Chapter 183.2

Earlier, while he was still in the room, Li Zhuiyuan had heard the sound of that suitcase being pushed along. It was horrifyingly heavy.

Yet that woman had been able to lift it easily and carry it over the steps.

Interesting. Counting his own group, three parties had already moved in.

Two teams, and one lone individual.

It was not as though Li Zhuiyuan had never considered taking his people and hiding completely, waiting until the fighting and scrambling outside had mostly ended before emerging when the time was right.

But he did not want to give up the important lead that was Fatty Jin.

Hiding would certainly be safer, but it would also mean missing crucial information. By the time they finally showed up as guests, the other two teams might already have abundant clues in hand, while his side would be suffering from a severe lack of information.

Tan Wenbin asked, “Little Yuanhou, should we test them a little?”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. “Before corpse aura appears around them, there is no reason for a team like ours, one without jade shards in hand, to stir up trouble for no reason.”

Tan Wenbin said, “Then what if they make a move to test us first?”

Li Zhuiyuan replied, “That would mean they have jade shards in their hands.”

Tan Wenbin asked in some confusion, “Then why wouldn’t they be like us?”

Li Zhuiyuan lightly flicked the wooden box twice with his fingertips and said,

“Because they can’t suppress the corpse aura inside the jade shard continuously the way I can.”

Night fell, and everything grew silent.

After bathing, the woman in white changed into a loose white shirt and reclined on the bed. Her pair of elegant white legs were largely exposed.

But even the short man, whose gaze had been the most lecherous during the day, did not dare lift his eyes for more than a glance. He simply sat properly on the chair with his head lowered.

The man in the padded jacket and the man in short sleeves sat cross-legged on the floor.

“C-c-c…”

The man in the padded jacket’s teeth began to chatter. He was genuinely freezing.

Zheng Ruxue, lying on the bed, narrowed her eyes slightly and asked, “A-Leng, how much longer can you hold on?”

The man called A-Leng first opened his padded jacket. Frost covered his chest, and on the right side of it was a hollow where a jade shard had been embedded.

“The corpse aura in this jade shard is getting heavier and heavier. I’m almost unable to suppress it.”

Hearing this, Zheng Ruxue pressed a hand to her forehead.

This thing was a treasure, but the earlier you got it, the more dangerous it became to hold.

Once A-Leng could no longer suppress it and the corpse aura erupted, they would become searchlights in the darkness, drawing countless eyes from all around.

The short man said, “How about we deal with the nearby threats first? There are two groups staying downstairs. One seems fairly normal, like tourists. But that lone woman—I’m in the room above hers, and I listened carefully. Since entering her room, she hasn’t made the slightest sound. I couldn’t even hear her breathing.”

Zheng Ruxue shook her head. “If she really is alone, she’ll be even harder to deal with. Anyone who dares travel the jianghu by herself naturally has the confidence to do so. As for that other group, I find them strange…”

The short man asked, “What’s strange about them?”

Zheng Ruxue said, “They’re too normal.”

The three men looked at each other.

Zheng Ruxue continued, “At a time like this, the more normal a target seems, the more dangerous they usually are. That means they’re able to disguise themselves with ease.”

The short man said, “How about I go test them?”

Zheng Ruxue hesitated for a moment, but when her gaze fell on A-Leng’s chest, she still nodded. “Go confirm it. Be careful not to overdo it.”

“You still don’t trust my movement technique?”

The short man left the room.

The others stayed in Zheng Ruxue’s room and waited.

At the same time, Runsheng and the others downstairs were also waiting.

Though they were all lying under blankets as if asleep, Lu Runsheng had the Yellow River Spade hidden beneath his blanket, and Yin Meng had the Demon-Suppressing Whip hidden under hers.

Lin Shuyou had placed the trident under his pillow and pretended to be sleeping on his side with the blanket between his legs.

Even Tan Wenbin, though he appeared deeply asleep, had both hands resting on his stomach in the first hand seal of the ghost-control technique.

The only one sleeping as usual was Li Zhuiyuan.

Because he trusted his companions to warn him, and so he could not waste their effort.

Tonight, not only did things move slowly, they moved in utter silence.

Zheng Ruxue waited in the room for a long time. She heard no disturbance, nor did she see the short man return.

“Something’s happened.”

She got off the bed.

The man in the padded jacket and the man in short sleeves both stood up.

The man in short sleeves pushed open the door first and saw the short man clutching his chest and limping back toward them. He looked disheveled, but he made no sound at all.

His movement technique really was that strange, as though he could run over roofs and walls like Tuliu Sun.

Zheng Ruxue let out a breath of relief. Injured though he was, at least he had completed the probe.

The man in short sleeves moved aside to let his companion in.

But just as the short man neared the doorway, both his hands suddenly stabbed into the chest of the man in short sleeves.

Everything happened too fast, in the span of a flash. And because he had assumed it was a companion, the man in short sleeves had no guard up at all.

Those were clearly human hands, yet at that moment they were as sharp as blades. In an instant they pierced flesh and even sliced through bone.

Struck by shock and pain, the man in short sleeves paid no mind to anything else. He wrapped both arms around and his muscles swelled rapidly, trying to crush the short man in his embrace.

But the explosion that should have followed never came. Dense cracks appeared all over the short man’s body, and then he split apart completely, exploding into shards of porcelain.

A shard of porcelain embedded itself fully into the neck of the man in short sleeves, making it difficult for him even to cry out.

This wound could no longer be called severe. Vital areas all over his body had been pierced. There was no possibility of treatment, no possibility of saving his life.

The man in short sleeves collapsed to the ground, the life in him cutting off rapidly.

Some of the shattered porcelain flew toward Zheng Ruxue and the man in the padded jacket, but the padded-jacket man spread his hands and formed frost to block them.

Even so, the porcelain fragments still drove deep into the frost, forcing him to use even more power to defend himself.

Because of that, the cold energy he had been using to suppress the jade shard inside his body weakened, and corpse aura leaked out.

Thin wisps of black qi began swirling around his chest.

Then a voice drifted up eerily from beneath the floorboards:

“Corpse aura, evil thing—such things must be slain!”

It was a declaration of exemption.

This was not slaughtering ordinary people, nor killing fellow members of the righteous path. It was merely acting on suspicion that the target was an evil thing, and now that suspicion had been confirmed. Not only was there no crime, there was merit.

Zheng Ruxue gritted her silver teeth and reached out, trying to shove the padded-jacket man in front of her aside. The voice had come from downstairs.

The next attack would come from beneath the floor.

However, because the corpse aura from the jade shard inside him had begun leaking out, the padded-jacket man was not only in great pain, but his body had become stiff. Zheng Ruxue’s shove had originally been meant as a boost between companions in battle, helping him dodge better.

But now he could no longer fully control his own body. He could only topple forward.

A sharp weapon suddenly thrust up through a crack in the floorboards and pierced straight through the padded-jacket man.

Zheng Ruxue’s eyes widened in fury. In such a short span of time, all three of her subordinates had died!

If the other side had been overwhelmingly powerful, crushing them outright, that would have been one thing. But the opponent had not displayed any terrifying strength at all. And yet on their side, one after another, people had died cleanly and efficiently.

Zheng Ruxue retreated, trying to leave the room. In the direction she was backing away, there was a window.

She was fast, but just as she was about to reach it, her body twisted sharply, forcibly changing direction in an extremely bizarre posture. Instead of continuing backward, she lunged forward.

The window had been opened. A figure was waiting there for her.

Zheng Ruxue thought: Just as I expected—you had already predicted my next move!

Rushing forward, Zheng Ruxue reached the padded-jacket man’s side. With one hand she swept upward, flipping his body, then reached into his chest and snatched out the jade shard shrouded in black qi, catching it in her palm.

But at that very moment, the long porcelain shard that had pierced through the padded-jacket man earlier thrust out once again.

Its timing was perfect. It came at the exact instant when Zheng Ruxue had just touched the jade shard and was momentarily frozen by the effect of its corpse aura.

It pierced straight through Zheng Ruxue’s body. The part that entered her then shattered directly apart, turning into countless tiny porcelain fragments that rampaged wildly through her insides.

With a thud, Zheng Ruxue collapsed to the floor. After her body twitched a few times, she lay still.

At that moment, the figure outside the window came into view. It was not someone lying in wait to ambush her, but a painting of a court lady that had been hung there ahead of time.

Not long after, someone came upstairs from below and pushed open the door. It was the lone woman staying downstairs.

She ignored the corpses on the ground. First, she took the jade shard from Zheng Ruxue’s hand and dropped it into an exquisite porcelain bottle in her hand.

Gradually, black patterns spread across the blue-and-white porcelain bottle.

The woman sighed.

“Alas, I can’t suppress it for long.”

Then the woman clapped her hands. One delicate porcelain doll after another came in from outside. As they reached the corpses, they shattered, turning into fragments that wrapped around the bodies of Zheng Ruxue and the others.

Very soon, “Zheng Ruxue and the others” all stood up and began cleaning away the traces inside the room.

After everything had been cleaned, “Zheng Ruxue and the others” took their luggage and went downstairs.

In the front house stayed Fatty Jin and his parents.

Fatty Jin was woken by the knocking. Rubbing his eyes, he looked at the four guests who had only checked in today and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? Do you need something?”

“Zheng Ruxue” said, “We have urgent business and need to leave. We’re checking out.”

Her voice was hoarse and grating. Fatty Jin felt his eardrums ache just listening to it.

“You’re leaving Lijiang and not coming back?”

“We’re not coming back.”

“Then I’ll refund the remaining days of your room fee.”

“No need. Goodbye.”

“Hey, that won’t do.”

Fatty Jin ran to the front desk, unlocked the drawer with a key, took out the money, and hurried after them.

“It’s the middle of the night. Where are you going? I can drive you, and here’s your money…”

Fatty Jin chased them out the door, only to discover in shock that “Zheng Ruxue” and the others had already vanished.

Outside were village roads and farmland. The starry sky was bright, and visibility was not bad. But no matter how he looked around, there was no sign of anyone.

Only by the edge of the field ridges were four small mounds of earth, slightly more raised than the surrounding ground.

…

Morning.

Li Zhuiyuan pushed open the door, stepped out of the room, and stretched lazily.

At the wooden tea table outside the room opposite, the lone woman sat drinking tea. The tea set she used was exquisitely made.

The woman raised her teacup toward Li Zhuiyuan, wearing a warm smile.

“Good morning, little brother.”

Li Zhuiyuan also gave her a shy smile and waved back.

“Good morning.”