As Xialin stays there crying her eyes out all soaked up in the rain she became weary and unsteady, the effects of the blue coral elixir had been slowly taking up inside her body.
There has been a sudden rush in the energy flow of Xialin's body. It was rapidly changing from hot to cold in a moments time. Feeling tired and weary as her fragile body was unable to contain the rapid transformation she lost her consciousness after a short moment and passed out.
Xialin laid collapsed on the ground, losing all her sense. Her dress got stained and covered in the dirt. She laid there on the ground unconscious, unattended and unknown to her people.
As she laid there unconscious, a short moment have passed by and no one noticed her. Soon after a while there was a faint sound of someone approaching towards her. The sound of the footsteps became clearer and clearer as it slowly approaches Xialin.
The figure in an all-black hanfu approaches nearer towards her. It was walking slowly with the wooden wolf craving cane. The figure immediately stops before the young maiden which was laying down on the ground. The dark figure seems familiar it was an old woman with greyish, curly hair, gapped teeth, she tilted her head slowly to take a closer look at the body. As she slowly tossed the young maiden's body to the front, she exclaimed in shocked, "Ohh! Dear! It's you! Haven't I told you to leave the place?! Yet you didn't heed my words. See what has happened to you now"
The old woman deliberately put down her bamboo umbrella. She then pulled Xialin grabbing one of her hands. She dragged her all the way towards her carriage and slowly moved her body inside the carriage. She kept her there. With it, she drove the cart to a trot.
While they were moving forward, they went passed by Yutao and his guards. Yutao scout around the area observing closely and called out Xialin in the rain, "Xialin...??!! Where are you?!".
He stood there drenched in the rain hoping that she would answer his calls but all his hope was in vain no one replied to his call. There was only the sound of heavy rainfall and the croaking sound of frogs.
As Xialin laid down unconscious, the old woman's carriage moved on ahead passing by Yutao as if, they were total strangers passing by. Yutao and his guards strolled around the area not noticing the carriage that passed by. They searched for Xialin at the exact same location where Xialin was laid unconscious before. Yutao stood on the ground right above it but he was a bit late.
He wasn't able to find Xialin's body as the scents and marks on the ground were washed away with the rain.
Yutao became more and more unstable as he couldn't find a single traced of Xialin. He sighed in guilt, "This is getting worse!".
He immediately called his men and gave his order, "Quick! Expand the area! And one of you quick go and send a message to Lin's family!"
The guard immediately heeds to his words and continued their search. Meanwhile, One of the men quickly grabbed a horse and headed towards Lin's family.
On the other side, inside the carriage, the old woman slowly took off Xialin's wet clothes with her old, wrinkled hand and changed it to her all-black dress.
She carefully wrapped up the dirty clothes and put aside. She then gave a quick checked on Xialin's pulse to see if she was doing fine. As she touched her hands she learned that Xialin's body became ice cold and frigid.
The old woman slowly put up the warm tiger's fur above her, hoping that it would keep her warm. With it, she drove the carriage towards direction of the dark forest. The dark forest has been called "The Dark Forest" for a reason.
It has a massive forest and Mountain area. The entirety of the forest is filled with tall bamboos and pine trees thriving close to one another covering up the sun rays up above even in the day time. Only a certain area of The Dark Forest receives a faint amount of sunlight. As one gets deeper and deeper into the forest, the light became fainter and fainter.
The day was slowly turning to dusk as the sun goes down slowly to sleep. The heavy downpour started to fade little by little. As it became darker and deeper into the woods, the forest became creepier and creepier.
The old woman after trotting the carriage for a while, she slowed down the carriage and stopped right in front of a rocky cave which lies right beneath the mountains. She slowly came down from the carriage and pulled Xialin towards the cave. She laid her down there above a soft tiger's fur mattress and covered her up with it making sure that it warmed her.
After settling down Xialin to rest peacefully. She slowly opened her mouth and poured a spoonful of liquid medicine making sure that it reached her stomach.
She then quickly lit up the dry leaf and twigs and started to roast the deer meat.
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On the other side of the story...Xukai have arrived home from the Academy.....As soon as he reached home he quickly went inside the house and called out for his little sister, "Meimei! Meimei! Where are you??!"
Hearing her son's voice, Mrs.Lin quickly came out and responded, "Erzi, Why are you calling out so loud?! Your meimei has gone to Bingbing's house!"
Xukai after hearing his mom's words couldn't believe his eyes, "What??!!?? Meimei actually forgets our deal and didn't arrive home yet?!"
He was left musing in his own thoughts.
He then turned and questioned his mother, "Mom, Did you not tell meimei that I'll come home by evening?!"
Mrs.Lin reacted to it, "Aishhh! Erzi, your meimei is so willful. I have already told her to come back home early as you'll be coming home by evening. See...she didn't heed to it. She didn't come back till now! I couldn't even keep her to stay for lunch. If only she stays here for lunch, I would have made her meet and greet with Yutao. How much I want her to get to know with Yutao?! For whom I was making all those arrangements for??!!" Mrs.Lin continued to complain.
Seeing his mom's disappointed face, Xukai replied while taking out his shoes, "Yutao?! Da-ge friend?! He came today?!"
Mrs.Lin respond to it, "Yes, your Da-ge friend. They had lunch at our place and headed towards the Black Market to deal with some important matters. Yutao is such a fine man, I want your meimei to get to know each other with him"
Xukai smiles at his mom's words and replied amusingly, "Mom. Quit pondering over it. Our meimei is still young. Besides that you don't know her likes do you?!"
Xukai then got up and put his arms around his mom's shoulder. He then spoke up cockily, "Instead....! Mom, Why don't you find a wife for me?"
Mrs.Lin couldn't believe his son's words that she took out Xukai's arms and scolded unbelievably, "Tch! This lad! You are a grown-up man now. Why don't you find your wife yourself?! I am only searching for a good man for your meimei because she is a young and naive girl. It's good to have her married to someone known to us"
Xukai continues with his cheesy smile and pushed his mom inside with both hands, "Okay...okay...Mom...I'll find my own wife. Can you please give me my food?! Your handsome son is hungry!"
Mrs.Lin couldn't believe her eyes at her son's cheesiness. She smiles at it and they headed towards the kitchen.