“Someone’s there!”
Instinctively, Shen Du turned Zhu Yan around, hiding her behind him. Zhu Yan caught a glimpse of the fleeting shadow outside the window. Shen Du squeezed her hand, and she looked up, meeting his eyes.
“I’ll go check.”
Shen Du’s gaze was determined. He patted her hand lightly and quickly pursued the intruder.
Following the trespasser over walls and through courtyards, they reached the garden. The figure ahead finally stopped, as if deliberately waiting for him.
Such intentional behavior…
The intruder was fully armed, dressed in night-stalking clothes, face hidden behind a mask. Seeing Shen Du pursue as expected, they turned around with a cold snort, reaching up to remove the mask.
Chen Huoe?!
She wasn’t dead after all.
Shen Du, of course, couldn’t accept this. He raised his sword and thrust it towards Chen Huoe. She didn’t move an inch. Shen Du sensed something was off and withdrew some force, but the sword still pierced Chen Huoe’s heart.
“Squelch!” The sound of the blade entering flesh was particularly jarring.
Pausing for a moment, Shen Du furrowed his brows as he looked. It was real flesh and blood, not an afterimage.
“Hahaha…”
Chen Huoe’s voice was indistinguishable between male and female. Her unchanged face was surrounded by an aura of death. One corner of her mouth curled up, and the light in her eyes flickered, seeming somewhat familiar.
“Rip!”
Chen Huoe let out a loud cry, stepping back and forcefully pulling herself off the sword. Blood immediately spurted from her chest wound, splattering onto the cobblestones.
“I am immortal, hahaha, you can’t kill me, hahaha…” Chen Huoe taunted, not even bothering to look at her wound, letting the blood flow freely.
To be able to stand for so long after being stabbed in the heart and with such a strong voice…
Shen Du’s dark eyes narrowed as he gathered his strength and thrust again:
“Let’s test that theory.”
He leaped into the air, his sword spinning in a flurry as it stabbed toward Chen Huoe. She remained calm, sneering at Shen Du’s futile efforts:
“The moth flies into the flame, eternally undying. Shen Du, give up.”
The change came in an instant. The sword changed direction, aiming for the left side of her chest. Chen Huoe’s expression changed dramatically as she forcibly dodged, causing the sword to deviate slightly and pierce her left armpit.
Shen Du pulled out the sword, ready to strike again, but Chen Huoe clutched her wound and fled, leaping onto the roof tiles and spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.
Narrowing his eyes, Shen Du let out a cold snort: “A natural anomaly, a mere mirror image dares to impersonate an immortal. What a joke.”
Hearing this, Chen Huoe’s anger flared. This secret, no one should know. Shen Du wasn’t a physician, how could he know?
She forced herself to remain calm: “Ignorant human, you’ve wounded the god’s dead. Your time is near.”
“Oh, then I’ll wait and see whether you kill me first, or I send you to the guillotine.”
Chen Huoe revealed a blood-stained grin, laughing recklessly: “If you don’t kill me today, you might not even have the chance to regret it later.”
“Hmph, kill you? You wish.” Shen Du sheathed his sword, turning away calmly to see Zhu Yan leaning against the doorway, watching him.
Chen Huoe saw her too. The hand covering her chest tightened, seemingly full of resentment. Her eyes seemed to want to shoot daggers through Zhu Yan, but she couldn’t stop coughing. Extremely unwillingly, she left.
Zhu Yan quickly assessed that Shen Du was unharmed and let out a sigh of relief. But her mood didn’t improve. She asked, puzzled:
“Why didn’t you kill her?”
Right now, Chen Huoe had been stabbed through both sides of her chest, severely wounded. It was the best opportunity.
“She’s a mirror image.”
“Mm, I know.”
Shen Du took Zhu Yan’s hand, pulling her closer. Lately, he seemed to be doing this quite often.
Zhu Yan pushed lightly but didn’t push him away. Her beautiful eyes stared at him, demanding an answer.
It was clear that Third Sister Zhu Caiwei had been harmed by Chen Huoe. Why, when Shen Du had wounded her so severely, didn’t he finish her off?
“Killing her would put the Zhu family in danger.”
“Her backer might be the Judiciary.”
“Who knows how many Chen Huoes there might be behind her.”
That’s right. She had been blinded by hatred, momentarily forgetting to consider the complex relationships at play.
Chen Huoe’s corpse had been handed over by La Luo himself. Even if she hadn’t died, Chen Huoe shouldn’t have been continuing her crimes so brazenly. Why was this happening?
Could it be that La Luo was trying to hint at something?
“Don’t worry, I’m not sparing her. I’m just not killing her today.”
Zhu Yan’s heart skipped a beat. She looked up at this man, still expressionless, his eyes straight and piercing into his hairline. The look in his eyes seemed different from before. Was it because of her?
“Thank you.”
Whether it was true or not, Shen Du’s explanation to comfort her was better than anything else.
The two returned to Zhu Caiwei’s room. As they reached the door, Zhu Yan withdrew her hand. Shen Du’s palm felt empty, quite unaccustomed to it. His expression darkened, but he said nothing.
“It’s my fault, all my fault.” Seeing her Third Sister in this cocoon-like state, Zhu Yan’s emotions crumbled again. “If I hadn’t acted so rashly, trying to investigate the case thoroughly, Third Sister and Brother-in-law wouldn’t have been implicated by me. None of this would have happened.”
As she spoke, Zhu Yan knelt by the bedside, tightly grasping Zhu Caiwei’s hands, full of guilt.
“I’m sorry, Third Sister. It’s all my fault. I’ve let you down, and my Brother-in-law too. All of this is because of me. I’ve implicated you both.”
Hearing Zhu Yan speak like this, Zhu Kuo, who was nearby, stepped forward and began to reproach her,
“You’re right. Our Zhu family’s current predicament is indeed your fault. You thought you were so clever at solving cases that you disregarded La Luo. I warned you early on that he’s not someone to be trifled with. But you wouldn’t listen. Now look what’s happened. Your Third Sister is in this state. How will you make amends for your mistakes?”
Zhu Yan hung her head in shame. Yes, she had overestimated herself. Father was right. She was just a small eighth-rank Dushi Lingshi. How could she think that with her enthusiasm alone she could shake that great tree at the pinnacle of power?
Seeing that Zhu Yan might do something foolish, Madam Jin, protective of her daughter, stepped forward to speak for her: “Why are you blaming Little Six? If it weren’t for her, would anyone respect our Zhu family? When it benefited our family, I didn’t see you praising Little Six. Now that something’s gone wrong, you’re pushing all the responsibility onto her. Have any of you ever thought about her?”
Madam Ru also began to snap at Zhu Kuo: “Even if Little Six hadn’t investigated the case, La Luo wouldn’t have left the Zhu family alone. Have you forgotten who Little Six’s husband is now? How could La Luo possibly let us be?”
Zhu Mojie jumped up excitedly: “It’s because Father and the mothers married Little Six to the White King of Hell. If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves first for not being able to protect your children.”
“Father, you never manage anything usually. How can you only blame Little Six when something goes wrong?”
Zhu Kuo, Madam Jin, Madam Ru: … The face-slapping came so suddenly.
Berated by the whole family, Zhu Kuo couldn’t save face. He hemmed and hawed for a while, then seeing Zhu Caiwei’s condition, let out a light sigh and sat down:
“What should we do now?”