Human Skin Lantern 3
Xu Shuyan was a little flustered at this moment. She really didn't want to be forced into an engagement at her coming-of-age ceremony. On impulse, she disguised herself as a man and sneaked out of the Martial Alliance.
The disappearance case in Xiacheng had been making headlines recently, and Xu Shuyan had heard about it, so she was naturally panicked. Watching the two rows of tree shadows rustling in the wind under the waning moon, Xu Shuyan's heart pounded faster and faster…
Suddenly, the wind stopped, and it was extremely quiet. Xu Shuyan looked around and, as if sensing something, held her breath.
"Whoosh!" A white ribbon flew out from the darkness and wrapped around Xu Shuyan's arm.
Xu Shuyan, being from the Martial Arts Alliance and having practiced some martial arts, was able to quickly draw her weapon and cut the ribbon despite her fear.
Immediately afterwards, Xu Shuyan turned and ran without looking back. She knew someone was chasing her, and in her panic, she ran into a dark alley.
Xu Shuyan ran with all her might, but the sounds behind her were getting closer and closer, a rustling sound that sounded like more and faster ribbons.
With a "thud," Xu Shuyan was hit on the ground. The sharp sound was so close to her ears, like a death knell. Xu Shuyan closed her eyes in despair.
The next moment, it stopped abruptly, as if there was a sound of cutting ribbons. Xu Shuyan slowly opened her eyes. In the dark alley, by the light of the long sword, Xu Shuyan saw the person who saved her, the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life.
Mo Huan glanced at Xu Shuyan lying on the ground, folded the long sword and put it back in his boot, then asked Xiao Congzhi, who was following behind him, "They haven't left. Should we chase after them?"
Xiao Congzhi didn't reply. He picked up the ordinary folding fan and rushed straight out.
The fan handle was like a blade, and when it was struck with internal force, what blocked the attack was not the ribbon, but a scimitar that gleamed with blood.
Xiao Congzhi used his folding fan skillfully, sometimes opening it and sometimes closing it. In a short time, he had exchanged a hundred blows with the person hidden in the shadows.
The man wielding the scimitar wore a white mask, was very tall, and was also a master. He wielded the scimitar with exceptional agility. Xiao Congzhi was at a disadvantage in terms of weaponry, and even when he used his internal energy, the paper was still easily damaged. At the moment, he did not have the upper hand.
Having made his assessment, Mo Huan drew his dagger from his waist, intending to join the battle. However, the person opposite him swiftly threw a smoke bomb on the ground. As the sparks exploded, Xiao Congzhi and Mo Huan had to pull back and cover their mouths and noses.
"Um, thank you both, young heroes, for saving my life." After the smoke cleared, Xu Shuyan was still trembling a little, but she forced herself to say thank you.
Xiao Congzhi didn't know who Xu Shuyan was, but Mo Huan did. He smiled especially gently and said in a soft tone, "No need to thank me. May I take you home if you know where you live?"
Xu Shuyan was instantly captivated, but now that the crisis was over, she didn't want to return to the Martial Alliance, so she said, "I have no home to return to."
“But this city is really dangerous now…” Mo Huan pretended to be hesitant to speak.
"I wonder... I wonder if young hero could take my daughter in for a few days?" Xu Shuyan said, secretly glancing up at Mo Huan.
“This… of course there’s nothing wrong with it. My name is Mo Huan, and this is Xiao Congzhi. We will be in Xiacheng for the next few days. May I ask your name, young lady?”
"My name is... my name is Shu Yan."
"Alright, then please take good care of me in the next few days, Miss Shuyan."
"Mmm...mmm, hiss..."
"Miss Shuyan, did you just sprain your ankle? Shall I help you walk?"
Xu Shuyan was so confused and disoriented that she was led away by Mo Huan, who naturally supported her arm.
Xiao Congzhi watched in disbelief. Although he knew from Mo Huan's first words that this woman was no ordinary person, didn't Mo Huan himself feel awkward acting like this?!
The next morning, Xiao Congzhi took the initiative to knock on Mo Huan's room door.
"What is that woman's identity?" Xiao Congzhi asked bluntly. He was genuinely curious. Last night, when he returned to the inn, Mo Huan had been so attentive that he had opened a room for him and escorted him to the door before saying goodbye.
"Xu Shuyan, daughter of Xu Tan, leader of the martial arts alliance."
"That makes sense," Xiao Congzhi snorted coldly.
"Brother Xiao, your people seem to have some issues; how come you don't have any intelligence?"
"..." Xiao Congzhi sneered, "I didn't know that Brother Mo cared so much about the Martial Alliance, and went to such great lengths to put on an act."
"Miss Shu Yan is exceptionally beautiful, a beauty that could topple kingdoms. I fell in love at first sight. There's no acting involved." Mo Huan started spouting nonsense. All he wanted now was for Xiao Congzhi to quickly extract the information and leave.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Congzhi paused for a moment. Just as Mo Huan thought he was about to turn and leave, Xiao Congzhi moved and walked to Mo Huan's side. He placed his hands on the armrests of Mo Huan's chair and approached little by little. He said softly, "Love at first sight. I didn't realize that sprained ankle was an act?"
Mo Huan stared at Xiao Congzhi, who was just inches away, and was momentarily speechless. Mo Huan's reason told him that he couldn't get too deeply involved with Xiao Congzhi. He believed Xiao Congzhi felt the same way; if there was a way out, they could both gracefully back down and consider the matter closed. But…
Mo Huan slowly raised his hand and gently stroked Xiao Congzhi's cheek, moving downwards little by little until it landed on the slightly pursed corners of his mouth.
Their breaths mingled, and the air was scorching.
Xiao Congzhi curled his lips, slowly straightened up, and looked at Mo Huan with a half-smile, saying, "What are your plans?"
Mo Huan shifted his gaze, looking detachedly to the side, and replied, "Send Xu Shuyan back in the next few days. I need to find a reason to approach the Martial Alliance."
Xiao Congzhi saw through Mo Huan's intention to reveal the truth to him, so he didn't delve into it further. He sat down on the chair next to him and continued the topic they had been discussing halfway through the night before: "Are there any other suspicious points about Guo Shaoyu's death?"
Mo Huan had no time for scheming and deception. He held up two fingers and said, "There are two more things. First, 26 men and women have gone missing in Xiacheng over the past month. Apart from Guo Shaoyu, they were all from ordinary families. Second, the first person whose body was discovered was not Guo Shaoyu, but a blacksmith's daughter named Lü Yi."
"This matter..."
"Your men can easily find out this. He was one of the first few people to go missing, and his body was discovered more than half a month ago, but it was covered up as soon as it was found."
"Was that corpse also completely skinned?"
Mo Huan nodded.
"But what is the connection between this and Guo Shaoyu?"
"Guo Shaotian and the prefect of Xiacheng were close friends."
Xiao Congzhi suddenly looked at Mo Huan: "Are you saying that Guo Shaoyu's death might even be related to the prefect of Xiacheng?"
"That's inevitable, but I don't care about the twists and turns."
Xiao Congzhi stood up, his face slightly darkened, and said in an unfriendly tone, "I am quite interested in this."
What are you going to do?
Zhou Zhengqi, the prefect of Xiacheng, was about thirty-four years old. In his early years, he was a third-place scholar in the imperial examination. When he was sent to Xiacheng, he was very popular. However, the underworld forces in Xiacheng were rampant, and the prefectural government was practically useless. Zhou Zhengqi's presence was very weak.
Xiao Congzhi recalled his impressions of Zhou Zhengqi but found he remembered almost nothing. When he heard Mo Huan's question, he simply said, "I'll go to the prefect's office to find out."
Intrigued, Mo Huan stood up and said, "Then I'll go with you."
Xiao Congzhi glanced at Mo Huan and said in a subtle tone, "Why don't you deal with that stunningly beautiful woman you fell in love with at first sight first, so you don't end up neglecting one thing for another?"
"..."
Before Mo Huan could come up with a response, Xiao Congzhi waved his hand and left on his own.
After stepping out of the room, Xiao Congzhi sighed softly. He knew what Mo Huan was thinking and doing, and he was simply going along with it anyway. People like them, each with their own secrets and preoccupied with trivial matters, shouldn't have unnecessary or deep attachments.
At that moment, he lost control, and so did Mo Huan.
Beauty can be a curse, Xiao Congzhi lamented, for the two of them hadn't even exchanged real names.
In order to go to the prefectural government office, Xiao Congzhi went back to his room to change his clothes. Just before leaving, he coincidentally met Mo Huan and Xu Shuyan, who were also planning to go out, at the entrance of the inn.
"What is this?" Xiao Congzhi asked with a smile.
Mo Huan pretended to be serious and said, "I just learned that Miss Shu Yan is actually the daughter of the leader of the martial arts alliance, and I was just about to send her back to the martial arts alliance."
Xiao Congzhi found Mo Huan's earnest nonsense amusing, wondering how this man could be so eloquent as to get Xu Shuyan to reveal her identity and agree to return to the Martial Alliance in such a short time. However, looking at Xu Shuyan's rosy cheeks and shy demeanor, Xiao Congzhi had some guesses.
He then jokingly said, "Brother Mo, I hope you won't be late."
Mo Huan, who had absolutely no idea what time was needed to deliver someone: ...
Xu Shuyan didn't have time to think about the back-and-forth between Xiao Congzhi and Mo Huan. After Xiao Congzhi left, she urged Mo Huan to go to the Martial Alliance.
Standing at the entrance of the prefectural government office, Xiao Congzhi's expression softened upon seeing the deserted state of the place. He surveyed the area around the entrance, then casually found a spot and climbed over the side wall to enter.
The prefectural government office was also extremely quiet.
Xiao Congzhi's purpose was quite clear. Whether he was colluding with the martial arts alliance or working with Guo Shaotian, the prefect was always seeking his own interests, and the financial statements would speak for themselves.
Xiao Congzhi strolled around the mansion, roughly figuring out the location of Zhou Zhengqi's study. As he passed a courtyard, he heard some voices. Xiao Congzhi lowered his voice and peered over.
"Brother Zhengqi, you make it sound so easy, but it's not that easy for me to do." Guo Shaotian exclaimed with a hint of distress.
Sitting in front of him was none other than Zhou Zhengqi, the prefect of Xiacheng. Zhou Zhengqi said with a slightly serious tone, "If you continue like this, your true colors will be discovered sooner or later."
"These are all matters within my household; who could possibly discover them?"
“Brother Shaotian, after the body was discovered, it led to the discovery of the missing persons case in Xiacheng. The martial arts alliance could no longer hide it. The news had already spread throughout the martial arts world. How could the imperial court not know about it?”
"The imperial court? This year marks the coming-of-age ceremony for that puppet emperor. Yidu is in complete chaos; how could they possibly have time to concern themselves with the affairs of Xiacheng!"
"Watch your words!" Zhou Zhengqi rebuked, glancing around before speaking again: "The imperial court doesn't care, and the martial arts alliance is now in a dilemma, so shouldn't they also do nothing? Xu Tan sent people to investigate long ago. Your decision to leave the lights on at night and send your wife to sleep in another room is highly suspicious."
"But I can't sleep without lighting a lamp... Every night I dream about Shao Yu before he died..."
While Zhou Zhengqi was trying to persuade him further, Xiao Congzhi had already lost all interest in listening. It was now a foregone conclusion that Guo Shaotian had killed Guo Shaoyu, and Zhou Zhengqi was unsurprisingly implicated as well.
Xiao Congzhi turned and went to the study.
Zhou Zhengqi's study was small and simply furnished, with hardly any items piled on the table, indicating that he rarely had official business.
Xiao Congzhi searched everywhere when suddenly a figure jumped in through the window, about to attack...
"Mo Huan?"
"I guessed you were here. Did you find anything?"
"Whether it's found or not, it just adds another piece of evidence."
What did Zhou Zhengqi and Guo Shaotian say?
"Hmm...you ran into them?"
"When I arrived, Zhou Zhengqi was seeing Guo Shaotian off."
“He told almost everything. Guo Shaotian only went to sleep with the lights on every night because he was disturbed by the murder of Guo Shaoyu, and Zhou Zhengqi knew all about it long ago.”
"Whether they knew about it or were involved is hard to say."
Xiao Congzhi closed his eyes briefly, tacitly agreeing with this statement. He then searched for a while, as if suddenly remembering something, and asked, "Do you have someone planted in the Martial Alliance?"
"..." Mo Huan smiled helplessly and said, "Are you testing me so directly now?"
Zhou Zhengqi said that the leader of the martial arts alliance has sent people to investigate Guo Shaotian.
"I guess so."
As he spoke, Mo Huan walked up to Xiao Congzhi and handed him something.
Xiao Congzhi accepted it without looking up, but as soon as he held it, he looked at Mo Huan in surprise.
It was a folding fan, about the same size as the one Xiao Congzhi always used, but very heavy. The fan surface was not paper, but black iron. This fan could truly cut iron like mud.
"I don't know what weapon you're good with. I wanted to give you this fan yesterday, but I didn't have the chance."
Xiao Congzhi twirled the fan handle, then recalled his earlier probing, feeling rather embarrassed. He was unusually polite, saying, "Thank you, the fan is just right."
"Um……"
Mo Huan wanted to say something more, but then there was some noise outside. It seemed that Zhou Zhengqi had come over.
What should have been a trivial matter that could have been easily resolved by simply dodging turned into a flustered affair for Xiao Congzhi and Mo Huan. Unbeknownst to them, their hands accidentally triggered a mechanism.
With the sound of a mechanism sliding, the bookshelf slid open to the sides, revealing a door.
Xiao Congzhi and Mo Huan went inside without hesitation, and surprisingly, there was another hidden world inside.
It was a long, winding tunnel, like a cave, with lanterns in the style of Haikyo hanging on both sides, emitting a dim yellow light.
Xiao Congzhi touched the stone wall on one side and walked forward. The path narrowed as he walked. At first, it was wide enough for three people to walk side by side, but after a few feet, it could only fit one person.
The stone wall is still somewhat rough, and looks like it hasn't been polished.
"Is this place where things are hidden, or what?" Mo Huan asked, walking behind Xiao Cong.
"I think so," Xiao Congzhi said softly as he rounded a bend and saw what was in front of him.
Mo Huan leaned closer, half-clinging to Xiao Congzhi's shoulder, and saw the stone wall in front of them. Holes had been smashed into the sides, and inside were bookshelves filled with various items.
Xiao Congzhi stepped forward, glanced at the ledger, and said, "He hid the ledger here."
"Shall we take it?"
"This is too much of a bluff." Xiao Congzhi frowned more and more. This prefect of Xiacheng was usually quiet, but he secretly sought countless benefits.
Mo Huan noticed Xiao Congzhi's pale face and leaned over to take a look. He was also shocked. Besides covering up the disappearance and condoning Guo Shaotian's crimes, Zhou Zhengqi had been taking advantage of Xiacheng's status as a gathering place for martial arts figures to amass wealth. To put it simply, Zhou Zhengqi could collect money for any crime committed by martial arts figures in Xiacheng.
Xiao Congzhi scoffed, "I thought the weakness of the government in Xiacheng was the reason for the martial arts alliance, but it was the prefect who caused it."
After saying that, Xiao Congzhi casually tore two pages from the ledger and put them in his pocket, then leaned against the stone wall and continued walking forward.
The tunnel was extremely long. Xiao Congzhi felt that he had been walking for about an hour. If his sense of direction was correct, he estimated that he had already arrived outside Xiacheng.
Mo Huan felt the same way and tugged at Xiao Congzhi's clothes, asking, "Zhou Zhengqi has probably dug an escape tunnel for himself. Should we still go forward?"
"Let's go and see where it leads."
After walking for another quarter of an hour, they finally saw some light. After confirming that no one was outside the cave, Xiao Congzhi went out first.
Mo Huan, who followed closely behind, exclaimed, "This is actually..."
"The desolate mountains outside Xiacheng are where Guo Shaoyu's body was found," Xiao Congzhi added to Mo Huan's unfinished words.
What this means is self-evident.
Seeing that it was getting dark and they would be unable to enter the city if they stayed any longer, the two hurried towards the city gate without saying much.
"Wait a minute." Standing in the queue to enter the city, Mo Huan tugged at Xiao Congzhi's arm.
Xiao Congzhi turned around and looked at Mo Huan with a puzzled expression.
Mo Huan raised his hand, placed four fingers against Xiao Congzhi's cheek, and gently wiped it with his fingertips.
"It's all mud, don't arouse the guards' suspicion." Mo Huan said righteously, but his finger remained there, not moving, as if he were getting addicted to the feeling.
Xiao Congzhi was so stunned that he forgot to do anything, only muttering, "Are you sure this isn't taking advantage of me?"
Mo Huan was exposed and tried to withdraw his hand in frustration, but Xiao Congzhi grabbed him and held him down.
Purely subconscious, Xiao Congzhi followed the action, pressing his hand against Mo Huan's face, saying "You have to wipe it too" while controlling Mo Huan's fingers to move randomly.
Mo Huan stared blankly at Xiao Congzhi before him. He felt his face burning, his fingers tingling, and Xiao Congzhi's breath warm. Most importantly, he felt an urge to kiss Xiao Congzhi. This was going too far…
Mo Huan didn't care where his hands or face were; he leaned forward, burying his head in Xiao Congzhi's shoulder, pressing against his cool skin, and mumbled, "Xiao Congzhi, what...what's your name?"
Xiao Congzhi did not answer Mo Huan immediately. Mo Huan's slightly hot breath brushed against his neck, and he couldn't even spare the mind to think about anything else. This was a little too intimate.
"Congzhi" is my courtesy name.
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