Chapter 253: Tian Youdao
Tian Zhongqing had not touched a drop of water for three whole days. He sat silently at the desk, his thoughts crawling through his mind like ants. His lips had long turned pale, and his sweat was unceasing.
Now over thirty years old, he had never made such a grave mistake before. The more he thought about it, the more terrified he became, and he murmured to himself, "Should I go and confess my fault? But such baseless rumors... would that not just show my guilt and make others laugh at me? Yet if I continue to ignore this, who knows what the main family might think? I am afraid this could sow the seeds of disaster..."
Full of anxiety, Tian Zhongqing was fortunate enough to not be the sole pillar of his household like Xu Gongming, and there were elders above him. He quickly took out his writing brush, paper, and inkstone, and wrote, "My dear uncle, I am in trouble, please come quickly to save me at the back mountain courtyard behind Huaqian Town. Let no one know of this."
After signing his name, Zhongqing, with a determined stroke, he bit his lip nervously. He used his mana to evaporate the moisture, rolled up the letter carefully, and called out for a servant.
"Somebody!"
A servant hurried in, and after a moment's thought, Tian Zhongqing gave his orders solemnly, "Prepare the finest wine and dishes right now! If they are not ready in an hour, you will face the consequences!"
Watching the servant hurry off, he then called his wife and instructed, "Keep an eye on the servants, do not let a single one leave, and do not let them disturb me."
His wife, puzzled by his instructions, said nothing and left. Watching her disappear behind the vermilion gates of the backyard, Tian Zhongqing then jumped from the window sill and ran wildly toward Mount Huaqian.
As a cultivator at the fourth stage of the Embryonic Breathing Realm, his speed was astonishing. He raced through the dark night, cutting through the dense woods at the edge of the town swiftly, soon reaching Mount Huaqian. Without daring to rest, he checked the time and, panting rapidly, waited at the foot of the mountain for the time it took an incense stick to burn.