Chapter 514: Chapter 183: Madman_5
As for that Light-vented Bulbul...
It had been taken away by Elder Yang and locked in a birdcage. After he returned to the mansion with severe injuries and a distressed heart, requiring care... everyone in the mansion had forgotten about the Light-vented Bulbul. When they remembered a month later, they found it dead in the greenhouse.
Without anyone to feed it, the Light-vented Bulbul had long starved to death, its feathers dim and disorderly, stiff and shriveled into a clump.
The servants threw it away, He couldn’t bear the sight of a Light-vented Bulbul anymore.
Clear and cheerful chirping echoed in his ears, chirp by chirp, each sound joyful.
Qi Yutai’s pupils contracted.
Where was the sound coming from?
Why would there be a Light-vented Bulbul here?
A chill rose from his feet, and he trembled as he looked ahead.
The huge and beautiful Light-vented Bulbul Painting was in front of him, the old man and the bird both strikingly lifelike, a strange fragrance of fresh tea leaves invading his nostrils, making him feel as if he were in the tea fields of Mangming Township outside the city, unable to distinguish reality from dreams.
The old man in the painting stared vacantly beyond the painting at him, blood slowly beginning to trickle from under his eyes and nose, as serpentine as it had been under the thatch floor that day, yet even more vivid than before.
Qi Yutai let out a terrible scream, crouching and holding his head.
He groaned, pleading, "It wasn’t me... don’t look for me..."
His foggy mind suddenly became excruciatingly painful, as if someone was stirring irritably inside his head with a thick silver needle. He shook with pain, the flames around him becoming unclear, not knowing who he was or where he was, only holding his shoulders and sobbing, blurting out, "I am, I am the Young Master of the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion, I will give you silver..."
"Don’t look for, don’t look for me..."
...
The fire downstairs began to dwindle.
The patrolmen in fireproof vests emerged from the building, putting away the bamboo ladders. The leftover water skins were stacked to one side.
Shen Fengying wiped ash from his face, relieved.
The fire had been no small incident, and the wooden pavilion was prone to burn and difficult to extinguish, but fortunately, there were two Military Inspection Houses nearby Rouge Lane, well-stocked with water skins and manpower. Everyone trapped inside the building was rescued. Had they been half an hour later, it would not have been so easy to save those on the upper floors.
He massaged his arm, looking towards the flames still on the roof of the building.
The fire had started on the top floor, making it the hardest to put out. The wooden beams were easily collapsible once engulfed in a big fire. He didn’t allow the patrolmen to go up again; the building had been burning so long that extinguishing it was pointless. Everyone was safe; there was no need to risk their lives needlessly.
All the rescued individuals huddled under a nearby pavilion, still wrapped in blankets and not yet over the shock, when Shen Fengying had just put away his water pump, someone in the crowd cried out, "This man is the Young Master from the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion!"
The Young Master from the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion?
Shen Fengying’s ears perked up, the pump slipping from his hands.
He didn’t bother picking up the pump, turning instead and asking, "Where? Where is the Young Master from the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion?"
"Over here!" Someone in the bustling crowd waved at him, "He said so himself!"
Shen Fengying’s spirits lifted, the weariness from his night shift suddenly swept away.
In today’s court, there was only one Grand Preceptor, and the Grand Preceptor’s young master, wasn’t that Young Master Qi?
What was Young Master Qi doing in Fengle Building? With his family’s wealth, he should be on Qinghe Street in South City, right?
But with such a high-ranking official, no one should dare impersonate him.
He hadn’t even seen the Grand Preceptor himself!
Shen Fengying thought gleefully that if the man was truly the Young Master of the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion and he had saved his life today, he would have done a good deed. It wouldn’t be excessive to expect a promotion, maybe not three ranks, but at least one should be in order!
He ran to the pavilion and cleared his throat, presenting a serious yet friendly smile, asking, "Where is Young Master Qi?"
Someone pointed him in the right direction.
Shen Fengying parted the crowd and looked down.
In the very center of the crowd crouched a young gentleman, his clothes singed and disheveled, murmuring something with his head in his hands.
He seemed frightened.
Poor fellow, such a great fire must have been a terrible shock for these pampered young nobles.
Shen Fengying approached him carefully, speaking softly, "It’s alright, Young Master Qi, the fire is out... Young Master Qi?"
The person on the ground shivered, slowly releasing his hands from his head, and began to lift his face little by little.
Shen Fengying was taken aback.
The man looked at him fearfully, his face blackened by soot, lips quivering, and Shen Fengying, leaning closer, heard him say, "I am the Young Master from Grand Preceptor Qi’s mansion... I am Young Master Qi... I will give you silver... lots of silver..."
Before Shen Fengying could respond, the man suddenly leaped up in a panic, grasping Shen Fengying’s robe, and began to rant, "The Light-vented Bulbuls, have you seen the Light-vented Bulbuls? So many Light-vented Bulbuls!"
He cackled, "The Light-vented Bulbuls are bleeding! They’re coming to kill!"
There was a hushed silence all around; not far off, the fire on the pavilion still burned. In the narrow alley of Rouge Lane, a dense crowd encircled them,
As if watching a sensational play.
Shen Fengying instinctively stepped back, the tenderness and smile on his face disappearing instantly.
What was happening?
Was this man truly the Young Master from Grand Preceptor Qi’s mansion?
Or did he look more like...
A madman?