Chapter 259 Xiaomei is not dead!

In the vast Dayang Mountain, the sun is not too high in the sky, but the residual warmth of the earth is still there.

There was no sound at all in the deep mountains, which added a bit of deathly air.

After several days of non-stop trekking, Ruyan and Li Yuanfang finally arrived at their destination.

Before they came to Dayangshan, they actually went to Liuzhou city first, met Wen Kai, and then rushed to Dayangshan.

At this moment, Ruyan looked up, her sight penetrating the dim afterglow of the setting sun, and vaguely saw the outline of a lonely little temple at the foot of the mountain.

She pointed in that direction excitedly and shouted to Li Yuanfang: "Yuanfang, look! It's right there!"

As the distance got closer, the outline of the small temple became clearer. However, Li Yuanfang's face did not show the expected joy. Instead, it was shrouded in a heavy haze.

After all, Xiaomei's "death" was like a huge rock pressing on his heart, making it difficult for him to let go.

In Li Yuanfang's heart, he was also somewhat responsible for Xiaomei's "death".

He said nothing, but just gently kicked the horse's belly. The warhorse responded with a long neigh and carried him straight to the small temple.

Ruyan could probably sense Li Yuanfang's mood, and instead of blaming him, she just followed him silently.

Li Yuanfang and Ruyan arrived in front of the temple, dismounted, and slowly walked into the temple. The two were on full alert and observed their surroundings.

They came to a corner of the temple. Li Yuanfang squatted down, his eyes fell on the cold wall, his expression was gloomy, and he sighed softly: "Xiaomei, it's right here..."

Seeing that Li Yuanfang was sad, Ruyan gently stroked his shoulder and said, "Yuanfang, don't be sad. Xiaomei's death should be blamed on Xiao Qingfang and the Snake Spirit. Our mission is to find the Snake Spirit headquarters as soon as possible and seek justice for Xiaomei!"

Li Yuanfang stood up and took a long breath: "I thought so too. But, the vast Dayang Mountain stretches for dozens of miles, where exactly is the headquarters?"

Ruyan looked around and nodded, "The temple is clean, there are no bodies, not even bloodstains. It's obvious that someone has deliberately cleaned up the traces. This must be the work of the snake spirit!"

"According to our estimation, the entrance to the main altar must be near the small temple. If that doesn't work, let's ask Governor Wen for help first and ask him to send a large army over. The main altar will definitely not be hidden anymore."

Hearing this, Li Yuanfang shook his head firmly: "No, now is not the time to mobilize the army. It will easily alert the enemy. Let's look for it ourselves first."

Ruyan thought for a moment and suggested, "Then let's split up and look for traces of people's activities around the small temple first. Maybe we can find something! Then we will meet at the small temple!"

Li Yuanfang nodded in agreement, but added: "Okay, but we should stay within each other's sight so that we can look after each other!"

Ruyan smiled when she heard this: "Are you concerned about me?"

Li Yuanfang's face turned a little red. He didn't answer and turned to leave.

"Hey, say something!" Ruyan chased after him in two or three steps and grabbed him.

Li Yuanfang smiled helplessly: "Okay, okay, I guess I'm just concerned about you!"

Ruyan looked at him and said with emotion: "Thank you."

As she spoke, she suddenly hugged Li Yuanfang's head, pecked him lightly, and then ran away at lightning speed.

Li Yuanfang was left standing there in a daze for a moment, then he smiled and shook his head, and followed closely behind.

The two began to search around the small temple, but found broken walls and tiles, and patches of weeds everywhere.

Suddenly, something in the wormwood attracted Li Yuanfang's attention.

He walked over quickly, pushed aside the weeds, and looked carefully. He saw a long piece of silk in the grass.

Li Yuanfang quickly reached out to pick it up. There was a large blood stain on the silk, which had faded to dark purple due to the passage of time.

He immediately recalled that Xiaomei was wearing a tight nightgown made of purple silk when she died.

The tears on the edge of the silk piece showed that someone had torn it off intentionally. Combined with the shape and bloodstains, it looked like it was used for bandaging.

He felt uneasy, and kept replaying the fierce battle that night and Xiaomei's sacrifice in his mind. He felt that things were not simple. Just as he was thinking, a terrified scream came from Ruyan, interrupting his thoughts.

Li Yuanfang was startled, jumped up and ran towards Ruyan.

Ruyan was seen staring at a corner in amazement, her body trembling slightly.

"What's wrong?" Li Yuanfang stopped beside Ruyan.

Ruyan pointed at the corner and said, "Look...what is this?"

Li Yuanfang looked in the direction of her finger and saw a snake-shaped mark painted in ink on the corner of the wall.

He was stunned for a moment and looked at Ruyan.

Ruyan's voice was trembling with difficulty: "This is Xiaomei's mark, but she...she has already..."

Li Yuanfang looked at the silk in his hand and handed it to Ruyan.

Ruyan took the silk and her eyes were instantly attracted. She suddenly looked up at Li Yuanfang and asked in confusion, "What is this?"

"That night, Xiaomei came to the temple to meet me, wearing this kind of white satin clothes." Li Yuanfang replied.

Ruyan was shocked when she heard this: "Where did you find it?"

Li Yuanfang pointed outside the wall and said, "It's in the bushes outside. Xiaomei died under the wall. How did the fabric from her clothes get into the bushes outside?"

Ruyan frowned and speculated, "Maybe it was blown away by the wind?"

Li Yuanfang shook his head and said, "Look at the shape of the silk edge and the bloodstains on it. Someone must have torn off Xiaomei's clothes to bandage her wound."

"Someone? Who are you referring to?" Ruyan already had a vague answer in her mind, but she still couldn't help asking.

Li Yuanfang looked at the snake-shaped mark on the wall: "What do you think?"

Ruyan was somewhat puzzled: "Could it be that Xiaomei is not dead?"

Li Yuanfang took two steps on the spot and asked again: "Besides you and Xiaomei, is there anyone else in the snake spirit who knows about this snake-shaped mark?"

Ruyan's eyes were filled with reminiscence: "Probably not, this mark is unique to the two of us, no one else knows it!"

Li Yuanfang took a deep breath and thought: "That must be Xiaomei. But, she clearly had no pulse at that time, how could she..."

Ruyan interrupted his thoughts, a glimmer of hope in her eyes: "Maybe she just bled too much and her pulse was too weak, but you thought she was dead."

Li Yuanfang frowned and nodded doubtfully: "It seems that this is the only explanation."

"Xiaomei is still alive, this is good!" Ruyan's face became excited.

However, Li Yuanfang's mind was not completely relaxed. He was still recalling every detail of that night, and felt in his heart that this matter was not simple.

Ruyan was already immersed in joy. She shook Li Yuanfang and said, "If Xiaomei is really not dead and has left a mark, as long as we can contact her, wouldn't it be the same as finding the headquarters?"

"The mark was drawn with ink, which means Xiaomei has returned. And looking at the color of the ink, it must have been drawn just a few days ago! Xiaomei is likely to come back again!"

Li Yuanfang finally came back to his senses: "Huh?"

Seeing Li Yuanfang's expression, Ruyan was a little unhappy: "Did you listen to me?"

Li Yuanfang nodded blankly: "Oh!"

Ruyan rolled her eyes, not wanting to argue with him: "It's getting late, I think we should stay in the ancient temple today and see if there is any movement."

Li Yuanfang looked up. The sun had set and night was quietly approaching.

(End of this chapter)