Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 2789: Chapter 2790: Exchanging Lives for Lives

This was definitely a deliberately left clue, hinting her to go to the right place. The meeting spot mentioned is Jingxin Temple, but the other party is cautious. It certainly won’t be as simple and unsafe as Jingxin Temple.

The pattern was circular, but upon closer inspection, there were some green juice mixed in, like the juice from a flower stem that had been trampled, very little, but upon closer inspection, it looked like an arrow.

She was sure this was no figment of her imagination; it must be a hint left by the other person.

Following the direction of the arrow, she entered the forest. If she walked towards the distance for more than an hour, she would leave the small mountain where Jingxin Temple was and enter another mountain range.

As she kept walking, she became increasingly uncertain, even wondering if she was too arrogant and really made a mistake?

Finally, up ahead in the tree, there appeared a bird nest, with baby birds chirping inside.

This was nothing unusual, but there was a blob of bird droppings on the outside edge of the nest, yellow-green, somewhat conspicuous.

As far as he knew, many birds wouldn’t defecate in their own nests. Would you deliberately mess up your bed with feces and urine? So, sometimes in the summer, people get ambushed by bird droppings and end up with a headful of it.

The bird droppings were the second clue.

She leapt up to the branch to take a closer look. The yellow of the bird droppings had some green, like a marker on a map, in the top left corner.

Which meant it was hinting her to continue towards the upper-left.

This was akin to solving a riddle; the other party was indeed cautious.

This method could only be used on meticulous people; if someone wasn’t careful, they were bound to miss all the reminders and might even head straight to Jingxin Temple.

Additionally, one needed to pay special attention to Diao Bin, only then would they observe so carefully and meticulously.

So, the other party knew her very well and had arranged everything from the beginning by sending a note to Bai Residence.

She continued to walk forward, afraid of missing clues or going the wrong way. She dared not walk too fast and kept her eyes glued to her surroundings, which was very mentally exhausting and soon made her eyes ache.

She quietly took some Hot Spring water to wash her eyes and continued to walk forward.

Afterwards, she found several more hints, but the directions weren’t necessarily left, right, or diagonally right or left; she even had to retreat at times.

Later, she found herself entering a certain array, with the right hints guiding her through it.

After four hours, she finally saw a pitch-black cave.

Nothing could be seen inside, like the gaping maw of a ferocious tiger. She felt a little nervous. This time, the enemy was formidable; merely his hints, strategy, and the large array layout had already made her look at him in a new light. No wonder none of the three factions dared to approach Diao Bin.

Ultimately, she bit the bullet and walked into the cave, soon seeing a man in a red robe wearing a mask.

”Chiyou?” she exclaimed, then sneered, ”I should call you King Rui.”

”I haven’t even taken off my mask. Aren’t you afraid it’s an impersonator?” King Rui laughed.

Diao Shengyan scoffed, ”You’re a criminal guilty of treason. Who would want to impersonate you? Even if someone did, it would have to be orchestrated by you, making no difference, right?”

”You are indeed clever. It wasn’t in vain that I arranged this for half a day, but it’s a pity you chose the wrong person, a pity indeed.” King Rui said.

”King Rui didn’t invite me here for idle chit-chat, did he? Where is Diao Bin?” Bai Ruozhu asked.

King Rui removed his mask, revealing an elegant face, his eyes deep black, no longer feigning blindness as before.

”We haven’t even negotiated terms, why rush, Master Bai? Careful not to lose your composure.” He chuckled softly.

Bai Ruozhu took a deep breath to quell her rising anger and asked, ”What do you want?”

”Exchange a person for her.” He chuckled again, ”But Master Bai need not worry; the person I want is not you.”

Bai Ruozhu’s face changed dramatically, and she instantly guessed who he wanted.

”The person I wanted was from Jingxin Temple, but I didn’t expect Master Bai to snatch her away. I can only use this method to make the exchange with you.” King Rui said with a smile.

Bai Ruozhu squinted, ”Why won’t you let her go? Do you intend to use her to threaten the Meng Family? Her nature is fiery; she’d rather die than let you succeed.”

”Is being fiery supposed to make her untroubled? You people think she’s too strong.” King Rui’s eyes dimmed a bit, ”She is my queen; no matter how desolate I become, she must stay by my side.”

”So you can continue to torment her? All her sufferings stem from you. Otherwise, she would still be the happy, carefree daughter of the City Lord of Beiyu City, forever carefree!” Bai Ruozhu gritted her teeth, wishing she could rush over and punch him.

King Rui sighed deeply, ”I know, but I still don’t want to let go nor can I let go. It’s like an addiction to gambling; I can’t quit.”

He looked up at Bai Ruozhu, ”You care about Diao Bin’s life, so use her for the exchange. The outside world thinks she’s dead; even if she leaves with me, no harm. I promise never to return to Danliang, and I will ensure she has a happy life.”

”Diao Bin is my friend, and Jinse is also my friend. I cannot betray Jinse to save Diao Bin, especially when she loathes the sight of you.” Bai Ruozhu sighed, ”King Rui, you are devoted, but love is a sacrifice, an accomplishment, not a selfish possession. Let her fly on her own. She has already been delayed. In the future, she just wants to be with her family. Why do you have to ruin that too?”

”What do you understand!” King Rui suddenly shouted, ”Do you understand what it’s like to miss someone so much you can’t sleep, to ache so deeply? Do you understand the feeling of being willing to give up everything for one person?”

”I do. I have someone I love deeply, and he loves me. If he didn’t love me and didn’t want to be with me, I would wish him well instead of trying to control or possess him!” Bai Ruozhu shouted back. Damn, when I was falling in love, you were busy scheming somewhere, and when I and my dream man were madly in love, you were playing around with women.

Pretending to be something in front of me, as if you were some kind of love saint.

King Rui quieted down, lost in thought, then suddenly looked up, his eyes frighteningly bright.

”I only want her. If you won’t exchange, I’ll have to kill Princess Diao Bin.”

He could threaten her, but she had nothing to threaten him with. He cared for Meng Jinse, but Bai Ruozhu would never use Jinse to threaten him.

She took a deep breath, ”Jinse really doesn’t want to see you. Why force her?”

”She can’t let go of conventions, but her heart still holds me. Otherwise, last time she would have reported me to the authority.” King Rui said.

Bai Ruozhu shook her head helplessly, ”She doesn’t report you because she doesn’t want her reputation to suffer further. You’ll never understand her because you only love yourself, only care about your own feelings.”