Xie Yichuan and Mo Yi arrived at Qiyun Temple by carriage without incident. However, Qiyun Temple had now become a ruined temple.
“Young Master, could this really be Qiyun Temple?”
Mo Yi looked at the dilapidated, overgrown temple before him, unable to believe it.
“Don’t you recognize the characters above?”
Xie Yichuan retorted.
“No, Young Master, your subordinate is just not entirely sure in his heart,” Mo Yi said with a smile, scratching his head.
“Let’s go, we’ll have a look on the mountain.”
With that, Xie Yichuan strode towards the mountain.
The two wandered around the mountain for a while before finding the deep pool.
Above the deep pool, a waterfall cascaded down from the cliff. The sound of the water was immense, but the scene was spectacular.
Xie Yichuan gazed at the pool, its water a dark green, its depths unseen, and knew how deep it was. Moreover, the water in this remote mountain forest was extremely cold.
He stared intently at the deep pool for a moment, and his head suddenly spun. A familiar yet strange fragment immediately appeared in his mind.
In the vision, a little boy with an unclear face was being forcibly pulled towards the deep pool by a woman whose face was also obscured. The boy struggled desperately, trying to break free from the woman’s large hand, but he was just a few-year-old boy. His strength against an adult was ultimately insignificant.
As the boy struggled and thrashed, the woman casually picked up a stone from the ground and smashed it on the boy’s head. The boy fainted on the spot, and blood soon began to flow from his head.
Immediately, the woman picked up the boy and threw him into the pool. The icy water instantly submerged his small body.
Then, the woman washed the blood from her hands and clothes, turned to leave, and a white figure…
“Young Master, Young Master, are you alright? Don’t scare your subordinate!”
Mo Yi quickly supported Xie Yichuan, who was half-conscious, and asked with a worried expression.
After the vision in Xie Yichuan’s mind disappeared, he straightened up and pressed his temples.
“I’m fine, let’s go back,” Xie Yichuan said lightly and turned to walk down the mountain.
This left Mo Yi bewildered once again.
What was going on with his Young Master today? They had traveled for an hour by carriage to Qiyun Temple, and then spent nearly half an hour finding this deep pool. He thought they had come to the mountain to enjoy the scenery.
To his surprise, after just one look at the pool, his Young Master declared they were leaving.
“Really! I can’t figure out what my Young Master is thinking!” Mo Yi muttered softly as he walked behind Xie Yichuan.
“What, you don’t want to go back? Then I’ll go back first, and you can stay here to enjoy the scenery by yourself.”
Saying this, Xie Yichuan used his qinggong to fly down the mountain.
Seeing his Young Master leave, Mo Yi panicked and quickly chased after him.
“Young Master, wait for me!”
Mo Yi’s cries echoed throughout the mountain.
…
About half an hour later, Xie Yichuan and Mo Yi, master and servant, were in the carriage, heading back. Mo Yi was driving in front, while Xie Yichuan sat inside, reading.
As they reached the main road, a weak-looking man in ragged clothes collapsed by the roadside, blocking their carriage.
“Young Master, someone has fainted on the road.”
Mo Yi frowned as he saw the person lying not far in front of their carriage.
“Mo Yi, go down and see what’s going on with that person,” Xie Yichuan instructed.
“Yes!”
Mo Yi responded, immediately jumped off the carriage, and walked to the man lying on the ground.
He extended two fingers to feel the man’s nose and found that he was still breathing. So, he shouted towards the carriage, “Young Master, he’s still alive, should we save him?”
Xie Yichuan also jumped off the carriage and walked over. He crouched down and saw that the man on the ground had dry lips, wounds on his face, and several cuts on his hands. At first, he felt a pang of pity.
But when his sharp eyes noticed calluses on both of the man’s hands, he immediately guessed the man’s approximate identity.
“Mo Yi, let’s quickly help him to a shady spot, and then open your water pouch and give him some water to drink.”
“Yes, Young Master!”
Then, Xie Yichuan and Mo Yi together carried the man under the shade of a tree and quickly took off their water pouches to give the man water.
The sun was particularly scorching today. Even though it was past noon, the sunlight could still dry you out if you didn’t rehydrate.
After drinking the water, the man lay in the shade for a while before slowly waking up.
When he opened his eyes, he saw two men standing before him. One was a handsome, refined gentleman in a white robe holding a folding fan. The other was dressed in a fitted, narrow-sleeved dark purple outfit, looking very capable. Thus, he guessed they were master and servant.
“You’re awake?” Xie Yichuan asked softly.
“Thank you for saving me,” the man said gratefully.
“It’s nothing!” Xie Yichuan said, then he smiled slightly and asked, “My dear sir, you are traveling under such a strong sun today, where are you headed?”
“I’m going to the capital,”
The man said, his voice hoarse, and licked his dry lips.
“The capital? Then where are you from? With such a hot sun today, you’re not traveling by carriage or horse. It’s a miracle you haven’t been sun-dried to death…”
Mo Yi spoke carelessly, but before he could finish, he was met with a stern look from Xie Yichuan.
“Mo Yi, speak properly!” Xie Yichuan glared at him fiercely.
“Oh, Young Master! Mo Yi understands,” Mo Yi pouted.
At this moment, the man sighed and briefly explained his situation.
“Young Master, actually, I walked here from Shahe Town behind that mountain over there. Since I had no money for travel, I only brought some food and water to make my way to the capital. But the weather today was truly too hot, and I quickly finished my provisions and drank all my water.”
The man pointed to the large mountain behind Xie Yichuan.
“Heavens, that Shahe Town! My Young Master and I passed by there before. You don’t know it takes an hour to ride from there to here. For someone with injuries to walk here under such a hot sun from Shahe Town is truly not easy. Moreover, we rarely see anyone on this road. If you died here, no one would even know you had rotted,” Mo Yi said with admiration.
As soon as Mo Yi finished speaking, he received another stern look from his Young Master.
Xie Yichuan now regretted bringing Mo Yi out. This fellow truly gave him no peace, not even for a single day.