144: No escape

"The Song of the Rainbow Skirt" was a semi-erotic piece, not just a simple pipa performance, but also included dance moves and operatic vocals, making it extremely difficult. It was usually performed by several people together.

"Clang~"

The four strings of the pipa vibrated in unison, opening with a startling tremble.

Jiang Hanwen narrowed his eyes. After listening to minor tunes for several months, this level of skill could only be achieved by a true pipa master.

After half of "The Song of the Rainbow Skirt" was played, Yanran removed her silver-white veil, revealing a moist face, and began to dance. As she danced, clear and beautiful operatic vocals drifted from her throat.

Beautiful person, beautiful music, and beautiful dance. Jiang Hanwen hummed along, immersed in the performance.

When the song ended, Yanran shyly bowed her head.

"Young Master, is this little one's song to your liking?"

Spring nights are short, the sun rises high, and from then on, the monarch never holds court in the morning.

No wonder ancient monarchs loved to indulge; it was truly damn good.

"Your playing is truly excellent, Miss!" Jiang Hanwen gave a thumbs up. This was the best pipa performance he had ever heard, bar none.

"You flatter me, Young Master." A blush bloomed on Yanran's cheeks, like peach blossoms and pink clouds, making one want to take a bite.

Jiang Hanwen looked at Yanran with a captivated expression:

"Miss, would you mind playing another song, 'Exquisite Heart'?"

Yanran's face stiffened. According to custom, after an introduction, she should sit at the table, drink wine, flirt, and share her sad story to elicit sympathy.

But this person was doing the opposite; he actually wanted to continue listening to music?

"Young Master is joking. Yanran is yours today; you can listen to anything you wish."

"Good!"

Jiang Hanwen took out a Secret Manual and placed it on the table.

"This Cultivation Technique is worth at least ten thousand taels of silver. It's all yours today!"

"Thank you for your kindness, Young Master. This servant will surely make sure you enjoy yourself."

Yanran looked at the book in Jiang Hanwen's hand, a hint of mockery flashing in her eyes. What a prodigal son!

Wasn't it just two songs?

She would just play them.

However, what happened next made the woman unable to smile anymore.

"Play 'Night Fox' again."

"Play 'Snow-Lit Peak' again."

"'February Spring'"

"'Mount Emei'"

...After playing for a full hour, the smile finally disappeared from Yanran's face.

Where did this madman come from? Was he addicted to listening to music?!

"Young Master, may I rest for a moment? This little one is a bit tired."

Jiang Hanwen nodded, gesturing for her to sit in front of him and drink wine.

Fatigue was a soft knife that dismantled psychological defenses; he had learned this from watching ICAC movies in his previous life.

The woman's breathing was a bit erratic, and her words lacked strength.

It seemed the effect was good.

And really, these little tunes sounded quite good.

After that, he listened for another half an hour. The woman completely broke down and proactively started telling Jiang Hanwen her true feelings, accelerating the process that should have been about inquiring about his identity. She directly jumped to the main topic, saying she hoped Jiang Hanwen would buy her freedom and that she was truly moved by him.

The fatigue tactic worked. The woman had no suspicions about him; she just wanted to quickly make money and leave.

At the end of the Chou hour, Jiang Hanwen left Yunshui House, feeling satisfied.

The scent on this woman was not the same as the one on the handkerchief from before.

However, before he left, the woman gave him a handkerchief. Although the color was different, the material was exactly the same as the original one: ice silkworm silk.

Target locked: it was the person behind this woman!

After listening to songs for seven days and giving away six Secret Manuals, on the seventh day, Jiang Hanwen said he didn't have much left and asked the woman to wait for him while he went back to get money.

But once he left, he didn't return for a long time.

An hour later, a letter arrived from the person who went to look for Jiang Hanwen. The courtyard was a mess, with signs of a struggle. The house was engulfed in flames, and all that remained was a corpse so badly burned that hardly any bones were left.

With the big client gone, the woman left Yunshui House directly.

In the main hall on the first floor, the heavily made-up madam sighed as she watched the woman's departing back.

"What a pity, that little slut made a fortune."

The woman's courtyard was in the north of the city, and she didn't live alone. The rooms on both sides were lit, and conversations could be heard from time to time, indicating that several people lived together.

Jiang Hanwen watched the courtyard from afar, not approaching.

From today onwards, Young Master Wang would disappear. As for the corpse used to fake the scene, it was just a beggar thrown in a trash heap, which he put to good use.

Now that he was getting closer to the truth, he needed to calm down and slowly untangle the threads.

The leader managing these people was probably the confidant of the mastermind.

The Huang Family, the Zhuang Family, the Bai Family—which family wanted to bomb his bookstore?

The truth was about to surface. He just needed to stake out slowly, no rush.

After confirming that the person hadn't left, Jiang Hanwen returned to his normal life.

He made money during the day, played chess with Xia Zhijie, glanced at the courtyard in the evening, and Cultivated at night.

After three full months of lurking, summer had ended before Jiang Hanwen began to disguise himself as a merchant and approach during the day, buying a small courtyard fifty meters away.

Jiang Hanwen's patience was infuriating.

Every day, he used the Thick Wall Technique to quietly dig and reinforce, fearing that he would alert others to the movement.

In this way, it took fifteen days for Jiang Hanwen to finally dig ten meters directly beneath the house.

Subtle sounds vibrated through the ground and reached his ears.

"Big Sister hasn't been here for days. Could something have happened on her side?"

"Xiaogirl, put your heart at ease. Our Big Sister is a master of Mortal Shedding eighth-level; few people can harm her."

"Your birthday is in half a month. Big Sister should be back then, don't worry."

...Finally hearing the crucial time point of half a month, Jiang Hanwen leaned against the ground, looking exhausted.

Damn it, investigating this matter had worn him out.

He had to Cultivate while maintaining the illusion of his presence at the bookstore, running back and forth. It was truly exhausting.

After he achieved a Breakthrough and obtained the Legacy of Medicinal Pills, with both Cultivation Techniques and Medicinal Pills, he could appropriately establish a small force to work for him.

Actually, the best option would be to reclaim the Vertical and Horizontal Chamber of Commerce. With the Chamber of Commerce's mature intelligence network system, it could save him a lot of time. Moreover, with his guidance and financial resources, he could quickly arm these people within a year, forming considerable combat power.

It's just that, although there's no movement right now,

the mysterious young girl from the Vertical and Horizontal Chamber of Commerce back then had scared him quite a bit.

Whenever an old man or a mysterious master suddenly appeared, he worried it was a protagonist of a plane.

Let the protagonists fight and snatch; he would just slowly wait for time to accumulate.

He wasn't thinking about the Chamber of Commerce for now. Or, should he let Xia Zhijie go open a teahouse?

...Time flew by, half a month.

With the moon high in the branches, the Big Sister Jiang Hanwen had been thinking about finally arrived.

She was a woman dressed in green, simply adorned, yet every step she took exuded feminine charm; she was a truly alluring woman.

After being welcomed into the house, several girls ate and drank inside, chatting about the suckers they had recently conned.

Not hearing any useful information underground, Jiang Hanwen returned to the surface and watched from afar, perched on a thick tree trunk.

The person behind this Big Sister should be the mastermind.

From these people's conversations, he learned that the woman not only taught them to play the pipa but also how to ensnare men. She had extremely high emotional intelligence and was very cunning.

But unlike Lei He's previous experience, these people were not truly 'selling their art, not their bodies.'

When it came to important information and money, these few were equally willing to go all out, unlike Lei He's previous acquaintance, who hadn't even been touched.

The autumn wind blew, rustling the leaves.

In the bright moonlight, a slender figure in green emerged from the courtyard, gently closed the door, and left with steady steps.

Jiang Hanwen didn't move, continuing to watch from the tree.

Only when the figure was about to disappear from sight did he jump down from the tree trunk and follow her along the shadows of the wall.

Fortunately, Jiang Hanwen kept a good distance. The woman started circling halfway, but Jiang Hanwen remained still, hidden in the shadows.

After confirming that no one was following her, the woman instantly changed direction, turning sharply from north to southeast and entering a spacious mansion.

This mansion, coincidentally, was less than a hundred meters from Shang Xian's courtyard.

When there are too many coincidences, it's almost certainly a problem.

Jiang Hanwen's heart trembled. It was her, no doubt about it!