A glimmer of light
The little scoundrel was extremely frightened today; a perfectly good bowl of tea held in his hands trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
He has been trembling like this for more than half an hour since he discovered A Ding and A Yi's bodies.
Actually, Little Leprosy wasn't called Little Leprosy. He actually had a very grand and proper name, Wang Zhengde, but no one ever called him that.
From as far back as he can remember, everyone called him Little Leprosy because he had a scalp.
But Little Leprosy believed that one day he would rise above others and, like his name being officially recognized, become a great man in all his glory. He had never told anyone about this; it was his own private secret, allowing him to sleep soundly and have sweet dreams every night.
Little Rascal usually sleeps very well, sleeping soundly until dawn without ever waking up at night, though there are occasional exceptions, like this one night.
The three-day sword-testing tournament had finally come to an end, and the brothers who had worked hard for three days decided to celebrate with a drink. They were all the least senior disciples in Baili City, so of course they couldn't afford to go to those fancy restaurants; they were quite satisfied with just a roadside stall.
Actually, the roadside stalls are quite good too. The braised beef tastes great, and the wine is authentic osmanthus wine, smooth on the palate but with a strong aftertaste.
Little Leprosy got drunk, and there were many others who were just as drunk, including A Ding and A Yi, who left the party even earlier than him.
"Those two bastards, A-Ding and A-Yi, must be hiding in some corner, vomiting so badly they can't even get up!" their eldest brother mocked.
But Little Rascal didn't think that way. Although he was already very drunk, he was destined to be a great man, and even if he drank a lot, he would still be more sober than these people. He remembered clearly that a brother on duty at the Xiao residence had arrived late and, after being punished with three large cups of wine, revealed the reason for his tardiness—You Li, the prominent maidservant in the Second Young Master's quarters, had died. And it was upon hearing this news that A Ding and A Yi's expressions changed drastically and they immediately left the banquet.
Little Leprosy hesitated for a moment, considering that someone who gossips about the dead probably wouldn't become a big shot, so he didn't tell everyone that A Ding and A Yi had always secretly loved Miss You Li.
People with secrets in their hearts get drunk more easily, so Little Leprosy quickly became the third person to leave the party. Of course, he didn't hide in some corner to vomit; instead, he went straight back to his room, collapsed onto his bed, and fell fast asleep.
He hadn't slept long when he was woken up by the urge to urinate. He scrambled to his feet, feeling dizzy, and headed to the outhouse. When he reached A Ding and A Yi's door, he noticed the light was on. Still slightly drunk, he suddenly felt a surge of energy and wanted to go in and comfort them, and of course, also to show them how loyal he was for not revealing their secret crush on You Li.
So he pushed the door open and immediately saw two figures with their tongues sticking out, swaying back and forth on the roof beam...
Xiao Nuo listened attentively to the little scoundrel's story, even though he rambled on and strayed far from the point many times, but he didn't interrupt him. Then, he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Thank you, goodbye."
Feng Chenxi was examining the body when she saw him get up and leave without turning around. She quickly chased after him and stopped him, asking, "Where are you going?"
"Go back to your room and sleep," he said. "I'm so tired."
"Why don't you ask anyone else? What if Little Rascal is lying?"
Xiao Nuo said calmly, "Didn't you see his crotch? His crotch was completely wet. If he can fake that, then I really have to admire him to death."
Feng Chenxi glared at him and said, "You should at least ask me if A Ding and A Yi committed suicide."
"Is that even a question?" Xiao Nuo said with a wry smile, "Of course it is!"
Feng Chenxi couldn't refute it and could only admit, "That's right, they did commit suicide, otherwise I would definitely have been able to tell."
Xiao Nuo sighed deeply and said, "Xiao Lai's words are enough to explain the problem. A Ding and A Yi had a crush on Sister You Li, so she bribed them to enter Brother Lu's room and poison him. When A Ding and A Yi learned of her death, they knew they couldn't escape the blame, so they simply took their own lives."
Feng Chenxi glanced at him and said slowly, "What, are you finally willing to admit that You Li poisoned Lu Shuang to death?"
“I’ve always been certain,” Xiao Nuo said leisurely, “just as I’ve always been certain that this matter has nothing to do with my second brother.”
Feng Chenxi said unhappily, "Things have come to this point, and you still want to protect your second brother!"
Xiao Nuo shook her head: "Sister You Li is Sister You Li, and my second brother is my second brother. Why do you always like to bring them together?"
“Because You Li wouldn’t poison Lu Shuang for no reason. If it wasn’t your second brother who ordered it, then who else could it be?” Feng Chenxi said with a straight face. “It’s obvious, you just don’t want to believe it.”
"It's precisely because it's so obvious that I don't believe it."
"Fine!" Feng Chenxi said, suppressing her anger, "Then give me a conclusion you believe."
“I can’t give you that.” Xiao Nuo quietly raised her eyes to meet her gaze. “Sister Youli is dead, and the two gatekeepers are dead too. As the case has progressed, almost all the leads have gone cold…”
Feng Chenxi interrupted him, saying, "Don't forget, we still have two leads—the herbal medicine shop and the Fortune Valley—that we haven't investigated yet."
"However, whether we can find the people from Fortune Valley is still unknown, and even if we do, we can't be sure if they are alive or dead. As for the herbal medicine shop, even if we investigate, it's uncertain whether we will find anything."
"But we still have to investigate, right?"
"Of course we have to investigate; it's our only hope. So..."
"So what?"
Xiao Nuo smiled, turned around, and said as she walked, "So we'd better all go back to our rooms and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow will be a very busy day."
Early the next morning, Xiao Nuo dragged Feng Chenxi to all the large and small herbal medicine shops in Baili City.
He carried a piece of paper in his pocket, on which were written five medicinal ingredients—stalactite, amethyst, white quartz, sulfur, and red ochre. These were the five essential ingredients for preparing the Cold-Fighting Powder.
Every time he entered a herbal medicine shop, he would take out this piece of paper and ask the shopkeeper if anyone had bought all five herbs at the same time in the past six months.
However, no.
Although every herbal medicine shop has records of incoming and outgoing goods, and although everyone knows that he is the third young master of the Xiao family and therefore carefully checks the records, in the past six months, no one in the entire Baili City has ever bought these five herbs at the same time.
After visiting seven or eight herbal medicine shops, Feng Chenxi's heart was almost completely broken, but Xiao Nuo still showed no signs of fatigue or annoyance and decided to go to Baili Town to investigate further.
Just like when they arrived, Feng Chenxi got into a dark, gloomy carriage with him. After a long, arduous journey that took about the time it takes to eat a meal, when they opened the door again, they had arrived in Baili Town.
Xiao Nuo was very familiar with the town. He led Feng Chenxi through the streets and alleys, asking at more than a dozen herbal medicine shops, and the result was the same as in Baili City.
It was already noon. After a morning of non-stop running around, Feng Chenxi was tired and thirsty, so she said, "Let's find a restaurant to eat something first."
Xiao Nuo was looking down, lost in thought. Hearing this, she raised her head, stared at her blankly for a long time, and then sighed, saying, "Sister, it's all my fault. Thank you for your hard work."
Feng Chenxi smiled faintly and said, "Have you forgotten that I was also involved in the idea of investigating the herbal medicine shop?"
A strange, indescribable look flashed across Xiao Nuo's eyes. He looked at her for a moment, as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately held back. He pointed to a small alley ahead and said, "There's a herbal medicine shop in there. It's the last one. Let's go ask there first. If we still don't get any results, we'll find a restaurant to eat at, so we don't have to turn back later, okay?"
Feng Chenxi smiled and said, "Okay."
This alley is in a very remote location, with high walls on both sides. Every few steps you can see a small door, but even in broad daylight, the doors are always closed, making it look mysterious.
Feng Chenxi couldn't help but ask, "Why would someone open a medicine shop in such a deserted place?"
"Desolate?" Perhaps it was due to the environment, but Xiao Nuo smiled mysteriously and lowered his voice, saying, "This is the liveliest street in Baili Town. If it's deserted, it's only because it's daytime now."
Feng Chenxi asked curiously, "Does it get more lively at night?"
“That’s right, some places are especially crowded at night, for example…” Xiao Nuo smiled mysteriously again, but refused to say any more.
Feng Chenxi looked at him, suddenly understood, blushed, bit her lip and lowered her head.
Xiao Nuo smiled and said, "Now you know why someone would be willing to set up a medicinal herb shop here, right?"
Feng Chenxi stammered, "I...I understand..."
What else could be a place that's bustling with customers at night but brothels and entertainment venues? And women in that line of work would naturally need medicinal herbs for all sorts of reasons, and the demand wouldn't be small or interrupted.
So, the herbal medicine shop located in this alley had a surprisingly large storefront and quite an imposing presence. However, the young clerk sitting behind the counter looked tired and listless, as if he hadn't slept enough. When customers came in, he didn't even bother to greet them, instead dozing off.
The lobby was completely silent. Xiao Nuo walked to the counter and suddenly coughed loudly. The young shop assistant lazily raised his eyes and glanced at him, asking, "Prescription?"
Xiao Nuo handed over the paper.
The young shop assistant took it, glanced at it briefly, and then threw it back, saying, "How much do you want? We only take large orders for these five herbs. If you only want a small amount, go find another shop."
Feng Chenxi said, "We just wanted to ask..."
Xiao Nuo winked at her and quickly said, "We need a lot of these five herbs... How much of each of these herbs do you have left in your shop?"
The shop assistant then looked at him properly and said, "We don't have much stock on hand, but if you need more, we can get it for you tomorrow."
Xiao Nuo immediately sighed and said, "What, no stock? Sigh, seeing how impressive your shop is, I thought you must have plenty of medicinal herbs."
The young shop assistant glared at him and said, "I dare not say anything else, but when it comes to these five herbs, no other herbal medicine shop in the entire Baili Town has a better stock than ours! It's just that they're selling so well right now, there are too many people buying them, and we just had a big order yesterday, so we don't have much stock left."
Xiao Nuo's eyes lit up, and she tentatively asked, "That thing, is it really selling well right now?"
The young shop assistant looked at him with a forced smile and said, "Since you're buying in such large quantities, you must be in that business. Do you need to ask me if it's easy to sell? If it weren't, you wouldn't be making such ill-gotten gains, would you?"
"That's right, that's right." Xiao Nuo forced a smile, looking exactly like the kind of person who makes money through dishonest means. "Actually, I wanted to ask, is that thing easy to sell here?"
"Oh, I see. So you want to make money off those girls in the brothel... That makes sense, everyone knows they're deadly when they're eating that stuff..." The waiter looked him up and down a few times, then suddenly stopped.
Xiao Nuo handed over a silver ingot at the opportune moment. The shop assistant accepted it generously, cleared his throat, and said, "I think you're a decent person, so I'll be honest with you. Quite a few people come to our shop to buy these five medicinal herbs, but they all go elsewhere to make that stuff and sell it. Nobody dares to set their sights on Baili Town. Because in Baili Town, this business has long been monopolized by Black Tiger... Look, that huge order yesterday was taken by him. Black Tiger is a formidable figure. With your physique, trying to snatch this business from him won't be easy, not easy at all..."
Xiao Nuo and Feng Chenxi exchanged a glance and asked in unison, "Where can we find him?"
———————————————I am that dividing line————————————————
Answering questions from several adults
1. Is Feng Chenxi the only female lead?
A: Yes, the only one, the only one, the most outstanding... Some adults think she's not "outstanding," and there's nothing I can do about it.
Actually, Iroha didn't write this character as a continuation of Feng Xiansu. She's simpler, cleaner, less complicated than the housekeeper, and also more feminine... What? Didn't see that? Well, well, keep reading!
2. Love.
A: Well, I must admit that Xiao Nuo and Chen Xi's love story isn't as endearing as his parents'. In fact, it's completely unappealing—they're not bickering lovers, childhood sweethearts, or evenly matched rivals... Sigh, none of the most touching love stories I've ever heard of actually happen to them.
That's precisely why Iroha wanted to write it. It wasn't to challenge herself or be as flamboyant as some people think. Rather, she wanted to try a different writing style and a different flavor, like having some tea to clear her throat after drinking too much chicken soup.
SS said that because of Xiao Nuo and Chen Xi's love, "this work can only be more successful than 'Feng Yan Yin' if the male lead or supporting actor puts in a strong performance, the plot is more convoluted, and the ending is unexpected."
That makes a lot of sense.
Perhaps because Zhu Yu and I focused on solving the case while writing this story, we subconsciously hoped that readers would also focus on the case... I felt that this story was much more tightly plotted than "Feng Yan Yin," so I deliberately downplayed the romance, but it had the opposite effect. Sigh. I'm really sorry.
However, one thing needs to be clarified: we absolutely, absolutely never intended for this story to surpass "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," because writing with that in mind would be tantamount to self-torture.
Think of those big Hollywood directors who spend hundreds of millions of dollars, all in the hopes of "surpassing" their predecessors, only to stumble on their sequels... I'm scared!
So, if you gentlemen insist on comparing this work to the prequel, please compare the writing style, the language, the plot, even whether it's the 20-year-old Zuo Zuo Shuai or the 50-year-old Zuo Zuo Shuai, just please don't compare which is better... Speaking of which, is *Feng Yan Yin* really that good? There was a time when I absolutely hated that work! Haha.
Question 3: An adult asked when it will be published.
The answer is—I don't know either. A contract has already been signed, but a suitable cover hasn't been found yet, so… for the market, the cover is crucial to a book's success, so the publisher is quite anxious. If you know any good illustrators (no experience necessary, as long as they are truly talented), please leave your QQ number so we can contact each other. I would be extremely grateful.
4. The issue of updating time being earlier.
A: OK, I'll post a few hours earlier from now on. I'm a good person, I'll always help out, lalala...
That concludes the answers to your questions. Enjoy reading!
Another wave of trouble