The aggressive momentum softened all at once because of that single “okay?”

Yan Sanhe suddenly felt that if she didn’t agree to him, she would be deeply guilty.

But she still asked very calmly: “Go where?”

“You’ll know when we get there.”

Xie Zhifei suddenly bent down, looking at her, “I’ve never taken anyone else there before. You’re the first.”

Whether it was because his breath was hitting her ear, or because of those words “you’re the first,” Yan Sanhe’s face flushed red in an instant.

“Let’s go!”

Xie Zhifei couldn’t wait. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the exit.

“Xie Zhifei, let go…”

“Shh!”

Xie Zhifei made a silencing gesture at her.

“Don’t shout so loudly, or you’ll summon that troublemaker. She doesn’t understand anything—she’s just a troublemaker.”

“Fine, I won’t shout.”

Yan Sanhe had seen Xie Zhifei drunk before, so she coaxed him gently: “But you have to tell me where you’re taking me?”

“A graveyard.”

Yan Sanhe’s breathing stopped all at once.

…

The tightly closed city gate couldn’t stop the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Cities Military Police.

He pulled out his official token, and the guards immediately opened the gate. Xie Zhifei took out a silver ingot from his robe and tossed it into the guard’s arms.

The guard grinned from ear to ear.

Two horses galloped straight toward the outer city gate.

Yan Sanhe was afraid this man, having drunk alcohol, might get dizzy and fall off his horse, so she deliberately slowed down her pace.

But this person seemed to have gone mad, riding faster and faster, completely ignoring whether she could keep up or not.

Yan Sanhe cracked her whip and could only follow.

After riding for who knows how long, Xie Zhifei suddenly yanked the reins and dismounted, stumbling slightly on his feet.

Yan Sanhe quickly dismounted as well, “We’re here?”

Xie Zhifei didn’t answer. He took the reins from her hand, threaded the two horses’ reins together, then tied them to a tree.

While he was doing this, Yan Sanhe took the opportunity to look around.

Everywhere was pitch black, with a vague outline of a small hill, and the hillside covered with patches of forest.

At that moment, Xie Zhifei walked over and extended his hand toward Yan Sanhe.

“What for?”

“I’ll hold your hand.”

Thank you very much!

Yan Sanhe: “You lead the way, I’ll follow you.”

These words somehow touched a nerve in the man. He suddenly smiled, “Looks like your frail body is much better than before.”

Have you even seen what my body was like before?

Yan Sanhe ignored this drunk and glanced at his complexion, “Let’s go!”

“Then you hold onto me.”

“…”

The drunk said righteously, “Drank too much, afraid I’ll fall into a ditch. Hurry.”

Yan Sanhe really wanted to slap herself hard. He could go crazy on his own, but why did she follow him into this madness? She shouldn’t have come with him!

Drunks are difficult to deal with. She resigned herself, stepped forward, and supported his arm.

“Let’s go, Third Master.”

“Chengyu.”

“What?”

“Call me Xie Chengyu.”

Xie Zhifei shook off the hand on his arm, “If you don’t call me by this name, I won’t let you support me.”

Yan Sanhe: “…”

She was stunned for a moment, “Then fall into a ditch.”

“Fine, I’ll fall.”

Xie Zhifei flicked his sleeve and walked away.

Yan Sanhe watched this person’s back, grinding her molars hard. The three words “Xie Chengyu” were right at her lips, but she just couldn’t say them.

She struggled internally once, then again. On the third time, a voice fell from above her head.

“Is it really that difficult, Yan Sanhe?”

Yan Sanhe: “…” He came back?

Xie Zhifei reached out and flicked her forehead, “No need for you to support me. Just follow closely—the path isn’t easy.”

Her forehead hurt slightly. Yan Sanhe rubbed it and quickly followed.

He walked at a moderate pace and didn’t act crazy drunk again, remaining very quiet the whole way.

Just as he said, the path wasn’t easy, and it was pitch-black at night. Yan Sanhe had no time to wonder why he was so quiet—she just followed closely.

Circling around a hillside and passing through a dense forest, Xie Zhifei stopped and pointed ahead, “We’re here.”

A large open area with rows and rows of grave mounds standing neatly arranged.

In the distance, a ring of towering trees surrounded the area. When the wind blew, the leaves rustled—anyone with a timid heart would be scared to death.

“Whose family is this…”

“The Zheng family.”

Xie Zhifei walked over: “One hundred eighty graves in total. The masters are all in front of the trees, the servants all behind them.”

Yan Sanhe stood frozen in place.

“This entire hillside belongs to the Zheng family. It used to be fertile farmland, but after there were graves, the fertile land became barren—nothing grows properly now.”

Xie Zhifei lowered his head: “Some people say it’s because the resentful energy here is too heavy.”

Compared to these rows of grave mounds, the man before her eyes attracted Yan Sanhe’s gaze even more.

She looked at him.

The night was deep. He stood in the shadows, motionless. Only his outline was clear. Yan Sanhe inexplicably felt a pang of heartache.

What was she aching for? Yan Sanhe couldn’t say, but there was an increasingly strong feeling—

This person had a bellyful of worries.

She walked over, “Which is Old General Zheng’s grave?”

“Here.”

Xie Zhifei pointed to the largest one at the front, “The epitaph was personally written by the late Emperor.”

“You…”

Yan Sanhe paused: “Come here often?”

“Who would come here for no reason?”

He laughed softly, “Aren’t we investigating a case? Brought you here to feel the atmosphere.”

Thank you very much!

Yan Sanhe: “Which is Zheng Huan’an’s?”

“Here.”

“What about Zheng Huankang?”

“Over there.”

“And Zheng Huancheng?”

“This is Zheng Huancheng’s, Zheng Huanxin is over there.”

Yan Sanhe suddenly walked in front of him, raised her head. A trace of thin moonlight fell into Xie Zhifei’s slightly sorrowful eyes.

“You remember so clearly, Xie Chengyu?”

Xie Zhifei’s expression changed. He reached up to cover his heart, “Yan Sanhe, can you not be so sudden? My heart can’t take it.”

“Can’t take what?”

Calling you Xie Chengyu?

Or asking why you remember so clearly?

Yan Sanhe thought to herself.

A childhood friend who died nine years ago—you not only know the way, you remember clearly whose grave is whose.

Why?

Do you come here often?

What do you come here for?

“Can’t take you being so close to me.”

Xie Zhifei said hoarsely: “I’m quite a libertine, you know.”

Right, being libertine at someone else’s graveyard?

Yan Sanhe ignored this person full of lies and asked, “Where is your friend Zheng Huaizuo’s grave?”

“Follow me.”

Xie Zhifei walked deeper for more than ten zhang. He stopped and pointed at the grave mound before them.

“This is his.”

Yan Sanhe looked at it silently, then pointed at the one beside it, “Who’s buried there?”

With one question, Xie Zhifei’s jaw clenched tight. He thought to himself, you really have the nerve to ask.

He raised his head and looked at the young woman before him. After a long while, he said: “It’s Huaizuo’s younger sister.”

Yet I’m standing here perfectly fine.

Yan Sanhe’s gaze was fixed, with an urge to dig open the grave and see who was lying inside.

The Zheng family had one hundred eighty corpses—not one more, not one less. So who was the corpse that impersonated her?

—Rumeng Seeks Treasure