A Clash of Gods - Chapter 93

Chapter 93 A Trap
Yang Ning headed to the Xia Mountain. The sun was setting, and he saw a mountain’s outline in the front far away. There were many mountains in Jiangling, but all of them were not high, ridge upon ridge.

The horse ran rapidly, and then he saw a river several kilometers away from the Xia Mountain. He knew that it was the Hongsha River. This river zigzagged and babbled but the water was clear. The crops on a lot of farmland to the east of the Hongsha River had been collected, and the land was empty and boundless. Under the sunset, the horizon was golden.

Yang Ning knew that the warehouse was built by the Hongsha River, so he went ahead along the river. Before the sunset, he saw a few stone rooms in the front, which were eye-catching under the sky.

He was clear that it was the warehouse where he was asked to go. He urged the horse and then reached there, to see nobody around. He got close to it and saw that there was a row of four rooms. Obviously, considering the safety, they built the warehouse with rocks, which seemed to have been brought from the mountain.

The warehouse faced the east and the Hongsha River was behind it. After crossing the river, he would reach the Xia Mountain only several kilometers away. So he thought that when the warehouse was built, the rocks were from the mountain.

The warehouse which was built with rocks from the mountain was certainly solid and safe.

Yang Ning urged the horse to come to the warehouse. Four rooms were in a row, and he didn’t get off the horse’s back. He took out the Cold Blade from his pocket and grabbed it while holding the rein with the other hand. He had a look at the warehouse and found that the doors of three rooms were opened, and only one room door in the middle was closed and bolted from outside, but it wasn’t locked.

It was dark in the three rooms whose doors were opened. Such a warehouse was used to store grain temporarily to take shelter from the wind or rain, so there was no window. Once the doors were closed, it was sealed off. When the sun set, there was almost no light in the warehouse.

Yang Ning stated in a deep voice, “I have arrived! Since you asked me to come here, don’t need to hide yourselves. Where are you? Why not come out?”

There was no answer around.

Yang Ning frowned and waited a moment. Then he shouted, “I have come. Don’t you dare to come out?” As soon as he finished his words, he heard a voice indistinctly. “Ning, is it you? Ning, I am here.” The voice was feeble, but fortunately, Yang Ning had a good sense of hearing and immediately noticed it was Gu Qinghan’s voice. He was happy but didn’t forget to be careful. Then he jumped off the horse’s back and grabbed the blade in his hand, asking loudly, “Aunt, where are you?”

Gu Qinghan’s voice came again. “I…I don’t know where I am. Ning, I…I am powerless. Where are you?” Her voice was from the room whose door was closed.

Yang Ning immediately stepped forward, to see that the door was bolted from outside. He opened it with the Cold Blade and pushed the door open. The room was dark and empty. He entered and looked around, to find a person curling up in a corner. Under the dim light, he could recognize Gu Qinghan. He walked to her in a hurry. “Aunt, you are here.”

Gu Qinghan wore thin underclothes and her beautiful hair was loose. She leaned against a wall weakly and asked after seeing Yang Ning, “Ning, where are we? I…I have been here after I woke up. Where is this place?”

“Aunt, you were drugged.” Yang Ning put away the Cold Blade. “How are you feeling now? Can you get up?”

Gu Qinghan raised her hand and put it on the stone on the wall, trying to get up. As soon as she moved a bit, she shook her head. “I am weak. I don’t know why.”

Yang Ning stated, “We can’t stay here for long. Don’t say anything. Let’s leave here first.” He reached out his hands and tried to carry Gu Qinghan. She knew that they were forced under the situation, so she had no objection. At this time, they heard a crash as the room door was closed all of a sudden. Yang Ning was surprised and looked back, hearing somebody sneaking outside. It seemed that somebody locked the room door from outside.

There was no window in the warehouse. After the door was closed, it was dark inside.

Yang Ning realized that they fell into a trap, and there must be somebody lurking around, who closed the door as soon as he entered the room. He had the Cold Blade in his hand and didn’t worry that they couldn’t get out.

“Ning, what’s wrong?” Seeing that the room door was closed suddenly, Gu Qinghan asked in astonishment, “Who is outside? Why…Why did he shut the door?”

She didn’t know that Yang Ning came alone, so she thought that some attendants brought by him were outside. The room door was closed suddenly, which made her heart sink.

Yang Ning wasn’t anxious to reply. He moved to the door and announced in a deep voice, “Since I am here, you can say what you need. You lured me to come here. Don’t you want to force me to agree to your requirement? Since you dare to take actions against me, you should have the nerve to talk with me to my face.”

But there was no sound outside the room. It was deadly silent.

“It appears that you are a bunch of cowards.” Since it was quiet outside, Yang Ning sneered. “Do you think that a door can prevent me from leaving?”

This time he heard a deep voice from outside, “Your Excellency, don’t need to come out in a hurry. You will have a lot of fun tonight and we won’t disappoint you. Never try to come out from the door. I remind you kindly that there are two arrows aiming at the door now. As soon as you come out, you will be shot to death.”

Then he heard two sounds on the door, as if something was inserted into it. And the deep voice continued, “Your Excellency, you don’t need to doubt now.”

Although Gu Qinghan was feeble, she clearly heard what they said and then asked in surprise, “Ning, who…who are they?” She realized that she had been kidnapped.

Yang Ning knew that the other side wasn’t swashbuckling. He wasn’t sure if the arrows aimed at the door, but it must be true that they had crossbows and arrows. He had the Cold Blade in his hand and it was not difficult to break the door and get out, but now he obviously couldn’t rush out from the door.

He followed the voice and moved closer to Gu Qinghan. It was dark in the room, and his eyes were not accustomed, so he couldn’t see anything clearly. He touched something soft by chance, and Gu Qinghan trembled. Yang Ning withdrew his hand in a hurry. In the darkness he couldn’t see her expression, and he comforted her in a low voice. “Aunt, I am here. Don’t be scared.”

Gu Qinghan asked worriedly, “Ning, you don’t know who they are, right? Did you come here alone?”

Yang Ning replied, “You were taken away by them last night and we searched everywhere but didn’t find you. A letter was sent to the old house, telling me to come here alone. They said you are in the warehouse by the Hongsha River, so I tried to find it and come here.”

Gu Qinghan’s voice was anxious and angry, “Stupid child, don’t you know this is a trap? They want to lure you to come here. You… How can you go somewhere dangerous because of me?” At the moment, she finally understood that Yang Ning came here in order to save her, so she was moved and worried.

Yang Ning chuckled. “Can I stand by and watch you fall into the hands of these bastards? Aunt, I have said that I will protect you, so I won’t let you get hurt. This time you were kidnapped because I didn’t protect you well. It’s my fault, so I will naturally save you from here.”

“You…!” Gu Qinghan sighed, “Ning, you are the heir of the Marquis of Honor. My safety is not important, but you… But if there is something wrong with you, how can I face the two marquises and the Qi family’s ancestors?”

Yang Ning understood Gu Qinghan’s anxiety and soothed her. “Life and death are decreed by fate, and wealth is given by God, so I can’t ignore you.” He lowered his voice, “Aunt, don’t worry. I can go out.”

“Ah?” Gu Qinghan knew that there were people outside, so she also whispered, “There are arrows outside, and you can’t take a risk.”

“They think there is only one way out, but we don’t need to go out from the door.”

Gu Qinghan was astonished. “I have touched the wall, and it must have been built with rocks from the mountain. What’s more, there is no window in the warehouse. We can’t go out.” Then she felt guilty. “It’s my fault. I took you back to the old house. Otherwise…you wouldn’t have been put in a tight spot.”

Yang Ning stated softly, “You might be in danger when you live in comfort, and you might get a good result when you are in trouble. This time we are in a difficult position, but we can gain something. Aunt, the people who kidnapped you must be clear about the old house’s situation, and they locked you up in the warehouse built by our family by the Hongsha River, so they are familiar with the environment in the neighborhood. It can be seen that the people who took actions against us this time might be our acquaintances.”

Gu Qinghan asked instantly, “Who do you suspect?”

When Yang Ning was about to answer, he smelt a fragrance suddenly. It smelt like the begonia flower, not the fragrance from Gu Qinghan’s body. He was surprised and asked, “Aunt, can you smell any fragrance?”

Gu Qinghan responded, “Have you smelt it, too? It…seems to be the smell of begonia flowers. Why are there begonia flowers here?”

“No. Although it smells like the begonia flower, there is other fragrances mixed in it…” Yang Ning couldn’t see anything clearly in the darkness and didn’t know where the fragrance came from, but he was alert originally and thought there was something wrong as it came all of a sudden. He cut a piece of cloth from his clothes with the Cold Blade and continued gently, “This fragrance came surprisingly. Aunt, cover your mouth and nose to prevent yourself from absorbing it too much.”

Gu Qinghan stated feebly, “Ning, I am too weak. You…tear a cloth for me…”

Yang Ning asked, “From your clothes or mine? I have one piece. Do you want it?”

After all, Gu Qinghan was from a wealthy family and paid attention to her life style since childhood, so he was afraid that she wouldn’t want the cloth from his clothes. Gu Qinghan blamed him in a soft voice, “Under such circumstances, we don’t need to care about anything else, and… my clothes are thin, so there is nowhere to tear a cloth.”

Yang Ning gave the cloth to her and asked gently, “Aunt, can you see it?” After he said that, he realized that he didn’t need to ask. Even he couldn’t see anything clearly, so how could Gu Qinghan see it? Before she spoke, Yang Ning added, “Reach out your hand.”

Although Gu Qinghan was weak, with no strength, she could raise her arm to touch Yang Ning’s arm. Then he grabbed it in an instant and gave the cloth to her. “Just cover your mouth and nose.”

After Gu Qinghan received it, Yang Ning cut another piece of cloth from his clothes and covered his mouth and nose, tying it up. He reached out his hand to the wall and thought that the Cold Blade could cut the iron as easily as cutting the mud, so he could use it to dig a hole in the wall when the people outside didn’t pay attention.

The ordinary weapon certainly couldn’t make it, but there was a chance that the Cold Blade, a sharp weapon could finish it. Even so, it would take some time to make a hole to go out in the wall built with rocks from the mountain.