Chapter 5760: Legend of the Undead Village
Qiao Lin turned her head, curiously staring at Mo Yu. "How will City Lord Gu handle it?"
She hadn't expected this Tundong Princess to be such a person. She seemed so gentle and mild-mannered earlier, yet she would beat a peasant woman to death in the street, inciting public outrage. From the looks of it, this so-called princess wasn't a good sort. Little Lin decided that from now on, she wouldn't bother with her. She didn't like talking to people who bullied the weak; it was utterly pointless. Her sister always said, if you have the guts, challenge the strong. What's the use of just bullying the weak?
"Naturally, he'll handle it impartially," Mo Yu huffed lightly, then, biting his peach, turned to walk out. "It looks like we won't be leaving this afternoon. Why don't you just explore Xijiu City for another two days?"
"If you want me to accompany you, that's fine too."
Qiao Lin gave him a dismissive "Pah!" and glared at the fellow.
That evening, someone thoughtfully brought news to Qiao Lin: the Tundong Princess had publicly beaten a peasant woman to death and was sentenced by the City Lord to fifty strokes of the rod. These fifty strokes were no simple punishment; not only were they publicly executed, but all defensive mystic artifacts on the Tundong Princess were ordered to be removed. She was directly pressed to the ground and beaten fiercely like an ordinary person.
When the Tundong Princess was carried back to the驿站 (post station), her back was reportedly a bloody mess, and she was severely injured. However, despite her severe injuries, once she was back at the post station, people would treat her and give her medicine. After taking some good healing pills and resting for a few days, she would probably be fine.
It was the peasant woman who was truly pitiful; her life was lost for nothing. City Lord Gu was quite a strong-willed man. If it were any other City Lord, they might have flattered the Tundong Princess and discreetly swept the matter under the rug. After all, it was just a low-ranking peasant woman who died, while the Tundong Princess was here for a marriage alliance with Beimo. She might end up as a Crown Princess or a royal consort, or perhaps, if luck favored her, even enter the Old King's harem – it wasn't impossible... To offend a princess on behalf of a peasant woman seemed unnecessary in most people's eyes.
Yet, City Lord Gu directly apprehended her and severely punished her with fifty strokes, beating a delicate princess until her skin was torn and she was utterly miserable. Of course, this was also partly due to the Crown Prince backing him. But in the end, the Tundong Princess would still hold City Lord Gu accountable for this.
Qiao Lin fiddled with the small soup bowl in front of her, took a small sip, and her face wrinkled. What kind of lotus seed soup was this? So bitter, she really didn't like it. That rascal Mo Yu even claimed he cooked it himself and insisted she drink it all as a favor.
Little Lin picked up the soup bowl and walked to a nearby flowerpot. She glanced left and right, saw that the maidservants were all standing outside the door, and then, with a burst of determination, was about to pour all the lotus seed soup into the flowerpot...
A shout came from the doorway, "Aha! You little two-faced scoundrel, trying to pour away the soup I painstakingly made!"
Qiao Lin's hand trembled in fright, and the bowl almost fell to the ground. Mo Yu rushed over, steadily caught the soup bowl with one hand, and placed it on the windowsill. "Drink it quickly, while it's hot. It's so delicious, why would you pour it away?"
"It's not delicious," Qiao Lin was furious.
"Even if it's not delicious, I made it myself. Drink!"
Qiao Lin's face was bitter as she glared at him, annoyed.
"I made this, it's delicious," Mo Yu boasted, holding the bowl and trying to force-feed her. "I'm telling you, drinking lily and lotus seed soup in the summer is so good for you girls. It beautifies your skin, nourishes you, it's great."
Qiao Lin was so angry that she chugged it down in one go. "I drank it. You can scram now."
Mo Yu hooked his lips. "Oh, I was actually going to tell you a story. Since you want to rest, then I..."
"What... what story??" Qiao Lin immediately leaned closer, asking with a curious expression.
"You told me to scram, so why should I say anything?"
Qiao Lin quickly brought him a stool and invited him to sit down. She then hurried to get another one for herself, and the two sat facing each other at a small table by the window. The young girl rested her chin on her hands, her bright eyes blinking as she stared at him. "Tell me. I used to love hearing my mother tell me stories about my sister."
Mo Yu secretly suppressed a smile, and said seriously, "On our way back to the capital, we'll probably pass through Undead Village again. We need to be careful. When we came, one person was missing from our group when we left the village."
"After that, we went back into Undead Village to search again. We almost turned over every piece of land in the village, but guess what happened?"
"You didn't find anything?"
"Not finding anything isn't the scary part. The scary part is that another person went missing from our group again."
Qiao Lin shrunk her neck slightly. "I've never heard of this village before. We also went from Xijiu City to the capital back then, and never heard of such a terrifying village."
"This village wasn't called Undead Village before; it was just an ordinary village. It was only after it was completely destroyed by corpse puppets five years ago that people started calling it Undead Village." Mo Yu suddenly reached out and held Qiao Lin's small hand. This action startled Qiao Lin, who was completely engrossed in the story.
"What are you doing?"
"I just want to remind you that you must keep up with the team and not fall behind! The legend of Undead Village is that everyone who is at the very back of the team will be eaten by an unknown monster."
The young girl swallowed, staring at his dark eyes, believing him. "R-really? So the first time one person was eaten, and then you went back, and then another one was eaten?"
Mo Yu nodded. "So you absolutely must not leave my side by even a step, understand?"
Qiao Lin nodded.
Mo Yu nodded in satisfaction, reaching out to stroke her head. "That's a good girl. I'll protect you."
"Now, have a good rest. We probably won't be able to leave tomorrow or the day after."
"Is it because we have to wait for the Tundong Princess's backside to recover?" The Tundong Princess's back and even her backside were probably smashed by the rods.
Mo Yu hooked his lips. "Something like that."
The next day passed without incident. Little Lin didn't go out to wander. She tidied up her own small courtyard, brewed a pot of tea, and spent a quiet afternoon.
The following afternoon, Qiao Lin woke up in the middle of the day. As she walked out of her room, she found that fellow Mo Yu standing under the tree in front of the door. He was currently asking the little eunuch in front of him with a faint expression, "Did the King say anything else?"
The little eunuch shook his head like a rattle drum, his head bowed low, completely daring not to meet the Crown Prince's "death gaze"...
"The King has been living quite comfortably recently?"
The little eunuch bit his lip, trembling slightly, and nodded repeatedly.
"Then find something for him to do," Mo Yu turned around nonchalantly and ordered, "Go, find a group of people to bring Consort Li out and kill her. Remember to be quick about it."