One Hundred and Fifty-Eight: A Rabbit

After Wangyou left, Su He, who should have been unconscious in bed, woke up.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he quietly left the Jiunyao Tower.

Inside Yizhichun’s room, Xiaoyun whispered into her ear, "Mistress, Wangyou has left the Jiunyao Tower, and that young master wasn't truly unconscious either—he has already left just now."

Yizhichun was peeling grapes, her hands stained with juice. She popped a piece of fruit into her mouth and mumbled, "Keep an eye on him. I don't care what Wangyou is up to, but as for that young master, do not let anyone harm him while he is in the Jiunyao Tower. Otherwise, endless disasters will befall us."

"This maid understands."

"Go."

As Xiaoyun left, Yizhichun casually continued peeling her grapes. Her gaze swept around the room as she murmured to herself, "The winds are about to rise."

Meanwhile, Su He and Wangyou had left the Jiunyao Tower with entirely different destinations in mind.

Judging by the timing, King Yong should already be leading men to intercept Wangyou's path. As for Su He himself, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

Outside the Fuling Pavilion, a few lookouts were stationed. One of them asked his companion, "Hey, did you see a shadow dart past just now?"

His companion, hugging his sword, rolled over to continue sleeping and mumbled, "I think you didn't sleep enough and your eyes are playing tricks on you. Think about how long we've been staring here—besides Baili Su He coming by earlier, what else have you seen? If you ask me, Wang Quan and the others are just making a mountain out of a molehill. So what if a couple of women were slept with and a few villagers were killed? Is that really such a big deal? Is it worth them guarding it like it's their own lives?"

Another guard groggily opened his eyes and yawned, "Exactly. What's done is done. If there were any evidence, King Yong would have made a move long ago; why would we still have this leisure now? Besides, the corpses have already been burned. With no dead bodies left to testify, even if Chen Liu has supernatural abilities, he can't possibly figure out the truth. You, just eat when it's time to eat and sleep when it's time to sleep. Stop worrying about these useless, idle matters."

"Precisely. I've said that several times, but this fellow just refuses to listen. Someone who lives today not knowing if they'll see tomorrow, yet still wasting energy on such idle concerns—what a bloody pain in the neck."

Rendered speechless by his two companions, the man found a corner and sat down by himself, hoping he had simply seen wrongly.

Inside the Fuling Pavilion, Chen Liu sensed someone breaking into the pavilion from his bedroom. He threw on an outer robe, grabbed a lantern, and followed the aura into the living room.

Approaching closer, he discovered that it was Su He making a midnight visit.

Just then, Zaishê also arrived upon hearing the commotion. Chen Liu handed him the oil lamp and instructed him to light up all the lamps in the living room.

Moments later, the entire living room was much brighter.

Chen Liu bowed in greeting and asked, "Young Master is visiting at this late hour—may I ask what instruction you bring?"

Su He drew a delicate white porcelain bottle from his sleeve, placed it on the tea table, and slowly pushed it toward him. "There is a matter requiring the Examiner's expertise to reveal the truth."

"What is this?" Chen Liu cast a suspicious glance at Su He, then picked up the white porcelain bottle, opened it, peered inside, and immediately recapped it. His tone involuntarily deepened as he asked, "Where did this object come from?"

Leaning against the armrest and gazing at the porcelain bottle, Su He replied, "I dare not conceal this from Examiner Chen. Tonight, I encountered a young lady and escorted her back, after which she kindly invited me to drink a cup of water."

Chen Liu raised an eyebrow slightly. "Since you drank it, where did this water come from?"

Su He answered, "I lacked conclusive evidence, so I had no choice but to use this small trick to bring it to you."

In truth, he hadn't been entirely certain that Wangyou was suspicious at the time. There was no doubt he had consumed the cup of water, but he had kept his guard up. Under the cover of concealment, he had secretly used spiritual arts to transfer the water from his throat into a white porcelain bottle hidden within his sleeve, then pretended to spit the rest out.

Unexpectedly, Wangyou truly harbored secrets. What kind of situation could possibly drive her to take such desperate risks and venture outside?

Was it Xiaozhou Village?

Or perhaps...

Chen Liu called out toward the doorway, "Zaishê, go to the back mountain and catch a wild rabbit or a pheasant."

"Yes." Zaishê quickly vanished into the night, returning in about the time it takes to burn half an incense stick holding a gray rabbit.

"Sir, the wild rabbit has been brought back," Zaishê reported.

Chen Liu stood up, took a teacup from the table, and poured a small amount of water from the white porcelain bottle into the cup. He then told Zaishê to release the rabbit. The rabbit initially hopped about, attempting to run away.

However, at Chen Liu's single command—"Come back"—the rabbit obediently hopped right back, tame as could be.

Chen Liu instructed, "Drink it."

The rabbit hopped forward and actually drank the water.

Within a few steps, it collapsed onto the ground, kicked its legs a few times, and breathed its last in less than two breaths.

This startled Su He, who pointed at the rabbit and asked, "This substance shouldn't be poison; why would it end up like this?"

No sooner had his voice fallen than something was seen stirring beneath the rabbit's abdomen.

Frowning, Chen Liu motioned for Zaishê to step back. Then, with a flick of his fingertip, a blade of Qi sliced open the rabbit's belly, and countless black insects instantly swarmed out.

This gruesome sight made Zaishê's scalp tingle. He clung to the door frame, too terrified to retreat and too frozen to move, feeling that these creatures were far more sickening than the corpses they usually dealt with.

"Abomination." With that word, Chen Liu flicked his finger, shooting out a ball of fire that burned the insects and the rabbit to ashes together.

Instantly, a teeth-grinding squeaking sound echoed through the spacious living room.

Su He asked, "Why would it turn out like this?"

Chen Liu glanced at the pale-faced Zaishê and told him to step outside first. Zaishê felt as though he had been granted a pardon, sprinting outside to retch violently.

Hearing the sounds from within the room, Chen Liu furrowed his brow deeply. *This child is something else,* he thought. *He never vomits during dissections, so why is this making him retch to such a degree?*

Sighing, he motioned for Su He to take a seat. "The person who planted the gu poison must not want you to die. Therefore, when you drank that cup of water, it caused you no harm; but if transferred to another object or person, they wouldn't be so fortunate."

Suddenly, something flashed across Su He's mind like a shooting star, appearing and vanishing in an instant.

A moment later, he suddenly recalled what Zou Jiren had spoken of regarding the lake water, and the fish, shrimp, and beasts.

In a flash, he understood: Wangyou was the one manipulating events behind Xiaozhou Village. Yet, he could not fathom why she would do such a thing.

And what was her ultimate purpose?

With this thought, Su He stood up from his seat, cupped his fists toward Chen Liu, and said, "Many thanks to Examiner Chen for clearing my doubts. I have other matters to attend to, so I will not linger."

With that, he turned and walked away.

"Hold on." Chen Liu rose and called out, "Is the Young Master planning to pay a visit to the First Highness?"

Su He paused, turned around, and said, "Indeed."

"In that case, I shall accompany the Young Master. Coincidentally, I also have matters to clarify with the First Highness."

"Please." Su He was momentarily stunned, immediately grasping what Chen Liu intended to do.

When dealing with King Yong, having Chen Liu step forward to state certain facts would be far more effective than if Su He spoke himself.

Without further ado, the two left the living room one after the other. Chen Liu gave a few parting instructions to Zaishê—who was still retching wretchedly—and vanished alongside Su He from the Fuling Pavilion.

Meanwhile, King Yong was leading men by the night to the Jiunyao Tower, intending to make arrests. Yet before he even caught sight of his targets, his path was intercepted.

In the narrow alleyway, the two parties fell into a standoff.

King Yong raised a hand to signal his men to wait, stepping forward himself to address the newcomer: "Fourth Brother, rather than enjoying the cool breeze in your Lesser Grand Palace, you've come to block my path. That seems... rather inappropriate, doesn't it?"

Looking thoroughly impatient, Xuange Yue dug into his ear with a finger, blew lightly on the tip of it, and delivered a remark infuriating enough to kill: "Go back."

Instantly, King Yong's anger flared to the crown. He was, after all, the eldest son of the King and the First Highness of Yuhaitian; when had he ever been met with such a blatant lack of respect?

He shouted, "Fourth Brother, you..."

Before he could finish, Xuange Yue interrupted again, "Stop with the 'you' this and 'you' that; it gives a person a headache. If you want to solve the case, listen to this lord."

The atmosphere plummeted to absolute freezing point.

"What if this Prince insists on going personally?" King Yong was also enraged, his handsome face colder than autumn frost.

Xuange Yue shot him a look of utter disdain, directly puncturing his thoughts. "If you lose your life, what will you use to contend with me?"

With that, his sharp eyes flashed with murderous intent as he glanced sideways at Zhou Yi. "Why aren't you helping your master back? Are you waiting to collect his corpse later?"

"Your Highness Yue, you..." Zhou Yi whipped out his weapon, ready to argue with Xuange Yue.

But King Yong reached out to block him, shouting angrily, "Go back! There will be no insolence here!"

Then, turning back to Xuange Yue, he asked, "What is Fourth Brother's reason for doing this?"

Xuange Yue let out a cold laugh, sizing him up as if he were an idiot, and sneered, "Does this lord need a reason to do anything?"

"..." For a moment, King Yong was left choking with anger, his face flushed and burning. He could not deny one undeniable truth in Xuange Yue's words:

Indeed, within Yuhaitian, Xuange Yue never needed a reason to do as he pleased.

Because no matter what he did, someone would always cover for him.

Growing anxious, Zhou Yi leaned over and whispered a reminder, "Your Highness, if we delay any longer, I'm afraid it will be too late."

Before King Yong could even speak, Xuange Yue snatched the words back, showing no mercy: "I've said all that needs to be said.

Whether you listen or not is up to you.

If you are bent on courting death, I can hardly stand in the way of King Yama's business, can I?"

The night was as cool as water, as though time itself had frozen at that moment.

King Yong stared deeply at Xuange Yue, seemingly trying to decode something from his expression. Unfortunately, aside from utter disdain, he could read nothing else on Xuange Yue's face.

At last, he cupped his fists toward Xuange Yue and said, "Then this elder brother shall await Fourth Brother's good news at the Ruijin Palace."

"Your Highness?" Zhou Yi cried out in shock, bewildered by how drastically things had changed. Were tonight's plans and the bloody case at Xiaozhou Village simply to be dropped?

"Silence!" King Yong spun around, casting a cold glare before raising his voice to the men behind him, "Return to the palace."

Left standing in place, Zhou Yi was frantic with frustration and anger. He shot a venomous glare at Xuange Yue before abruptly turning on his heel to chase after King Yong.

Watching them walk further and further away, Xuange Yue finally turned around with a swaggering gait.

Qin Mo emerged from the shadows and asked, "Shall we send a few more men to follow them?"

Shedding his casual demeanor, Xuange Yue glanced sideways and instructed, "Caution prevents major mishaps. Go back and arrange a few more skilled operatives.

However, unless his life is in danger, do not show yourselves.

We must avoid being discovered and revealing our tracks."

"Understood."

"Also, have you found out where that woman went?"

"Yes, our brothers followed very carefully this time. Without mishap, she should be heading toward Baimiao Peak in the Demon Realm."

"Very well. Return to the Great Desolation Tower first; this palace will be back shortly."

Reluctant to leave, Qin Mo hesitated, "Master, wouldn't it be better if I accompanied you?

At the very least, we can watch each other's backs."

"You brat, do you think this lord is inferior to that stinking woman, do you?"

"N-no, no... not at all." Qin Mo shook his head like a rattle-drum. Even if he thought so, he certainly couldn't voice it aloud, could he?

"Then why are you nagging me like an old woman?" Xuange Yue irritably straightened his sleeves and collar.

"This subordinate... I was just worried that the woman is full of tricks, and I feared..." *That you might get the worst of it, Master.* Naturally, he lacked the courage to voice the rest of his sentence.

If he said that, he'd either be struck by lightning or torn to pieces; he wasn't about to risk it.

"Good grief, so after all this time, you still think your master is no match for a woman, eh?"

"No, no..."

"Get lost."

*No your head.* With a sudden kick, Xuange Yue sent Qin Mo flying.

Then he transformed into a streak of light and departed, leaving poor Qin Mo to crash into some haystack, taking a long time to clutch his waist and hobble back out.

"That hurts like hell..."