Sudden murder

Cheng Yayin did not answer Hu Shang's question, but took out the sachet without saying a word, placed it in her palm and showed it to him.

When Doctor Hu saw the sachet, his expression changed again. He stared at Cheng Yayin's palm in silence for a long moment, his eyes, hidden by his thick eyebrows, filled with complex emotions. He asked, "Who is Yue Qiongfang to you?"

Yue Qiongfang is the name of Cheng Yayin's mother.

Cheng Yayin suppressed her doubts and surprise and said calmly, "She is my mother."

Doctor Hu then asked, "Where is she now?"

Cheng Yayin didn't say anything. She thought Doctor Hu would continue to question her, but when he saw her silence, he stopped pestering her. He turned around and took out something wrapped in gray cloth from the package behind him and handed it to her carefully.

Cheng Yayin took it, opened it and saw a grass inside. At first glance, it looked no different from the weeds that can be seen everywhere on the roadside. After looking carefully, she found that each of its leaves had dark red lines on it, like winding blood vessels, which looked very strange under the dim oil lamp.

Doctor Hu warned, "Don't touch it directly with your bare hands. This thing is extremely poisonous and will kill you if you touch it."

Cheng Yayin quickly and carefully wrapped it again with gray cloth and was about to put it in her arms, but Pei Songsheng reached out and took it and put it in his arms.

Cheng Yayin asked Doctor Hu, "How much?"

Doctor Hu said, "I won't charge you any money."

After he said that, he packed up his stall. It seemed that he had no intention of doing business tonight.

Cheng Yayin watched him packing up in surprise, feeling it was wrong to take someone else's heirloom for free, and insisted on paying. Doctor Hu ignored her, rolled up his bag, and quickly disappeared into the dense forest.

Cheng Yayin had long anticipated that he and her mother must have some connection, but the depth of this connection had surpassed her expectations. However, he had even given up such a precious heirloom to her simply because she was his mother's daughter. Their relationship must have been quite close.

Could it be an old lover?

Cheng Yayin desperately wanted to find someone to ask, but Doctor Wang seemed certain she wouldn't tell her the truth. She couldn't bring it up with her father, so she could only ask her mother for confirmation. But she was at the temple, and she didn't know when she would be able to return home.

Pei Songsheng interrupted her wandering thoughts and asked, "Why did Madam buy such a poisonous thing?"

Cheng Yayin was immersed in her own thoughts and said casually, "It's for you."

Pei Songsheng held her hand and said happily, "Madam has really fallen in love with me."

Cheng Yayin: "...How did you come to this conclusion?"

"Madam bought the poison and took me with her, fearing that I would be poisoned to death without knowing it. If this isn't love for me, what else could it be?" Thinking of Cheng Yayin's indulgence and intimacy with him in recent days, Pei Songsheng became more and more certain of his thoughts, and the corners of his mouth almost curled up to the sky.

Cheng Yayin looked at the man who was smiling brightly in this dark and strange place, and shook her head speechlessly.

After getting the things, Cheng Yayin planned to leave. As she was about to reach the exit of the dark market, a man hurried past her. She thought he looked very familiar and turned around and called out, "Master Xue?"

The man turned around and saw it was indeed Xue Zhi. He was also quite surprised and pointed at Cheng Yayin and the other two and said, "Pei..."

Before he could finish his words, Cheng Yayin was so scared that she covered his mouth with her hand, forcing him to step back repeatedly and mumble incoherent words, which made Cheng Yayin's hand stick to his mouth even more and not let go at all.

Feeling Pei Songsheng's gaze from behind her like a knife flying towards her, Cheng Yayin said to Xue Zhi with a stiff upper lip, "Excuse me, Master Xue, could you please hold your breath for now? Let me talk to him a few words before I explain to you."

Only after Xue Zhi nodded did Cheng Yayin release her hand. She quickly ran back to Pei Songsheng, pulled him aside, and turned his face back to sneer at Xue Zhi. She said, "He's a fellow disciple of the Hidden Sect. We went on missions together, so we have a good relationship. I didn't let him speak because I was afraid of being exposed. To be honest, there are many assassins from the Hidden Sect here. If you speak and reveal your identity, you will definitely be attacked by the group. But that person is trustworthy and won't betray us. I want to talk to him for a while. Please wait patiently and don't disturb us."

After she finished her long speech, she began to breathe heavily. Pei Songsheng was still dissatisfied with how close she had been to another man just now, and he kept pestering her not to talk to Xue Zhi alone.

Cheng Yayin had already prepared a way to deal with Pei Songsheng's jealous behavior. She pulled him to a more secluded corner, and when she saw that there was no one around, she pulled his clothes and kissed him.

Pei Songsheng really quieted down, pursing his lips to savor the sweetness and softness that had just touched him. When he lowered his head to kiss her again, Cheng Yayin dodged him, "Just wait here obediently. I'll come back to find you after I finish talking to my friends. When we get home, I'll let you kiss me as much as you want."

Pei Songsheng finally gave up. Cheng Yayin turned around and touched her lips, lamenting that they might swell again tonight.

Returning to the waiting Xue Zhi, Cheng Yayin asked first, "Master Xue, are you here because you have clues related to the missing person case?"

Xue Zhi shook his head. "No, there's been no progress on that case. I'm here for another case of antique theft. Earlier this year, there were reports of tomb robberies in many places. I've been investigating for a while and heard that tomb robbers would come to the dark market to sell their stolen goods, so I came here to investigate."

Cheng Yayin was a little disappointed. She had thought that there might be clues to the missing person's case hidden here, and she could kill two birds with one stone tonight.

Xue Zhi glanced at the corner of Pei Songsheng's clothes that was exposed under a tree not far away, and asked hesitantly, "Why did my sister-in-law come here with Brother Pei? And I noticed that Brother Pei seemed to be looking strange just now. What happened?"

At this point, there was nothing to hide from Xue Zhi. He hadn't come alone, but he had brought a number of Dali Temple guards with him. Cheng Yayin pursed her lips and glanced at the guards, and Xue Zhi understood and asked them to stay away for the time being.

After the guards retreated a few feet away, Cheng Yayin briefly explained Pei Songsheng's situation to Xue Zhi. She omitted the part about him becoming the character in her book, saying only that after being poisoned, he would become unconscious and confused about his own name.

Xue Zhi was furious, gritting his teeth and angrily snarling, "How can this be? I didn't even notice that you sent Jian Zhu to remind me to bring extra people with me when I go out and beware of villains. It turns out Brother Pei has already fallen prey to these treacherous people. This criminal is so brazen that he even dared to murder an official appointed by the imperial court!"

Cheng Yayin looked around and quickly asked him to speak in a lower voice.

Xue Zhi was so angry that he took a few deep breaths and asked in a low voice, "Is there any way to detoxify?"

"To be honest, I came here to find the herbs for the antidote. Now I have the medicine, and I just need to prepare the antidote, and then he can be saved." Cheng Yayin said earnestly, "But the poison is taking effect now, and he thinks he is someone else. I beg Lord Xue to act naturally when you face him later, and don't directly reveal his identity, otherwise there is a risk of causing him to lose his mind."

Xue Zhi said solemnly, "It is my duty."

The two of them talked for a long time, and Pei Songsheng was already getting impatient. He was even more dissatisfied when he saw Cheng Yayin and the man walking towards him. The cold light in his eyes seemed to condense into an arrow to pierce the man through.

But he didn't expect that under his intimidating gaze, the man didn't feel offended at all, and even looked at him with a little... sympathy?

He was about to question him when the man suddenly clasped his fists and bowed deeply, saying, "Brother, your righteousness is beyond my reach. I can only apprehend the murderer as quickly as possible and avenge you!"

Cheng Yayin: “…” I’m not asking you not to reveal your identity.

Pei Songsheng looked bewildered and asked Cheng Yayin in a low voice, "Does your friend have hysteria?"

Cheng Yayin looked at him and shook her head meaningfully. No, there was someone else with hysteria.

After exchanging information, the two parties were about to say goodbye. Xue Zhi was going to look for antique dealers in the dark market. Cheng Yayin had walked around the dark market and had some impression of the place. The terrain was complex and there was no light to illuminate the way. Worried that Xue Zhi would have trouble finding his way, she volunteered to lead the way for him.

Pei Songsheng was naturally very dissatisfied, but seeing that Cheng Yayin had made up her mind, he could only follow her obediently.

Arriving at the antique stall, Cheng Yayin didn't rush to leave. She hadn't paid much attention when she passed by earlier, but now she noticed that the porcelain vases and jade pieces casually placed on the coarse cloth, though covered in a layer of earthy color, still looked of high quality. She couldn't help but glance at the vendor calmly, with disdain in her heart.

Xue Zhi picked up a celadon vase, looked around with interest, and asked the vendor for the price as if he was interested in buying it.

The vendor quoted a price, and Xue Zhi feigned embarrassment and began to bargain with him. The two were engaged in a pleasant exchange when the vendor suddenly pulled out a sharp, long knife from under the coarse cloth covering the floor and slashed at Xue Zhi with lightning speed.

Pei Songsheng reacted quickly, grabbed Xue Zhi by the back of the collar and pulled him back, narrowly avoiding the knife that was about to chop his neck.

The incident happened so quickly that Cheng Yayin screamed in fear. In an instant, many of the vendors and onlookers drew their weapons and rushed towards them with murderous intent.

The secret market was instantly filled with danger. The guards brought by Xue Zhi quickly drew their swords to protect him. Many innocent people screamed and scattered, and the scene was in chaos.

Pei Songsheng reacted quickly, grabbing Cheng Yayin and running away with her before they could be surrounded. He said in a stern tone, "This is the gathering place of the Hidden Sect. My identity must have been exposed, so they set up a killing spree here."

Cheng Yayin was led out by him, surrounded by innocent bystanders who were also fleeing in panic. She glanced back in panic, but the knife-wielding assassins didn't even bother to look at them. They simply surrounded Xue Zhi, slashing at him with swords and knives, only to be parried by the guards. The two sides engaged in a clash, the sound of blades clashing incessantly.

These assassins were clearly targeting Xue Zhi. Could it be that the tomb robbers had realized his identity and wanted to kill him to silence him? However, such a large-scale operation was indeed not something that a few tomb robbers could pull off.

Without time to think about it, Cheng Yayin only saw that there were so many killers that the guards brought by Xue Zhi were gradually unable to resist. If he ignored them, he would definitely lose his life here.

We must find a way to help him break through.

Cheng Yayin glanced around and saw a man who was panicking and packing his things to escape, and in his package were items such as fireworks and firecrackers.

This must be black fire, which is much more powerful than ordinary firecrackers, so it cannot be sold in ordinary markets and can only be sold in the dark market.

Cheng Yayin shook off Pei Songsheng's hand, ran towards the man, snatched the bag he had just tied, found a few firecrackers and flint, lit the fuse, and threw them at the group of killers.

Firecrackers soon exploded, along with the wails of the killer and the black fire dealer.

In the midst of her busy schedule, Cheng Yayin untied the purse from her waist and threw it to the black fire dealer. The purse was originally prepared for the purchase of heartbreak grass, and it weighed a hundred taels. When it fell heavily into her hand, he immediately stopped howling and ran away.

Pei Songsheng was originally angry that Cheng Yayin was willing to take the risk to save people, but when he turned around and saw that the killers were not coming for him, a look of confusion flashed across his face, and he turned to help her light the firecrackers to save people.

This strategy really worked. The exploding firecrackers broke up the killers' encirclement. Through the thick smoke, Cheng Yayin saw the guards escorting Xue Zhi away. Most of the killers chased after them. Some of them were probably angry and humiliated. After getting up from the ground, they actually came towards Cheng Yayin and Pei Songsheng with knives.

All the firecrackers at hand were used up. Cheng Yayin threw away the flint, pulled Pei Songsheng and turned to run away.