Untouchable Lovers

Chapter 140: Chapter 130: The Royal Descendant Can Stay by Himself

Chu Yu and her group searched for a good portion of the night, for what felt like an eternity, yet they were still unable to find any trace of Tian Rujing. Although there were people skilled in tracking within the household, the heavy rain had washed away almost all traces. They followed the road from the north of the city to the east, and by the time the rain stopped and dawn broke, everyone had arrived at the foot of East Mountain.

Yue Jiefei, with his sharp eyes, spotted a piece of purple cloth hanging on a pointed stone at the foot of the mountain. He immediately leaped over, picked up the cloth, and after a careful examination, turned back anxiously to Chu Yu and said, “Princess, this is from Ajing’s garment.”

Chu Yu looked up at the mountain in surprise, “Could Tian Rujing be on the mountain? Why would he climb the mountain in such heavy wind and rain last night?” After pondering for a moment, she decided to get out of the carriage, ordered the soldiers to stay at the foot of the mountain, and went up the mountain with Rong Zhi and Yue Jiefei to find out what was happening.

It was only after she alighted from the carriage that Chu Yu remembered Xiao Bie was still in her vehicle. Xiao Bie had escorted Liu Chang out of the city, and it was inconvenient to let him return to the city alone, raising suspicion, so she brought him along all the way.

Chu Yu turned to Xiao Bie and said, “You can rest in the carriage, how about it?”

Xiao Bie shook his head and came down from the carriage with his zither in hand, “No, I will go up the mountain with the Princess.”

Because the rain had already stopped and with Yue Jiefei’s intermittent assistance, Chu Yu and the others had a much easier time climbing the mountain than Tian Rujing had. Yue Jiefei, however, was truly anxious, but he couldn’t very well run up the mountain alone leaving Chu Yu behind, so all he could do was move back and forth to calm his restlessness.

Along the way, they continuously found traces left by Tian Rujing, confirming that he had indeed gone up the mountain.

After much difficulty, they finally reached the summit of East Mountain. By then, the sun had risen a bit, and the glow of the morning sun seemed to brazenly spread across the sky as if wishing to cleanse the somberness of the world.

The first thing the four of them saw was a silhouette standing at the edge of a cliff, with the blazing sun overhead, dazzling and eye-catching. The figure stood with his back to them, hands clasped behind him, appearing as if he could leap from the summit at any moment.

Yue Jiefei, overwhelmed with shock, could no longer concern himself with Chu Yu. He took several strides and leapt to stand behind the figure, grabbing him from behind and pulling him away from the edge of the cliff as he cried out, “Ajing, you mustn’t lose hope!”

After dragging the person back five or six feet, Yue Jiefei felt something was off. The person didn’t feel quite right; his Junior Brother Jing didn’t seem this tall…

Releasing his hold hesitantly, Yue Jiefei took two steps back as the person he had grabbed now turned around. A handsome face with a carefree and unrestrained smile looked back at Yue Jiefei. His eyes carried a teasing chuckle as he said, “Yizhi has no passion for the love of men, so I can only regretfully decline your grand affections.”

Having mistaken the person, Yue Jiefei’s face went from red to white with embarrassment, but what worried him even more was Tian Rujing. They had already confirmed that Tian Rujing had climbed the mountain, but now he was nowhere to be seen; could it be…

After having his fun with Yue Jiefei, Wang Yizhi approached Chu Yu with a smile and a bow, “Why is Brother Zichu so keen to come to East Mountain so early in the morning?”

Seeing Wang Yizhi, Chu Yu too was surprised but responded with a smile and a bow, “We’re searching for someone. Has Brother Yizhi seen a young man about eighteen or nineteen years old, dressed in purple?”

Wang Yizhi paused slightly but then smiled broadly, “He’s at my place, please follow me.”

Following Wang Yizhi, everyone discovered that just below the summit, hidden in the dense woods, there was an exquisitely elegant house. Its grey rooftop tiles were nestled among the grey shadows of the forest, hard to detect without looking closely.

As Wang Yizhi led everyone through the door, he said, “This house belongs to the Xie Family. On a whim, I wanted to admire East Mountain’s scenery and asked the Xie Family for permission to use it. I even sent away the servants for the time being for some peace.” It was just last night’s torrential rain that brought good sleep; this morning, he had woken up intending to watch the sunrise but unexpectedly found the unconscious Tian Rujing.

Tian Rujing lay quietly on the bed, his face pale in slumber. Rong Zhi examined his pulse and found that he was only suffering from exhaustion and excessive fatigue, and the injuries on his body were only minor surface wounds, not serious.

Learning that Tian Rujing’s life was not in danger, Yue Jiefei finally let go of his concern.

Wang Yizhi invited Chu Yu to rest there, and having not slept throughout the previous night, Chu Yu was finally feeling tired and agreed, leaving the rest of the matters to Rong Zhi to handle.

No sooner had she lain down on the bed than she was engulfed by the overwhelming darkness that came rolling in.