Chapter 352 The Cycle of Nature

Tang Bao looked past the kneeling boy and towards the shadowy ghosts at the entrance of the alley, with a look of shock on his young face.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Qingye took a step forward cautiously and asked in a low voice with concern.

"At the entrance of the alley... there are several ghosts following him." Tang Bao lowered his eyes and looked at the person kneeling at his feet, frowning slightly.

She didn't tell Xiao Qingye that the three ghosts died in a miserable and horrible way, with no expression on their faces and no clue of their intentions.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Qingye's eyes suddenly became sharp. He suddenly grabbed the boy's wrist, exerting force bit by bit.

“Ahhh…ah it hurts…”

The young man felt pain, his facial features twisted, and suddenly loosened his hands that were tightly gripping Tang Bao's wrists.

Seeing Tang Bao's wrist flushed red, Xiao Qingye subconsciously raised his foot, wanting to kick him...

But he was afraid that Tang Bao would be angry with him again, saying that he always started a fight... He quickly put down his foot and took a step back, blocking Tang Bao behind him.

Xiao Qingye stared coldly at the young man kneeling on the ground, and said in a bad tone: "If you don't do anything wrong, you don't have to worry about ghosts knocking on your door..."

"If you haven't done anything evil, why are you being haunted by so many ghosts? Why are you so scared?"

After his grandmother passed away, she kept haunting him for a while, saying that she died early because of him... He had nightmares for a long time, and couldn't figure out what his grandmother's death had to do with him?

But later he figured it out. He hadn't done anything unfilial. It was just that his grandmother had passed away. That's why he wasn't afraid of her at all!

He would eat and sleep when he was supposed to, and if he encountered a dilemma or was always unlucky, he would listen to Tang Bao and curse at the top of his lungs...

Gradually, maybe the grandmother was tired, and she stopped coming to see him!

Even if there are evil spirits in this world, why would this kid be so scared if he hadn't done anything wrong?!

The young man raised his head, revealing a handsome but pale face. He looked directly into Xiao Qingye's eyes and spoke with a trembling voice:

"Harsh words hurt like the cold of June... You are a student of the Hongwen Academy after all, how can you slander others without any basis like this?"

"Is this what a gentleman does?!"

Tang Bao: "..."

She always felt that the young man who blocked her way gave her a strange feeling, but she couldn't tell why...

Those little ghosts ran away when they saw her, and now she couldn't catch them...

In the past few years since she lost contact with her master, her magic has gradually regressed, as if something has been sealed...

Gradually, she could only draw some simple amulets and talismans to ward off evil spirits... Therefore, she had no way to use the mantra to simply and neatly ask the truth directly from the mouth of the young man in front of her.

If she wants to take care of this matter today, she has to start investigating it bit by bit!

Seeing that Tang Bao had been hiding behind Xiao Qingye without saying a word, the young man knelt down and moved aside, saying in a tearful voice:

"Your Highness, my name is Jiang Xiu. I am twelve years old and I am a student at Qingyun Academy. My grandfather was the Director of the Imperial Observatory, and my father worked in the Imperial Rites Department."

"I, I do have something to ask of you, Your Highness..."

......

Tang Bao learned from Jiang Xiu that he was the fourth young master of the Jiang family, born out of wedlock, and that he was studying at Qingyun Academy with two brothers of similar age.

Because of his status as a concubine's son, and because he was an excellent student and was often praised by the teachers... he was bullied in the academy.

The classmates who bullied him all had fathers and grandfathers whose official positions were far higher than those of the Jiang family, so he never dared to resist, let alone tell his family.

Later, his third brother found out about this and was furious, threatening to help him vent his anger...

"Third brother has practiced martial arts since he was young, and he's the eldest son of the Jiang family... Besides, no matter what he wants to do, I can't stop him!"

"I'm begging Third Brother. I'm begging him to just plead with them on my behalf... just ask them to let me go!"

Jiang Xiu's expression was filled with pain, his voice gradually becoming lower and lower, almost inaudible. "I never thought that my third brother would fight with them... I never thought... I never thought that he would do such a cruel thing..."

Hearing this, Tang Bao remembered that a few days ago, Qingyun Academy had indeed experienced two horrific murders.

It is said that three teenagers under the age of twelve tricked a classmate named Wang to the back mountain of the academy and brutally tortured him for three hours.

During this time, they were dissatisfied with Wang's incontinence during the abuse, which stung their noses and made them feel sick, so they worked together to dig a pit and intended to bury him alive...

After being thrown into the pit, Wang, driven by his survival instinct, tried to crawl out, but he didn't expect the three vicious teenagers to simultaneously raise their shovels and shovel at his head, neck, and back...

Wang lay back on his back in the pit, and even one of his eyeballs was scooped out!

In excruciating pain, he raised his hands to protect his head, but the three men, enraged and angry, joined forces to break his limbs...

Later, the coroner performed an autopsy and said that Wang did not die from external injuries, but died of suffocation due to being buried alive.

No one knows how long he persisted in the pain and darkness, how desperate, painful, and helpless he felt...

Looking at the horrific corpse, everyone was silent...The prefect of Shengtian Prefecture even shed tears secretly!

Although the three young men who committed the crime were later apprehended, due to their young age and the fact that their families had paid the full amount of compensation to the Wang family, the matter was not only dropped, but not long after, the three were actually able to return to the academy to continue their studies!

However, justice will always prevail...

Who would have thought that not long after, the three vicious teenagers were all dead!

They were not killed directly by humans, but died in a fight like beasts in the abandoned arena where Tang Bao rescued the little white tiger!

The bodies of the three teenagers were all mutilated and covered with scars. The coroner's examination showed that they all died of excessive blood loss.

Because no other witnesses or evidence were found, Sheng Tianfu finally closed the case by saying that the three people "fought with each other and died accidentally."

Later, rumors spread that it was Wang's ghost who had returned to take his life, and that the three children had all gotten what they deserved...

But now, this Jiang Xiu took the initiative to find her and told her that the deaths of those three vicious teenagers were caused by his third brother?