Time is Slow / Meet You in My Prime - Chapter 6 : Shocking Change

Xingzi Forest was not the name of a village; rather, it referred to the area behind the Apricot Forest (Xingzi means apricot), where the Qiao Family mansion stood and where a world-famous scholar lived.

Over time, people in the surrounding villages began to use 'Xingzi Forest' to refer to the Qiao Family.

If they wanted to go to Xingzi Forest, they had to pass through Baiyun Village.

Just as dusk was approaching, the sound of horse hooves broke the tranquility of the village.

The villagers gathered in twos and threes to watch the newcomers.

The villagers were very quiet, and the four of them felt a strange atmosphere from this oppressive silence.

There were no villagers talking and laughing loudly, nor were young children curiously watching the strangers. Surprisingly, everyone here was wearing white. Against the backdrop of the cloud-filled sky, it was clearly spring, yet it made people feel cold.

"Shi Xi, why do I feel that these villagers are a little strange? Do you want to dismount and ask around?" Yang Er rode his horse beside Chi Can and asked.

Qiao Zhao, who was sitting in front of Chi Can, looked at everything before her that was both familiar and unfamiliar. Her eyes swept across the wooden and sorrowful faces of the villagers. Her heart suddenly sank, and she began to have difficulty breathing.

She couldn't explain why, but it felt as if her heart were suddenly pressed down by a heavy rock, and the sound of horse hooves seemed to echo not on the ground, but against her heart.

"Go quickly..." Qiao Zhao tried her best not to let anyone notice her abnormality and managed to utter two words with difficulty.

Chi Can also sensed that something was wrong and said to Yang Er, "Don't waste time; I know the way."

He squeezed the horse's belly with his legs, and the horse ran faster. Zhu Wu and Yang Er hurried to catch up.

The three strong horses galloped away, leaving behind a trail of dust. The villagers looked at each other, shook their heads, sighed, and then dispersed silently.

After passing the village, they could see the Xingzi Forest in the distance.

At this time, the apricot blossoms had bloomed. From a distance, they looked like a large patch of gorgeous clouds, contrasting brilliantly with the sunset in the sky, and were beautiful beyond words.

Qiao Zhao's eyes turned red unconsciously.

Her grandfather once said that apricot blossoms were cold-resistant. The colder the weather, the earlier they bloomed, and their flowering period was much longer than that of peach blossoms.

Her grandfather admired the apricot blossoms.

Now, the apricot blossoms were still there, but the person she loved most had passed away.

Chi Can was obviously not in the mood to appreciate the beautiful scenery. He came to the Xingzi Forest in a flash, dismounted, tied the horse to a tree, and led everyone through a small path in the forest.

Qiao Zhao quietly clenched her fists, her palms damp with sweat.

She was so nervous; she hadn't even felt like this on her wedding day.

This was the feeling of homesickness; it was human nature. Qiao Zhao comforted herself in this way.

Chi Can, who was walking in front of her, suddenly stopped.

Qiao Zhao's heart skipped a beat: "What happened..."

The rest of her words came to an abrupt end. The broken walls and ruins before her made her face turn pale instantly. Her body shook, and she had to hold on to the objects beside her to stay steady.

Chi Can lowered his gaze to the girl's hand that was gripping his sleeve.

The hand was small and slender, soft and white like jade, with the blue veins clearly visible.

Chi Can was silent for a moment before looking at Yang Er.

Yang Er nodded in understanding and went to investigate.

After a moment, he returned and said in a heavy tone, "It was a fire. It looks like it happened not long ago."

The three of them exchanged glances and suddenly understood why the villagers were acting strangely.

Given the Qiao family's reputation and good deeds in this area, it was not surprising that the villagers wore white for their family after they suffered such a tragedy.

The wind blew and the apricot blossoms fell, as cold as the falling snow.

No one spoke for a moment.

Qiao Zhao's heart was more painful than the arrow piercing her heart in the wall of Yancheng City.

No, there was no comparison at all.

At that time, an arrow pierced her heart, and she felt the pain instantly, and before she could even feel it again, she fell into darkness.

When she opened her eyes again, she became the little girl Li Zhao.

While at this moment, the pain was endless and would never end.

What had she done wrong to deserve to be resurrected from the dead and face such a tragic scene of her family?

Qiao Zhao subconsciously clenched her fists.

"You hurt me," Chi Can said lightly.

Yang Er and Zhu Wu looked at each other.

Others might not know, but as friends, they knew that Chi Can was in a bad mood at the moment.

After traveling thousands of miles, only to end up with such a result, no one would be in a good mood.

Moreover, apart from the failure of their journey, no one could feel good seeing the Qiao family suffer such a fate.

Qiao Zhao came back to her senses, met the cold and indifferent face of the handsome man, and slowly let go of his hand.

Her grandfather taught her to have self-respect and independence, so she certainly couldn't let anyone else see her mood.

"Let's go and ask those villagers what happened." Chi Can turned and walked into the apricot forest.

Qiao Zhao followed with one deep step and one shallow step; her legs felt like they were filled with lead, and she slowly lagged behind.

Zhu Wu turned around and stopped to wait for her.

Although the little girl didn't cry, he felt that she was extremely sad.

Why was she like this?

"Are you okay?"

Qiao Zhao looked at him and curled her lips: "It's obvious that I'm not doing well."

Zhu Wu hesitated for a moment, then took out a neatly folded white handkerchief from his sleeve and handed it to her: "If you feel uncomfortable, it's better to cry."

Although he didn't know why the little girl was so sad, he felt a little bit of pity in his heart.

It turned out that sometimes it was more heartbreaking when a girl didn't cry than when she did.

At this special moment, Qiao Zhao could not refuse such kindness, nor did she want to refuse it.

She reached out to take the handkerchief, wiped her eyes, wiped her nose, and thanked him sincerely: "Brother Zhu, you are such a good person."

The good man Brother Zhu: "..."

After a while, he replied, "I'm glad you feel better."

Passing through the apricot forest, Zhu Wu looked at Chi Can, who was obviously in a low mood, hesitated for a moment, and asked Qiao Zhao: "How about I give you a ride?"

Qiao Zhao paused.

Chi Can glanced over coldly and said impatiently: "What are you dawdling for? Get on the horse!"

He reached out and lifted Qiao Zhao onto the horse's back, then galloped forward.

The four of them returned to Baiyun Village and used a piece of silver to ask a teenager to take them to the village chief.

"Are you guests here to visit Master Qiao?" the village chief asked straight to the point.

Chi Can was in a bad mood, so Zhu Wu spoke for him: "Yes, we came from afar to visit Master Qiao, but when we passed the apricot forest, we saw..."

The village chief sighed and said, "You may not know that the Qiao family's mansion suffered a fire a few days ago, and Master Qiao's family was buried in the sea of fire..."

Qiao Zhao shuddered all over, but fortunately she was sitting in the corner and no one noticed her.

"Why did a fire break out all of a sudden?" Chi Can suddenly asked.

The village chief had a sad face and sighed, "Who knows? The fire started in the evening. When we got there, the fire was already very big and no one could get in. Qiao Yu Lang rushed into the sea of fire despite everyone's obstruction and risked his life to rescue his little sister, and then the house collapsed..."

"Qiao Yu Lang?"

Qiao Zhao was heartbroken; until she heard the name, her heart suddenly jumped.

Her brother is still alive?

"Young Master Qiao is still alive?" Zhu Wu asked what Qiao Zhao wanted to ask the most.

"The Qiao family had just finished their period of mourning. Young Master Qiao happened to be out visiting a friend that day, so he escaped the disaster. When Young Master Qiao came back, his house was on fire, so he rushed into the fire and rescued his younger sister," the village chief explained.

"So, Young Master Qiao and Little Miss Qiao are both okay?" Qiao Zhao asked softly, trying her best to control her emotions.

The Little Miss Qiao mentioned by the village chief was her half-sister, Qiao Wan.

The village chief glanced at Qiao Zhao and said, "Little Miss Qiao seems to be fine; however, Young Master Qiao..."

"How is it?" several people asked in unison.

"Young Master Qiao's face is disfigured," the village chief sighed.

Disfigured face?

Chi Can and the other two had all seen Qiao Mo before, and the image of his handsome appearance flashed through their minds.

When Qiao Mo was in the capital, his reputation was on par with Chi Can's. It was hard to imagine what it would be like to have such a disfigured face.

"What a pity," the village chief expressed everyone's thoughts.

Qiao Zhao's lips moved.

It's not a pity; as long as her brother is alive!

"Where is Young Master Qiao now?"

"I don't know about that. The people in the village helped Young Master Qiao deal with the Qiao family's funeral. After that, Young Master Qiao left with his little sister without saying goodbye. He also had a wound on his face, so I don't know where he went."

"The capital," Qiao Zhao blurted out.

Everyone looked at her in surprise.