Peaceful Jianghu

Chapter 14

"Hmm! My sister is probably about your age now," Hao Jinfeng muttered between bites. "I wish I could meet her sometime."

Xiao Dao asked cheerfully, "Then until you find your sister, I'll be your sister, okay?"

Hao Jinfeng was stunned for a moment, then wiped his mouth. "Really?"

"How about I call you Big Brother?" Xiao Dao asked him.

"Yes, yes!" Hao Jinfeng nodded repeatedly. "After you find my sister, you can call me big brother too. If anyone dares to bully you in the future, just tell me, and big brother will stand up for you."

Xiao Dao's eyes narrowed with laughter. "You have to keep your word."

"That's right!" Hao Jinfeng patted his chest loudly, then choked and coughed incessantly. Xiao Dao chuckled as he went into the house to pour him some water.

Xue Beifan and Chonghua watched intently from the courtyard and couldn't help but laugh. Although they were born to the same parents, the two siblings had such different personalities. The sister was clever and mischievous, while the older brother was a simple-minded and straightforward person.

...

Later that evening, Xiao Dao changed into his night clothes to go on a night patrol, and Xue Beifan arrived as well.

Xiao Dao glanced at him reluctantly, feeling uneasy at the thought of being alone with this lecherous thief.

Xue Beifan looked Yan Xiaodao up and down, who was dressed in all black. "Tsk tsk, not bad figure."

Xiao Dao gritted his teeth and borrowed a dagger from Xiao Yue to carry with him. If Xiao Yue caused any trouble, he would simply kill him!

"There are dogs roaming near the restricted area at night." Xue Beifan told Xiao Dao this as soon as they left the yard.

"Why didn't you say so earlier! I could have prepared a few meatballs laced with sleeping pills."

The two walked cautiously along the base of the wall toward the Nine Pearl Dragon Pool, and did not see a single guard along the way.

There were indeed no fences or guards near Longtan, only some boundary markers and a few large black dogs, some standing and some lying down, with their bright green eyes watching the surroundings warily.

"That's strange," Xiao Dao wondered. "Why are those dogs so well-behaved? They all stay in one place and don't wander around."

Xue Beifan pointed to a row of tall trees nearby, "Shall we go through the trees? Let's familiarize ourselves with the terrain first."

Xiao Dao rolled her eyes at him, "Idiot!"

Xue Beifan asked, puzzled, "What's wrong now?"

"Those few trees are clearly a loophole in the forbidden area. Anyone trying to sneak in would probably go through there. Who would be so stupid as to leave those trees there for nothing? There must be a trap!"

Xue Beifan thought there was some truth to it, so he picked up a few pebbles from the ground and threw them at the tall trees.

With two sharp "whoosh" sounds, pebbles shot into the tree canopy. Suddenly, with a "whoosh," several nets sprang up from the canopy, and a flurry of arrows shot upwards. Then, the sound of bells rang out, and the black dog began to bark.

A moment later, several stewards carrying weapons came running over. They first stopped the dog, then looked around and, finding no one there, frowned and muttered, "Probably another stupid bird that stumbled upon somewhere and accidentally triggered the mechanism."

The organization was put back in its original positions, the person in charge turned and left, and everything returned to normal.

Xue Beifan clicked his tongue in amazement—the guards were truly tight.

"You can't get in like this," Xiao Dao said, standing up and walking back.

"Hey, you're just giving up like that?" Xue Beifan quickly grabbed him. "How about I make sure you lose to Wang Bibo in tomorrow's competition too?"

Xiao Dao rolled her eyes at him. "It's unlikely we can sneak in unnoticed right now, but I didn't say we wouldn't go! If it doesn't work today, I'll think of something when we get back." With that, she shook off Xue Beifan's hand from her arm. "Don't pull me around, you lecher!"

Upon hearing that she had an idea, Xue Beifan rubbed his hands together and followed her, saying, "You'd better think of something quickly, or I'll give you a back massage when you get tired."

"Too long-winded."

After taking only two steps, Xiao Dao stumbled and almost tripped.

Xue Beifan quickly caught her, and when they looked down, they were shocked to see a pair of blood-red eyes.

Xiao Dao shrank behind Xue Beifan, peeked out, and realized that what had just tripped him was a big rabbit!

"What kind of rabbit is Wang Bibo carrying? It's so big and it's not afraid of people." Xue Beifan shook his head. Usually, rabbits run away when they see people, but this rabbit is not only big, it also stares at people. Its pair of blood-red rabbit eyes are eerie and inexplicably reveal a kind of ill intent.

Xue Beifan felt his scalp tingling from the rabbit's gaze, so he pulled Xiao Dao to leave quickly. Xiao Dao, however, pointed at the rabbit and said, "Sigh, lecherous thief."

Xue Beifan raised an eyebrow. "You're really something. You figured out at a glance that this rabbit is a lecher? Whose female rabbit did he sleep with?"

Xiao Dao kicked him, "I'm calling you! Look at its mouth!"

Xue Beifan was stunned for a moment, then looked in the direction Xiao Dao was pointing and saw a large red patch on the rabbit's mouth, which looked like blood.

Xue Beifan took a step forward to get a closer look. Suddenly, the rabbit turned around and hopped away.

Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan squatted down at the same time, and saw that there was also red bloodstains on the rabbit's feet. The two looked at each other.

Xue Beifan asked, "Do you think this rabbit might have vomited blood?"

Xiao Dao didn't even bother to argue with him. He drew his dagger and followed the rabbit's path. The rabbit had jumped out from the flower bushes. Xiao Dao pushed aside the bushes and searched further, and then... spotted a white embroidered shoe.

Xiao Dao was so startled she almost cried out, but Xue Beifan suddenly covered her mouth from behind.

"Ugh!" Xiao Dao was even more frightened, but Xue Beifan held her tightly, pulling her behind a rockery. Seeing Xiao Dao struggling, he was somewhat speechless and whispered in her ear, "Shh, someone's coming!"

Xiao Dao glared at him and twisted the back of his hand that was on his waist—take your hand away! You lecher!

Xue Beifan found her expression amusing and poked her in the lower back with his finger. Xiao Dao jumped, and Xue Beifan let go, wanting to laugh—this reaction was too funny. But unexpectedly, Xiao Dao grabbed his arm and bit down hard.

"Hiss..." Xue Beifan grimaced in pain and stomped his feet. As soon as Xiao Dao heard footsteps coming from not far away, he quickly covered Xue Beifan's mouth.

The two stared at each other, and Xiao Dao covered his mouth with one hand and twisted his ear with the other, warning him not to move!

Xue Beifan had no choice but to endure it, thinking to himself that this girl must be a reincarnation of a hedgehog spirit!

The two hid behind the artificial hill, holding their breath, and sure enough, they heard someone walk into the courtyard.

I initially thought it was a guard, but it didn't sound like one. It seemed like there was only one person, and the person's footsteps sounded strange—a cripple?

Xue Beifan turned to the side and glanced outside the artificial hill. He saw that it wasn't a cripple who had come, but a person carrying a large sack.

Xue Beifan recognized the person at a glance, paused for a moment, then turned around and pouted at Xiao Dao in front of him.

Xiao Dao was so shocked that his eyes widened. He thought the lecherous thief was about to kiss him, and he reached out to slap him.

Xue Beifan tilted his head to let her pass, then quickly grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear, "Wang Gui!"

Xiao Dao blinked – The steward?

Just as they were wondering what was going on, they heard Wang Gui's voice come over, "Come out, everyone."

Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan were shocked—no way? They were discovered like this? They were both dressed in black; wouldn't they be exposed if they went out?

Just as the two were hesitating, Wang Gui said, "Dinner's ready."

The two were even more puzzled—was dinner served? Also, Wang Gui's voice sounded so strange!

Just then, a rustling sound came from the bushes, followed by a terrifying and eerie scene. From all directions, a dozen large rabbits hopped and scurried together.

Then, Wang Gui's sinister laughter echoed through the quiet night, "Don't fight over it, don't fight over it, this one's fresh today."

Xiao Dao had his back to the artificial hill and couldn't see anything, but Xue Beifan could see through the gaps in the hill. An indescribable expression appeared on his face. Unable to contain his curiosity, Xiao Dao turned around and looked out as well.

By the moonlight, Wang Gui was seen squatting by the grass, taking something out of a large sack to feed the rabbits. His smile was somewhat eerie, a stark contrast to the obsequious Wang Gui he had been during the day.

And those rabbits didn't look like rabbits at all!

Xiao Dao used to raise rabbits. When rabbits eat, they usually squat down, holding the vegetable leaves in their two front paws, chewing with a "crunch crunch" sound, their cheeks puffing out in a very endearing way. But now, those rabbits have red eyes, frantically fighting over food, and the "crunch crunch" sound they make doesn't sound like they're eating vegetable leaves at all, but more like they're chewing on bones and tendons.

When Xiao Dao saw clearly what Wang Gui was feeding the rabbit, he gasped in surprise, and Xue Beifan quickly covered his mouth... but a little sound still escaped.

The two looked outside cautiously.

Wang Gui seemed to have heard it too. He slowly stood up and drew a dagger from his waist. He looked around, and finally, his gaze fell on the artificial hill not far ahead.

[They're either thieves or criminals]

Wang Gui, holding a dagger, stared nervously at the artificial hill. "Who...who's there?!"

Xiao Dao kept winking at Xue Beifan—he'd been discovered!

Xue Beifan also frowned.

"Come e out quickly!" Wang Gui's voice trembled as he walked towards the artificial hill.

As Xue Beifan and Xiao Dao hesitated between knocking him unconscious and escaping or thinking of another way, they heard Wang Gui shout "Ouch!"

With a "thump," Wang Gui seemed to trip over something and stumbled into the flower bushes.

Xue Beifan saw that the opportunity was just right and was about to escape with Xiao Dao when he heard Wang Gui scream, "Mother!"

Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan were both stunned. They peeked out and heard Wang Gui screaming, "Blood! Blood! Someone's dead! Someone's dead! Help!" He ran away as fast as he could.

Xue Beifan pulled Xiaodao outside, where they saw a corpse lying among the flowers. It was a woman's corpse, dressed in the light green dress worn by the maids of Bibo Manor. Xiaodao noticed the corpse was lying face down, one foot bare, and immediately remembered the embroidered shoe she had seen earlier.

Looking at the group of rabbits nearby, their legs stained with blood, they were gathered in front of the bushes, eating the things Wang Gui had taken out of the sack.

Xiao Dao looked closer. From a distance, she had seen Wang Gui feeding the rabbits clumps of yellowish-brown stuff. She had thought Wang Gui was so despicable as to feed the rabbits dung.

But upon closer inspection, it turned out that although it was yellowish-brown, it didn't smell bad. It was a large, soft, sticky blob, and I didn't know what it was. Looking closely, there seemed to be some bean curd residue inside, which explained the crunching sound it made when I picked it up.

Xue Beifan pointed to the corpse. There was a deep wound on its neck, with flesh turned outwards and blood flowing all over the ground... The blood on that big fat rabbit was probably from when it passed by.

Just then, voices could be heard not far away. It was probably Wang Gui arriving with his men. Xue Beifan grabbed his knife and ran back to the courtyard to quickly change his clothes.

Xiaoyue was puzzled when she saw that Xiaodao and the others had returned so soon. "Xiaodao, did you find anything?"

"Don't even mention it." Xiao Dao hurriedly changed his clothes and stuffed his night clothes into his bundle. "We found a dead maid in the courtyard. We don't know who killed her."

Xiaoyue was also surprised. At this moment, there was already a lot of noise outside, and it seemed that the whole manor had been disturbed.

After changing his clothes, Xiaodao quickly pulled Xiaoyue out the door, saying, "Come on, let's go take a look."

As expected, Xue Beifan and Chonghua also came out to watch the excitement when they arrived at the door.

Xue Beifan glanced at Xiao Dao and grinned mischievously, as if to say, "You changed clothes pretty quickly, didn't you?"

Xiao Dao pretended not to see it, grabbed Xiao Yue's arm and ran forward as fast as he could, getting as far away from this lecherous thief as possible!

Upon reaching the front courtyard, a large crowd had already gathered. Wang Bibo squatted beside the corpse, frowning. The body had been turned over, and Xiao Dao recognized it at a glance—it was the maidservant she had seen by the lotus pond that day! The maidservant's cheerful expression, saying that becoming Wang Bibo's concubine was a great honor, was still vivid in her mind, and now… she was dead, lying in the flowerbed as fertilizer.

Wang Gui stood aside and reported to Wang Bibo, "Master, when I came to feed the rabbits, I felt someone behind the artificial hill. I wanted to go and see, but I tripped over a corpse."

"Oh?" Wang Bibo went behind the artificial hill to check, while Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan looked up at the sky.

Hao Jinfeng, being a renowned detective, quickly walked to the body, squatted down to examine it, and said, "He died from having his throat slit. Judging from the looks of it, he hasn't been dead for long."

"I ran into her this afternoon!" Xiao Dao leaned over to look at the corpse, stepped on some brown things, and kicked off his shoe. "What's this?"