Chapter 29: Absolute Silence
Inside the bed curtains of the Dragon Bed, there was only Xie Qianli’s voice…
Sweet Tub chimed in: “Do you want to listen to the Big Wolf Dog’s inner thoughts?~”
“Listening to Prime Minister Su’s inner thoughts would be good too~”
“The Imperial Tutor has such a warm, gentle voice; his would be worth it as well~”
“And although Prince Yong always speaks with a biting tone, that scumbag voice of his is just so swoon-worthy~”
It was night within the sleeping quarters of Weiyang Palace.
Ying Xi had obtained a new item: [Truth Voice Message ×1].
This item had caused Sweet Tub such insomnia that it started chattering away again. The theme of its rambling was how this item was a “Rare Drop.” It could extract a character’s true, heartfelt thoughts. Usually, such an item was only granted at a critical juncture in a romance route, designed for the CP (Couple Pairing) to resolve misunderstandings, break the ice, and heat up their feelings.
Yet, its Host, possessed by the luck of a koi fish, had obtained a high-level item while still in the beginner stage. Sweet Tub found it truly magical.
Sweet Tub rubbed its hands together in anticipation, its voice so excited it drifted, filling Ying Xi’s entire mind:
“Even if Your Majesty doesn’t have anyone you like, this is a treat for anyone who loves voices!”
“ASMR dual-ear surround sound! Pick the one with the best voice and have them talk about their impression of you. Consider it a massage for your ears.”
“This is a rare item! Rare!”
“You can’t even buy this in the Mall interface. Even if you wanted to be a whale and spend money, there’s nowhere to spend it…”
The amount of information was overwhelming, and there were too many new terms.
Lying in bed, Ying Xi hooked his finger over the quilt, curled his body into a ball, and whispered, “Will they answer whatever I ask?”
“Of course, it’s the Truth, after all!” Sweet Tub replied.
Ying Xi summoned the system interface. The icon for the Truth Voice Message was a small trumpet. Ying Xi clicked on it.
Sweet Tub squealed in excitement, then abruptly shut up, waiting for the fan service to descend.
Many names appeared on the interface. Without hesitation, Ying Xi selected Xie Qianli.
Sweet Tub: “Big Wolf Dog! Big Wolf Dog!”
Absolute silence descended.
Closing his eyes within the bed curtains of the Dragon Bed, there was only Xie Qianli’s voice, lingering warm and deep beside his ear.
“Xiao Xi.”
It had been nearly ten years since he had heard his own name from another’s lips.
Ying Xi’s thoughts were a tangled mess, but he showed none of it. He knew that this Xie Qianli was somewhat different from the real person. Ying Xi asked, “What important leads do you have regarding the Feng Ze assassination case?”
Sweet Tub: “…”
Sweet Tub was struck dumb.
It never imagined that the Emperor could actually use a romance item as a truth serum.
The Host was already in bed, clothes off, the atmosphere perfectly set—and he ignored feelings to discuss a criminal case!?
This calculation was too precise. Coupled with the fact that Ying Xi seemed allergic to romance, it washed away the faint trace of ambiguity brought by that childhood nickname.
Xie Qianli’s voice remained the same, but constrained by the topic, it could not be affectionate. It reverted to his usual steady, reserved tone:
“I have known Feng Ze for many years. In the military camp, we practically ate and lived together. I once thought I understood Feng Ze. But Lian Qing told me that over the years, Feng Ze often left the camp alone when we weren’t paying attention.”
“Lian Qing has a heavy curiosity; he asked around. That place is called Pingling Village, nearly a hundred li from Chang’an.”
“Could this be the motive for his assassination attempt?”
The item’s effect ended, and Xie Qianli’s voice stopped.
Ying Xi stared blankly into the void, chewing on the clue:
—Pingling Village.
His knowledge of the regions under his rule was precise only down to the Commandery level; he knew nothing of a Pingling Village.
But that didn’t stop Ying Xi from finding it strange. Feng Ze was a local, a long-time resident of Chang’an City. What was he doing outside the city? Was there a hidden contact outside the walls? Was that his mastermind?
On the Dragon Bed, Ying Xi turned over. His mind was sharp and active, completely devoid of sleepiness.
Ying Xi felt an increasing intuition that there were hidden circumstances behind the Feng Ze case. Perhaps it was something he hadn’t known in his past life. Now, with a thousand threads and loose ends, any of them could be related to his eventual ruin and death. He had to proceed with caution.
Ying Xi thought, If I can’t trust others, I can investigate to the end myself.
The next morning.
After arranging for Yu Jing to cover for him and conceal the fact that the Emperor was leaving the palace, Ying Xi summoned Lang Xun.
“Guard Lang, go prepare clothes and accompany Zhen out of the palace. Pick two or three men to come along.”
Lang Xun’s eyes released a brilliant light. It seemed he hadn’t been discouraged in the slightest by Ying Xi’s polite rejection yesterday. Lang Xun nodded heavily: “Yes!”
Pingling Village was nearly a hundred li from the Imperial City. They had to hurry to reach the village before dark.
Worried about complications, Ying Xi sat in the carriage the entire way, never even lifting the curtain.
Only when the carriage stopped due to congestion would Ying Xi carefully listen to the conversations of the commoners outside. These days, what the people discussed most was the rise of integrity building throughout Great Qin.
Which corrupt official had their home raided, which dirty clerk was punished…
The Emperor was about to publicly execute a batch of these “rats” in the busy markets of Chang’an.
People do not suffer from scarcity, but from inequality; the commoners discussed this with great relish.
Inside the carriage, Ying Xi hooked the corners of his lips.
The gates of the Imperial Capital were heavily guarded.
However, once Guard Lang produced his waist token, the carriage was immediately allowed through. The identity of the Commander of the Imperial Guards of Weiyang Palace was more useful than anything else.
The carriage entered the open plains and moved forward.
It wasn’t until night had fully fallen, and all signs of human habitation had vanished, with dark, heavy tree shadows slanting across the mountain roads, that Ying Xi and his group—following the map of villages near Chang’an retrieved from the secret archives—found the signpost indicating the direction of Pingling Village.
The signpost was dilapidated beyond belief.
The road was long in disrepair, located deep in the wild mountains, overgrown with weeds and devoid of people.
Ying Xi looked out from the carriage. There were no lights near or far. Occasionally, a night owl cried out, its sound melting into the night, giving off a ghostly, chilling aura.
Suddenly, there was a loud clang. The two lanterns at the front of the carriage swung violently forward. The steed pulling the carriage let out a long neigh, the sound echoing through the wilderness, exceptionally shrill.
Lang Xun quickly tightened the reins: “Whoa—”
Two guards got off to check the situation, and Ying Xi followed.
There was a pit in the road. The bottom was filled with stones mixed with wet mud. The carriage wheel had snapped from the impact, and the body of the carriage had tilted over.
“Young Master, this…” The two guards looked at each other in dismay.
Who could have expected the carriage to meet such an accident?
Even if they dragged the carriage out of the deep pit, it couldn’t travel. Whether they turned back or continued, they had to walk.
This cast an ominous shadow over the journey to Pingling Village. Ying Xi tightened his focus.
Suddenly, strange cackling sounds came from the treetops. A black shadow spread its wings. Lang Xun raised his lantern to shine a light—it was a large owl with a fierce expression.
The owl swooped toward them.
The guards waved their hands to drive it away. The owl fluttered over to a dilapidated archway not far off. Lang Xun shone the light on the archway. The beam cut through the gloom—this was the village entrance.
On a rotting wooden board, “Pingling Village” was written crookedly.
However, due to the erosion of sun and moon, the writing was incomplete. Only a solitary, stark character for “Ling” (Mausoleum/Tomb) remained, making the scene terrifying.
This horror movie opening, performing beyond expectations, made Sweet Tub gasp loudly, the system interface flickering frequently.
Although he knew this village must hold secrets, Ying Xi and the others couldn’t retreat, so they could only move forward.
Surrounded by mountains, the interior held buildings. The pitch-black, dilapidated thatched cottages of Pingling Village were scattered high and low. A small river flowed through the village. Walking along the river, the water showed no color in the night curtain.
A gourd ladle, belonging to no one knew whom, floated in the water, snagged by a tree branch. The water ripples eroded its surface as the ladle bobbed up and down. The sound of the water changed tune with it, rhythmically: Bloop—bloop—
A thin layer of sweat broke out on the guards’ foreheads.
Lang Xun in the front was slightly better, but his lips were pressed tight. A single extra noise would make him even more vigilant.
“Young Master.” Guard Lang spoke as if he wanted to stop, his voice suppressed extremely low.
He didn’t need to explain; Ying Xi understood implicitly. Looking left and right, he whispered, “It’s too quiet.”
In an ordinary village, even at night, a few barks should leak from the houses, there should be the sounds of villagers, or a few lights lit.
But Pingling Village was like it was dead.
Ying Xi observed the village with increasing caution. Suddenly, a mountain wind picked up. Around the corner, funeral banners hanging from several households brushed against the walls, making a rustling sound.
Ying Xi stopped and brushed aside a funeral banner. He saw that the door of the house with the banner was wide open. The door panels were broken, and there were some tattered cloth scraps and broken porcelain on the ground.
Fearing Ying Xi might step on something sharp, Lang Xun warned, “Young Master, be careful.”
Ying Xi walked cautiously. After observing for a moment, he whispered, “This family is already dead, so the house was looted. More than once.”
Lang Xun pursed his lips. He didn’t say anything, but he gripped his sword hilt tighter.
In an instant, an apricot-yellow light lit up in a distant window lattice, flashing and vanishing like a ghost fire. A silhouette was reflected on the window surface. But was it human or ghost? Sweet Tub cried out, “Your Majesty!”
After all, this might be the only living person they would see on this trip.
Ying Xi ordered, “Go see what’s going on.”
One of the two guards immediately went, carefully approaching the distant house.
The other continued to follow, flanking Ying Xi front and back with Lang Xun. They hadn’t taken more than a few steps when suddenly, from several houses away, a scream that didn’t sound human rang out: “Ahhhhhhhh!”
That scream pierced the darkness, completely tearing the silence of Pingling Village to shreds.
A woman was screaming. Basins and bowls shattered. A child wailed.
—”There’s no food in the house! The child is sick! Don’t scare the child! Don’t scare the child!”
The child’s crying became even more hysterical, facing an overwhelming terror. The woman’s voice rose several octaves.
The child’s crying stopped abruptly.
The night instantly fell into a brief, dead silence.
A moment later, the woman screamed, “My son!!! My son!!! Give me back my son! I’ll kill you! I’ll fight you to the death!!!”
The desolate village was claiming another life.
Ying Xi still couldn’t grasp the full picture, but he couldn’t sit by while a mother and child were harmed.
Thus, the other guard followed the sound to rescue them. Lang Xun didn’t dare leave the Emperor again, feeling that Pingling Village was weird in every corner, leaking danger everywhere.
Lang Xun drew his sword!
Who could have predicted that before they found news of Feng Ze, two men would be lost to this small village?
Lang Xun dared not act rashly again, protecting Ying Xi as they walked along the wall.
Searching blindly like this, it seemed every house was empty. They didn’t know how to break this deadlock.
Lang Xun scanned left and right as he walked.
Ying Xi, however, relied on the system. He had a “Recall” function that he had personally tested; it could instantly transport him and Lang Xun back to the Weiyang Palace study. That was why he dared to leave the palace to investigate personally and disregarded the danger, appearing calm and composed, which made Lang Xun feel a secret awe.
Another gust of night wind blew past. Passing a house, the door was forced open by the wind. The door panels creaked in the gale.
When Lang Xun stopped, Ying Xi caught a glimpse of a wet mark at the base of the wall under the moonlight.
He crouched down. It didn’t look like blood; it looked like a water stain. There were signs of life inside. “Go in and look.”
Lang Xun immediately used his sword hilt to push open the door. In the pitch-black inner room, there was a bed and a cabinet, but hanging from the roof beam was a female corpse!
Lang Xun was horrified.
Lang Xun blocked Ying Xi with both arms.
“Ahhhhhhhh—” Sweet Tub had a mental breakdown and went offline directly!
In that instant, the system interface extinguished, and the Recall function was disabled. Ying Xi suddenly lost his most stable trump card and was truly startled.
But his confusion lasted only a split second. Ying Xi forced himself to be calm and ordered Lang Xun with even greater composure: “Cut down the body. Examine it carefully.”
It was Lang Xun who looked like the frightened one, replying hoarsely, “Yes.”
The Commander of the Imperial Guards was no soft touch. Lang Xun sheathed his sword to shoulder the body. It felt strange. He shook the hanging woman carefully; a pair of embroidered shoes fell off. It was a hemp sack dressed in women’s clothes.
Lang Xun: “It’s fake.”
The female corpse was a blindfold, a trick designed to make intruders retreat upon seeing the scene.
In a flash of insight, Ying Xi quickly pointed to the cabinet in the room. Sure enough, the cabinet doors were shaking violently. “Open it.”
Lang Xun struck the wardrobe with his blade. The doors burst open, and a young girl crawled out, along with a child whose mouth was gagged with a cloth ball.
The girl tumbled out of the wardrobe, pleading repeatedly:
“Masters, spare our lives! Masters, don’t kill my brother!”
“I’ll go with you… My whole person is yours. I’m not sick yet; I can still serve you…”
Having said this, the sister threw herself at Lang Xun, making a move to undo her tunic. Her clothes opened mostly, revealing a bare shoulder.
Fearing his sister would be taken advantage of, the brother frantically rammed his head against Lang Xun’s legs.
The siblings were truly deeply affectionate, but they had severely misplaced their hatred.
Lang Xun hurriedly pushed the siblings aside, grabbed the brother, lifted him up, and questioned him: “Kid, you’ve run into heavenly luck. If you have grievances, state them; if you have vengeance, name it. Tell me quickly, what is going on in this ghost place!”
Lang Xun was fierce, which actually stunned the siblings into freezing, too scared to move.
Ying Xi shook his head watching this. He stepped out from behind Lang Xun, revealing himself and playing the role of the decision-maker. “Stop. Let them go first. We are merchants from Chang’an. Our carriage broke down passing through here. We intended to seek lodging, but to our surprise, we couldn’t find many living people in the village. We found it strange, hence the questions.”
The brother was put down. He hugged his sister tightly. The two of them looked like frightened animals, staring at them with wide eyes simultaneously.
But even though they couldn’t see clearly in the night, Ying Xi’s voice and his silhouette really didn’t look like a bandit. The siblings calmed down.
The sister wrapped her clothes tight, timidly patted her brother, stood up to close the broken door that the wind had blown open, then pulled her brother down to kneel and beg for pity: “Since you are business masters, please reward us with some money… no, no, please reward us with something to eat.”
The siblings went from sharing a hatred of the enemy to eyes full of tears. Inside the broken house, the two sobbed one after another.
But they had left in a hurry; they had neither money nor food.
However, Ying Xi possessed the Four Seas. How could he not satisfy this small condition? It was merely a matter of time.
Thus, the Emperor, with no psychological burden whatsoever, promised something for nothing: “Speak first.”
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