nucmednet Chapter 117 Meeting at the City Gate
Chapter 117 Meeting at the City Gate
After having breakfast, Long Chuqing rode her horse out alone and went to the pharmacy first.
Xiao Yu's cold is much better, and now he helps out at the pharmacy with the shop assistants and apprentices.
He gets along well with everyone, and when he has free time, the medicine boy will even teach him to read.
The shop assistants in the pharmacy were discussing several recent murders in the capital, and Long Chuqing went over to listen for a while.
Based on their account, Long Chuqing thought of the two monsters she had seen that night. Could it be that they were the ones responsible?
If that's the case, she'll have to go and meet them. They've not only attacked her, but they're also targeting ordinary people. How outrageous!
There weren't many patients today. Long Chuqing stayed for an hour before telling Doctor Yuan that he had something to do and left.
She rode her horse alone towards Yuexi Tower, because Xiaoyu had said that the people at Yuexi Tower had posted her portrait and were looking for her.
Since she had some free time today, she decided to go and see what was going on.
When she arrived at the entrance of Yuexi Tower, she was dumbfounded. There was no Yuexi Tower in front of her! The once magnificent building was now a mess.
She looked around, thinking she had gone to the wrong place! After looking more closely, she realized she was right there! What was going on?
There were only a dozen or so craftsmen on site, building the new building in an orderly manner. It was already as tall as an adult.
"Could it be that they're going to demolish and rebuild?" Long Chuqing muttered. "But the old building looked fine to me. It didn't seem like it needed rebuilding! Is it because they're rich and capricious, and they just change the style if they don't like it anymore?"
Then she looked to the side, where there was a pile of charred waste materials from the original Yuexi Building, which they hadn't had time to deal with yet!
"Could it be that the building caught fire, forcing them to demolish and rebuild it?" Long Chuqing murmured again.
Upon closer inspection, the flower beds and tree branches nearby showed signs of damage from the intense heat of the fire, confirming that it was indeed a fire.
Now that Yuexi Tower is gone, she no longer thinks about having her portrait plastered on it, since no one is bothering her now anyway.
She turned her horse around and continued on, still pondering what she had just seen.
"Fire, fire, kerosene, that's right, kerosene."
"Ah... I ran into Qing Tong and Qing Ying at Qinli Courtyard a while ago. Didn't they smell like kerosene back then?" Long Chuqing murmured to herself, "They even admitted to setting a fire back then. Could it be that they set the fire at Yuexi Tower? I'll ask them again when I get back!"
"Giddy up..." After figuring it out, she quickened the horse's pace and headed towards the city gate.
Before long, they arrived at the city gate, where a queue had formed to leave the city.
She knew that identification was required to enter and exit the city gates, but luckily she had brought it with her when she went out; she had specifically asked Xiao Han to get it for her.
After looking closely for a while, I noticed that it seemed a bit different from before; there were more people checking the sentries, and it seemed much stricter.
She asked the elderly woman in line next to her, "Auntie, do you know what they're checking up there for? It seems different from the usual checks."
When the old woman saw someone talking to her, she looked at her and said, "Oh dear... young lady, you don't know! There have been several strange murders recently, and the government is investigating suspicious persons!"
"Oh...I see!" Long Chu said after listening.
"Oh dear...you don't know." The old woman continued to tell Long Chuqing, "I heard those people died horribly. They said their hearts were ripped out, and two of them even had parts of their bodies eaten!"
"Ah..., that's terrifying." Long Chuqing feigned surprise and echoed the old woman's expression.
"Yes!" the old woman cautioned, "Little girl, don't run around! The murderer hasn't been caught yet, it's very dangerous."
"Okay... thank you for letting me know. I will be careful. You be careful too."
"Sigh... I'll go first." The group ahead of the old lady's was mostly horse-drawn carriages, so they were moving faster than hers.
"Hey... Your Highness." Qingying pointed at Long Chuqing, who was at the front of the line, and said, "Look, isn't that Miss Long over there? Is she heading out of the city?"
They had just come out of the palace and were heading to the military camp outside the city when they unexpectedly encountered Long Chuqing queuing to leave the city.
Xiao Han's view was blocked by the carriage in front of him, so he didn't see her.
After hearing Qingying's words, Xiao Han and Qing Tong both leaned over to take a look and found that it was indeed her.
Xiao Han couldn't help but wonder, why is Chu Qing leaving the city?
They were just a bit far away; they were about to find Long Chuqing, while they were still quite far behind.
Xiao Han dismounted, handed the horse to Qing Tong to lead, and quickly walked ahead to find Long Chuqing.
At this moment, the city gate guards were checking Long Chuqing's travel documents. After glancing at the authenticity of the documents, the guards let her pass without questioning her further.
Because her identity document had the address of the Prince of Qin's residence written on it, which Xiao Han specifically instructed Qingying to write down when she asked her to get it.
Xiao Han showed the guards the Qin King's token, and they respectfully let him pass.
Just as Long Chuqing was about to mount her horse, her arm was suddenly grabbed. "Chuqing..."
She turned around and looked up. "Xiao Han... what are you doing here?"
"That's what I want to ask you," Xiao Han said, his eyes slightly narrowed. "Where are you planning to go?"
“I…” Long Chuqing’s eyes flickered for two seconds before she said, “I’ll just go for a stroll outside the city.”
"Wander around?" Xiao Han looked at her suspiciously; he didn't believe her explanation at all! "Where are you going for a stroll? I'll go with you."
"No, you can't go, it's too dangerous." Long Chuqing pursed her lips after saying that, realizing she had spoken too quickly again.
"Hehe... I was just kidding," she quickly added. "It's just that it's not appropriate for men to go along."
She couldn't very well tell him that she wanted to meet the cat demon and the wolf demon, could she? That would scare him half to death!
Xiao Han had already keenly caught the word "danger" and noticed her slightly guilty expression. He knew that she must have something to do after leaving the city, but he didn't know what she was going to do.
Go to a dangerous place? Or go to see a dangerous person?
He stared at Long Chuqing, frowned slightly, and said, "Chuqing... what was the situation you just described as very dangerous?"
"Nothing's wrong! I was just kidding." Long Chuqing chuckled and continued, "What danger could there be in broad daylight?"
After hearing this, Xiao Han said bluntly, "Anyway, I'm sticking with you today."
Long Chu was visibly surprised after listening: "Follow me? Why are you following me? Didn't you have something to do outside the city? Go quickly! Don't delay me."
"My business isn't urgent."
At this moment, Qingying Qingying, having checked their identity documents, led her horse toward them, followed by Xiao Yue.
After leaving the palace gate, Xiao Yue headed towards the city gate, hoping to see if there had been any progress.
Just as he was about to ask the guard what useful information he had found, he saw Xiao Han and Long Chuqing standing not far away.
Then, the bronze-green shadow appeared behind him, and they came over together.
"Seventh Brother, Miss Long," Xiao Yue called out as he stepped forward.
He already knew that Long Chuqing was now living at his younger brother's residence. Although he didn't know their current relationship, he still couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. Even so, he still politely went up to greet him.
Long Chuqing nodded at him.
"Third Brother, what brings you here?" Xiao Han said.