Young Master Pei tremblingly extended his hand to check his breath.

“He, he’s gone.”

“Can’t go, can’t go! Make things clear, you make things clear for me…”

Zhu Yuanmo’s voice was so hoarse he could barely speak. His whole person collapsed sitting on the ground, saying these few sentences over and over. His entire being had crumbled.

The atmosphere could no longer be described as suffocating.

The expression on everyone’s face was like a dying fish, staring with two bewildered eyes, slowly gasping for air.

“Let’s set other matters aside for now and bury him first.”

Yan Sanhe was the first to regain composure. “Xie Chengyu, have Ding Yi send him to Xuanhua Prefecture. The grave is already there—this counts as returning to his roots.”

Xie Zhifei nodded and looked toward Zhu Qing.

Zhu Qing quickly opened the door and walked to Ding Yi’s side to whisper a few words.

Ding Yi first froze, then entered the room to carry the body horizontally and walked back out.

The door closed again.

The suffocating atmosphere didn’t ease because there was one less corpse. Instead, it became even heavier.

Who could have anticipated that in investigating this heart demon, after all the twists and turns, it would ultimately head straight for that shocking case from seventeen years ago?

Who could continue investigating?

Who dared continue investigating?

“How about…”

Li Buyan really couldn’t stand this oppression. “…we stop here for today. It’s been quite exhausting day after day.”

No one responded.

No one moved either.

“We can’t just sit here until dawn!”

Li Buyan stamped her foot. “Besides, it might not be connected to that case at all.”

“Right, right, right!”

Pei Xiao seemed like someone just waking from a dream. “Everyone, everyone, everyone go back! Xie the Fifth and I haven’t slept properly in days. We’re exhausted, exhausted to death. Zhu Qing?”

“Young Master Pei?”

“Carry your master back to his room.”

Zhu Qing didn’t dare respond, raising his eyes to look at Third Master.

Third Master Xie passed over Zhu Qing’s gaze, staring fixedly at his eldest brother Xie Erli.

“Third Brother.”

Xie Erli met his gaze and said slowly, “Your leg isn’t well. Go rest first.”

Xie Zhifei gritted his teeth and nodded.

Only then did Zhu Qing dare step forward to carry him on his back.

Hearing Xie Erli’s words, Pei Xiao knew this one was level-headed and quickly added:

“Elder Brother Xie, you should accompany Elder Brother Zhu back too. The mistress—this is her first night. She must be kept vigil for. In another hour it’ll be dawn.”

Xie Erli looked deeply at Pei Xiao, then supported the soul-absent Zhu Yuanmo and walked out without a word.

“San, Sanhe, you should go sleep too.”

Young Master Pei’s tongue was tied in knots, and so was his brain.

“That, you know, after some sleep you’ll definitely feel refreshed, look great. You girls can’t stay up at night—it makes you age easily.”

Xie Zhifei, waiting at the threshold, closed his eyes toward Yan Sanhe, as if explaining, as if sighing:

“The matter is too serious. Everyone needs to take a breather.”

“Mm.”

Yan Sanhe reached out and waved outward several times, indicating they should leave first.

Xie Zhifei gave Pei Xiao a look, and the three quickly disappeared into the night.

The flower hall emptied out.

Li Buyan stepped forward and slammed the door shut with a bang, then walked back to Yan Sanhe’s side, asking with utmost nervousness:

“Sanhe, was Taiwei’s last statement true or false?”

Yan Sanhe walked to the table and picked up the paper with Taiwei’s final writing. The strokes were forceful, penetrating the wood—one could see he’d used all his strength.

“It’s true.”

“Why are you so certain?”

Li Buyan thought about it. “Just based on Tianshi associating with Yan Ruxian—that’s not enough.”

Yan Sanhe pondered for a long while. “Currently, I’ve thought of three points.”

Three points?

That many?

Li Buyan was dumbfounded. “Tell me quickly.”

“First point: Based on the heart demon investigation so far, Zhu Xuanjiu is a complete and utter hypocrite.”

Yan Sanhe: “He likes to hide behind others when doing things. He makes others do the bad deeds while the good reputation falls on him.”

“You mean…”

Li Buyan reacted very quickly.

“Tianshi’s association with Yan Ruxian—he actually knew about it, just like how he broke up Geng Songsheng and Zhu Weixi. He was the true mastermind behind it all.”

“Correct.”

“Evidence?”

“Tianshi said something to Taiwei: ‘In the past when I was a dog, when the master told me to bite someone, I bit them. Later, when others called me “sir,” I felt I’d become a person.'”

Yan Sanhe: “‘But actually, I’m still a dog. The master lets me bark, and only then can I bark. If the master doesn’t let me bark… the leash is still held in his hand.'”

“I understand now.”

Li Buyan slapped her forehead. “Tianshi thought he’d become successful, gained abilities, but actually everything was under Zhu Xuanjiu’s control.”

Yan Sanhe nodded. “We should say Tianshi was a chess piece in Zhu Xuanjiu’s hand. Where to move, how to move—all within his calculations.”

“Exactly. Zhu Xuanjiu treated everyone as chess pieces in his hand.”

Li Buyan: “What about the second point?”

Yan Sanhe: “Witchcraft curses.”

Li Buyan frowned. “Witchcraft curses?”

Yan Sanhe: “This mystical stuff is exactly what Zhu Xuanjiu excels at.”

“Right! Ordinary people wouldn’t even think of such things!”

Li Buyan: “The third point?”

Yan Sanhe’s gaze dropped down. After a long silence, she finally said, “It’s still just my speculation. We’ll wait for Zhu Yuanmo to come and clear things up for us!”

Li Buyan immediately glared. “Yan Sanhe, you’re inhuman! You’re even whetting my appetite?”

“Buyan, I’m not whetting your appetite.”

Yan Sanhe: “Some things only someone qualified as the Imperial Observatory Director has the right to say. Otherwise, I have no certainty.”

As for other uncertain matters, she could still make guesses.

But for this one matter, even guessing would constitute the crime of deceiving the sovereign.

Li Buyan immediately deflated.

“Buyan.”

Yan Sanhe raised her head to meet Li Buyan’s eyes. “You haven’t returned to that home in all these years. New Year’s is approaching. Do you want to…”

Li Buyan glared again. “What do you mean by that?”

Yan Sanhe crouched down and placed the paper in her hand into the charcoal brazier, lighting it. The flames suddenly flared up, and the paper quickly burned to ashes.

Yan Sanhe stood up. “I’m telling you that what follows will be very, very dangerous.”

Li Buyan, thinking of the scene in the flower hall just now, found her voice trembling slightly.

“How, how dangerous will it be?”

“Worst case scenario: me, you, the Zhu family, the Xie family, the Pei family…”

Yan Sanhe took a deep breath. “All dead. Every single one. Not one left.”

My heavens!

Li Buyan’s heartbeat accelerated dramatically.

…

Guest room.

A single lamp glowed dimly.

The two brothers sat at opposite ends of the bed, looking at each other. Half an hour after returning to their room, they were still in shock.

Still hadn’t recovered.

Pei Xiao really couldn’t stand it anymore. He reached out and pinched Xie Zhifei. “Brother, give me the truth. How credible is Taiwei?”

Xie Zhifei remained silent without responding.

“I think fifty percent.”

Pei Xiao didn’t mind his silence at all. “The earlier parts were true, but that last statement isn’t credible. Not at all.”

Xie Zhifei sighed slightly. “Enough. Stop thinking about it. Let’s sleep.”

“Can we even sleep?”

Pei Xiao was furious. “This damn thing is connected to…”

He didn’t even have the guts to say those three words “Late Crown Prince.”

Xie Zhifei suddenly sat up, looking at him, saying something seemingly unrelated:

“Mingting, today I did one thing right and one thing wrong.”