Chapter 119: Extra: About the Side Couple 3

Chapter 119: Extra - About the Secondary Couple 3

Xu Mo was on alert, while Luo Yan focused on listening to the sounds underground.

After a while, Luo Yan tugged at Xu Mo, signaling that they should go down as well.

The two silently descended into the well. At the bottom, there was an entrance leading to a long tunnel with a faint light flickering in the distance.

After walking a short distance, they heard the sound of an argument coming from ahead.

"Are you crazy! This is someone the higher-ups are asking for, and you dare to touch her first!"

"Damn it! I can't stand it anymore! Looking but not touching is driving me crazy! I'll just grab another one to replace her!"

"Troublemaker! Grabbing another one is more risky. You got a death wish or what?"

"If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna enjoy myself first! Damn it, I knew this bitch was slutty the moment I saw her. A 'young lady' out on the street looking for men! Hehe, I'll give her what she wants."

The other person seemed impatient and warned, "Don't mess up the timing!"

"Fine, fine, got it. You take that one and go first."

Footsteps faded away, and the whimpering became clearer, accompanied by the man's malicious chuckles echoing in the tunnel: "I spent a fortune to get this medicine from above. It'll tame even the most virtuous woman—or a man, for that matter. Today, I'm gonna test it on you..."

Luo Yan and Xu Mo frowned at each other. They couldn't just stand there and let someone be assaulted; they had to save her.

Xu Mo whispered, "I'll follow them. You rescue her first."

Luo Yan nodded, quickly gave Xu Mo his token and a signal arrow. Xu Mo went to tail the one who left, while Luo Yan went in and knocked out the man who was about to take off his clothes, then bound his hands and feet.

He listened carefully for a moment, making sure he could no longer hear footsteps or Xu Mo's breathing, then said to the terrified woman huddled in the corner, "It's over. I'm with the authorities, here to get you out. Take a deep breath first. Once you've calmed down, I'll untie you."

The woman looked at Luo Yan for a long time before slowly nodding.

Luo Yan stuffed the man into a sack, untied the woman, and carried the sack while leading her out of the tunnel to the well's edge. "Miss, where do you live? I'll find someone to take you home."

The woman twisted her fingers, her head slightly lowered. "Kind sir, could you do me another favor? If I go home looking like this, my dad will kill me!"

Luo Yan understood. He went into the front room and rummaged around, actually finding a veiled hat. He gave it to the woman to put on, then led her out of the courtyard. He found nearby patrol officers and instructed the captain to take the man in the sack to the prison for trial, and to gather some people to set up an ambush near that courtyard.

He found a nearby inn to settle the woman in, told the waiter to do whatever the woman asked, and said he would come back later to pay.

After instructing the waiter, Luo Yan nodded to the woman and turned to leave.

The woman hurriedly called out to stop him, "Kind sir, wait..."

Before she could finish, the sound of a signal arrow exploding came from afar.

Luo Yan was immediately distracted. He dashed out of the inn, muttering as he ran, "That mute's pretty quick!"

At the courtyard, the ambush was successful. Luo Yan made sure no one had escaped and no civilians got hurt, then prepared to leave.

As he turned around, Xu Mo happened to return and landed behind him, saying, "Got everyone, the hideout's shut down, and it's been handed over to the Grand Court for investigation."

"Oh..." Luo Yan replied absentmindedly, his eyes inexplicably fixed on Xu Mo's accidentally exposed neck.

Probably because Xu Mo was not used to wearing such loose scholar robes, after the fight his collar loosened slightly without him noticing. The strap of the backpack he was carrying pulled the collar to one side, revealing his fair and slender neck. Under the firelight, it was stunning.

Xu Mo called Luo Yan a few times, but the guy was totally zoned out and didn't respond. Finally, Xu Mo gave him a kick to snap him out of it. "What are you spacing out for? Let's go report to the Emperor and Prince Consort. Time to head back to the palace."

"Oh, good, back to the palace, find the Emperor..." Luo Yan turned around incoherently, then let out an "ah," and said, "That young lady is still at the inn, I need to take her back first..."

Xu Mo watched Luo Yan walk away in bewilderment, thought for a moment, and then followed.

In the inn, the woman, who had freshened up and changed, was sitting by the round table, taking a small paper packet out of her sleeve.

It was the drug she had secretly stashed away from the tunnel, the drug the trafficker had intended to make her take.

The woman's fingers clenched tightly around the paper packet as she murmured, "Please don't blame me, Sir. If I don't look out for myself, I'll be forced by my family to become an old man's concubine. I had no choice but to..."

The woman bit her lip and quickly tore open the packet and poured the powder into the teapot on the table, murmuring, as if reassuring herself, "Rest assured, Sir. Once I'm yours, I'll take good care of you and have your children..."

Luo Yan made his way to the inn, muttering so quietly only he could hear, "...just like a rabbit... so white..."

"His face isn't even that white..."

"...his neck is so white... what about the rest of his body..."

Arriving at the inn, Luo Yan leaped directly through the window.

The woman jumped, but when she saw it was Luo Yan, she stifled her scream.

Ignoring the woman, Luo Yan's gaze fell directly on the teapot on the table.

His Adam's apple bobbed without him realizing, and only then did Luo Yan realize his throat felt like it was on fire—parched and dry.

He strode to the table, poured a cup of water, and gulped it down. Feeling it wasn't enough, he poured two more cups and drank them. Still thirsty, he just grabbed the teapot and chugged it before breathing a sigh of relief.

Taking out a silver ingot and placing it on the table, Luo Yan asked the woman, "Are we ready to head back?"

The woman watched him drink the whole pot of tea and said nervously, "Sir, wait..."

Luo Yan frowned, getting impatient. "What are we waiting for?"

As he spoke, Luo Yan tugged at his collar without thinking. Why was he so hot?

The woman noticed the drug was kicking in on Luo Yan. Summoning her courage, she approached and whispered, "Sir, are you... feeling unwell?"

Luo Yan felt something was off. He instinctively pushed away the woman reaching out to help him, shook his head and muttered, "What's happening? So hot..."

The woman stumbled back from the push. After steadying herself, her face full of resentment, she gritted her teeth and moved forward again to touch Luo Yan. "Young master, if you are feeling unwell, let me serve you..."

Luo Yan looked at the woman. His faintly reddened eyes seemed to blaze with fiery rage. His tone had lost all its gentleness. "Was it you? Get out!"

Before the woman could reach him, Luo Yan, out of patience with her, flicked his sleeve. The woman was sent flying out the door and crashed into a pillar in the corridor.

Luo Yan turned and leaped out the window. His mind was foggy. Instinctively following the blurry images in his memory, he retraced his steps, murmuring, "Mute... find the Mute..."