NOVPUB46: Chapter 33: Flower Kill
46 -33: Flower Kill
To deal with someone like Ran Meiyu, one must be both swift and decisive, otherwise it’s purely seeking trouble. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
Ran Yan was in a hurry to find Wan Lu, then detour to the Ran Family residence to seek her father and resolve Qin Silang’s marriage proposal, with no time to waste dilly-dallying with Ran Meiyu here.
Ran Meiyu had not expected Ran Yan to dare to treat her this way, and coupled with the numbness in her arm, she was momentarily stunned.
Before even reaching the vicinity of the Osmanthus pavilion, the air was already filled with fragrance, penetrating the heart and spleen, slightly calming Ran Yan’s mood.
She couldn’t help but chuckle in spite of herself; it seemed she was truly too eager to break free from Qin Musheng, to the point of becoming a bit irritable.
Today, she took the initiative, not knowing how much was out of the forensic doctor’s persistence for the truth, and how much was due to the fear that if Qin Musheng was really convicted, the Ran Family would for the sake of reputation, irreparably bungle this matter.
Ran Yan had never been in love, yet she had harbored unrequited love for many, only each time to abandon these feelings upon discovering their intolerable flaws.
Even so, this did not hinder her aspiration for the beauty of relationships.
She was a person with a mild mental obsession for cleanliness, able to tolerate being with Qin Musheng, but could never accept him as her first man, whether in substance or in name.
Even at the final moment, she would never give up; this was Ran Yan’s life credo.
Ran Yan and the Maid from the Yin residence searched the garden in different directions, intermittently calling out Wan Lu’s name, but the only response was the breeze carrying the scent of flowers and the rustling of branches and leaves.
“Miss Seventeen, should we check by the Water Pavilion?
The sound of water there is loud; maybe Miss Wan Lu can’t hear us!” suggested the Maid.
Although Ran Yan felt it unlikely that Wan Lu would be there, it was just a few more steps to walk, so she nodded in agreement.
“Are there usually no people in the garden?” Ran Yan wondered as they walked around the garden, never encountering a maid or servant.
The Maid answered, “The garden is tended on the first and fifteenth of each month, and mostly unvisited at other times, as the ladies enjoy playing here, and the house usually doesn’t allow servants and other idlers in.”
Entering the osmanthus pavilion, like snow, the petals twirled and fell with the wind, unparalleled in beauty.
The osmanthus pavilion stretched out like a long corridor, basked in sunlight, the whole path shimmering in viridian and snowy hues, quite beautiful indeed.
As they walked further, countless fine petals fell like rain, densely packed, as if it were a heavy snowfall in winter!
Ran Yan paused slightly, feeling something was amiss.
It wasn’t yet the season for the osmanthus to fall so heavily; there hadn’t been this many just moments ago…
As she looked up at the flower rain, the floral scent in the air suddenly acquired a sweet, bloody tinge.
At the same time, many scarlet hues joined the fluttering petals, mixing strikingly with the white, catching the eye.
Ran Yan’s heart tightened, and she hurried forward.
The sound of flowing water became louder as she turned a corner, and suddenly, in a brightly lit exit surrounded by falling flowers, a pale yellow silk-robed woman was hanging from the pavilion, gently swaying in the breeze amidst the cascade of falling petals, the supports of the osmanthus pavilion creaking ominously.
Ran Yan’s mind went blank for a moment; following the Maid’s shriek beside her, she came back to her senses, pale-faced, staring at the dangling young girl.
With phoenix eyes, a high nose, full lips, and a tiny red mole near her mouth, it was unmistakably Wan Lu!
That feeling of blood coagulating suddenly returned, the cruelest test she had faced as a forensic doctor, the time when her best friend and fellow officer from the Criminal Investigation Team lay on her operating table, discarded after being attacked and violated by several men.
Back then, Ran Yan had remained composed, her thoughts even clearer than usual.
After catching the criminal, she was sick for a half-month but soon returned to normal.
Yet years later, when the wound was reopened, she suddenly felt an agonizing pain.
“Go call some people over to help!” Ran Yan commanded, stabilizing her emotions as the panic-stricken Maid was startled, already bereft of the ability to think, simply hearing Ran Yan’s voice before staggering away, mumbling incessantly as she ran, “Dead, someone’s dead…”
Ran Yan’s eyes reddened, looking up at the pale-faced Wan Lu, recalling her always protective stance, her eyebrows fiercely furrowed, like she was guarding her chicks.
The image overlaid with that of her tragically deceased friend in her mind, both vibrant and lively personalities, both hating evil as if it were a personal enemy, as if the same person had died twice!
