A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 321 Hope dashed

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Fucheng is bustling and noisy. It is a snowy evening, the lights are on, the streets are crowded with people and there is a feast of red dresses.

In the bridge pavilion, Liu Shenghe was playing the zither with his eyes closed and singing loudly. This was the poem he had taught his daughter Liu Wan to sing:

The feathers of mayfly and the clothes are neat and tidy.

My heart is filled with worries, and I am wondering where I will return to.

The wings of mayfly, picking clothes.

My heart is filled with worries, so I return to rest.

The mayfly digs and reads, and the linen clothes are as white as snow.

My heart is filled with worries, so I will go home and talk to you.

Accompanied by the sound of piano music, Si Yao and Fu Qingli also held the portrait of Liu Wan painted by Liu Shenghe himself and asked passers-by one by one at both ends of the bridge, but they still got no results after asking for a long time.

When they first arrived in Fucheng, they went to the government office first. Seeing the perfunctory attitude of the bailiffs on duty, they had no hope and had to rely on themselves to look for people in the city.

As it was getting dark, Si Yao wanted to go back to the bridge pavilion with the portrait but was stopped by a drunk middle-aged man. He looked Si Yao up and down with a smile and ill intention, with meanness and vulgarity in his eyes.

"My dear, who are you looking for on New Year's Day? Oh my, oh my..."

The drunkard rushed forward under the pretext of looking at the portrait. Si Yao remained calm. She dodged and quickly pierced the drunkard's earring with the silver needle that she had already held in her hand. The drunkard was caught off guard and covered his ears and screamed in pain.

"Are you sober now?" Si Yao still held the silver needle in her hand seriously. After asking seriously, she pretended to prick the man's other earlobe.

"Wake up, wake up." The drunk man was so scared that he quickly took a few steps back and responded repeatedly.

The sudden prick on the earlobe did indeed make the drunkard sober up. After he sobered up and looked at the blood wiped from his earlobe, he instantly lost his previous recklessness and looked timid, not even daring to raise his eyes. It turned out that he was just a coward emboldened by alcohol.

The drunk tried to flirt with a girl in the street but ended up getting stabbed in the ear by her. Many passers-by gathered around to watch the fun, but they couldn't help but laugh at the cowardly look on the drunk's face after he sobered up.

"That's the sobering point. A single injection won't do any harm. Excessive drinking harms your body and makes you easily confused and commit crimes. A healthy person should not be harmed by alcohol." Si Yao didn't pay attention to the whispers of the people around him, but warned the sobering middle-aged man in front of him with the serious demeanor of a doctor as usual.

"Yes, yes, thank you, young lady." The middle-aged man looked at Si Yao, who was so young but seemed like his dead mother suddenly appeared to teach him. He couldn't help but shiver all over. He obediently shrank his neck and bowed to Si Yao several times before running away in shame amid the laughter of everyone.

After the drunkard escaped, everyone saw that although Si Yao was beautiful, she looked cold and had a silver needle in her hand that could pierce people. Anyone who saw her would have to stay away from her, so they all began to disperse tactfully.

"Si Yao!" At this time, Fu Qingli happened to come to look for Si Yao. Seeing her surrounded by a crowd from afar, he hurriedly ran up to her and asked with concern, "What happened?"

"It's okay, it's just that Director Fang met a drunk man and helped him sober up." Si Yao handed the silver needle in her hand to Fu Qingli as if nothing had happened and smiled faintly.

Looking at the silver needle in front of him, Fu Qingli smiled gently, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: Si Yao has always been strong and courageous, she is not an ordinary woman. If she encounters a ruffian, it is still unknown who will suffer.

"Hehe, Fucheng is not small. You won't find the girl on the West Bridge. You have to look for her in the dark alleys of the East Gate." When Si Yao and Fu Qingli heard the piano music in the bridge pavilion ahead stop, they were about to go to pick up Liu Shenghe when an old beggar walked past them and suddenly said in a low voice.

"Old man, do you recognize the girl in this portrait?" Si Yao hurriedly took out five copper coins from his sleeve, ran up to the old beggar and put them in the empty bowl in his hand, and asked.

"I saw her in a dark alley at the east gate a year ago. She was so pitiful back then... Forget it, you guys should go find her yourselves. I don't know how she is doing now." The old beggar was overjoyed when he saw five copper coins. He quickly put away the copper coins, turned around and bowed to Si Yao before sighing pitifully.

After hearing the old beggar's hesitant words, Si Yao and Fu Qingli both felt a tightness in their hearts and looked towards the bridge pavilion involuntarily.

Afterwards, Fu Qingli asked the old beggar for the specific location of the dark alley at the east gate, bowed and said goodbye, and went back to see Liu Shenghe with Si Yao.

Half an hour later, the three of them rushed to the dark alley at the east gate that the old beggar had mentioned. However, there were two or three dark alleys with red lanterns lit in front of them, and it was difficult to distinguish them at night, so they had to ask a night stall owner.

"She is a golden flower in this dark alley, and her business is very good..." Seeing the portrait in Fu Qingli's hand, the vendor couldn't help but reveal an ambiguous smile and said, pointing to the innermost alley, but when he saw the expressions of the three people in front of him suddenly become solemn, he quickly shut up.

The three of them had long guessed what the red lanterns hanging in these dark alleys meant. Now after hearing what the vendors said, it became clearer than ever. The gorgeous brothels in the city were naturally for the entertainment of the rich, while ordinary people who could not afford to go to brothels would go to these dark alleys to have fun.

Liu Shenghe was in agony at this moment. He felt dizzy when he thought about his beloved daughter falling to this state. Fortunately, Fu Qingli and Si Yao supported him and prevented him from falling to the ground. After two years, he finally found his daughter. Liu Shenghe then comforted himself that he was lucky that his daughter was still alive.

There are five red lanterns hanging in the alley, but the innermost one is not lit. The reason why the red lantern is not lit is either that there are guests in the house or the shop is closed.

Si Yao was the first to arrive at the door of the room where the lantern was not lit. Fu Qingli followed closely behind, supporting Liu Shenghe. After knocking on the door, a faint female voice came from the quiet room:

"Please forgive me, sir. I am not feeling well today and will not be entertaining guests."

"Wan'er... Wan'er... It's daddy..." Although the voice was weak, Liu Shenghe heard it clearly. He walked to the window of the house tremblingly and couldn't help crying sadly.

"Liu Wan, your father is here to look for you, why don't you open the door?" Liu Shenghe was crying sadly outside, but there was no sound in the house. Si Yao couldn't help but knock on the door again.

After a while, candlelight suddenly lit up in the room, and a young woman wrapped in a green jacket walked out. Liu Shenghe was even more excited to see his daughter come out. He broke away from Fu Qingli's support and rushed forward to hold her shoulders tightly. But when he saw the woman's face clearly in the light in the room, he was stunned, and despair gradually appeared in his tearful eyes.

"Uncle Liu, what's wrong?" Seeing Liu Shenghe suddenly let go of the woman, staggering back with his head shaking, Fu Qingli continued to step forward and support him and asked worriedly.

"She is not, she is not Wan'er..." Liu Shenghe was once again completely desperate, and the hope that he had finally ignited was shattered in an instant.

Liu Shenghe's words also made Fu Qingli and Si Yao look back in surprise at the woman who was standing there without saying a word. However, this woman did look about 60% like the portrait. They had never seen Liu Wan in person, so they naturally couldn't tell the real thing from the fake.

"Uncle...Liu Wan died a year ago." Although the woman couldn't bear it, she had to tell the truth to the poor father who had traveled thousands of miles to find his daughter.

The woman's words shocked the three people in front of her again, and Liu Shenghe's eyes rolled back and he fainted.