Zhao Songyan was a young lord with a quick temper. He had been in many fights and was no stranger to violence. However, what he witnessed now was not a mere brawl, but murder. Fights were usually heated and impulsive affairs, not this chillingly silent scene before him. The man pressing someone’s head down and staring at him wordlessly sent a chill down Zhao Songyan’s spine.
Zhao had never killed anyone or witnessed a murder. At his core, he was still just a youth. His legs felt weak. Though his mind boldly suggested helping dispose of the body, his body remained frozen in place. He could only watch as Mei Zhuyu released his grip and walked towards him.
As his gaze shifted from the burly servant slumping limply against the wall to Mei Zhuyu’s approaching figure, Zhao Songyan had a sudden, terrible thought. Was Mei planning to kill him too? To settle the score for their earlier conflict when Zhao had insulted him?
It seemed unlikely, but Zhao couldn’t shake the fear. Mei’s expression was terrifying – cold and emotionless. Zhao imagined Mei grabbing his head and smashing it against the stone wall at any moment.
“I’m sorry,” said the frightening Mei heir as he reached Zhao. There was no grabbing or smashing.
“Huh?” Zhao responded, bewildered.
Unaware of Zhao’s dark imaginings, Mei had simply recognized the familiar young lord and wanted to clear the air about yesterday’s awkwardness, since Zhao was Wu Zhen’s friend.
“I didn’t mean to offend you yesterday,” Mei explained. “I’m just not good at drinking. My apologies.”
Zhao finally snapped out of his paranoid fantasy, feeling rather foolish. After witnessing this man’s ruthless killing of two people, yet calmly making small talk, Zhao found his earlier disdain for Mei completely gone, replaced by fear. His voice trembled as he replied:
“It-it’s fine. I should be the one apologizing. Sister Zhen scolded me and told me to say sorry…”
As soon as Zhao finished speaking, the suffocating, blood-tinged atmosphere dissipated. To his astonishment, Mei’s expression shifted to a mix of surprise and joy. “She told you to apologize to me?” Mei asked.
Zhao felt his tension ease, his words flowing more smoothly now. “Yes, Sister Zhen said I shouldn’t have lost my temper with you. It was my fault.” Having said it out loud, Zhao realized apologizing wasn’t so difficult after all. Finally remembering the two bodies behind Mei, he added in a complex yet determined tone: “Don’t worry, you’re Sister Zhen’s man. Even if you killed someone, I won’t tell anyone. Let’s deal with these bodies first, before anyone discovers them.”
Young Lord Zhao felt he was being quite magnanimous and loyal. To his surprise, Mei frowned at his words and said: “These two aren’t dead, just lightly injured. According to our dynasty’s laws, killing in a fight is punishable. These men attacked me without provocation. I acted in self-defense but didn’t take their lives. We should find the local patrol guards to file a report. The case can be judged and punished tomorrow.”
Zhao stared at Mei’s righteous demeanor, belatedly remembering that this man worked in the Ministry of Justice as a Section Chief.
“Haha, is that so?” Zhao could only respond with an awkward laugh.
The matter was indeed resolved as Mei had said. The guards examined the two unconscious men in the alley. During this time, Mei efficiently wrote up the case report, reconstructing the incident in detail, then signed and sealed it before handing it to the guards. The accompanying clerk looked at him with admiration as he meticulously completed the paperwork, finally accepting the report with a look of having learned something valuable.
Zhao, who had watched the entire process, felt as if he’d been hit in the face with a law book. He slunk away in embarrassment. Before leaving, he looked around for Lord Lü but found no trace of him. Lü had likely fled as soon as he saw Zhao appear, sensing trouble.
“Useless Lü dog!” Zhao spat, regaining some of his noble young lord’s arrogance. He mounted his horse and galloped away from the scene.
He was going to complain to Sister Zhen!
Wu Zhen wasn’t at the pleasure house today. She was at a training field frequently visited by Lord Huang, competing in horseback archery with Huang’s long-admired comrades. When Zhao arrived, he saw her on horseback, feet in the stirrups, body almost upright as she loosed an arrow that struck the red center of a distant straw target.
The onlookers erupted in cheers. Zhao’s eyes lit up as he joined in the applause, rushing to the viewing platform to watch the rest of the competition with the crowd.
After the match ended, Wu Zhen dismounted and exchanged a few words with the burly man she had competed against. He bowed to her respectfully, conceding defeat. Wu Zhen waved it off nonchalantly and left the field.
Zhao quickly ran over, circling Wu Zhen while praising her: “Sister Zhen, you were amazing! That target was so far away, and your position wasn’t even ideal. Hitting the bullseye from there was simply incredible!”
Wu Zhen wiped the sweat from her face, smiling as she said, “Now you know how much you still have to learn. Don’t get cocky just because you’ve picked up a few tricks. You need to fix that bad attitude of yours.”
“Yes, yes, of course!” Zhao nodded repeatedly as he followed her, almost forgetting why he had come in the first place.
It wasn’t until Wu Zhen asked him, “What brings you here? Did something happen?” that Zhao suddenly remembered his purpose. He immediately adopted an indignant tone and reported: “Sister Zhen, that Lü Zhi dog just tried to ambush Mei’s eldest son!”
At these words, the smile visibly faded from Wu Zhen’s face, her brow furrowing in displeasure. “Explain clearly,” she demanded.
Zhao always feared seeing Sister Zhen’s angry expression, but remembering that Lü Zhi would be the one in trouble this time, he perked up and hurriedly explained: “Well, I was going to apologize to Mei’s eldest son as you told me to, but then I saw Lü Zhi following him with two servants. They cornered him in an alley. I couldn’t let them bully someone under your protection, so I rushed over to stop them. Now those two servants have been taken away by the patrol guards, but that Lü dog ran away when he saw things going south. We didn’t catch him!”
Wu Zhen’s expression darkened. “Was the eldest Mei hurt? Did they beat him?”
Zhao waved his hands: “No, no, not at all! He’s completely fine!” The ones who were hurt were the two men who had been slammed against the wall and had blood splattered on their faces.
Wu Zhen misunderstood. Seeing Zhao’s proud expression, she assumed he had arrived in time to successfully protect her frail young lord. She patted Zhao approvingly, praising him: “You did well this time. I’ll remember this good deed.”
Zhao was slow to react, simply grinning at being praised. It took him a moment to realize that Sister Zhen might have misunderstood something. He hadn’t done anything; it was Mei who had dealt with the attackers.
“Um, Sister Zhen, actually Mei’s eldest son…”
Wu Zhen was lost in thought and didn’t notice her little brother’s expression. She simply said: “Big Mei may look fierce, but he’s good-natured. If someone bullies him, he probably wouldn’t even speak up. Just look at him – he’s not the type to get into fights. If it weren’t for you, he likely would have been hurt this time. Well done, Sister Zhen is very pleased.”
Good-natured? Won’t get into fights? Zhao’s expression grew complicated once again. In the end, he swallowed his words. It was better not to say anything. Sister Zhen wouldn’t believe him without seeing it herself, and might even think he was trying to drive a wedge between them. Besides, what if Sister Zhen preferred this seemingly weak type of man? If he revealed the truth, he’d end up pleasing neither side!
“So, Sister Zhen, shouldn’t we gather some people to teach Lü Zhi a lesson?” Zhao suggested.
Wu Zhen shook her head: “No need. I have a plan. You don’t need to get involved.” While it would be simple to directly confront Lü Zhi, she realized that continuing to clash with him would lead to an endless cycle. He might even go after her young lord again out of desperation. She needed a different approach to resolve this.
Wu Zhen’s word was final, and Zhao didn’t dare act on his own. He knew Sister Zhen’s personality – once she was truly angry, she wouldn’t easily let Lü Zhi off the hook. Though it was disappointing not to participate personally, Zhao knew there would be an interesting show to watch.
After bidding farewell to the others at the training field, Wu Zhen hurriedly left.
As night fell, the East-West Demon Market, quiet throughout the day, once again lit up with lanterns. Wu Zhen entered the market and headed straight for the square in front of Yanmen. She struck a small drum there, and soon many demons gathered around.
“Cat Lord, what are your orders?” asked a man in a green robe adorned with flowers, bowing deeply at the front of the crowd.
Wu Zhen replied: “It’s nothing major. I just need a few small demons to handle a minor task for me.”
At these words, the demons below all responded eagerly, a sea of heads bobbing as they called out: “Cat Lord, please command us as you will. We won’t let you down!” “We’ll do anything for Cat Lord, no questions asked!”
Wu Zhen brushed aside a lock of hair that had fallen in front of her eyes. “I need a few demons with frightening appearances to help me teach someone a lesson. Don’t scare him to death, just half to death will do.”
“Me! I’ll go!” A short old man jumped up and down.
Wu Zhen laughed: “Old Mouse, your appearance is too kind and gentle. I’m afraid you won’t scare anyone.”
The crowd of demons burst into laughter. In the end, Wu Zhen selected a few small demons with suitably intimidating looks. She nodded in satisfaction as she assigned them their task. From this day forward, Lü Zhi’s days of misery began.
Young Lord Lü had failed to teach his intended target a lesson during the day, and his two thugs had been arrested. Feeling frustrated, he couldn’t sleep that night and paced his room cursing Wu Zhen. His anger burning hot, he had loosened his robes and was fanning himself while ranting about how Wu Zhen was getting on in years and would never find a man. Suddenly, he heard a strange cracking sound from above.
Still seething with discontent, he looked up. His face instantly drained of color. There on the beam was a long, dark shadow with limp arms and legs. Its pitch-black, writhing hair was like snakes, tangled around the various supports of the ceiling. Among the hair emerged a flat, ghostly face with an ambiguous smile. It opened its mouth wide, extending a long, blood-dripping red tongue towards him.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!”
Young Lord Lü’s scream pierced the night.