bookcurios Chapter 274 But he knew nothing.
Chapter 274 But he knew nothing.
Neither of them noticed that outside the window that Zehui's gaze swept across, in the deepest shadow under the eaves, a "shadow" twitched slightly, then melted away as if it had melted, leaving no trace.
A corner of Tiger Lion City, where Frost's residence is located.
He didn't light a lamp; he simply leaned against the wall, relying on the faint moonlight filtering in from the window.
He unconsciously rubbed the tiny bone fragment repeatedly with his fingertips.
Feather Blade's figure appeared silently in front of him.
"King of the Glacier".
Ao Shuang stopped stroking the bone fragment, her eyes shining brightly in the dim light: "Speak."
Feather Blade's voice was steady and clear, repeating everything it had heard word for word.
As Yu Ren narrated, the air around Ao Shuang gradually grew colder.
His face was expressionless, but his eyes were like a sudden blizzard on the polar ice cap, fierce and piercing, brewing a terrifying storm.
His fingers, gripping the bone fragment, turned slightly white from the force.
The room fell into dead silence, broken only by the barely audible breathing of Yu Ren after she finished speaking.
After a long while, Ao Shuang took a very light and slow breath, and then slowly exhaled.
"Are you sure?" His voice was unusually calm, yet carried a low pressure like the calm before a storm.
Yu Ren lowered his head even further: "That's right, I heard every word. They mentioned 'Qing Han,' 'Fu Gui'er is a companion,' 'there might be danger,' and 'go to Di Lin to discuss it.'"
Ao Shuang remained silent.
The moonlight moved, illuminating half of his face, highlighting his taut jawline and thin lips pressed into a straight line.
"Okay." He finally spoke, a single word, yet it carried immense weight.
He loosened his grip on the bone fragment, letting the small object that had been with him for many years fall into his palm, and then slowly, tightly held it.
The edge of the bone fragment pressed against the skin and flesh, causing a distinct pain.
He raised his eyes and looked out at the boundless night. In the depths of his pupils, the last trace of hesitation and warmth froze and disappeared completely.
"Then I'll have to meet that rich kid."
The night was as dark as ink that couldn't be dissolved.
Without alerting anyone in Tiger Lion City, Ao Shuang left quietly.
The snow sculpture's enormous silver-white wings spread across the night sky, almost blending into the moonlight.
The wind whistled in his ears, but it couldn't drown out the pounding of his heart in his chest.
Sunny and cold.
That name was like a red-hot needle, piercing his heart again and again.
He recalled that snowy day many years ago when he first met Qinghan.
At that time, he was just a fledgling bird, huddled in an ice hole, cold and hungry, thinking he was about to die.
It was Qinghan who discovered him.
She brushed aside the thick snow, her long hair flying in the wind and snow, her eyes as gentle as the first melting snow.
"How can such a young child be kept in a place like this?"
Her voice was soft, yet it was deeply etched into Aoshuang's heart.
She held him in her arms, wrapped his cold body in her warm fur, and took him back to that simple yet cozy little house.
That was also the first time Aoshuang saw Yuxue when she was still an infant.
From then on, she taught them how to hunt and how to survive in the harsh glacial world.
She rarely talked about her past, and she rarely smiled, but her gaze was always gentle when she looked at them.
Ao Shuang always thought that she, like herself, was a lonely wanderer.
So he desperately tried to become stronger and grow up, hoping that one day he could become her support and protect her, just as she had protected them.
But she still disappeared.
Just when he and Yuxue were finally able to stand on their own and thought they could repay her properly, she disappeared without warning.
They left no words, no trace, as if they had never been there.
He and Yuxue searched the entire Ice River, everywhere she might have gone, but they couldn't find even a trace of her.
Over the years, he has never given up the search.
Even though everyone advised him to give up, even though Yuxue began to suspect that her mother had met with some misfortune, he still refused to believe it.
He always felt that she was still somewhere, waiting for them.
But now...
Ao Shuang's wings suddenly flapped, drawing a sharp arc in the night sky.
If Qinghan is really still alive, if she is really imprisoned, if she has been suffering all along...
But he knew nothing about it.
Ao Shuang closed her eyes, suppressing the metallic taste churning in her throat.
He can't mess up.
Mutian City stood silently in the night.
Although the rebuilt city looks more magnificent than before, it is also more deserted.
The tall city walls cast long shadows under the moonlight, like a lurking giant beast.
Ao Shuang landed outside the city and transformed into human form.
Instead of going through the main gate, he found a secluded corner and, under the cover of shadow, quietly scaled the city wall.
He was not unfamiliar with Mutian City and roughly remembered its layout.
Night is the best cover.
Ao Shuang moved swiftly through the gaps between buildings, like a shadow.
His movements were light and swift, making almost no sound, and even the patrolling guards who passed by him did not notice.
Soon, following the lingering scent, he found Fugui'er's room.
The room was completely dark, with no light.
empty.
He frowned, not daring to make any rash moves. Instead, he retreated to a more distant spot, finding a corner where he could observe the entrance to the room without exposing himself, and quietly lay in wait.
Time passes little by little.
The moonlight moved slowly across the sky, from the east to its zenith, and then gradually slanted westward.
The room remained completely silent; no one entered or left.
Just as Ao Shuang began to doubt whether she had made a mistake or whether Fu Gui'er was not in Mu Tian City at all, extremely faint footsteps suddenly came from afar.
The footsteps were light and hurried, deliberately lowered, but in the quiet night, they were still clearly audible to an orc with keen hearing like Ao Shuang.
He immediately concealed all his presence, completely merging his body into the shadows.
A familiar figure appeared in the corridor, running quickly towards Fugui'er's room.
It's Xiao Chu.
He ran very fast, glancing back nervously every now and then, as if afraid someone was following him.
He ran to the door, stopped, and looked around warily before pulling out a key from his pocket, quickly unlocking the door, and slipping inside.
The door was closed gently.
Ao Shuang's heart jumped.
Xiao Chu is back, but where's Fu Gui? Did he come back to get something, or...?
He didn't move, continuing to wait patiently.
A short while later, the door to the room was opened again.
Xiao Chu came out and locked the door behind him. He looked around warily again, then turned and quickly left in the opposite direction from where he came in.
It's now.