After Abandoning the Ruthless Dao Swordmaster - Chapter 15

Wu Su’s injured shoulder had almost completely healed in the past few days, so naturally she returned to work.

Since she had been escorted back to the mansion respectfully by the City Guards, Steward Lu didn’t dare to assign her any strenuous tasks.

This inevitably made Steward Lu begin to speculate regarding Wu Su’s identity.

He was able to achieve his current position because he has a strong ability to observe words and emotions, and knows how to please his master.

In short, Steward Lu treated Wu Su much better than before, and he secretly rejoiced that he did not treat Wu Su harshly in the past.

Wu Su was assigned to clean the long-unoccupied courtyard in the West Garden of Prince Jing’s Mansion. She only needed to brush off the dust and tidy up casually, and then she could call it a day.

Her habit had always been that she would complete the tasks that the steward assigned her, and after finishing she would do as she pleased.

Wu Su felt much more relaxed after not seeing the Little Highness showing up these past few days. She was constantly nervous that the observant Little Highness would discover her secret.

Firstly, he might find out that she was the one who offended the distinguished guests that night in Guanlan Pavilion. Secondly… he might notice that she is not human.

With a feather duster in her hand, Wu Su diligently swept the dust from every corner of the empty room.

Halfway through sweeping, she found a tattered spider web in a corner of the room, with a dying little spider lying on it.

Wu Su put down the feather duster and squatted down. She found that the dying spider could still communicate.

“Hello.” Wu Su whispered to the corner, “You are going to die, so, do you have any wishes?”

The spider lying in the corner heard Wu Su’s voice, as if he remembered something, and immediately jumped up.

Such a fierce little creature jumped onto her lap, but Wu Su didn’t flinch. She listened carefully to the little spider’s wish.

“I want to catch the biggest prey and use my web to trap all the humans passing by -” the little spider opened its teeth and claws towards Wu Su.

Wu Su was very distressed: “But I’m not a human being. If you trap me, it doesn’t mean you have fulfilled your wish.”

“No, no, you are a bigger prey than humans.” The little spider’s eight eyes turned and looked at Wu Su’, full of greed.

It is a very small and primitive creature, and it does not have the same sense of vision as humans.

Therefore, in its eyes, Wu Su is a swirling body of made of black and white energy.

This tangled chaotic aura was like a bottomless abyss, calm and strange.

This brave little spider doesn’t understand danger, so it dreams of catching prey like Wu Su.

——This is much more exciting than hunting humans.

“Then I will fulfill your wish. ” Wu Su stretched out her hand towards it and asked softly, “How can you catch me?”

“I have a web, which is the most perfect trap in the world.” The little spider said proudly.

Wu Su glanced at the feather duster sitting beside her. This thing had already swept away a lot of cobwebs.

“Okay.”

Wu Su’s hand touched the broken spider web in the corner, and the fragile threads wrapped around her fingertips.

The little spider held her finger and replied to Wu Su in an increasingly weak voice: “You are really a huge… and terrifying prey.”

Its body tilted and fell from Wu Su’s hand.

Tiny wisps of yin and yang energy emanated from it, and Wu Su quickly absorbed them.

Eating one bite is still eating. She won’t refuse food when it delivers itself to her door.

She continued to sweep away the cobwebs, but soon felt a familiar consciousness nearby.

It’s the Little Highness, he’s here again.

As expected, he must be really idle.

The demon that escaped from the bottom of the canal was still on the run. The case was being jointly investigated by the Imperial City Division and City Guards, but the demon had not yet been captured.

Due to the ongoing Heaven-Worshipping Ceremony, the city of Yundu was very lively, and the people in the city did not stay quiet because of the appearance of an evil demon.

Wu Su thought that the Little Highness should go investigate this case, and save the people of Yundu.

However, the talisman Pei Jiuzhi had been using to move outside of the formation was running out of energy, and could only be used one last time.

One the talisman was exhausted, he wouldn’t immediately be able to cooperate with the Imperial City Division to find the evil demon, unable to leave the formation until the ceremony was completed.

So he could only come to deliver a message to Wu Su.

Wu Su turned around and caught a glimpse of the cute little blue bird landing in front of her.

“Little Highness.” She called softly.

Wu Su noticed that there was a brocade bag hanging heavily around the blue bird’s neck, which seemed to contain something valuable.

The blue bird lowered its head towards her – at this time, Pei Jiuzhi’s consciousness attached to the talisman bird was already very weak.

He could no longer take on human form.

Wu Su guessed what he meant and removed the brocade bag from around his neck.

“Is this for me?” Wu Su asked.

The blue bird nodded, turned his head and rubbed Wu Su’s fingertips affectionately.

Wu Su knew that this was the Little Highness, so she was stunned for a moment by his sudden closeness.

Inside this pouch… what is it?

Wu Su subconsciously wanted to open the brocade bag, but the blue bird pecked Wu Su’s fingertips to stop her movement.

He could only speak when he transformed into a human form, but the remaining energy on the talisman was no longer enough to support his transformation again.

But Wu Su understood what he meant. She knew that some human gifts were mysterious and secretive, and they were not allowed to be opened right away.

“I’ll wait until later to open it. Thank you, Your Highness.” Wu Su replied politely.

Pei Jiuzhi was afraid that she would run away if she read the letter right now – so far, she had always avoided him.

The blue bird jumped left and right, still unable to make a sound.

Wu Su patted his head and asked, “Little Highness, why are you dancing?”

The blue bird raised his head to see her slightly confused eyes, and lowered his own cold eyes, wanting to hold his breath and transform.

“Little Highness, what Little Highness?” A familiar female voice suddenly came from outside.

Wu Su looked up, and she saw Lin Meng standing outside the window.

Lin Meng smiled at Wu Su “Wu Su, the Little Highness you are talking about is not the Ninth Prince, right?”

“He is the one presiding over the formation for the Heaven-Worshipping Ceremony, how could he appear here? Are you having hallucinations from the blessing a few days ago?” Lin Meng ridiculed her

Pei Jiuzhi, who was standing next to Wu Su, flew onto her shoulder and shook his wings.

Wu Su tucked the exquisite brocade bag into her pocket and turned to Lin Meng. “Why are you here to see me?”

“Steward Lu asked us to register our names, saying that something was lost in the warehouse of Prince Jing’s Mansion and we need to check it.” Lin Meng said to Wu Su, “Have you finished your work yet?”

“It’s done.” Wu Su put away her things and walked out of the room.

Lin Meng was walking in front, and Wu Su deliberately slowed down a few steps. She still wanted to talk to the Little Highness.

The blue bird scratched her shoulder a few times, as if he wanted to write a few words, but he couldn’t finish it.

Suddenly, Wu Su felt the aura of the blue bird beside her disappear in an instant.

The energy of the talisman paper was finally exhausted, and the vivid blue bird turned back into a paper talisman bird.

“Ah…” Wu Su sighed softly.

She realised what had happened. Pei Jiuzhi had told her before he left last time that the blue bird’s spell was about to expire.

Wu Su had thought that His Highness was very powerful, but only now did she truly understand that the Little Highness was indeed a mortal who only knew a little about magic.

She lifted the paper bird off her shoulder and saw some dried black smudges on the neatly folded wings.

This is…her blood.

Wu Su rubbed her fingers hard over the wings of the talisman bird, but still couldn’t wipe away the blood.

She opened the pouch given to her by the little Highness as a gift.

He left, so it probably wouldn’t be offensive if she opened it now.

Wu Su was about to put the talisman bird into the pouch, but she caught sight of the two objects inside.

One is a folded piece of paper with words written on it.

One is a pure gold key with sun and moon patterns cast on it.

Wu Su picked up the paper with some confusion and was about to open it for inspection when Lin Meng turned around.

She put her hands on her hips and glared at Wu Su, “Wu Su, are you feeling guilty? Why are you walking so slowly?”

Wu Su stuffed the note back into the pouch,and followed Lin Meng.

Speaking of this, she really did feel guilty.

After all, counting the days, the illusion spell she had cast on the fish eyes and cherry stems had probably expired.

Wu Su did not expect that the loss of such a tiny pearl in the huge warehouse of Prince Jing’s Mansion would cause the steward to search for it with such great fanfare.

But they were checking everyone, so Wu Su could only write down her name on the list

She had not been able to recognize the characters “Wu Su” at first.  Chen Wu’s letters had never written these two characters.

But it was her name, so Wu Su went to look it up in the dictionary. Only then did she know what the words looked like.

After writing her name in the register, Wu Su returned to her room.  She was feeling a little uneasy, afraid of being discovered.

But she was also curious about what the Little Highness had given her, so she opened the brocade pouch again and took out the note.

Wu Su’s understanding of characters only came from all the characters involved in the letters written by Chen Wu, so——

“Wu Su, your right? Next, there is a??. If? Come to think?, then it’s mine.”

“—Small? Next.”

Wu Su: “???” What are you writing!

She was not very literate, so she was unable to read the message written on the note.

Even though Chen Wu had suffered from lung disease, she never dared to write in her letters that she had chest pains.

So Wu Su didn’t know any of these key words.

Wu Su folded the paper suspiciously and carefully tucked it back inside the pouch.

The golden key was even more strange, it looked quite valuable, but she didn’t know what it was used for.

Wu Su was confused. This was the first time she wanted to take the initiative to find the Little Highness and ask him what he meant by giving her this strange gift.

She wanted to know what was written in the note, so she decided to take a day off tomorrow and go to the public library in Yundu to study the dictionary and see if she could figure out what the Little Highness was talking about.

Wu Su somehow knew that the contents of this note should only be read by her, so she did not dare to let others help interpret it.

Before she fell asleep, she held the pouch tightly in her arms for fear of losing it.

These are the Little Highness’ things, she thought.

——

Late at night, the silver glow of bright moonlight fell across the altar of the formation.

The spiritual energy from the Immortal Island is still being transmitted, but it has almost come to an end.

When the talisman bird lost the last of its energy, Pei Jiuzhi opened his eyes. He knew that Wu Su might open the bag in advance.

She opened it first, what if she was scared away?

After being brought to the Riyue Pavilion by Xu Ling, she would open the pouch again and figure out the truth, so she couldn’t run away.

Pei Jiuzhi imagined many possibilities for Wu Su to try and escape, but he didn’t expect that Wu Su wouldn’t be able to read his message in the first place.

She did open it in advance and read it, but she really didn’t understand it.

Pei Jiuzhi sighed heavily.  He could only do his best to increase his aura to control the rune bird again.

——Even if she ran away, he still wanted to see where she went.

Later that night, the brocade bag tightly held by Wu Su suddenly moved.

Pei Jiuzhi also did not expect that Wu Su would put the talisman bird he left behind into the pouch

The remaining energy on the talisman paper was on the verge of exhaustion, so he could only try his best to poke his head out of the pouch to confirm where Wu Su was.

Pei Jiuzhi first reached the note. He had folded the note carefully himself, so he knew that Wu Su had opened it and read it.

The blue bird poked his head out of the pouch, but only saw the familiar decorations he recognized from Wu Su’s room in Prince Jing’s mansion.

She didn’t leave?

Pei Jiuzhi tried to continue forward to confirm the situation, but his head hit against something soft.

It’s was currently summer, so Wu Su was only wearing very light sleeping clothes.  The soft pyjamas cover her body, the outlines rising and falling as she sleeps.

And the blue bird’s head hit the intersection of two of those lines.

Of course he was very familiar with her body.

Wu Su didn’t go out of her way to remember the details of that hazy night.

But Pei Jiuzhi could clearly recall everything that had happened in Guanlan Pavilion.

The blue bird’s feathers instantly turned into a light pink — this time, not only the colour of his cheeks changed, but the whole body of the blue bird blushed.

Only then did Pei Jiuzhi realise where Wu Su had put the things he gave her.

Oh… It turns out that she also cared about him a little bit, holding his things so preciously in her arms.

Moreover, she didn’t run away after reading the note.

Pei Jiuzhi was relieved. The talisman bird lowered its head wearily, leaning against Wu Su’s chest, as he lost control of it once again.

The next day, when Wu Su woke up, she found that the talisman bird stored in the pouch had poked its head out at some point.

She stretched out a finger and pressed the little bird’s head back.

Wu Su never guessed that last night Pei Jiuzhi had struggled hard to muster his strength, returned to her side, and left again contentedly.

She just thought that she accidentally moved it around in her sleep.

Wu Su fastened the ribbons of the pouch a little tighter, and went to ask for leave from Steward Lu.

Since coming to the mansion, she has rarely gotten in trouble and works hard. She has never asked for leave before.

In addition, Steward Lu felt that she might have someone supporting her in the background, so her application for leave was quickly approved.

“The servants of Prince Jing’s mansion are still not allowed to go out. I made an exception for you today. You are not very literate. It is right to study more.”

Steward Lu spoke seriously as an elder.

Wu Su nodded obediently. “Steward Lu, I understand.”

What had been lost from Prince Jing’s Mansion that requires so much effort to find? Wu Su thought about it for a while and finally asked about it worriedly.

“It’s not a big deal, you don’t have to be afraid.”

Steward Lu replied that he had some inside information. In short, he knew that the higher-ups were not there to catch a thief.

“Okay” Wu Su nodded, feeling a little relieved, thinking that this might be completely unrelated to the Guanlan Pavilion incident.

She took her brocade pouch and headed to the library in Yundu that was open to the common people.

As she got further away from Prince Jing’s Mansion, there were more pedestrians on the road.

Wu Su was reluctant to spend money. When she saw interesting trinkets for sale on the street, she didn’t buy anything, she just stood and looked at them.

There were many passers-by on the street, and some of them even recognized Wu Su.

“Isn’t this the girl who received the blessing of the golden lotus from the formation a few days ago?”

“That was the formation presided over by His Highness the Ninth Prince, she is so lucky!”

Wu Su heard someone talking about her, and hurried away quickly, avoiding the kind eyes of passers-by.

As a low-key little demon, she doesn’t want to attract too much attention.

When she arrived at the entrance of the library, there were indeed fewer people than usual.   Wu Su chose an unmanned entrance to enter.

She went straight to where the dictionaries were stored, and found one of the common ones.

Wu Su is actually not very good at reading human books.

She learned how to write her name before, but she had asked a passerby in the library for help.

At that time, she asked: “Wu Su… Wu is black, and Su is white. How do you write these two characters? Could you please look them up in the dictionary for me?”

That kind passer-by had helped her find that page of the dictionary, and Wu Su learned how to write Wu Su.

This time, she only looked for the words in the note that she didn’t already know, flipping through the pages one by one.

Of course, searching for words like this is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Wu Su looked for a long time, but she couldn’t find where the first word she couldn’t understand was located.

Just as she was seriously flipping through the books, a kind voice suddenly came from behind her: “Little girl, you are reading again.”

Wu Su turned around and saw a middle-aged woman. She actually remembered this face.

When she had first come to the library to find out how to write her name, it was this kind lady in gray robes who had helped her find the words.

But this time the words she was looking for were written by the Little Highness, and she didn’t want to tell outsiders.

Therefore, Wu Su politely declined the gray-robed lady’s help.

She thought that she would just ask the Little Highness if she had the opportunity to see him again in the future.

The illiterate Wu Su worked hard for most of the day, but still could not decipher the message on the note.

When she walked out of the library, it was already dusk.

Wu Su reluctantly returned to Prince Jing’s mansion.

On the way, many of the pedestrians were already carrying various lanterns, illuminating the night clouds like stars in the sky.

In the distance, in the center of Yundu, the formation where His Highness is could still be seen, shining brightly.

Wu Su stood in the ordinary, distant crowd, looking up at the formation that belonged to him.

The formation that communicates with the Immortal Island shines with the most mysterious and ethereal power in the world.

She thought that her first impression of the Little Highness was indeed correct.

He is very bright, like the sun and the moon, and he is born to attract people to chase after him.

Wu Su looked up at the formation in a daze, until the sound of horse hooves sounded in front of her.

A gorgeous procession passed by Wu Su, with a glamorous carriage surrounded by guards in the center.

She ducked to the side.

The man in black leading the procession lowered the brim of his hat.

He wears a token on his waist with the single word “Ling” on it.

The procession passed by Wu Su, and she continued her walk back to Prince Jing’s Mansion.

By the time she opened the door to the courtyard where she lived, night had already fallen.

Wu Su saw a figure moving in the yard. It turned out to be Lin Meng, crying with her shoulders hunched over.

She subconsciously felt that something was wrong. When Lin Meng heard the sound of the door opening, she suddenly turned her head and spoke to Wu Su.

“Wu Su, it’s you who killed Wei Li!”

“It was obviously you who went to Guanlan Pavilion that night, but just now, Wei Li was taken away because she was the one listed on the roster!”