Yujin rushed back to the small town’s inn while it was still far from dawn.
Instead of going directly to the inner room, he carefully washed his hands, wiped his face, and changed out of the clothes he had worn for murder and arson before entering.
Inside, a night lamp remained lit.
The flame was as small as a bean, emitting a faint glow that allowed one to vaguely see a person sleeping on the bed.
Yujin tiptoed over, removed his shoes, and climbed into bed, lying down next to Jiang Si.
At this moment, Jiang Si opened her eyes, her voice tinged with surprise: “You’re back so soon?”
In the darkness, Yujin’s eyes were bright, as if they held fragments of starlight.
“Did I wake you?”
Jiang Si smiled: “How could I possibly sleep soundly?”
Yujin realized she was right; of course, A Si would be worried while he was out killing.
“How did it go with the Xuemiao Clan Leader?”
“I set a fire…” Yujin recounted the events lightly.
Jiang Si listened silently, finally asking, “Are you sure he burned to death?”
Yujin chuckled: “Don’t worry, he’s dead.”
He loved A Si’s sharp wit. Unlike those ordinary girls who would cry and wail at the sight of a dead person, which was too annoying. Of course, even if A Si were afraid, he wouldn’t mind. It would just give him a chance to show off.
Jiang Si glanced out the window, her tone slightly somber: “We don’t know how many people are aware that the Xuemiao Clan Leader sent someone to assassinate you. If others know and discover that the person sent hasn’t returned, they’ll surely come to the inn to investigate…”
Yujin thought for a moment and said: “I told Long Dan to throw the body off a cliff. Those people will need some time to search, and by the time they suspect me, we’ll be far from here. They won’t be able to stir up trouble. Regardless, being able to eliminate the Xuemiao Clan Leader is worth it, even if there are some complications afterward.”
If trouble came, they’d deal with it. They couldn’t be overly cautious out of fear of complications, allowing others to walk all over them.
Jiang Si nodded: “Mm, let’s dispose of the body first. The Xuemiao’s methods of dealing with people are similar to the Wumiao’s, which I’m not afraid of. As long as there’s no clear evidence that you did it, it’s fine if it provokes hostility and retaliation from the Xuemiao Clan against the Great Zhou.”
Hearing this, Yujin smirked: “A Si, you don’t need to worry about these things. If the Xuemiao Clan shows any signs of confronting Great Zhou, I’ll have a good chat with the Wumiao Grand Elder.”
“The Grand Elder?” Jiang Si didn’t immediately understand how the Wumiao Clan was suddenly involved.
“The seventh son of the dragon will bring dawn, dispelling the darkness of the Wumiao.” Yujin recited the prophecy, then said matter-of-factly, “The Xuemiao Clan Leader wanted to eliminate me to deal with the Wumiao. It doesn’t make sense for the Wumiao to reap the benefits without putting in any effort, does it?”
Did he seem like the kind of person who would let others take advantage of him without bearing any responsibility?
If the Xuemiao dared to target him or Great Zhou, the Wumiao couldn’t stand idly by.
In reality, even though the Wumiao’s influence had waned over the years, they still held an overwhelming advantage over the Xuemiao. As long as the Wumiao took action, the Xuemiao would be too preoccupied to cause him trouble.
Yujin had already planned his retreat, which is why he decisively killed the Xuemiao Clan Leader. It wouldn’t be as convenient once they returned to the capital.
After hearing Yujin’s explanation, Jiang Si felt a moment of sympathy for the Grand Elder and nodded slightly.
Yujin got up to give instructions to Long Dan in the next room.
The drowsy Long Dan, upon hearing that the body he had painstakingly hidden needed to be moved again, couldn’t help but grimace.
When he arrived at the hiding place, his slight complaints and drowsiness instantly vanished, replaced by shock.
“Where’s the person? No, where’s the body?”
Staring at the empty hiding spot, a chill rose from Long Dan’s heart, making his scalp tingle.
After the initial shock, he immediately went to report to Yujin.
“What? The body is gone?” Yujin had already gone to bed. He opened the door wearing an outer robe, surprised by Long Dan’s report.
A gentle voice came from behind: “What’s going on?”
Yujin turned back and said to Jiang Si: “Long Dan just went to move the body, but found it missing.”
Hearing this, Jiang Si walked to the table, picked up the oil lamp, and came to the door: “Let’s go take a look.”
“Mm.” Yujin nodded slightly and instructed Long Dan, “Go wake up Old Qin and ask him about it.”
Long Dan hurried to wake up Old Qin and Jiang Zhan.
Jiang Zhan, who had rarely slept soundly these days, was called up with red eyes and mumbled: “What’s wrong?”
Long Dan’s initial shock at the missing body had turned into admiration: “Second Young Master, you can sleep so soundly in this situation…”
Jiang Zhan’s face flushed slightly as he explained: “Well, I need to sleep well to have energy for the journey. Has the Prince returned—wait, has he encountered trouble?”
He had always thought that killing a clan leader shouldn’t be done so rashly. It wasn’t like he was on the battlefield where he could just swing his sword without thinking, and the severed heads could be counted as merits.
They should have planned it out carefully!
“Our master returned long ago without any trouble. It’s the body I hid that’s gone missing. The master called everyone to take a look,” Long Dan explained.
Hearing this, Jiang Zhan’s mind cleared completely, and he hurried along with Long Dan.
Long Dan pointed to the ground: “When we were staying here before, I discovered an alley not far from the inn. Deep in the alley was an abandoned house with a dry well. When the Prince ordered me to dispose of the body today, I thought this place was perfect. I brought the body here and stuffed it into the dry well, even placing a stone on top. How could a perfectly good body just disappear?”
Yujin carefully observed the surroundings in the light of the oil lamp, particularly focusing on the stone Long Dan mentioned that was used to cover the well. He said, “The stone has been moved. It was likely moved by a young man whose strength hasn’t fully developed yet.”
“A young man?” Long Dan was confused. “Master, how did you determine it was a young man?”
Yujin pointed to the marks between the well opening and the stone: “Look at these marks. They clearly show that the stone was dragged and rolled, indicating that the person moving it wasn’t very strong. An adult man would only need to lift a stone of this size, not go through all this trouble.”
“I see.” Long Dan nodded in agreement.
However, Jiang Zhan offered a different opinion: “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a young man with insufficient strength. It could also be a woman.”
Yujin uttered two words: “Footprints.”
“Footprints?” Jiang Zhan looked down and indeed recognized faint footprints on the ground.
Without further explanation from Yujin, he immediately understood the reason.
Although the footprints were not large, they were not left by shoes worn by women. This corroborated Yujin’s guess that the person who moved the stone was most likely a young man, or perhaps a naturally short and thin adult man.
Suddenly, Jiang Zhan’s eyes narrowed, and he pointed to a spot: “Look at these footprints! These must have been left by a tall, adult man!”
Jiang Si glanced at them and casually remarked: “Uh, those should be from the corpse.”