150 Stopped by the Crown Prince! (1/2)

The girls had turned pale upon receiving the news.

Ji Lingxi swayed on her feet but did not forget to extend her arm to hold on to Yue Ru Lan, crying out, ”Sister Lan!”

Yue Rulan’s eyes had lost all its radiance as she murmured, ”Ji Lingfeng, where are you?”

As she finished her sentence, she coughed and blood spurted from her rosy lips as she fell into a dead faint. The long search had finally taken its toll on her, Yue Rulan had long been exhausted both physically and mentally.

She had been holding on without ever breaking down all this while because of the slim hope that she held in her heart.

Yet as one piece of news after another was proven false and each sliver of hope was shattered like a popped bubble, Yue Rulan was left without anything other than her footprints all over the continent.

The crushed hope this time was the last straw; she could no longer hold herself up.

Ji Lingxi’s eyes were rimmed red. Brother, where are you?

Why can’t I find you after searching the entire world?

”What do we do now?” Yu Xiang’er asked in a trembling voice.

All the girls were silent, staying silent for a long time.

Ji Lingxi stood rigidly, her mind blank. It was at this moment that she suddenly felt her own feebleness and helplessness.

Sister Rulan, who had accompanied her and comforted her for so long ever since her brother went missing, had finally crumbled herself. Lost as she was, a dispirited feeling of loneliness in a vast world was roused; she mumbled instinctively, ”What should I do? Where do we go?”

A shard of pain struck her heart as tears streamed down her face.

Yu Xiang’er said softly, ”We have been out for so long… My family wanted me to go back immediately… Lingxi, why don't you and Sister Lan come play at my place for a while? Let’s think of something, there must be something we could do to turn the situation around…”

Xia Yuhan said in a low voice as well, ”My family wants me to go back too, they’ve urged me to do so for a few times now… Lingxi, we can’t go on wandering aimlessly like this…”

Yue Rulan gradually stirred and sighed in exhaustion. ”Sisters, you have all helped so much... Please go back. We will continue the search when there is news or perhaps, we’ll gather again when we have the time.”

”Don’t worry about Lingxi and I. We will go back as well.” Yue Rulan said listlessly, ”We have so many guards following us and they’re all experts… we will be alright.”

Yu Xiang’er asked in concern, ”Where will the both of you go back to?”

Persistence shone in Yue Rulan’s orbs as she clenched her teeth gently, saying, ”Locations where the more precise news came from previously… one was this Young Master Lingfeng while another was in Tiantang City.”

She said with resolution, ”Since we have confirmed that it isn’t the former, we’ll return to Tiantang City!”

Hearing Tiantang City being mentioned, Ji Lingxi’s eyes suddenly radiated with hope.

Tiantang City!

The night passed without many words being said.

The next morning, the sisters bid each other farewell with tears in their eyes. Yu Xiang’er sobbed for quite a while, hugging Ji Lingxi before she was finally persuaded to part ways.

Both Ji Lingxi and Yue Rulan began their journey back, bringing forty to fifty guards along with them.

Their journey back was spent in silence but Yue Rulan seemed to have made a determined decision in her heart.

Upon confirming that the Young Master Lingfeng they heard about was not Ji Lingfeng, Yue Rulan had lost all hope – the hopelessness had come from her heart, a feeling that death would be welcome as there was no longer a love in her life. It was exactly the reason she had suggested to return to Tiantang City.

It was all because Yun Yang was still there.

Young Master Yun.

A man that Ji Lingxi was fond of.

I’ve tasted the heartbreaking anguish of losing my love forever. I must figure out a way not to let Lingxi feel the same.

Lingfeng, even if I can’t find you in this life, I will continue to search for you in the next.

Even if I can’t find you forever, I will take good care of your sister.

Your only sister!

Yue Rulan’s hair fluttered alongside her white dress in the wind; an indescribable calmness spread on her delicate face.

Ji Lingfeng, do you remember what I’ve told you?

Even if you soar thousands of miles through the wind and leave no trace of yourself in the world, the moonlight remains for life1, as it has since ancient times. It remains gentle and lingering, forever unchanged.

Even if I no longer guarding anything in this life, I’ll wait in silence for the person who can smell the fragrance of my orchid2.

…

All the sisters who left left with loud sighs. They could all return home now but Ji Lingxi and Yue Rulan could not.

Once they returned home, they would be forced into marriage, a union that could not be refused.

”I can only wish that both of you can find Brother Lingfeng…”

Yu Xiang’er turned around and looked at the vast scenery, the luster of her unshed tears glimmering brightly.

”Never forget to… come look for us if ever you encounter any difficulties.”