so he said anxiously: "Master Xue, please make sure the safety of the hostages is the most important thing. Ah Heng fell into the hands of the spy in order to save me!"

Ah Heng——

Xue Han looked at Ling Yun, then at Qiu Heng.

The girl, with Xuan Yang holding a dagger against her neck, looked at him quietly.

Xue Han's heart felt as if it had been stung by a bee, and it hurt so much.

That nightmarish scene seemed to reappear, tormenting his heart.

Why is this happening again?

Xuan Yang stepped forward, and Xue Han stepped back. When they were out of the Taoist temple, the personal soldiers who followed him jumped forward, but Xue Han raised his hand to hold them back.

Inside and outside the Taoist temple, everyone who saw this scene was so nervous that they dared not make a sound.

"You, lead the horse and come out of the city with me. No one else is allowed to follow!" Xuan Yang shouted at Xue Han.

Xue Han ordered his men: "Bring the horses here."

Heading north, they left the city in full view of everyone, and Xuan Yang's tense spirit relaxed a lot.

"Loosen the reins and let the horse come over." After making sure that no one was following Xue Han, Xuan Yang said sternly.

Xue Han loosened his grip and the horse paced forward.

Xuan Yang held Qiu Heng in one hand, his eyes fixed on Xue Han. When the horse came close, he jumped and landed on the horse's back with Qiu Heng.

"Hiss——" the horse neighed.

Taoist Xuan Yang, oh, should I call him a spy, who was sitting on a steed, smiled condescendingly at the young man with a cold face: "Goodbye, Master Xue."

As soon as he finished speaking, the girl in front of him was suddenly thrown up and fell in one direction like a meteor.

He took the opportunity to kick the horse's belly and gallop away.

To chase the spies or to rescue the hostages, this is the dilemma that Xuan Yang created for Xue Han, and it is also his chance to escape.

And Xue Han had no other choice.

There are so many spies that you can’t catch all of them, but there is only one Ah Heng.

The boy flew over without hesitation and caught the falling girl before she fell to the ground.

The two fell into the grass by the roadside.

(End of this chapter)