Chapter 486: 486. Try it.

Translator: 549690339

At the moment when the sun began to rise, Qiao Jing saw the land in the distance and breathed a sigh of relief. At this time, he didn’t know the situation on Xingluo Island after he left, but he was responsible for escorting Peng Wu and the three children back home. He was worried that there would be wind and rain during their journey, but they were lucky. The weather was very good for several days in a row without encountering any storms.

Peng Wu’s two sons originally had the surname Zhong, but she had changed their names to surname Peng, including the little girl she decided to adopt. The older of the twin brothers is now called Peng Jiaxin, the younger brother is called Peng Jiale, and the little sister is called Peng Jiayue. “Jia” was the middle name that Peng Wei had originally decided on for their generation of children.

Qiao Jing looked back and saw a little boy coming out of the cabin, smiled, and called out to him, “Lele, look, we’ll be there soon.”

The little boy shook his head earnestly, “Uncle Jing, I am Xin’er.”

Qiao Jing was stunned for a moment, and then saw the little boy break into a grin, “Haha, I tricked Uncle Jing again!”

Qiao Jing touched his forehead. After the two children became familiar with him, they became very keen on playing the game of “guess who I am.” In all honesty, the twins looked the same, dressed the same, and deliberately tried to make it difficult to tell who was who, so it truly was difficult for Qiao Jing to tell them apart.

Axin ran to Qiao Jing’s side and looked at the distant land in amazement, “Are we almost home?”

Ale also heard the news and ran out, “Are we there yet?”

Peng Wu held Xiaoyue in her arms, looking into the distance, and sighed deeply. Finally, they were leaving the vast ocean. Ever since she was taken to the island many years ago, her nightmares had always been filled with the boundless sea. There was no direction, no boats, not even a piece of driftwood, and the constant feeling of being swallowed by the endless sea. After leaving this time, she never wanted to see the sea again in her life, as it was a terrible nightmare for her.

Qiao Cong cheerfully pointed out the direction to the children, saying that once they passed the ocean, they would reach a river connected to the sea. On either side of the river were two cities of the former Qian Country, one called Nanshan City and the other called Jiaye City. They would go to Jiaye City to rest for the day and then set off for the capital the next day.

“Are our grandfather and maternal grandfather in the capital?” Ale asked.

Qiao Jing smiled, “They’re not in the capital, but our home is in the capital. When we go to your maternal grandfather’s house, we will pass by our house first.”

“Are there horses in Jiaye City?” Axin asked curiously. There were no horses on Xingluo Island, only a few types of wild animals. They had never seen many common things before.

“Of course,” Qiao Jing ruffled their hair, “Once we get to the shore, we’ll have everything. Whatever you want to see or have, just let Uncle know. I’ll take you horseback riding as soon as we get ashore.”

Both children cheered and jumped for joy. Peng Wu watched this scene with a slightly stuffy nose, but she didn’t cry. She had left the sea of suffering, and from now on, only good days awaited her.

By noon, the boat reached the shore.

When the guards on the coast spotted them, they thought they were enemies and quickly went on alert. Then they heard Qiao Jing’s shouting.

“It’s General Qiao Jing returning!”

Hearing the voices from the shore, the twin brothers looked up to Qiao Jing with admiration, “Uncle Qiao is the great general! So amazing!”

Qiao Jing thought that being praised by innocent children was indeed very satisfying. He was also looking forward to becoming a father and missed Min Rou more than ever.

Once they safely went ashore, the general stationed in Jiaye City rushed over, and Qiao Jing asked him about any recent suspicious people along the coast.

“Some days ago, there were a few ships that wanted to come ashore. There were women and children on board, claiming to be captured by the people of Xingluo Island and escaped.” The junior officer reported seriously.

Qiao Jing’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Did you let them through?”

“They said they had no food and the children were crying. So, I ordered the men on the ship to be tied up, and only then did I allow the ship to come ashore.” The junior officer said, “As soon as they came ashore, I captured the men and gave them the soft tendon powder that the prince had provided, and locked them in prison. The women and children were placed separately.”

Qiao Jing’s eyebrows relaxed, “Good job.” He had instructed his subordinates to treat any adult men coming from the sea as enemies. However, they couldn’t just ignore the women and children. Drifting at sea without food and fresh water, they had no choice but to risk coming ashore at Jiaye City, knowing there were risks. If they went any further, they might not even make it to the next place where they could go ashore.

“Has there been any news from the capital recently?” Qiao Jing asked.

The junior officer nodded, “At the beginning of the month, the Divine Doctor Su sent someone with a letter for the prince.” He took out the letter and handed it to Qiao Jing.

Although the letter was addressed to Gu Ling, it was impossible that it was a love letter. Qiao Jing could read it. He directly opened it, and as expected, Su Liang informed him in the letter about Yan Shiba pretending to have captured her. Gu Ling and Qiao Jing had been previously unaware of this situation and only learned of it from Sheng Yue.

There were no other messages after that, and Qiao Jing felt that everything should be fine in the capital, with no other incidents.

After waiting for a while, the carriage arrived.

The twins, having never seen a carriage before, stared at the tall horses with bright eyes.

Peng Wu held Xiaoyue in her arms and got into the carriage, while Qiao Cong and Qiao Jing rode horses, placing Axin and Ale in front of them respectively, taking them along.

At first, the two children were a little scared, but soon became excited.

Peng Wu listened to the children exclaiming in wonder at the new and interesting sights they saw along the way from inside the carriage.

As they entered Jiaye City, the children felt as if they had discovered a whole new world. They had only heard of such bustling and prosperous markets in stories. Qiao Cong even bought the children candied hawthorns and lamb skewers along the way.

When they arrived at Lin’s Family’s gate, Axin asked, “Whose house is this Lin Mansion?”

“It’s my friend’s house; they’ve all moved to the capital. We’ll stay here for one night.” Qiao Jing got off the horse, holding Axin in his arms.

Peng Wu got off the carriage and looked at the plaque of the Lin Mansion with some emotion, “I know Lin’s Family, the Lin Family used to be the most famous military family in Qian Country. When my grandfather was young, he had fought with Old General Lin.”

After settling Peng Wu and the children in the Lin Mansion, letting the steward prepare what they needed, Qiao Cong and Qiao Jing, the grandfather and grandson, also went to rest.

By dinner time, the children had bathed and put on beautiful new clothes, looking fresh and neat. Peng Wu also tidied herself up properly, coming from a military family, she still had an unyielding spirit evident between her brows.

Peng Wu said to Qiao Jing, “Now that we are safe, if the two of you want to return to the island to help the prince, feel free to do so. It’s fine for us to wait here.”

Qiao Jing knew that Peng Wu felt that they had caused trouble for them, so he shook his head, “We don’t know the situation on the island now, and our return would be of little use. We should be going home too, as my grandfather nags every day about the children at home.”

Qiao Cong laughed, “Yes, I really want to fly back with wings. You don’t need to overthink, Peng girl. Just follow us to the capital city with peace of mind.”

“Thank you, senior, and thank you, General Qiao,” Peng Wu thanked them again solemnly.

After dinner, Qiao Jing told Peng Wu, “Come with me to identify the people who were captured before.”

Peng Wu immediately agreed. Qiao Cong noticed that the children were curious about the outside world, so he said he would take them out for a walk. Many shops on the street outside were still open at this time.

When the junior officer took Qiao Jing and Peng Wu there, he talked about the time when someone was unwilling to be bound hands and feet and tried to jump ashore relying on martial arts to break through the checkpoint. He was shot dead by random arrows, and the others learned to behave. You see, the checkpoints near Jiaye City and Nanshan City were both created by Qiao Jing and Old Mu, and they had guarded them for a long time, waiting for the powerful villains from Xingluo Island.

These people originally thought that relying on their martial arts, as long as they got ashore, they could rise again wherever they went, have everything they wanted, but as soon as they came ashore, they became prisoners, naturally extremely unwilling.

When Qiao Jing appeared and Peng Wu was beside him, an old man in the prison immediately shouted, “Mrs. Zhong, you must testify for us, we haven’t done anything against heaven and humanity! We used to live on the island in seclusion, and now that the world is peaceful, can’t we just come out and live our lives?”

“Exactly! On what grounds are we being arrested? Is there no law anymore?”

“I was also caught by Mo Yan and taken to Xingluo Island before. I finally escaped, what did I do wrong? What happened to my wife and child? What did you do to them?”

Qiao Jing ignored those people and asked Peng Wu to tell him whether there was anyone among these people who had been captured on the island and had not done evil.

Peng Wu looked around and finally shook her head at Qiao Jing, saying only four words, “There are no good people.”

There were some who were captured like Feng Ming, but the ones in prison now had been assimilated by Xingluo Island. The youngest of them, Peng Wu knew him; he used to be a lackey of He Wei, relying on the He family’s power on the island to bully and oppress people. He often harassed young married women in secret. Because the latter were bullied and dared not speak out, it made people like him fearless. He once tried to harass Peng Wu, but she was alert and knew some martial arts, so she didn’t let him succeed in the end.

As soon as Peng Wu’s words were spoken, it immediately led to a torrent of attacks and insults against her.

Qiao Jing walked out expressionlessly and instructed the junior officer, “Kill them all, not leaving a single one.”

Peng Wu quickly walked out also. Just now, the eyes of those people looked at her like wolves and tigers, stirring up her nightmarish memories of her time on the island for a moment.

Qiao Jing went with Peng Wu to check on the women and children who had been rescued. Peng Wu recognized them, comforted them, and told them not to worry, someone would send them back to their original homes.

Qiao Jing handed the matter over to the capable junior officer, telling him to first find out where the women’s homes were and whether they wanted to take their children back. If their original homes were gone or they didn’t want to go back, they would be sent to the capital city together later, where someone would arrange a place for them.

The next day, the children woke up early, wearing new clothes, eating delicious and hearty breakfasts, and waiting to set off.

Before leaving, Qiao Jing asked Qiao Cong if he wanted to go ahead. There should be no danger on the road now, and Qiao Jing himself would escort Peng Wu and the others, so Qiao Cong could return home earlier.

Qiao Cong was somewhat tempted but still refused, “I came initially for you, so I won’t mind a few more days. After all, there are still Peng’s girl and the three children; we can’t let anything happen to them.”

The group set off, and the children were like happy birds, with endless questions and endless conversations, making the journey lively.

Xiaoyue couldn’t remember her original parents and was very attached to Peng Wu, treating her as her own mother. Peng Wu also loved this child very much, and the twins took good care of their younger sister.

Axin asked Peng Wu, “Mom, will we never go back to that island again?”

Peng Wu smiled, “I won’t be going back in the future. When you grow up, if you want to visit the place where you lived when you were young, you can go.”

Axin shook his head, “I don’t want to go back either.”

Ale grinned, “I’m just like my brother!”

Qiao Cong watched them and felt even more homesick. These three children were really a lot like the three treasures in their family.

Gu Ling set off only three or four days later than Qiao Jing and traveled faster, so two days after Qiao Jing and the others set off for the capital city, Gu Ling and Sheng Yue arrived in Jiaye City.

The junior officer reported the situation, and Gu Ling asked Sheng Yue to check who among the people who had been captured and killed so far, while the rest were his mission. Of course, he also had to judge who should be killed and who didn’t matter.

“You’re not asking me to start working on this right now, are you?” Sheng Yue frowned.

Gu Ling nodded, “Right now.”

Sheng Yue was reluctant, “I came here with you to go to the capital city to find Su Liang, and to see for myself if the magic treasure can recognize her as its master, not to be your servant.”

Gu Ling’s face was indifferent, “You’re not my servant, this is something you should do.”

Sheng Yue frowned, “You mean, to atone for my sins?”

“Shouldn’t it be?” Gu Ling asked back.

Sheng Yue snorted lightly, without refuting.

“I need money and people,” said Sheng Yue.

Gu Ling expressed that money was no problem, but he didn’t have any people, “You can do it by yourself.”

Sheng Yue was speechless. Indeed, he didn’t care about the people who had run away on Xingluo Island, as he could solve the problem in the dark without any trouble, just a bit of a hassle, as he would have to go find them first. But finding them wouldn’t be difficult; those who wanted to survive wouldn’t dare to come to Jiaye City, nor would they go too far from here, lest they encounter storms at sea or run out of food.

“You let me go just like that? Are you not afraid that I’ll just run away?” Sheng Yue even began to suspect that Gu Ling had done something to him so that he could be tracked.

“You won’t run.” Gu Ling spoke with certainty. He gave Sheng Yue enough money, not only for him to spend but also for him to help others in need, like Peng Wu and her son, to ensure that they could survive or find their original families.

Sheng Yue frowned, stuffed the silver note into his bosom, “After finishing this matter, I’ll go to the capital city to see the final answer. To be honest, I really want to kill someone now. I’m leaving.”

With that said, Sheng Yue left.

Gu Ling didn’t plan to stay in Jiaye City either; he just came to check the situation and make sure Qiao Jing and the others had safely reached shore and left.

After eating something and taking a brief rest, Gu Ling continued on his journey home, all by himself.

Capital city.

It was the end of March in the blink of an eye.

Su Liang still recorded daily on her calendar what Gu Ling might be doing and the progress of his tasks, but as the number of uncertainties increased, she couldn’t write anymore.

Gu Xiaonuan was carefree, and she was happy every day. Zhengzheng and Ji Xiaoshu knew that Su Liang was worried, so they tried various ways to make her happy, but to little avail.

Today, seeing Su Liang wearing a skirt that she would usually wear only when going out, Zhengzheng asked curiously, “Master, are you going out?”

Su Liang nodded, “I’ll take you out to pick someone up.”

“Who?” asked Ji Xiaoshu.

“A friend from the north,” said Su Liang.

In a while, Su Liang took her two disciples out of the city. Zhengzheng and Ji Xiaoshu were each riding their horses, looking quite stylish.

They didn’t wait long before a group of people on horseback appeared in their sight.

It was the Peng Family. Last year, Peng Wei told Su Liang that they planned to move their entire family to the capital city. Nowadays, there was peace in the world and Liang Country didn’t need them to fight anymore. The climate in Yao City was also terrible. Peng Wei was getting old and couldn’t stand the extreme cold of winter, so his children and grandchildren persuaded him to move. They finally decided to leave this spring.

Just after the new year, a steward from the Peng Family came to buy a house, and Su Liang had Qi Yan help out in choosing. They received news earlier that the Peng Family was arriving today. Nobody asked Su Liang to pick them up; she was just worried about Gu Ling and wanted to go out for a walk, as she had been feeling restless at home for days.

From afar, Peng Wei saw Su Liang coming to pick them up and was extremely happy. He urged his horse forward and rushed over, “Little Liang!”

Su Liang greeted him with a smile, “Grandpa Peng, I’m glad you made it.”

Zhengzheng and Ji Xiaoshu both politely called out to Grandpa Peng. Peng Wei knew their identities and greeted them happily, also asking about Gu Xiaonuan.

Peng Fan had already gotten married, and his wife was a lady from the Peng Family’s longstanding friends. His wife was now pregnant, so they didn’t travel fast on the road.

After greeting everyone, they headed into the city.

On the way, Peng Wei asked about Gu Ling. Su Liang said he had gone to the south to handle some matters and hadn’t returned yet. Peng Wei knew that it must be the mysterious force from the south seas, whose leader had colluded with Situ Xie previously. Seeing that Su Liang didn’t say much, Peng Wei didn’t ask further, knowing that the situation must be challenging, but he believed in Gu Ling’s ability.

Su Liang took her two disciples, saw Peng Wei home, talked with the Peng family for a while, and then took her leave, inviting them to visit Su Mansion the next day, as Peng Wei wanted to meet Gu Xiaonuan.

After Su Liang left, Peng Qian returned to his room, and his wife was taking clothes out of the trunk.

There was a handkerchief on the table with a small “Wu” stitched in the corner, which had faded a bit. Peng Qian knew that his wife kept many belongings from their deceased daughter, and he didn’t stop her, quietly putting the handkerchief back on the table. Peng Wu was the unspeakable subject between them for many years.

On the new day, Su Liang dressed Gu Xiaonuan in the new clothes sent by Yang Yu yesterday, making her look like a festive New Year’s painting doll, very joyful.

“Sister looks so pretty!” Ji Xiaoshu leaned in and kissed Gu Xiaonuan’s cheek.

Su Liang thought to herself, if Gu Ling were at home and saw this scene, he would definitely pick up Ji Xiaoshu and teach him what it meant to respect the boundaries between men and women.

Seeing Su Liang daydreaming, Zhengzheng knew she was thinking about Gu Ling again. Ever since Gu Ling left home, Su Liang’s “wandering mind problem” had become more and more serious.

Peng Wei brought his whole family, including his pregnant daughter-in-law.

Gu Xiaonuan sweetly called out to Peng’s Grandfather, making Peng Wei smile from ear to ear. Peng Qian wanted to hold Gu Xiaonuan, but Peng Wei wouldn’t let him.

Peng Fan noticed that his mother seemed to pay special attention to Weng Ran and looked at her several times. When he saw Weng Ran’s side profile, he realized it’s because her face, without the birthmark, looked a lot like his late sister Peng Wu, both having a heroic appearance.

Regarding the move to the capital city, Madame Peng didn’t object for the sake of the elderly and children, but Peng Fan knew that his mother didn’t really want to leave because the former home had traces of the daughter who had lived there. Over the years, she had insisted on cleaning Peng Wu’s room and not letting any weeds grow in her courtyard, as if she would return.

Today, Yuanming Pavilion was exceptionally lively. After saying hello to the guests, Zhengzheng and Ji Xiaoshu, as usual, went outside to practice swordsmanship. With Gu Ling not around, they were even more diligent in learning than when Gu Ling was here. Ji Xiaoshu said he was afraid that Gu Ling would return and beat him, but Su Liang knew that they actually wanted to make Gu Ling happy.

As the two children were practicing, Ji Xiaoshu accidentally caught a glimpse of a figure darting across the opposite bank of the lake and shouted, “Mother! Bad people are coming!”

Both children, well-trained, ran towards Yuanming Pavilion, knowing they should keep their distance from any danger.

As they were running, Ji Xiaoshu looked back and shouted while running back, “Master! Master! Master is back!” The handsome man flying over the lake was none other than Gu Ling.

At the sound of the commotion, Su Liang rushed out and saw Gu Ling carrying Ji Xiaoshu, embracing her tightly in disbelief.

Gu Ling put down Ji Xiaoshu and hugged Su Liang tightly.

Ji Xiaoshu happily hugged Zhengzheng, who had run over, “Master is finally back!”

As their eyes met, Gu Ling had a lot to say to Su Liang, but in the end, all he said was, “Everything is fine.”

Su Liang breathed a sigh of relief, “As long as it’s fine.” The others must be behind them.

Gu Xiaonuan ran over on her own, waving her little hand and calling out “Daddy!” Gu Ling bent down to pick her up and gave her a kiss.After so long a time of longing and concern, his suspended heart finally settled down.

Gu Ling held Gu Xiaonuan, held Su Liang’s hand, and walked back to the Yuanming Pavilion with the two little apprentices. He looked somewhat exhausted, having traveled day and night from Jiaye City without rest. Since he was faster, he had caught up with Qiao Jing and his group on the way, greeted them, and set off again.

When he saw Peng Wei’s family upon entering, Gu Ling was somewhat surprised.

Peng Wei smiled broadly, “Little Gu, now that we’ve moved to the capital city, we can see each other more often.”

Gu Ling nodded, “That’s great.” He then looked at Madame Peng who was sitting not far away.

Madame Peng smiled and nodded in greeting when Gu Ling looked at her.

However, the next moment, Gu Ling surprised everyone by saying, “Your daughter is not dead. She was captured and taken to Xingluo Island before, but she has been rescued and is now on her way to the capital city.”

Madame Peng was stunned, as were the rest of the Peng Family who couldn’t believe their own ears.

Peng Wei recovered and rushed to Gu Ling, grabbing his arm and looking into his eyes, “What did you just say?”

“Peng Wu is still alive,” Gu Ling repeated with certainty, word for word. He knew that Peng Wu’s disappearance must have been the most painful for her mother, so he told Madame Peng first.

Madame Peng’s face was covered in tears, Peng Wei couldn’t help but cry with joy, and Peng Qian clasped his hands together with excitement.

Su Liang didn’t expect such a happy surprise to happen, especially since the Peng family had just moved to the capital city and were here today.

After a while, when the Peng family had somewhat calmed down, Gu Ling revealed another piece of exciting news about Peng Wu’s situation: Peng Wei had twin great-grandchildren, who were also on their way back with Peng Wu.

Madame Peng was both happy and heartbroken, unable to imagine what her daughter had gone through.

Su Liang comforted Madame Peng, “It’s all in the past, things will get better.”

Gu Ling called Su Liang, and the two went up to a separate room to talk.

As soon as the door closed, Gu Ling embraced Su Liang in a long kiss. After a while, he let go of Su Liang and sighed, “Let’s never be apart again.”

Su Liang nodded, “I’ve missed you too.” Then she asked, “Is Mo Yan dead?”

Gu Ling shook his head, then took out the droplet-shaped jade stone in response to Su Liang’s puzzled gaze, “This is Mo Yan’s space, and there are still people inside. We can’t open it, so we’re keeping him alive for the moment. You try.”