204: Gong Qing's Little Secret

Jiang Hanwen nodded, walked to her, and continued to ask, "So the Black Armored Corpse that the City Lord's Mansion dug up was intentionally let go by you, right?"

Zheng Yunxu nodded straightforwardly, a hint of coldness in her eyes. "I originally wanted to kill everyone in the City Lord's Mansion."

"Why?"

"Because they don't act like humans. Since the city was built, they haven't spent a single penny to save anyone. They're an eyesore, so it would be better to kill them all and clean up."

"As for why I didn't act later..."

At this point, Zheng Yunxu paused, looking at Jiang Hanwen.

"That's because someone, after hearing about the Black Armored Corpse, didn't even go home."

Jiang Hanwen was stunned. So, because of him, the City Lord's Mansion was spared a deadly calamity?

Zheng Yunxu maintained her posture, but her entire body was stiff, and the smile on her lips became rigid.

Including the corpses next to the Black Armored Corpse, they were all her "works."

The questions she asked Jiang Hanwen two days ago were not just to get a reaction, but because it was the truth.

Such a person as herself, perhaps she had drifted too far from that masked Xiao Yatou. Would the other party still accept her?

She actually didn't want to bring Jiang Hanwen here, because it meant her last veil would be lifted.

But she knew he was worried about her, so how could she bear to disappoint him?

"Sigh!" Jiang Hanwen let out a long sigh.

"What a loss. If I had known it was yours earlier, City Name City would be considered my backyard."

Jiang Hanwen did not pursue the matter of killing.

Do not advise others to be kind without having experienced their suffering.

If you had my suffering, you might not have my kindness.

The things Zheng Yunxu experienced, he only felt one percent of them and couldn't control his tear ducts, let alone the Xiao Yatou herself?

Even if she was a Devil Head hunted by thousands, as long as she always stood by him, then Jiang Hanwen would not do foolish things like acting on behalf of the Dao or eliminating relatives for righteousness.

Justice in the world always comes with a stance.

One man's meat is another man's poison.

Only children are confused by the words good and evil.

Hearing his reply, Zheng Yunxu lifted her chin, a proud curve forming on her lips.

The man this old lady chose is truly good!

"I want to see the books left by Ancient Witch. Are you convenient—"

Jiang Hanwen hadn't finished speaking.

A ring encircled by runes flew from Zheng Yunxu's hand and landed on his. Instantly, he felt a Bloodline connection with the underground palace.

Everything about the underground palace flooded into his mind.

"Everything is yours. I'm going to sleep. If you wake me up again, I'll give you two punches!" Zheng Yunxu clenched her fists, putting on a fierce look.

Jiang Hanwen smiled, reaching out to pinch her nose, but Jia Ren dodged him.

"Harassment!"

Amidst an exaggerated shriek, Zheng Yunxu ran out of the room, threw herself back onto her bed, and her bell-like laughter echoed in the corridor.

On his index finger, he could clearly feel the ring's presence, but his naked eye couldn't see it, as if it were in another dimension.

Jiang Hanwen looked at his index finger; this trust was given without reservation.

The space within the ring broadened his horizons; it was over a hundred zhang, as large as four football fields!

Unfortunately, although the storage ring's space was vast,

the number of books inside was extremely small, only two or three hundred. They all had brown covers made of animal hide, and touching them gave a strange, warm sensation like touching an animal.

Some books were understandable, with text not much different from the present; some books were incomprehensible, filled with strange runes.

Fortunately, there was a dictionary for the strange runes. Jiang Hanwen sat down and began to read on the spot.

After an unknown amount of time, Zheng Yunxu's mumble echoed from the corridor.

"Shopkeeper, I'm hungry!"

Jiang Hanwen took out the roasted meat he had prepared earlier. Zheng Yunxu ate a full twenty jin, then pulled the covers over herself and continued to sleep.

After a while, the mumbling started again.

Jiang Hanwen simply took the books and studied them by the bed.

Occasionally, a pair of hands would cover his eyes, and she would playfully whine in his ear that she was hungry again.

Among the books left by Ancient Witch, there were not only ancient secrets but also many superb techniques and recipes for making and using poisons.

Jiang Hanwen felt as if he was in that wild era where jungles were like mountains and rivers were like seas, his horizons broadening with the strange tales and anecdotes.

He didn't know if it was two days or three, but he finally finished reading all the books.

The content of the books mostly pertained to the past, with little about the present.

Most of it was related to poison, nothing unusual.

But for Jiang Hanwen, no abnormality was the greatest abnormality!

The possibility he had guessed in his heart now had a fifty percent certainty.

However, to perform the final verification step...

He glanced at Zheng Yunxu, finding it a bit hard to speak.

Forget it, he could lie to others, but could he lie to himself?

Jiang Hanwen picked up the ring and gently pulled back the quilt.

"Get up, it's time to go home."

Zheng Yunxu blinked and looked at him, extending her two fair, white wrists and uttering one word.

"Hug!"

...Returning to the surface, it had just turned dark outside, with a faint, indifferent white light still lingering in the sky.

The cold wind howled, sweeping across the icy surface, carrying strands of white lines, which were snowflakes caught by the wind.

With his back to the direction of the strong wind, embracing her delicate waist, Jiang Hanwen subconsciously held Zheng Yunxu in his arms.

"I want to eat hotpot," Zheng Yunxu said, her tone carrying a hint of coquetry.

"To Tianyuan Residence?" he asked.

"Okay!" Jia Ren's eyes curved into two crescent moons as she smiled.

A quarter of an hour later, Jiang Hanwen and Zheng Yunxu sat in the backyard of Tianyuan Residence, both looking at the scene before them with curious eyes.

A woman of about twenty-four or five, with a silver hairpin holding up her shiny black hair and dressed in a light yellow brocade robe, was serving dishes onto the table.

Gong Qing sat opposite Jiang Hanwen, his face as red and bright as a monkey's bottom.

"Cough, cough~ Shopkeeper Jiang hasn't been here in a long time," Gong Qing said.

"Indeed, it's been a long time," Jiang Hanwen glanced at the woman, then at Gong Qing.

He hadn't noticed! This guy had quietly gotten involved and hadn't even given him the good news.

"Shall I get that jar of wine?" the woman asked softly, leaning closer to Gong Qing.

Gong Qing coughed again, nodded, and tried to cover his embarrassment.

"When did this happen?" Jiang Hanwen asked.

"It was... just last month.

She said she wanted a meal and could cook, and then—" Gong Qing glanced at Zheng Yunxu and didn't continue.

After dinner, the women chatted inside, and the men chatted outside.

The woman, named Meng Xiuxiu, was at Mortal Shedding Triple Layer. She was a refugee who came with the main group of displaced people this year.

She came from a scholarly family, but her father was later beheaded for offending someone, and the family fell into decline, leaving only Meng Xiuxiu to support it.

She had a thirteen-year-old younger brother and a forty-six-year-old mother.

Although the two were together, Meng Xiuxiu never asked Gong Qing for an extra penny. She said that although she was marrying up to Gong Qing, she had her own principles as a person.

"Do you want me to look into it?" Jiang Hanwen asked, looking at the lamplight inside the house.