sbdcsierra Chapter 559 Sister
Chapter 559 Sister
"What did you say?"
Hua Rui felt a sudden boom in her head and a buzzing in her ears. For a moment, the whole world seemed to fall into chaos, and all was silent. She could neither hear nor see, and her body lost its support.
But she didn't fall; she ran forward desperately.
She had only run a few steps when her legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground. She struggled to get up and continued running.
Yuhua Village is a small village. The road from the village entrance to the village is not far. Huarui ran along, stumbling, but it felt like she had been running for a long time without reaching the village. She felt as if she had returned to when she was very young. At that time, she was small and always felt that the road was very, very far. It felt like she had to exhaust all her strength to walk out of the road.
Time seemed to overlap and intertwine in that instant, making her somewhat disoriented, until she found herself amidst ruins, unaware of when.
The moonlight wasn't very strong.
It landed lightly on the charred ruins.
The dampness of the post-rain mist mingled with the lingering smell of burnt wood, and countless sounds drilled into the flower's mind.
Everything around her seemed to be bathed in a halo of light. She stood there, watching the lanterns around her light up, and familiar faces smiling and greeting her.
"My sister's back!"
"You're getting more and more beautiful, little sister! Come over to my house, have some of the flower tea I just dried!"
"Sister, that piano you played for us last time, it was so beautiful, are you going to play it again?"
"Hey little sister, do you want some flower cakes?"
"Little sister, you're not leaving this time? How about I introduce you to a good brother?"
"Sister, what are you standing there for? Go home!"
"Sister, we haven't cooked at home yet, don't bother, I'll bring you some food in a bit!"
"Sister, these fruits are freshly picked, so juicy! Here, take them!"
"Sister, the embroidery patterns you brought back last time were so beautiful. Do you have any new ones? Do the girls outside wear flowers?"
"Sister, this..."
There are only a few dozen households in the village, and everyone is a familiar face. Even though Hua Rui has not returned for a long time, they are still incredibly hospitable, as if they are afraid that she will go hungry. One brings her some food, another brings her some fruit and cakes, and the young girls of similar age affectionately link arms with her, wanting to pull her to dance at the bonfire festival.
Hua Rui looked at their familiar smiling faces and, as before, wanted to raise her hand to greet them. But suddenly, the scene around her changed abruptly. A fire suddenly broke out and raged. In the billowing flames and thick smoke, she seemed to see those familiar faces gradually distorting, and the concerned voices in her ears turned into cries of anguish.
"what--"
The flower stamen fell to the ground, covered its head with its hands, and let out a mournful cry.
But her throat felt as if it were blocked, and no matter how hard she screamed, she couldn't utter a sound.
A wave of nausea surged through her stomach, and she could no longer hold it in, so she vomited.
When someone is overwhelmed with grief, they cannot express their emotions.
Seeing her like this, Lu Yangyang was worried that something might happen to her, so she had no choice but to step forward and give her an acupuncture needle, which made her faint.
Lu Yangyang wiped her face, picked her up, and walked back to Li Shisan. "Brother Li, may I ask what happened at Yuhua Village? Hua Rui often said she didn't have time to come back to pay respects to her mother. She finally found an opportunity to come back and said she wanted to stay longer. How could this happen?"
Li Shisan looked at her, then at Hua Rui, who was lying unconscious in her arms, and said, "You are not from the Miao village, so there are some things I cannot tell you."
"May I ask when this happened? Judging from the burn marks, it must have been several days ago?" Lu Yangyang asked tentatively.
This time, Li Shisan didn't hide anything: "It happened seven days ago."
"So, given how big of a thing is, have you reported it to the authorities?" Lu Yangyang quietly observed Li Shisan's expression.
Li Shisan shook his head solemnly: "The village is still discussing how to report this to the authorities. Since you are Hua Rui's friends, and although Hua Rui has left the village, she is still one of our Miao people, so don't worry, we won't harm you. However, you cannot leave the Miao village until we find the murderer. I will take you to a nearby villager's house to rest for the night, and tomorrow I will take you back to Qianli Village. After we catch the murderer, we will send you away."
Lu Yangyang asked in shock, "But such a big thing happened, more than a hundred lives were lost, how can we not report it to the authorities?"
Li Shisan frowned, but still patiently replied, "Our Miao village has its own considerations. When we submitted to the imperial court, the court agreed that we could handle the village's affairs ourselves. If there were any issues that we couldn't handle, we would report them to the authorities."
"I see," Lu Yangyang responded softly. She wanted to ask more, but worried that saying too much would arouse the other party's suspicion, so she could only nod in agreement and shut her mouth.
Li Shisan led them to the house where he had previously placed the donkey cart, assigned them rooms, and brought them some food. "If you are hungry, eat something. I will stay in the room diagonally opposite. If you need anything, just call out."
Lu Yangyang hurriedly and gratefully accepted it: "Thank you, Brother Li."
After Li Shisan left, about half an hour later, Lu Yangyang had Wen Qingqing stand guard at the door and gave Hua Rui an acupuncture needle.
Hua Rui woke up, but before she could make a sound, Lu Yangyang covered her mouth and gestured for her to be quiet.
In the darkness, the flower stamen trembled uncontrollably.
Lu Yangyang lowered her voice: "I vaguely heard what Brother Li told you. Yuhua Village was wiped out, and the High Priest is missing. I don't need to say what this means, I'm sure you understand."
Hua Rui felt ice-cold all over. She tried to grab Lu Yangyang's hand, but she couldn't muster any strength at all.
A trembling sound escaped his throat with difficulty, "Why...why..."
Lu Yangyang gripped her cold hand tightly and whispered, "The smallpox case in the Northwest, the source of the epidemic, was traced back to Shanglin Village in Shuozhou. The entire village of more than two hundred people was burned to the ground. This was done by His Highness."
Hua Rui stared at Lu Yangyang in shock, her pupils contracting slightly, before she could no longer hold back and bent over, vomiting a mouthful of blood.
“I have a guess, though it might not be accurate. The reason the High Priest disappeared is probably because he had already agreed to guide him to the Moon River Kingdom. Rain Flower Village was just a warning. If the High Priest doesn’t compromise, the entire Miao region will suffer. What I’m saying might sound cruel, but there’s no time for you to grieve now. You need to decide for yourself whether you want to pull yourself together and protect your homeland, or pretend you know nothing and wait until they let you leave.” Lu Yangyang handed her a handkerchief.